The Bikeshite Thread

[Stinkwheel]

5 minutes ago, Ian_Fearn said:

@Stinkwheel @UltraWomble

Whats the chances of one of these making it back to the UK under its own steam as a personal challenge?

I guess the Eurovelo routes could be used.

Assuming its in good mechanical order then i'd say more than do-able. It's probably the rider that would get bored/fatigued first

[Cavcraft]

On 05/12/2024 at 19:35, hairnet said:

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/bike-details/202412046980511?sort=relevance&searchId=60f7168d-1e80-49ad-83b9-42fe08cbcd0d&advertising-location=at_bikes&make=Royal Enfield&model=Guerrilla 450&page=1&postcode=M171tr&price-from=500&fromsra

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/bike-details/202412046984784?sort=relevance&searchId=ffa20947-215e-4518-999a-ae3471d15fa7&advertising-location=at_bikes&make=Royal Enfield&model=Himalayan 450&postcode=M171tr&price-from=500&fromsrapg

 

 

The new Himalayans looks bloody horrible, especially compared to Rustybullethole's.

[Stinkwheel]

25 minutes ago, Cavcraft said:

The new Himalayans looks bloody horrible, especially compared to Rustybullethole's.

Theyve gone for the current 'elongated shapes' bodywork that everyone is using these days. Not a fan, old one looked better, even if the new engine is better

[Cavcraft]

5 hours ago, Stinkwheel said:

Theyve gone for the current 'elongated shapes' bodywork that everyone is using these days. Not a fan, old one looked better, even if the new engine is better

It reminds me of that really dull phase of motorbikes that started around the late 1980s and dragged on into the 90s and onwards.

[Iamgroot]

7 minutes ago, Cavcraft said:

It reminds me of that really dull phase of motorbikes that started around the late 1980s and dragged on into the 90s and onwards.

[Cavcraft]

31 minutes ago, Iamgroot said:

Soz, M8, no offence

 

 

Right, anyone tried a TRK 502...

or a 310GS?

[Iamgroot]

Plenty taken!  😝 

I've heard some positive things about those bennelis, apparently there is a version with spoked off road sized wheels (ie bigger front) and a version with road sized wheels so watch out for that depending what you want

[andyberg]

10 hours ago, Ian_Fearn said:

 

I might be missing something but why aren’t these more popular in the UK?

 

Street cred innit?  Who wants one of these when you can get a BMW M alike or Mercedes AMG alike when you are 17?

I felt the same in China. The battery scooters and bikes are everywhere, I can see the benefits especially when a new one is only a few hundred pounds. 

[DodgeRover]

14 hours ago, Ian_Fearn said:

What’s the deal with these things? In Spain atm and these little cockroaches are everywhere.

There appears to be 2 popular brands, Piaggio and Derbi.

I might be missing something but why aren’t these more popular in the UK?

I parked next to this last night and went back for a photo this morning. They seem so small and approachable, much more like a shopper bike than scooter or real motorbike. Ironically there are thousands of scooters parked up overnight here and it’s the only one I’ve seen with a lock on it 😂.

Anyway. I like. A lot.

Edit: that floating rear wheel look is a winner.

Over a grand for insurance at 16 and you know you can't leave it anywhere you can't see it as it will be stolen/ set on fire/ smashed up as why not...

[Cavcraft]

13 hours ago, Iamgroot said:

Plenty taken!  😝 

I've heard some positive things about those bennelis, apparently there is a version with spoked off road sized wheels (ie bigger front) and a version with road sized wheels so watch out for that depending what you want

Bloody nice looking thing (imho) but between the three Benelli/BM/Enfield, I reckon the Themalayan is the looker of the bunch.

 

[Cavcraft]

2021 71 ZONTES T310 ABS T 310 ADVENTURE TOURER AMAZING SPEC A2 NEW MOT | eBay

Heard of the b d (Chinese, iirc) looks quite a good spec, but wonder how much of a bastard it is to get parts if needed?

[Rustybullethole]

5 hours ago, Cavcraft said:

2021 71 ZONTES T310 ABS T 310 ADVENTURE TOURER AMAZING SPEC A2 NEW MOT | eBay

Heard of the b d (Chinese, iirc) looks quite a good spec, but wonder how much of a bastard it is to get parts if needed?

Sexy swing arm 👍🏽

A welcome cuppa after two and a half hours flat as a strap in the dark and drizzle. 

