Any Motörbike riders here?

JEM

Dominic said:

Emp_Fab said:

No sorry...   I won't have anything other than Japanese.

......Yeah,'cos those Ducatis, KTMs,Aprillias etc are all rubbish

Not to mention the UK's biggest selling (by a mile) class A bike!

Emp_Fab

Will you lot back the fuck up!  Every time I express any preference for anything, there’s always a few members who can’t wait to jump down my throat.  I like Jap bikes!  It’s not a crime!  That doesn’t mean other countries’ bikes are shit.  I’ve owned Yamaha, Honda and Kawasaki.  Never had a Suzuki though.  Besides, there are a shitload more Jap bikes than European or American for sale on the second hand market and they are generally cheaper and have better spares availability.

Jeez....

Kittyfrisk

Hope this wasn't one of us... 
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/av/uk-england-sussex-65688619

jaytmon

Kittyfrisk said:

Hope this wasn't one of us... 
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/av/uk-england-sussex-65688619

Oh dear….

AK99

Emp_Fab said:

Will you lot back the fuck up!  Every time I express any preference for anything, there’s always a few members who can’t wait to jump down my throat.  I like Jap bikes!  It’s not a crime!  That doesn’t mean other countries’ bikes are shit.  I’ve owned Yamaha, Honda and Kawasaki.  Never had a Suzuki though.  Besides, there are a shitload more Jap bikes than European or American for sale on the second hand market and they are generally cheaper and have better spares availability.

Jeez....

"I like all kinds of music - Country and Western" 

Not getting at you in particular EMP - your statement just reminded me of my very much less than open-minded sibling

p90fool

AK99 said:

Emp_Fab said:

No sorry...   I won't have anything other than Japanese.

I've a brother who won't buy anything other than Hondas. 
 

Honda are renowned for their quality, but are one of the few major manufacturers of anything who always seem to have a mechanical disaster in their lineup. 

Some of their colour coded camchain tensioner revisions ran out of rainbow in the end on quite a few bikes, and not many things in life are more horrible than rotton 20 year old Honda wiring looms. 

Still, they do nice paintwork though, which is all most punters care about. 

Also, bear in mind that while the Big Four bike companies might be based in Japan, the bikes are no more likely to be actually made in the home country than your average Stratocaster is. 

A Japanese-only bike bias is bordering on perversity these days - it's not 1980 any more. 

JEM

Emp_Fab said:

Jeez....

Apologies, didn't mean to have a go. I too prefer Japanese bikes (well, Kawasaki) but as others have said the European manufacturers make some really fantastic stuff these days and you'd be mad not to consider them.

Kittyfrisk

ITV X new show about the TT "No room for error".
https://bikesportnews.com/tt-and-roads/isle-of-man-tt-documentary-no-room-for-error-available-to-watch-now/

gubble

Came here to recommend the Royal Enfield Himalayan to Emp then read the rest of the thread........

I got back into biking last year after a 9 year break. Only ever had Japanese stuff before and now own a 22 Plate Royal Enfield Classic 350 which I absolutely love.

For me it's a weekend toy for going around the new forest and despite having only 20bhp it's perfectly adequate and not lacking in any area (except for any storage).  Plus it looks great.

I've since met lots of people who have the Himilayan and they all love it. It's a really capable bike that isn't a BMW GS.

In respect of the Japanese stuff - It would appear the tide has truly turned for Motorbikes. Look at the top selling bikes last year in the UK and other than scooters it's all European stuff.

The same can be said for MotoGP where the european manufacturers are dominating over the japanese but that's for a whole number of different (and one the same) reasons.

Dominic

Emp_Fab said:

Will you lot back the fuck up!  Every time I express any preference for anything, there’s always a few members who can’t wait to jump down my throat.  I like Jap bikes!  It’s not a crime!  That doesn’t mean other countries’ bikes are shit.  I’ve owned Yamaha, Honda and Kawasaki.  Never had a Suzuki though.  Besides, there are a shitload more Jap bikes than European or American for sale on the second hand market and they are generally cheaper and have better spares availability.

Jeez....

Fair enough .....we are all free to like what we personally like and Jap bikes are certainly cheaper .

LastMantra

One of the best bikes I had was my wee mid 70s Honda tl125.

Great wee engine. 

Best thing was it was considered a "vintage"  bike and could be entered in that class of trials. Most of the other bikes in that class were basically road bikes, the wee honda could run rings round them! With a good rider on it of course, unlike me and my buddy.

Wish I still had it, it got pinched 

Dominic

^ Was this the silver tank model ........I had one .....first bike,loved it !
My Dad bought mine when I was 16 .....it was a lovely looking thing .I ended up gettiong a bit better on a bike ,doing some motocross and traded it for a Honda Rm 125 Red Rocket which was a beast in the power band.

Dominic

sorry, that was a CRM 125

LastMantra

Dominic said:

sorry, that was a CRM 125

The tl had a much more refined 4stroke overhead cam engine 

Dominic

I know , I had one and loved it but it was a road bike in the Trials style 

LastMantra

You could get them fitted out for the road, they were based on the cb125, but they were actually proper trials bikes. Honda's first production trials. 
Certainly wouldn't be any good for motocross or anything like that  though. Totally different sport. 

Haych

Anyone ever done Moto Gymkhana?

Was watching Teapot One's latest video on YouTube where he's given it a go, looks like a lot of fun and, more importantly, looks like a great way to improve bike control, especially manoeuvring at low speeds.

Not sure I'd want to compete but wouldn't mind trying it out.

Mind you, I have a feeling that later this year my eldest will want to do his CBT, if they'll let me I might do it again with him and see how I fare riding between the cones and doing figure of eights.

JEM

Kittyfrisk said:

ITV X new show about the TT "No room for error".
https://bikesportnews.com/tt-and-roads/isle-of-man-tt-documentary-no-room-for-error-available-to-watch-now/

In case anyone missed it the BBC Northern Ireland coverage of the NW200 is on iPlayer too. It sounds like there was a bit of an organisational cock-up with one of the big teams being disqualified from the Superbike races at the last minute but the Supersport races were both absolute corkers.

LastMantra

I wish they'd bring back the TV show kick-start, I loved that as a kid. 

Kittyfrisk