Any Motörbike riders here?

hywelg

Bridgehouse said:

Picked up a cheapo ER5 at the weekend. 

Back in two wheels after a shortish break. Actually didn’t feel like I’d been away at all. Did piss it down royally first ride out tho. 

Tiger 900 due end of sept/early Oct now apparently. 

This will be a decent winter hack for this year tho. Next year might swap it out for one of them Enfield Interceptors - had my eye on them for a bit now.

You don't have anywhere near enough stuff. 

Bridgehouse

hywelg said:

Bridgehouse said:

Picked up a cheapo ER5 at the weekend. 

Back in two wheels after a shortish break. Actually didn’t feel like I’d been away at all. Did piss it down royally first ride out tho. 

Tiger 900 due end of sept/early Oct now apparently. 

This will be a decent winter hack for this year tho. Next year might swap it out for one of them Enfield Interceptors - had my eye on them for a bit now.

You don't have anywhere near enough stuff. 

You haven’t seen the shed....

jaytmon

hywelg said:

Bridgehouse said:

Picked up a cheapo ER5 at the weekend. 

Back in two wheels after a shortish break. Actually didn’t feel like I’d been away at all. Did piss it down royally first ride out tho. 

Tiger 900 due end of sept/early Oct now apparently. 

This will be a decent winter hack for this year tho. Next year might swap it out for one of them Enfield Interceptors - had my eye on them for a bit now.

You don't have anywhere near enough stuff bikes. 

FTFY

Bridgehouse

jaytmon said:

hywelg said:

Bridgehouse said:

Picked up a cheapo ER5 at the weekend. 

Back in two wheels after a shortish break. Actually didn’t feel like I’d been away at all. Did piss it down royally first ride out tho. 

Tiger 900 due end of sept/early Oct now apparently. 

This will be a decent winter hack for this year tho. Next year might swap it out for one of them Enfield Interceptors - had my eye on them for a bit now.

You don't have anywhere near enough stuff bikes. 

FTFY

Working on that...

TheBigDipper

Further to me finding a new bike to replace my 7-year old R1200 GS, I went and rode a couple of my prime candidates today. 

Ducati Multistrada 950S:

I really wanted to like this. I used to have a 916 Strada that I loved - especially the engine. Smooth and pulled like a train when it started to get the revs up. 

Unfortunately, it was a bit of a disappointment. 

Plusses

• Engine pulls like a train when you’re going for it
• Looks fantastic (IMHO)
• Comfy riding position
• Felt really planted in the twisties and changed direction well (not as quick as the KTM 790 Duke, but decent
• Induction roar and stock exhaust made pleasing noises)

Minuses

• Seat height seemed as high as my GS and it felt a bit top heavy
• Engine vibration between 4K-7K. Really buzzy and unpleasant through the seat. If all I wanted was to go fast everywhere then I might rev through it quickly, but it’s where the engine sits at 30-50mph  in 3rd or 4th gear. I couldn’t live with that.

The salesman had never heard of it before. If that was not typical, and could be fixed by their mechanics, I’d be interested in taking a second look. If they say it’s normal then we can forget it. It’s not right on a 13.5K bike. 

BMW F900 XR:

BMWs new middleweight twin. This was a better experience.

Minuses

• The screen was a bit too low for my body height. A bit noisier than I’d expected with some turbulence around the head and shoulders. When lowered (almost to the point of not doing anything and it being a naked bike) then the full on wind blast was slightly stronger, but quieter and no turbulence. There is a higher screen option that cures things, apparently. 
• Sounds a bit quiet and polite with the stock exhaust. 

Pluses

• Lower seat height than my GS (not hard) and lighter. No need for tippie-toes and it was easy to push around a car park.
• Almost as smooth an engine as the KTM. Deceptively quick and a nice “rush” if you pin the throttle back on a straight road.
• Handled well for my riding style (slow and smooth in, hold the line, fast out) and steered quicker than the GS (no surprise, that).
• Pretty much everything else was good or excellent, in fact
• The BMW “dashboard” is the best screen I’ve used so far - and none have been bad. This one is clear and easy to read under differing conditions. A pleasure to use. 

