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[Drinky Crow]

ah, the official riding season is on us and i can bench the tiger for the chromed beastie:

finally got it modded and tuned to 100ish rwhp and 126 ft lbs of torque. arm-ripper, tire-burner off the line? check.

 

[richardhawk]

Girlfriend got a brand new street bob this weekend. I rode it around for a bit and despite it having a bigger engine my sporty feels more torque-y and faster if that makes sense?

Meanwhile the engine tear down on mine continues.

Got the 1250 cc kit bolted in and doing the carb / cams / chain conversion this week if time allows.

 

[Dougald]

Is that a Bell Bullitt I see your girlfriend has? How is it?

ah, the official riding season is on us and i can bench the tiger for the chromed beastie:

finally got it modded and tuned to 100ish rwhp and 126 ft lbs of torque. arm-ripper, tire-burner off the line? check.

I almost forgot you had that! Still looking great, I love the triumph cruisers with twin headlights

 

[Flo_Evans]

Looking good. I've been totally neglecting my bike since getting a new car... need to get it out.

 

[Damaged]

Is that a Bell Bullitt I see your girlfriend has? How is it?



I almost forgot you had that! Still looking great, I love the triumph cruisers with twin headlights

I've had a Bell bullitt RSD viva for a few months now, the build quality is lovely and the lining is really nice but it's a very noisy bit of kit especially with a bubble visor on and if its raining the seal around the visor isn't great. Still, it looks too damn cool and is stupidly light and comfortable so I'm still happy with the purchase.

 

[richardhawk]

She likes it except for the rain issue. She rode up to the PWN last year and after an hour or so water was getting inside of it. But other than that no issues from what shes told me.

 

[Dougald]

Hmm, sounds like maybe not the best lid in Britain then... Riding in the rain here is pretty inevitable

 

[BriareosGAF]

I picked up an RF1200 with the official poly-chromatic visor a few days before I bought the DRZ, and it's been interesting to contrast against my cheap-ass HJC 17 that I bought when I started riding.

Pros:
- Holy shit poly-chromatic visors are amazing. As someone who wears glasses while riding and thus can't wear sunglasses it is so nice to not get incredible glare all the time.
- Having a proper pinlock is amazing too, no more fog on stops. Although very occasionally my glasses have actually fogged slightly, which is... disappointing. Can probably coat those if I really want to.
- Much nicer visor snap and fit, general feel and weight of plastics; has an extra click lock when down.
- Seals far better when down including the all important "turn your head at 75mph and see if the visor deforms slightly letting in tons of wind and noise" which the HJC failed.
- Generally quieter, including extra material around the ears.
- Much nicer vent snap especially for the mouth.

Cons:
- Feels like there is actually less material in the jawline towards the chin vs the HJC... feel a little naked.
- There are thin plastic fins near where the ears exit and they are rubbing the shit out of my ears when I take the helmet off. Getting slightly better as I get more accustomed to pulling it way far out as I take it off.
- Chin strap snap is much more up in the helmet and a pain to get to.

 

[DrGonzo615]

I picked up an RF1200 with the official poly-chromatic visor a few days before I bought the DRZ, and it's been interesting to contrast against my cheap-ass HJC 17 that I bought when I started riding.

Pros:
- Holy shit poly-chromatic visors are amazing. As someone who wears glasses while riding and thus can't wear sunglasses it is so nice to not get incredible glare all the time.
- Having a proper pinlock is amazing too, no more fog on stops. Although very occasionally my glasses have actually fogged slightly, which is... disappointing. Can probably coat those if I really want to.
- Much nicer visor snap and fit, general feel and weight of plastics; has an extra click lock when down.
- Seals far better when down including the all important "turn your head at 75mph and see if the visor deforms slightly letting in tons of wind and noise" which the HJC failed.
- Generally quieter, including extra material around the ears.
- Much nicer vent snap especially for the mouth.

Cons:
- Feels like there is actually less material in the jawline towards the chin vs the HJC... feel a little naked.
- There are thin plastic fins near where the ears exit and they are rubbing the shit out of my ears when I take the helmet off. Getting slightly better as I get more accustomed to pulling it way far out as I take it off.
- Chin strap snap is much more up in the helmet and a pain to get to.

