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Starting to get warmer... any other motorcyclists gearing up on here?

This is my current "classic" bike - a Honda XBR500S (which was the version with the wire wheels as standard) from 1987. Always wanted one as a lad, so got this about a decade or so back:

108742392.in3fkzCT.xbr500_2.jpg

Currently SORN'd but I'll get it road legal again once my son passes his test because it'll be a good option to accompany him if he gets something like the BMW 310.
 
My wife saved me from an ST4S, she hated it on a test ride, I could see past the blurred instruments up to 3000rpm, the rock hard suspension and the ATCO clutch but the boss made me buy a 955ST Triumph, she was right of course!
NOOOOOO
sry but NO
Ok I can that the triumph was a tad more civilised around town, but FFS.

I had an ST2, tuned by Baines Racing at Silverstone...to be a bit more of a beast. For four years I was in love with it until the rust started to drive me bonkers.

Steam train straight line power, comfy, far better handling than the Sprint, sexy as GinaLolabrigida, red and the noise. OMGoodnessme.

The T. Sprint which followed was 'better' only if you value calm sophistication over fun. Which, for me, was not the point of a bike.
 
Indeed but the Sprint took us in comfort to France, Spain, Italy and Germany and it looked almost new when I sold it at 16 years old. My 650 Enfield is more fun and definitely easier for my old bones these days.
 
When I was looking at the ST4S it was going to replace my day-to-day commuting bike (at that time a Honda Deauville) which was clearly a stupid idea. As a weekend fun bike though, and to just enjoy looking it - it'd have made more sense. The CBF1000GT was a lot more practical though.
 
Had a look over a bike, pretty good nic for its age put down deposit and will be visiting the bank Monday to transfer the rest.
Ordered a new Lid, did say was to be delivered Monday but email says today with a time slot (Sunday??) guess I will see in a few hours
Never had a bike with fruity pipe before although I have breifly ridden my previous bikes with no end can. Oh! that V4 sounded good!
 
Had a look over a bike, pretty good nic for its age put down deposit and will be visiting the bank Monday to transfer the rest.
Ordered a new Lid, did say was to be delivered Monday but email says today with a time slot (Sunday??) guess I will see in a few hours
Never had a bike with fruity pipe before although I have breifly ridden my previous bikes with no end can. Oh! that V4 sounded good!
Well give us a clue then!
What is it???
Did you sort a helmet?
 
This is my no.1 bike, which I normally keep road legal although the MOT has lapsed so will need to get that sorted post-lockdown:

original.jpg

It's a 2009 Honda CBF1000GT which I've owned from new. It's based around a very detuned Fireblade engine with around 100bhp (the 'blade would have been more like 150bhp). It has masses of torque though, so feels like gear changing is optional. It's still 100% standard although I have got heated grips for it which I haven't got around to fitting, and I've considered a higher screen but haven't really felt the need for one. It was bought to replace my beloved Deauville and like the Deauville it might not be the most exciting bike in the world but it is very effective and useful.
I have a 2007 CBF1000A, same colour as yours, with 35000 miles on it and less fairing. I bought it 3 years ago, then had a shoulder problem followed eventually by an operation which has taken over a year to recover from and then covid so I've done very few miles on it and am about to sell it for something slower, more upright, trailie-style like a Suzuki V Strom 650. It is as you say, very effective, but I seem to find myself going way too fast all too often. I have a higher screen which helped a bit with buffeting for me, and some slightly noisier exhausts which sound nice but don't offend anyone along with the standard ones. It's currently getting a serious service and mot prior to selling.
Unlike so many on here I've never done a track day, nor been interested - a big smash 35 years ago and 17 operations as a result have left me feeling less of a need for speed..
 
This is my current "classic" bike - a Honda XBR500S (which was the version with the wire wheels as standard) from 1987. Always wanted one as a lad, so got this about a decade or so back:

108742392.in3fkzCT.xbr500_2.jpg

Currently SORN'd but I'll get it road legal again once my son passes his test because it'll be a good option to accompany him if he gets something like the BMW 310.
That's a great looking bike. They were always regarded as a "Velocette for the 90s" when everybody else was riding GSXRs and Blades. Definitely a connoisseur machine.
 
