Any Motörbike riders here?

boogieman

Going from a 125 to an old 750 is a big leap for anyone, I’m not surprised it caught you out. You simply can’t manhandle a big bike around unless you’re built like the Hulk, you need to learn how to use engine braking, slip the clutch and finesse the brakes to do most of the work. At least the Guzzi wasn’t damaged, phew! 

Nunogilberto

I’ve been looking around at some bigger bikes at dealers/sales etc and the politics/etiquette around test rides baffles me a bit. I know it’s not as straightforward as sending someone out in a car with a salesman by their side and that they’re taking something of a risk by allowing people out on them, but what gets me is the chatter about “you’ll have to give us a few days’ notice so we can clean the bike up, put it through our workshop and make sure it’s safe etc, then take a deposit off you etc before you can test ride it...”

Hang on mate - do you buy these bikes in totally sight unseen and not go over them in the workshop at that point? Do you just take in a part ex, slap a price tag on it and wait for some poor fucker to show interest before you actually look at it?

rsvmark

Moe_Zambeek said:

I'd say that suspension is more of an issue on the road than the track, given most of us have competence levels way below the bike's. on a nice smooth track the stock suspension will do the job where the rider isn't pushing at the limits. On a rutted, potholed, tramlined real road, suspension becomes more visibly compromised to the rider. 

Very true. Most weekend riders are so full of bs. The rider is almost always less capable than the bike. 

True story. I know the crew chief  (since retired) of several BSB teams. He started with privateers and then crewed for Steve Brogan and Simon Andrews. Sam Corke, One of his early riders had a GSXR 1000 K1 when it first came out. We compared the lap times from him and some of the journos and perhaps unsurprisingly Sam was miles quicker on the stock bike. Anyway the point is that the journos were creaming themselves and full of bs, talking about flexing frames and suspension limits, cooking brakes etc. Sam and my mate just smiled, let them get on with it, and walked away.

i have also seen a kids on a race 125 waste blades, gixxers and R1 around the outside of Redgate going through Hollywood. Definately rider ability over bike.

octatonic

Nunogilberto said:

I’ve been looking around at some bigger bikes at dealers/sales etc and the politics/etiquette around test rides baffles me a bit. I know it’s not as straightforward as sending someone out in a car with a salesman by their side and that they’re taking something of a risk by allowing people out on them, but what gets me is the chatter about “you’ll have to give us a few days’ notice so we can clean the bike up, put it through our workshop and make sure it’s safe etc, then take a deposit off you etc before you can test ride it...”

Hang on mate - do you buy these bikes in totally sight unseen and not go over them in the workshop at that point? Do you just take in a part ex, slap a price tag on it and wait for some poor fucker to show interest before you actually look at it?

Is this news to you?

Nunogilberto

@octatonic being relatively new to bikes, yes it is...

jaytmon

Nunogilberto said:

I’ve been looking around at some bigger bikes at dealers/sales etc and the politics/etiquette around test rides baffles me a bit. I know it’s not as straightforward as sending someone out in a car with a salesman by their side and that they’re taking something of a risk by allowing people out on them, but what gets me is the chatter about “you’ll have to give us a few days’ notice so we can clean the bike up, put it through our workshop and make sure it’s safe etc, then take a deposit off you etc before you can test ride it...”

Hang on mate - do you buy these bikes in totally sight unseen and not go over them in the workshop at that point? Do you just take in a part ex, slap a price tag on it and wait for some poor fucker to show interest before you actually look at it?

Seems to be fairly standard in a lot of places and some probably do just that. Obviously different at main dealers who have demo bikes available. My take on it is it’s partly to avoid workshop costs on something that could be sitting around for months and months and partly to wheedle out time wasters who just want to have a bit of a joy ride with no intention of buying - if you’re serious you’ll wait. I learnt to play the game - think I test rode over 10 bikes before changing mine last year! That did include some demonstrators too mind, which I was able to jump on without prior warning. 

guitargeek62

Nunogilberto said:

@octatonic being relatively new to bikes, yes it is...

