The Bikeshite Thread

[Iamgroot]

Well, this happened, two in!

Two 1983 VF750F joined the fold

[Rustybullethole]

Fella in the flat used to have one just like lefty there. Always liked the look of it. He never gave me a go. 

[Iamgroot]

6 minutes ago, Rustybullethole said:

Fella in the flat used to have one just like lefty there. Always liked the look of it. He never gave me a go. 

The one on the left was why I bought them as a pair to be honest, the one on the right I'm not so bothered about, the black one was used at least at cadwell park in superstock apparently.

[martc]

On 8/26/2023 at 1:07 PM, MiniMinorMk3 said:

Random Picture No.2

You'd probably get laughed off your foot pegs if you turned up to the local HOG Chapter on one of these.

However, when the stormin' bad ass bro's go back to their middle ranking accounting jobs on Monday (9am sharp) they would admire the frugality of it and suggest several tax efficient schemes where you could offset it's value against......blah blah blah ...... zzzzzzzz

[andyberg]

Just a hypothetical question really. I guess not one for the 'ask a shiter' thread as it's about bikes. 

Now I do have a hankering for a royal Enfield but funds are somewhat limited after the expensive MOT for my 75 ☹️ and I do really like my little GS125, but......

I see the older, Indian bullets are a fair bit cheaper than the newer, more modern* ones. These older ones have kick start and right foot gear change, that doesn't bother me too much. I know the performance will be about the same as the GS but I'm past going fast on a bike now and I do fancy a bigger single plodder.

So my question is have any of you any experience of these bullets in terms of ownership or anything else?

Cheers collective.

[tom13]

12 minutes ago, andyberg said:

Just a hypothetical question really. I guess not one for the 'ask a shiter' thread as it's about bikes. 

Now I do have a hankering for a royal Enfield but funds are somewhat limited after the expensive MOT for my 75 ☹️ and I do really like my little GS125, but......

I see the older, Indian bullets are a fair bit cheaper than the newer, more modern* ones. These older ones have kick start and right foot gear change, that doesn't bother me too much. I know the performance will be about the same as the GS but I'm past going fast on a bike now and I do fancy a bigger single plodder.

So my question is have any of you any experience of these bullets in terms of ownership or anything else?

Cheers collective.

@Psycho Charlie Knobcheese

[Psycho Charlie Knobcheese]

4 hours ago, andyberg said:

Just a hypothetical question really. I guess not one for the 'ask a shiter' thread as it's about bikes. 

Now I do have a hankering for a royal Enfield but funds are somewhat limited after the expensive MOT for my 75 ☹️ and I do really like my little GS125, but......

I see the older, Indian bullets are a fair bit cheaper than the newer, more modern* ones. These older ones have kick start and right foot gear change, that doesn't bother me too much. I know the performance will be about the same as the GS but I'm past going fast on a bike now and I do fancy a bigger single plodder.

So my question is have any of you any experience of these bullets in terms of ownership or anything else?

Cheers collective.

I had one of the very last of the iron barrelled, right foot change bikes in semi trails spec.

I deliberately wanted one of these as I wanted the British bike ‘experience’ and I’d done a few miles around Goa/Karnataka on 350’s in my early 20’s.

I’ve been riding bikes since I was 12 and have owned 20+ Japanese bikes over the years, but had always wanted something like a T140 or an OIF BSA 650, but could never afford one.

They take a completely different approach to riding and also maintaining. 
I found trying to undo 30 odd years of muscle memory more difficult than I thought It would be as regards the right foot change/down for up/up for down.

It was fine 99% of the time but if you need to do an emergency stop it can get ‘interesting’.

Iron barrel doesn’t dissipate heat too well so you notice the performance drop off in hot weather.

Vibrations are something else. Above 55mph it was like riding a whacker plate. Feet would literally vibrate off the pegs if you tried to max it out!

If you’re used to working on Japanese/Euro stuff it can be a bit head scratching at times but they are relatively easy to work on.

To summarise they are great fun and could be a brilliant short distance commuter, just expect them to be a bit more involved than a Japanese bike, but still cheap to run.
I’ve never had a bike that drew as much positive attention- mine looked cool as fuck.

By some coincidence I’ve recently been looking at the early Trails 500 efi model (drum rear brake/left foot change) with the all alloy engine and reckon this would be a much better day to day bike and easier to live with if you’re used to Japanese stuff.
 