 

[tom13]

On 12/12/2024 at 19:21, Cavcraft said:

2021 71 ZONTES T310 ABS T 310 ADVENTURE TOURER AMAZING SPEC A2 NEW MOT | eBay

Heard of the b d (Chinese, iirc) looks quite a good spec, but wonder how much of a bastard it is to get parts if needed?

Don't know what you want to use it for but what about the CF Moto or the voge 300. Both seem to have great reviews and reliability. 

[Rustybullethole]

Amazingly none of this fell off on the 12 miles ride home. 

Not often a single bungee strap can claim that. Be a different story once i've saved up for the *performance cam. All that shit will be straight off the back. 

[UltraWomble]

2 hours ago, Rustybullethole said:

Amazingly none of this fell off on the 12 miles ride home. 

 

Im calling "BELM" on that claim if you left the bottle of beer on the tank on the ride home....

[bangernomics]

Surely he drank that on the way home.

[tom13]

8 hours ago, UltraWomble said:

Im calling "BELM" on that claim if you left the bottle of beer on the tank on the ride home....

He couldn't take a chance on that getting lost.

[Rustybullethole]

Zero downed outside the shop and one in the box in the box on the back that made it home intact. Have taken to wearing the full face lid as cold and the drinks pouch was stuffed with a shampoo bottle so drink driving option not available. 

Also the crisps weren't mine so treated them as sacrificial and put them on top. 

Edited December 15, 2024 by Rustybullethole

[twosmoke300]

Well i did my first race since covid . Bloody brilliant . 
It wasn’t a technical track by any means but it was pretty relentless. Nowhere to even grab a sip from the camel bak .

My plan was to have two stops but got away with one . Also came in about 10secs before the flag and snuck an extra lap in . I’ve learnt in the past that even if you go round that extra lap at walking pace it can really  bump you up the results . 
So 3h10 saddle time . 
Felt pretty tired after but no injuries . Fell off once cos some knob on a kxf stopped dead infront of me just after a snotty rooty section . 
17 laps in total . And the bike doesn’t need washing . I’m fucking buzzing 

New CRF is fucking awesome at doing what it was made for . Just the Italian made lighting kit and clocks stopped working but I think I’ve spied a disconnected connector . 
Came 3rd in my class out of 9 finishers so happy with that . Some of the championship riders had some mental pace about them . Had a coming together with one at about 30mph but only a bruised arm . Both stayed upright so happy days 

[straightSix]

Been offered a 2009 Kawasaki KLX250. Anyone know what these are like? Tempted to get into a bit of green laning

[Stinkwheel]

13 minutes ago, straightSix said:

Been offered a 2009 Kawasaki KLX250. Anyone know what these are like? Tempted to get into a bit of green laning

Good Bikes, I used to have a 91 XR250R honda and my mates 96 KLX250 was its better in everyway. 

You could do a lot worse a place than a KLX to start green laning 

[Stinkwheel]

Anyone got any F650 Experience off road?

Im talking early F650 'funduro' model.

I rode a lot of these between 94 and 01 when i was in a BMW dealers but exclusively on the road

Im thinking about one again now to turn into a dual purpose machine similar to @Rustybullethole enfield.

I know its too heavy, i know the 19" front wheel is too small etc but id still be interested to hear from anyone thats off road'ed one

[UltraWomble]

13 minutes ago, Stinkwheel said:

Anyone got any F650 Experience off road?

 

I took the Aprillia version I had for a while off road, very capable and not too heavy.
Make sure you have knobly tyres though.

I did intend to do the Gatescarth pass on it but never got that far, I did do some local green lanes and fields and it was brilliant on them.

[Stinkwheel]

1 minute ago, UltraWomble said:

I took the Aprillia version I had for a while off road, very capable and not too heavy.
Make sure you have knobly tyres though.

I did intend to do the Gatescarth pass on it but never got that far, I did do some local green lanes and fields and it was brilliant on them.

Thanks for that info, its good to know im not totally barking up the wrong tree with this idea

[UltraWomble]

Just now, Stinkwheel said:

Thanks for that info, its good to know im not totally barking up the wrong tree with this idea

Good god no - there was a facebook page for them some years ago and plenty of people posting photos of them off road and mud plugging. Surprisingly capable in the soft stuff and for a 650 not as heavy as you might think - that shocked me when I took delivery of the Tiger - I thought it would be similar to the Pegasso - and its a metric fuckton heavier to move about.

