Any Motörbike riders here?

manicguitarist

Just for info….
for those “making progess” in Lancashire/North Yorks.
Black Hyundai estate.
Kinda beat up. Not the “normal” look.
Reg PE19 RDX

Dominic

^ Good man ..........don't let them go unnoticed
Hertfordshire .....they love a Navy Golf and VW Transporter ......NW LONDON  black and Navy 5 series BMW s
Stopped me year before last ..cocky twats , when I took my helmet off a cheeky cunt said "oh, I didn't expect you to be so old "
They then proceeded to tell me how they understood the thrill of a powerful bike "because we're bikers too "
I said ," No, you're occaisional motorcyclists .......you're NOT Bikers "

guitargeek62

^ shh, gatekeeping is pointless - even to cheeky cunts!


I’m officially hanging up my kit for a while, my Trumper isn’t getting enough usage. I expect I’ll grab a small/mid greenlaning dual-sport one day - CRF300R or the new Himalayan 490 perhaps, but otherwise I don’t see me getting another bike any time remotely soon. It’s been a fun twenty years though, and only one (reasonably) major crash!  

sinbaadi

Picked up a cheap 2014 XJ6 last night.  It has an excessively loud exhaust.  It has rusty nuts and bolts all over.  It has a little ding on the side of the tank.  It is by any measure a bit ropey, but it runs and rides as sweet as a nut and I loved my ride home! 

I also paid bottom bottom dollar for it and it has 12 months MOT.

ALR

Just stuck some screen risers on my Multistada and about to take it out for a ride. End can has come for the Monster, I’ll put that on Sunday.

Haych

sinbaadi said:

Picked up a cheap 2014 XJ6 last night.  It has an excessively loud exhaust.  It has rusty nuts and bolts all over.  It has a little ding on the side of the tank.  It is by any measure a bit ropey, but it runs and rides as sweet as a nut and I loved my ride home! 

I also paid bottom bottom dollar for it and it has 12 months MOT.

Nice one, dude.  My R1200R was a bit scabby with a load of rusty bolts when I bought it. I've slowly replaced most of them with stainless fasteners, either from eBay/Amazon or, where I can get them, from Chris Shaw Engineering.

It's made a world of difference to how the bike looks and stands and not a terribly expensive upgrade.

manicguitarist

Fitted my 4th tyre of the year this afternoon. 

This time on my RVF. 

Getting better at it. Including take the wheel off and refitting- 10mins. 

Happy daze. 

Then again - it is much easier  on a bike with a single sided swing arm. 

sinbaadi

Haych said:

sinbaadi said:

Picked up a cheap 2014 XJ6 last night.  It has an excessively loud exhaust.  It has rusty nuts and bolts all over.  It has a little ding on the side of the tank.  It is by any measure a bit ropey, but it runs and rides as sweet as a nut and I loved my ride home! 

I also paid bottom bottom dollar for it and it has 12 months MOT.

Nice one, dude.  My R1200R was a bit scabby with a load of rusty bolts when I bought it. I've slowly replaced most of them with stainless fasteners, either from eBay/Amazon or, where I can get them, from Chris Shaw Engineering.

It's made a world of difference to how the bike looks and stands and not a terribly expensive upgrade.

Did the same with my previous bikes.

Plan is to service it, and then sort the rusty bits.
It needs the calipers refreshing and a rear disc (but already has braided lines).  It has some silly little mirrors which bind up the throttle if done up tight enough to not wobble about! Generally a load of easy and relatively inexpensive jobs, I think.  

Battery and tyres are good and apart from the tank ding there's no actual damage.

But first I need to sort the volume.  It sounds nice but I'm not here for loud bikes normally, let alone loud basic mundane bikes!

cruxiform

Nice one @sinbaadi! Bet it feels epic to be riding again. 

On the subject of rusty bolts, it’s part and parcel of owning an older BMW, unfortunately. The centre stand on my K1300S is a bit crusty too. When I get back from my trip to Spain I’ll get it sandblasted and powder coated. 

It’s been an expensive week but in a good way. New Michelin PR6s fitted along with new discs and pads all round. Front bearing was rumbling so that’s been replaced too.All serviced and ready for my trip. Gives me some piece of mind. Slight change of plan means I’m leaving on the 22nd now but I’m already buzzing. One more week of work to go.

Haych

@cruxiform I feel excited for you. 

Don’t forget to update and post a few pics of your trip for us so we can live vicariously through you. 

AK99

For anybody with an interest in Road-Racing - there's good coverage of the NW200 on the Beeb iPlayer:

https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p0c5qnbg

Great weather up there today for it. For some reason in that Gawdforsaken wet hole we grew up in, the sun always seems to shine this week. (Or at least always seemed to during school exam season, when we couldn't get up to the Port.)

cruxiform

Haych said:

@cruxiform I feel excited for you. 

Don’t forget to update and post a few pics of your trip for us so we can live vicariously through you. 

Yep, will do. Especially when I get to the Pyrenees as you’re heading that way a couple of weeks later.

