I don't think I'm realistically too far away from a GS. They're such a competent all-round bike. If I don't end up getting one once I'm finished with the XR, it'll be the next bike after whatever replaces it, unless something stunning comes out in the interim.
What did you do to your bike today?
- Thread starter edd1e
- Start date
To be honest the best way in my opinion is to get a GS or a GSA through the Used Approved scheme someone else takes the initial loss but you get a full service history bike with a BMW 2 year unlimited mileage warranty with full EU recovery etc its how I got my GSA Triple Black a year ago complete with full ali luggage and BMW Sat Nav.
Don
- Joined
- 20 Oct 2002
- Posts
- 17,048
- Location
- In a house
Fitted new rear brake hose, fitted the new master cylinder, repainted the caliper bled the system and fixed the rear brake switch.
Rear locks up perfectly now
Just got fit new headlight bulbs and re-fit the newly wrapped exhaust. Will update he thread later tonight with pics.
Rear locks up perfectly now
Just got fit new headlight bulbs and re-fit the newly wrapped exhaust. Will update he thread later tonight with pics.
Associate
- Joined
- 5 Jun 2013
- Posts
- 1,531
Time for a new chain and sprockets.
Expecting to struggle with the front sprocket nut, turned out I could almost undo it with my hand...
Bike is on 22k so had assumed was still on original chain/sprockets, but I doubt it's been loose from factory so previous owner must have changed it and not tightened properly.
Expecting to struggle with the front sprocket nut, turned out I could almost undo it with my hand...
Bike is on 22k so had assumed was still on original chain/sprockets, but I doubt it's been loose from factory so previous owner must have changed it and not tightened properly.
Yep it'll be a safety thing to cover themselves. Bet it could handle 20+.
Soldato
- Joined
- 24 Mar 2011
- Posts
- 6,479
- Location
- Kent
Well yesterday I rode it to work and back for probably the last time for a good while!
I was going to give it a wash this weekend, but... yeah.
bloody snow!
It'll be interesting to seem how many miles I actually do on the VFR over the next 6 months, it's not going to be many, that's for sure.
I was going to give it a wash this weekend, but... yeah.
bloody snow!It'll be interesting to seem how many miles I actually do on the VFR over the next 6 months, it's not going to be many, that's for sure.
Rode the new Ducati Panigale V4S today, chassis is incredible, turns in like no other. Brakes are like throwing an anchor out the back.
Engine revs for days and makes silly power, too much power... but is grumbly, lumpy and not usable on the road. Didn't like it!
Much prefer my R1
Engine revs for days and makes silly power, too much power... but is grumbly, lumpy and not usable on the road. Didn't like it!
Much prefer my R1
I was up in Norfolk today, driving along some of the roads that we'll need to ride next weekend during our own budget bike challenge. Fallen branches and trees, rain, sleet, snow, freezing temperatures: I hope it is better next weekend!
So, the weather was not perfect but it was certainly better, especially today coming back.
We started the competition properly at Krazy Horse in Bury St Edmunds, with the final destination a few miles outside Skegness. From the original nine riders, only four made it to the start line. Four didn't manage to get bikes and another did but it suffered a 'catastrophic failure' the day before. Four started...
The bikes were my CB400, Suzuki GP100, a something Hongxin 125 and another Chinese something KTM 250 ripoff. I felt reasonably happy seeing the competition, especially as the battery failed on the Hongxin before the start. The replacement cost £19. The budget for everyone was £500, with bonus points for spending less and penalty points for spending more. Having paid £500 on the nose for mine, I was already down as I'd needed to buy a new chain. May confidence evaporated when learning of the costs of the others. The Hongxin was £175, the Suzuki £350 and the fake KTM £400. Incredibly, the latter a 2015 bike and had been sold as a non-runner after an attempted theft. Apparently the only thing wrong was that the wiring loom had been cut and the lock broken - the rider fixed it with stuff from his garage.
Things went from bad to worse on the first challenge, which was the off road section. Sold to us as 'a timed run over an unpaved road', it turned out that it was intact something akin to motocross down into a decent sized pit and up the other side. The fake KTM, even with road tyres, breezed across both parts. The Hongxin made it up both with a partial dismount. The Suzuki made it up one and slithered back down the other. I did the first but grounded the bike and, having watched the others, declined to attempt the second run. -75 points for not attempting the full challenge..!
