Jump to content

The Bikeshite Thread


warren t claim

Recommended Posts

Guest Breadvan72

There are people who disagree with your judgement.

 

IChrisSwankRiding725.jpg

 

 

Cool dude, reminds me of a woman I knew who had lost the use of her legs in an accident but was able to drive everywhere mega fast and skilfully using hand controls.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

 

 

I can see that an automatic could make sense for an enduro bike. I was interested to find out that an auto Rangey was perhaps better than a manual when doing some knobbly off road stuff.

 

Carb icing, blimey! I haven't noticed that on the ground since I had a shonky old Alfa ages ago, although it's still very much a thing in aircraft piston engines with carbs, and can park you up in some bloke's field if you're not careful about it.

I've got very recent experience aircraft carb icing as I'm a member of the local gliding club and recent got dumped in a field as the tug was having issues.

 

The gliding club is the home of all kinds if vehicular shite. I may do a post about it if there is some interest. We have wooden gliders from the 60's, tug planes from the 50's, a 70's volvo coach that functions as a control tower, and a lovely wee fergy tractor....

 

Sent from my SM-G930F using Tapatalk

Link to comment
Share on other sites

OMG yes! Always wanted one of these. How much do you know about it/ how recently was it yours?

 

I bought it as part of a job lot of three of them & spares. It had been off the road for about 20 years, during which time some clown had painted the exhaust with Hammerite - the smell of burnt paint followed it around to the day I sold it!

 

I sold it in 2010 because I'd got one of the others on the road, and I already had a garage full (for a change). When I sold it, the scoot was in good shape with no real issues. Bizarrely, it seems from the MOT history that the last time it was road legal was with me all those years back:

 

 
Registration number: D243BVN
 
  • Vehicle make HONDA
  • Vehicle model CH125-E
  • Date first used 1 August 1986
  • Fuel type Petrol
  • Colour Silver
 
MOT history of this vehicle
  • Test date 2 October 2009
  • Expiry date 1 October 2010
  • Test Result Pass
  • Odometer reading 10,970 miles
  • MOT test number 9800 3527 9209

 

 

If you do take an interest, look carefully at the state of the exhaust as they are made of weapons grade unobtanium. The odd second-hand one you occasionally find is usually shagged too. The engines and electrics are pretty tough, and rarely give any trouble as you might expect from a Honda of this era.

 

 

 

 

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Guest Breadvan72

I've got very recent experience aircraft carb icing as I'm a member of the local gliding club and recent got dumped in a field as the tug was having issues.

 

The gliding club is the home of all kinds if vehicular shite. I may do a post about it if there is some interest. We have wooden gliders from the 60's, tug planes from the 50's, a 70's volvo coach that functions as a control tower, and a lovely wee fergy tractor....

 

Sent from my SM-G930F using Tapatalk

 

 

Thread please!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I've got very recent experience aircraft carb icing as I'm a member of the local gliding club and recent got dumped in a field as the tug was having issues.

The gliding club is the home of all kinds if vehicular shite. I may do a post about it if there is some interest. We have wooden gliders from the 60's, tug planes from the 50's, a 70's volvo coach that functions as a control tower, and a lovely wee fergy tractor....

Sent from my SM-G930F using Tapatalk

Carb icing - rather inconvenient in a car, a pain on a bike (my 600 Bandit used to suffer it when cold) but real bad news in an aircraft causing serious power loss as power is height hence you getting dumped in a field. It's something I'm dead paranoid about when flying, sometimes putting the carb heat on every five mins or so.

 

What was the tug aircraft you used as a better of interest?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Very nearly - the MZ rider that defected to Suzuki was Ernst Degner.

I stand corrected!

 

On the subject of those GP500 race rep two strokes, they were crazy indeed, I actually tried a couple of RG500's about 20 years ago when for some mad reason, I was genuinely considering buying one to replace my 350YPVS with. They were about £2-3K for a really good one back then so cost wasn't the issue, it was due to two things, one was I was scared of the complexity of the engine and secondly, if I'm honest, was a lack of bottle on my part! Yes, I chickened out basically. Given their value now I probably shouldn't have but then again, would I still be around to worry?

 

I kept the Yamaha in the end, still have it now.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Guest Breadvan72

Carb icing - rather inconvenient in a car, a pain on a bike (my 600 Bandit used to suffer it when cold) but real bad news in an aircraft causing serious power loss as power is height hence you getting dumped in a field. It's something I'm dead paranoid about when flying, sometimes putting the carb heat on every five mins or so.

