Any Motörbike riders here?

Haych

Corvus said:

Not having a pop Haych, just saying.

No worries dude, I have thick skin anyway.  But I think I see where you're coming from.  Like I say I just don't 'get' Harleys, but then I don't really consider myself a bike freak and I don't 'get' a lot of different brands and types of bike.

I think I've said before, I like motorcycling, not necessarily motorcycles per se.  I find some bikers a bit weird which stems from being inflicted as a child by family members - both my uncles were to some degree bikers or bike enthusiasts and they would stand around anything with two wheels with eyes on stalks and drool dripping out the corner of their mouths.  

I just don't understand that.  I can appreciate some bikes for what they are but if I can't see myself riding one I wouldn't crane my neck to look at one, if you know what I mean?

A guy I know can talk for hours about his Honda NC750 and anything Moto Guzzi, but to me both are about as interesting as a dose of smallpox so my eyes just glaze over and I zone out.

I'd gladly accompany anyone on a ride no matter what machine they turned up on, the ride is more interesting to me than the bike.

Moe_Zambeek

I love Guzzis - well, the non-shit ones anyway, Tontis and spine frame basically, Griso and Stelvio too. However, they do really attract the stereotypical braces-wearing, pipe-smoking beardy-weirdy types. 

The thing about the GS is that it’s a really comfortable and capable bike. Even without the (20 year old) LWR effect they deserve their sales, even accounting for the slapdash quality at times. It does grind my gears a bit to be following one through traffic and they can’t split the lane cos they have the panniers on still. Cmon guys, put the topbox on and use that!

AK99

Haych said:

No worries dude, I have thick skin anyway.  But I think I see where you're coming from.  Like I say I just don't 'get' Harleys, but then I don't really consider myself a bike freak and I don't 'get' a lot of different brands and types of bike.

I'm not unlike like you Haych - I love riding the things, but also love tinkering and futtering with them. I've been riding (officially at least) since 1978 - and have probably owned or ridden most of the usual marques at some point since then. Looking back, I'm now on my 4th Harley - shuffled in betwee n other stuff.

I have a thing for V-twins in general, but do particularly like Harleys, and keep getting drawn back to the damn things, True the dynamics are sh1te - they're basically a big lump of an engine shoe-horned into whatever the cheapest bundle of welded-up tubes and bought-in from wherever cycle-parts they can manage to source offshore ("Made in 'Murica my @rse").  To me they're like one of those fairground stationary engines you see at the country fairs - except on wheels, and  you can go places on them

One other thing I've noticed is - and maybe it's being a bike snob or just a plain old ego thing - but I always find it a struggle to bond with 'sensible bikes' (and indeed cars). If a bike's too easy to ride, too reliable or whatever, I find I lose interest pretty quickly. If it doesn't wreck your head in terms of trying to get it to work right, or put the fear of Gawd in you in some way -  because it's a lot more capable than you are, or it's a bit of a pig to ride properly - then it's only a matter of time before you get bored with it, I find.


(Looking back again over the years, for me you could probably equally safely substitute 'female' for bike everywhere in the last paragraph .. but that's another discussion altogether )

AK99

So, with a bit of time to spare this afternoon, in the interests of motorcycle science, conducted a couple of crude experiments on the baffle thing:

1. As was (briefly) with the eBay baffles:

 

2. Hammered a rod down the centre to bend back the teeth, and open up the centre bore:






3. Opened out bore plus end taped over to stop all flow through the middle:



4. Opened out bore with a bit of an offcut of fibreglass wrapped round it:



The experimental design / parameters were basically - run the bike with the open pipes, and then bung each variation in by hand, listen to it at idle, and give it a decent couple of blips on  the throttle to and see what it sounded like, s

The (highly subjective) results are as follows:

Control - Open pipe. Nice bass-rich rumble, but fkme, just ridiculously loud 

1. Original untouched baffle - quieter, but all the bass gone, not a nice sound (think P90Fool's playing card in your bicycle spokes type clatter)

2. Opened out baffle - not as quiet as 1, slightly more bass (? - possibly). Better.

3. Opened out baffle with taped over centre-bore - unbelievably quiet/hushed , but felt like the bike was struggling to even breathe. You couldn't run a bike like that.

