Time for a motorbike list
- Thread starter Rasher
- Start date
wow&flutter
pfm Member
That seat looks really high or does the suspension drop when your on it?
richardg
Admonishtrator
The bike is tall. And the seat does not drop at the edges so it feels taller still.
richardg
Admonishtrator
Comes complete with leaky slave cylinder and other engine seals! I knew this and went in eyes open. The fuel guage is also interesting / useless.
I got my first motorbike in the spring of 76. I had failed my car driving test for the 2nd time and was pissed off. My best mate had just got a CD175 and as I had just started a job in central London, working shifts, he persuaded me that a bike was just what I needed. I loved it straight away. 
1976 Suzuki TS185. 2 stroke trials stylie.. Teflon tyres, but light and apart from the too wide bars easy to manoeuvre in traffic. Left knobbly tyre marks up a German tourist's leg after he looked the wrong way and stepped out in front of me..
1978 Kawasaki Z400. my mate got one of these when he passed his test and I liked it so did the same. Got me to the TT races with loads of camping gear on it. Had a top box on the back which caused a slight handlebar wobble at around 32 MPH...
1980 Kawasaki Z650 B2(?) bought 2nd hand and been fiddled with. Oversized carbs and flatter bars. Had a few issues with it and approx 33MPG so traded it in for..
1981 Honda Superdream 400N. Full Rickman fairing to keep some of the weather off. I was commuting everyday and it was a good sensible option..
1983 Kawasaki Z1000 J2. 2nd hand 81 model. Having had enough of sensible....although still commuting mostly by bike I had a car too. Big and heavy and had a weave on long motorway bends at 90....but I loved it. After market shocks and steering damper. Stepped seat and a Harris 4 into 1 zorst..only 95bhp or so but took off at 5000rpm and pissed on the jack-the-lads in their 2.8 Capris.
It was a lovely blue and I kept the alloy polished. Got a smile and a thumbs up from Francis Rossi at the lights in Purley one sunny afternoon.
1987 Honda Superdream 250N. I needed a deposit for a flat and the Kwaker
Was starting to develope gearbox problems, so sold it and the car and got a tatty 250 to get me to work. Sold it for what I paid for it. Good runabout.
1988 Kawasaki GPZ 550. They were selling these off cheap as the new racing style 600s were all the rage. It wasn't exactly exciting but it went fast enough and handled well enough to be enjoyable. Sold it in 1992 after my first child was born.
Decided that I had too many responsibilities to risk it any longer.
Over 15 years of fun and never more than a few grazes to show for it.
1976 Suzuki TS185. 2 stroke trials stylie.. Teflon tyres, but light and apart from the too wide bars easy to manoeuvre in traffic. Left knobbly tyre marks up a German tourist's leg after he looked the wrong way and stepped out in front of me..
1978 Kawasaki Z400. my mate got one of these when he passed his test and I liked it so did the same. Got me to the TT races with loads of camping gear on it. Had a top box on the back which caused a slight handlebar wobble at around 32 MPH...
1980 Kawasaki Z650 B2(?) bought 2nd hand and been fiddled with. Oversized carbs and flatter bars. Had a few issues with it and approx 33MPG so traded it in for..
1981 Honda Superdream 400N. Full Rickman fairing to keep some of the weather off. I was commuting everyday and it was a good sensible option..
1983 Kawasaki Z1000 J2. 2nd hand 81 model. Having had enough of sensible....although still commuting mostly by bike I had a car too. Big and heavy and had a weave on long motorway bends at 90....but I loved it. After market shocks and steering damper. Stepped seat and a Harris 4 into 1 zorst..only 95bhp or so but took off at 5000rpm and pissed on the jack-the-lads in their 2.8 Capris.
It was a lovely blue and I kept the alloy polished. Got a smile and a thumbs up from Francis Rossi at the lights in Purley one sunny afternoon.
1987 Honda Superdream 250N. I needed a deposit for a flat and the Kwaker
Was starting to develope gearbox problems, so sold it and the car and got a tatty 250 to get me to work. Sold it for what I paid for it. Good runabout.
1988 Kawasaki GPZ 550. They were selling these off cheap as the new racing style 600s were all the rage. It wasn't exactly exciting but it went fast enough and handled well enough to be enjoyable. Sold it in 1992 after my first child was born.
Decided that I had too many responsibilities to risk it any longer.
Over 15 years of fun and never more than a few grazes to show for it.
Pete MB&D
Pete Maddex, the one and only!
Space is the Place
pfm Member
Yes great engine the 701 and the 690 almost an "honorary twin" with the 70 BHP and the balance shaft, like an RGV but with torque. I suspect they're not selling because of bikes like the Duke 790, i thought the 790 would be a bit low rent because of the basic suspension, on the road though it was brilliant bike, a bit like the 690 but with more top end, thought it was a more together bike than the new 1290 too.
Space is the Place
pfm Member
Yes great engine the 701 and the 690 almost an "honorary twin" with the 70 BHP and the balance shafts, like an RGV but with torque. I've got 640 with no balance shaft its like being strapped to a giant vibrator.
I suspect they're not selling because of bikes like the Duke 790, i thought the 790 would be a bit low rent because of the basic suspension, on the road though it was brilliant bike, a bit like the 690 but with more top end, thought it was a more together bike than the new 1290 too.
richardg
Admonishtrator
I just can't get into the design on the 790. It looks thrown together. I don't mind it with a crazy sticker kit on it as they hide its awkward lines. But then I cant get past the cheap brakes and suspension and cable clutch and made in India and so on. I' rather have a 690R. Or wait for a Vitpilen 901.
What's wrong with a cable clutch? Maybe they are a bit heavier but they are much easier to service. I imagine around town a heavy clutch is a chore, but the only times I have had a cable clutch play up it's an easy diy repair. Not so hydraulics, I bloody hate the things.
-alan-
pfm Member
Nice.
Conceptually - it reminds me of a custom framed (legalish..) machine with a single cylinder Rotax engine that Mark Forsyth of Bike magazine put together back in the day. Machines for the riders moreso than the numbers guys
-alan-
pfm Member
richardg
Admonishtrator
Nothing. And these days they can be very light. I just like my bling. A reservoir each side of the bars, please.
richardg
Admonishtrator
Cable clutch on these is very light I recall?My naughty little friend:
Well, the sidecar will hold it up while you only have one hand on the bars, won't it?Nothing that bolting on a 3-speed suicide-shift wouldn't put right for sure
-alan-
pfm Member
Pretty light on the Daytona 675 anyway.
(Was just about to post a proper rebuff to Steve's quip about hydraulic clutches then realised that my two bikes both have cable operated ones
)
Subito
pfm Member
Yep, it has an assist & slip clutch.
Space is the Place
pfm Member
Yes your right it has the styling only a mother could love! I think the 690R is a wonderful fluid and purposeful design for an SM. Of course the Vitpilen is pure design, a concept bike come to life.
The 790 concept looked a bit better, whoever is doing the styling at KTM they're no Tamburini (who is!). I think of the 790 as a modern LC performance wise, fortunately you can't see it when your on it!