Biker's Cafe Chatroom

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Test rode a Suzuki VStrom 1050DE this weekend.
(My current bikes are a 2005 BMW R850R & a 2002 R1150GS).
Really impressed with the Strom, very easy to ride and great fun.
The engine is superb.
Downside - the insurance quote has gone from £80 for my BMW to £600 for the Suzuki. Won’t be bothering just yet..
 
My first bike was a c70 but I did ride an rd250 on L plates just before the law changed then down to a c70 50p a week petrol to top up..
 
Called Colchester Aprilia to get a price for the “run in” 600 mile service and..

£270 to drop the oil, kick the tyres and replace the oil & filter!!!!!
**** that.
Called another dealer and for the same it’s £170.
Mental.
 
JonRGV250 said:
Called Colchester Aprilia to get a price for the “run in” 600 mile service and..

£270 to drop the oil, kick the tyres and replace the oil & filter!!!!!
**** that.
Called another dealer and for the same it’s £170.
Mental.
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£150 for my 125 Aprilia. Doesn't even have a gearbox and probably only needs a teaspoon of oil :D
 
Mate, the amount of times I've rewatched Chris' review of the 890R, it's almost as many times I've rewatched LCR doing is Cornish pasty run lol.

Interesting to hear him say that the 990 wasn't doing it for him, compared to the 890R - wonder when the 990R will come to sort that out...

Also, Chris Northover is a rising god!
 
JonRGV250 said:
Yeah, the guy is brilliant to watch, he epitomizes everything about the fun of riding.
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Indeed he does - the used 950 Multistrada video he did not that long ago, just shows how much fun he can have on anything! He's a cracking choice to spearhead most of the Bike World content, as he clearly loves every bit of his job.
 
Genuinely starting to think about opening up a bike shop myself. Service, tuning, bike sales, bike nights, dyno on a trailer to take to bike nights (with silencing equipment obvs), etc. I reckon I could pull it off and make it a success.
 
Diddums said:
Genuinely starting to think about opening up a bike shop myself. Service, tuning, bike sales, bike nights, dyno on a trailer to take to bike nights (with silencing equipment obvs), etc. I reckon I could pull it off and make it a success.
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Go for it. I'd love to do something like that too but I'm not sure how much of a market there is. You're in the right location though with so many bikers in the area. If you're serious then a possible location could be the old car garage that closed down opposite Godalming rugby club (Toyota I think?). It's probably too big but it has stood empty for ages so they could be tempted with a deal. Not sure if it still is. Quite close to the Harley Davidson dealers and not too far from Motolegends.
 
Hades said:
Go for it. I'd love to do something like that too but I'm not sure how much of a market there is. You're in the right location though with so many bikers in the area. If you're serious then a possible location could be the old car garage that closed down opposite Godalming rugby club (Toyota I think?). It's probably too big but it has stood empty for ages so they could be tempted with a deal. Not sure if it still is. Quite close to the Harley Davidson dealers and not too far from Motolegends.
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Dude that HAS to be a sign. That empty dealership is exactly what I drove past when I hatched the idea. I even asked about it on Facebook:

Screenshot-20240612-205155.png



I've got some great ideas, need to start putting pen to paper.
 
So it was Wilmoth's Citroen. Looks like it closed down last year. Can't find any letting info on Street view, might hafta go past tomorrow and see what I can find.
 
Diddums said:
Dude that HAS to be a sign. That empty dealership is exactly what I drove past when I hatched the idea. I even asked about it on Facebook:

Screenshot-20240612-205155.png



I've got some great ideas, need to start putting pen to paper.
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It's opposite my son's rugby club which is why I know it. He's been injured recently so I've not been past it in a few months. But I used to drive past it every weekend thinking it would be a good motorbike venue of some kind. Let me know if you want a partner (half serious) :)
 
Diddums said:
So it was Wilmoth's Citroen. Looks like it closed down last year. Can't find any letting info on Street view, might hafta go past tomorrow and see what I can find.
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Find a nearby commercial letting agent or even a residential estate agent, explain the problem and ask their advice on how you could track down the owner.
 
Hades said:
Find a nearby commercial letting agent or even a residential estate agent, explain the problem and ask their advice on how you could track down the owner.
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I've just scoured every letting site I could find. Nothing.

Options:
A) contact letting agents, as you say
B) email Wilmoths (actually Jarrett's Motors) and ask if they know what's what. They might be stuck in a contract and still paying. Can't find their CEO's email though. Will try again tomorrow.
C) will go past tomorrow and see if I can find anything, there must be a poster or hint or something.

Can't believe I'm actually contemplating this. You should see my list of ideas, I could seriously make this work.
 
Diddums said:
I've just scoured every letting site I could find. Nothing.

Options:
A) contact letting agents, as you say
B) email Wilmoths (actually Jarrett's Motors) and ask if they know what's what. They might be stuck in a contract and still paying. Can't find their CEO's email though. Will try again tomorrow.
C) will go past tomorrow and see if I can find anything, there must be a poster or hint or something.

Can't believe I'm actually contemplating this. You should see my list of ideas, I could seriously make this work.
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I don't recall there being any for sale or let signs when it closed. I would start with calling wilmoths if there is nothing in the window.

I imagine the motorcycle trade is fairly seasonal so you would need a way to attract customers in the winter too. I spend a lot of time in York and the Triumph dealer up there, A1 Moto, has a nice cafe on the side. It attracts non bikers too because it's not inside the showroom. But in the case of wilmoths there isn't a lot of footfall walking past so I'm not sure how well that would work. The right cafe would work for bikers in the summer though.
 
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Be careful of your own interests friend & I started working on bike shop imports from the USA when it was a thing, after a while you kind of get fed up looking at bikes all day I know 3 people done the same and never ride now just work on them.
We use our bikes for work & please no cars for us so maybe different for others.
 
Thinking about chopping the GSX-S for something more practical. :eek: Quite like the look of the Honda NX500.

I could look at a second hand CB500X to have as well as the Suzuki.

Hmm.
 
This road is near me. I was wondering whether an unsuitable for motor vehicles sign means it is an offence to ride up there? Or is it just advice which GS owners can ignore? Thanks.

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