Shoei makes fantastic helmets, welcome to the club. I still cant find a helmet that fits as comfortably as a L Shoei.

 

[Dougald]

I found my old Arai Chaser more comfortable than my Shoei GT Air, but only a little. Having a built in sun visor more than makes up for it. Arai helmets are really comfy but they're oddly cheap in some ways, the demist tab on the visor is way too flimsy for a £300+ helmet

Pinlocks are an absolute must, especially if you wear glasses

 

[Dougald]

The bad news I've just been given is that I'm not currently a suitable candidate for laser surgery, so I'll have to keep jamming glasses into my helmet

The good news is, now I'm not spending money on that, I can probably look at a new bike after all. Time to look at getting the Street Triple up for sale I guess...

 

[Watevaman]

The bad news I've just been given is that I'm not currently a suitable candidate for laser surgery, so I'll have to keep jamming glasses into my helmet

The good news is, now I'm not spending money on that, I can probably look at a new bike after all. Time to look at getting the Street Triple up for sale I guess...

Are contacts not an option? I, too, suffer from "stab glasses multiple times into face until they sit right" syndrome so I know the feel.

 

[Dougald]

Are contacts not an option? I, too, suffer from "stab glasses multiple times into face until they sit right" syndrome so I know the feel.

I tried them, but because I have astigmatism I had to wear toric lenses which would rotate all the time and pissed me off. All it really did was make me realise what I was missing by wearing specs

I may be able to get surgery a little down the road, just have to be patient. But that does mean that I'm currently looking at bikes on eBay, so I can't be too mad

 

[Damaged]

Hmm, sounds like maybe not the best lid in Britain then... Riding in the rain here is pretty inevitable

Yeah Its a second helmet for me really, looks ace with a yellow bubble visor on it haha

I tried them, but because I have astigmatism I had to wear toric lenses which would rotate all the time and pissed me off. All it really did was make me realise what I was missing by wearing specs

I may be able to get surgery a little down the road, just have to be patient. But that does mean that I'm currently looking at bikes on eBay, so I can't be too mad

I think Shark helmets make a big fuss about having channels in the padding for glasses wearers?

 

[Fallout-NL]

The bad news I've just been given is that I'm not currently a suitable candidate for laser surgery, so I'll have to keep jamming glasses into my helmet

The good news is, now I'm not spending money on that, I can probably look at a new bike after all. Time to look at getting the Street Triple up for sale I guess...

All I'm seeing is good news.

 

[maxheadwound]

All I'm seeing is good news.

yes that sounds like good news to me...

 

[Dougald]

Yes, when the silver lining involves motorcycles then you can't really call it a bad day.

I won't lie, I'm being stupidly drawn towards getting a Ducati for my next bike, a Monster, Streetfighter or Scrambler Full Throttle.. Finding a good one within my budget would be tough, but I also like the BMW K1300R (I like oddball looking bikes). I'll probably table the multistrada as finding a decent one for <£8k is not so easy, though I guess its possible if I found a private seller looking for a quick cash sell.

I'm also keeping my eye out for a Ulysses as a wildcard, but there really aren't any good examples out there in England at the moment. Buying a bike run by a bankrupt manufacturer that has a bunch of bolts on it that I'd have to buy non-metric tools for is on the surface a bad idea, but again, I like oddball bikes.

 

[RustyO]

Put my bike up for sale... let the tyrekicking commence. (Ninja ZX6R)

Or not, as its getting into Winter... and people don't ride supersports in winter...

If she sells, I'll be getting a Suzuki GSX1400

 

[Watevaman]

Beautiful, reminds me of a certain bike that I own myself...

 

[Dougald]

Real mans bike that. Wish they're update it a bit (along with the rest of their line) to compete with the new XJR.

 

[Fallout-NL]

I'm also keeping my eye out for a Ulysses as a wildcard, but there really aren't any good examples out there in England at the moment. Buying a bike run by a bankrupt manufacturer that has a bunch of bolts on it that I'd have to buy non-metric tools for is on the surface a bad idea, but again, I like oddball bikes.