After this we took the bikes down some dirt roads - sandy in some places, muddy in others. Not accustomed to off-roading, I was having a nightmare on the CB400 but kept it upright. Then the Suzuki broke down. It was running very rich, and the rider had a stock of spare spark plugs. We got going again, and then the fake KTM stalled, with what turned out to be a blockage in the fuel line. Then the Suzuki died again. Fortunately the last run back down to tarmac was only a few hundred yards, so we got it there, made some running repairs and managed to get it started again with a few pushes. Half a mile down the road, it died again. An hour later, and several attempts to get it running again including me towing it a couple of miles down the road and some police stopping and offering the helpful advice of 'you should have bought a better bike!' we admitted defeat and called in the wives and girlfriends in the support car and horse box. We were four hours in now, and had covered six miles from the start...!
With over 100 miles still to cover, we abandoned the remainder of the day's challenges, and took the back roads up to the evening destination. The fake KTM stalled one more time, and we thought it was either more blockages in the fuel line or a vacuum building up - there's no breather pipe from the tank. Eventually, we made it to what must be one of the most terrible caravan parks in Lincolnshire (and I imagine that there's quite a choice) but got warmed up, fed and got stuck in to a few beers and wine with all the normal man bike talk.
Day two began with frantic work to resurrect the Suzuki. The carburettor was removed (and found to contain much sand), cleaned and reinstalled but although it felt close it just wouldn't start again. Back in the horse box. The three remaining riders, in much better weather, cracked on and worked our way back through Lincolnshire. I've only ridden through the county once before, and it is quite unlike anywhere else I've visited in the UK. Very flat, mostly below sea level, long, straight, bumpy poorly maintained roads and lots of dirt on them.
We found a quiet, fairly flat straight part and set up for the next challenge - the drag race. I should have been confident for this but I wasn't. During the trip the CB400's clutch had started to slip at high revs in 2nd and 3rd. The fake KTM got the jump on me, and I wasn't catching it so just slammed it into 4th and hoped it would power through which it just about did. The Hongxin trailed a distant third. Then we did a 0-60 60-0, and I managed to just scrape that one too by about 15 yards. We carried on to fill up for our fourth challenge, the mpg test. This was a tricky one for me, as I couldn't brim the CB400 due to a fuel leak high up on the tank. Under supervision it was filled to where we thought it was yesterday, and the result was actually remarkably close. The Hongxin took it, by about 0.2 litres. I was in third, around 0.4 litres further back.
We swapped bikes for a while at this point. The fake KTM was actually really nice, a proper thumper with a hard seat but nice riding position. The Hongxin was hilarious - hopelessly underpowered and with a rotary (think this is the correct terminology) racing gearbox - all one so down from N to 1, 2, 3, 4 then 5 then back to N and 1.
We met up with the support girls again, and carried on before a final break and dog walk, during which point we had the public vote on a) best overall bike for the tour (fake KTM) and most reliable (CB400). Getting a bit late in the day, we then abandoned the last challenge, which would have been manoeuvring, as we were all tired, the girls were bored and the Krazy Horse car park was too busy. The Hongxin won the challenge by 29 points from the fake KTM, with the CB400 in third, some 90 points further behind.
Overall, a really fun weekend, albeit with too much time spent at the side of the ride trying to fix a 35 year old Suzuki. The biggest things I learned were:
- you really don't need to spend a fortune to get a bike and have some fun with mates
- you really don't need a monster of a bike to have a laugh and ride fast (for the bike) on the right roads
- never do the off road challenge at the beginning of the weekend
- you ride a lot differently when you're not actually worried about damaging your bike!
- I want to learn proper off road riding on a proper off road bike
By the end of it, I was actually questioning whether it is worth keeping my XR. I love it to bits, but this has opened my eyes to being able to tour ok on a naked bike. I'm going to have a look around and test ride some this summer.
We agreed that the whole experience was, overall, a great laugh and good fun. On reflection though, the budget and requirements were a little too strict. Some would have dropped out anyway, but some couldn't find suitable bikes in budget and the budget forced some to choose bikes there were in just too poor a state. Something to learn for next time, which we've all agreed must happen.
