Any Bikers out there? [Archive]

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wacked

5th February 2007, 20:24

Any of you guys ride bikes?

what bikes do you'll ride..

speedy king

5th February 2007, 20:52

I really want one :( I Have an Aprilla 125 as a birthday wish for my 18th :p : Unfortunately i believe an incident of a broken knee and hospital stay a year ago on my 50cc while i was 16 may have dampened any of those chances :(

Hazell B

5th February 2007, 21:22

Not any more.

Used to have assorted bikes, the favourite being a 1984 350YPVS, the largest being an FZ600 (not as much fun as the Power Valve, but light and fast).

These days I don't miss it much. In fact, wouldn't be at all surprised if I hadn't lost my nerve now :s

speedy king

5th February 2007, 23:04

Aaaah power valves :D They're fun things, have one of the kart :)

Hazell B

5th February 2007, 23:10

Speedy, I only bought it because there wasn't a single good 350LC on the market and I wanted to join the LC nutters brigade.

Brilliant second choice - even took it to the Isle of Man one year :D :D :D Blew it up on The Gooseneck :mark:

wacked

6th February 2007, 11:30

i got a 225cc bike.. its an Honda.. with the Indian Collabration.. used ot have a 1978 model Enfield 350cc.. was a good bike with a good engine.. but somethin in that gearbox, kept messing up the clutch. got tired of working on it, more than riding it.. so thats gone now..

the new bike is a blessing, self-start, digital dials, disc brake.. compared to that old enfield.. though waiting to get enough money for a nice 400 or 600..

harsha

6th February 2007, 14:39

fly_ac

6th February 2007, 15:13

I have 2005 Suzuki gsx 1300 Hayabusa, my bussiness partner had the same one, we bought them together.
He had a accident on 30 December 2006 with his, and is still in hospital, were up to about 2 weeks ago in ICU.
But that's enough of him, here's a pic of my baby. :D

captin 1 VXR

6th February 2007, 20:44

use to till 3 years ago gsxr 750 ww and a gsxr600k2 but after a big tumble i gave up with them

CarlMetro

7th February 2007, 01:50

I am an ex-biker, I have ceased to be ;(

My last bike paid for the deposit on my second house, that was 9 years ago. I still miss the thrill, although think I would have probably killed myself if I hadn't stopped riding. I contemplate buying another bike at least two or three times a year, especially on warm Spring days, but apart from my wife threatening to leave me, the main thing that stops me is the shear lack of time to ride anymore.

I did take a new GSXR1000 out for a test last August and nearly wrote the cheque when I got back to the dealer but my mate, who currently runs an R1, told me to go home and think about it. I did and that was the end of that.

Nice bike fly_ac :up: I played with one when they first came out and can honestly say it's the only bike that scared me ever.

Sandfly

7th February 2007, 03:51

Old man on Road King :) Sport bikes are for a man ( woman) in a hurry. Give me comfortable seat and room for rain suit & change of underwear - and lets go. The "thing in a thong" does look alot better bent over on the back of sport bike though!

fly_ac

7th February 2007, 07:18

Nice bike fly_ac :up: I played with one when they first came out and can honestly say it's the only bike that scared me ever.
Thanks. ;)
Same here ,It scares the S#!T out of me sometimes. I took it up to 325 km/h true speed (about 350 on the speedometer), after that I have alot more respect for my baby. :D

jim mcglinchey

7th February 2007, 11:56

I havent had one on the road for a while but I feel theres something missing from life. Suzuki dealers are doing the 650 Bandit for £3995 with free insurance and a £500 gift voucher ...mmmmmmm, tempting.

wacked

7th February 2007, 14:19

^^^i'm guessin you have the Karizma :D

why not try for a decent Yamaha RD 350....if you know the right persons,it could be done and i guess in Pune,you get quite a lot of them...

also you could try for the new Bullet Thunderbird(the one with the electric start)

yeah have the Karizma.. thought about an RD350, but will kill myself on our awesome pune roads.. unless spend some money and put some discs in it.. was a bit tired of old bikes anyways.. been thru them alot.. Karizma is nice.. electric start.. concvenient.. want a bike that i dont have to keep working on every month and dont wanna worry about spares..

i hate the new thunderbird.. had the old enfield cause i loved the sound of it.. and had put a pulsar handle and a nice seat to it.. not a cruiser fan.. if i have to get another enfield, might get a nice 500 bullet sometime later.. hopefully an early 90's one..

yeah I also had a friends Honda CB400 for awhile.. was good fun riding it.. eventually he took it back and sold it.. though he still has a BMW R90/6 and a Norton ES2.. the BMW is amazing.. its a 1974 model bike.. and yeah he also just sold of his 1150R

Hazell B

7th February 2007, 20:02

.... thought about an RD350, but will kill myself on our awesome pune roads..

