The Bikeshite Thread

[hairnet]

Ooh

 

 

[Fabergé Greggs]

I’ve got a disproportionate longing to try a maxi scooter for my newer lengthy commute on bigger roads. Also because getting old.

 

Only got an A1 licence which means 125’s. Kymco downtown 125? Thoughts?

[DodgeRover]

Kymco are generally ok ish

[hairnet]

if you dont buy a j pop scoot buy one of those

 

i was looking at a 300 version to buy for the next trip but i hated the riding position so much on this one

 

looking at buying a gsx 150 next time

 

anything more than 100  miles on a scoot and yer arse and hips will hate you

[Mudster]

I fancy a maxi scooter too. My commute is 6 miles along 30mph and 40mph limits, so I don't really need one. Quite fancy a Burgman 400 but my pcx125 actually does the job fine. I just want one! Something quite relaxing about a scooter.

[UltraWomble]

Ive had two and they are lovely bikes for either local pootling or long distance work.

I had a Bumflan 125 and a Piaggio X9-500 - the latter was plagued with ECU and electrical problems though.

[Mike D]

Would anyone be interested in my MZ Baghira Supermoto? 05 plate, very good condition, recent Michelin pilot road 3 tyres - it's got the 660 Yam motor in it. Will have a full years test £1500

 

[strangeangel]

Quite fancy a Burgman 400 but my pcx125 actually does the job fine. I just want one! Something quite relaxing about a scooter.

 

Then get the king of scooters:

 

 

One owner since 1999, strikingly handsome, fast*, comfortable, capacious and laden with character (but not the sort of 'character' that leaves you stranded miles from home with a grenaded engine, fucked electrics etc.). DIY maintainable even by me (with almost 100% genuine parts availability) except for the engine hanger bearings - and it's had those done!

 

£800 BIN represents VALUE at today's prices IMO.

 

Disclaimer: it's not mine & nowt to do with me. Do have two of them though.

[Fabergé Greggs]

Then get the king of scooters:

 

 

One owner since 1999, strikingly handsome, fast*, comfortable, capacious and laden with character (but not the sort of 'character' that leaves you stranded miles from home with a grenaded engine, fucked electrics etc.). DIY maintainable even by me (with almost 100% genuine parts availability) except for the engine hanger bearings - and it's had those done!

 

£800 BIN represents VALUE at today's prices IMO.

 

Disclaimer: it's not mine & nowt to do with me. Do have two of them though.

 

Love them and would have that in a heartbeat if  

1) I had the licence

2) They were ULEZ compliant. 

[Dave_Q]

FAO Ultrawomble: minty looking Tomos within easy Picassoing distance of Prestonland.

 

 

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/1991-TOMOS-50CC-MOPED-ONLY-1048-MILES/232695860589?hash=item362dc10d6d:g:zecAAOSw7p1apryV

[Jazoli]

Been fixerating my new FZ1 over the last few days, one annoying niggle was that the idle speed adjuster did fuck all and the idle was around 1600rpm when hot, which is clearly too high, it turns out in their wisdom Yamaha use a thermowax thing (like a thermostat) to control the idle speed when cold, the plunger on it was seized, there are far too many cables, wires and vacuum hoses on a modern bike,

 

 

You can see the plunger pressing on the idle adjustment screw, its quite a clever solution (when it works) and not something I'd seen before on a bike or car.

 

 

And removed and dismantled, had to very carefully take an impact driver to the retaining screws that were seized into the TB's

 

 

Tapped the plunger out with a punch, stuck it in a drill chuck and cleaned it up with some 400 grit wet and dry and greased it and put it all back together, idle now drops when the bike hits 75 degrees and the idle speed can be adjusted, result!

 

Will balance the TB's tomorrow and fit a new rear tyre then it should be good to go.

[Guest Hooli]

Reminds me of the waxstat needles on SU carbs, designed to ensure the mixture was wrong at all temps.