Being a BMW dealer, they’ve offered me a huge trade-in amount for my existing bike. I could have one in 4 weeks. I’m very tempted….

Bridgehouse

Bridgehouse said:

jaytmon said:

hywelg said:

Bridgehouse said:

Picked up a cheapo ER5 at the weekend. 

Back in two wheels after a shortish break. Actually didn’t feel like I’d been away at all. Did piss it down royally first ride out tho. 

Tiger 900 due end of sept/early Oct now apparently. 

This will be a decent winter hack for this year tho. Next year might swap it out for one of them Enfield Interceptors - had my eye on them for a bit now.

You don't have anywhere near enough stuff bikes. 

FTFY

Working on that...

I have more bikes now..

guitargeek62

*fingers crossed*

If a sale goes through this week then I may have my new (to me) Scrambler 1200 XE sometime next week!

octatonic

Anyone interested in a ride out before the weather gets too shit?
I'm in the Cotswolds so ideally one not too far, happy to lead and organise.

guitargeek62

I’d love to but it looks like it’ll be a week or two until I have a bike to ride on!

Dominic

TheBigDipper said:

Further to me finding a new bike to replace my 7-year old R1200 GS, I went and rode a couple of my prime candidates today. 

Ducati Multistrada 950S:

I really wanted to like this. I used to have a 916 Strada that I loved - especially the engine. Smooth and pulled like a train when it started to get the revs up. 

Unfortunately, it was a bit of a disappointment. 

Plusses

• Engine pulls like a train when you’re going for it
• Looks fantastic (IMHO)
• Comfy riding position
• Felt really planted in the twisties and changed direction well (not as quick as the KTM 790 Duke, but decent
• Induction roar and stock exhaust made pleasing noises)

Minuses

• Seat height seemed as high as my GS and it felt a bit top heavy
• Engine vibration between 4K-7K. Really buzzy and unpleasant through the seat. If all I wanted was to go fast everywhere then I might rev through it quickly, but it’s where the engine sits at 30-50mph  in 3rd or 4th gear. I couldn’t live with that.

The salesman had never heard of it before. If that was not typical, and could be fixed by their mechanics, I’d be interested in taking a second look. If they say it’s normal then we can forget it. It’s not right on a 13.5K bike. 

BMW F900 XR:

BMWs new middleweight twin. This was a better experience.

Minuses

• The screen was a bit too low for my body height. A bit noisier than I’d expected with some turbulence around the head and shoulders. When lowered (almost to the point of not doing anything and it being a naked bike) then the full on wind blast was slightly stronger, but quieter and no turbulence. There is a higher screen option that cures things, apparently. 
• Sounds a bit quiet and polite with the stock exhaust. 

Pluses

• Lower seat height than my GS (not hard) and lighter. No need for tippie-toes and it was easy to push around a car park.
• Almost as smooth an engine as the KTM. Deceptively quick and a nice “rush” if you pin the throttle back on a straight road.
• Handled well for my riding style (slow and smooth in, hold the line, fast out) and steered quicker than the GS (no surprise, that).
• Pretty much everything else was good or excellent, in fact
• The BMW “dashboard” is the best screen I’ve used so far - and none have been bad. This one is clear and easy to read under differing conditions. A pleasure to use. 

Being a BMW dealer, they’ve offered me a huge trade-in amount for my existing bike. I could have one in 4 weeks. I’m very tempted….

The Duke is by far the best bike ; re-mapping the ECU would dial out the discomfort on the rev band but that is a characteristic of that engine and you will sacrifice top end in each gear to do it
The 950 is quite hard -worked......you would be far better with a secondhand PikesPeak or any of the Testastretta engined models .....I have that engine in my Diavel 1260s  and it's very smooth in that range

guitargeek62

So I managed to sell my Bonnie yesterday, and will be picking up my new Triumph Scrambler 1200 XE on Friday! Proper pics to follow once I’ve got my mitts on it.

