The Bikeshite Thread

[Cavcraft]

The C200 broke down the other morning. Thought it was fuel, but there was enough in it. Luckily the walk of shame was on a couple of hundred yards and it's not exactly heavy, so was no biggie. It started again later after I arsed about with the fuel tap (the main one doesn't work properly and seems to mostly put fuel through even when off), and bizarrely  enough had ran about the best it ever had prior to conking out.  

Nothing exactly exciting happening with it, just managed to fit a small LED light on the mud flap for a touch more visibility. Annoyingly though, it swings about and dings on the mudguard which is yet another noise to conetend with, along with the exhaust which needs to be bolted on properly. That's actually an arse of a job due to the way the PO mounted it, the back wheel will have to come off. It needs new chain and sprockets anyhow, so might as well do it at the same time and see what state the rear shoes are in.  Current set up is 16T front and 39T rear sprockets,  although the acceleration is reasonable, I'm considering 15/42 (or near as) to try and get a little better cruising speeds.  It'll do 45 (and no doubt more) but is quite vocal and I don't want to blow it up. 

The ultimate plan is a miniature tour of North-Mid Wales, possibly in a day but probably have a stop over half way round. Need to do some sort of longer distance reliability runs  on it really, including a few decent hills. There's a good one about 4 miles from here that's not the longest but is steep enough and there's place not too far from there that climb for quite a way.  There's only 3 gears to play with, so will have to get the balance right.

 

Anyhow, here it is pre-break down the other morning...

 

...and the snazzy* new back light...

 

Not fitted the wind shield yet, will have to get some brackets made up for that somehow. 

[andyberg]

21 minutes ago, Cavcraft said:

The C200 broke down the other morning. Thought it was fuel, but there was enough in it. Luckily the walk of shame was on a couple of hundred yards and it's not exactly heavy, so was no biggie. It started again later after I arsed about with the fuel tap (the main one doesn't work properly and seems to mostly put fuel through even when off), and bizarrely  enough had ran about the best it ever had prior to conking out.  

Nothing exactly exciting happening with it, just managed to fit a small LED light on the mud flap for a touch more visibility. Annoyingly though, it swings about and dings on the mudguard which is yet another noise to conetend with, along with the exhaust which needs to be bolted on properly. That's actually an arse of a job due to the way the PO mounted it, the back wheel will have to come off. It needs new chain and sprockets anyhow, so might as well do it at the same time and see what state the rear shoes are in.  Current set up is 16T front and 39T rear sprockets,  although the acceleration is reasonable, I'm considering 15/42 (or near as) to try and get a little better cruising speeds.  It'll do 45 (and no doubt more) but is quite vocal and I don't want to blow it up. 

The ultimate plan is a miniature tour of North-Mid Wales, possibly in a day but probably have a stop over half way round. Need to do some sort of longer distance reliability runs  on it really, including a few decent hills. There's a good one about 4 miles from here that's not the longest but is steep enough and there's place not too far from there that climb for quite a way.  There's only 3 gears to play with, so will have to get the balance right.

 

Anyhow, here it is pre-break down the other morning...

 

...and the snazzy* new back light...

 

Not fitted the wind shield yet, will have to get some brackets made up for that somehow. 

You are the HMC of the bike world on here without the selling, just buying! 

[Rustybullethole]

On 8/30/2023 at 12:30 PM, Stinkwheel said:

This is amazing news, do you feel a buy new in India and ride back caper coming on?

So sounds like buying new and spending ten years riding home is a good plan. 

[twosmoke300]

19 hours ago, 83C said:

That the place in Lanner?

Yeh 

[Rustybullethole]

Family down at a caravan in Romney marsh si went to join then Friday after am early finish. Hot footed in as fat as Ashford (well luke warm footed it but you get the idea). From there I found some lanes and meandered literally across country not necessarily in the right direction though was lovely.

Fish and chip supper then a day in the beach

Similar deal in the way back in reverse. None of these lanes ive rode before so was all a treat. 

Did the purple bit on way down and the red on way home. 

Need to work (spend) on the suspension and either accept that the exhaust is a consumable item or find a better skid plate though heading in the right direction with this one I feel.

 

 

 

[twosmoke300]

I’ve always seen front pipes as consumables on any dirt bike tbh 

[Rustybullethole]

4 hours ago, twosmoke300 said:

I’ve always seen front pipes as consumables on any dirt bike tbh 

Words of wisdom there thanks. Three sets of headers ko'd in the old cb and only took that off road a bit! Once the abs bollocks goes in the bin and i've mashed the down pipe i can route a high level through the frame ala proper dirt bike too. 

Proper bash guard on the cards mind as engine could do a bit more protection. I will case it into logs, rocks and indeed anything blocking my way. 

Hand guards/bar risers/proper renthals/and suspension to dod though for now petrol and a chain and sprox sooner rather than later is all it will get. Oh and an mot as thats out in three days.

[Dave_Q]

We found that CB500F we were looking for for my wife.