 

[Psycho Charlie Knobcheese]

On 8/26/2023 at 1:32 PM, Cavcraft said:

Remember Thursday and  'The bloke's gaff was absolutely rammed with shite, old Discoverys, Range Rovers, farming stuff, knackered and decent motorbikes and pretty much everything else in between.'?

 

Well, one of the other rammed in shite things caught my eye. Probably should have paid more attention and just bought that instead, but here we are two days later, with something certainly shitter and maybe a bit quicker from the same vendor. Test ride duly taken, fuel from the can we bought with us added (he was miles miles from anywhere), some minor tick-over tweaks, and off to go. PO rode it like an absolute demon up his farm track (which is over a mile long) which I didn't fancy. The front tyre is older than God and has more cracks than Anne Robinson smiling without wearing make-up, and another interesting* feature revealed itself on the ride home.

Here it is, in all it's 42 year old Kawasaki glory...

 

A 'proper' (chain) Kawasaki big 4 seems to be stupid money these days, so this was considerably cheaper than one of those would have fetched. Only took it to 60mph due to the aforementioned front tyre, plus the newly found feature of it deciding to piss petrol out of the bottom of the carbs somewhere with the engine running. Discovering this at a busy set of (red, obvs) lights coming home wasn't exactly inspiring, but CBA stopping to investigate and luckily made it home without needing to stop for more than about a minute at most at other signals. Love the seat, despise the handlebars. Other than that, it sounds fantastic, even if it looks horrible.

Not a fan of the colour, it either needs to go Kawasaki Green with Eddie Lawson replica type decals, or possibly an all black job with a bikini fairing. Perhaps a sort  of half-arsed 'Mad Max' type thing.   

Man after my own heart.

This will be going on eBay in the next week or two:

 

 

[Iamgroot]

9 minutes ago, Psycho Charlie Knobcheese said:

Man after my own heart.

This will be going on eBay in the next week or two:

 

 

Very Nice!, Looks very similar to my Z750 based "thing" definitely a lot of shared parts, but what exactly are we looking at?

[Cavcraft]

Bloody lovely that.

Twin shock GPZ?

[Psycho Charlie Knobcheese]

34 minutes ago, Iamgroot said:

Very Nice!, Looks very similar to my Z750 based "thing" definitely a lot of shared parts, but what exactly are we looking at?

GPz750R1

Only made for 2 years but same as 750L4

[Psycho Charlie Knobcheese]

31 minutes ago, Cavcraft said:

Bloody lovely that.

Twin shock GPZ?

GPz750R1

Same as Z750L4 which came later 

Made 80-82 so fairly rare

[Psycho Charlie Knobcheese]

It’s been garaged for 20 odd years. It was always my plan to chuck a later engine out of a ZR-7 into it and refresh the rest but it’s got to go

[Iamgroot]

28 minutes ago, Psycho Charlie Knobcheese said:

GPz750R1

Only made for 2 years but same as 750L4

That explains that! Thanks.

Very nice bike.

[808 Estate]

On 8/27/2023 at 7:02 PM, bezzabsa said:

Please do..... the suzi 650 was a katana, but also wasnt..LOL, slow and heavy but with the Katana badge stuck to it they hoped to sell more

I had one of those. My first "big bike".

Bloody brilliant machine. They were actually an under bored 750 as opposed to an over bored 550 and therefore a really low stressed motor. Surprisingly comfortable and grunty. White wheels were shite to keep clean though.

[andyberg]

8 hours ago, Psycho Charlie Knobcheese said:

I had one of the very last of the iron barrelled, right foot change bikes in semi trails spec.

I deliberately wanted one of these as I wanted the British bike ‘experience’ and I’d done a few miles around Goa/Karnataka on 350’s in my early 20’s.

I’ve been riding bikes since I was 12 and have owned 20+ Japanese bikes over the years, but had always wanted something like a T140 or an OIF BSA 650, but could never afford one.

They take a completely different approach to riding and also maintaining. 
I found trying to undo 30 odd years of muscle memory more difficult than I thought It would be as regards the right foot change/down for up/up for down.

It was fine 99% of the time but if you need to do an emergency stop it can get ‘interesting’.

Iron barrel doesn’t dissipate heat too well so you notice the performance drop off in hot weather.

Vibrations are something else. Above 55mph it was like riding a whacker plate. Feet would literally vibrate off the pegs if you tried to max it out!

If you’re used to working on Japanese/Euro stuff it can be a bit head scratching at times but they are relatively easy to work on.

To summarise they are great fun and could be a brilliant short distance commuter, just expect them to be a bit more involved than a Japanese bike, but still cheap to run.
I’ve never had a bike that drew as much positive attention- mine looked cool as fuck.

