General chat thread... Links, pictures, banter etc

Banana Republic.

zubair wrote: »

Ah I thought you said you were upgrading to an FZ later.

Ah no it’s cruisers all the way, I meant Fazer for IBT and full test down the line. Thanks for the heads up though.

The QuietMan

Thought I posted this before but didn’t. It was like this when I bought the bike but that doesn’t bother me, replace or repair is what I’m curious about, and if repair, where?

Cienciano

I got a car one done in Wheel Wizards in Jamestown ind est. Not sure if they do bikes, assume it's similar equipment. They were very good.

H_Lime

The QuietMan wrote: »

Thought I posted this before but didn’t. It was like this when I bought the bike but that doesn’t bother me, replace or repair is what I’m curious about, and if repair, where?

How's the front wheel?

Jimmy Bottlehead

Well, I bit on a Blackbird recently! Picked up a '02 silver one. Needed quite a bit of electrical fixing up, little bit of rad work left so I'll get that done soon.

Had a few observations from it though:

1) Unless you're mechanically minded, DON'T GO BIKE SHOPPING. My dumb ass got impatient and I'd likely have chosen a different Blackbird if someone was with me. But sure, lesson learned, and hopefully someone else will learn from my mistake too.

2) The Blackbird is some upgrade from the Super Four. Absolutely insanely quick, but very very comfortable, and a big wedge of a bike.

3) Good weather happens when your bike is in the mechanics.

I'm looking forward the commutes now, this Blackbird is a completely different experience to the Super Four on the motorway.

H_Lime

Jimmy Bottlehead wrote: »

Well, I bit on a Blackbird recently! Picked up a '02 silver one. Needed quite a bit of electrical fixing up, little bit of rad work left so I'll get that done soon.

Had a few observations from it though:

1) Unless you're mechanically minded, DON'T GO BIKE shopping. My dumb ass got impatient and I'd likely have chosen a different Blackbird if someone was with me. But sure, lesson learned, and hopefully someone else will learn from my mistake too.

2) The Blackbird is some upgrade from the Super Four. Absolutely insanely quick, but very very comfortable, and a big wedge of a bike.

3) Good weather happens when your bike is in the mechanics.

I'm looking forward the commutes now, this Blackbird is a completely different experience to the Super Four on the motorway.

Welcome to the club.
That factory loom plug can cause bother on efi birds I believe. Mine is carb, whi h presents its own challenges lol.
Check if the rear brake disc is hot after a ride when the brakes are not in use. If so look at cleaning/greasing the wee pivot above the lhs front caliper. Both my birds needed this looked at.

Jimmy Bottlehead

H_Lime wrote: »

Welcome to the club.
That factory loom plug can cause bother on efi birds I believe. Mine is carb, whi h presents its own challenges lol.
Check if the rear brake disc is hot after a ride when the brakes are not in use. If so look at cleaning/greasing the wee pivot above the lhs front caliper. Both my birds needed this looked at.

Cheers man. Yeah, the loom was heavily corroded so needed a load of work done. Brakes also needed sorting and that's done too. Next is, I've to get a new rad installed. But she's with Ronan Pentony in RPM Drogheda getting it all done so she's in good hands.

Drove her to work for the first time this morning, and it's such a dream to ride. Will happily traipse along at 2-3k rpm, but she feels like she's always gently tickling you to wind the throttle and go faster, and when you do, it's absolutely ferocious power.

H_Lime

Jimmy Bottlehead wrote: »

Cheers man. Yeah, the loom was heavily corroded so needed a load of work done. Brakes also needed sorting and that's done too. Next is, I've to get a new rad installed. But she's with Ronan Pentony in RPM Drogheda getting it all done so she's in good hands.

Drove her to work for the first time this morning, and it's such a dream to ride. Will happily traipse along at 2-3k rpm, but she feels like she's always gently tickling you to wind the throttle and go faster, and when you do, it's absolutely ferocious power.

Take your time getting used to it, they're a very well balanced bike in terms of power/handling/braking I find and quite a friendly yoke until your give it the berries.

listermint

LIGHTNING wrote: »

Thats the route I took last year. Bought a 125cc and rented a bike from the school to do the A test. Then bought a 500cc bike recently to do a bit more touring on.

And never looked back!

Banana Republic.

LIGHTNING wrote: »

Thats the route I took last year. Bought a 125cc and rented a bike from the school to do the A test. Then bought a 500cc bike recently to do a bit more touring on.

If you don’t mind me asking, What bike did you get for touring? I’ve been watching a YouTuber lately called “Itchy Boots” and her adventures are amazing on a 400cc Royal Enfield Himalayian from Patagonia to Alaska, she’s originally from Holland.

Banana Republic.

LIGHTNING wrote: »

I looked at the Himalayan but to be honest it was too slow (26bhp from a 400cc). I really liked the look of it but it would have to get the engine from the 650 Interceptor to make me look at it. I went for a Honda CB500X which is still an A class bike but has 47bhp. Only had it 2 months but its comfy and got enough power for what I need.

Other potential choices were the new KTM 390 Adventure which is similar in power and size. Didn't get to see the KTM as all the KTM dealers weren't exactly very communicative.

That’s a nice bike, KTM looks pretty cool too. Myself I’m looking at Dragstar 650, Shadows 600cc ish or I think further down the line Iron 883 Sportster.

IrishGrimReaper

That ItchyBoots vlogger actually bought herself a CB500X recently as well.

Jimmy Bottlehead

Banana Republic. wrote: »

That’s a nice bike, KTM looks pretty cool too. Myself I’m looking at Dragstar 650, Shadows 600cc ish or I think further down the line Iron 883 Sportster.

