The Bikeshite Thread

[Rustybullethole]

Just joined facebook as i want to access marketplace. Mate sent me this pic of me riding the old Ural. Did a three up round the coast uk trip on it this was somewhere in Norfolk shortly after the last time i cut my hair.

Wish I still had that bike.

[Iamgroot]

8 minutes ago, Rustybullethole said:

Just joined facebook as i want to access marketplace. Mate sent me this pic of me riding the old Ural. Did a three up round the coast uk trip on it this was somewhere in Norfolk shortly after the last time i cut my hair.

Wish I still had that bike.

That sounds utterly brilliant, well done that man

[hairnet]

Retail therapy woop (only took 4 years)

[hairnet]

Woop

[hairnet]

bugger missed out on a HA spec arai helmet

500 quids worth for 165 - cos i forgot it ended

 

[andy18s]

[Iamgroot]

1993 ZZR600, any thoughts on these from anyone with experience/anecdotes? Thanks in advance..

[5speedracer]

On 09/10/2023 at 20:59, fordperv said:

Would my little SV650 class as shite? I didn't know what to buy, I was drawn in by the low insurance cost for a new rider, the V twin sound and I love how it looks, it rides nice as well.

Looks good, is it heavy on the wrists with the flat bars?

[Barry Cade]

3 hours ago, Iamgroot said:

1993 ZZR600, any thoughts on these from anyone with experience/anecdotes? Thanks in advance..

I've had a few, and think they are brilliant bikes. Fast, comfy and seem pretty bulletproof. My first big bike was a zzr400, which suddenly gained 200 cc 😳.  Brakes are a bit crap, calipers sieze at the first sign of damp. Put firestorm calipers on and that sorts that, most will have aftermarket exhausts on by now, but the original system seems to work best. 1993 is on the change. I like the early colours but later models are a better bike, 1993 on had a fuel gauge.. 

The 90s shell suit in the pic was my last one before I got an 1100.. paid 400 quid for it and went through it all. One of my favorite bikes.

[Iamgroot]

1 hour ago, Barry Cade said:

I've had a few, and think they are brilliant bikes. Fast, comfy and seem pretty bulletproof. My first big bike was a zzr400, which suddenly gained 200 cc 😳.  Brakes are a bit crap, calipers sieze at the first sign of damp. Put firestorm calipers on and that sorts that, most will have aftermarket exhausts on by now, but the original system seems to work best. 1993 is on the change. I like the early colours but  models are a better bike, 1993 on had a fuel gauge.. 

 

Thanks very much, been offered a swap for my CBF600S so just doing a bit of research

[hairnet]

moto gp at philip island

so they moved it to the saturday cos the weather promised sunday was supposed to be garbage

just watch the moto 3 and moto2 - cue all falling off and moto2 got red flagged with 18 laps left

theyre interviewing a scottish fella and even he said it was f windy glad they stopped it and hes prolly been knockhill and crail aye  - how fucked might sunday have been if they ran it in that and it was 1987 all over again

and just watching gp and the suns out ffs

[Jazoli]

7 hours ago, Iamgroot said:

1993 ZZR600, any thoughts on these from anyone with experience/anecdotes? Thanks in advance..

Assume everything will be absolutely knackered, my 94 one was ropy 20 years ago, they don't age well, good bikes though, mine was black and pink.

I wouldn't be swapping a CBF600 for one though.

[Cavcraft]

15 hours ago, Iamgroot said:

1993 ZZR600, any thoughts on these from anyone with experience/anecdotes? Thanks in advance..

I think they're known for gearbox faults, was it 2nd or 3rd they used to like to jettison? Aside from that, the couple of people I knew who owned one said they're immense bikes. 

