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The Bikeshite Thread


warren t claim

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did you hide your 125?? :lol:

 

whers the ice cream pic??

 

 

He actually rode that BMW but was so embarrassed he kept it just to the side of a nice photo of a VFR.

 

Can't knock a ride out to Sunny Hunny, not a million miles from either those of us in the South East or the more Flat Capped of the forum, so a definite place for a Bikeshite meet for hairnets Ice cream shot?

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Also went to sea on a bike (well, my GS500.)

 

Facing away from Sizewell, weird and yellow

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Facing Sizewell, all nice and clean.

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Took the Yamaha divvy out before this which is in desperate need of its carbs syncing but otherwise isn't too bad. Has a bit of a lack of urgency about it and the gear change is agricultural until its warmed up but seems alright. I don't entirely trust its RR to take it further than pushing home distance yet but after a brief tweak yesterday to loosen the chain, the clutch and gear shift height it seems to be getting there.

 

 

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Anyone owned an Aprilia Futura? Rather tempted by one...

 

They are great bikes, but are no good when its sat in the garage awaiting parts to arrive from Aprillia, most stuff can be found on eBay but they were never that popular so commonly broken parts are scarce, great engines though.

 

Edit, thought you meant the Falco, I'm not sure I'd be brave enough for a Futura, when a VFR800 can be bought for £1.5k.

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Went to Dundee on Saturday for a test ride on a Royal Enfield 650 Interceptor. I've had a deposit down since Sept but they've just arrived in the UK in the last few weeks.

Lovely bike to look at, looks just like a slightly evolved 60's bike which I never thought the Bonny ever pulled off. Natural seating position, slight forward lean, did 30 miles and didn't know it. At first I thought the pegs were too far out as the cases are quite wide for "the look" but didn't find it an issue.

Lovely light clutch and the gear change is so easy it takes a bit of getting used to. Only 150 miles on the bike so still a bit sluggish but I was happy with the performance of all 47 horses. It's long stroke so using 2500-5500 makes for deceptive progress. Sweet spot around 75 for easy cruising. Basic suspension but it irons out pockmarked urban roads very well and only once did I feel a jolt on an A road but I suspect a preload increase would sort it out.

All said an impressive bike with ByBre brakes, Pirelli tyres, braided hoses and no water leaks as it's air/oil cooled. So far Ecosse have a 100% hit rate for tests v purchase, including me. At £5500 it's a no brainer!

 

Sent from my Redmi 4 using Tapatalk

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First they came for the lid, and the frogs said CE approved gloves or else.....

 

We got the helmet law in 1973, and there's hardly been deluge of legislation on gear since then, though. I just think if a lid wasn't compulsory, then the yoof would not even consider them (I probably wouldn't have when I was considerably younger and even stupider than now) and suddenly Brain Soup abounds. I suspect that, like me, you may have more than a few miles on the clock, and while we might be able to make sensible decisions about degrees of risk your average 16 YO might not be in a position to make such a well-informed choice.

 

In any event, I can't see it getting repealed anytime soon given that MAG couldn't organise a piss-up in a brewery, never mind a successful lobbying campaign.

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They are great bikes, but are no good when its sat in the garage awaiting parts to arrive from Aprillia, most stuff can be found on eBay but they were never that popular so commonly broken parts are scarce, great engines though.

 

Edit, thought you meant the Falco, I'm not sure I'd be brave enough for a Futura, when a VFR800 can be bought for £1.5k.

Thanks= Always kinda fancied one, or maybe even a Caponord., Don't need to commute now so just for high days and holidays... I don't do Honda's, Had a VFR 750FT and found it to be a two wheeled Accord.. Just never gelled with any Honda I've owned, so stopped buying them. First bike, MBX 50. It broke. CBR600, it broke, VFR750, bored me to tears,CBR1000, OK but meh.

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So now the weather has improved* what do we think about a bit of a meet/run to the coast/etc etc for the two wheelers amongst us?

 

I have used the GXSR sparing in the salty months but last couple of weeks have snuck out once or twice and to work. Oh lordy I forget how fast the fecking thing is sometimes (K2 no abs/tc etc)    :-)

 

Sam. 

 

Ps, Hooli, wt actual f!

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Thanks= Always kinda fancied one, or maybe even a Caponord., Don't need to commute now so just for high days and holidays... I don't do Honda's, Had a VFR 750FT and found it to be a two wheeled Accord.. Just never gelled with any Honda I've owned, so stopped buying them. First bike, MBX 50. It broke. CBR600, it broke, VFR750, bored me to tears,CBR1000, OK but meh.

Two of my mates own Caponords, both 07 models, and both are well used. Both of them love them, and they are well versed in their foibles. They are really tall though, and much taller than the V-Strom I had.

 

That has reminded me-the V-Strom 1000 I had was great, and only sold it because with my bad knees it was hard for me to hold up when stopping on clambered roads. Had the suspension set up by MCT for road use and it transformed it. Now my knees are near enough sorted, I'd consider another.