By some coincidence I’ve recently been looking at the early Trails 500 efi model (drum rear brake/left foot change) with the all alloy engine and reckon this would be a much better day to day bike and easier to live with if you’re used to Japanese stuff.
 

 

That bike is lush, I really like that. There's a couple similar on eBay right now that I like. Thanks for the information, it's really useful. My commute is generally on 40mph roads so I reckon I should be ok.

[castros_bro]

17 hours ago, andyberg said:

Just a hypothetical question really. I guess not one for the 'ask a shiter' thread as it's about bikes. 

Now I do have a hankering for a royal Enfield but funds are somewhat limited after the expensive MOT for my 75 ☹️ and I do really like my little GS125, but......

I see the older, Indian bullets are a fair bit cheaper than the newer, more modern* ones. These older ones have kick start and right foot gear change, that doesn't bother me too much. I know the performance will be about the same as the GS but I'm past going fast on a bike now and I do fancy a bigger single plodder.

So my question is have any of you any experience of these bullets in terms of ownership or anything else?

Cheers collective.

Hi,

I had several when working at University in Kathmandu then in the UK had the standard  Indian 350 Enfield (will find photo later) for about 5 years and ran it mainly locally as, obviously, they are easy to steal.  Hint, have somewhere secure to park overnight.   I've ridden old British  bikes for over 40 years so to expected low quality parts and constant minor maintenance, right shift and kickstart are techniques which take a bit of learning but not really an issue.  If not already done then a basic rewire and clean of switch and light contacts, learn how to clean and set up a the carb, change to a "modern" carb does make a difference.   Keep checking the tightness of nuts/bolts until you have faith they are not going to drop off. You need to have it set up  and geared to be quicker than an HGV.  Mine went to someone on Autoshite, I looked for another recently and know another member had one which may still be available.  Here's a pic of the shop near my allotment, they used to lend me their official Enfield of India workshop manual. I'd advise trying to borrow one for a while as they can get a bit of getting used to if you have not ridden British stuff, mine went on loan and did a tour up non-Motorways to Leeds and back so they can be used for touring.

 

 

[andyberg]

17 minutes ago, castros_bro said:

Hi,

I had several when working at University in Kathmandu then in the UK had the standard  Indian 350 Enfield (will find photo later) for about 5 years and ran it mainly locally as, obviously, they are easy to steal.  Hint, have somewhere secure to park overnight.   I've ridden old British  bikes for over 40 years so to expected low quality parts and constant minor maintenance, right shift and kickstart are techniques which take a bit of learning but not really an issue.  If not already done then a basic rewire and clean of switch and light contacts, learn how to clean and set up a the carb, change to a "modern" carb does make a difference.   Keep checking the tightness of nuts/bolts until you have faith they are not going to drop off. You need to have it set up  and geared to be quicker than an HGV.  Mine went to someone on Autoshite, I looked for another recently and know another member had one which may still be available.  Here's a pic of the shop near my allotment, they used to lend me their official Enfield of India workshop manual. I'd advise trying to borrow one for a while as they can get a bit of getting used to if you have not ridden British stuff, mine went on loan and did a tour up non-Motorways to Leeds and back so they can be used for touring.

 

 

Brilliant thank you. I don't mind a bit of tinkering, I find it calming and relaxing to be in my shed faffing about with my bikes. Seriously thinking about one of these now. May even sell my GT185 as well as my GT125 to fund it.

[tom13]

2 minutes ago, andyberg said:

Brilliant thank you. I don't mind a bit of tinkering, I find it calming and relaxing to be in my shed faffing about with my bikes. Seriously thinking about one of these now. May even sell my GT185 as well as my GT125 to fund it.

How much you going to be asking for the GT185?

Regards to what people have said about the 'reverse' shift/brake. When I used the Bantam I wasn't too bad from the word go but it was constantly on my mind. I would make the odd error if I wanted to dab the back break quickly. My dad though can't undo the years of riding Japanese bikes and struggles way more ha.

[castros_bro]

25 minutes ago, andyberg said:

Brilliant thank you. I don't mind a bit of tinkering, I find it calming and relaxing to be in my shed faffing about with my bikes. Seriously thinking about one of these now. May even sell my GT185 as well as my GT125 to fund it.

If you are bored then have a look at some bloke on an Enfield  called  "Our Guy in India"  as you can obviously get a better selection  where they make them and then just ride it back.   The Diesel powered ones are ace, London to Edinburgh on a tank of fuel.