A few memories:
We started the competition properly at Krazy Horse in Bury St Edmunds, with the final destination a few miles outside Skegness. From the original nine riders, only four made it to the start line. Four didn't manage to get bikes and another did but it suffered a 'catastrophic failure' the day before. Four started...
The bikes were my CB400, Suzuki GP100, a something Hongxin 125 and another Chinese something KTM 250 ripoff. I felt reasonably happy seeing the competition, especially as the battery failed on the Hongxin before the start. The replacement cost £19. The budget for everyone was £500, with bonus points for spending less and penalty points for spending more. Having paid £500 on the nose for mine, I was already down as I'd needed to buy a new chain. May confidence evaporated when learning of the costs of the others. The Hongxin was £175, the Suzuki £350 and the fake KTM £400. Incredibly, the latter a 2015 bike and had been sold as a non-runner after an attempted theft. Apparently the only thing wrong was that the wiring loom had been cut and the lock broken - the rider fixed it with stuff from his garage.
Things went from bad to worse on the first challenge, which was the off road section. Sold to us as 'a timed run over an unpaved road', it turned out that it was intact something akin to motocross down into a decent sized pit and up the other side. The fake KTM, even with road tyres, breezed across both parts. The Hongxin made it up both with a partial dismount. The Suzuki made it up one and slithered back down the other. I did the first but grounded the bike and, having watched the others, declined to attempt the second run. -75 points for not attempting the full challenge..!
After this we took the bikes down some dirt roads - sandy in some places, muddy in others. Not accustomed to off-roading, I was having a nightmare on the CB400 but kept it upright. Then the Suzuki broke down. It was running very rich, and the rider had a stock of spare spark plugs. We got going again, and then the fake KTM stalled, with what turned out to be a blockage in the fuel line. Then the Suzuki died again. Fortunately the last run back down to tarmac was only a few hundred yards, so we got it there, made some running repairs and managed to get it started again with a few pushes. Half a mile down the road, it died again. An hour later, and several attempts to get it running again including me towing it a couple of miles down the road and some police stopping and offering the helpful advice of 'you should have bought a better bike!' we admitted defeat and called in the wives and girlfriends in the support car and horse box. We were four hours in now, and had covered six miles from the start...!
With over 100 miles still to cover, we abandoned the remainder of the day's challenges, and took the back roads up to the evening destination. The fake KTM stalled one more time, and we thought it was either more blockages in the fuel line or a vacuum building up - there's no breather pipe from the tank. Eventually, we made it to what must be one of the most terrible caravan parks in Lincolnshire (and I imagine that there's quite a choice) but got warmed up, fed and got stuck in to a few beers and wine with all the normal man bike talk.
Day two began with frantic work to resurrect the Suzuki. The carburettor was removed (and found to contain much sand), cleaned and reinstalled but although it felt close it just wouldn't start again. Back in the horse box. The three remaining riders, in much better weather, cracked on and worked our way back through Lincolnshire. I've only ridden through the county once before, and it is quite unlike anywhere else I've visited in the UK. Very flat, mostly below sea level, long, straight, bumpy poorly maintained roads and lots of dirt on them.
We found a quiet, fairly flat straight part and set up for the next challenge - the drag race. I should have been confident for this but I wasn't. During the trip the CB400's clutch had started to slip at high revs in 2nd and 3rd. The fake KTM got the jump on me, and I wasn't catching it so just slammed it into 4th and hoped it would power through which it just about did. The Hongxin trailed a distant third. Then we did a 0-60 60-0, and I managed to just scrape that one too by about 15 yards. We carried on to fill up for our fourth challenge, the mpg test. This was a tricky one for me, as I couldn't brim the CB400 due to a fuel leak high up on the tank. Under supervision it was filled to where we thought it was yesterday, and the result was actually remarkably close. The Hongxin took it, by about 0.2 litres. I was in third, around 0.4 litres further back.
We swapped bikes for a while at this point. The fake KTM was actually really nice, a proper thumper with a hard seat but nice riding position. The Hongxin was hilarious - hopelessly underpowered and with a rotary (think this is the correct terminology) racing gearbox - all one so down from N to 1, 2, 3, 4 then 5 then back to N and 1.
