Any Motörbike riders here?

octatonic

Oh and of course the "instructions manual" (not a misprint) is in Korean.

midiglitch

Well chaps, I'm running a little experiment over the next couple of months to answer the age old question of whether it is more fun to ride a slow bike fast, or a fast bike slow...

About a year ago I traded my RC8 for a Fireblade, both frankly ridiculous bikes, and since I've moved again up to rural north Dorset, I've been evaluating the type of riding I'm doing and just exactly what kind of bike suits my needs.  In reality it's all about riding in reasonable comfort to a track, which may be up to 3 hours away, doing a track day, and then riding home.  Although I thought I might, I've not managed to do any touring, and I don't commute by motorbike as work is only 25 minutes cycle away.

the honest truth is that the capability of the blade far exceeds my own ability, and even if it didn't there are only a couple of places in the UK where you can even open it up - silverstone and rockingham.  

So I've just bought a little ninja 300!  It's a kids toy compared to the blade, in every aspect, but it is a lot more comfortable and it is probably(?) fast enough for the tracks I ride (castle Combe, brands Indy, lydden hill).  'Fast enough' being relative to my ability!  

It will do an indicated 112mph so it's plenty fast enough for the roads.  Of course I miss the mind bending acceleration from the litre bikes, but the only area of concern for me there is overtaking, and so far this hasn't been a problem with careful positioning, planning and use of the gears.

so I'm booked in at Castle Combe with her next Wednesday and we'll see.  I've massively matured in my outlook at the track from "go mentally fast" to "get as skillfull as possible."  I think, and I hope, that she will be a hoot.  It's such a light and nimble bike, totally manageable, and nice not to be constantly worrying about one slip of the right hand resulting in writing off eight grands worth of kit!  I'm hoping just to get out there and wear down my knee sliders with a big grin!

I've owned 600 super sports and litre bikes, but the irony in all of it is that as I get older I think probably a simple SV650 (my first big bike) is the perfect bike for me.  Enough grunt to get round people on the roads, comfortable, cheap and fast enough to ride to the track and have a great time.

anyway, it's winner stays on.  So if I do sell the blade, I may buy myself another SV650 and pit that against the little ninja and so on.

midiglitch

Here is the family photograph:

Dominic

I used to do some serious racing .....I wasn't that good but still in a different league to 99 %of people on the road
I would get a far better lap time on that ninja than the Blade ..........you have to be awesomely good to use the power and even then the difference will be minimal unless it's a circuit with huge straights
My perfect bike was a 90s CBR 400 rr could do better lap times than my 916 or Blade

TheBigDipper

midiglitch said:

Well chaps, I'm running a little experiment over the next couple of months to answer the age old question of whether it is more fun to ride a slow bike fast, or a fast bike slow...

About a year ago I traded my RC8 for a Fireblade, both frankly ridiculous bikes, and since I've moved again up to rural north Dorset, I've been evaluating the type of riding I'm doing and just exactly what kind of bike suits my needs.  In reality it's all about riding in reasonable comfort to a track, which may be up to 3 hours away, doing a track day, and then riding home.  Although I thought I might, I've not managed to do any touring, and I don't commute by motorbike as work is only 25 minutes cycle away.

the honest truth is that the capability of the blade far exceeds my own ability, and even if it didn't there are only a couple of places in the UK where you can even open it up - silverstone and rockingham.  

So I've just bought a little ninja 300!  It's a kids toy compared to the blade, in every aspect, but it is a lot more comfortable and it is probably(?) fast enough for the tracks I ride (castle Combe, brands Indy, lydden hill).  'Fast enough' being relative to my ability!  

It will do an indicated 112mph so it's plenty fast enough for the roads.  Of course I miss the mind bending acceleration from the litre bikes, but the only area of concern for me there is overtaking, and so far this hasn't been a problem with careful positioning, planning and use of the gears.

so I'm booked in at Castle Combe with her next Wednesday and we'll see.  I've massively matured in my outlook at the track from "go mentally fast" to "get as skillfull as possible."  I think, and I hope, that she will be a hoot.  It's such a light and nimble bike, totally manageable, and nice not to be constantly worrying about one slip of the right hand resulting in writing off eight grands worth of kit!  I'm hoping just to get out there and wear down my knee sliders with a big grin!