Honda fans will spot that it erm isn't. We struggled with every passable looking CB being Darn Sarf and this came up in Leeds. Bought from a nice man who put a new test on it and it's had tyres, chain and sprockets in the last year.

As it's above the A2 limits it needed restricting, check out the £65.79 restrictor kit*

Yes that really is just a laser cut plate that stops you opening the throttle past about half way.

The bike was being sold by a chap who'd had it as his First Big Bike and now needed something faster as his missus had a CBR600RR and he couldn't have a slower bike than her.

I have no such qualms about the size of my penis so if we do go out together, I'll probably be on my Grom.

[Iamgroot]

My mates got one of those (not restricted) and to be fair it goes well and loves a corner.

The restriction kit for my CBF would have been washers on the carb rubbers, I've still got the certificate for when I sell it on, handily.

[Dave_Q]

To be fair the place charge exactly the same price for all their kits so there will be others where you get slightly more metal for your money. 65 quid and a DIY fitment to make it legal for her licence is fair enough, it's just from my experience in getting stuff made for work I know these plates can't cost much more than a pound or 2 if made in decent quantities.

I test rode it for her pre-restriction and was very impressed with both the power and the noise.

[hairnet]

17 minutes ago, Dave_Q said:

We found that CB500F we were looking for for my wife.

I have no such qualms about the size of my penis so if we do go out together, I'll probably be at the back

 

[Rustybullethole]

ABS. Why is it so shit?

In fairness i've only had two bikes to date with it fitted though have rode a few more. It doesn't work off road. In fact it's downright dangerous and has been the main factor in many a brown pants moment. Current bike it cant be disabled without wiring in a switch. I will however be rehoming the whole lot in the bin and this is why. Both bikes I've had with it, bmw r1100 gs and the current Himi have cooked up the rear. The bm would get hot then lose the brake the himi just locks it on. Only happens when its hot though unacceptable in my eyes and slightly worrying that if it were the front the chances of survival are less so. 

Had to piss on my new purchase in a live lane of traffic at rush hour when the fucker locked on coming out of blackwall last night. 

 

[Rustybullethole]

Anyway thats my rant. Here's to a nice day.

Sadly only off for another day of dickhead building activities though ride in and do love the ferry. 

[Jazoli]

ABS is great (on the road), I've never had an issue with it on any modern bike, tbf your 1100 BMW is a very early system and I'd imagine the system on the RE to be as basic as it gets and built to a very low price, the cornering abs on my Z1000SX was amazing and allowed me to hit the brakes at a substantial lean angle in the wet and not fall off, not that I intentionally tried to test it of course.

Some modern bikes allow you to turn the rear abs for off road riding.

 

[Jerzy Woking]

I just pull the abs fuse on my Himalayan if I am doing any tricky decents on gravel tracks. But as I ride mainly on my own, I do these types of tracks less now that I am getting on a bit.

Never had issues with abs on the road on my Himalayan, or any of my bikes, or work bikes, come to that.

[Rustybullethole]

5 hours ago, Jazoli said:

ABS is great (on the road), I've never had an issue with it on any modern bike, tbf your 1100 BMW is a very early system and I'd imagine the system on the RE to be as basic as it gets and built to a very low price, the cornering abs on my Z1000SX was amazing and allowed me to hit the brakes at a substantial lean angle in the wet and not fall off, not that I intentionally tried to test it of course.

Some modern bikes allow you to turn the rear abs for off road riding.

 

Was thinking the same regarding my stone age experience of abs. Its based on this i don't like it. For off road I like all the control at my finger tips for both brakes all the time and whilst ill concede a modern system is going to be more reliable than even an experienced hand most of the time my shit system is still going in the bin. I have a set of brembos the Himi brakes are copies off. Will be fitting those with a single line from master cylinder to caliper on respective ends. 

[Rustybullethole]

5 hours ago, Jerzy Woking said:

I just pull the abs fuse on my Himalayan if I am doing any tricky decents on gravel tracks. But as I ride mainly on my own, I do these types of tracks less now that I am getting on a bit.

Never had issues with abs on the road on my Himalayan, or any of my bikes, or work bikes, come to that.

Which of the the three do you pull? Mines locked up the last two days now am thinking with today being the hottest day it'll do it again and i do quite enjoy having two brakes 

[Sham]

ABS on the SV is very conservative, but it does work well. Just was well, since I've seen road testers able to easily lock the front wheel on tarmac with it disabled via a fuse failing*.

[andy18s]

Just had my reminder about picking up my Cagiva Navigator. 

13 years and probably the best bike I've owned.

The Tl1000s was mental but the Navy was so much more comfortable, and with the re-tuned Tl engine just as much the  hooligan..

And those Termi pipes made it sound like thunder.......

[DodgeRover]

On 9/3/2023 at 12:05 PM, Rustybullethole said:

Family down at a caravan in Romney marsh si went to join then Friday after am early finish. Hot footed in as fat as Ashford (well luke warm footed it but you get the idea). From there I found some lanes and meandered literally across country not necessarily in the right direction though was lovely.

