The Bikeshite Thread

[Eddie Honda]

When I had all my courier-offs (all fairly low speed affairs) in the olden days, what saved my feet (and engine casings) were the ridiculously ugly melted bus shelter fairings I used to fit.

 

Now I have two rocker boxes.

[LostnotFound]

If anyone is looking for cheap gear I wandered to Aldi earlier and rummaged through their reduced special buys and they had a load of their motorcycle stuff from a while back. At full price it was quite close to more aesthetically pleasing and lighter normal brands but I'm now set for the end of summer (or July to give it it's proper name) with some warm trousers for 50 quid so might be worth a nose if you are passing near one. 

[PiperCub]

Not used any myself but several friends have got stuff from both Aldi and Lidl and say it's pretty good gear for the money.

 

Both places have bike stuff on offer every couple of months so keep a look out - the best way is to sign up to get their weekly email newsletter which will tell you what offers they have coming up in the next week or so. (Car stuff and tools also do the rounds).

[Dave_Q]

Have bought aldi pushbike gear before and it is good.

 

I think we had a post on here about the motorbike gear saying it's not as good value as it used to be, if it's hung around for ages and been reduced it's probably back to the earlier value levels.

[John F]

I took the CBX 750F out for a spin with some mates (Bandit 650 and some 1600 cc Harley thing) to Squires coffee bar in Sherburn in Elmet this evening, a round trip of a couple of hours or so.

 

It performed beautifully on fast country roads on the way there, I've not ridden it 'on cam' since recommissioning it recently and I'd forgotten how it likes to stretch my arms

 

Right up until it got a flat front tyre at about 50 mph just outside Tadcaster, that is.

 

I've no idea what caused it to go flat, there was no apparent damage to the tyre, it lost all of its air suddenly... I was impressed that it stayed just about rideable though, albeit with massive effort required to get it to turn to the side of the road.

 

A can of tyre gunk from a local filling station got it going again, and it behaved fine after that. I'm not looking forward to scraping the tyre gunk out of the inside of the wheel when the tyre needs changing though.

[Guest Hooli]

I've had one front puncture & it was while doing *ahem* 70 officer up the M1. Much more interesting than the rear going flat isn't it?

[andy18s]

I had this little barsteward pop up whilst making progress near Oxford after an RF owners meet at diner....

Made for an interesting trip home

[John F]

Hooli, on 15 Jun 2017 - 1:27 PM, said:

I've had one front puncture & it was while doing *ahem* 70 officer up the M1. Much more interesting than the rear going flat isn't it?

 

Yep!

 

I've had two rears let go... one with a bang whilst going round a roundabout in the mid-1980s on a Suzuki TS125N, which necessitated some leg-down action, and another normal puncture on a Suzuki GS650GZ Katana in the mid-1990s on the A2 south approaching Canterbury, also at *ahem* 70 officer. The biggest problem with that one was that when I pulled into a filling station, I couldn't get the bike on its side stand 'cos there wasn't enough angle to lean it, and I couldn't get it onto its centre stand without assistance either because the rear was too low to get it over the pivot point.

[DodgeRover]

I've ridden trials and trail bikes with front or rear flats and it's unpleasant, massive respect for holding it all together at speed.

 

Incidentally whoever thought tubeless tyres for trials bikes running less than 6psi were a good idea should be made to relace them all with tubed rims.

[Guest Hooli]

Yep!

 

I've had two rears let go... one with a bang whilst going round a roundabout in the mid-1980s on a Suzuki TS125N, which necessitated some leg-down action, and another normal puncture on a Suzuki GS650GZ Katana in the mid-1990s on the A2 south approaching Canterbury, also at *ahem* 70 officer. The biggest problem with that one was that when I pulled into a filling station, I couldn't get the bike on its side stand 'cos there wasn't enough angle to lean it, and I couldn't get it onto its centre stand without assistance either because the rear was too low to get it over the pivot point.

 

Mine just stands up on the side stand with a flat, but it is only just.

[John F]

Hooli, on 15 Jun 2017 - 1:43 PM, said:

Mine just stands up on the side stand with a flat, but it is only just.

 

The 650 Kat has a tiny little stand that deploys at quite a steep angle, quite unlike my old z650 that used up an entire parking space with its enormous, practically-horizontal stand.

[Jerzy Woking]

This happened three or four years ago now. Brand new tyre, fitted just 100 miles earlier.

 

 

Fucking thing pierced the side wall in two places, so scrapped. The rivet was about 2mm from the wheel rim. How the he'll it got there is anyone's guess.

[Guest Hooli]

Best thing to do with a Bridgestone, I've never go on with their tyres.

[PiperCub]

Jerzy:   Tyre wrecked in 100 miles? - jesus, that's not funny given how much the bastards cost. 

 

Hooli: Odd that, I'm the opposite, I've never had any problems with them! Had them on my Bandits (6 & 12), my GPz and my XLR, thought they were fine. Got a set on my LC, always used Metzelers before (for 20 odd years) but the Bridgestone suit it better. 