[andyberg]

1 hour ago, castros_bro said:

If you are bored then have a look at some bloke on an Enfield  called  "Our Guy in India"  as you can obviously get a better selection  where they make them and then just ride it back.   The Diesel powered ones are ace, London to Edinburgh on a tank of fuel.

I had a quick Google and a brand new bullet in India is the equivalent of £1500 !!!

[andyberg]

1 hour ago, tom13 said:

How much you going to be asking for the GT185?

Not too sure. Probably somewhere around £2000-2500, it runs spot on and I have done a bit of work on it. By no means is it showroom but it's a good clean bike. The only thing that lets it down, and it's something I am going to try and fix-again, is rust in the tank and a patch of bare metal on the tank where I guess fuel was spilt and lifted the lacquer and paint off. I did use a highly recommended tank cleaner but I'm not happy with the results so I'll try something else. In the meantime I just put a filter in the fuel pipe. 

[MiniMinorMk3]

Random picture of the day

[Stinkwheel]

59 minutes ago, andyberg said:

I had a quick Google and a brand new bullet in India is the equivalent of £1500 !!!

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

[andyberg]

38 minutes ago, Stinkwheel said:

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

Ah, there is a slight* catch. Bikes made in India need to go through type approval and emissions tests to be registered here.  Apparently they are not built to the same 'high' standard as foreign market bikes. But I don't see how that doubles the price for us mind????

[Stinkwheel]

24 minutes ago, andyberg said:

Ah, there is a slight* catch. Bikes made in India need to go through type approval and emissions tests to be registered here.  Apparently they are not built to the same 'high' standard as foreign market bikes. But I don't see how that doubles the price for us mind????

Dammit, always a catch. Not sure how that works with 'private secondhand' imports. 

[Sham]

The engines won't be that different, neither will the frames and mounting points - presumably you'd just need the UK exhaust system with the emissions control gubbins in to get it approved.

 

[castros_bro]

55 minutes ago, andyberg said:

Ah, there is a slight* catch. Bikes made in India need to go through type approval and emissions tests to be registered here.  Apparently they are not built to the same 'high' standard as foreign market bikes. But I don't see how that doubles the price for us mind????

Try asking the importers of the older 350, they got them in and the ones I drove "over there" were the same as the one I owned  over here, not to mention ten year old ones don't need cert of conform just MOT standard tests for MOT. I've imported loads of used smoll bikes and cars and whilst being a pain in the bottom the paperwork just need to be done.

[Jerzy Woking]

Think there maybe other issues on personally exporting an Enfield from India.

When Guy Martin bought one in India for his TV show, he planned to ride in back to the UK sometimr in the future. I am led to believe it is still parled up in a shed in India, due to thier weird registration laws.

[Jerzy Woking]

On 8/26/2023 at 2:32 PM, Cavcraft said:

Remember Thursday and  'The bloke's gaff was absolutely rammed with shite, old Discoverys, Range Rovers, farming stuff, knackered and decent motorbikes and pretty much everything else in between.'?

 

Well, one of the other rammed in shite things caught my eye. Probably should have paid more attention and just bought that instead, but here we are two days later, with something certainly shitter and maybe a bit quicker from the same vendor. Test ride duly taken, fuel from the can we bought with us added (he was miles miles from anywhere), some minor tick-over tweaks, and off to go. PO rode it like an absolute demon up his farm track (which is over a mile long) which I didn't fancy. The front tyre is older than God and has more cracks than Anne Robinson smiling without wearing make-up, and another interesting* feature revealed itself on the ride home.

Here it is, in all it's 42 year old Kawasaki glory...

 

A 'proper' (chain) Kawasaki big 4 seems to be stupid money these days, so this was considerably cheaper than one of those would have fetched. Only took it to 60mph due to the aforementioned front tyre, plus the newly found feature of it deciding to piss petrol out of the bottom of the carbs somewhere with the engine running. Discovering this at a busy set of (red, obvs) lights coming home wasn't exactly inspiring, but CBA stopping to investigate and luckily made it home without needing to stop for more than about a minute at most at other signals. Love the seat, despise the handlebars. Other than that, it sounds fantastic, even if it looks horrible.

Not a fan of the colour, it either needs to go Kawasaki Green with Eddie Lawson replica type decals, or possibly an all black job with a bikini fairing. Perhaps a sort  of half-arsed 'Mad Max' type thing.   

Do not paint! Fix up the leaking carb issue, fit new tyres and then ride it to every bike meet you can. Will attract more attention than any restored bike.

Keep it real!