The Bikeshite Thread

[RayMK]

9 minutes ago, bezzabsa said:

May I just say Just say JAMMY GIT!!!!! Bloody GAWJUS

He reluctantly sold his other bike the other day, an old one but in excellent condition Suzuki SV650S (carb type).  Its sporty riding position was making him ache after about an hour.  It is being replaced with a new Kawasaki Z650RS which impressed him when he test rode one a few weeks ago.  The BSA is staying. He loves it and has done over 1.1K miles since collecting it on 4th March this year.

[bezzabsa]

as u can guess by my piccie I love old bikes.....and i think they pulled itoff with the new ones

[RayMK]

1 minute ago, bezzabsa said:

as u can guess by my piccie I love old bikes.....and i think they pulled itoff with the new ones

My brother owns a BSA A10 (1960, I think), an A7 which is in bits and a 175cc Bantam also in bits but not needing too much restoration. He's restoring a Honda CB200 (I think) at the moment, and his daily ride is a RE Interceptor.

[Aston Martin]

Incredible 

For those that don't know, he had his right leg removed having crashed on the TT.

 

 

[Dave_Q]

I'm not normally one for negative reviews but felt it worth mentioning on here to avoid Carole Fucking Nash like the plague.

Been with them a couple of years and no problems because never had to claim or ring them. Upon selling my TMax I did have to ring them, and the times were bad.

I've spoken to about 5 different people and had 2 that were borderline competent but very slow and 3 that made me want to smash the phone. Including a guy who seemingly couldn't remember what he was meant to be doing 30 seconds later.

The problems arose because the original underwriter wouldn't cover my Gilera and it had to go for cancel and requote. The call to get the requote took just over an hour. None of that was being on hold.

I did call back again to take up the quote as cancelling with them and taking out cover elsewhere was gonna cost me about £60 more. However when I called to take up the new quote and cancel the old policy the bloke seemed to be taking out the new policy without cancelling the old one. When I mentioned this the third time, he said he'd have to put me on hold to get some advice from his manager.

At this point I hung up and rang back to customer services and just cancelled. 

By contrast Hagerty were spot on, on the phone less than 10min in total to discuss 2 bikes and a list of modifications and cover the Vespa, I will go with Hagerty for the Gilera when it's finished in 2027.

I don't know if it's a coincidence, but every person I spoke to at Carole Nash's had a very thick Nigerian/West African accent. Obviously this in itself is no problem at all but I do wonder if they have outsourced their call centre there?

Anyway, avoid to fuck.

[Stinkwheel]

3 minutes ago, Dave_Q said:

. Obviously this in itself is no problem at all but I do wonder if they have outsourced their call centre there?

Anyway, avoid to fuck.

Yep, totally outsourced, happened when it got sold from original 'carol nash' owner some years back. Same has happened to a lot of trusted and well known insurance brands.

Insurance is now a pot luck as to if you find a good company or a bunch or 'computer says no' incompetents. 

[andyberg]

Taken the little GS to work a couple if times now, hope to take it all this week as it's going to be nice 🤞 It's so lovely to feel confident on a bike, @Sir Chocolate Teapot don't worry about the transition from the Sprint. She is performing perfectly well and it is nice to be relaxed coming up to junctions and bends again. The little 125 is perfect for the roads I use to get to work. As much as I loved the Sprint I was never fully relaxed on it. Here she is with the GT, I do believe I am quite lucky with these two. I love the styling and the simplicity of them both.

[Dave_Q]

My wife is doing her full bike test, she's practiced for mod1 on a direct access bike but isn't happy with the weight of the bikes for the pushing it around bit so may just do A2 instead.

Can anyone suggest a good A2 bike we could look at for her? From a quick search she likes the look of this Honda Rebel, which is available as a 300 in some markets but only as a 500 in the UK which is A2 power but not really any lighter than an SV650 or whatever they've been practicing on.

Can anyone suggest something else that looks a bit like this but has a 250-400 sort of engine size?

