Any Motörbike riders here?

TheBigDipper

guitargeek62 said:

How’s everyone’s summer riding been going?

I’m just setting off to the Overland Event in Oxf. as part of the Mental Health Motorbike team, see you there if you’re going!

Not enough of it but pretty good all the same. The F900XR is getting some miles on it and I'm still pretty pleased when I ride it. I actually spent yesterday hooning around between Reading and Swindon with my mate. He lives in Tottenham, I live in Christchurch, so... 

We found some nice new roads between Reading and Swindon - and stopped off to visit the White Horse of Uffington. 

I've got a riding buddy who's training for the Mental Health Motorbike thing. He's promised to explain further next time we meet up.

Haych

guitargeek62 said:

How’s everyone’s summer riding been going?

Not as epic as I’d hoped. 

Two of my riding buddies decided to quit at the start of the spring although I’m slowly persuading one of them to acquire another bike. 

My other main riding buddy is busy trying to sell his house after his missus left him so he’s time constricted at the moment. 

Mostly it’s been solo rides which isn’t as much fun but it’s been educational at least. 

Next week I’m heading down south for a couple of nights on the bike. Going to throw a tent on the back and spend some much needed time on my own!  Looking forward to it very much. Should be a good ride too. 

Dominic

How has my summer riding been ?
A bit like Winter but it stayed light for longer !
Worst summer I can remember

roundthebend

I've been commuting more frequently on mine - it's only 20 miles each way and mostly straight motorway unless I take the old A road which has a few roundabouts but is also mostly straight. I've enjoyed it and feel I'm getting better at riding (4 years nearly).

Early July I went for 2 nights camping down in Weymouth. I loved the riding, met up with a couple of mates who use Sena comms so I just go between them and follow along.

Last week I paid off the final payment of my PCP so the bike is fully mine. I love it.

cruxiform

Dominic said:

How has my summer riding been ?
A bit like Winter but it stayed light for longer !
Worst summer I can remember

Same here. Lost my mojo a bit this year.

Moe_Zambeek

Sold my Husky in April - expecting to buy something in May - then nowt. No supply, no used stock around, lockdowns blah blah blah. So pretty rubbish. Weather has been OK off and on so it could have been a reasonable year. Hoping next year will be better, dealer tells me that supply should be getting better from this month onwards but not much point buying in the off season, other than as a hedge against continuing poor supply.

Haych

Seeing as some of us have had a meh year, I reckon somebody ought to suggest a moto-fretboarder's meet up somewhere.

Who's gonna float the idea?  

Whoever suggests it I think I might be up for that.

MtB

Yes, likewise here, worst year weather wise for biking in a long time. I got rid of my Triumph Speed Twin in a p-ex with a dealer for this: 

https://i.imgur.com/aGUN7Kf.jpg

The Triumph was fun for short trips and around town, but is let down by the poor suspension and small fuel tank. In all honesty I should have foreseen this, but hey! lesson learned.

The Duc is awesome. It's a 1260 Multistrada with just over 3k on the clock. I bought a Multistrada back in 2010 and had 5 glorious years with it, so I know the territory. The different ride modes on the 1260 make it a little more civilised, but I generally have it sport with most of the rider aids switched off.

I did look into getting another 1290 Super Adventure S, but both that and the Superduke GT have issues (and the Super Adventure is THE most uncomfortable £15,000 bike out there) 

jaytmon

I had a 950 Multistrada which I chopped in earlier this year for an R1250RS, which is an interesting bike, more ‘mature’ than the Duke and a lot smoother too. Huge amounts of torque (105 lb/ft) means I rarely see north of 6k on the revs. It feels very planted too, especially in corners. It’s not as comfortable on the shoulders though, as I found out the day after a 4 hour spin through mid Wales! Partly down to riding fitness, worth it mind, for the A44/A470 from Aberystwyth to Rhayader. 

It has been a bit of a hit or miss summer but I do have a regular 30 mile commute which, especially with tourist traffic (in West Wales), is considerably quicker and less frustrating on the bike. I’m not sure it’s love, more a case of the right bike at the moment. Dreams of the V4 Multi or SDGT firmly in the background, so that’s a good sign! 

p90fool

Well I've had a pretty busy couple of years on bikes despite health issues and Welsh lockdown silliness - I put a recon speedo on one of my old bikes in April last year and have just hit 16,000 miles, done around 7,000 on the Johnny Cash bike, and I've put quite a few already on an Interceptor 650 I bought a couple of weeks ago. 

