Any Motörbike riders here?

cruxiform

Anytime from mid-late June for me. We might even have a summer by then  

Haych

Bike sailed through its MoT test today, pretty much.

Advisories on the tyres, and the front brake - which it gets every year, and every year the tester tells me it's barely perceptible and needs no attention, begs the question why it's an advisory but who am I to judge ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ 

I guess at some point I'll need to change the discs but they're well within tolerance and it seems to stop very well so for now they stay put.

Over the weekend I checked the valve clearances - managed to sheer off a small bolt for the engine guard, bit annoyed at myself for that so looks like I'll have to get a drill suitable for drilling out stainless to get that out.  My stud extractor won't even touch it, and even if it did it's welded itself into place!

I also replaced the front wheel bearings on Saturday.  I had a bit of a whine coming from the front when banked into a corner so for £20 figured it was about time they were changed.  Fun times trying to get those out of the wheel hub without a puller!  Some ingenuity on my part (pair of old pliers, a Bessey clamp, a big chisel and a hammer!) along with a bit of brute force and ignorance and they came out, though.  Saved myself £50 on a bearing puller, too!  Result!

Noise is still there, so I'm guessing it's not bearing noise and is actually coming from the tyres as I thought it might be - they've cupped quite badly and it sounds a bit like a landrover in a corner - Michelin Road 6s in the shed ready to go on so no issue really.  One of the bearings at least was overdue for replacement - dry, noisy and rough - so I'm not annoyed at going to the trouble of swapping them.

Going to take care of a few more service items in the coming weeks, just fluids and filter changes and then it ought to be ready for its Pyrenean adventure in June!

Cannot. Wait!

thefez

First drop today while stopping to wheel the bike back into the work shed. Momentum took it and just couldn't fight it. A bit annoying but no damage bar a few scratches on the hand guard. An absolute pain to get back up though and even more annoying that all the coworkers drove by and didn't help. One even sat in his car watching me struggle.

What are you guys using in the way of helmets? My Shark skwal is staring to let in water and a high pitched whine so thinking of replacing it with something a bit more upmarket (fit dependent). It seems the 'quiet' helmets I find don't fit my head well on the forehead and are Sena comms ready whereas I'm Cardo.

New windscreen ordered and hopefully that will help with the insane amount of noise I'm getting at the moment

Haych

thefez said:

What are you guys using in the way of helmets? My Shark skwal is staring to let in water and a high pitched whine so thinking of replacing it with something a bit more upmarket (fit dependent). It seems the 'quiet' helmets I find don't fit my head well on the forehead and are Sena comms ready whereas I'm Cardo.

I've tried a few.

Shoei - wrong head shape for me, tried a few on and none of them fit right.

HJC - in between sizes, I have a small noggin and the small in HJC is annoyingly that little bit too tight and the medium way too large.

AGV - decent fit, I have a K6, I find it fairly quiet and have a Cardo Packtalk Bold fitted to it, not a bad helmet at all, the visor opening/closure system is a bit of a faff to open sometimes but otherwise not bad at all, would recommend.

Arai - best fit of any helmet I've ever tried, supremely comfortable.  I have the Quantic, looks good and is well made but has a couple of annoyances - the visor opening catch thing is a bit annoying and the visor needs an extra shove to seat it home properly.  I modified the opener and it works much better now.  Overall it's on par with the K6 for noise with the top vents closed - open them and it does get noisier - I don't use them much so not a massive issue for me.

I have the same Cardo system fitted to the Quantic as well.

Dominic

I just use any old helmet I get my hands on .....openface for the Harleys and a cheap but good looking LS2 for the Superduke

jaytmon

thefez said:

What are you guys using in the way of helmets? My Shark skwal is staring to let in water and a high pitched whine so thinking of replacing it with something a bit more upmarket (fit dependent). It seems the 'quiet' helmets I find don't fit my head well on the forehead and are Sena comms ready whereas I'm Cardo.

New windscreen ordered and hopefully that will help with the insane amount of noise I'm getting at the moment

I wear a Shoei GT Air 2, Arai doesn’t seem to fit my head shape. Recommend trying some on and find what feels good on your head. 

Regarding noise, have you tried earplugs? I don’t ride without them now. I had a Tracer when they first came out, I remember it being incredibly noisy, wind wise. I think most adventure style bikes are doomed to be fairly buffety just because of the (lack of) aerodynamics. 

p90fool

jaytmon said:

I wear a Shoei GT Air 2, Arai doesn’t seem to fit my head shape. 

I ran a motorcycle shop until around 15 years ago and pretty much everyone seemed to have either a Shoei or an Arai shaped head.
Most cheaper brands were somewhere in between. 

thefez

jaytmon said:

thefez said:

What are you guys using in the way of helmets? My Shark skwal is staring to let in water and a high pitched whine so thinking of replacing it with something a bit more upmarket (fit dependent). It seems the 'quiet' helmets I find don't fit my head well on the forehead and are Sena comms ready whereas I'm Cardo.