We met up with the support girls again, and carried on before a final break and dog walk, during which point we had the public vote on a) best overall bike for the tour (fake KTM) and most reliable (CB400). Getting a bit late in the day, we then abandoned the last challenge, which would have been manoeuvring, as we were all tired, the girls were bored and the Krazy Horse car park was too busy. The Hongxin won the challenge by 29 points from the fake KTM, with the CB400 in third, some 90 points further behind.
Overall, a really fun weekend, albeit with too much time spent at the side of the ride trying to fix a 35 year old Suzuki. The biggest things I learned were:
- you really don't need to spend a fortune to get a bike and have some fun with mates
- you really don't need a monster of a bike to have a laugh and ride fast (for the bike) on the right roads
- never do the off road challenge at the beginning of the weekend
- you ride a lot differently when you're not actually worried about damaging your bike!
- I want to learn proper off road riding on a proper off road bike
By the end of it, I was actually questioning whether it is worth keeping my XR. I love it to bits, but this has opened my eyes to being able to tour ok on a naked bike. I'm going to have a look around and test ride some this summer.
We agreed that the whole experience was, overall, a great laugh and good fun. On reflection though, the budget and requirements were a little too strict. Some would have dropped out anyway, but some couldn't find suitable bikes in budget and the budget forced some to choose bikes there were in just too poor a state. Something to learn for next time, which we've all agreed must happen.
A few memories:
Don
- Joined
- 20 Oct 2002
- Posts
- 17,048
- Location
- In a house
Haha, great read. You heard it here, Chinese bikes are the way forward for cheap biking
Soldato
- Joined
- 24 Mar 2011
- Posts
- 6,479
- Location
- Kent
I think there may be a flawed scoring system there somewhere!!
The bike which didn't break down at all, came third...
The bike which didn't break down at all, came third...
Soldato
- Joined
- 24 Mar 2011
- Posts
- 6,479
- Location
- Kent
To be fair it does remind me of the top gear challenges where the cheapest shed won because it was sooo much cheaper than everything else, or that it was sold for spares and made up 400 points because of that
And on that bombshell, the best sub-£500 sub-400cc motorbike is...
The Hongxin 125.
And on that bombshell, the best sub-£500 sub-400cc motorbike is...
The Hongxin 125.
Soldato
- Joined
- 24 Mar 2011
- Posts
- 6,479
- Location
- Kent
Gave the VFR a full wash and wax as it's now been retired from commuting duties. It's replacement is sat beside it
Also got the Tuono out to tidy the garage a little, started it up just to make sure all was well - I'd forgotten how loud it is! The akra pipes aren't that loud, but there's a general 'noise' coming from the bike, it's like a 1000cc noise
Also got the Tuono out to tidy the garage a little, started it up just to make sure all was well - I'd forgotten how loud it is! The akra pipes aren't that loud, but there's a general 'noise' coming from the bike, it's like a 1000cc noise
@The_Abyss - Really enjoyed reading that. It's amazing when you go back to the grass roots of biking, most people can't wait to get to a 'thou' after passing their test. Yet some of the best fun can be had on a small cc bike worth a few quid! That GP100 though, brings back some memories
Waxed it... twice!!! 
Gotta build up 'dem layers!
Also, for the first timer in my biker career, took the fairings off and ACF50 underneath them. Took me about 5 hours lol... next time will be much quicker now that I know how those stupid little plastic Honda rivet things work.
Also stuck a rad guard on. That was the easy bit. Think it took 30 mins.
Gotta build up 'dem layers!Also, for the first timer in my biker career, took the fairings off and ACF50 underneath them. Took me about 5 hours lol... next time will be much quicker now that I know how those stupid little plastic Honda rivet things work.
Also stuck a rad guard on. That was the easy bit. Think it took 30 mins.
Soldato
- Joined
- 5 Jul 2003
- Posts
- 2,830
- Location
- Cheshire
Not to my bike but with my bike
Season kicked off yesterday and we were gifted a glorious sunny day
Race starts from 4m30
Race starts from 5m50
Season kicked off yesterday and we were gifted a glorious sunny day
Race starts from 4m30
Race starts from 5m50
Last edited: