Any Motörbike riders here?

MtB

The only downside with the KTM is that in the summer (like the current one) or touring in a hot country, you've got a cylinder head located about 6 inches away from your crown jewels - which can get a bit uncomfortably hot.....

Nunogilberto

quarky said:

Awesome vintage jacket And nice looking exhausts on the CB1300. 

@Nunogilberto, I would never buy a Harley (I'm a Triumph snob, which are not to everyone's taste either!), but it is all about personal preference, so if you want it, go for it!

I do like a couple of Triumphs also - Street Twin and Bonneville Bobber are tasty bikes.

jaytmon

MtB said:

I've had two GS1200's (3 years each), a 1200 Multistrada (5 years), a Super Duke GT (1 year), and now a Super Adventure S - and the last one beats all of the others.

I'd seriously recommend you try one @jaytmon ; 

They have 4 ride modes - sport, street, rain and off-road, 4 damping modes - sport, street, comfort and off-road  = all of which can be changed on the fly. 
Electronically adjustable suspension pre-load settings
Traction control
160bhp (or there abouts)

For me, it beats all of those that I've had before - as a do it all really well bike.

For some reason I have avoided the Super Adventure. Bit praying mantis looking but I hear you, so maybe I’ll try one. 

@Corvus love the cb1300 - Honda do have that ability to make bikes that you feel immediately at home on, even if you haven’t ridden for a while. 

PC_Dave

jaytmon said:

So in the realm of first world problems, and being motivated by some of the bike related passion on this thread, I’ve been searching for a new bike that re-inspires me to ride, to replace the big GS. I have test ridden:

Multistrada 1200s
Multistrada enduro (twice)
Multistrada 1260
Superduke R
Superduke GT
R1200RS
S1000XR
R1200GS adventure

and the conclusion I’ve come to after all this is that actually my current bike is the right bike for me! The other option is to buy a cheap, fun second bike. 

Those KTMs were mad, devilish fun mind and probably shouldn’t really be allowed...

I have a SuperDuke 1290 R - it’s just incredible I had an S1000XR, which was nice, but not a patch on the KTM.

PC_Dave

MtB said:

The only downside with the KTM is that in the summer (like the current one) or touring in a hot country, you've got a cylinder head located about 6 inches away from your crown jewels - which can get a bit uncomfortably hot.....

I ride mine every day, and in this recent hot spell and I’ve not even noticed it getting warm....?

MtB

@PC_Dave ; I'm obviously not riding the Adventure S fast enough!!

sinbaadi

Corvus said:

And -

http://www.alleykat.co.uk/images/stuff/cb/pipes.jpg

Pipes surprisingly sensible. Might have to replace with a Yoshi can, because Yoshi ...

http://www.alleykat.co.uk/images/stuff/cb/front.jpg
http://www.alleykat.co.uk/images/stuff/cb/dogg.jpg
http://www.alleykat.co.uk/images/stuff/cb/side.jpg

It's a CB1300, cleaner than a clean thing. Tons of torque, handles surprisingly well for a big lad.

Soon as I sat on and fire up it was like it was yesterday since I last had 2 wheels. Feels ace to be back : )

(edit - it's not really pink ... candy red.. phone cam and user failure)

Always had a soft spot for those big inline 4 Japanese bikes, the ZX and XJR included.  Never ridden one, mind.  I just think it's a bit like putting a normal car engine one.  Well fairly normal, but they aren't chasing peak power or high revs, and I like the idea of the smooth low rev torque.

They look great too.  The half fairing is solidly retro now which is cool, and a grea colour scheme.  Is yours a bol d'Or?  

Corvus

cheers @quarky @jaytmon @sinbaadi

Looks like the cans have removeable baffles so one out will prob make it less polite and not too silly loud.
I've ridden the XJR and ZX, was tempted by the GSX14 which'd be home territory-ish for me, had lots of Suzis but the thought of something a bit unusual (to me) won over. I think the model is CB1300S, the letter just means half faired vs naked, it works well, no probs at good speed with wind blast.

sinbaadi

Ah that makes sense:
"Beginning in 2005, Honda offered two versions of the CB1300: the standard, unfaired model, and the Super Bol D'Or (in Europe the CB1300S), with half fairing.[1]"

quarky

https://i.imgur.com/qEl5DLk.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/Ulef8OU.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/yySjQ3I.jpg

Went out to Thornby. Actually went twice, once in the car with the family (had the beer), and then went back in the afternoon on the bike. Some great roads. The food was pretty good too!

Tone71

I'm at the point where I'm looking at selling my SV, I tend to use it only to commute into central London now due to time restraints and with all the scooter nonsense that has been going on for the last year is taking the fun away from riding, the nods and rider camaraderie seems to have all but dried up too unless your a Sunday bumbler.

Hard to articulate but I'm finding it all a bit joyless at the moment.