Well give us a clue then!
What is it???
Did you sort a helmet?

Its a 2003 SV650S, I was looking for a naked model but this one was local.
The Lid was delivered today!(Sunday)
Hope to get the bike later in the week, I will have it delivered after I got insurance as I live in a flat with parking space out back.
 
Its a 2003 SV650S, I was looking for a naked model but this one was local.
The Lid was delivered today!(Sunday)
Hope to get the bike later in the week, I will have it delivered after I got insurance as I live in a flat with parking space out back.
If I may ask, what kind of sum do you have to find for one of those in decent order such as yours presumably is?
 
The brother has an interest in odd motorcycles. His most recent acquisition..

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A Pacific Coast 800. With its party piece..

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That bag of coal on the right of the pic, fits in the boot..

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I never even knew they existed until about a week ago. Takes all sorts :)
 
If I may ask, what kind of sum do you have to find for one of those in decent order such as yours presumably is?

Depends on age and if you are buying from Bike Dealer or Mr Bloggs at no.73
I would think a couple of large ones should get something decent, apparently a popular bike with people who have passed test and are stepping up, will have had a few introductions with the tarmac like mine did today when I forgot to drop the side stand!
Lent it over expecting it to stop but it just carried on going, taking me with it in slow motion. Landed on the grass so just a bit of mud here and there and a slighly bent gear lever Doh!

Its got a fair bit of grunt at low revs and quite a bit of engine braking too, Ive been bunnyhopping all over the place, been far too long off the road! Starting to get smoother but Ive only been out for an hour or so.
Hope the weather is good tomorrow, I NEED the practice!
 
Depends on age and if you are buying from Bike Dealer or Mr Bloggs at no.73
I would think a couple of large ones should get something decent, apparently a popular bike with people who have passed test and are stepping up, will have had a few introductions with the tarmac like mine did today when I forgot to drop the side stand!
Lent it over expecting it to stop but it just carried on going, taking me with it in slow motion. Landed on the grass so just a bit of mud here and there and a slighly bent gear lever Doh!

Its got a fair bit of grunt at low revs and quite a bit of engine braking too, Ive been bunnyhopping all over the place, been far too long off the road! Starting to get smoother but Ive only been out for an hour or so.
Hope the weather is good tomorrow, I NEED the practice!
Sounds great, I agree that £2k sounds about right for a good one, serviced, tested, not significantly dropped etc. At that kind of price you won't cry for too long when you do inevitably scuff it lime you did today.
 
Depends on age and if you are buying from Bike Dealer or Mr Bloggs at no.73
I would think a couple of large ones should get something decent, apparently a popular bike with people who have passed test and are stepping up, will have had a few introductions with the tarmac like mine did today when I forgot to drop the side stand!
Lent it over expecting it to stop but it just carried on going, taking me with it in slow motion. Landed on the grass so just a bit of mud here and there and a slighly bent gear lever Doh!

Its got a fair bit of grunt at low revs and quite a bit of engine braking too, Ive been bunnyhopping all over the place, been far too long off the road! Starting to get smoother but Ive only been out for an hour or so.
Hope the weather is good tomorrow, I NEED the practice!

Fantastic. Good for you. It’s a bit like the first few times you go road cycling with proper pedals and cleats. You’re bound to have a tumble at some point but it’s usually just your pride that’s damaged!

I can’t wait to get out again either. I’ve got a set of lightweight forged alloy wheels to stick on the Blackbird... really looking forward to giving them a spin as I know what a decent set of lighter wheels can do to the handling, and the OEM wheels weigh a lot so I’m expecting big things
 
One for the suspension gurus..

Have been fettling the 675 with a view to getting out on the first track day. Worked through a couple of the Dave Moss suspension tuning videos, and managed to get the sag set correctly - which made quite a difference to how the bike feels in corners, as it was set up far too stiffly for my weight. Flushed with this initial success, I felt emboldened enough to move on to tackle the compression and rebound damping.