You can't get an unthrashed decent one, anyway. Do what I did, try the 350YPVS version. Almost as potty, yet far easier to live with day to day.

I still have a photo of my old one by the bed :p :

wacked

7th February 2007, 20:04

You can't get an unthrashed decent one, anyway. Do what I did, try the 350YPVS version. Almost as potty, yet far easier to live with day to day.

I still have a photo of my old one by the bed :p :

hmm.. maybe later now.. just bought a new bike.. so think will use that for awhile.. lets see.. maybe when i have the money for my next bike...

harsha

9th February 2007, 06:51

wacked

9th February 2007, 12:27

two strokes rule....for me RD 350 is anytime better than any 4 strokes you get here,i am not talking about the imported ones mind... ;) i just like two strokes more than the 4 strokes,pity they were banned

yeah i know what u mean.. had a RX100 for like a month or so, was good fun, nice little bike.. good for pune roads.. would like to have that bike again..

CarlMetro

9th February 2007, 12:48

Okeefe

9th February 2007, 15:24

Used to ride a Triumph; grew up on Hondas; and watched Dear Ole Dad ride his Indian.

Hazell B

10th February 2007, 16:05

'Elsie' was the first bike I brought after passing my test. The power, handling and the smell of her is something I remeber with great affection. If you've never owned a RD350LC then be very careful, they can become very addictive ;)

Gotcha!
Mr Metro, you once said you'd never named a vehicle and hadn't been in any way attached to one emotionally. I knew you had a blind spot somewhere :p :

You big softie!

(My RD350YPVS was called Chalkie and was a 'he' ;) )

viper_man

10th February 2007, 17:22

There are plenty of bikes in Skegness.

Ahem.

Hondo

10th February 2007, 23:03

Harley Heritage Softtail Classic

CarlMetro

11th February 2007, 02:44

Gotcha!

Bugger! :D

fandango

11th February 2007, 19:11

I have a rather modest but very reliable Honda CB 250. It suits me for work as I zip round the city from one place to another teaching English. I do like to get out of the city too, but it's hard to find the time.

It's always been my intention to change up to something bigger, so I've been on the lookout for a while. Maybe people here can throw in a few suggestions.

The bike I like the look of the best is the naked version of the Suzuki gsx 750 (there's a 1200 version too). You don't see many for sale, though, and they stopped making them in 2001. The sensible option is the BMW R850R, but it's a little wide for squeezing through traffic and parking. There are a lot of bikes in Barcelona, and parking (legally) is getting more difficult. But the one I really like is the Yamaha XJR1300. Beautiful bike, but maybe just a bit too big and a bit too thirsty for city riding. Any comments?

GARYGAZZA

11th February 2007, 21:48

Ive got a K4 600 Bandit and a K2 Gsx 1400.

harsha

12th February 2007, 03:23

used to own an RD 350,second hand though(actually i don't know how many owners it had),riding it was sheer pleasure,and sold it(was draining my finances like hell though)...and no!! never named it

NinjaMaster

12th February 2007, 07:52

I did take a new GSXR1000 out for a test last August and nearly wrote the cheque when I got back to the dealer but my mate, who currently runs an R1, told me to go home and think about it. I did and that was the end of that.

Ah, a major mistake! you gotta act on impulse, never think about these things or you'll never have fun! :laugh:

I currently ride a 2006 Kawasaki ZX6R (636) in mandatory Lime Green.

http://i142.photobucket.com/albums/r85/NinjaMaster95/IMG_0750.jpg

I previously have had a 1998 Kwak ZX6R and a 1990 Kawi KDX200 heap of crap. And yes, I like Kawasaki's! (hence the username).

wacked

14th February 2007, 20:39

nice bike ninja.. the ZX6R is an awesome bike..

NinjaMaster

18th February 2007, 10:11

nice bike ninja.. the ZX6R is an awesome bike..
Thanks mate. I like it too :up:

captin 1 VXR

18th February 2007, 14:20

here is me back a few years my bike went in for new body work after canells muppes put huge scratches over tank and side pannels . so i kicked of and got a loan bike for 2 days ;) and we know we can ragg loan bikes don t we :)

http://i110.photobucket.com/albums/n116/yellow406coupe/adrian1.jpg

http://i110.photobucket.com/albums/n116/yellow406coupe/adrian2.jpg

NinjaMaster

23rd February 2007, 11:12

wacked

2nd March 2007, 16:29

hey guys anyone of u'll have Ducati M600 or any info about it, need the user's manual for it.. preferably pdf format or somethin...

its a 1994 model, its for $30 plus shipping charges on the website.. i dont wanna spend that kinda money if i can just get it free,

need the valve clearance or valve distance, what plugs to use and also the carb settings..

anyone got any info please pm me..
thanks..