Maybe a new bike could reignite the passion either that or a few trackdays?

BTW @quarky that's bloody gorgeous 

quarky

Tone71 said:

I'm at the point where I'm looking at selling my SV, I tend to use it only to commute into central London now due to time restraints and with all the scooter nonsense that has been going on for the last year is taking the fun away from riding, the nods and rider camaraderie seems to have all but dried up too unless your a Sunday bumbler.

Hard to articulate but I'm finding it all a bit joyless at the moment.

Maybe a new bike could reignite the passion either that or a few trackdays?

BTW @quarky that's bloody gorgeous 

Thanks! I can't take any credit, I just paid for it and clean it. I do really like it though.

Maybe a change in style will get the passion back? The SV is great because it is so versatile, but maybe it is just such an allrounder that you need to try something else? Take a few out for a ride. A different bike can make even the same old roads a much different experience.

Really, the weather has been so damn good this year, if you are not enjoying it now (apart from the heat I guess), you are definitely in a rut!

Corvus

Thats very nice indeed @quarky

A bike change is a good idea, maybe some bike night run out too. Haven't been to the Ace for ages but used to be cracking nights there in summer.

roundthebend

@quarky ;
Love that in the red. I'm fairly sure I'm going to order a Street Twin (although slightly considering T100 or T120). My kids say the black is nicest, but the red just shows off the design better. I can't decide, black does have that sleek appeal.
But, a ride in the country, with a cool pint is perfect. I managed to get out on my Bandit with the wife as pillion for a while this morning. We tested out our new Bluetooth Headsets - cheapo ones from ebay. Not bad for £58.

guitargeek62

roundthebend said:

@quarky ;;
Love that in the red. I'm fairly sure I'm going to order a Street Twin (although slightly considering T100 or T120).

There's not a lot in it between them, but the ST is a slightly cleaner design, and looks superb in red.

One thing to consider (if you haven't already!) is that the T100 and T120 have larger fuel tanks (14.5L vs 12L), so if you're going to be doing any type of distance then that could be a deciding factor. I was getting ~80 miles out of a tank on my street scrambler in urban conditions (~15 miles a day, inner city riding, plus weekend pleasure rides). For comparision, my new (old) T100 with it's 16L tank gets me around ~110 miles in the same conditions.

The other thing to note is that the T120 will sit a little more comfortably at motorway speeds if that matters to you! The ST and T100 will get there and stay there perfectly well enough, but they both only have 5-speed gearboxes.

Btw - what were your headsets like in terms of staying connected? Our Strava set disconnect fairly regularly even when fully-charged, and we're not usually riding that far apart from one another (<100m with clear LOS).

TheBigDipper

Went out for a ride with some of my tutoring mates yesterday (we're all RoSPA Tutors for my local RoADAR club) and covered 200 zig zag miles of North Dorset and Wiltshire. The external temp (according to the bike) was 28C most of time and hit a high of 30.5C at Stonehenge, where we crossed the A303 and it's terrible jams. Great day and reminded me why I ride a bike. 

roundthebend

@guitargeek62 ;
The headsets are these ones ebay:
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/2xV6-1200M-BT-Bluetooth-Interphone-Motorcycle-MotorBike-Helmet-Intercom-Headset/183257667941?ssPageName=STRK:MEBIDX:IT&amp;_trksid=p2057872.m2749.l2649

My wife doesn't ride herself, only pillion on my bike, so she's never more than about a foot from me! They worked pretty well to be fair. Not quite loud enough when moving at higher speeds, but really clear and no wind noise through the mics.
I need to play with the position of the speakers inside my helmet, because I was getting a bit of pain down one side from the pressure. They're low-profile but obviously not zero-profile so with a tight fitting helmet will cause a bit of pressure.

The reasons you outline are what pushes me towards the T120. I won't frequently do motorway trips, but I do intend to do some weekend trips away and would need to carry luggage + pillion and do high speed cruising. But I don't know if I want the bigger bike (and cost) all the time.

guitargeek62

@roundthebend ah, good point! In that case I'd lean towards the T120 for sure - the bigger engine would be much more suited to those weekends away with the extra weight. Maybe it's worth looking at one of the older air-cooled models to negate some of the cost?

quarky

Yeah I absolutely love the ST, but think it would be a bit small for frequent two-up, especially with luggage. You would certainly want to get different shocks from what I read (the stock are perfectly fine for me though).
 

Take a few out for a ride and see which one feels better. Definitely try the ST, but I think the slightly bigger bike would suit you needs more, and you won't find it too big either. Unless you are really short

quarky

Went out for a little ride this evening.. 

https://i.imgur.com/MRDql4D.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/boWJGJo.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/sEnaixW.jpg

Really love the fact that I can take this on roads the Daytona would be uncomfortable to ride on. On the other hand, over-taking isn't quite so care-free