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After a couple of hard weeks in work (running a secondary school at the moment is a ballache), i got up early today and decided id have a day on the Niken.

Went down to Cornwall. M-way as far as poss (X-eter) then a mix of As to Bodmin, Camelford, Newquay, Penzance, Land's End, Helston, Falmouth and back.

The Niken was pretty flawless (those OEM tyres are crap though), a few idiots in cars with no care for motorcyclists. Nice that it'll do 175miles between fueling. I've done almost 2000 miles on it now - not bad as i still use the NC for work and for some pottering.

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On 10/11/2020 at 6:15 PM, Saabnut said:

That makes me very happy and seeing it shiny more so! :-) 

After a few* years you will be swapping sides for pedals without any thought. Took me about 20 I think, with a mix of Jap/Brit bikes throughout!

I was riding a Morini 3.5 and a GSX-R750 and found I was fairly quick at getting used to left/right gear levers with only a few fluffy at first.

Now 35 years later I am having a few issues with left hand drive, right hand gear change. If I go for the door handle once more, I'll scream!

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I miss the OMG rocketship thrust from my ZZR1100. Third gear roll on was insane, everything just went blurry. Bikes I've had before and since would out handle and out perform in most areas.....but nothing I've ridden since has had that big rush.

So theoretical moon on a stick time (I'm skint!):

£1500 - £2000

Sports bike size / look, nothing lardy

Big muscly shove. More than a firestorm....ZZR levels of oomph

What is the most ridiculous bike you can buy for that sort of dosh???

Early R1 / blades are that sort of money I guess.......zx12r are starting to appreciate.......

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@They_all_do_that_sir, for your budget the only thing that will get you the ‘ohmygoodfuckingjesustittyfuckingchristalmighty’ feeling that a ZZR1100 going at full bifters gives, is another ZZR1100. Get as late a ‘D’ model as you can. 

@Jerzy Woking’s V-twin suggestions aren’t a bad idea at all though - they’ll not rev like a 4-pot but they will feel torquey as hell - loads of mid-range stomp.

I’d be a bit wary of litre sports bikes at that end of the budget - £2k is really into thrashed track bike territory.

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Suzuki TL1000 or SV1000. Aprilia RSV Mille or Falco. Honda VTR1000
All big grunty V-Twins, all available for under £2,000. My choice would be the Aprilia Mille, especially if you are tall.
I've done a firestorm.......the Mille appeals. Bit more power, bit lighter and is a wee bit tricker looking

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[mention=5569]They_all_do_that_sir[/mention], for your budget the only thing that will get you the ‘ohmygoodfuckingjesustittyfuckingchristalmighty’ feeling that a ZZR1100 going at full bifters gives, is another ZZR1100. Get as late a ‘D’ model as you can. 
[mention=19526]Jerzy Woking[/mention]’s V-twin suggestions aren’t a bad idea at all though - they’ll not rev like a 4-pot but they will feel torquey as hell - loads of mid-range stomp.
I’d be a bit wary of litre sports bikes at that end of the budget - £2k is really into thrashed track bike territory.
I probably should have kept the D6 ZZR1100 I had but it was pretty tired by that stage. They are a bit lardy mind. I def want moon on a stick here

It'll be next year anyway and I'll likely end up buying an rs125 or something completely different by then. Or just keeping the bandit 6

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1 hour ago, They_all_do_that_sir said:

I miss the OMG rocketship thrust from my ZZR1100. Third gear roll on was insane, everything just went blurry. Bikes I've had before and since would out handle and out perform in most areas.....but nothing I've ridden since has had that big rush.

So theoretical moon on a stick time (I'm skint!):

£1500 - £2000

Sports bike size / look, nothing lardy

Big muscly shove. More than a firestorm....ZZR levels of oomph

What is the most ridiculous bike you can buy for that sort of dosh???

Early R1 / blades are that sort of money I guess.......zx12r are starting to appreciate.......

Sent from my Pixel 4 XL using Tapatalk
 

You'll get a 929 'blade for that, they are well built and tick all the boxes' but for proper stomp you can get a blackbird, they are a little lardy but they are certainly fast.

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Talking of zzr1100 and value for money, the place I got my VFR in had one in being sold by the bikes owner (ie not through the garage I can't think of the proper term). It went almost as quickly as any Triumph that ever makes it to their facebook page but that makes sense as it was a lot of bike for 850 quid!

That being said it appears it had grim reaper stickers on each side of the tank so I'm not sure how much that knocks off the value of a bike...