[Stinkwheel]

1 hour ago, UltraWomble said:

Good god no - there was a facebook page for them some years ago and plenty of people posting photos of them off road and mud plugging. Surprisingly capable in the soft stuff and for a 650 not as heavy as you might think - that shocked me when I took delivery of the Tiger - I thought it would be similar to the Pegasso - and its a metric fuckton heavier to move about.

Totally agree, I remember the F650 as being pretty light weight for what it was, especially compared to a Triumph Tiger, a mate of mine has had about 3 different models and they;ve all been heavier than ideal for something with offroad ideas

[Jerzy Woking]

Took the NC750 on a trip around Andalucia last wwek for a couple of days.

Rode the motorway north of the Sierra Nevada because there have been heavy snowfalls there. Then dropped down to Ronda. I rode through the town, which was jam packed, so didn't bother to stop, as was looking forward to riding the road down to Marbella, which I was told was "awesome". It wasn't. Too many cars going slowly and being badly driven, mostly I would suspect because they were looking at the views.

Rode on the coastal road (mostly motorway) from Marbella to Motril. The Costa Del Sol is very built up, and with so many ugly buildings everywhere.

Nice hotel in Motril though, and day two set off  cross country eastwards. Fantastic road (A348) from there to Tabernas, twisty and quite deserted apart from a few lorries.

Then up to the Alto de Velefique, nicknamed "The Spanish Stelvio". Ridden it a few times now, but first time so late in the year. Bloody freezing riding up, and minus 2°c, with thick frost, at the summit (1820 metres).

Rode on northwards to Tijola, and this road (A3120) truely is worthy of its nickname. In over 50kms, I counted four cars coming the other way. The views are stunning  and plenty of places to stop and take them in.

I then rode east from Tijola, planning to dropped south and head for Turre. There are so many roads on this side, but I chose to go via Tahal this time as not done it before. Superb roads and views.

I'll mention now that the whole 1,300 kms trip was on fantastically surfaced roads, and can't remember a single pothole until I got to the start of the 8km track to my house.

 

I'll not bother with Ronda again, I'd rather spend all my time in this part of Andalucis, basically north of Almeria.

[Rustybullethole]

3 hours ago, Stinkwheel said:

Anyone got any F650 Experience off road?

Im talking early F650 'funduro' model.

I rode a lot of these between 94 and 01 when i was in a BMW dealers but exclusively on the road

Im thinking about one again now to turn into a dual purpose machine similar to @Rustybullethole enfield.

I know its too heavy, i know the 19" front wheel is too small etc but id still be interested to hear from anyone thats off road'ed one

Had a mates 650 on loan for a bit will see if i can find a pic. 

Was the Dakar off road spec one with a 21 on the front. Bloody good bike I thought with more grunt than my old dominators. 

After time spent on the gs1100 in the dirt Im of the thought that a 21 is a must. 
That said I had plenty of fun laning my melody on 10 inch wheels.

 

[Rustybullethole]

Here you go. Not in the dirt though just as good at fighting the traffic in the East end.

Was a tiered example with a poggo rear shock, leaky forks seals and scrappy as fuck bodywork but the engine was a peach. He's only recently sold it. Id recommend one. Just not that one, unless it comes up cheap. 

[castros_bro]

18 hours ago, Stinkwheel said:

Anyone got any F650 Experience off road?

Im talking early F650 'funduro' model.

I rode a lot of these between 94 and 01 when i was in a BMW dealers but exclusively on the road

Im thinking about one again now to turn into a dual purpose machine similar to @Rustybullethole enfield.

I know its too heavy, i know the 19" front wheel is too small etc but id still be interested to hear from anyone thats off road'ed one

I've used the similar  Apriia Pegaso  (and XT600s, BSA B40s, TRW250, Bultaco Sherpa, BMW R60/5,  Honda C90 etc)  and almost any bike of that type is capable and good fun off road but you obviously need to pick suitable tracks for your bike/skills. I think it's more starting with a bike and seeing if it suits or can be made to suit what you want to do. I'm presently liking Chinese Honda cloned CG125s for basics, cheapness and lightweight and aiming for TET Portugal next year  https://transeurotrail.org/portugal/#2.65/46.74/-1.05  my last off road Portugal was fine partly as there was no mud.