[twosmoke300]

The tubliss system on enduro bikes is great . Allows you to run right down to zero psi and still keeps the tyre on the rim and stops wheel damage .

[Guest Hooli]

 

 

Hooli: Odd that, I'm the opposite, I've never had any problems with them! Had them on my Bandits (6 & 12), my GPz and my XLR, thought they were fine. Got a set on my LC, always used Metzelers before (for 20 odd years) but the Bridgestone suit it better. 

 

Never got on with them in the cold and/or wet. But I've only tried BT-020s & BT-021s. Heavy turn in & quick to wear out too. I'll stick with Michelin Pilot Road 4s for now.

[PiperCub]

Can't explain that, I used those exact tyres on my Bandits and was happy to ride in the rain with them, they gave me plenty of confidence. Guess one size doesn't fit everyone.

 

Would agree with the pretty quick wear rate though but I was happy with that - esp with bikes, I'd always trade wear for grip. 

[John F]

I always found Metzelers a good compromise between wear & grip, but then I've not ever owned anything newer than a 1980s bike...

[Jerzy Woking]

Any tyre now is better than the Avon Speedmasters I used to have on the Brit bikes I used to own in the 70's.

[andy18s]

I used to enjoy Michelins on my bikes,the last being the RF900

No issues with getting them right over either..

[Guest Hooli]

Aaaaaaand it's too slow.

 

:mrgreen:

 

Told ya. Now get your DAS booked.

[doug]

Went to the Ayr Classic Bike Show today....no pics as it was on yesterday.

[DodgeRover]

Aaaaaaand it's too slow.

Practise riding faster on a closed track* holding speed through a series of bends, too many people can't do this. I managed to leave a modern bike well behind while 2 up on a 750 Norton through a series of twisties.

Turning the bars slightly will help lay it over in the corner quicker.

I'm having a senior moment and can't think which way it is as it just kind of comes naturally.

[twosmoke300]

I enjoyed giving a tl1000s rider a hard time through the twisties this week - on a 250 superdream!

[Fabergé Greggs]

Aaaaaaand it's too slow.

This happened to me shortly after sitting my 125 test.

[DodgeRover]

Something it is worth practicing is locking up the front wheel and controlling the skid so you don't have an accident in your pants should you do it for real on the road.

Try and resist the urge to stick a foot down, try it at a couple of mph, not 30

[montytom]

I passed my direct access mod 2 on Thursday.

I then got insured on my zzr600 and on Friday,Saturday and today have been on ride outs with my dad.

 

At first I was following the traffic on a dual carriageway.

We got to the motorcycle cafe and my dad said I thought you would have overtaken them.

Anyway I had a silly moment as I was pulling away as I changed into 2nd and twisted the throttle and scared the bejesus out of me.

It's fast and I will admit I didn't really feel in control.

My dad when we got home said that thing is stupidly quick.

 

Anyway a couple of pictures.

 

 

[plasticvandan]

A week of ups and downs,now back on the up.In prep for fitting the sidecar,I took my MZ to a mates to see if we could locate the annoying rattle in the clutch area.Covert off,clutch off,found a tooth missing on the primary gear,thrust washer fitted wrong way round,and a worn out bearing.replaced all those,all back together and woo! Rattle gone.Rode the mile home with massive clutch slip,thinking just adjustment needed after the strip,checked adjustment then went out in direction of my mates.Wasn't right,then thee evil noises started.. Clutch had fell off! To those that don't know,MZ clutches are mounted on a taper on the end of the crank.Now I know the po had it come off,thing is more than once or twice and the clutch centre and crank is scrap.

Took it apart,lapped them in much better,tightened it as hard as we dared, and touch wood its been fine since.BUT ain't no way I can trust it with the load of a sidecar on.

 

So after having thought of selling it,buying a different bike,buying a scooter,I realised that I like it very much so needed to tackle the issue. I've got a decent rebored engine coming to me,this was hard to find as the race series has hoovered most of them up,from someone in the club.Few bits to do then swap them (2 nuts,2 bolts)

 

New rear tyre ordered,I was lying to myself as to wether it would pass as test!

And hopefully mot Saturday.

Then once I've saved up a bit I will rebuild my original motor.Been tight financially as its all come at once,but it was always my intention to get a spare engine as being my daily I can always swap them to keep going.

As an enthusiasm boost,I got the sidecar body out for first time since painting and reunited it with the chassis

[Dave_Q]

Anything sort of 600cc+ is quite mentally fast compared to a car, a 100hp 600 has a power to weight ratio of about 350hp/ton even with a lardarse riding, something similar to a Ferrari 458.

 

Having said that your brain recalibrates after a while.

 

Worryingly easily really, such that doing 100 mph or so (ON A PRIVATE SECTION OF THE M62 AUTOBAHN, OFFICER) soon feels like doing 60 in a car.

 

 

Anyone can ride any size bike, and your senses will soon adjust, but maybe something around 400-500cc is a good first step up from a 125.

[John F]

Well, my housemate Hannah liked her first go on the back of my bike so much that she licked my helmet...

 

 

(OK, it was a mate's helmet that she'd borrowed, but that didn't sound as good)