4. Opened out baffle with fibreglass - as in 2 above, but with a big chunk of the missing bass restored. Actually sounds like a proper Harley again. Hands down the best result, by a country mile

Hadn't expected the last result at all after the others- so was really pleasantly surprised


You could of course trim back the length of the baffle and see what effect that has, but for now - I think I'll get shopping for some fibreglass wrap and wire, get the thing into some kind of tolerable running order.

Dominic

cruxiform said:

Dominic said:

There is also a huge difference in the bikes themselves ......an over-chromed £39,000 CVO UltraGlide with a £4k paintjob and matching pannier insert Dorothy bags that does 400 miles a year on sunny sunday Cappuccino meets isn't really my idea of Harley . 

It's shifted to the BMW GS now. It's a lifestyle thing, I call it 'Touring by Numbers'. Buy the GS, spec it out and tour the usual spots in Europe staying in the best hotels. Call yourself a motorcycle tourer. A couple of go pro cameras, an insta 360, a drone and you're a Youtube star!  All of this costs money and a £20k bike is only available to those that can afford it. The GS has become the PRS of motorcycling in my opinion. 

It's ironic that a lot of GS riders are influenced by the Long Way Round yet their bikes haven't touched dirt. I'm not saying all GS owners buy them to do that, but there is a trend. BMW Motorrad call the UK 'Fantasy Island' as we're their biggest ADV market, they rub their hands with glee and if you look at some German forums they kinda find it hilarious. A lot of Germans don't even ride a BMW, they prefer Japanese bikes instead. Lots of them love Triumphs and there is a massive scene over there.

Just to add, I love BMW bikes, I've had a few,mainly sports tourers, all brilliant. In fact I have a K1300S coming soon so I'm definitely not anti BMW. I just think that being a 'biker' has shifted from what I was back when I started in the 80's. The 90's were wild for me, I loved the rebellious  'fuck you' nature of being a biker. It's changed a lot now and I think I struggle with that. It's become sensible and acceptable. 

In fairness the GS (I don't really like them myself ) is a super comfortable long tour bike and great for stowing luggage etc .
K1300S is a great bike .......shame about the terrible turning circle but a fantastic fast and comfortable sport tourer.
I loved the R9 T .......great little bike.
I don't think anybody is really a biker unless they truly live the Club life or are around that scene .Doesn't have to be 1% MC ,in fact the well known patches have changed an awful lot in the last 12 years ,the bikes are different,the brotherhood is different ,the Clubhouse Parties are different and a lot of the full patch members actually don't know much about bikes/engines.
That tends to be the Harley world but not exclusively ........to me the National Chopper Club is a true die-hard biker Club.
Those guys totally live the life,the long haul rallys/shows and know how to strip-down anything ,chop the frame ,gooseneck the front ,calc out the rake and steer ,fabricate any engine part they can't find at a motorjumble ....there is a lot of Harley (Pans.Shovels and 88cube Evos ) but also a lot of Triumph and Japanese stuff in their ranks.
No stick-on Tatts , weekend beards or Cappuccino tasting sessions there !

Dominic

AK99 said:

So, with a bit of time to spare this afternoon, in the interests of motorcycle science, conducted a couple of crude experiments on the baffle thing:

1. As was (briefly) with the eBay baffles:

 

2. Hammered a rod down the centre to bend back the teeth, and open up the centre bore:






3. Opened out bore plus end taped over to stop all flow through the middle:



4. Opened out bore with a bit of an offcut of fibreglass wrapped round it:



The experimental design / parameters were basically - run the bike with the open pipes, and then bung each variation in by hand, listen to it at idle, and give it a decent couple of blips on  the throttle to and see what it sounded like, s

The (highly subjective) results are as follows:

Control - Open pipe. Nice bass-rich rumble, but fkme, just ridiculously loud 

1. Original untouched baffle - quieter, but all the bass gone, not a nice sound (think P90Fool's playing card in your bicycle spokes type clatter)

2. Opened out baffle - not as quiet as 1, slightly more bass (? - possibly). Better.

3. Opened out baffle with taped over centre-bore - unbelievably quiet/hushed , but felt like the bike was struggling to even breathe. You couldn't run a bike like that.

