Time for a motorbike list
- Thread starter Rasher
- Start date
Rockmeister
pfm Member
was that the one that had an advert showing it out-dragging a jet on a runway?
richardg
Admonishtrator
I don't remember that...I have to report grave news, though. It was the most disappointing bike I ever had.
It was slower than the dinosuar LC and the new RGV250 V Twin. Handling was in between the LC and RGV. Not spectacular. It did about 12mpg when being spanked. 20 at best. It drank and spewed oil. It was heavy. The rims were quite narrow so tryes were skinny, which meant the RGV and KR1 felt much more grippy and stable. It weaved at high speed, ie 120mph plus.
I think these may be the reasons why you can still get one for 5 grand.
It was slower than the dinosuar LC and the new RGV250 V Twin. Handling was in between the LC and RGV. Not spectacular. It did about 12mpg when being spanked. 20 at best. It drank and spewed oil. It was heavy. The rims were quite narrow so tryes were skinny, which meant the RGV and KR1 felt much more grippy and stable. It weaved at high speed, ie 120mph plus.
I think these may be the reasons why you can still get one for 5 grand.
Arkless Electronics
Trade: Amp design and repairs.
I once had an air cooled RD250 which I tuned to do 110 and that could get down to 12-15mpg if really caned... Fun though! Only 12-15mph behind many of the 750's at the time and got to 60 in a much more flamboyant fashion! Those were the days... I could remove, strip, rebuild and re-fit a pair of Mikuni VM series carbs in about 30 mins!
Pete MB&D
Pete Maddex, the one and only!
Arkless Electronics
Trade: Amp design and repairs.
Bad memories of GT380 there with the 3 sets of points...
This one taxed my recall somewhat. Not ridden since the 90s.
Suzuki X7: Learnt on this. Nice quick handling but with a tendency to turn in on you.
Moto Guzzi V50: Yuck. So stable you couldn't move it off line to avoid drain covers except if you knocked off into a bend at 90 or so when it would weave all over the road.
Suzuki PE 175: Fun to ride on the road in the snow, between the traffic in London and off road on the grass and dirt. Unfortunatley far too loud for going places off road because it would spook horses and the like.
Yamaha RD250LC: Tuned and used for proddy racing. Put back on the road to sell but was too much fun and kept for a year or two.
Honda CB250RS: Boring go-to-work commuter. Weird handling like an off road bike.
Suzuki RG500 Gamma: Stupidly quick and probably shouldn't be aloud on public roads. Still got it under the house if anyone interested. Late model, low mileage, chassis slightly bent, not used for decades so soft parts gone.
PS Just looked up what a clean RG500 goes for now! Been an interesting thread in more ways than one.
Arkless Electronics
Trade: Amp design and repairs.
Loved my Honda CB250RS! Probably the best all rounder 250 of all time IMHO. I used one as a courier in London and then bought a knackered one for £180 years later when really skint and needed some basic transport. Fast for a 4 stroke single 250 and would burn of most other 4 strokes of same engine size. Good handling and braking but the single disc could twist the forks a bit under really heavy braking which was its biggest foible really.
Very reliable but needs regular oil changes (1000 miles) as it has small oil capacity and no proper oil filter, just a sieve type thing which you had to clean out now and then and required the right side outer crank case to be removed to access it... this usually resulted in the decompressor cam actuator lever being snapped off but it was no loss. I did 18,000 miles in 6 months on one as a courier!
I recall that six of us on three RS250's once went from Teesside to London and back in a day on them cruising at 80 all the way there and back... top speed was about 87.
Loads of memories of that little 250... I bought it for £80 "sold as seen" from one of the mechanics at "Petite and France" motorcycles in Redcar. It had been re-sprayed a darker than standard shade of blue, had no front brake at all and several electrical issues and I recall using brake hydraulic parts etc of a Kawasaki plus a disk from another Honda to sort the front stopper and then sorted the electrics and a few other minor issues. After that it was a fit one!
The later one I had was a dog in comparison even though it looked more "correct"... Engine was worn after high mileage of abuse it seems and it would only do 70 on a good day!! It still got me from A to B for 6 months or so.
awkwardbydesign
Officially Awesome
I went and found a few old photos, so I scanned them.
Guzzi V50III. I bought this to learn mechanicking. It promptly dropped a valve, so I had to learn quickly! I sold it to my son a few years later (I had sprayed it pink, but resprayed it red to sell it on). That's a Le Mans Mk1 handlebar fairing.
