Any Motörbike riders here?

Strangefan

Triumph speed four http://iob.imgur.com/uYGg/QPnrITGjMy

Here's my new (to me triumph) 
I traded it for my r6 due to a wrist arm injury,  I has the r6 got years and just loved it, but I honest find the speed, just as good. 
The torque defies its CC's and its one of the best handling bikes I have owned, 
I had a few mods done to it, got rid if the secondary   co2 sensor  (I think that's what its called)  and got it mapped to the exhaust. 
Such a smooth and powerful bike...... Plus its as green as they come!  

Gave it an good 2 hours worth of detailing after the pic was taken and it looks like a new bike. 

octatonic

Love it.

Strangefan

Thanks @octatonic not a patch on yours but gives me the fizz that my old R1 used to give me do jobs done. 
Would be nice to have a fretboard ride out next year,  I'd happily come over to Oxford etc, as I won't be doing the nurberg next year  so some small trips would be great. 

cruxiform

Nice Speed Four, lovely engines those Triumphs have. My Beemer is under cover but I'm doing a few little jobs to it over the winter. I spent years commuting in all weathers so if I have the chance to have a break when it's cold, I take it. I like looking at maps during the winter. Planning a euro tour in June on my own then a long Alps tour in September with mates. 

octatonic

cruxiform said:

Nice Speed Four, lovely engines those Triumphs have. My Beemer is under cover but I'm doing a few little jobs to it over the winter. I spent years commuting in all weathers so if I have the chance to have a break when it's cold, I take it. I like looking at maps during the winter. Planning a euro tour in June on my own then a long Alps tour in September with mates. 

I have a big touring schedule this year as well.
Weeks group tour of Germany in May, Spain and Portugal for 3 weeks in June, Sweden and Denmark in July/August and I might be riding to Greece and back in September- will be a long one- about 6 weeks if I do.

cruxiform

Cool! If you are riding to Greece, are you spending time in the Balkans? My tour plans to go there too. I'm thinking one way ferry to Spain - Pyrenees - French Alps - Italian Alps - Slovenia - Croatia - Bosnia - Serbia - Hungary - Slovakia - Austria - Czech Republic - Germany - Calais, then home by Eurotunnel. I'm thinking of taking 3 weeks. I have enough annual leave so should be achievable. Camping all the way.

octatonic

cruxiform said:

Cool! If you are riding to Greece, are you spending time in the Balkans? My tour plans to go there too. I'm thinking one way ferry to Spain - Pyrenees - French Alps - Italian Alps - Slovenia - Croatia - Bosnia - Serbia - Hungary - Slovakia - Austria - Czech Republic - Germany - Calais, then home by Eurotunnel. I'm thinking of taking 3 weeks. I have enough annual leave so should be achievable. Camping all the way.

I'm doing something similar.
I want to go via the north- so Luxembourg, Germany then across to Prague, down to Vienna, then straight down to Greece via Hungry, Serbia, Bulgaria..
Back more directly- Greece, Albania, Montenegro, Croatia, Bosnia, Croatia, Slovenia, Italy, across to see some friends in Switzerland and back home via motorways to Calais.

There is an alternate version of the trip I am tempted to do just because it looks slightly more like a cock n balls on google maps.

KKJale

An epic win/instant karma vid which cheered me up immensely 

cruxiform

octatonic said:

cruxiform said:

Cool! If you are riding to Greece, are you spending time in the Balkans? My tour plans to go there too. I'm thinking one way ferry to Spain - Pyrenees - French Alps - Italian Alps - Slovenia - Croatia - Bosnia - Serbia - Hungary - Slovakia - Austria - Czech Republic - Germany - Calais, then home by Eurotunnel. I'm thinking of taking 3 weeks. I have enough annual leave so should be achievable. Camping all the way.

I'm doing something similar.
I want to go via the north- so Luxembourg, Germany then across to Prague, down to Vienna, then straight down to Greece via Hungry, Serbia, Bulgaria..
Back more directly- Greece, Albania, Montenegro, Croatia, Bosnia, Croatia, Slovenia, Italy, across to see some friends in Switzerland and back home via motorways to Calais.

There is an alternate version of the trip I am tempted to do just because it looks slightly more like a cock n balls on google maps.

Cool mate. I did Calais to Bordeaux in the pissing rain this year. Not fun. Always have a plan B if you can. I'm sure I would have enjoyed it more without the rain. We suffered a bit but we chose to camp:




Here's my plan, starting in Santander:

 

Fingers crossed!

octatonic

Yes, I learned last year when I went to Italy that it is good to have a plan B but that was due to 40 degree heat (plus another 5-10 from the bike).