 

What was the tug aircraft you used as a better of interest?

 

 

You may recall that the carb heater is wired to be always on in a Tiger Moth and a Chipmunk, so prone is the Gipsy Major engine to carb icing, and the power loss is accepted in return for the engine not always stopping.  I have given up flying now (boo), but used to find that the biggest faff when switching between an aircraft with fuel injection and one with a carb was remembering to use the carb heater every so often on the carby crate.

 

Operating a  glider tug, with repeated short flights, lots of circuits and landings, and lots of hanging around on the ground with the engine running, would be an ideal set up for carb icing, especially in the sort of atmospheric conditions that gliders love, so it's maybe surprising that more glider tugs don't end up in fields near the airfield.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I stand corrected!

 

On the subject of those GP500 race rep two strokes, they were crazy indeed, I actually tried a couple of RG500's about 20 years ago when for some mad reason, I was genuinely considering buying one to replace my 350YPVS with. They were about £2-3K for a really good one back then so cost wasn't the issue, it was due to two things, one was I was scared of the complexity of the engine and secondly, if I'm honest, was a lack of bottle on my part! Yes, I chickened out basically. Given their value now I probably shouldn't have but then again, would I still be around to worry?

 

I kept the Yamaha in the end, still have it now.

 

I'd love an RG500, could never afford one though. From what I heard from an owner, the scariest bit was the fuel they go through!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Here you go, Mr twoshoes...

 

ch125a-rotated.jpg

 

ch125b.jpg

 

ch125c.jpg

 

ch125d.jpg

 

And here's a pic of D243BVN when I owned it (on the right):

 

done1.jpg

They're flippin ace. I happened to have a quick Honda spacy search on eBay and noticed a second hand exhaust for £130!!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Hey collective bikeshite mind: the gear and throttle cables on my LML are noticeably getting stiff. What's the best spray lube for control cables?

I usually blast brake cleaner down them with the lubing tool first to clear any rust / sticky grease out then wait for that to evaporate then just use wd 40 or similar . I know that some nylon lined cables don't like mineral oils but I've not had any issues yet .

Link to comment
Share on other sites

andy18s, on 17 May 2017 - 11:11 PM, said:

I think Kawasaki were the only company to get to grips with the Turbo back in the day

 

Not true!

 

All of the Big Four Jap manufacturers had a go at turbo bikes in the early / mid 1980s... Suzuki fitted a turbo to a chain-drive version of the engine from the GS650 to give the slightly Katana-styled XN85, Honda released a turbocharged version of the CX500/650 Maggot (probably after someone spiked the R&D department's tea with LSD) and Yamaha did a turbo version of the XJ650 :-)

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I'd love an RG500, could never afford one though. From what I heard from an owner, the scariest bit was the fuel they go through!

 

One of the lads in an old bike club of mine had one. I once followed it in heavy rain on my GS650 Katana. I could barely keep it in sight, which spoke highly of its pilot's cojones as well as the bike's handling.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

The only Suzuki XN85 I ever saw in the flesh, was in a thousand bits in North Harbour MCs in Ayr, many years ago, with a mechanic scratching his head.

I've seen a CX650T only a few years ago, I couldn't grab my phone quick enough, but the guy must've clocked my dropped jaw: he gave me a wave and wafted on. Probably the best use of a turbo, although the Kawasaki was the best thought out of the lot. Didn't Kawasaki USA build a Z11 turbo before the factory built the 750? Seem to recall reading about that.

Mate of mine has a TTS built turbo Speed Triple with 270bhp in it. Cost him a bloody fortune.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

The only Suzuki XN85 I ever saw in the flesh, was in a thousand bits in North Harbour MCs in Ayr, many years ago, with a mechanic scratching his head.

I've seen a CX650T only a few years ago, I couldn't grab my phone quick enough, but the guy must've clocked my dropped jaw: he gave me a wave and wafted on. Probably the best use of a turbo, although the Kawasaki was the best thought out of the lot. Didn't Kawasaki USA build a Z11 turbo before the factory built the 750? Seem to recall reading about that.

Mate of mine has a TTS built turbo Speed Triple with 270bhp in it. Cost him a bloody fortune.

 

I seem to recall that Kawa was the first to turbocharge a bike in the late '70s, was it a Z1R?