Fish and chip supper then a day in the beach

Similar deal in the way back in reverse. None of these lanes ive rode before so was all a treat. 

Did the purple bit on way down and the red on way home. 

Need to work (spend) on the suspension and either accept that the exhaust is a consumable item or find a better skid plate though heading in the right direction with this one I feel.

 

 

 

I wouldn't trust byway map, it's about 10 years of of date.

[Rustybullethole]

5 hours ago, Sham said:

ABS on the SV is very conservative, but it does work well. Just was well, since I've seen road testers able to easily lock the front wheel on tarmac with it disabled via a fuse failing*.

Front brake skids is a great off road teaching method. Far more so than rear brake lock ups. Left work and rear brake started/stopped its shit twice between Walthamstow and Old Ford. Once managed to get to the chevrons and second much more comfortably i to the Shell. Cooled (with actual water this time as come prepped) and abs ecu fuse pulled made it home no more drama. Done a massive skid outside the flat and parked up. Happy boy. 

[Rustybullethole]

4 minutes ago, DodgeRover said:

I wouldn't trust byway map, it's about 10 years of of date.

Yeah have noticed that. Better than nowt though. Need to get better on the nav been happily following chums and to be honest just prefer proper maps. Any advice much appreciated on what works best. 

[DodgeRover]

1 minute ago, Rustybullethole said:

Yeah have noticed that. Better than nowt though. Need to get better on the nav been happily following chums and to be honest just prefer proper maps. Any advice much appreciated on what works best. 

The council should be able to provide you with a list of byways open to all traffic, it's all got a bit controversial since the NERC act came in and everything was down graded unless a claim was put in place beforehand.

[twosmoke300]

On 9/6/2023 at 7:18 AM, Rustybullethole said:

ABS. Why is it so shit?

In fairness i've only had two bikes to date with it fitted though have rode a few more. It doesn't work off road. In fact it's downright dangerous and has been the main factor in many a brown pants moment. Current bike it cant be disabled without wiring in a switch. I will however be rehoming the whole lot in the bin and this is why. Both bikes I've had with it, bmw r1100 gs and the current Himi have cooked up the rear. The bm would get hot then lose the brake the himi just locks it on. Only happens when its hot though unacceptable in my eyes and slightly worrying that if it were the front the chances of survival are less so. 

Had to piss on my new purchase in a live lane of traffic at rush hour when the fucker locked on coming out of blackwall last night. 

 

Im struggling to see how abs could cook a rear brake when it releases it when it operates .

Unless bike abs works differently to car . I'm assuming it doesn't have traction control which actually applies the brakes when spinning

 

Not being a twat just curious

 

[Rustybullethole]

31 minutes ago, twosmoke300 said:

Im struggling to see how abs could cook a rear brake when it releases it when it operates .

Unless bike abs works differently to car . I'm assuming it doesn't have traction control which actually applies the brakes when spinning

 

Not being a twat just curious

 

Can only speak from my experience of course. That experience has taught me to hate abs as i've only had this issue with bikes with it. The technical side of my hatred is the extra complexity mainly though also added weight. It's probably air in the system to be fair. The system will be simple when i've binned it off. Horses for causes i guess. Horses that kick me twice get shot haha. 

 

[Sham]

ABS on a bike is the same as a car, essentially. Some have angle sensors to adjust it when cornering - but the principle is exactly the same even if that's the case.

Brakes cooking is a separate fault - even if disabling the ABS helps.

[Jazoli]

1 hour ago, Rustybullethole said:

Can only speak from my experience of course. That experience has taught me to hate abs as i've only had this issue with bikes with it. The technical side of my hatred is the extra complexity mainly though also added weight. It's probably air in the system to be fair. The system will be simple when i've binned it off. Horses for causes i guess. Horses that kick me twice get shot haha. 

 

You'd better check you don't invalidate your insurance policy if you remove it, it'd be a major pisser if you grabbed the front brake, locked the wheel and mowed down a load of pensioners waiting at a bus stop, to find out you'd voided your policy by removing it.

[Jerzy Woking]

On 9/6/2023 at 4:42 PM, Rustybullethole said:

Which of the the three do you pull? Mines locked up the last two days now am thinking with today being the hottest day it'll do it again and i do quite enjoy having two brakes 

Fuse 9, the bottom Fuse (5 amp). It leaves the ABS light on, so a reminder to me to put the fuse back in when back on tarmac.

 

 

What pads are fitted to the rear? I have heard that EBC pads can cause the calipers to seize up.

[Cavcraft]

New Yamaha dealer opened up just over the border, so fired up the FS1 and my came along on his RD250 air cooled.  Managed to help prize Jason O'Halloran away from his new Kawasaki contract and back to Yamaha. He said he wanted something faster than an R1 though, so he's No.1 rider on this BSM (British Super Mopeds)  power* house...

...and his team manager has been announced as Niall MacKenzie...

 

Some proper nice bikes there (especially the Z1R) a 350LC and some crazy carbon BMW RR thing. 

[twosmoke300]

In case any wonders what the limit of a CB500X with standard tyres is - it’s about 100yds before this