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Time for a motorbike list

George J said:
Royal Enfield ‘CO’ 350 made in 1941 as a despatch bike for the Army. Later sold back to Enfield by the WD, and sold on again as Ex-WD to the public in 1946 in black civilian paint. I bought it as a derelict, and built it up to it original 1946 scheme. Girder forks and hard tail but very good saddle led to a distinct style, and the then unusual four speed Albion gear box with a crawler gear so the rider could dismount as he pushed his powered bike out of the mud gave a remarkable ability in that you could do figure of eights within the confines of two serving quarters on a tennis court. Chug-chug-chug at half walking speed in perfect control!

I sold it in 2002 when it became apparent that the engine needed a complete rebuild! By then everything else was by then really tidy.

George
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Have a pal who has just returned from 2 weeks touring Bhutan on a modern Enfield 500, says he fell in love with the thing there. A bit plodding for english fast roads, but for lanes and hills? I'm seriously considering one...cheap and chips and just a larf, in the best of biking way.
 
I'd ride the Triumph Street Twin before committing..I suspect the extra 3 grand will be very obvious on a back-to-back comparison.
 
I'm looking to get a second hand litre naked motorbike this summer to go with my Honda CB1300. I had a test ride on a new Yamaha MT10 SP and it took my breath away with the mad power and acceleration and it took a few days for my smile to wear off and for me to stop telling everyone. My only gripe was the front end looks and the slight rattling of the engine on idle.

So something about 5-8 years old around the £6K mark, there are loads to choose from, I'm getting more interested in a Kawasaki Z1000. Any suggestions or pointers please? in a completely different direction I liked the exhaust sound on a Husquvarna Nuda.
 
The Nuda is very rare and looking overpriced now, I reckon.

I sat on the 2018 CB1000R this week. If I was looking for a big naked, I'd get that. I don't like naked bikes that are basically superbikes without the fairing, plus a bit of remapping to give more midrange. I like naked bikes that were designed as naked bikes.

I'm about to pull the trigger on a 90s Blade I think
 
Yes, the new cafe racer style CB1000R appeals but its twice the price I want to pay. I'll be getting one of those in about 5 years time for sure. I've never ridden a fireblade but it looks like a proper track bike to me. I've never done a track day, do you do these? I had a go on a a friends GSX750 and that surprised me with it's awesome speed and upper rev range. It's faster than my CB1300 and definitely feels like it. I found that when I got off my neck and wrists needed re-positioning for a few minutes, but while I was on it, I was in race mode and totally absorbed in emulating Barry Sheen.

How much will the blade be, I'm sure you could ride it all summer and move it on with virtually no loss?
 
timola said:
Yes, the new cafe racer style CB1000R appeals but its twice the price I want to pay. I'll be getting one of those in about 5 years time for sure. I've never ridden a fireblade but it looks like a proper track bike to me. I've never done a track day, do you do these? I had a go on a a friends GSX750 and that surprised me with it's awesome speed and upper rev range. It's faster than my CB1300 and definitely feels like it. I found that when I got off my neck and wrists needed re-positioning for a few minutes, but while I was on it, I was in race mode and totally absorbed in emulating Barry Sheen.

How much will the blade be, I'm sure you could ride it all summer and move it on with virtually no loss?
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I have done a couple of track days and a few laps round the Ring. But I won't be doing any more. A 90s Fireblade only has 125bhp at the crank. Plenty for me. I am actually seeing it as a fast tourer for where I live, to explore. They are quite comfy with bars a few inches higher than the seat. This is the one I am thinking of:

https://suchen.mobile.de/fahrzeuge/...searchId=9753f8a8-d79a-4f9e-17f1-85f74e53fc91

2 grand perhaps and only 15,000 miles
 
stevec67 said:
That's an awful lot of motorcycle, little wear and an awful lot of performance for not very much money!
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The Blade is the only good value of the classic 90s sports bikes at the moment. Nothing is cheaper really, not even a decent nick Bandit or Exup, and they are crap in comparison.