4. Opened out baffle with fibreglass - as in 2 above, but with a big chunk of the missing bass restored. Actually sounds like a proper Harley again. Hands down the best result, by a country mile

Hadn't expected the last result at all after the others- so was really pleasantly surprised


You could of course trim back the length of the baffle and see what effect that has, but for now - I think I'll get shopping for some fibreglass wrap and wire, get the thing into some kind of tolerable running order.

Told you so ........

AK99

You did indeed

(I didn't really believe it..and still not sure why it deepens the tone, but yup, it sure does)

TheBigDipper

Dominic said:

<snip>

In fairness the GS (I don't really like them myself ) is a super comfortable long tour bike and great for stowing luggage etc .
K1300S is a great bike .......shame about the terrible turning circle but a fantastic fast and comfortable sport tourer.
I loved the R9 T .......great little bike.
I don't think anybody is really a biker unless they truly live the Club life or are around that scene .Doesn't have to be 1% MC ,in fact the well known patches have changed an awful lot in the last 12 years ,the bikes are different,the brotherhood is different ,the Clubhouse Parties are different and a lot of the full patch members actually don't know much about bikes/engines.
That tends to be the Harley world but not exclusively ........to me the National Chopper Club is a true die-hard biker Club.
Those guys totally live the life,the long haul rallys/shows and know how to strip-down anything ,chop the frame ,gooseneck the front ,calc out the rake and steer ,fabricate any engine part they can't find at a motorjumble ....there is a lot of Harley (Pans.Shovels and 88cube Evos ) but also a lot of Triumph and Japanese stuff in their ranks.
No stick-on Tatts , weekend beards or Cappuccino tasting sessions there !

Until 2 years ago, I'd been riding GSs as my main bike for 20 years or so. For instructing, they are excellent. The cases let you carry lots of roadside training tools with you. They're also excellent general all round bikes for road riding. You don't need the same amount of horsepower or power-to-weight when you can see OVER the hedges. :-) But I couldn't get excited about buying another one in 2021, so I bought an F900 XR as a change. Smaller, lighter, faster. I'm still enjoying it. 

Dominic makes an interesting point about the term "biker". I've never considered myself a biker because I'm an enthusiastic, knowledgable motorcycle rider but don't subscribe to what I perceive as the "biker" lifestyle. I haven't wanted to rebuild an engine ever since I had enough money to pay someone else to do it. Skinned knuckles and playing guitar don't really mix for me. 

I think he's got it fairly right, TBH. 

TheBigDipper

I'll be out on the bike for most of today. Looks like being a sunny hot one in Dorset. 

Every year, my old East London bike club (no patches, it's an IAM group) has a social run down to Dorset as close to the summer solstice as they can manage. It's their "Longest Day Run". I used to go as often as I could when I was living in E14 because it was great fun. 

Now I live in Dorset, I try and meet them at the lunch stop and ride with them for the rest of the day. Catch up with some old mates, have a nice run out with them (and get a reminder of how it was when you rode with them regularly) and enjoy seeing the new attendees realise how great Dorset is for rural motorcycling. Quick, safe and not looking at the speedo during overtakes. Culminating in ice creams at the top of a hill overlooking Studland/Poole and finishing off with a ride on the ferry across the harbour mouth to Sandbanks. 

It's today. Time to make sure my visor is clean. Fairly sure it won't be later... 

sinbaadi

I've been Scooting round Bali for the last week on a little NMaxx 155 and it has been wonderful fun.  First time here and the traffic has a very much more Vietnam feel rather than say Thailand.  The roads in the city are chaotic and too narrow for the volume of traffic, with more and more cars every year, but once you get into the hills it's just stunning.  Still narrow, all very slow and sedate, but lovely and smooth for the most part, twisting and turning like rollercoasters through hillside and valley.  Stunningly beautiful, too.

Google did lead me down a road that became unsurfaced, for a kilometer or so which was fun.  And another one a little longer which was paved but was still just the width of the original footpath, also entertaining!

Really good to be back on two wheels after the best part of two years.  