Guzzi 1000SP (Spada). After riding Honda GL1000 to Italy and breaking down there, we thereafter used this. Six times, IIRC. Sprayed a BMW metallic green, as I had the equipment. I still use that top box, and it was second hand when I bought it in 1994!
Honda 250 K4. I went mad with this one, even making up control cables out of several parts. I worked out there were parts from 32 different bikes in there! Plus the bits I made, and as I had oxy-acetylene welding gear I made the exhausts too. A bit funky, but it all worked.
Guzzi V50III. I bought this to learn mechanicking. It promptly dropped a valve, so I had to learn quickly! I sold it to my son a few years later (I had sprayed it pink, but resprayed it red to sell it on). That's a Le Mans Mk1 handlebar fairing.
Guzzi 1000SP (Spada). After riding Honda GL1000 to Italy and breaking down there, we thereafter used this. Six times, IIRC. Sprayed a BMW metallic green, as I had the equipment. I still use that top box, and it was second hand when I bought it in 1994!
Honda 250 K4. I went mad with this one, even making up control cables out of several parts. I worked out there were parts from 32 different bikes in there! Plus the bits I made, and as I had oxy-acetylene welding gear I made the exhausts too. A bit funky, but it all worked.
Perhaps a curious choice? I recall it as the bike for hooligan learners. Light, 100 mph and quick but tricky handling. I liked it a lot and regretted selling it for a proper grown up bike.
I had mine for commuting for a few years but started increasingly using the car because there wasn't much fun involved. It was reliable and I cannot recall any mechanical issues. The handling discouraged throwing it around. It was a good commuter bike. Just not much fun.
That was the one apart from the handlebars. On the way to Le Mans one year had a total electrical failure. What a surprise for an Italian bike! (My Alfa was no different.) The spray from the front wheel was directed straight at an electrical junction block and the prong from the battery was simply a collection of rust chippings.I went and found a few old photos, so I scanned them.
Guzzi V50III. I bought this to learn mechanicking. It promptly dropped a valve, so I had to learn quickly! I sold it to my son a few years later (I had sprayed it pink, but resprayed it red to sell it on). That's a Le Mans Mk1 handlebar fairing.
Arkless Electronics
Trade: Amp design and repairs.
As I said that wasn't my impression of them at all... Good handling, light, quick for a 4 stroke single... I recall mine had the legs on KH250 Kwaka triples.. and would eat 250 superdreams for breakfast! Now 250 superdreams were a really naff machine and yet the best selling bike in the country for a while.. weird. As ever the general public has very dubious taste!
Arkless Electronics
Trade: Amp design and repairs.
I could never see the point of a Guzzi V50. A naff, slower version of a plastic maggot with much dodgier electrics and reliability and yet more expensive..
awkwardbydesign
Officially Awesome
Mine was reliable, once I fixed the valve. The Mk3 had points, which were better than the electronic ignition on the earlier models. Many bikes direct spray into the electrics (my SV650 would if I let it), but a fender extender fixes that. If you don't know how overcome electrical problems, you shouldn't be allowed to own an Italian bike!
It handled OK, looked way better than the CX500, and mine cost me £100 from a friend (he was drunk at the time!), so not exactly expensive. I would happily have it back.
Arkless Electronics
Trade: Amp design and repairs.
Worst bike electrical problem I ever had was with a Honda VF750 (yes the naff one not the VFR...I had a VFR much later and it was ace!). I had to leave it outside overnight and in damp weather moisture would find its way into the electronic ignition module. It was of course sealed in epoxy and no amount of WD40 or silicone sealant made any difference. It nearly cost me my job! It made me late for work several times and even once, in a torrential downpour, succumbed to it after it had started and I had to push this 750 for the last two miles to work! See we had covered car ports at work and the heat from the engine would dry it out so it started every time when I left work... as my boss noticed...
I think we are only disagreeing about the handling which I found a bit like an off road bike. It tended to want you to sit upright and push the bike down rather than the opposite. Good or bad handling often seems to follow how one goes about riding a bike. For example, the bike press in the 70s and 80s used to rave about the handling of Ducatis which went round corners on rails. I found this type of handling a problem. In turn they disliked the tendency of the X7 to turn in which I could live with in order to have something that would turn quickly.