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Dropped one of the work bikes into the dealers today for its first MOT and an annual service (oil change and brake fluid change), but lease company have insisted the major service be completed 4,000 miles early, so here until at least 1pm and not the 90 minutes originally thought.

 

Still, free coffee provided for me in the very nice on site cafe, and therefore have a very attractive waitress at my back and call.

 

This was going to be a grump until the coffee and waitress!

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I have never driven a motorbicycle. Until now, the Yamaha Tricity 125cc.

 

They tell me that theres speed limits here and red lights exist, but I've driven everywhere keeping up with traffic well above the limit.

 

I have seen the police shout at someone.... He was jaywalking.

 

The plan was monserrat, however I'm in a 60 km zone and all is well. 80km zone / 90+ fuck me, I am the coldest human being in the world. So I gave up after a few k.

 

The bike? Well it's a bit awkward to manoeuvre slowly and I haven't the confidence to squeeze through gaps in traffic. So, I just go full throttle on green. The guy said I have to use the proper stand, that ain't happening as I'm too stupid to do it. It looks like I'm trying to pick a fat lass up of the floor.

 

I will retry Monserrat tomorrow, but sadly it'll be in an Ioniq.

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Does it feel like you couldn't fall off?

 

Sent from my Redmi 4 using Tapatalk

 

Yes, and I drove on some dodgy gravelled potholed roads just out of the city. It's solid, it's a bit big. Everyone else is zipping past me at traffic and I can't. It's not just an issue with this, the other fairly big 125 scooter drivers can't cut either. I saw a guy on a 50cc tiny thing crawl to squeeze past. By the time he got to the front, the lights changed and we all left him.

 

It's fucking thirsty. Because I bottled it and stuck to the city. It drank half a tank in no time. They will do 60 mph + I think, but I couldn't get past 97km. €5.85 to brim the tank from empty.

 

I drove everywhere full throttle red to red light. It just went straight no drama. It's a nice bike, but not £4k? Nice.

 

It wasn't quick enough. I always liked the idea of an msx 125. But you hit the limit immediately. (There is a Tricity 155cc)

 

An American was in the rental place at the same time as me and rented the cheapest smallest 125cc bike for two weeks. I'd rather have some heft Infront of me. I had to slam on twice and it just stops dead.

 

If the weather was nicer and I was here for two weeks.... and I had warm clothes. It'd be great.

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Major service for the venerable GPz this week. Thought I'd be super prepared by buying a workshop shim kit so I could get the job done in one day. Thwarted as despite having three of every conceivable size known to man that quantity was insufficient in two sizes. Oh well, more shims ordered and due to arrive in a couple of days. The good news is that despite doing more than double the 6,000 mile recommended  interval between valve clearance checks all the gaps were close enough to spec to not be of any concern so I'm happy not to check them again for at least another 12,000 miles.

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I think strangeangel of this parish has one (or at least he did)

 

Yep, still got mine and like it a lot... although I'm ashamed to say I've let the MOT run out which has been pretty much par for the course for me these days, what with one thing and another.

 

I keep (enviously) seeing people riding past work enjoying the early spring sunshine, though, so I'm planning to get that sorted in the next week or so.

 

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And by all accounts useless in every environment.

 

Only if you believe motorcycling journalists ;) I was always more of a UMG reader, so always preferred to hear what long-term owners thought of their machines. I bought it from a friend who'd had it from nearly new and was looking to downsize because of health issues, and I've ridden more miles in it's company that I've done on it myself as yet. I've not toured on it thus far, but it's previous owner thought nothing of doing so.

 

The upright riding position is great for me because of my ropey back, although if you wanted to cruise at much more than the speed limit (I don't) you might find the wind blast a bit intrusive. Mine has a taller GIvi screen fitted, and I've pootled along for as much as 4-5 hours at a time at 70 with no ill-effects. The seat is very comfortable; the pillion looks less so but then I don't carry them, so not an issue for me.

 

The automatic transmission (1000000 Biker Hate Points) is brilliant, albeit a lot more complex than a common-or-garden CVT, and definitely not serviceable by a primate like me. Still, I'm told that the hydraulic system it's based on is used in farm machinery etc. and supposedly pretty tough, so fingers crossed it'll last. Gearchanges are almost undetectable, and there's also flappy paddle mode if you want to get a wriggle on (I generally don't). I guess if you ride like you stole it you'd find issues with the handling and intrusions from the shaft drive... I'm very happy with it in that respect, even with an overloaded top box and a big dry bag strapped to the pillion.

 

Obviously it doesn't cut it on the urban scramble front, but I would contend that it was never intended to be a scooter. It's simply a cruiser in better looking clothes with automatic transmission. That said, I do ride it in town; the low seat and COG and auto box help, but the sheer length of the beast makes filtering a bit of a trial. The C90 is the weapon of choice for that sort of thing!

 

So, not for everyone then, but does it deserve the scorn poured upon it from every outpost of the motorcycle press? Different strokes for different folks... all I know is that this (and the old Helix & other big scooters) work better for me than other types of bike.

 

And, yeah, they do look fantastic :)

 

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