The Bikeshite Thread

[Stinkwheel]

Wasnt sure of the styling on these from press shots, but that looks ace. I still have this minor bugbear that all the enfield engines dont quite produce as much power as you might expect compared to japanese machines. But i did get a ride on a himalya recently and that model for sure isnt as bad as i first thought and i liked it.

[808 Estate]

Service interval is shorter than Japanese bikes. But as the tappits are screw and locknut rather than shims, it is commensurably cheaper. Agreed HP figures dont make headline reading, but theres a ton of low end grunt and the motor is very tractorable which makes up for it in a really pleasing way. Now to get a 2-1 exhaust and shave 30lbs of its weight.

[Cavcraft]

1 hour ago, 808 Estate said:

Service interval is shorter than Japanese bikes. But as the tappits are screw and locknut rather than shims, it is commensurably cheaper. Agreed HP figures dont make headline reading, but theres a ton of low end grunt and the motor is very tractorable which makes up for it in a a really pleasing way. Now to get a 2-1 exhaust and shave 30lbs of its weight.

Is that a r/h gear change?

 

Today it was discovered that a 40+ year old big 4 (cylinder) Japanese bike doesn't handle very well on tyres that are older than God's nan. Even less so when the front tyre is essentially flat. The FS1 is back from the garage after the throttle kept sticking, so put another couple of miles on to the running in/heat cycle. Itching to hit the magic 250 mile mark so I can open it up properly.  

[808 Estate]

3 hours ago, Cavcraft said:

Is that a r/h gear change?

No standard L/H gear change. Just a rather small brake pedal.

[Cavcraft]

One's an exotic and highly sought after speed machine. The other is a Mclaren.

Actual LOLZ at the Mclaren as it seems the MOT ran out in April.

[Snake Charmer]

27 minutes ago, Cavcraft said:

One's an exotic and highly sought after speed machine. The other is a Mclaren.

Actual LOLZ at the Mclaren as it seems the MOT ran out in April.

I had a pair of those handlebars on my Raleigh Chopper. Always thought the MX cross bar was odd on a road bike.

[Cavcraft]

The last ones (supposedly quality replicas) were even bigger. Pretty ridiculous to be honest, so at least the ones on it now are a lot better. 101 miles on the run in, now the nicer weather is here though I'll try and use it more.  Tidied the wiring up at the back using some fancy* tape from Temu, next up will be fitting some proper fuel pipe clips and I reckon the plug is due a replacement, but have some new ones here. The tank (one of those shite new Indian replica versions) sits wrong which messes with my OCD when I look at the photographs.

[Fat_Pirate]

Checking out the 6-cylinder loveliness at Sammy Miller's museum earlier today, I think I'd have gone for the Benelli back in the day.  Way out of my price league though, but this was a bit more wallet-friendly:

I've got a real itch for something properly classic to play with, but the oldest bike I've ridden was from 1999 so I'd have no idea what I'm buying/doing.  I just love the look of it, and for me that's 90% of the purchasing criteria!

I sent this photo to my wife and she was very impressed with how amazingly boring it all looked, and how pleased she was staying at home.

[Shadow]

Here are mine.

mine is the BKing on the left.

[Jazoli]

1 hour ago, Shadow said:

Here are mine.

mine is the BKing on the left.

Quite a rare bike yours, not seen many in the wild as such.

[Snake Charmer]

On 09/05/2024 at 11:45, Cavcraft said:

One's an exotic and highly sought after speed machine. The other is a Mclaren.

Actual LOLZ at the Mclaren as it seems the MOT ran out in April.

McLaren number plate should be 9 MOT!

Love the purple, I think the one my father bought burnt out was gold with SS side panels. When I look at any moped of that era now I  just see so much weight in all the steel parts compared with today's machines, how did they go so fast with such little power? 😄

[Stinkwheel]

52 minutes ago, Snake Charmer said:

McLaren number plate should be 9 MOT!

Love the purple, I think the one my father bought burnt out was gold with SS side panels. When I look at any moped of that era now I  just see so much weight in all the steel parts compared with today's machines, how did they go so fast with such little power? 😄

Modern mopeds and 125’s May have lighter components but are often as big or nearly as big as larger machines. Older ones were tiny in comparison, hence. Not as heavy as they look 

[catsinthewelder]

I reckon a modern moped weighs just as much,  you just can't see the metal frame under all the plastic.

Time for mild research 

According to this https://classic-motorbikes.net/yamaha-fs1e-fizzie/ a Fizzie weighs 70kg and has 4.8bhp

 

Honda don't currently make a 50 but the X8R I had years ago weighed 91kg dry and made just under 3 bhp standard but around 4.8 with a new CDi and exhaust.

For a current model, the Lexmoto Echo 

Weight 83kg

Power 3bhp

Max speed 28mph

 

[Cavcraft]

Nice little run out on the Lambretta this morning, probably about 55-60 miles to The Ponderosa and back.  It was packed out with Power Rangers, these two bikes were the stand outs for me, they looked amazing

The 20MPH zones were mostly dog shit, though one or two were understandable.  The average speed camera 50 bits are ok on a small, low powered machine (you can still have as much fun) but they must be pretty dull on a superbike.