[Jazoli]

Just remember its 30 years old, its likely that every single rubber component is going to need replacing, the emulsion tubes in the carbs are probably worn oval, wiring looms are going to be crusty, the plastics are incredibly brittle, exhausts are likely to be paper thin, radiators failing, inside the petrol tank is likely to be corroded etc etc, if its a bike you want to use every day be very careful, if its something to polish and use occasionally then maybe, but you could get a decent late 2000's VFR800, CBF1000 or Fazer 1000 for a couple of grand which are better in every single way.

Obviously if its a mint low owner garaged bike then it should be considered, but it's 30 years old still.

[Iamgroot]

Thanks for the input fellas, already decided to leave it, the CBF is too good a bike to swap for something potentially hiding work, the guy was waay too keen which unnerved me too.

Besides I have a queue of things to fettle and it's nice having one in the fleet I can always trust to just nip out on if I want to.

[twosmoke300]

No way id swap a cbr for a zzr . 

As mentioned before , they just dont age well.

 

[Iamgroot]

15 minutes ago, twosmoke300 said:

No way id swap a cbr for a zzr . 

As mentioned before , they just dont age well.

 

Neither would I!, in this case it was a CBF though, which I'm not anyway.

The bulletproofness and easy going nature of the CBF is strangely enough a double edged sword though, it makes me want something sillier, but at the same time it's too good to lose, maybe I'll always keep it and when I've finished something to sell I'll invest in something sillier to add to the stable.

[twosmoke300]

Thundercats are a much overlooked bargain

 

[Jazoli]

46 minutes ago, twosmoke300 said:

Thundercats are a much overlooked bargain

 

They are also 25 years old, I rebuilt my mates last year as the chain snapped and ruined the crank cases, they are ok and cheap enough but they are a bit meh to me.

[Stinkwheel]

9 minutes ago, Jazoli said:

They are also 25 years old, I rebuilt my mates last year as the chain snapped and ruined the crank cases, they are ok and cheap enough but they are a bit meh to me.

I put a rod through the cases of an old 1000 EXUP once - surprisingly, it rode (carefully) home like it

[Iamgroot]

1 hour ago, Stinkwheel said:

I put a rod through the cases of an old 1000 EXUP once - surprisingly, it rode (carefully) home like it

At that point you may as well try and ride it home!

[Barry Cade]

In surprised at all your opinions on ZZRs, I've always found them to be very good  also I hate Hondas! I've had more bother with them than anything else,  and that includes Italian stuff!

4 ZZRs, and a GPZ1100s, and never an issue, apart from stuffing one into a Polo ..

[Jazoli]

57 minutes ago, Barry Cade said:

In surprised at all your opinions on ZZRs, I've always found them to be very good  also I hate Hondas! I've had more bother with them than anything else,  and that includes Italian stuff!

4 ZZRs, and a GPZ1100s, and never an issue, apart from stuffing one into a Polo ..

Never said I didn't like them, I had a 600 and two 1100's

This was the nicest

My '97 1100, it was mint, swapped an e39 528i for it, think I got the better deal.

 

[Barry Cade]

48 minutes ago, Jazoli said:

Never said I didn't like them, I had a 600 and two 1100's

This was the nicest

My '97 1100, it was mint, swapped an e39 528i for it, think I got the better deal.

 

Very nice! I saw my first ZZR in 1990, at the the bike show in Musselburgh when they were just launched . 16 year old RD50 riding  me decided there and then I was having one, one day. Had to be an early one though. Really wanted black and blue, but got black and red..

 

[Sham]

I find Honda's in general to be a bit too good, if that makes sense - a bit like their cars actually. The precise gear change, the sweet engines that are just a bit too smooth. Bikes should be a little finicky, you should need to know just how to get that perfect shift, that smooth clutch slip...

It shouldn't be too easy.

I'd love an early ZZR, but alas they're a bit needy these days - I almost bought an ER500 as a winter bike recently, I do have a soft spot for a Kwacker.

[Stinkwheel]

13 hours ago, Iamgroot said:

At that point you may as well try and ride it home!

