Any Motörbike riders here?

Fusionista

I ride so defensively now. Big space in between me and the car ahead (modern four wheels stop faster than two). Decelerate at junctions where somebody looks as it they might come out, or turn right in front - signalling or not. Constant awareness of what people are doing behind me. Car driving is too easy, many drivers are asleep at the wheel, even if they had any skills to start with, which many (most?) do not.  One thing with bike riding you don't get bored!

sinbaadi

Update to my earlier post.  The offending set of traffic lights, which are meant for the traffic approaching from where the bikes were approaching and which must have been what prompted the driver to set off, have been deactivated.  They had the grill things on the green lights, so you could only see the green from the correct part of the road, but not on the red and amber (which we all respond to just as much as green).  Makes you wonder if the driver has a claim against the Highways Agency since it looks like an admission of fault if they fixed it in response to the crash yesterday.

octatonic

So people, can we talk about ABS?

I'm about to buy my big bike and I'm looking at a Hornet with ABS or a Street Triple without ABS.

I'm going back and forth on this a lot (and sorry to those on LB forum that have heard me ask this already).

I AM going to get a 3-4 year old bike, rather than something I don't mind dropping and looking to spend circa £4k about just under half of which will be funded by the sale of my 125 so I can justify the expense and going to try NOT to drop it.

If it gets dropped then I'll fix it.

So... first big bike.

Heart is saying Street Triple.

Head is saying get something with ABS.

I'm a sensible rider, I don't go that quickly and not looking to race.

I do want something fun though.

What say you?

cruxiform

Go with heart.

BenSirAmos

They are both fantastic bikes. 

For me personally, ABS or lack thereof wouldn't be a deal-breaker

cruxiform

Just to add, I took the fireblade out yesterday for a spin for the first time in a couple of months and forgot how mind-bendingly fast it is. Such a rush. I went out at 7am and got back by 10am before the roads clogged up. A nice blast to the coast for brekkie and back. I love being a biker.

octatonic

Cheers guys.

This is the Triple I'm looking at : http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201402151823469

Anything noticeably bad about it?

cruxiform

Looks gorgeous. It's got FSH and at 12,800 miles is low mileage. A test ride will highlight any running/handling issues. Check HPi. Why not ask on LB if somebody can go to look at it with you? I'm sure somebody would go with you.

Mick

57Deluxe said:

boogieman;120003" said:

[quote="57Deluxe;119834"]Yeah me givin it some past me Dad's Vauxhall Viva...!

That a Fizzy?

[/quote]

Yeah - I loved my FS1e - took 2 years saving to buy it  - 7 day a week paper rounds and working in shitty shops on Saturdays...

This was it a day before I sold it for £5 less than I paid for it a whole year earlier - that's how popular they were!

 Was good for 56 mph+ but my mates mongrel bitsa pile of crap did over 60 mph... bastard... but he is dead now though, so think I can call it quits....

That's exactly the same Fizzy as the one I had, same colour, and year. Bet you wish you still had it, have you seen what they're fetching nowadays.

BenSirAmos

octatonic said:

Anything noticeably bad about it?

It's got a luggage rack

BenSirAmos

BenSirAmos said:

octatonic said:

Anything noticeably bad about it?

It's got a luggage rack

And it's not really a main street dealer is it - so you should try to get someone to say they are okay. But it is a smashing looking bike.

octatonic

BenSirAmos said:

BenSirAmos said:

octatonic said:

Anything noticeably bad about it?

It's got a luggage rack

And it's not really a main street dealer is it - so you should try to get someone to say they are okay. But it is a smashing looking bike.

The dealer so far has been pretty good but I will check them out more.

We chatted on the phone and via email about a Hornet he had on the weekend.

It ended up selling and he called me back and said he'd get back to me if he had anything else come in.

I didn't mention the Street Triple as I was really looking for ABS bikes at that stage.

I have a mate who lives close by who said he'd come with me- he is more of a Honda kinda guy (rides a 2012 Fireblade) and is kind pushing me towards the Hornet.

Chiswick Honda have this: http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201403042235409

It is low miles but it is a bit more expensive than all the other Hornets, which admittedly aren't that close to me.

They'd give me what I want for the YBR as a trade but no real money off for cash.

Condition is good (looks better in person than in the pics), but I guess rent in Chiswick is expensive as they are consistently more expensive than other bike dealers a few miles out of London.

DamianP

I used to be.  Mostly stuff with a number on the front.  I stopped about 10 years ago.   It was fun.

boogieman

octatonic;182935" said:

So people, can we talk about ABS?I'm about to buy my big bike and I'm looking at a Hornet with ABS or a Street Triple without ABS.

I'm going back and forth on this a lot (and sorry to those on LB forum that have heard me ask this already).I AM going to get a 3-4 year old bike, rather than something I don't mind dropping and looking to spend circa £4k about just under half of which will be funded by the sale of my 125 so I can justify the expense and going to try NOT to drop it.If it gets dropped then I'll fix it.

So... first big bike.Heart is saying Street Triple.Head is saying get something with ABS.

I'm a sensible rider, I don't go that quickly and not looking to race.I do want something fun though.What say you?

I wouldn't let the lack of ABS stop you buying the Triumph if that's all that's worrying you. I said it previously in this thread, I'm not that convinced by ABS on bikes. I've got it on my Honda and to me it robs the brakes of feel. I much preferred the non ABS brakes on my old bike.

That Triumph looks a peach btw

octatonic

boogieman said:

That Triumph looks a peach btw

Tell me about it.

octatonic

This looks nice too: http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201311049675832

sinbaadi

Just be aware that you're creeping up to brand new Yamaha MT-07 territory there.  Ok it's not as outright fast and the street triple is a wonderful, wonderful machine, but it's brand new for £5200!  I'm thinking about one to replace my SV650.

The sad part about bikes is that, okay, 12k miles isn't that high, but 18-19k is enough to start putting people seriously off, and the value plummets because there are so many 6-outings-a-year-and-trade-in-after-3 bikes out there.  I wouldn't buy a bike on the cusp of that, and it makes even less sense if you don't intend to use it enough to push the mileage up towards 20k within a couple of years.  Either get one that's already there or one that's a long way away from it.

Fusionista

boogieman said:

I wouldn't let the lack of ABS stop you buying the Triumph if that's all that's worrying you. I said it previously in this thread, I'm not that convinced by ABS on bikes. I've got it on my Honda and to me it robs the brakes of feel. I much preferred the non ABS brakes on my old bike.

That Triumph looks a peach btw

This.

octatonic

Day 1 of DAS.

Maddeningly frustrating at times, but I ended up doing ok and had fun.

The hard stuff: U turns, swerve test, figure 8.

The OK stuff: emergency stop, slow control.

Also went out on the road for a bit- getting up to 60 on the A4 was AWESOME!

Did it with a guy who kept on keeping his indicator on and wouldn't go over 30.

He was better at the slow control stuff though

Day 2 tomorrow.

midiglitch

@octatonic I've done a lot of reading, talking and research over the last few months and no one has a bad word to say about the triumph - on the contrary: by all accounts it's a stunning bike.

Enjoy the das - whereabouts are you doing it?

Had two wonderful rides around the forest this weekend - nice empty sections of country roads around beaulieu, beautiful weather, and my confidence is growing all the time.