Any Motörbike riders here?

p90fool

Bugger, I'm not sure my engine is supposed to be full of funny noises and swarf! On the way home from the MOT too...

http://i68.tinypic.com/ormc5x.jpg

Nunogilberto

I “passed” my CBT very recently so I’m starting to try and get some gear together and in the near future, get a bike. Always had a casual interest in bikes but never got around to the CBT etc, until now.

I like the cruiser/cafe racer type bikes, so I’m looking at either an old Marauder/Intruder, or a new Chinese version (Keeway/Hanway etc).

roundthebend

Nunogilberto said:

I “passed” my CBT very recently so I’m starting to try and get some gear together and in the near future, get a bike. Always had a casual interest in bikes but never got around to the CBT etc, until now.

I like the cruiser/cafe racer type bikes, so I’m looking at either an old Marauder/Intruder, or a new Chinese version (Keeway/Hanway etc).

Sinnis Hoodlum looks good, I'm thinking of one for my wife to learn and get experience on. Then she wants a Honda Rebel 500.

Guitar_Slinger

Hey, @Nunogilberto what size - 125 or bigger? The wife's got a 125 Marauder (like this without the screen) http://www.roadsmile.com/images/suzuki-intruder-125_key_3.jpg

She bought it about ten years ago, rode it twice, got pregnant and hasn't touched it since. I picked it up and rode the 100 miles home on it - nice bike.

I've got an VS800 Intruder, bought new in 1992 when I thought my band was going to be the next Guns N' Roses

Nunogilberto

roundthebend said:

Nunogilberto said:

I “passed” my CBT very recently so I’m starting to try and get some gear together and in the near future, get a bike. Always had a casual interest in bikes but never got around to the CBT etc, until now.

I like the cruiser/cafe racer type bikes, so I’m looking at either an old Marauder/Intruder, or a new Chinese version (Keeway/Hanway etc).

Sinnis Hoodlum looks good, I'm thinking of one for my wife to learn and get experience on. Then she wants a Honda Rebel 500.

Yes I like the look of the Hoodlum as well...

Nunogilberto

Guitar_Slinger said:

Hey, @Nunogilberto what size - 125 or bigger? The wife's got a 125 Marauder (like this without the screen) http://www.roadsmile.com/images/suzuki-intruder-125_key_3.jpg

She bought it about ten years ago, rode it twice, got pregnant and hasn't touched it since. I picked it up and rode the 100 miles home on it - nice bike.

I've got an VS800 Intruder, bought new in 1992 when I thought my band was going to be the next Guns N' Roses

Yes, 125. I was drooling over a VS800 at a local dealer the other day. Lovely bit of kit...

Guitar_Slinger

The Marauder 125 was lovely to ride. Not that fast and would struggle over 55mph. Although I did get to 70mph on a dual carriageway in a lorry''s slipstream. At cruising speed on A and B roads though, the big fat front wheel and comfortable seating position helps it roll in and out of twisty corners, and the front disc brake is very good.

underdog

Nunogilberto said:

I “passed” my CBT very recently so I’m starting to try and get some gear together and in the near future, get a bike. Always had a casual interest in bikes but never got around to the CBT etc, until now.

I like the cruiser/cafe racer type bikes, so I’m looking at either an old Marauder/Intruder, or a new Chinese version (Keeway/Hanway etc).

I've got a little 125 intruder myself, it's a cool little bike to ride, not fast, but I enjoy it.

Nunogilberto

Went and bought a bike earlier this week...

https://imgur.com/a/32z3D4C

2006 Marauder 125. 3k miles and mint. One owner who polished it more than he used it. I rode it the 30 miles home and it was lovely. Buffered by winds around 40mph but apart from that it was fine.

Guitar_Slinger

Nice.

guitargeek62

Nice one nuno!

After passing her mod 2 a couple of weeks back, my fianceé and I picked up our two last weekend, matching pair of ‘09 T100s:

http://i.imgur.com/K8gtMQ4.jpg

Mine’s the chrome one, hers is the claret.

martinw

Here's an update of my biking story: I've been into bikes since I started on a Suzuki FZ50 in 1980. Between then and 2007 I had over 40 bikes, too many to list. Then one day, I decided I didn't enjoy riding any more, not really sure why, but it coincided with me getting seriously into guitar playing, bands and amp building. I sold my bike to a friend, and didn't think about bikes again for ages.
Last year, we went to the US for a long awaited trip to visit a cousin I'd never met, and while there, her hubby very kindly let me have a go on his BMW R65. He loves that bike, having had it from new, and has had many adventures on it, most of them 2 up with my cousin on the back. He's been all over the US, been knocked off it, hit a deer on it etc etc. It's a bit 'reliced' but runs well and is great to ride.
I really enjoyed mooching about the roads of Wisconsin and Minnesota on it, with a borrowed lid and jacket. It's a 1980, from an era when American spec bikes were restricted to 80mph, but given i was a bit rusty, more than enough to have fun with.  After, he told me he's never let anyone else ride it, not even his brother, which made me feel very priveleged.
Anyway, it must have triggered something off, because I knew I had t have one! I went on eBay that very night and started looking. I found one for sale and bid on it and won, all while I was still in Wisconsin! This turned out to be a mistake as the seller was a lying bar steward, but it's come out ok in the wash, although dearer than I would have liked.
The bike was a complete dog when it arrived, and I've spent a fair bit on it, and put a lot of work in to get it where it is now.