!!

I love, love, love my Ulysses. Its power is intoxicating, it is extremely comfortable and the handling is downright incredible. I can beat anything on a thoroughly twisty section. Also, the gearbox is vastly improved over other Buells, I have never (ever) missed a shift, it's perfect shifting bliss.

 

[OraleeWey]

No fair guys. It has been really cold lately. On top of that I am sick. I haven't been riding as much as I would like to. Today, I decided to take it out and give it a little clean today. TBH, the previous owner took very good care of it. I wonder how much the owner sold it to the dealer for. Because I did get it for rather cheap. Cost me $2,600 and it had 11,200 miles on it when I got it.

Here's a pic.

Please excuse the wood on the left, there's some construction going on.

I think it doesn't need any maintenance other than maybe adjusting the chain. One thing I don't like is that the light doesn't turn with the handlebars, it's in a fixed position. But lighting wise is adequate.

 

[Dougald]

Looking super clean! You are right on the chain - keeping that cleaned, lubricated and adjusted is probably the most important regular maintenance you can do on a bike

!!

I love, love, love my Ulysses. Its power is intoxicating, it is extremely comfortable and the handling is downright incredible. I can beat anything on a thoroughly twisty section. Also, the gearbox is vastly improved over other Buells, I have never (ever) missed a shift, it's perfect shifting bliss.

I thought you might like that comment. The bike checks a lot of boxes for me, especially as it's a bit more tour-y. It was about as popular in England as food with taste in it was in the 50s, so it would really be a case of seeing one in top condition at the right time.

 

[Fallout-NL]

Definitely

Yeah, I suppose they could be hard to find. Should you choose to go ahead with it, an '08 MY (and up) deserves priority (if possible). Though I felt confident in buying one of the older ones because it was such an extremely low mileage bike. You can recognize the newer ones by the oblong (slightly rectangular) shaped cam cover (instead of the round ones of previous model years). These engines had a number of updates including improved routing of the oil feeds which prolongs life of various components you don't want failing (such as the big end bearing). Not that the old ones all fail, but I think the newer ones stand up better to abuse by an owner with little to no mechanical affinity.

Also, this is a good read if you're interested in the Uly:

http://www.cycleworld.com/assets/download/Buell_CWReprint.pdf

Looking super clean! You are right on the chain - keeping that cleaned, lubricated and adjusted is probably the most important regular maintenance you can do on a bike

Yes, that and keeping track of tire pressure (and oil level if your bike uses oil).

 

[Watevaman]

No fair guys. It has been really cold lately. On top of that I am sick. I haven't been riding as much as I would like to. Today, I decided to take it out and give it a little clean today. TBH, the previous owner took very good care of it. I wonder how much the owner sold it to the dealer for. Because I did get it for rather cheap. Cost me $2,600 and it had 11,200 miles on it when I got it.

Here's a pic.



Please excuse the wood on the left, there's some construction going on.

I think it doesn't need any maintenance other than maybe adjusting the chain. One thing I don't like is that the light doesn't turn with the handlebars, it's in a fixed position. But lighting wise is adequate.

Its always a good idea to change the oil on any new to you bike as well.

 

[Dougald]

Good point, regular oil changes are inexpensive, easy, and always a good idea. First thing I ever learnt to do mechanically on a bike

Bless YouTube and its wealth of step by step videos for everything.

 

[OraleeWey]

Yeah I will probably do an oil change soon. The dealer told me it was done about 200 miles before I bought it though.

 

[Watevaman]

Yeah I will probably do an oil change soon. The dealer told me it was done about 200 miles before I bought it though.

With buying from a dealer I'd be more lenient, but it's more of a peace of mind thing. Having done it yourself, you know when it was done and that it was done correctly.

Take my GS500 for example. With that, I was just so excited to have a motorcycle and be riding that I didn't do anything to it. Then a month later as I was a quarter mile from my house, oil shot out of the breather tube all over my rear tire and doused the bike in an oily mess. That was due to a gas leak in the carbs letting gas into the oil, and if I had changed the oil first thing, I probably would've noticed that it smelled very gassy and stopped riding.