New windscreen ordered and hopefully that will help with the insane amount of noise I'm getting at the moment

I wear a Shoei GT Air 2, Arai doesn’t seem to fit my head shape. Recommend trying some on and find what feels good on your head. 

Regarding noise, have you tried earplugs? I don’t ride without them now. I had a Tracer when they first came out, I remember it being incredibly noisy, wind wise. I think most adventure style bikes are doomed to be fairly buffety just because of the (lack of) aerodynamics. 

Yeah I use Alpine earplugs whenever I ride unless it's a 2 min jaunt down to the shop in our lovely 20mph zones. I wish I could use the foam disposable earplugs because they seem to be the best at reducing noise but I just can't get on with them.

New windscreen coming today so hopefully that'll help or if not, I'll take it off and try a small sports or just naked at the front.

Can't wait for a proper tour on this thing

cruxiform

I think I have an in between head because I’ve been wearing HJC helmets for nearly 10 years now, they seem to fit my noggin just right. Got a full face with dark visor and a flip up jobbie. 

TheBigDipper

Currently a Shoei GT-Air 2. Love it. Very quiet. Changed intercoms from Cardo to Sena with this one - the Cardo was on its last legs and in its third helmet. The integrated fitting for the Sena is very nice and the intercom itself (SRL-Mesh) is excellent. 

 Previously an AGV K6. Liked that, too and the aperture was a little bigger (for those of us wearing glasses). Also very quiet. The lining/padding didn't last and replacements from AGV are expensive. When new, just as nice as the Shoei. But it felt old very quickly. 

 Prior to that, a Shoei GT-Air (not the 2). Also very good.

I too do not usually fit an Arai head. About 20 years ago, Arai made a helmet with a Shoei-style shell (roundheaded) rather than their normal one (long, front-to-back but narrow, ear-to-ear - or at least that's how they feel on my bonce). I liked that one, too, but they stopped doing them. 

I think there's little to choose between Arai and Shoei that actually matters, apart from "does the shell fit your head?".

gubble

guitargeek62 said:

thebreeze said:

I need to be a bit specific about weekends, sorry.

In the next 2-3 months, I can do; 27/04, 04/05, 18/05, 22/06.

18/05 and 22/06 should work for me from those.

Note, the DGR ride is on the 19/05 too if anyone’s doing that?

I'm doing the Poole/Bournemouth DGR again this year.

Last year was quite the hoot as around 1,000 bikes basically clogged the road to Christchurch.

guitargeek62

gubble said:

guitargeek62 said:

thebreeze said:

I need to be a bit specific about weekends, sorry.

In the next 2-3 months, I can do; 27/04, 04/05, 18/05, 22/06.

18/05 and 22/06 should work for me from those.

Note, the DGR ride is on the 19/05 too if anyone’s doing that?

I'm doing the Poole/Bournemouth DGR again this year.

Last year was quite the hoot as around 1,000 bikes basically clogged the road to Christchurch.

Oh cool, I might well see you there somewhere - assuming my bike hasn’t already sold by then!  

thebreeze

@Haych are we leaning towards a May date then?  Does the 18/05 suit people because of the DGR ride the next day? (Which I couldn’t do - they’d never let me in under that category  )

Haych

May is good for me, @thebreeze ;

If everyone else is in agreement then let's book it for 18th!

cruxiform

I’ll try make the 18th, I’m catching the ferry from Plymouth to Spain on the 19th so maybe I could go to Poole then ride down to Plymouth to stay over on Saturday. Would be a good start to my holiday. 

ALR

I’m a Shoei Neotec 2 users. Its a nice helmet, but not much better than the Caberg Duke 2 I bought two years ago when I was learning and wore a few weeks ago for the first time since I got the Shoei back in August. I told myself I needed the Shoei, but although it is very nice, had I known what I know now I’d have kept using the Caberg for another few years and saved the money.

sinbaadi

Anyone got/know of anything going cheap, and decent, in the middleweight naked kind of range?  Anything considered really, I'm trying to avoid financing and happy to have a bit of a project bike again.

cruxiform

Have you had a look on EBay or FB marketplace? Plenty of Bandit 600s knocking about. Probably lots of other makes too. Mate of mine got a 600 Diversion for £600 and it’s a beaut. Not exactly a sexy bike but he’s on a low income. Saying that, he loves it and we go out a lot for rides. Does the job. 

sinbaadi

Yes, I've got my eye on the usuals.  Narrowly missed out on a zr750s over the weekend.

I just wondered if any of the 'board members had anything.

manicguitarist

Seeing the discussion on motorcycle helmets - I have what is described in the US as a "long oval" shaped head (like predator I guess). Anyways, the LS2 carbon fibre helmets fit perfectly. It should to be that some Arai would fit me (I had a quantum e way back when) but was generally a Shoei shape - however neither Arai nor Shoei seem to fit me anymore - if they are not right across the forehead then they are loose across the side.