[Stinkwheel]

The 500 rebel will have a lower centre of gravity though, does that make a difference maybe?

[andyberg]

Enfield Meteor. Had a test ride, really liked it. Well built, low seat height. I would recommend.

1 hour ago, Dave_Q said:

My wife is doing her full bike test, she's practiced for mod1 on a direct access bike but isn't happy with the weight of the bikes for the pushing it around bit so may just do A2 instead.

Can anyone suggest a good A2 bike we could look at for her? From a quick search she likes the look of this Honda Rebel, which is available as a 300 in some markets but only as a 500 in the UK which is A2 power but not really any lighter than an SV650 or whatever they've been practicing on.

Can anyone suggest something else that looks a bit like this but has a 250-400 sort of engine size?

 

[Dave_Q]

1 hour ago, Stinkwheel said:

The 500 rebel will have a lower centre of gravity though, does that make a difference maybe?

Yes possibly, I guess without some test rides she won't know.

26 minutes ago, andyberg said:

Enfield Meteor. Had a test ride, really liked it. Well built, low seat height. I would recommend.

 

This looks very cool but apparently still weighs 191kg? Again though, probably worth a test ride.

[andyberg]

26 minutes ago, Dave_Q said:

Yes possibly, I guess without some test rides she won't know.

This looks very cool but apparently still weighs 191kg? Again though, probably worth a test ride.

I didn't notice the weight to be honest. My Sprint was 204kg and felt much heavier. I think it helps because the weight is low down.

[Sham]

I was looking at the CB500x at one point, and is a fairly nice little bike. They do a whole CB500 range, if a upright bike doesn't take her fancy.

 

[Tepper]

My Pan European got stolen last week, it's parked on the street and I came out one morning to find the chain had been cut and the bike was gone. Yesterday the police called me and said someone had reported it dumped... about 30 metres from where it had been parked. It was behind a high wall in a private car park, somewhere I didn't really think to have a poke around. The scrotes had obviously pushed it there out of view to try to hotwire it. They've smashed some of the panels trying to get it going, which is annoying, but it should all be pretty fixable.

A few months ago I found the ignition switch was melted and the wires were in a total mess, I assumed the switch had shorted out but I wonder if that was a previous attempt to hotwire the poor thing? Anyway this time I should'nt have to replace the ignition switch, hopefully I can just solder the wires back together and be back on the road. After that it's getting stuck in my lock up, I'm fed up of shit like this.

[Dave_Q]

Sorry to hear that mate. 

Police rarely lift a finger to look for them, was probably just a coincidence that someone from that car park reported it dumped.

You need a tracker so at least you can get it back. They'll crop chains as happened to me a few weeks ago. I'm sure mine must have been taken away in a van as they wouldn't have been able to start it and it was found a few miles away, a small amount of proactive night policing would disrupt the thieves but seems like far too much to ask nowadays.

[twosmoke300]

Out she comes blinking into the sunlight . Mot morro so I can shake it down before next weekends two dayer at Anglesey. 
Not happy with the exhaust but hopefully won’t catch the tarmac and try and lift the back wheel off the ground like the standard one . Suits the whole ugly duckling vibe she has 😂. 
Thundercat on the ramp now for a couple of cables , carb balance and service / check over . That will be my back up / wet track bike .

[Tepper]

22 hours ago, Dave_Q said:

Sorry to hear that mate. 

Police rarely lift a finger to look for them, was probably just a coincidence that someone from that car park reported it dumped.

 

Honestly I wasn't expecting anything from the police, I only reported it to get it logged as stolen on the PNC - even that took them 3 days to do.  They did the usual, said there were no leads and nothing they could do. Then the other day a call comes in from the car park, the police pass the info to me and say that I can just collect it as the elements will have gotten rid of any forensics. A fully desk-based exercise by the sound of things.