I've owned 600 super sports and litre bikes, but the irony in all of it is that as I get older I think probably a simple SV650 (my first big bike) is the perfect bike for me.  Enough grunt to get round people on the roads, comfortable, cheap and fast enough to ride to the track and have a great time.

anyway, it's winner stays on.  So if I do sell the blade, I may buy myself another SV650 and pit that against the little ninja and so on.

In these days of too much traffic and poor road maintenance, I suspect you'll decide it's more fun to run a slower bike nearer the limit of the bike and the road in front of you. I sold my 916 (it was a long time ago) when I realised I was faster on public roads using my GS. Better suspension for real roads, enough power to get in trouble, better vision and I could see over hedges! 

My road road riding for pleasure was (and still is) small A roads and below. I could use an ER-6 or an SV 650 and never get to the limits of the bike.

Where are you in N. Dorset? There's some great stuff up there. 

PC_Dave

I couldn’t entertain the idea of a smaller capacity bike now. I’ve had my SuperDuke for 2 months now, and there’s now way I’d go smaller. It’s the perfect bike for everything, and it’s not the outright power that’s the good thing, it’s the way the power is delivered. Instant torque, any gear, any speed. It’s so nimble you can fly through traffic, and then ruin a performance car drivers day at the next set of traffic lights.

You might be able to tell I quite like it.....

p90fool

@midiglitch I know exactly where you're coming from. 

I used to run a litre sportsbike hire company and was a fast-ish road rider and liked my track days, but for reasons I can't remember we ended up with an Aprilia RS250 as a shop hack for a while. It was ridiculous fun, I'd forgotten how great it was to wring a bike's neck on the road. 

Funnily enough, my wife (our chief DAS instructor) and I picked up a pair of SV650s when we shut the business down and we still carve effortlessly through packs of dancefloor dads on their litre bikes, even with full camping gear. The 600cc boys are generally harder to reel in, they're not as terrified of their own throttles. 

It took me years to conclude though, that you need to forget the actual hardware and decide where you want to be in terms of roads and scenery, then pick the bike which naturally takes you there. 

Hence I'll end up in beautiful rural lanes and villages on my Enfield, long distance camping on my 1400 Intruder or messing about on fast B-roads on my SV.  

quarky

p90fool said:

It took me years to conclude though, that you need to forget the actual hardware and decide where you want to be in terms of roads and scenery, then pick the bike which naturally takes you there. 

You are right. A lot of people choose the bike first, then think about where to use it. Which is fine, most of us have that itch to scratch, but once you have done it, a change can be great too.

Are bikes ridiculously expensive to hire? I was thinking about hiring one overseas, but not sure if it is worth it once you factor in all the gear and stuff...

boogieman

Pretty much why I swapped bikes a couple of years back. I had a VF800 which had mental acceleration but I could barely use its potential. The sports riding position didn’t suit me either, an hour in the saddle and I’d get off looking like a cross between John Wayne and Quasimodo. I traded it for the CBF1000 I’ve got now and it suits me much better, it’s got a detuned Fireblade engine that has lower top end speed and acceleration but masses of torque, much more usable in real life. It’s also got a decent riding position for an old geezer with back problems like me. 

p90fool

quarky said:

p90fool said:

It took me years to conclude though, that you need to forget the actual hardware and decide where you want to be in terms of roads and scenery, then pick the bike which naturally takes you there. 

You are right. A lot of people choose the bike first, then think about where to use it. Which is fine, most of us have that itch to scratch, but once you have done it, a change can be great too.

Are bikes ridiculously expensive to hire? I was thinking about hiring one overseas, but not sure if it is worth it once you factor in all the gear and stuff...

It depends where you are. We used to charge around £120 a day for a new Fireblade for example, but on a Greek island you can get bikes more suitable for the roads there easily for 300 Euros for a week. 

Once you're out of northern Europe you don't really need bike gear, nobody really wears that stuff except us. 

robinbowes

Interesting discussion.

I chose my bike because I like the look of it. Here's the story...

My Dad always rode bikes, mostly BSAs. He had a C10L (250) and a A7 (500 twin). I learned to ride on a modified Bantam D7.