That was my thinking as well, it still seemed to run ok apart from the obvious, only issue was making sure there wasnt too much oil on the back tyre, luckily i only had about 2 miles left to go

[Sham]

The 'vroom cupboard ' where Master Sham and I keep our motorsickles is not much more than a wooden shed, with a felt apex roof. It's dry, as in it keeps the rain out, but it isn't insulated so is prone to condensation when there are temperature changes. I've put those cheap moisture absorbers in, which helps but it's obviously air movement that is key. 

The shed is on a concrete pad that is raised at the rear because it's on a gentle slope, so figured if I put a vent low down at the back and above the double doors at the front it would help - but obviously some kind of forced extraction would be a lot better, except there's no power in there. I thought about one of those spinny doobreys that you see on chimneys, but as it's an apex roof it might not be ideal... You see a lot of solar fans on Amazon but they're little more than large computer fans, and I wonder if they're going to be any better than just a vent.

What have others done to overcome this issue?

[fordperv]

On 23/10/2023 at 14:13, 5speedracer said:

Looks good, is it heavy on the wrists with the flat bars?

Cheers, It's still nice on the wrists with the flat bars to be fair and they are comfier than the OE bars but not quite as comfy as the renthal type I put on it first but they were a little too high for me.

[Sham]

10 hours ago, fordperv said:

Cheers, It's still nice on the wrists with the flat bars to be fair and they are comfier than the OE bars but not quite as comfy as the renthal type I put on it first but they were a little too high for me.

I'm struck by how similar that is to the 2023 model. Frame is different materials but essentially the same design, and a few detail changes.

[martc]

Well the clocks have gone back so, for me, the commuting season has ended (yes, I know). So, you are all asking, with 3500 miles under its wheels, how was the electric Zero?

Well – it has been both flippin’ ace and in the doghouse.

Flippen’ ace – it is just that. Smooth, fast (very fast), quiet, vibration free, comfortable and quite capable of doing a 90-mile round trip with 40 miles range left. The handling and brakes are superb (but see below) - how can this have been made in the same country as a Hardly Dangerous? I was initially sceptical about the cruise control but I am now regularly using it – it’s ideal for a) keeping my licence safe and b) preserving the range.

So why has it been in the doghouse? Well it’s disgraced itself on three occasions –

The onboard charger failed. Apparently, mine is definitely the first one in the country, and possibly Europe, to fail. No consolation for me, but it seems to be a very unusual failure. Obvs it was mended under warranty but it took three weeks and coincided with dry warm weather.

Then it had a puncture in the rear tyre. Fortunately it was near home, but I had to buy a new tyre.

Thirdly, the front floating discs seized up causing vicious vibration on braking. Again replaced under warranty but another wait during good weather. Seizing floating discs is not an uncommon problem according to the dealer – both Zeros and Energicas have suffered from it. The dealer thinks this is due to a faulty batch of discs. Although Zeros use J Juan brakes and Energicas use Brembos, Brembo own J Juan so they could be using a common supplier. But my theory is that the front brakes are hardly used due to the fantastic regen braking just by modulating the throttle. The lack of use could cause the bobbins to stick. I’m going to make sure I use the front brakes more often by winding down the regen a bit.

One thing that was refreshing is the ease of maintenance - removing  both the wheels (I took the front wheel to a local dealer to replace the discs) showed the excellence of the engineering design - it was a doddle (but I do have the optional centre stand fitted, which helps). On replacing the rear wheel I had to adjust the belt drive which again was easy using the 'krikit' tool. The belt drive is a funny thing, no maintenance, but it can feel and sound a bit harsh at times - particularly if the weather is dry and the belt is dusty. The hollow 'petrol tank' (like an NC750) acts as a sound box and magnifies the occasional harsh sound from the belt. When clean, and if there is some humidity, the belt is silent. 

During these involuntary breaks I was getting quite jealous of my IC powered brethren but the moment I got back on the Zero all thoughts of 19^th century technology disappeared within seconds of pulling away. Would recommend.

Not mine.