[Cavcraft]

Whoops, this followed me home along with a Chinese 49cc scooter

[Dave_Q]

I remember trying one of those DNAs at the NEC motorbike show. Absolutely tiny aren't they.

NC700X, what do we reckon? I need another bike like a hole in the head tbh but looks a great way to just fuck the fuck off somewhere when you need to. I kinda like the half a Jazz engine + storage concept as well.

https://www.facebook.com/marketplace/item/1490386881884977/

[hairnet]

do it

apart from normal stuff youd check

make sure it got at least one orig honda key

be also prepared to be bouncing its cnut off the limiter while you get used to it

theyre getting very cheap

[hairnet]

[Sham]

I really like and NC700X - typical Honda though, a little soulless, and I'd need a second bike for a few more LOLs

[grogee]

I've just booked CBT with a view to doing Big Bike test soon after. It'll be in Cubbington near Leamington Spa, middle of next month. 

If anyone wants to sell me short & fat man's motorcycle gear, I'm all ears. 

[Fat_Pirate]

My KTM broke down a few weeks back - riding along, the dash suddenly went haywire and it died; starter just clicked, had to be recovered home.  It turns out there's some problem in the battery - the positive terminal (bottom left and the one in use) shows considerably less voltage than the other side (top left), as if it's no longer connected to all the cells.  I swapped in an identical one from another bike and it fired straight up.

About 3 years ago I had a previous battery fail (a Yuasa) when the negative terminal became detached inside the battery, which I put down to vibration, but I'm wondering if there's an intermittent issue with the reg/rec that's cooking them.  Testing shows 14.0v at idle and 5000rpm, maybe it's happening after an extended period of running?

[twosmoke300]

Keeps Taking Money 

Know The Mechanic 

Kick Til Monday

Keep The Manual …

 

 

is this helping ? 

[Fat_Pirate]

1 minute ago, twosmoke300 said:

Keeps Taking Money 

Know The Mechanic 

Kick Til Monday

Keep The Manual …

 

 

is this helping ? 

Harsh - but I've only had 2 breakdowns and they've both been on this... 

[twosmoke300]

21 minutes ago, Fat_Pirate said:

Harsh - but I've only had 2 breakdowns and they've both been on this... 

the newer ones are shocking I believe . The 790 twins are chewing through cam shafts at a rate of knots . 

[Rustybullethole]

On 17/05/2024 at 12:51, Dave_Q said:

I remember trying one of those DNAs at the NEC motorbike show. Absolutely tiny aren't they.

NC700X, what do we reckon? I need another bike like a hole in the head tbh but looks a great way to just fuck the fuck off somewhere when you need to. I kinda like the half a Jazz engine + storage concept as well.

https://www.facebook.com/marketplace/item/1490386881884977/

Cheap and easy to live with. Anything with two wheels brings joy and though some other options may bring more joy these will just work forever. Probably.

[Cavcraft]

Those Motobatt batteries (I'm assuming it's a gel one?) are normally really good. Not seen one with four terminals before,  though.

[twosmoke300]

2 hours ago, Cavcraft said:

Those Motobatt batteries (I'm assuming it's a gel one?) are normally really good. Not seen one with four terminals before,  though.

Every one on the net seems to rate them but i've had a couple fail at about 13 months . Fail in a way that lets you down too- no " oo that sounds sluggish i must check that " just total failure.

[Stinkwheel]

3 minutes ago, twosmoke300 said:

Every one on the net seems to rate them but i've had a couple fail at about 13 months . Fail in a way that lets you down too- no " oo that sounds sluggish i must check that " just total failure.

Knowing a bit about batteries and Lithiums due to my job (we use and source a lot for various things) virtually all these are much smaller batteries inside what is a mostly dummy case that fits the hole its supposed to go in. They arent that well made and vibration etc kills them over time, seen hundreds of failures out of the thousands we have supplied/imported. 

Honest thoughts on it are, never put a lithium battery on a motorcycle

[andy18s]

10 hours ago, twosmoke300 said:

the newer ones are shocking I believe . The 790 twins are chewing through cam shafts at a rate of knots . 

I've heard the owners are being recommended to treat them as a service item for now.

[twosmoke300]

26 minutes ago, Stinkwheel said:

Knowing a bit about batteries and Lithiums due to my job (we use and source a lot for various things) virtually all these are much smaller batteries inside what is a mostly dummy case that fits the hole its supposed to go in. They aren't that well made and vibration etc kills them over time, seen hundreds of failures out of the thousands we have supplied/imported. 

Honest thoughts on it are, never put a lithium battery on a motorcycle

These weren't lithiums

I've put a lithium on my 4 stroke enduro bike and my 660 single track bike ( both pretty rough n vibey) and they have been fine for 2 years now.