Any Motörbike riders here?

PC_Dave

@cm01 - That's the bike I learned to ride on. Great fun, but I found the throttle extremely snatchy. I think they've sorted that on the later models. Apart from that they are great value for money.

Nunogilberto

@cm01 @PC_Dave Same here - I passed my tests on one. Felt very quick indeed, though I’d not ridden anything as big at that point.

Nunogilberto

Did anybody go to Motorcycle Live last week? I went on the weekend but it didn’t seem as good as last year, particularly in terms of trade stands - quite a few branded stands selling premium products like expensive jackets and boots, but nothing at the lower/middle end and very few independent traders.

Dominic

No but I saw the new Triumph Rocket carbon fibre Factory Custom.....fantastic bike and fantastic price
Probably justifiable but like so many high end bikes now you can't help but stack it up against a 2 year old Audi/Bmw/ Merc etc etc etc ......doesn't really make sense;
How can a top of range Harley CVO be £38000 ? that buys one hell of a car 

hollywoodrox

I don’t ride any more but used to ride everything from super dreams  ,and CX’s  kawa ltd etc . Had a gs550 chop . I’m a pedestrian now. If it has tits or an engine you’ve always got your hand in your pocket 

jaytmon

Nunogilberto said:

Did anybody go to Motorcycle Live last week? I went on the weekend but it didn’t seem as good as last year, particularly in terms of trade stands - quite a few branded stands selling premium products like expensive jackets and boots, but nothing at the lower/middle end and very few independent traders.

I went on Sunday, fell in love with this:

https://youtu.be/jzgz-vH5WQk

Nunogilberto

@jaytmon I was there on Saturday and would have liked to get a good look at it, but I couldn’t get near it, such was the amount of people around the bloody thing...

octatonic

It looks great but having had a super/hyper naked (S1000R) I've decided that bike style is a bit of a busted flush.
They are massively powerful and fun from 30-70mph, but not hugely more fun to deal with the wind blast issued above 70mph (on a closed track, officer).

If I wanted something ridiculously powerful I'd just get a sports bike, either an S1000RR or the new Fireblade.
On public roads all bikes are faster than 99% of cars, so my GSA will be fine.

jaytmon

@Nunogilberto that’s a shame. 208bhp of naked Italian madness....!! it was still pretty busy on the Sunday, and there did seem to be a lot of people around the Ducati stand. The V2 is also a thing of beauty, and a mere 155bhp.

New Africa Twin is now 1100cc, and they do a version with all the electronic bells and whistles you could think of, as was shown to me by one of the guys on the Honda stand. Got a good deal on a new helmet too, plus a nice pair of gloves. I just don’t particularly want to go out in this persistently shitty weather!

Nunogilberto

jaytmon said:

I just don’t particularly want to go out in this persistently shitty weather!

Same here. I can live with the cold, but the relentless rain just makes it a miserable experience. If I’m caught I’m the rain whilst out on the bike, fair enough - I don’t go out in it otherwise.

jaytmon

octatonic said:

It looks great but having had a super/hyper naked (S1000R) I've decided that bike style is a bit of a busted flush.
They are massively powerful and fun from 30-70mph, but not hugely more fun to deal with the wind blast issued above 70mph (on a closed track, officer).

If I wanted something ridiculously powerful I'd just get a sports bike, either an S1000RR or the new Fireblade.
On public roads all bikes are faster than 99% of cars, so my GSA will be fine.

Agreed - it would have to be a second bike. For me the discomfort maintaining high speeds on a naked is actually a good thing - at least if you’re doing 90 (on a track, obviously) you know about it. On a sports bike it’s too easy to go effortlessly fast. Plus the riding position isn’t massively comfortable. Having said that I rode from West Wales to Bristol on an SD990 on the M4, it was fuckin ‘orrible!

The new ‘blade is actually pretty sexy, surprising for a Honda, but I’d still have the V2. In the front room....

Kittyfrisk

octatonic said:

It looks great but having had a super/hyper naked (S1000R) I've decided that bike style is a bit of a busted flush.
They are massively powerful and fun from 30-70mph, but not hugely more fun to deal with the wind blast issued above 70mph (on a closed track, officer).

If I wanted something ridiculously powerful I'd just get a sports bike, either an S1000RR or the new Fireblade.
On public roads all bikes are faster than 99% of cars, so my GSA will be fine.

True. Although if you can afford one, you can probably also afford the chiropractic, physiotherapy & osteopathy fees that would result from reasonable use.  Dammit they look so good though...

hollywoodrox

I kinda like the 70s Japanese Street tracker thing now 

Dominic

I'm fine with a naked up to 110 but it gets very uncomfortable after 3 full minutes at that
It is really surprising tho' what a little fly screen does .....not wonderful by any means but it makes much more difference than the size of it would lead you to believe

rsvmark

Tour the world on a 998? Are you bonkers? Life begins at the end of your comfort zone.....

https://youtu.be/fgvzunWV740

octatonic

rsvmark said:

Tour the world on a 998? Are you bonkers? Life begins at the end of your comfort zone.....

https://youtu.be/fgvzunWV740

A billion 'fuck noes'.

guitargeek62

guitargeek62 said:

I've just remembered that Ducati brought out an 1100 Scrambler too - I doubt it'll be what I'm after in terms of ergonomics, but I'll add it to the shortlist anyway!

1. Triumph Scrambler 1200 (XE, obviously!)
2. Triumph Speed Twin
3. BMW RnineT Scrambler
4. BMW RnineT Urban G/S
5. Ducati Scrambler 1100
6. KTM Super Adventure 1290 (probably out of budget)

Oddly I can't find anything out of Japan that fits the bill either. The closest would be the Yamaha XSR900 (I started with an XSR700), but I don't see it being much of an improvement in comfort over distance to what I've already got.

Bit of an update, we went to a Ducati dealer a couple of weeks ago - looks like the missus will be moving from a T100 to a Monster 797 shortly.

My shortlist now looks like:

1. HyperStrada 939 / 821
2. HyperMotard 939 / 821
3. MultiStrada 950
4. Scrambler 1100
5. BMW RnineT Urban G/S
6. Triumph Scrambler 1200
7. Triumph Speed Twin

I'm waiting for Croydon to get another Hyper in for me to try, but might make a decision fairly soon after that. I've also promised the missus that I'll finally re-do my (car) driving test before I switch bikes anyway, so that'll slow me down till March or so regardless.

zedhex

Apologies if someone has already posted this but, speaking as someone who has been into bikes for over 30 years, why is it that everyone in TV/Movie/advertising land seems to think that all bikers like heavy metal music?

Dominic

Well it's that whole "Get yer motor runnin'....Head out on the Highway " 1970s image .........Born to be Wild and all that .
 Everybody knows that real Bikers like a bit of Blue Oyster Club......I mean Cult !

zedhex

Dominic said:

Well it's that whole "Get yer motor runnin'....Head out on the Highway " 1970s image .........Born to be Wild and all that .
 Everybody knows that real Bikers like a bit of Blue Oyster Club......I mean Cult !

Are you accusing our media reptiles of shallowly following clichés? Shocking.