martinw

So, having got the BM, I got talking to the mate I'd sold my last bike to back in 2007. He said he'd not been riding it much, and I asked if he'd sell it back to me. He declined at first, then gave it more thought and finally a deal was done. This is a very special bike to me. I bought it as a standard 1979 GS750, Italian import, back in 97, and in the time I had it, it went through a bit of a transformation. It's had a GS1000 engine fitted, with a Wiseco 1085 kit, Kent race cams, gas-flowed head, Dyna ignition, GSXR1100 forks and wheels, 4 pot calipers, braced Metmachex swing arm etc etc.
I've built it's engines (plural), made it's wiring loom, fettled and tweaked every nut and bolt on it.
It's featured in a magazine and won praise from hard bitten journalists.
At it's peak it was dyno'd at 114 bhp at the wheel (it's now a bit less as Ive taken the flat slide carbs off and fitted a set of more civilised CV's....I'm getting old!)
I'm very lucky that it was well looked after by my mate and that I've been able to get it back again. But it doesn't end there.........

martinw

Mrs W. must be a glutton for punishment, because this next bit was really down to her. I was talking about my other GS1000, this one an 'S', the 'ice cream van'. I said that I really regretted selling that one (in 2004) as the values have shot up. In 2004 I couldnt give it away, now you see them up around £7-10k.
She suggested I see if it was still around, so I checked with the DVLA and saw it was last MOT'd in 2011. Then I came across the name of the guy I'd sold it to in my old notebook. I asked around on a few forums, then eventually found him on the GS1000S Facebook group. He was very reluctant to sell, even though he wasn't using it, as he had a plan to restore it one day, and he knew how the values were rising.
I had to make a (for me) silly offer to prise it from his grip, but eventually, early November last year I hired a van and went down to get it. Sadly, it had deteriorated a bit since he'd bought it, as he'd only done a couple of hundred miles on it, then parked it up without even draining the petrol out. The tank was rotted through and the carbs were corroded beyond repair.
I've since bought a set of carbs, and with an oil change and temporary fuel supply, the engine came to life easily. This one is a project though, with frame coating and some plating needing doing, along with a replacement tank and the front mudguard needing paint.
Again very lucky to have this one back, and even more so that Mrs W appreciates that life is short, and chances need to be taken.
This one has also been in amagazine....that's my knee on the cover of Classic Mechanics back in 2002!

So, yeah, it's been an eventful year!

quarky

Nunogilberto said:

Went and bought a bike earlier this week...

https://i.imgur.com/nDo98n9.jpg

Nice, hope you enjoy it, and get used to the wind! I am really loving a more naked bike, but it is a change.

quarky

guitargeek62 said:

Nice one nuno!

After passing her mod 2 a couple of weeks back, my fianceé and I picked up our two last weekend, matching pair of ‘09 T100s:

http://i.imgur.com/K8gtMQ4.jpg

Mine’s the chrome one, hers is the claret.

Wow, a nice pair. I would love to get my wife into bikes, especially now that I am not on a sportsbike, but she just doesn't have the interest..

martinw said:

That is awesome, and great story behind it. And quite a collection!

Moe_Zambeek

Good story @martinw , the red GS looks great, brought back memories of what we all fantasised about back in the late 80s / early 90s as aspiring bikers

guitargeek62

Yeah I’m bloody lucky @quarky - her dad was a police rider so she’s always had bikes around growing up, it didn’t take much/any encouragement at all from me for her to get a cbt and try it. Luckily for me, she loves it! We’re riding down to lake como in September for a spot of moto-camping, should be fun

martinw

quarky said:

martinw said:

That is awesome, and great story behind it. And quite a collection!

Thanks. I like em! 

Moe_Zambeek said:

Good story @martinw , the red GS looks great, brought back memories of what we all fantasised about back in the late 80s / early 90s as aspiring bikers

Late 70s for me!  

Thanks! Glad you like it.

guitargeek62

Those R series are lovely @martinw - I have a hankering to get one as a project bike one day and turn it into something along the lines of these:

http://www.diamond-atelier.com/mark-2-series-details/