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19 hours ago, They_all_do_that_sir said:

I've done a firestorm.......the Mille appeals. Bit more power, bit lighter and is a wee bit tricker looking

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I must confess to being a V-Twin fan. I still have my Guzzi V1200 Sport in the UK to ride should I be able to get back post Covid.

In the past I have had an RSV-R Mille, Dorsoduro 750, TL1000, V-Strom 1000, SV1000, SV650 (lovely things), Harley 1200 Sportster (sorry, but had to scratch that itch), Ducati 900SS and latterly a KTM RC8 and RC8R. All the v-twin bikes I have had have been good bikes, and each one had a different feel from the other.

I confess that I don't miss in line fours, although I must have owned 40 or so over the years. An in line four engine feels the same as any other in line four (except the cross plane Yamaha's). I'm settled now with a single and a triple

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I must confess to being a V-Twin fan. I still have my Guzzi V1200 Sport in the UK to ride should I be able to get back post Covid.
In the past I have had an RSV-R Mille, Dorsoduro 750, TL1000, V-Strom 1000, SV1000, SV650 (lovely things), Harley 1200 Sportster (sorry, but had to scratch that itch), Ducati 900SS and latterly a KTM RC8 and RC8R. All the v-twin bikes I have had have been good bikes, and each one had a different feel from the other.
I confess that I don't miss in line fours, although I must have owned 40 or so over the years. An in line four engine feels the same as any other in line four (except the cross plane Yamaha's). I'm settled now with a single and a triple
I think a Mille would fit the bill. Something light and punchy with an anti social exhaust and no pillion provision whatsoever.

This all stemmed from me looking at aftermarket exhausts for the V85tt. When I added up a decat and slip on silencer it was the thick end of £900. Which in my world is almost an entire bike.......

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Speaking of V twins I was ripping around West Wales on this today. 

8C2A0AAE-1CDA-4455-B12E-2FF44CC2D092.thumb.jpeg.2e6a00cda709bdd28cb2af4c1e24170f.jpeg

I think, including the new set of Bridgestones it now sports, the whole thing still owes me less than a grand. 

Ok, it’s not face-meltingly fast but it’s a hell of a good machine for A & B road bashing.

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On 10/18/2020 at 9:38 PM, They_all_do_that_sir said:

I miss the OMG rocketship thrust from my ZZR1100. Third gear roll on was insane, everything just went blurry. Bikes I've had before and since would out handle and out perform in most areas.....but nothing I've ridden since has had that big rush.

So theoretical moon on a stick time (I'm skint!):

£1500 - £2000

Sports bike size / look, nothing lardy

Big muscly shove. More than a firestorm....ZZR levels of oomph

What is the most ridiculous bike you can buy for that sort of dosh???

Early R1 / blades are that sort of money I guess.......zx12r are starting to appreciate.......

Sent from my Pixel 4 XL using Tapatalk
 

I acquired my Speed Triple for 1100 quid after nearly seven years of looking for a replacement for my Honda. It's certainly quick, especially with the 147hp motor from a late Daytona 955i shoehorned into it. Not mint and 40,000 miles but clean and very serviceable.

A Thunderace or Zx9r sneaks into your budget 1800 quid should get a clean one. A ZZR 12 starts from about 2 grand. 

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2 hours ago, 83C said:

Speaking of V twins I was ripping around West Wales on this today. 

8C2A0AAE-1CDA-4455-B12E-2FF44CC2D092.thumb.jpeg.2e6a00cda709bdd28cb2af4c1e24170f.jpeg

I think, including the new set of Bridgestones it now sports, the whole thing still owes me less than a grand. 

Ok, it’s not face-meltingly fast but it’s a hell of a good machine for A & B road bashing.

I missed buying that one by about 30 mins, looks great now you have sorted it.

I've put my bike away for the year now, too much shit on the roads.

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1 hour ago, warch said:

I acquired my Speed Triple for 1100 quid after nearly seven years of looking for a replacement for my Honda. It's certainly quick, especially with the 147hp motor from a late Daytona 955i shoehorned into it. Not mint and 40,000 miles but clean and very serviceable.

A Thunderace or Zx9r sneaks into your budget 1800 quid should get a clean one. A ZZR 12 starts from about 2 grand. 

The ZX9 C1/2 look like good value for money and the paint jobs aren't too dated/offensive compared to other bikes of the same era.

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1 hour ago, Jazoli said:

I missed buying that one by about 30 mins, looks great now you have sorted it.