[DodgeRover]

Ah but it will be wrong with perfect accuracy

[Jerzy Woking]

My mate fitted heated grips to my KTM RC8 yesterday (now winter is over!) and a sat nav power lead, which necessitated the leads being routed under the petrol tank. He is a trained KTM mechanic and said that it was best to remove the tank BUT they tend to swell due to the additives in petrol, and they can be a right bastard to remove and refit.

 

He wasn't wrong as it had to be removed and refitted with the assistance from a long pry bar. Had to remove the rubber inserts from around the front fittings to get it to bolt up, as the tank swelling meant that the holes for the bolts were about 5mm further forward now.

 

So if your bike has a plastic tank, beware of swelling.

[Guest Hooli]

Aye I've heard of that before. It's that lovely* ethanol in fuel these days.

[Jerzy Woking]

I’ve got a disproportionate longing to try a maxi scooter for my newer lengthy commute on bigger roads. Also because getting old.

 

Only got an A1 licence which means 125’s. Kymco downtown 125? Thoughts?

 

I've a Piaggio Xevo 400 that is ideal for a commuter. Great weather protection, can top 100mph easily enough, stealth paintwork, cheap to run, reliable and plenty of storage. ULEZ compliant too. Not for sale but will need to sell it when I chuck work in for good early in 2019. You've plenty of time to pass your test by then!

 

Would anyone be interested in my MZ Baghira Supermoto? 05 plate, very good condition, recent Michelin pilot road 3 tyres - it's got the 660 Yam motor in it. Will have a full years test £1500

 

IMG_20160814_200722.jpg

Had a Baghira back in 2004, as needed something better to commute on, as my Honda XR650R needed an oil change every week when commuted on. Great bikes, if a bit heavy, race proven 5 valve motor which is easily tuned. Change the endcan for an instant power gain abd weight loss. Sold the original exhaust can to a bloke with a Caterham so he could get it through the MOT.

 

I would be interested but decided now to cut down my collection, not increase it, although sorely tempted!

 

GLWTS

[UltraWomble]

FAO Ultrawomble: minty looking Tomos within easy Picassoing distance of Prestonland.

 

 

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/1991-TOMOS-50CC-MOPED-ONLY-1048-MILES/232695860589?hash=item362dc10d6d:g:zecAAOSw7p1apryV

Thanks fot the heads up.

[twosmoke300]

Re the tank swelling . The mk1 multistrada had a tank also made by Acerbis that swells so much it can’t be removed in one piece !

[Jazoli]

My Speed Triple had a swollen tank as did one of my Daytona's, I was afraid to try and remove after the first attempt so sold the bikes and have had bikes with metal tanks since then.

[Exiled_Tat_Gatherer]

My mate fitted heated grips to my KTM RC8 yesterday (now winter is over!) and a sat nav power lead, which necessitated the leads being routed under the petrol tank. He is a trained KTM mechanic and said that it was best to remove the tank BUT they tend to swell due to the additives in petrol, and they can be a right bastard to remove and refit.

 

He wasn't wrong as it had to be removed and refitted with the assistance from a long pry bar. Had to remove the rubber inserts from around the front fittings to get it to bolt up, as the tank swelling meant that the holes for the bolts were about 5mm further forward now.

 

So if your bike has a plastic tank, beware of swelling.

 

Liked for the fact I didn't know about the plastic tank swelling........ and the fact the KTM RC8 is the only bike my son and I agreed on at the recent bike show we attended Lovely thing......... sounded glorious

[83C]

A dry day off work today, so I thought I'd sort the sloppy chain on the ZZR. Been meaning to do it for ages but the weather gods have always conspired against it. So out with the spanners, and - oh, while I'm here....

 

 

There may have been some mission creep.

 

The adjuster bolts were fairly manky, so I'm going to replace them - ordered a pair of stainless replacements for less than £4 delivered. Thought I might as well give the area a proper clean and inspection, happily the cush rubber looks fairly new, both sprockets are pretty good and the bearings are good too. The rear sprocket was coated with crud as usual, so I cleaned it off. Not wanting the bare metal to acquire a coating of rust, it got a quick blast of primer and then of satin black. I even found a handy blue line that runs across the garden to hang it from whilst drying:

 

[UltraWomble]

Fun Phacts

 

Mr S Angel lives in the arse end of nowhere.

