The Bikeshite Thread

[Barry Cade]

22 minutes ago, Fat_Pirate said:

Bit disappointed to discover my Interceptor has been quietly corroding in the garage; admittedly it was mucky when I put it away in October (mostly squished insects from the summer), but it shares the space with a couple of 20 year-old Hondas and a 17 year-old KTM, none of which show any degradation. 

Metal polish cleaned up the exhaust, but the engine will need more elbow grease.  Have ACF50'd it and put a cover over it for now.

Eeek. I like those too, and considered one. My Triumph lives outside under a cover and has no signs of this at all at 11 years old. Is it pitted or just tarnish? Is your garage damp?

[andyberg]

Took the Sprint out today. Not ridden it since November. I had forgotten how good it is, comfy, fast and sounds great. The roads were damp, and I have never been confident in the wet but the Michelin road pilots are bloody brilliant. Never felt unstable at all. Got home however and noticed all the crap from the roads on the bike, good hose down and liberal spray with ACF50 before putting it away. Hopefully I'll get to ride it to work next week.

 

 

[Barry Cade]

1 hour ago, andyberg said:

Took the Sprint out today. Not ridden it since November. I had forgotten how good it is, comfy, fast and sounds great. The roads were damp, and I have never been confident in the wet but the Michelin road pilots are bloody brilliant. Never felt unstable at all. Got home however and noticed all the crap from the roads on the bike, good hose down and liberal spray with ACF50 before putting it away. Hopefully I'll get to ride it to work next week.

 

 

Are you a Front End Chatter listener..?

[Fat_Pirate]

3 hours ago, Barry Cade said:

Eeek. I like those too, and considered one. My Triumph lives outside under a cover and has no signs of this at all at 11 years old. Is it pitted or just tarnish? Is your garage damp?

Didn't think the garage was damp, there's no other evidence of it.  I think it can be polished up again (maybe with a mop).  It remains my favourite bike and I recommend them, but clearly the finish needs more attention than I've been giving it.

[mitsisigma01]

3 hours ago, Fat_Pirate said:

Didn't think the garage was damp

Get it in the house 😁

[mitsisigma01]

14 hours ago, straightSix said:

just need to find myself a second hand jacket

What size, sort, colour etc

[andyberg]

9 hours ago, Barry Cade said:

Are you a Front End Chatter listener..?

?? What's that then? No I always felt that the front of the bike would slip in the wet. The tyres I have had in the past never made me feel like I had a lot of grip, I always felt as if I was going to come off. I had the bike MOTd in November and had the pilot fitted then. It was pissing down on the back and even with the new tyre I can't explain the confidence it gave me. I have never been a fast rider, never hang off the bike, more Mick Grant style😂 but as soon as the rear needs replacing then it's a pilot for there too. Well worth the money in my opinion.

[straightSix]

9 hours ago, mitsisigma01 said:

What size, sort, colour etc

Size is around medium I think, something like a 40inch chest. Sort, color etc can roughly be summarised by cheap 😂 ideally something I can wear through winter/spring 

[Barry Cade]

4 hours ago, andyberg said:

?? What's that then? No I always felt that the front of the bike would slip in the wet. The tyres I have had in the past never made me feel like I had a lot of grip, I always felt as if I was going to come off. I had the bike MOTd in November and had the pilot fitted then. It was pissing down on the back and even with the new tyre I can't explain the confidence it gave me. I have never been a fast rider, never hang off the bike, more Mick Grant style😂 but as soon as the rear needs replacing then it's a pilot for there too. Well worth the money in my opinion.

Front End Chatter is a podcast about motorbikes, just noticed your number plate.. people that listen are feccers..

If you like bikes, it's worth a listen!

[Rustybullethole]

On 1/21/2023 at 7:29 AM, twosmoke300 said:

Just used muffs for my last couple of trail rides . As said above - what a game changer . I suffer with raynauds and always have cold fingers when riding . These and neoprene enduro globes are a winning combo . 
I thought they would get in the way in technical riding but they don’t at all . 

Sit nicely around a set of bark busters too which cut the wind chill on their own. NC doesn’t have them so I’ll be adding structural gaffer tape around the stitching hobo courier style. 

[Skcat]

Just noticed this thread, will keep a eye on it! I just failed my MOD 1 last Monday but I'm confident for the retry next Monday. Its exciting though

Picked up a Gpz500s I need to do some work on ready to get on the road. So learning too mess around on that but it does not seem too hard.

[hairnet]

wanted to go to local honda place but its in central manc

shared with triumph

triumph is open all week

honda is shut sunday monday

next local is staffs - chester is too far as is blackpool

 

[UltraWomble]

Yeah  been a bit of a bummer Honda wise since Bill Head retired

[MiniMinorMk3]

Fine looking Suzuki TS 185 coming up for auction this week.

January Classic: 27 Jan 2023 - 1973 Suzuki TS 185 K Sierra (barons-auctions.com)

[tom13]

51 minutes ago, MiniMinorMk3 said:

Fine looking Suzuki TS 185 coming up for auction this week.