With a motorcycle, and this may be slight paranoia, you can't trust anybody but yourself.

 

[OraleeWey]

With buying from a dealer I'd be more lenient, but it's more of a peace of mind thing. Having done it yourself, you know when it was done and that it was done correctly.

Take my GS500 for example. With that, I was just so excited to have a motorcycle and be riding that I didn't do anything to it. Then a month later as I was a quarter mile from my house, oil shot out of the breather tube all over my rear tire and doused the bike in an oily mess. That was due to a gas leak in the carbs letting gas into the oil, and if I had changed the oil first thing, I probably would've noticed that it smelled very gassy and stopped riding.

With a motorcycle, and this may be slight paranoia, you can't trust anybody but yourself.

Yeah, I agree. I'll probably do that sooner then. I have to admit though, I'm not too good with doing things myself to my cars and now motorcycles, but an oil change is relatively easy. Saw some videos on YouTube.

 

[Dougald]

Unless you have a receipt for the oil change/stamp in the service book, or the dealer did it themselves before you bought it, I'd pencil in doing one sometime in the next few months... but I am obsessive about that stuff!

The small cost of 4 Litres of oil, a filter and a copper washer are worth it for my peace of mind though. If your filters in an awkward spot, I like buying the K&N ones which you can remove with a regular wrench next time.

 

[OraleeWey]

I'm going to look into buying some oil today. I'm just as "obsessive" about these things as anyone else, I've just put it aside because I'm not riding it much now. It's been too cold lately. But yeah, I'll get it done next week, before I ride it.

 

[Fallout-NL]

Small update with regards to reliability on the Buells (the X1 to be specific): the ignition switch broke. There was power to the dash and the dashboard light, but the fuel pump wasn't being primed and the light indicating a live ignition wasn't coming on either. We fixed it by hotwiring the wires coming out of the ignition so that the parking setting also fed power to the ignition.

Might have something to do with the fact that I caused sparks to fly when I reattached the battery the other day (accidentally made contact with the cylinder head with my spanner), though it's probably just a coincidence. Will listen to my dad next time and reattach the positive connection first instead of the other way around.

 

[Dougald]

Maybe my run of poor luck has jumped across the channel to the Netherlands then!

Hopefully a nice simple fix, doesn't sound like it's likely to be too bad?

 

[Fallout-NL]

Yeah, feels like I lucked out by not frying anything expensive like the fuel pump or the ECM. Rode it home this morning, so all is well I think.

 

[OraleeWey]

Wellp... Going to have to take it out today. I had to leave my car at the mechanic and I'll be needing a vehicle. I have my motorcycle!

Front wheel bearing on my car was a bit loose.


Edit: Good call on that oil change, guys. Yesterday I cleaned the motor and noticed that around it was oily. So I left it clean in so I could figure out if it was leaking. Turn out it is. Not entirely sure where it is coming from though. Any ideas? I don't know why it would be leaking. Does it seem like a lot?

 

[Fallout-NL]

Hard to tell from the picture, do you mean those drip marks that go through and around the Kawasaki logo? Those could be from a previous spill that happened during filling (not as a result of a leak).

Otherwise (if there's spots I'm missing on your photo) your best bet is to clean the suspected areas as thoroughly as you can, go for a short ride and then see if you can see where the oil is coming from now that the areas are clean. Could be a faulty gasket, but it could also just be some sweating.

 

[OraleeWey]

Hard to tell from the picture, do you mean those drip marks that go through and around the Kawasaki logo? Those could be from a previous spill that happened during filling (not as a result of a leak).

Otherwise (if there's spots I'm missing on your photo) your best bet is to clean the suspected areas as thoroughly as you can, go for a short ride and then see if you can see where the oil is coming from now that the areas are clean. Could be a faulty gasket, but it could also just be some sweating.

Yeah, you saw them. Ok, I'll take your advice, thanks. Hopefully it is nothing to worry about. I'll update you guys I guess.