I must say, I was genuinely sad to see the Bonnie go - I truly love that bike, and would have loved to find a way to keep two bikes running. Maybe I’ll have another one some day to tinker with.


On a separate NBD note, my wife bought a ‘76 CB550F a few weeks ago for us to restore over the winter. We spent yesterday taking out the carbs and stripping them down for a full rebuild. It’ll be a steep learning curve for both of us as we haven’t really done anything like this at all, so I’m sure there’ll be some jobs that we need to leave to the experts! Still, it’s a lovely little bike though and runs pretty well already, barring a common issue with the charging system that we’ll sort out.

zepp76

guitargeek62 said:

So I managed to sell my Bonnie yesterday, and will be picking up my new Triumph Scrambler 1200 XE on Friday! Proper pics to follow once I’ve got my mitts on it.

I must say, I was genuinely sad to see the Bonnie go - I truly love that bike, and would have loved to find a way to keep two bikes running. Maybe I’ll have another one some day to tinker with.


On a separate NBD note, my wife bought a ‘76 CB550F a few weeks ago for us to restore over the winter. We spent yesterday taking out the carbs and stripping them down for a full rebuild. It’ll be a steep learning curve for both of us as we haven’t really done anything like this at all, so I’m sure there’ll be some jobs that we need to leave to the experts! Still, it’s a lovely little bike though and runs pretty well already, barring a common issue with the charging system that we’ll sort out.

Beautiful bikes! Good on you for getting the 550/4 year of my birth too! I can tell you now there is nothing on that bike that needs leaving to the experts (ok maybe a rebore but I doubt it’ll Need that) as long as you have a manual, the ability to read instructions and patience all the work is possible yourselves and now of course you have the greatest resource of them all, the Internet! I love working on bikes, as long as you have a warm, dry space to work on them with a bit of music and a cuppa, pure bliss! Good luck and maybe start a thread of the rebuild I’m sure there would be plenty of interest and advice.

guitargeek62

Cheers @zepp76 - she found a good one too, it’s already in a generally rideable condition, but we have no idea when either the last service or any maintenance work were done! 

We actually had to pick it up from the seller in Snowdon a few weeks back, I rode it home to Greenwich (~280mi!) and had a lovely ride on it through the A5, before getting a fast puncture on the M6 and having it recovered the rest of the way home!  Not the most sensible idea at all, but needs must and all that

zepp76

guitargeek62 said:

Cheers @zepp76 - she found a good one too, it’s already in a generally rideable condition, but we have no idea when either the last service or any maintenance work were done! 

We actually had to pick it up from the seller in Snowdon a few weeks back, I rode it home to Greenwich (~280mi!) and had a lovely ride on it through the A5, before getting a fast puncture on the M6 and having it recovered the rest of the way home!  Not the most sensible idea at all, but needs must and all that

I did wonder about your use of the word restore when looking at the photo as it looks in very good nick! Bad luck on the puncture, I’m known as a bit of a magnet when I ride, you could stick a screw anywhere on the salt flats of Utah and I can guarantee I’ll ride over it and get a puncture! My record is no more than four hours after spending hundreds of pounds on new top spec tyres for my supermoto and getting a screw tear right up the middle of the rear tyre! I also had to ride a ZZR1100 15 miles home with a flat rear tyre as I had no way of fixing it or breakdown cover, that was a hairy ride!

TheBigDipper

Dominic said:

TheBigDipper said:

<snip>.

The Duke is by far the best bike ; re-mapping the ECU would dial out the discomfort on the rev band but that is a characteristic of that engine and you will sacrifice top end in each gear to do it
The 950 is quite hard -worked......you would be far better with a secondhand PikesPeak or any of the Testastretta engined models .....I have that engine in my Diavel 1260s  and it's very smooth in that range

Well, for me it's clearly not the best bike, hence my views on it. That's the point of test rides.   