I have run into what seems an anomaly with the rebound damping on the front forks. The recommended settings vary from 4-6 clicks out, depending on who you listen to, out of a maximum of 14(?) on the rebound adjuster screws. I set them at that and the forks seem appropriately damped (to my untrained eye).

In order to test the effects of altering the rebound damping, I wound the adjusters fully in and out to see what happened. Full in, the forks are clearly over damped, and rise very slowly after you compress them as you would expect. When I back off the damping all the way out and bounce the forks though, there is still seemingly a lot of residual damping. They never get to the point of being underdamped, and overshooting when you bounce them. Strikes me as a bit odd.

I was wondering whether that's normal with some fork designs, and to be expected, or do I really need to start thinking about checking the levels and viscosity of the oil in the forks ?
 
One for the suspension gurus..

Have been fettling the 675 with a view to getting out on the first track day. Worked through a couple of the Dave Moss suspension tuning videos, and managed to get the sag set correctly - which made quite a difference to how the bike feels in corners, as it was set up far too stiffly for my weight. Flushed with this initial success, I felt emboldened enough to move on to tackle the compression and rebound damping.

I have run into what seems an anomaly with the rebound damping on the front forks. The recommended settings vary from 4-6 clicks out, depending on who you listen to, out of a maximum of 14(?) on the rebound adjuster screws. I set them at that and the forks seem appropriately damped (to my untrained eye).

In order to test the effects of altering the rebound damping, I wound the adjusters fully in and out to see what happened. Full in, the forks are clearly over damped, and rise very slowly after you compress them as you would expect. When I back off the damping all the way out and bounce the forks though, there is still seemingly a lot of residual damping. They never get to the point of being underdamped, and overshooting when you bounce them. Strikes me as a bit odd.

I was wondering whether that's normal with some fork designs, and to be expected, or do I really need to start thinking about checking the levels and viscosity of the oil in the forks ?
I've not done anything on motorbike forks but I have MTBs. I'd say that checking the oil type, condition and level would be one of the starting points.
 
One for the suspension gurus..

Have been fettling the 675 with a view to getting out on the first track day. Worked through a couple of the Dave Moss suspension tuning videos, and managed to get the sag set correctly - which made quite a difference to how the bike feels in corners, as it was set up far too stiffly for my weight. Flushed with this initial success, I felt emboldened enough to move on to tackle the compression and rebound damping.

I have run into what seems an anomaly with the rebound damping on the front forks. The recommended settings vary from 4-6 clicks out, depending on who you listen to, out of a maximum of 14(?) on the rebound adjuster screws. I set them at that and the forks seem appropriately damped (to my untrained eye).

In order to test the effects of altering the rebound damping, I wound the adjusters fully in and out to see what happened. Full in, the forks are clearly over damped, and rise very slowly after you compress them as you would expect. When I back off the damping all the way out and bounce the forks though, there is still seemingly a lot of residual damping. They never get to the point of being underdamped, and overshooting when you bounce them. Strikes me as a bit odd.

I was wondering whether that's normal with some fork designs, and to be expected, or do I really need to start thinking about checking the levels and viscosity of the oil in the forks ?

This is completely normal! Yes your forks are adjustable. But within careful limits. Proper, genuine zero rebound damping would be dangerous, so the parameters you have for adjustment are constrained by the manufacturer. Otherwise you could adjust your suspension, injure your self and then sue the manufacturer...

A good place to start is that you ideally want both ends behaving the same. Now you’ve got sag right, try pumping the forks and pushing down on the seat and getting a feel for how each end reacts.
Too much rebound and you’ll get the sense of the bike squatting when you ride and not coming back up, too much compression will feel like you’re crashing over bumps and getting bounced around. Too little rebound will feel like the front end is coming back up at you off the brakes and too little compression will feel like the bike wallows and is never ‘still’.
 


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