Don't get me wrong, if I was in charge of the police with the budget they have I don't think I'd be prioritising low-ish value motorbike theft, but I wish they had the resources to actually deal with stuff like this. I PAY MY TAXES LIKE EVER1 ELSE M8 etc

[andyberg]

Just got back from the Distinguished Gentleman's Ride. Bloody enjoyable, over 300 bikes in the end causing chaos in Bristol. Was a bit disappointed that it was mostly new retro style bikes and not many proper old bikes. I took my GT and I only counted about half a dozen other 2 strokes. Here's a couple of biased photos.

[andyberg]

[andyberg]

[Cavcraft]

It must have been a nationwide thing, there were quite a few in Chester, today. They made a great effort, one lady pillion passenger had a tweed jacket and a plastic moustache and the ones I passed were all smiling and waving. Looks great fun.

[andyberg]

6 hours ago, Cavcraft said:

It must have been a nationwide thing, there were quite a few in Chester, today. They made a great effort, one lady pillion passenger had a tweed jacket and a plastic moustache and the ones I passed were all smiling and waving. Looks great fun.

It's worldwide mate. Started in Australia in 2012 I think. This was my first year. I'll be doing it again. The organisers at my ride laid on a BBQ and entertainment after. A bloody good day.

[doug]

Guzzi failed it's MOT today. Gutted. When I got it out the garage last week to prepare it for its MOT the left side indicators would not work. So buggered about with them and they just started working. They worked all the way to the MOT but at the test they stopped working again. Hate electrics.

Sent from my SM-A145R using Tapatalk

[Stinkwheel]

15 hours ago, doug said:

. They worked all the way to the MOT but at the test they stopped working again. Hate electrics.


 

Thats a bit much, i had a weird thing when i MOT'd the VFR where the rear brake light being applied it switched off one of the rear tail light bulbs, the MOT guy said, look its failed, but if you fiddle with it for 5 mins and it works, i can pass it for you.  They could have given you similar grace

[straightSix]

Has anyone got any good recommendations for a motorbike phone mount? I've checked quadlock but they don't do a case for my phone annoyingly 

[Jazoli]

Have a look at ultimate add ons cases, or change your phone

 

[doug]

Thats a bit much, i had a weird thing when i MOT'd the VFR where the rear brake light being applied it switched off one of the rear tail light bulbs, the MOT guy said, look its failed, but if you fiddle with it for 5 mins and it works, i can pass it for you.  They could have given you similar grace

Aye they let me work on it but I could not get them to work. To be fair they are usually pretty good with me, it's usually " get that fixed when you get home".
Been at it 2 hours now got them working, put the headlamp back in and they have stopped again! Hate electrics. Dodgy wire somewhere.

Sent from my SM-A145R using Tapatalk

[Dave_Q]

My only relevant experience was also on a VFR actually, that would randomly cut out / lose electrics. 

I managed to identify the area of the loom where the problem was by semi-methodically wiggling bits of it, then peeled back the tape on the problem area and managed to find a join where the wires had turned to dust.

[andy18s]

1 hour ago, straightSix said:

Has anyone got any good recommendations for a motorbike phone mount? I've checked quadlock but they don't do a case for my phone annoyingly 

Be careful of vibrations knackering your phone,or being out in the direct sunshine overheating it too

[Cavcraft]

Obvs. keeping hopeless old mopeds is worth it for the fun and enjoyment you get from riding them....

 

The MT-5 didn't make this year's MOT, the bloody indicators have packed up one one side, and it's being a bastard to start. Again. 

The OR50 has done the grand total of one mile since 2021, and 23 miles since 2020. I expect 3 of them were pushing the bastard.

The MBX managed 20 miles since March 2022, and 78 miles since 2019. This fared quite well compared to some of the others and only about 2 miles were pushing it.

This week has been spent getting the Z200 running (success, the plug was fouled, so swapped for another) and getting four of  of the mopeds running and down for an MOT.  The GSX250 has been dropped off repairs to the sticking front caliper (and will be replaced at that garage by one of the FS1s), the 883 has been out for a ride and so has the Lambretta. 

 

Meanwhile wheeled this out of the back and should really make a start with it, or take it somewhere that can do it for me...