I'm enjoying the Interceptor quite a lot actually, it'll blast past any traffic you're likely to meet but doesn't entice you into silliness accidentally. 

Haych

Well, went for a pint or six (I was well gone) last Friday with a mate of mine who sold his bike earlier this year. 

We had a great time and conversation much of the time was motorcycle related. I’ve been trying to talk him into acquiring another bike since he sold the last one. 

Less than a week after meeting up for drinks he’s only gone and bought another bike!

He doesn’t actually bring it home for a couple of weeks but it’s the best news I’ve had all week. I reckon he, another buddy of ours and yours truly could be heading for a tour abroad next year!

For anyone interested in what he bought, it’s a 2014 Suzuki GSX1250FA. 

AK99

Did a big road trip on the Daytona  earlier in the year with a jaunt round Wales, Kent, Cairnryan and back thru Norn Iron. just over 1100 miles in a couple of days riding, Weather was great, thankfully. Not the wisest on a full-on sports bike perhaps, but what the heck - you're a long time dead

Shortly after, bought this lump on the left:



That's the brother's black one beside it - both identical, No shortage of storage space on them:



Dangerous thing though - there's a very real risk of falling asleep on one of them ..eventually  'Fraid it'll have to go, I did give it a decent try, but I don't think I'm a proper touring bike kind of person. (Not yet at least..)

AK99

p90fool said:

It has finally dawned on me why that's the Johnny Cash bike...

(I love the look and style of that machine btw - and it's equally well-used sibling. Two class acts)

guitargeek62

Haych said:

Seeing as some of us have had a meh year, I reckon somebody ought to suggest a moto-fretboarder's meet up somewhere.

Who's gonna float the idea?  

Whoever suggests it I think I might be up for that.

Bloody great idea, I’m in!

Now, where’s everyone based? I’m E.Devon but more than happy to travel

BenSirAmos

guitargeek62 said:

How’s everyone’s summer riding been going?

This year I've done Northumbria - fantastic, The Lake District - stunning and great weather, South Wales - went to Wales instead of Scotland because of the weather (wrong move, it pissed down). 

I keep trying to find a break in the weather in Scotland but it seems to rain all the fucking time. 

I might do a few nights away to do Kent - it's not that far from me but the other side of London means I've never really explored it - always dashing to get home. Maybe I'll just book into a Travelodge for a couple of nights.

Dominic

AK99 said:

Did a big road trip on the Daytona  earlier in the year with a jaunt round Wales, Kent, Cairnryan and back thru Norn Iron. just over 1100 miles in a couple of days riding, Weather was great, thankfully. Not the wisest on a full-on sports bike perhaps, but what the heck - you're a long time dead

Shortly after, bought this lump on the left:



That's the brother's black one beside it - both identical, No shortage of storage space on them:



Dangerous thing though - there's a very real risk of falling asleep on one of them ..eventually  'Fraid it'll have to go, I did give it a decent try, but I don't think I'm a proper touring bike kind of person. (Not yet at least..)

Not meaning to be rude but they're not really Touring Bikes ........more like high power scooters ...... a touring bike could be anything from a GS Beemer to a Harley Glide and numerous Sports Tourers in between .
I'm sure they are very comfortable but more like a Bergman ( which is great at what it does )

p90fool

Haych said:

Less than a week after meeting up for drinks he’s only gone and bought another bike!

It's too easy these days, I bought my 650 Interceptor while playing with my phone, sat on the bog at work a couple of Wednesdays ago. 

It wasn't on a total whim as I'd spent a few weeks doing my homework, but it wouldn't have happened at that moment if I hadn't been bored. 

hollywoodrox

Some of my old pics 

hollywoodrox

AK99

Dominic said:

Not meaning to be rude but they're not really Touring Bikes ........more like high power scooters ...... a touring bike could be anything from a GS Beemer to a Harley Glide and numerous Sports Tourers in between .
I'm sure they are very comfortable but more like a Bergman ( which is great at what it does )

Not even sure about the 'high power' part of that Dominic  - but on the 'tourers' - yes fair point.

I could well go down the Harley route at some stage again. I think it's the general blandness (lack of involvement even) of many of the otherwise perfectly functional/sensible touring bikes that leaves me a little cold. For me riding bikes should be a bit of an event. The Pacific Coast was definitely the wrong sort of event