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The Bikeshite Thread


warren t claim

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Here is my bikeshite. Having not ridden a bike in nearly 30 years I thought I might as well have a go again. One of my mates had a CB125 superdream back in the 80's and I always wanted one back then. So now I have this.

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It isn't a bad old thing but you do need to keep the revs up to make it go. I am enjoying it so much I have decided to think about doing my bike test in the spring so bought this for £500

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It is a bit scruffy but has an mot and runs well. I will have to take it for a spin round the yard one of these days.

My first bike was a CB125 T. It looked larger than 125cc.

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Rode a couple of examples of the old CB125T - had a nice comfy big-bike feel to it but the restricted ones were bloody gutless and had to be revved hard all the time to get anywhere. The earlier unrestricted ones were alot nicer to ride though a doubt you'll find one these days - long since hammered to death.

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Rode a couple of examples of the old CB125T - had a nice comfy big-bike feel to it but the restricted ones were bloody gutless and had to be revved hard all the time to get anywhere. The earlier unrestricted ones were alot nicer to ride though a doubt you'll find one these days - long since hammered to death.

My second geared bike was a 1981 CB125T.  That went bloody well for a 4-stroke 125 and felt like a big bike after the Yam RS100 I had before, but it used nearly as much oil as petrol and smoked like a bastard.  Still got me from Norwich to Bristol and back at Christmas '97, and then down to Oxford in the summer of '98.

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  • 5 weeks later...

I has nu bikeshite.

 

Also I never posted a pic of my current bikeshite.

 

The old. 89 VFR750.

 

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The new. 99 Fireblade.

 

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Got a bit of a bargain with the blade, I think, £950. Done 23,000 and only has minor road rash.

Does have a problem with the gearbox though, jumping out of second, so will be pulling the motor to get that sorted. 

 

Not in a rush to get it done as I can't get it insured for a price I will pay until I've got a years no claims in June.

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Funny you should mention wheelies, allow me to relay a conversation I had with the sellers son while getting the bike in the van.

 

Child: my dad took me to Southport on that bike once.

Me: That's lovely. Did he go fast?

Child: Yeah he went REALLY fast, he was doing wheelies and everything!

 

If I can fix it for 200 quid I'll be happy.

 

xtriple: the VFR will be for sale in the summer. In traditional autoshite style I'll be asking slightly less than it owes me, so about 700 quid.

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  • 2 months later...

Bike used to pull nicely and smoothly throughout the rev range. Now, it really hesitates if you open the throttle fully at 4000-5000 rpm; you need to really take it to nearly the redline (10,500) to get it to pull away.

 

Wot could this be? It stood for four months over winter without the carbs drained, so it could be that. Plugs changed 1000 miles/1 year ago

 

What could be the remedy? 

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Evenin all

 

 

 

This photo is 2yrs old. Bought it in Massachusetts as a resto project, still not got round to it

yet........

 

 

I absolutely HEART that, best colour they came in too.

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I ride 1,800 miles a month commuting and have done since 1995 (I've had bikes since 1975 though). I bought a low mileage Suzuki GSX-R750G which was my commuter for 8 years and 180,000 off miles before it was killed in a crash with a U-turning Transit in 2003. It looked good, but was worn smooth by then, and was plagued with electrical issues, although the engine and gearbox were still perfect. Whilst recovering from the crash I purchased another one

 

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Picked it up in the van, rode it to work. Hated it, as it felt so different from my dead one. Sold it after doing just 62 miles on it.

 

Then bought a GSX-F1100 with an electric screen (whoooo)and massive panniers on it.

 

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Had it a few weeks and it was alright. Parking it up at Tesco one evening to do a bit of shopping, I rode it between two bollards. Next thing I know the bike came to an immediate stop and I was sitting on the tank. Wider than I thought.

 

Had loads of other rubbish, but when I got them and in what order I cannot remember.

 

XJ900 that I ran for a while, including a trackday at Cadwell Park. Did well in the inter group, overtaking many sports bikes on my laps round. Was like riding a jack hammer going along the bottom straight into Charlies. Real squeaky bum time.

 

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Oops. GSX-R600 versus gravel trap.