I've put my bike away for the year now, too much shit on the roads.

Cosmetically, it's a good ten foot bike. Mechanically it's almost there, the clutch cable is stretched to its limits though. I keep toying with the idea of selling it but I do like riding the thing, and it'll be even better with a small amount of money spent - a QA throttle is a definite if it stays. 

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14 hours ago, Jazoli said:

I missed buying that one by about 30 mins, looks great now you have sorted it.

I've put my bike away for the year now, too much shit on the roads.

The biggest advantage I have living where I now live is that I can ride all year round, and if it does snow (last had a dusting of it three years ago), there is no crap thrown on the roads. My mate recently scrapped his 2003 Transit not because of rust, but because the engine blew.

The downside is I just can't buy a bike on a whim, as so much paperwork AND money needed to change ownership. Plus as there is no such thing as a multi bike insurance policy(each bike has to be insured individually), costs are massively prohibitive. Insuring 2 bikes here cost more than when I had 11 bikes insured in the UK.

What I win on the swings I lose on the roundabouts...

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Just now, Jerzy Woking said:

The biggest advantage I have living where I now live is that I can ride all year round, and if it does snow (last had a dusting of it three years ago), there is no crap thrown on the roads. My mate recently scrapped his 2003 Transit not because of rust, but because the engine blew.

The downside is I just can't buy a bike on a whim, as so much paperwork AND money to do to change ownership, plus as there is no such thing as a multi bike insurance policy (each bike has to be insured individually), cost is massively prohibitive. Insuring 2 bikes here cost more than when I had 11 bikes insured in the UK.

What I win on the swings I lose on the roundabouts...

I know, I lived there for 7 years in Catral, the roads are just covered in dust from the marble mines instead! I'm just a bit jealous as we had to return home :)

The paperwork is a pain, although I used my UK reg'd FZR1000 for 3 years and picked up a few tickets for crossing white lines and speeding and the Guardia weren't bothered about the UK reg, then they had a crackdown and I had to buy a Spanish bike, which was expensive.

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I had forgotten that you lived in Catral, which is just a few miles from my place. It has a great Chinese store selling everything, and some good bars too.

All the different police forces here now have the DVLA tax and MOT checker on their smartphones, so British plated cars and bikes are easy to check. And thus an easy target if either tax and MOT is out.

The police are also enforcing the 30 day rule for those vehicle owners that have applied for TIE (residency). It will catch a lot of people, and ignorance of the (many) rules and laws is definitely no excuse in police eyes. 

I think Bre***t will be a cash cow for the police!

 

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12 minutes ago, Jerzy Woking said:

I had forgotten that you lived in Catral, which is just a few miles from my place. It has a great Chinese store selling everything, and some good bars too.

All the different police forces here now have the DVLA tax and MOT checker on their smartphones, so British plated cars and bikes are easy to check. And thus an easy target if either tax and MOT is out.

The police are also enforcing the 30 day rule for those vehicle owners that have applied for TIE (residency). It will catch a lot of people, and ignorance of the (many) rules and laws is definitely no excuse in police eyes. 

I think Bre***t will be a cash cow for the police!

 

If you ever get chance ride up the CV70 from Alicante into Alcoi, its an amazing road as are most of them surrounding it :) 

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28 minutes ago, Jazoli said:

If you ever get chance ride up the CV70 from Alicante into Alcoi, its an amazing road as are most of them surrounding it :) 

My neighbour told me to ride to Alcoi then up to Planes. Looks great on the map so will ride up there next week (I hope to have the time to).

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After 20 months and 10,000 kms with my arse sat on it, I finally treated my Enfield to not only its first wash (discounting getting caught in a 4 hour downpour in France in 2019) but also some bits.

New €38 Yuasa battery to replace the fecked original. Mine lasted better than some, considering the bike was left in my garage for 9 months with no battery tender). Shortened sidestand fitted, as it alway felt too upright on the standard stand.

And cleaning the bike revealed the benefit of living in sunnier climes. No rust anywhere. No furred up fasteners. No pickling up of alloy parts. Looks as good (cosmetically) as the day it was delivered. And once again I can enjoy scaring myself stupid by riding a bit too fast on the gravel tracks that surround me.

20201024_173323.jpg

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Went to see my mate who's re-building the 'box of bits' RS125 this afternoon. Progress has been slow (weather) but steady and it's taking more shape again now...

 

Image may contain: motorcycle

 

No photo description available.

 

Besides a box of random bits that weren't off this bike (but came with it) he's found some more oddments.

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