Update: Snow is melting on the mountain passes.

sinbaadi

cruxiform said:

Nice one @sinbaadi! Bet it feels epic to be riding again. 

On the subject of rusty bolts, it’s part and parcel of owning an older BMW, unfortunately. The centre stand on my K1300S is a bit crusty too. When I get back from my trip to Spain I’ll get it sandblasted and powder coated. 

It’s been an expensive week but in a good way. New Michelin PR6s fitted along with new discs and pads all round. Front bearing was rumbling so that’s been replaced too.All serviced and ready for my trip. Gives me some piece of mind. Slight change of plan means I’m leaving on the 22nd now but I’m already buzzing. One more week of work to go.

For sure.  Just nice to have a bike again too!  I sold my SV650 in 2017 so it has been a long time.  Only a few test rides, demo days, holiday rentals in that time. 

It's a 2014 bike with a little under 30k miles on the clock and I've got a long list of bits to do, but I can't wait to crack on with it.  Starting tomorrow morning!

Kittyfrisk

^  @sinbaadi ; is yours a Diversion?
They are underappreciated unfashionable workhorses, have fun using it.
I had it's ancestor the XJ650, great fun cheap bike & a capable mile muncher (although the XJ had a shaft drive, so easier to maintain).

sinbaadi

No it's an XJ6n unfaired/naked thing.  

I know it's run of the mill, but after a hiatus it feels very rapid and handling-wise it's very confidence inspiring.  I think it shows that I've been away for a while because part of me is excited that it's "an r6 engine".

Kittyfrisk

^ Cool, the Diversion's sexier younger sibling   

sinbaadi

Must admit I'm growing to love it, except the noise.  It has a shorty pipe, with no deadening material and a tiny baffle fitted. 

Those with the knowledge:  is it worth the 25-30 quid it would cost, plus my time messing with rivets etc, to pack it with material and fit a larger baffle? 

How successful is this approach?  My gut is that I'll faff with it for a morning, put it back on, and won't notice the difference at all.

Haych

cruxiform said:

Haych said:

@cruxiform I feel excited for you. 

Don’t forget to update and post a few pics of your trip for us so we can live vicariously through you. 

Yep, will do. Especially when I get to the Pyrenees as you’re heading that way a couple of weeks later.

Update: Snow is melting on the mountain passes.

Is it sad that I recognise the bike in the pic above as almost identical to mine?  Except the one above is a later Camhead engine with a Wunderlich faring/cockpit screen.

It also looks to be the Classic version, judging from the paint job which were mostly black with a white stripe down the centre, and although I can't see from the photo, it should have spoked wheels.

So I reckon that bike is probably circa 2013/14, as I think they were a runout version before the updated K53 was introduced.

I couldn't tell you much about any other bike but I've become a bit of a nerd on the R1200R.  It's also convinced me to attempt to leave the top box behind and try to only take the pannier cases in a few weeks.  It remains to be seen how successful that will be.

sinbaadi said:

Must admit I'm growing to love it, except the noise.  It has a shorty pipe, with no deadening material and a tiny baffle fitted. 

Those with the knowledge:  is it worth the 25-30 quid it would cost, plus my time messing with rivets etc, to pack it with material and fit a larger baffle? 

How successful is this approach?  My gut is that I'll faff with it for a morning, put it back on, and won't notice the difference at all.

My instinct is usually that if you go the cheap route you'll often end up going the expensive route afterwards anyway.  I don't really know as I've never attempted to modify an exhaust but if it were me I'd feel more inclined to spend a little extra and do without the hassle.

But that's me, you might have a different outlook and end up with a very successful outcome.

Corvus

sinbaadi said:

Must admit I'm growing to love it, except the noise.  It has a shorty pipe, with no deadening material and a tiny baffle fitted. 

Those with the knowledge:  is it worth the 25-30 quid it would cost, plus my time messing with rivets etc, to pack it with material and fit a larger baffle? 

How successful is this approach?  My gut is that I'll faff with it for a morning, put it back on, and won't notice the difference at all.

Nice one on the new wheels, just in time for some decent weather as well.

Hard to say but you'd think re-packing will help if there's little or nothing in there, but it depends on the can. Could be possible to fit a cheapo db killer, can add some wrap to it as well. Maybe that'd be enough to calm it down.
Re-packing or modding cans is a bit messy but a cheap fix if it goes OK.

cruxiform

Haych said:

I couldn't tell you much about any other bike but I've become a bit of a nerd on the R1200R.  It's also convinced me to attempt to leave the top box behind and try to only take the pannier cases in a few weeks.  It remains to be seen how successful that will be.

Ha! I'm the same, I can tell you stuff about the K series that would send you to sleep in minutes  

I've fitted a SW Motech rack to have a top box for this trip. It kinda spoils the sporty look of the bike but I want practicality. I used to have a Lomo rollbag on the rear seat but I want something a little more secure. Also the sports panniers only hold 17L each.