 

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Short lived CB750 F2N-smoked like a diesel, but only £100 I seem to remember. Bloke I purchased it from ran a pedestrian over a few days earlier, and it had just bits of the top fairing attached. Hacksawed off OK, but not pretty.

 

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Chod

 

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This GS650 I recovered from the basement car park at work-it had been there for at least 10 years to my knowledge. Couldn't find out who owned it, but they sold it to me for a contribution to a charity, and I passed it onto a mate who fully restored it

 

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MZ Skorpion-had three of these in total-lovely commuters, simple to maintain and 80 mpg whenridden with restraint (which was rarely)

 

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This was lovely

 

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I'm talking about my GT550 behind the MV! Rear mudguard rotten-and one day it would gret up to 95mph, other days just 60mph with no apparent faults. Did 15,000 miles on the one pair of tyres before flogging it on

 

My lovely Blade, purchased cheaply with 75,000 miles showing, and an intact gearbox! Note the six pot Billet brakes and carbon fibre covering the dented frame. Had that as my standby commuter and my main European tourer. In 2009 I rode it from Bonetice in Czech Republic to just short of Wurzburg in Germany with a blown reg/rec. This meant I had to keep it above 5000 rpm to stop it cutting out. Not easy when the main road was gridlocked and filtering was illegal. Had it recovered to a repair shop, one reg/rec and battery later it was sorted. Had 5.5 hours to cover 700kms to make the ferry home which we just made with 5 minutes to spare. bike was crashed into in France four years ago and I could face repairing it. Sold it to a mate who rebuilt her, I'm glad to say

 

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And if you have an older Blade, check the inside of the fork leg bottoms. I rarely cleaned it, so never noticed this until MOT time. Scarey.

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Worse still, the replacements I bought also had cracks-never did get my money back from the shyster in Ireland

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Think this was £150 not so long ago. Horrible piece of vibrating awfulness (turned out the cam chain was 1 tooth out and valves were kissing the pistons at high revs

 

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It also proved I could polish a turd

 

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Ideal transport for one winter-surprisingly good at keeping the rain and snow at bay-a 250cc Aprilia Leonardo

 

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And my current standby commuter, a 1997 CBR600. A £400 buy from Facebook-all it needed was an end can as it had rotted out (a standard one was £15 from ebay), and the rear shock had lost its damping (a good used one found on ebay, my winning bid was £8.36!). 20,000 miles with not a murmer of complaint, been all over Europe on it too. Probably the best all round bike you can have.

 

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And my bike for when I want to really enjoy a ride-a Guzzi 1200 Sport. Its a fantastic long range bike-can even stick at 100 mph plus for miles on end (in Germany of course) as the bikini fairing is so effective. Torque and vee twin aural loveliness.

 

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I've loads of photos of the shite I have owned in the last 40 years-just need to scan them onto my PC.

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You didn't buy that Leonardo from cornwall did you ?

I remembered I got it from a bloke in Basildon, definitely NOT Cornwall. Sold it through a bike forum to someone in Ipswich. Registration was T128 WNU but DVLA shows it has been untaxed and without an MOT since march & Feb 2009.

 

I'm looking for some 1950's and 1960's mopeds and small engine motorbikes if anyone knows of any around that need light restoration.

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I remembered I got it from a bloke in Basildon, definitely NOT Cornwall. Sold it through a bike forum to someone in Ipswich. Registration was T128 WNU but DVLA shows it has been untaxed and without an MOT since march & Feb 2009.

 

I'm looking for some 1950's and 1960's mopeds and small engine motorbikes if anyone knows of any around that need light restoration.

 

 

Bobthebeard on here is your man.

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Whysub, you and I share the same bikes

 

I had 7 gt550's when I was couriering, I remember hitting a pothole and getting a sharp whack on the back of my leg and it was the rear mudguard bouncing off,hitting the tyre and the wiring sending it back at me.

Great stuff. I used to see loads of GT's going in and out of Chas Bikes in South London. Chas Bikes is no longer there, and I rarely see a GT on the road now. No idea of the mileage on those I had, but I don't think any had less than 80k on them when I bought them. Quite comfy for all day riding I seem to remember.

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