The 92-94 round headlight version has crept up to £4k. Up to 99 it got progressively lighter and faster but values are lower and lower the closer to 99 you go. After 99 it went fuel injected and is a completely different bike.

Funny how the original will add the value. The nostalgia of when it launched and blew everything away, along with the twin headlights means you pay double. I'm not up for that. I'll take the later bike I think. I also assume that as the 92-94 bike creeps towards the £10k mark in the coming years (and surely it must?), the 96-99 bikes will creep up behind them. I'm up for that.
 
After 15 years without two wheels I decided to give it another go while my joints are still supple enough to get my leg over! Nothing fancy, just something comfortable with a little grunt for around the doors and the odd day out. It’s heavy but quite stable and I was feeling pretty confident on it after a few miles.
So far it’s fitting the bill perfectly, I made sure I didn’t test ride a sports bike before trying this one so to me it appears to handle great.
I thought it’d try it for a year and see how it pans out!

https://flic.kr/p/26gYE1N
 
wow&flutter said:
After 15 years without two wheels I decided to give it another go while my joints are still supple enough to get my leg over! Nothing fancy, just something comfortable with a little grunt for around the doors and the odd day out. It’s heavy but quite stable and I was feeling pretty confident on it after a few miles.
So far it’s fitting the bill perfectly, I made sure I didn’t test ride a sports bike before trying this one so to me it appears to handle great.
I thought it’d try it for a year and see how it pans out!

https://flic.kr/p/26gYE1N
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Certainly looks comfortable. A proper tourer. But which Suzuki model is it?
 
1250!

Is it the Hayabusa engine?

Edit...no it is the bandit motor, which is nice. Total bargain at under £8k when new, methinks
 
You practically have to lay down on your front when riding a Hayabusa to reduce the air resistance at 200mph.

I agree, it looks like a nice modern touring variant of the Bandit 1250.
 
It’s the GSX1250 which you could call a modern water cooled bandit 1200 although the frame is different as well. Three years old with 4K on the clock. It’s remarkably civilised and most important very comfortable. It’ll pull 90 in 2nd but doesn’t try to wheelie everywhere which I like.
The street version with the Huyabussa engine was the BKing which is a whole other beast!
As I said, i’ll Run it for a year and see how I feel after then.
 
richgilb said:
I'd ride the Triumph Street Twin before committing..I suspect the extra 3 grand will be very obvious on a back-to-back comparison.
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I ran a Scrambler for 2 years...The cheaper Triumphs are poorly suspended, esp at the back, where they are terrible. I fitted Ohlins jobbies and transformed it (+ got shot of the knobblies) and then it was OK. Much more grunt than an Enfield ofc, but that's just the point. It's not fast, it's a laugh...no pose just a laugh. Perfik.
 
Rockmeister said:
I ran a Scrambler for 2 years...The cheaper Triumphs are poorly suspended, esp at the back, where they are terrible. I fitted Ohlins jobbies and transformed it (+ got shot of the knobblies) and then it was OK. Much more grunt than an Enfield ofc, but that's just the point. It's not fast, it's a laugh...no pose just a laugh. Perfik.
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Indeed. But I never said the low-end Triumph was good!

I suppose when a bike is so cheap you don't really care how bad it is then it's all good. I suspect a lot of vibes from cheap mounts and the single engine, suspension even worse than your Scrambler, rusting shiny bits within 6 months, false neutrals, condensation under the clocks, reluctance to get in gear, bad economy along with a small tank, breakdowns, braking distance from the 50s. Not much lol going on for me, if I'm right!
 
-alan- said:
The subtle arts of backing 'er in, squaring off the corner and laying darkies (Gary McCoy style) on the exit - never really made it into Roadcraft I'm guessing..

2000-Yamaha-YZR500-4042.jpg
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Oh, I don't know...

 
well it's silly just pointing out the positives...what do you think the downside will be? :)
I like spanners, get as much fun knee down at 35 as I do hitting a braking point perfectly from 150, don't give a monkeys about fuel useage when it'll never do 100 miles a year
 
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