If what I experienced is standard for that engine, it's a bit of a disgrace, TBH. 

Speaking of which (test rides, not disgraces) - the two nearest Triumph dealers to me no longer have Tiger 900 GT Pro demonstrators. They've sold them. They do still have Rallye Pro demo bikes, but that's not quite the same for my riding needs. Not expecting new ones until next Feb at the earliest. They won't be able to deliver any GT Pros to customers before then, either. @Bridgehouse has done well. 

Bridgehouse

TheBigDipper said:

Dominic said:

TheBigDipper said:

<snip>.

The Duke is by far the best bike ; re-mapping the ECU would dial out the discomfort on the rev band but that is a characteristic of that engine and you will sacrifice top end in each gear to do it
The 950 is quite hard -worked......you would be far better with a secondhand PikesPeak or any of the Testastretta engined models .....I have that engine in my Diavel 1260s  and it's very smooth in that range

Well, for me it's clearly not the best bike, hence my views on it. That's the point of test rides.   

If what I experienced is standard for that engine, it's a bit of a disgrace, TBH. 

Speaking of which (test rides, not disgraces) - the two nearest Triumph dealers to me no longer have Tiger 900 GT Pro demonstrators. They've sold them. They do still have Rallye Pro demo bikes, but that's not quite the same for my riding needs. Not expecting new ones until next Feb at the earliest. They won't be able to deliver any GT Pros to customers before then, either. @Bridgehouse has done well. 

Mine came about a month early - but apparently sales have picked up even more. Latest is indeed Feb next year for a GTPro.

I can see why tho - they are stunning bikes.

Strangefan

octatonic said:

Anyone interested in a ride out before the weather gets too shit?
I'm in the Cotswolds so ideally one not too far, happy to lead and organise.

Yes I am I'm Stourbridge so jot far and I'm sure @Bridgehouse is desperate to let the tiger loose 

Bridgehouse

Strangefan said:

octatonic said:

Anyone interested in a ride out before the weather gets too shit?
I'm in the Cotswolds so ideally one not too far, happy to lead and organise.

Yes I am I'm Stourbridge so jot far and I'm sure @Bridgehouse is desperate to let the tiger loose 

Still rpm restricted whilst I run it in. You can meet me at the destination - I’ll be about an hour behind you

guitargeek62

Bridgehouse said:

TheBigDipper said:

Speaking of which (test rides, not disgraces) - the two nearest Triumph dealers to me no longer have Tiger 900 GT Pro demonstrators. They've sold them. They do still have Rallye Pro demo bikes, but that's not quite the same for my riding needs. Not expecting new ones until next Feb at the earliest. They won't be able to deliver any GT Pros to customers before then, either. @Bridgehouse has done well. 

Mine came about a month early - but apparently sales have picked up even more. Latest is indeed Feb next year for a GTPro.

I can see why tho - they are stunning bikes.

They really are by all accounts - I was a little tempted by the Rallye Pro too, but enjoyed the test ride on the Scrambler so much that I didn’t even bother taking the Tiger out! 

jaytmon

Bridgehouse said:

Bridgehouse said:

jaytmon said:

hywelg said:

Bridgehouse said:

Picked up a cheapo ER5 at the weekend. 

Back in two wheels after a shortish break. Actually didn’t feel like I’d been away at all. Did piss it down royally first ride out tho. 

Tiger 900 due end of sept/early Oct now apparently. 

This will be a decent winter hack for this year tho. Next year might swap it out for one of them Enfield Interceptors - had my eye on them for a bit now.

You don't have anywhere near enough stuff bikes. 

FTFY

Working on that...

I have more bikes now..

That is a very lovely looking bike! Sounds like you got the order in just in time too. Congrats!