 

[Dougald]

Yeah, looks like it's just marked from where it was last filled as they're just below the filler cap. Cleaning it off and seeing if they return is your best bet.

 

[OraleeWey]

Yeah, looks like it's just marked from where it was last filled as they're just below the filler cap. Cleaning it off and seeing if they return is your best bet.

Well yeah it came back. Yesterday I cleaned the motorcycle. It was oily around the same area. I'll see if it comes back again tomorrow.

 

[Dougald]

Doesn't look like a lot, I probably wouldn't worry, but I'm no expert. Maybe check the o-ring in the filler cap, could need replacing. It doesn't look like a great deal of oil (if that's even what it is)... when there's a small puddle under your bike in the morning, that's when you want to start worrying!


The season must have started here now as my wife has just taken her bike to work. She never rides unless it's sunny and warm enough for kevlar jeans, mostly because she has no thermal/waterproof gear.

 

[Watevaman]

A Honda Hornet (599) popped up on CL a day or two ago and my friend linked me to it, knowing that I've been pondering getting rid of the ZRX. Ah, it's so tempting. I was hoping for a cheaper 919 to pop up, as the 599 is still carbed, but having ridden a 599 already, I know what it's like. If it's still available next week, I may take a look at it and see if he'd be able to wait for me to sell my ZRX. My nightmare is selling the ZRX and being bikeless as I waited for another replacement to pop up.

 

[Dougald]

Do it, the Hornet 600 is a great bike, lovely engine (I haven't ridden one but I have of course ridden its cousin the CBR600F)

 

[maxheadwound]

Guys, did anyone see the motogp? Last corner mayhem. This year is off to an exciting start

 

[Flo_Evans]

wow

http://www.asphaltandrubber.com/bikes/husqvarna-vitpilen-701/

 

[Dougald]

Lovely. I like their new stuff a lot, I'd have a 701 Supermoto if that 89cm seat height didn't terrify me with my 76cm inside leg

 

[Fallout-NL]

A Honda Hornet (599) popped up on CL a day or two ago and my friend linked me to it, knowing that I've been pondering getting rid of the ZRX. Ah, it's so tempting. I was hoping for a cheaper 919 to pop up, as the 599 is still carbed, but having ridden a 599 already, I know what it's like. If it's still available next week, I may take a look at it and see if he'd be able to wait for me to sell my ZRX. My nightmare is selling the ZRX and being bikeless as I waited for another replacement to pop up.

Do you think the Hornet might be cheaper to maintain?

 

[Watevaman]

Do you think the Hornet might be cheaper to maintain?

I'll try and find a forum or something and do some research. One thing I also think I'd enjoy about the Hornet is the lighter weight. It's 100+ pounds lighter I think. Everyone always says about heavy bikes: you don't feel it when you're at speed. Yeah, that might be true to an extent, but in spirited riding the weight is still felt when you're flicking from corner to corner.

 

[blackprophesy]

Spending some time in NZ and borrowed my sister and her boyfriends dirt bikes. First experience riding off-road down the river banks and 4wd tracks. Absolutely awesome fun but hard work. Face planted once when the front wheel went in a rut and I was off balance. But I'd have been more surprised if I didn't go down once. Riding a bike with 960mm seat height is quite intimidating but it's fine once you're going, and can see how it helps in the ruts and with the suspension.

Highly recommended!

(Edit. Me on the KTM 300 EXC and my wife on the Kawasaki KLX140)

 

[Fallout-NL]

I'll try and find a forum or something and do some research. One thing I also think I'd enjoy about the Hornet is the lighter weight. It's 100+ pounds lighter I think. Everyone always says about heavy bikes: you don't feel it when you're at speed. Yeah, that might be true to an extent, but in spirited riding the weight is still felt when you're flicking from corner to corner.

Very true, didn't realize the difference was that big (50kgs, really?).

 

[Watevaman]

Very true, didn't realize the difference was that big (50kgs, really?).

I think the 599 is around 450 lbs wet and the ZRX is around 540 lbs wet, so it's 90 lbs, so about 41 kg.