Last year after my Yamaha got nicked it surprised me too! Took a while to arrange test rides on a few bikes, even the ex-demo Street Scrambler that I ended up buying and after having called ahead in the week to arrange the ride! Sorted it out in the end, but it was definitely a faff.

Luckily, I had much simpler dealings a few months later when I bought my shinier Triumph instead. I guess it's just down to how organised the dealerships are, and an expectation on potential clients to pre-arrange the right day. 

guitargeek62

On a separate note, do many of you carry on riding over winter?

I'm still doing my daily commute, but it's only ~25-30 mins in bad traffic, and rarely above 40mph which keeps the wind chill down.

PC_Dave

Never ever had that sort of a problem when wanting test ride a bike....! Just rock up, take it out, job done!

robinbowes

Heh, I bought mine in a private sale without riding it. It was my first real road bike since I passed my test in 1996. I guess I got lucky.

roundthebend

guitargeek62 said:

On a separate note, do many of you carry on riding over winter?

I'm still doing my daily commute, but it's only ~25-30 mins in bad traffic, and rarely above 40mph which keeps the wind chill down.

I'm still a new rider and foolishly bought a beautiful bike so I'll only take it out when it's really dry and mild. That isn't very often. I may commute this week though, now it's insured for such journeys

guitargeek62

robinbowes said:

Heh, I bought mine in a private sale without riding it. It was my first real road bike since I passed my test in 1996. I guess I got lucky.

That's frikkin cool.

robinbowes

guitargeek62 said:

robinbowes said:

Heh, I bought mine in a private sale without riding it. It was my first real road bike since I passed my test in 1996. I guess I got lucky.

That's frikkin cool.

I thought so, which is why I bought it .

Actually, what happened is I saw this picture:



I thought "wow, what a cool looking bike", and posted it to my Facebook timeline.

Two years later, Facebook showed it back to me "you have memories from two years ago". I thought "wow, that's still a cool looking bike. Tell you what, I've got some cash, I'm going to buy one." And I did!

Sham61

Mmmmmm Nuda. Me want

Emp_Fab

Sorry, but this has irritated me since the thread started five years ago....  What exactly is a "Motörbike" ?  Why the umlaut ?

jaytmon

Emp_Fab said:

Sorry, but this has irritated me since the thread started five years ago....  What exactly is a "Motörbike" ?  Why the umlaut ?

It’s what Lemmy used to ride....

p90fool

guitargeek62 said:

On a separate note, do many of you carry on riding over winter?

I'm still doing my daily commute, but it's only ~25-30 mins in bad traffic, and rarely above 40mph which keeps the wind chill down.

Yep, most days I'm on mine at 5am, then I take the long way home. It's been a very mild winter so far, not like last year.

http://i63.tinypic.com/i1cp4l.jpg

TheBigDipper

guitargeek62 said:

On a separate note, do many of you carry on riding over winter?

I'm still doing my daily commute, but it's only ~25-30 mins in bad traffic, and rarely above 40mph which keeps the wind chill down.

Yes. I was out yesterday training someone. Lucky it wasn't today - it's p****ing down with the sort of soft Dorset rain that gets in everywhere and means you can't see where you're going. 

Corvus

PC_Dave said:

Never ever had that sort of a problem when wanting test ride a bike....! Just rock up, take it out, job done!

^Me too, the cordless angle grinder, balaclava and cover of night helps tho' : )

@Nunogilberto did the Guzzi have linked brakes, I never liked that idea. Also shafties have extra ways to bite you in certain trouser-clenching situations with the extra unsprung weight out back and sometimes a very direct connection to the power coming on, and off. Hope you're mending OK.

Nunogilberto

@Corvus No, don’t think it does - it’s a ‘98 Nevada so would have thought it pre dates linked brakes. Could be wrong though. You’re right about the shaft drive though - it’s a bit heavier on the right as a result. I’m better now thanks - slight soreness in the foot now and again but back in work and out testing bikes again. Bought one tonight as it happens, privately - a ‘97 Marauder 800.