Piaggio Zip's fit in the back of Picasso's with no bother.

50cc of Piaggio Zip with Technigas 'zorst is only mildly less noisy than the sound made by the roar of a bull that has had its testicles twanged with a rubber band.

[hairnet]

Love them and would have that in a heartbeat if  

1) I had the licence

2) They were ULEZ compliant. 

m/cs dont do emissions - how can they ban them when theyve never been in the list to test??

[hairnet]

Would anyone be interested in my MZ Baghira Supermoto? 05 plate, very good condition, recent Michelin pilot road 3 tyres - it's got the 660 Yam motor in it. Will have a full years test £1500

 

IMG_20160814_200722.jpg

would hit that repeatedly but

 

single

 

bit big for commute only tool (not in the way you think )

 

if it was a twin id already be saying hello

[davehedgehog31]

I owned a bike up until a year about, just a little Yamaha SR125, it was a 2003 model and in decent order. 

 

Guy I play football with passed his driving test at the age of 30, went out in the car with him once and as a result I put the bike up for sale the next day.

[Bradders59]

My mate fitted heated grips to my KTM RC8 yesterday (now winter is over!) and a sat nav power lead, which necessitated the leads being routed under the petrol tank. He is a trained KTM mechanic and said that it was best to remove the tank BUT they tend to swell due to the additives in petrol, and they can be a right bastard to remove and refit.

 

He wasn't wrong as it had to be removed and refitted with the assistance from a long pry bar. Had to remove the rubber inserts from around the front fittings to get it to bolt up, as the tank swelling meant that the holes for the bolts were about 5mm further forward now.

 

So if your bike has a plastic tank, beware of swelling.

 

Is your mate Jerry from Jim Aims (used to be known as Jims joke shop around Hedingham years ago)? If so, hes a really decent bloke.

Always more than fair when he MOT,d my bikes.

[strangeangel]

m/cs dont do emissions - how can they ban them when theyve never been in the list to test??

 

They just do it on age I think? Never really looked into it TBH because it won't affect me.

 

Anything with 'Historic' tax class is exempt, though, so I could ride through London on my old Vespa stinking the place out with huge clouds of blue smoke, but you have to pay £££ to use something sensible like the Helix. Crazy.

[Mudster]

How the hell do you quote a post in here? Got me right stumped

 

In response to Strangeangel, if I swap the scooter will need to be at least 400. In fact I keep hanging over the Burgman 650. As I said, I really don't need one and I'm sure the other half would leave me. Every cloud I guess:D

[Dave_Q]

The ULEZ is the new thing coming in next year, applies to motorbikes and they have to be Euro 3 which is after about 2007 (with exceptions)

 

As SA says, historic is exempt, so expect every Vespa in that London to suddenly get rebuilt* onto a pre-78 or post 2007 frame, whilst releasing exactly the amount of pollution.

 

Apparently it's still under debate, really think they need to just exempt all bikes as surely a ped is less emissions than a euro 4/5 car (which is what most people will end up switching to surely?)

[Jerzy Woking]

Is your mate Jerry from Jim Aims (used to be known as Jims joke shop around Hedingham years ago)? If so, hes a really decent bloke.

Always more than fair when he MOT,d my bikes.

Although I have known Jerry for some 30 years, it was one of their former mechanics, Darren, that did the work on my RC8-known him for a few years now and he is an excellent mechanic. I think Jim started selling KTM about 35 years now, when they were more correctly called KTBooms.

 

I bought my first big bike from Jim Aim back in 1976 (bloody hell, 42 years ago) and most of the bikes I have owned since then have had their MOT's done there - that was until they moved to Braintree as they don't do them now. And this is the first KTM I have owned despite shopping there for so long.