Petepassion

Sold my bike last year, don’t have the  fear and focus enough to continue riding the sports bikes.
   Love cruisers and sports bikes, great for different reasons, we can like both Mozart and Nirvana. Can’t be done with the silly snobberish behaviour between some in these two groups.
   Had some crazy moments, broke my neck C2 in two places and my back in four places, got up after the crash and wondered why my neck hurt so much

Dominic

^ The ride when you get off the chain Ferry at Sandbanks that runs through the Ferns and bracken and up past ' The Pig on the Beach ' is my most favourite 10 miles motorcycling in the UK .
Stunning scenery ,beautiful area and always reminds me of the South of France.
When you said East London Club ,I assume that had to get the blessing of the Hackney Clubhouse Red and White

Haych

TheBigDipper said:

I'll be out on the bike for most of today. Looks like being a sunny hot one in Dorset. 

Every year, my old East London bike club (no patches, it's an IAM group) has a social run down to Dorset as close to the summer solstice as they can manage. It's their "Longest Day Run". I used to go as often as I could when I was living in E14 because it was great fun. 

Now I live in Dorset, I try and meet them at the lunch stop and ride with them for the rest of the day. Catch up with some old mates, have a nice run out with them (and get a reminder of how it was when you rode with them regularly) and enjoy seeing the new attendees realise how great Dorset is for rural motorcycling. Quick, safe and not looking at the speedo during overtakes. Culminating in ice creams at the top of a hill overlooking Studland/Poole and finishing off with a ride on the ferry across the harbour mouth to Sandbanks. 

It's today. Time to make sure my visor is clean. Fairly sure it won't be later... 

Sounds like a wonderful day! I adore Dorset, probably my favourite county in all of Englanshire. 

If I wasn’t feeling like crap today I’d be out also, I might even have headed to Dorset and begged to meet up with you. 

I’ve come down with my summer regular flu like virus, as the doctor once termed it. Happens most years in the summer!

First time I got it I went to the doc for a sick note as I was off work for longer than the permitted period. I told him I had the flu. He said, “It’s July, it’s not flu season, there is no flu this time of year. It’s a flu-like virus”

To which I replied, “A flu-like virus eh? So flu then!”

Still at least it hasn’t hit two weeks from now when I’ll be at the ABR Festival. It’ll probably bucket down all weekend knowing my luck though. 

TheBigDipper

Dominic said:

^ The ride when you get off the chain Ferry at Sandbanks that runs through the Ferns and bracken and up past ' The Pig on the Beach ' is my most favourite 10 miles motorcycling in the UK .
Stunning scenery ,beautiful area and always reminds me of the South of France.
When you said East London Club ,I assume that had to get the blessing of the Hackney Clubhouse Red and White

No, its proper name is East London Advanced Motorcyclists. And they don't appear to recognise patch clubs as having any standing with them. Motorcyclists, see? Not bikers. :-) Both ride powered two-wheelers, but very different experiences. 

You're so right about that road, and its a lovely scenic drive in the car from Studland to Corfe. When I'm using it on the bike I tend to be going a lot quicker and need to focus on the road, not the scenery. 

p90fool

Petepassion said:

   Love cruisers and sports bikes, great for different reasons, we can like both Mozart and Nirvana. Can’t be done with the silly snobberish behaviour between some in these two groups.
 

I've always divided my bikes into looking at the scenery bikes and looking at the tarmac bikes, it's fine to own and like both. 

AK99

^ That's actually a really good distinction

thebreeze

Hope you feel better soon @Haych.  I wish you hadn’t mention the Pan America.  I know F all about bikes apart from knowing I like my bike but that does look rather nice.  Thankfully I can’t afford it.

Haych

thebreeze said:

Hope you feel better soon @Haych.  I wish you hadn’t mention the Pan America.  I know F all about bikes apart from knowing I like my bike but that does look rather nice.  Thankfully I can’t afford it.

Thanks bud, feeling rather grim so no riding today but started planning and packing for the ABR Festival in a couple of weeks.

I know naff all about the Pan America, only that it's been very well received by the ADV crowd.  I'm quite happy with my old bike until it breaks and I can't fix it.

Dominic

Pan America = Fugly
Not really a Harley 
Not as Slick as a BMW GS 
Not in the same league as a KTM Superadventure  or Ducati Multistrada Pikes Peak
Not as good value as a Honda Africa Twin
What actually is it ? 

AK99

It's akin to those Porsche SUVs - the answer to questions which nobody ever posed.