Gotta say, the Iron 883 is a woeful drive. Skinny wee bike, wouldn't pull you out of bed is my experience.

goblin59

Jimmy Bottlehead wrote: »

Gotta say, the Iron 883 is a woeful drive. Skinny wee bike, wouldn't pull you out of bed is my experience.

arn't alot of Harleys like that though? for the size of the engine they don't have alot of usable power

goblin59

IrishGrimReaper wrote: »

That ItchyBoots vlogger actually bought herself a CB500X recently as well.

They're meant to be great bikes.
Myself and my friend were planning on doing a few trips and he'll be out on one.
Not alot of custom extras as available as some other bikes though.


Dad is a massive fan of the Suzuki DR650 for touring on, but good luck finding one for sale.
He prefers them over R1200GS for solo trips.

Jimmy Bottlehead

goblin59 wrote: »

arn't alot of Harleys like that though? for the size of the engine they don't have alot of usable power

Yeah, but I'd assumed it'd still give the minimum taste of what I'd expected from a Harley. Didn't sound or have the size of what you'd expect either, so I was left feeling woefully disappointed as well as wondering why anyone would bother.

Banana Republic.

IrishGrimReaper wrote: »

That ItchyBoots vlogger actually bought herself a CB500X recently as well.

Spoiler alert I’m only on season 2 episode 41 haha actually think I might have seen that when I first viewed the channel, she bought it in Holland somewhere like 2 hrs away?

Banana Republic.

Jimmy Bottlehead wrote: »

Gotta say, the Iron 883 is a woeful drive. Skinny wee bike, wouldn't pull you out of bed is my experience.

Ohhh really? Love the look of them but I’m only starting out so what the fudge would I know lol Thanks for the heads up I think

Banana Republic.

Jimmy Bottlehead wrote: »

Yeah, but I'd assumed it'd still give the minimum taste of what I'd expected from a Harley. Didn't sound or have the size of what you'd expect either, so I was left feeling woefully disappointed as well as wondering why anyone would bother.

You got to test drive one or did you own one?

Hotblack Desiato

LIGHTNING wrote: »

I went for a Honda CB500X which is still an A2 class bike but has 47bhp.

fyp

Jimmy Bottlehead

Banana Republic. wrote: »

Ohhh really? Love the look of them but I’m only starting out so what the fudge would I know lol Thanks for the heads up I think

Ah that's only my experience, yours might be completely different. They're a lovely looking bike in pics, but in person, they're shockingly slim. But then again, I'm a relatively large lad (6', 15st / 95kg) so that's just me.

Banana Republic. wrote: »

You got to test drive one or did you own one?

Test drove. Would NOT have the cash to buy one yet! But to be honest, the lowest priced new Harley that suited my size, frame and seemed to have the muscle was €25k! They ain't cheap machines.

I've heard it said, there's motorcyclists and there's Harley riders and the two are different I'm sure some will agree and disagree, but it's interesting when you see the culture around HDs.

Banana Republic.

Jimmy Bottlehead wrote: »

Ah that's only my experience, yours might be completely different. They're a lovely looking bike in pics, but in person, they're shockingly slim. But then again, I'm a relatively large lad (6', 15st / 95kg) so that's just me.



Test drove. Would NOT have the cash to buy one yet! But to be honest, the lowest priced new Harley that suited my size, frame and seemed to have the muscle was €25k! They ain't cheap machines.

I've heard it said, there's motorcyclists and there's Harley riders and the two are different I'm sure some will agree and disagree, but it's interesting when you see the culture around HDs.

Yea they do look like a cool bike but looks and riding are very different I would think. It’s great as I’m new to it all so everything is open to experiment with In fairness Japanese bike’s engine wise are near bullet proof they don’t mess about. I’ll know when I sit in a bike but after spotting on my friends Kawasaki EF-6 (I think) and my other friends Suzuki Intruder the cruiser felt like a glove. They have said the Fazer 600 is a lovely machine to learn on also so I’m looking forward to riding one.

zubair

goblin59 wrote: »

arn't alot of Harleys like that though? for the size of the engine they don't have alot of usable power

All the aforementioned cruisers are slow as hell.

Banana Republic.

zubair wrote: »

All the aforementioned cruisers are slow as hell.

I beg to differ, riding on my friends Intruder it had plenty of kick, your need for speed seems to be the overriding factor for you which is up to you but it’s not for me, I’ll not be racing anyone anytime soon. Cruisers are what it says on the tin lol

zubair

Banana Republic. wrote: »

I beg to differ, riding on my friends Intruder it had plenty of kick, your need for speed seems to be the overriding factor for you which is up to you but it’s not for me, I’ll not be racing anyone anytime soon. Cruisers are what it says on the tin lol

Haha, no, they just all happen to be really slow for middleweight cc bikes. My speed demon days are behind me. But if a bike is slower than my skoda saloon I just wouldn't bother.

Banana Republic.

zubair wrote: »

Haha, no, they just all happen to be really slow for middleweight cc bikes. My speed demon days are behind me. But if a bike is slower than my skoda saloon I just wouldn't bother.

Haha slow and easy to learn sounds good to me but hey that’s the cool thing about new experiences get to try different bikes and have fun doing it. I’ll let you know how the Fazer is on the IBT

zubair

https://www.facebook.com/920004011502246/posts/1657420234427283/?d=null&vh=e

Banana Republic.

zubair wrote: »

https://www.facebook.com/920004011502246/posts/1657420234427283/?d=null&vh=e

Noooooooooooo

The QuietMan

H_Lime wrote: »

How's the front wheel?

Front is all good, just the damn rear.

The QuietMan

@Sonics2k

Was that you parked next to me earlier in Tower?