*** Show us your bikes! ***

[Dogbreath]

Lazy, easy power delivery is where its at for me as well as the safety factor of thunder, sounding like a Lancaster bomber at full chat whilst popping and banging on the over run always makes me grin like the village idiot.

I am so tempted to get one You had any issues getting spares etc? Reliability been ok?

 

[Draeger]

It's been more reliable than anything Jap I have owned, and I've owned a shedload of bikes over the years.

Had a few common issues that are easily fixed, tip over switch sensor went wonky, side stand cut out switch packed in. Replaced the starter relay with a more reliable Yamaha one. The most annoying fault has been the hall effect speedo sensor which takes its pickup from the rear disc bolts. Went through 3 of those in my term of ownership which has been 7 years.

They eat batteries but it helps to replace the standard size battery unit with a YTX14 and keep it drip fed on an Optimate. Surprisingly good tyre wear rates. I don't hang about on the road and I get about 4000 out of a rear Michelin 2CT. Oil level checking is a bit different to most bikes and it pays to keep on top of it as they tend to drink a wee bit of oil now and again. Spares availability takes slightly longer to get anything slightly out of the ordinary but I haven't had any issues yet.

Gearing for the road is best served by switching to 16/44. Power wheelies off the throttle are easily achieved in the first three gears. Evo or Renegade airbox mod is well worth doing for the induction noise alone and the midrange grunt is arm wrenching.

Did I mention it handles superbly?. I ride regularly with a few guys who own Blade RR3's, R1's and R6's and a bloke who has an SP2 and they regularly struggle to keep up with me to a certain speed range. Another m8 who used to have a Blade had a few goes on mine and was so impressed he went out the next month and chopped his Honda in for a Mille. Total performance bargains as well, they can be had for seriously silly money and its still a shedload of superbike for the dosh, especially if you pick up a tidy RSVR with Ohlins tackle fitted as standard ( my RSV has Sachs kit which is more than up to the job ).

 

[Dogbreath]

As you say, they seem to offer an awful lot for the money. You have a very nice bike there

 

[kippermitten]

I did not realise big twins were so bad on fuel! once I had my GSXR fueled properly it was faster but I actually saw better fuel consumption! 170miles to about £17 fill up.

Out of interest, when you say "fueled properly" does that mean a RR session and or a Power Commander? My 750 K1 is due a 30k service and im thinking about mods and tuning...dont particualrly want more power, be nice to sort what its got.

Ta.

 

[englishpremier]

V engines pretty much always have worse fuel economy than inline engines, as do rotary engines. I'm not sure about boxer engines. Maybe someone with more knowledge would care to enlighten us.

 

[Flukester]

Hmm the old IL4 vs Twin argument...

I went from R1 > TL1000R > ZX12R, and as much as I loved the TL and the power delivery it was all relative.

Sure the TL put power down in a single large gobful of torque, but the 12R (and even my 10) puts out more torque even where the twin is meant to be making more low down.

These days everything is so quick it's who gets on the power first or has biggest kahoonas...

 

[kidloco]

Crap, stripped the R1 down to check for bits and bobs and to have a good clean and noticed Exup valve was siezed solid . Tried to look at it but its that sized the slightest knock causes it to crack and split.

Cue 80 mile round trip to drop it off at the shop. They are sorting it under warranty for me. Even if they do manage to undo the bolts to remove the Exup valve it will need replacing. Worse case they are going to have to drill the bolts out becuase they are solid.

Frustrating, but ive given the bike the once over now and that was the only fault I could find. I had to regulary service the part on my old R1 or it would stick. Guess the previosu owner didnt know much about that.

 

[Fireskull]

You guys must have some slow IL4 friends

Out of interest, when you say "fueled properly" does that mean a RR session and or a Power Commander? My 750 K1 is due a 30k service and im thinking about mods and tuning...dont particualrly want more power, be nice to sort what its got.

Ta.

Both in my case, but you can get fueling setup on some ECU's, it depends how much you want to spend really, if your sticking with 1 exhaust then a decent ECU tune is going to set you back £200, whereas a PC is around £250 I think and a dyno setup can range from £80-150, so quite a bit more money, but if like me you did track work and swapped out exhausts a lot then a PC is worth its money

 

[MouseMat2004]

Crap, stripped the R1 down to check for bits and bobs and to have a good clean and noticed Exup valve was siezed solid . Tried to look at it but its that sized the slightest knock causes it to crack and split.

Cue 80 mile round trip to drop it off at the shop. They are sorting it under warranty for me. Even if they do manage to undo the bolts to remove the Exup valve it will need replacing. Worse case they are going to have to drill the bolts out becuase they are solid.

Frustrating, but ive given the bike the once over now and that was the only fault I could find. I had to regulary service the part on my old R1 or it would stick. Guess the previosu owner didnt know much about that.