I did schoolboy motocross from about 8 - 14. I had a Yamaha YZ80, then a Suzuki RM100.

At 16, I rode a Yamaha FS1M (successor to the FS1E, no pedals, not as fast - did about 45 mph).

At 17, I rode a Honda CB125 until I passed my car test, and moved on to cars.

In the mid-nineties, I decided to take my bike test before Direct Access was introduced so I could ride any bike in the future. I passed, but continued to drive cars.

Fast forward to 2014, and I saw this picture and posted it on Facebook.



Two years later, Facebook did that "Memories" thing and reminded me that I'd posted that picture. I thought "I still really like that, and I've got some spare cash - I wonder if there are any for sale?". It turned out that the first one I found was this: http://900nuda.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=28&t=1367.

As it turned out it's a great bike to ride as well as looking fantastic. It's not about top-speed, but the torquey engine makes it great fun on twisty roads.

I'm still loving it.

R.

rsvmark

Being a sometime commuter, I would miss the grunt of my Mille. I would love to have a blast on an RS250 though

quarky

Did 170 miles tonight to go and get some fish and chips in Hunstanton. It was worth it

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

https://i.imgur.com/QndBbM6.jpg

roundthebend

@quarky I'm gonna do that one evening too, I'm in Peterborough so Hunstanton is my nearest seaside.

I'm having a struggle choosing luggage for my new bike. Bike is a Triumph T120 Black so really I want classic styled bags but there's not much out there. The triumph waxed cotton panniers are £470 a pair which is ludicrous. And it's quite like something that locks, but most of those look modern.

Maybe I need ammo cases.

I also have the complication of wanting to carry a pillion and luggage for camping/hiking weekends. But I don't want an extended luggage platform cos they're ugly.

I was looking at Oxford Heritage luggage which is pretty smart and good value. 

Moe_Zambeek

Kriega is the answer to any bike luggage question. Not classic styled but then you won’t have them on the bike when you’re not needing them...

quarky

@roundthebend I went through Peterborough to get there, I life close to Northampton, so you should definitely do it

You could also get these for a Bonnie (although not sure how they will work with a pillion). 
http://www.frank-thomas.co.uk/index.php/collection/cargo-luggage/frank-thomas-ft13-saddle-bag.html

I was tempted, but went for the US-20 to add to the Kriega stuff I have. Kriega are great. That is a US-20. I also have a US-10, and the 35l backpack. I got the US-20 though so I don't need to backpack so often. I can secure the US-10 to the US-20 too to get 30l. Do you have the bar at the back? Maybe you can secure a Kriega to that? Or just give your pillion huge backpack

I didn't need it tonight, but it was a good test run with it on the bike...

roundthebend

@quarky if you can do it from Northampton, then there's no excuse for me.

The Bonnie doesn't have much of a bar at the back for luggage, though you can buy them but I'm not keen on the look. Soft luggage is OK if you can carry it when you're not with the bike, but 2 side panniers and a holdall is too much. So, I'm really looking at lockable options.

My current thinking is to modify some record boxes - L shaped brackets which attach where the rubber feet are at the bottom, and then bolted to the back with some rubber to dampen vibrations. I could add more secure padlocks, and probably even add some kind of locking system to the rack.

octatonic

Moe_Zambeek said:

Kriega is the answer to any bike luggage question. Not classic styled but then you won’t have them on the bike when you’re not needing them...

+1.
Kriega is the best option.

guitargeek62

Another +1 for Kriega - I’ve got them on my Bonnie too.

Sham61

New to this thread. Been riding bikes since I was 15, 42 years! 
Started out with a James Captain which had been stripped out by a scrambler friend. Cost £15.
Had the usual Fizzer at 16 then various B120P, KZ250, VFR750, VTR1000, FZ600. Moto Morini 3 1/2, Husqvarna TE410, etc over the years. Did a bit of MX in my 20's as a laugh with some friends. Not very good and shiftwork got in the way. 
Currently riding a Scrambler Ducati Classic. Had it 3 years on a PCP thing, got to decide this week whether to buy it or give it back. Going to buy it as it does everything I need it to do. Not perfect but makes me smile every time I ride it.