 

Other than that, I saw a few turbo bikes out in the wild back in the day... a GPZ750 turbo, a couple of XN85s and a few CX turbos as well as a couple of big Katanas fitted with turbos at drag strips. I suspect the complexity together with the limited benefit in comparison with larger cc engines ultimately killed off turbo bikes... understandable, really. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Carb icing - rather inconvenient in a car, a pain on a bike (my 600 Bandit used to suffer it when cold) but real bad news in an aircraft causing serious power loss as power is height hence you getting dumped in a field. It's something I'm dead paranoid about when flying, sometimes putting the carb heat on every five mins or so.

 

What was the tug aircraft you used as a better of interest?

A Eurofox. I'll start a new aeroshite thread and stop clogging up bikeshite!

 

Sent from my SM-G930F using Tapatalk

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Z1R, that's the bunny. Black with orange stripes on iirc.

 

I knew someone when I lived in Aberdeen, who'd gone beyond the overbore route with his GPz11, and fitted the Gorilla (?) block with the Wiseco pistons and Carillo rods combo. Not cheap, ended up about 1360cc iirc. Nitrous too!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Not true!

 

All of the Big Four Jap manufacturers had a go at turbo bikes in the early / mid 1980s... Suzuki fitted a turbo to a chain-drive version of the engine from the GS650 to give the slightly Katana-styled XN85, Honda released a turbocharged version of the CX500/650 Maggot (probably after someone spiked the R&D department's tea with LSD) and Yamaha did a turbo version of the XJ650 :-)

 

Oh I know the others all had a bash but I think Kawasaki got the closest to a "usable" bike,with minimal lag ect

I Dare say it was the primitive fuel injection system that made it more user friendly than the alternatives...

Made it feel more like a Gpz900 which kinda defeated the object

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Z1R, that's the bunny. Black with orange stripes on iirc.

 

I knew someone when I lived in Aberdeen, who'd gone beyond the overbore route with his GPz11, and fitted the Gorilla (?) block with the Wiseco pistons and Carillo rods combo. Not cheap, ended up about 1360cc iirc. Nitrous too!

 

Woo, I bet that's quick (if a bit daft).

 

I picked the Cosworth pistons up for a bargain price about a decade ago, Katanas had reached the bottom of their value bell curve so a lot of tuning companies were getting rid of their Katana stock.

 

I won't be going for maximum oomph even if I do eventually get round to fitting them though, so no nitrous for me!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

To be fair, the guy who built it was a seriously experienced offshore fabricator, and the frame was well reinforced and it had one of those JMC swingarms on it. It was less flexy than usual!

 

I'm having a moment myself: one that got away at that time was a Guzzi 1000S, I only just fell short on the finance. I've promised myself one 'someday' ever since. Wondered why I couldn't find any on the bay...:0 a quick Google says $15000 for a good one. Fuck. :-(

post-4104-0-29226500-1495105094_thumb.jpg

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I had a Guzzi V50 Monza for a short while, lovely bike but a bit smoll for me.

 

I'm still looking for another GS650 Katana, I had two of those (a later GZ and the earlier GX model with no anti-dive or fuel gauge), both of them fitted with twin-headlight Crossbow E2 fairings and clip-ons.

 

Best bikes I've ever owned.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Don't Honda still make auto bikes ? I'm sure the new Africa Twin is available as an auto

 

Yes they do - the Africa Twin, the NC750S and NC750X are available with DCT gearboxes (dual clutch, 6 speeds, automatic gear changing, not a slushmatic) which are well regarded amongst the journo's. I understand that it will become available on other models in the future.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I had a Guzzi V50 Monza for a short while, lovely bike but a bit smoll for me.

 

I'm still looking for another GS650 Katana, I had two of those (a later GZ and the earlier GX model with no anti-dive or fuel gauge), both of them fitted with twin-headlight Crossbow E2 fairings and clip-ons.

 

Best bikes I've ever owned.

Last 650 Kat I knew of was a real mutt. Made of bits of various GSs, but the owner professed his hate for shaft drive, so he stuck with the Kat rather than the GT.

I was always tickled by the 750 Kat S3 and its pop up headlight. In fact, I liked how Suzuki would do random stuff like that. To wit, the GSX1100 with the power screen. An acquaintance bought one new and amused himself for hours with his power window. Big hefty fat bastard too. Him and the bike. Surprisingly quick!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
×
×
  • Create New...