January Classic: 27 Jan 2023 - 1973 Suzuki TS 185 K Sierra (barons-auctions.com)

That is nice. These ride so well and are a great all rounder. Nice seating position, light, quick enough to do most types of riding, reliable.

There is a TS185 with a Motocross package on it on eBay at the moment. It looks a fun little thing but at 3g its too expensive.

[Iamgroot]

Does anyone have an old Kawasaki Z or early gpz petrol tank knocking around, I could get cheaply? Thinking of changing my chopper style tank on my '81  Z750 for a more standard one and remaking the bike a bit "toecutter gang" style

[Cavcraft]

On 1/22/2023 at 3:44 PM, hairnet said:

 

next local is staffs - chester is too far as is blackpool

 

Says the man who goes on his moped to Southern Ireland! Don't know if you went there at any point, but Smith's now moving everything up their 'new' Honda place on Whitchurch Road. They've lost Triumph (I'm sure someone said Yamaha are pulling out to, but that could be wrong) but have R.E and I believe BSA.

 

 

Yesterday (stupid o'clock in the morning) all the lights on the Lambretta decided not to work, so used the e-moped instead. My mate fixed the Li, a wire had come off the regulator, or whatever it's called. Used it today and have to say it's still as fun to ride as it ever was. 

Tomorrow the Harley is going for a spin, assuming it's not icy.

[mitsisigma01]

32 minutes ago, Iamgroot said:

Does anyone have an old Kawasaki Z or early gpz petrol tank knocking around, I could get cheaply? Thinking of changing my chopper style tank on my '81  Z750 for a more standard one and remaking the bike a bit "toecutter gang" style

Show us yer chopper !!

[Iamgroot]

2 minutes ago, mitsisigma01 said:

Show us yer chopper !!

It's not actually a chopper, but it's got a chopper tank 

[mitsisigma01]

Is yours a Z LTD as in slightly chopper styley?

[Iamgroot]

Erm, no, it's a erm, "thing", I haven't got a pic of it with the chopper tank fitted, but here's one with the rotten tank I sadly had to chuck.

The back end has also been revised a bit since this pic too.

[mitsisigma01]

[Rustybullethole]

What’s that

It will be after I’ve used as a wheelie bar M8

[Jerzy Woking]

On 1/17/2023 at 11:57 AM, brandersnatch said:

I haven’t done the Dragon since around 1988. I did a few before that. I loved a winter rally.  Wrap up warm and enjoy yourself. 

I somehow suspect that with the improvement of riding kit and camping gear today as versus the 80's, you wouldn't freeze to near death riding and kipping in a tent there now.

[brandersnatch]

5 hours ago, Jerzy Woking said:

I somehow suspect that with the improvement of riding kit and camping gear today as versus the 80's, you wouldn't freeze to near death riding and kipping in a tent there now.

That’s so true. Plus I was much harder (more stupid) in my 20’s. Leather jacket, unlined waterproofs and a 36 ounce sleeping bag from Millets. I must have been mad. Good times!
I  still go to rallies nowadays but not in the winter. 

[Rustybullethole]

8 hours ago, Jerzy Woking said:

I somehow suspect that with the improvement of riding kit and camping gear today as versus the 80's, you wouldn't freeze to near death riding and kipping in a tent there now.

Good gears expensive though hey. I’ve been fine on the road with the many layers approach and cheap coverall waterproof. Tents been fab sealed should be fine. Maybe. 

[Jerzy Woking]

I was lucky in that my employers supplied all my riding kit, but the stuff I was issued in 2000 (Rukka) was inferior to that I was issued with in 2010 (Rukka again), which was far inferior to what I was issued with in 2017 (Hideout). 

I still bought some of my own stuff for when not riding the work bikes. Best thing ever has been my Exo heated waistcoat. Warm even without it being plugged in, an able to wear that and a t-shirt under my jacket through the winter.

[brandersnatch]

I was disappointed in the Rukka suit I spent big money on. Nowhere near as good as it should have been. I replaced it with a Dane suit , bought from Hideout funnily enough. (I couldn’t afford the Hideout kit.) The Dane kit is the best I’ve ever had. Warm and dry all day. 
I stopped using heated clothing when I started my long commute from Ipswich to London. Sounds daft but there was method to my madness. I figured that if the heated stuff broke I wouldn’t be wearing enough clothes and I’d be in trouble. Decent layering up saw me through. 

[tom13]

Can we talk helmets for a moment.

Looking at an Arai Rebel. Arai have always fitted me the best but the test shoes green all over the top of the head and black on the sides. I know black is poor so how can a helmet this expensive be so poor on the sides. Also how poor is poor on their rating?

Alternatively I was also looking at a HJC IS17. This is way cheaper and green all over. I would have got that but I didn't fancy Lorenzo or bright yellow which were my only options. 

[hairnet]

arai

debut

the sharp thing is bolox - does it fit properly can you see out of it does it look ok

get it bought - all lids are type approved so looking at that just makes you go wtf