I haven't done camping- I probably won't this time either.
Last time I did booking.com ahead of time.
I reckon I will use Airbnb this time and book on the day or the day before- gives me much more freedom.

cruxiform

octatonic said:

Yes, I learned last year when I went to Italy that it is good to have a plan B but that was due to 40 degree heat (plus another 5-10 from the bike).

I haven't done camping- I probably won't this time either.
Last time I did booking.com ahead of time.
I reckon I will use Airbnb this time and book on the day or the day before- gives me much more freedom.

James, with regards to heat/keeping cool I use a Camelbak hydration backpack. When I was in Germany in early September it was 32c some days. It was a godsend for keeping hydrated. We stopped at a McDonalds a couple of times and I filled it up with ice

octatonic

cruxiform said:

octatonic said:

Yes, I learned last year when I went to Italy that it is good to have a plan B but that was due to 40 degree heat (plus another 5-10 from the bike).

I haven't done camping- I probably won't this time either.
Last time I did booking.com ahead of time.
I reckon I will use Airbnb this time and book on the day or the day before- gives me much more freedom.

James, with regards to heat/keeping cool I use a Camelbak hydration backpack. When I was in Germany in early September it was 32c some days. It was a godsend for keeping hydrated. We stopped at a McDonalds a couple of times and I filled it up with ice

That is a really good idea.
Do you wear a mesh suit?

cruxiform

octatonic said:

cruxiform said:

octatonic said:

Yes, I learned last year when I went to Italy that it is good to have a plan B but that was due to 40 degree heat (plus another 5-10 from the bike).

I haven't done camping- I probably won't this time either.
Last time I did booking.com ahead of time.
I reckon I will use Airbnb this time and book on the day or the day before- gives me much more freedom.

James, with regards to heat/keeping cool I use a Camelbak hydration backpack. When I was in Germany in early September it was 32c some days. It was a godsend for keeping hydrated. We stopped at a McDonalds a couple of times and I filled it up with ice

That is a really good idea.
Do you wear a mesh suit?

No, I tend to suffer with just a t shirt and boxers under my textiles! 

racefaceec90

i would like to get myself some motorized transport after 22 years. does anyone know if budget bikes in swindon is a good place to go (as i'm not rich). am looking at this bike and it looks ideal for me tbh  http://www.budgetbikesuk.co.uk/used/kawasaki/gpz500s/gpz-500/swindon/wiltshire/20005516  kawasaki gpz 500 £899.00  

have seen both good and bad reviews of them (the dealer) on google reviews. am no mechanic i have to add.

ta :-) 

quarky

racefaceec90 said:

i would like to get myself some motorized transport after 22 years. does anyone know if budget bikes in swindon is a good place to go (as i'm not rich). am looking at this bike and it looks ideal for me tbh  http://www.budgetbikesuk.co.uk/used/kawasaki/gpz500s/gpz-500/swindon/wiltshire/20005516  kawasaki gpz 500 £899.00  

have seen both good and bad reviews of them (the dealer) on google reviews. am no mechanic i have to add.

ta :-) 

Don't know the dealer, but I had one of those my first bike. Although it was an import so actually said NINJA on it.

Great first bike in my experience because 500 is a reasonable size to be fun (for a while), but the really low seat means you can get your feet on the ground easily for stability. I didn't have it for long (a friend wrote it off), but it was good.

Spider

I would look for something with a few less miles on the clock, 56,072 miles is quite high.

octatonic

56k is relatively ok mileage for a bike with a full service history (not sure if it has this, probably won't).
Over its 22 years it has done roughly 2500 miles a year which is very low use.

Owning a bike of this age has its pitfalls and if you cannot do any work yourself then I would give it a miss, save up some more money and get something under 5 years old with under 15k on the clock.
You will enjoy it a lot more.

Spider

Sorry didn't mean that mileage was high for year just on ebay a couple with a lot less miles for similar money.

Spider

Gone and got this last month, KTM 990 Superduke R, the last of the superdukes without all the electrical / computer rider aids (I'm old school). A 2013 model reg'ed in 2014 with less than 3000 miles on it, it's like new with a load of extras on it. Only had a couple of runs out and still finding a suspension setting I like, but it's near enough for now, it will have to wait for some dry roads for the fine tuning (can't wait).

http://i1167.photobucket.com/albums/q628/2000Spider/SD2_zpsvqjslmnh.jpg

MtB

Yo Bro! A big welcome to another KTMer

http://i.imgur.com/0UqlN14.jpg?1