So common on R1's, I dont know anyone with an R1 who hasnt had the Exup valve seize and its something no-one touches until it stops. Makes a massive difference to the low/midrange grunt too.

The valve itself is normally ok, unless really badly pitted. It normally just seizes as the high temp grease disappears over time and by then the bolts have normally rusted into place making it even more a pig to sort...

 

[kidloco]

So common on R1's, I dont know anyone with an R1 who hasnt had the Exup valve seize and its something no-one touches until it stops. Makes a massive difference to the low/midrange grunt too.

The valve itself is normally ok, unless really badly pitted. It normally just seizes as the high temp grease disappears over time and by then the bolts have normally rusted into place making it even more a pig to sort...

Yeh and this one looks a pig to sort. Dont believe I didnt notice when looking at the bike first time round, very unlike me. When I removed the lower fairing the Exup cover was missing. Closer inspection showed the cover bolts were sheared off. The bolts holding the valve in the exhaust were solid and not looking to clever.

I dropped off back to the shop yest evening for them to sort. No doubt be at least a week but hopefully they will suprise me.

 

[kidloco]

Well just picked up the R1. Got them to fit a new front sprocket whilst they were sorting the Exup valve. 1 less tooth. Seems to have lost around 10mph but drives fanatasticly now . Time to strip it down and finish the clean then heres hoping for a bit of sunshine this weekend.

 

[Flukester]

Well just picked up the R1. Got them to fit a new front sprocket whilst they were sorting the Exup valve. 1 less tooth. Seems to have lost around 10mph but drives fanatasticly now . Time to strip it down and finish the clean then heres hoping for a bit of sunshine this weekend.

best mod there is

look at getting a speedohealer, you can dial in a correction percentage on speedo.

I calibrated using a GPS suckered to tank and rode at 100mph and worked out the change. seemed lower profile tyres + minus a tooth on front was 14.5% error.

 

[haz_pro]

best mod there is

look at getting a speedohealer, you can dial in a correction percentage on speedo.

I calibrated using a GPS suckered to tank and rode at 100mph and worked out the change. seemed lower profile tyres + minus a tooth on front was 14.5% error.

But make sure you make the speedo +2/3 mph, dont want to be riding at 30 indicated on the speedo and then get flashed

 

[kidloco]

best mod there is

look at getting a speedohealer, you can dial in a correction percentage on speedo.

I calibrated using a GPS suckered to tank and rode at 100mph and worked out the change. seemed lower profile tyres + minus a tooth on front was 14.5% error.

Will do. Found the Speedhealer V4 for my bike. Comes in around £80. I tested how far its out now by usign my sat nav tank bag. Indicated 80mph is actually 70mph.

I take it there easy to fit and setup?

 

[Flukester]

thats the one, it's dead easy to setup... fitting involves plugging inbetween some looms on bike, a bit of a fiddle but ok

..then you just dial in the % correction. (yours would be -12.5% I think)

They also have a top speed log function, which I have wired to my old 'lap' button on switchgear. Just hit it and speedo reads the highest you've reached since you last reset it. It's quite interesting after going for a blast to see how fast you actually went (by accident of course)

edit: I guess it's a expensive bit of kit for such a mundane task..

 

[MouseMat2004]

Speedo Healer's are worth it. Just think if you're 10% out, every 1000miles on the clock is actually only 900 real miles, which is possibly decreasing the value of the bike.

Plus they always seem to fetch a decent amount of cash second hand.

 

[4T5]

I put a deposit down on this this morning & it's being delivered Monday evening.

 

[Dogbreath]

What made you choose the AJS over the V twin jap bikes like the Shadow, Intruder, Virago etc?

Just noticed, it's a hardtail frame, good luck if you are learning on that!

 

[4T5]

What made you choose the AJS over the V twin jap bikes like the Shadow, Intruder, Virago etc?

Just look at it, Nothing else even comes close for looks & AJS have come a long way in recent years, This is the MkII so none of the MkI niggles, I am also very capable with the spanners so will make it my own in no time.
This bike has done around 250miles & has had the mods done that I would have done. I am also 6ft 5 & this model has the longest rake available, It fits me where as none of the others do/would.
On top of all that I don't want to ride around on a bike I've done that I want to Cruise around on a Chopper, Even if it is a fake one.

O & don't worry about me learning I did that on a C90/Fizzy/TSR/YZ/LC/RDLC etc I just never got round to doing a test. This will do for instant on the road fun, It's a toy Enjoy it with me.

 

[Dogbreath]

I hope you didn't take that as criticism of your choice, I was genuinely wondering. My wife wants to get back to bikes (DVLA scum "mistakenly" cancelled her licence years ago after it was stolen, losing both her car and bike entitlements) and wants a cruiser so we've been looking at the bikes I mentioned. The Bobber does look fantastic for a 125 cruiser, no denying that, though I don't think she'd be too happy with a hard tail!

Reckon it could be a challenge to do the Mod1 on something like that though!