Kneeslider

5th March 2007, 22:56

I can get you the valve clearance settings from my Haynes manual.

From memory, the closing shims operate on a zero clearance (desmos remember) but your M600 will have different opening clearances to my 750ss. They are something of a fiddle to alter, and unlike a 'conventional' bike engine with bucket and shim adjustment, you need to work out the size of the new valve stem cap to give you the clearance you require. When you have the valve covers off, take a good look at the rocker arms, as they can wear through the case hardening where the rocker contacts the valve stem cap, if the engine has been run for any length of time with the clearance too large.

If you have any doubt about the provenance of the engine, then take the heads off, and lap in and 3 angle the valves, then set the clearances. When well set up, they stay put for a very long time. Timing belt changes are CRITICAL so if you don't know how long they have been there, then change them too. You need a special tool to take off the nuts securing the timing pulleys, but I made mine from an old GTi hub (30mm AF) nut, when tensioning the belts, if you can only just twist the longest run through 90°, the tension is about right, and you don't need to use a spring balance, but to be on the safe side, check again after the bike has done about 100miles, and always use genuine Ducati belts. There are others out there with lengths and tooth pitch which will work, but different specifications when it comes to the kevlar the belt is made of. On mine I change the belt every 6k miles, or every season if you are racing it.

Remember also that these engines respond very well to home tuning, so don't be surprised if you see a dynojet kit in the carbs instead of the conventional Mikuni (I think your model year will have these) numbered jets etc. A good modification is to go with a M900 exhaust set up, for better gasflow, a friend ran one on his 600ss racebike in the Ducati Sporting Club New Era series.

I am at work at the moment, but will dig out the book when I get home and give you the numbers

wacked

6th March 2007, 18:41

hey i just came across a 2000 model M600, are the engines similar.. can i use the info from this?

Kneeslider

7th March 2007, 00:03

Providing that the bike you are looking at is a M600 or a 600ss, and not a M620 or 620ss, then they are all the same. Just had a look and the valve clearance figures for all of the 2 valve desmo engines are the same.

Inlet valve Opening Clearance 0.10-0.12mm
Inlet valve Closing Clearance 0.03-0.05mm

Exhaust valve Opening Clearance 0.12-0.15mm
Exhaust valve Closing Clearance 0.03-0.05mm

Hope that this sorts you out!

wacked

8th March 2007, 19:36

cool thanks.. oh yeah.. the 2000 model manual i got is for the M600 not a 620..

GARYGAZZA

8th March 2007, 20:12

On tuesday I put in a claim for contaminated fuel which ended up with me Paying £352 to have the bike repaired.24 hours later after sending a copy of the repair bill to Tesco in Dundee,I get a phone call to say they will rembirse all costs and the £7 of fuel I put in the tank.Result :D

Gurl Racer

30th March 2007, 23:35

Yep! It's a family thing now.. we have two Suzuki DRZ 250's and a Honda XR 250. I really want a KTM EXC 450 tho!! :D hah. Call me crazy but I'm a farm girl... none of these road bikes.. so shoot me haha. :) Except for the GS.. had a pillion ride on that one day... phwoar!!

Check out http://www.rideforlife.co.nz - we finished it just over a month ago now, but my parents rode their motorbikes around the whole of the NZ coastline (7000km in 3 weeks) to raise money for cancer :)

FrankenSchwinn

31st March 2007, 15:07

hehe, as i am ready to go to my friend's house to work on my vintage ducati (cleaned the carb and re-jetted) i was checking this site and the weather. it seems like it's going to rain so i'm going to leave the '81 CB650 home and drive instead. these are my two bikes and both are cafe racers. i'll post pictures when i'm done with the modifications (well, who's ever really "done"?)

Kneeslider

31st March 2007, 20:30

Too right, you are never really done!

I just bought a 900ss (belt drive) engine on Ebay for £125, but the downside is that it has a cracked crank case half where a chain let go. I am going to have to strip it down to assess the damage, hopefully I can make up a new section, and let it in with the Tig welder, but if not, then I will need a new or second hand pair of cases.

Going to need a full gasket set from Baines Racing at Silverstone (who make them), as the factory no longer supply bottom end gaskets for that model year, and I recon that I am going to need one or two replacement bearings, where the crankcase breather tends to dump condensation on the clutch support bearing. I am tempted by a set of Fast by Feracci pistons from Cycleworks which work out at £145 + shipping from California, but a set of FCR41 Keihins look to be a lot of money for what they are.

Ferrari Stu

11th October 2007, 19:40

I started with a Triumph daytona 500cc in 1967 road it for several years and did without a bike for lots of years. In 2002 I bought a Harley deuce, 1450cc that I love. Cost damn near 20 grand when I was done putting on extras.

jim mcglinchey

11th October 2007, 20:26

For 20 thou do they give you a rev counter?