Adventures with bikes & "regular" cars - X308 XJR purchased 08-12-2025 - Little improvements, boring but satisfying!

[Heidel_Kakao]

Apologies for the indulgence as I could probably put this in the Bikeshite thread but would rather have my own sporadically updated thread to document my adventures with my first bike and most likely other bikes down the line.

So my first bike! It's a 2016 Suzuki RV125 Van Van ( so good they named it twice) and when I collected it from Penrith Motorcycles it had just 173 miles on it! The first owner was apparently an 80 year old guy who did 7 miles on it by its first MOT then the second owner carried it around on the back of a motorhome so it's as close to a new one of these that I could find. It's bloody good fun and while slow I can see myself keeping it long term even when I can buy a bigger bike, it's stupidly cute too.

It still managed to put on the Fuel Injection light though which could be down to lack of use, a quick Google shows you can read the codes with a paper clip so I may try that, despite the dire warnings in the manual it seems to drive fine so I am going to ignore it for now.  The manual also says not to exceed more than half throttle for the first 500 miles whilst running in, oops!

First 100 miles were covered riding to my accomodation in York which is somehow in my mind a halfway point in my two day collection misson. Going to visit the National Railway Museum in the morning then bimble home.

I had this key fob lying around from when I had a Samurai so didn't have to buy a new one.

[Asimo]

Surprised you didn't go for the estate version!

[Christine]

Didn't they make similar in the seventies ?  Small tank and fat sand tyres ..Most local lads had rd250 or kh250...but one lad no one really spoke to , had this thing and everyone took the piss ?

[Christine]

Yes i looked on google...banana yellow and looks like a banana too !!    

[hairnet]

running in?

bolox

as long as its warm

kick its arse

itll need a service in 400 miles anyway

[500tops]

4 minutes ago, Christine said:

Didn't they make similar in the seventies ?  Small tank and fat sand tyres ..Most local lads had rd250 or kh250...but one lad no one really spoke to , had this thing and everyone took the piss ?

They did RV 50, 75, 90, 125 and 200 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[beko1987]

You've got to be popping wheelies and doing speedway drifts round the fod next weekend! It's been raining, it'll be nice and damp! 

[Heidel_Kakao]

5 minutes ago, beko1987 said:

You've got to be popping wheelies and doing speedway drifts round the fod next weekend! It's been raining, it'll be nice and damp! 

Don't tempt me haha, I have not even drifted the field bikes yet.....

[nacho man]

That’s mega! Mrs T has wanted one of these for a while.

[Cavcraft]

That's ace! Bet with a little maintenance and not leaving it uncovered outside in all weathers, it'll last for absolutely years.

[twosmoke300]

Dad has the 200 version . Cool little bike 

[Wack]

13 hours ago, Christine said:

Didn't they make similar in the seventies ?  Small tank and fat sand tyres ..Most local lads had rd250 or kh250...but one lad no one really spoke to , had this thing and everyone took the piss ?

There was always one of those wasn't there , we had one guy with a TY50 when I was 16 , it did 30 flat out so people soon got fed up with waiting for him to catch up every 5 miles

In the showroom it looked great but if he wanted a trials moped he should've bought a gilera

[UltraWomble]

14 hours ago, Christine said:

Yes i looked on google...banana yellow and looks like a banana too !!    

Nothing wrong with slow and comfortable banana

 

[Heidel_Kakao]

On the way home from York I saw a bike meeting so I popped in, didn't speak to anyone though as I wasn't feeling very sociable but I have been nodding at the vast majority of fellow bikers as I guess I am one now!

I stopped off at my mom's on the way home to show off my new steed and even gave it a quick wash which is a sign of how much I like it.

The above image is a clear indication that I live on my own haha, the carpet was already knackered from having dogs and stuff so meh, it's great having it in my living room as I can glance over at while watching telly.

And the mileage now stands at just over 400, I have doubled what it had on it yesterday,. I am going to take it into work with me tomorrow to show off and then next outing should be to the field of dreams next weekend.

[hairnet]

loon

enjoy

 

[reanimation-films]

Cool looking little bike! Great find.

[paulplom]

Looks lovely. Well done.

[tom13]

She's looking good. Glad the trip went well.

Best thing about these is that they don't really look like a 125.

 

[Cavcraft]

As you'll find, one of the great things about motorbikes is the social side. Pull into pretty much any bike dealers or cafe car parks and other riders will come over for a chat.

[Noel Tidybeard]

you''l have to go down to Streetbike in Halesowen for a bacon sandwhich oh and a look round the showroom at the bikes!

[Heidel_Kakao]

On 9/4/2020 at 9:43 PM, twosmoke300 said:

Dad has the 200 version . Cool little bike 

I would be interested to see how the extra 6BHP feels on the 200, I would prefer that version as the ultimate iteration of a Van Van but it's obviously not learner legal and they are much rarer as they only did the bigger engine for two years.

On 9/6/2020 at 8:43 PM, tom13 said:

Best thing about these is that they don't really look like a 125.

Yeah that's partly why I was attracted to it, all the sports bike 125's are all mouth no trousers in my opinion.

I have disconnected the battery to see if that clears the Fuel Injection warning light and will investigate further if it doesn't. I also removed the rear foot pegs as I can't legally have a pillion passenger on L plates and when you only have a whopping 11BHP to play with any weight savings can't hurt.

[hairnet]

[hairnet]

might get 60 down hill

 

[Heidel_Kakao]

I actually rode it for the first time in weeks today. I am such a fair weather rider! Maybe it's just me but I start work at 07:00 and if I have the choice between commuting in a car with heated seats or a bike the car wins every time. Also its still so pristine (other than being dusty lol) that the thought of subjecting it to salted winter roads brings me out in a sweat.

I actually had my first positive comment from a van driver at some traffic lights today, he wanted to know how many CC it was and said it looked mint for a 2016 plate.

It fits in my mother's garage nicely after a lot of clearing out of rubbish so I will definitely be using it a lot more in the future as I basically don't want to leave it anywhere unsecured as I am paranoid about it being stolen.

[Heidel_Kakao]

I swapped the bar ends, original on the left and new on the right.

[Heidel_Kakao]

I just purchased for the first time in my life a personalised number plate to go on the Van Van, I  think it looks older then it actually is and a bit silly on a 2016 plate. So the new registration will be revealed once I have the paperwork and it's on the bike. 

[Heidel_Kakao]

Nearly there.....

And there it is 😀 The Van Van hit 1000 miles yesterday.

[martc]

On 4/29/2021 at 8:08 PM, Heidel_Kakao said:

I just purchased for the first time in my life a personalised number plate to go on the Van Van, I  think it looks older then it actually is and a bit silly on a 2016 plate. So the new registration will be revealed once I have the paperwork and it's on the bike. 

If it doesn't contain the letters A,N and V I'll eat my (edible) hat.

[Heidel_Kakao]

Getting back to nature 😀

[Heidel_Kakao]

I still have this little thing and in fact it's currently my only vehicle on the road as I have been working on getting the Corrado ready for an MOT. I have done over 3000 miles since I got it and the only changes I have made are putting a "personal" plate on it which is just my initials and makes it look older as I think retro styled bikes look a bit odd with modern plates on, and a pair of chrome mirrors rather than the original plastic ones.

Also note lack of L plates as I recently passed my bike test and now have a full licence 😁