Any Motörbike riders here?

chris78

AK99 said:

Ouch. Tough to manage that kind of snow with existing ruts and tracks in it. Glad you're ok Haych.

Glad to see the weather's picked up a bit for biking again too.

Been working on the newly acquired FXR for about the last month. Got stuck into the wiring job from hell when I went to replace the bars and switchgear, and discovered 30 years worth of horrible bodging in the headlamp shell. Anyways, all sorted (mostly) now:



Need to reroute or replace the twin throttle cable, and also tidy up the brake-hose.
Not sure if I posted any pics before, but this is it with the new bars, and the mag wheels/disks on.



First run out with everything back together this morning. Shakedown run went ok, so in two minds now whether to carry on and sort out the shocks (it needs longer ones to sort the abysmal ground clearance, and improve the stance) and also get rid of that awful Roy Rogers studded seat-pad for something less carnival looking.

Either that, or might be wiser to just stall and ride the flipping' thing for a while first

That's going to be collectible - widely seen as one of the last great Harleys (maybe only the Fatboy as a great model after the FXR)

AK99

Guys - thanks for the comments on the FXR. Jz y'all know bikes.

@Kittyfrisk - I'd never seen that Pulp Fiction bike before, I do like it. Not sure I could live with forward pegs, but the colour and sissy-bar look a lot better than I imagined they would. Rake looks cool too. The trim on the engine and cycle parts is virtually identical to mine, Food for thought.

Had actually started out with every intention of turning the FXR into a Club-style bike, but as (a) I'm not a club-type guy, and (b) my kids started dropping the odd quip about SOA /Jax wannabe's when I had the Dyna, maybe better not to go there I wanted to black it out, shed all the OTT chrome, but when I put the new bars on it, I thought they looked well with the chrome switchgear and controls - so have had a rethink. As you say, wise maybe to run it for a while until it tells me where to go next. There's wisdom there.

@Dominic - Yeah, Progressives seem to be the goto brand for those bikes. Hagon does a replacement, and there's also a company called YSS who do a large range of shocks now, that my local Ohlins man says are pretty decent. The Progressives look the part in black though (which shouldn't matter, but on a 30 year old Harley - it just does ) Well spotted on the bars - the cross-piece is the larger 1 1/4" diameter. A veritable pain fettling the area round the brake and clutch reservoirs to get them to fit when they were only designed for clearance on the 1" bars, but I think it was worth it. Helps the look.

And a big thank you to @P90fool who shared some of his vast and no doubt hard-earned experience of these bikes, and steered me well clear of a couple of earlier bikes I had looked at. As a genre, many FXRs seem to have quite a 'chequered' history at this stage

 A genuine and heartfelt thanks for your help, advice, and patience, very much appreciated.

Dominic

'Club' bike ......the dyna with the short rounded half-faired low screen and 10 inch mini apes ....all black matt .
Funny thing is I see /know quite a few 1% MC guys , go to a few of the clubhouses (of the right colour ) and I have never seen a member with a 'club ' style bike ......nor in my mate's workshop who does a lot of members work every week.
I see a lot of bikes like old dynas looking pretty standard and a lot of Street Glides . 
Hardly ever see anything hardtailed , chopped, 'built' not bought ,raked,goosenecked or with big apes.
The 1% MCs aren't really like that now .......you have to go NCC to see the clever stuff.

AK99

^ Interesting. Probably reflective of changes in society as a whole where people don't really get hands-on with mechanical stuff the way they would have in (cough) 'our day'

gubble

Anyone doing the distinguished gentleman's ride this weekend?

I'm doing the one in bournemouth on my enfield

Dominic

I would but I'm neither Distinguished nor a Gentleman so I guess I wouldn't be welcome .

LastMantra

My dad has been collecting velocette parts all his life. He's already got 2 built. I'm trying to get him to build something a bit more customised for me, but he's very much traditional and only wants original spec.
It's a shame as he's getting too old to do a lot of riding but tbh I think he enjoys working on them as much as anything. 

thebreeze

Haych said:

Had my first real crash last week, fortunately I wasn't going very quick.  No damage to me and the crash bars on the bike took the brunt so no other damage on the bike, luckily.

This was the first of about four offs late last Tuesday afternoon, we were falling over like dominos.  One guy, who fell off twice, hurt himself quite badly, but didn't know until he got home a couple of days later and went to A&E, where he was diagnosed with four broken ribs and a broken ankle!

Anyway, have a larf at my expense.

Glad you’re okay Haych.  I’m always surprised by how bikes can get damaged from seemingly innocuous drops and falls, so I hope yours gets the all-clear too.

Haych

thebreeze said:

Haych said:

Had my first real crash last week, fortunately I wasn't going very quick.  No damage to me and the crash bars on the bike took the brunt so no other damage on the bike, luckily.

This was the first of about four offs late last Tuesday afternoon, we were falling over like dominos.  One guy, who fell off twice, hurt himself quite badly, but didn't know until he got home a couple of days later and went to A&E, where he was diagnosed with four broken ribs and a broken ankle!

Anyway, have a larf at my expense.

Glad you’re okay Haych.  I’m always surprised by how bikes can get damaged from seemingly innocuous drops and falls, so I hope yours gets the all-clear too.

Thanks bud.  The bike didn't sustain much damage, thankfully.  The engine crash bars took the brunt of this fall and the few more I had after it before we decided to abandon the bikes in Jalhay.  They didn't completely prevent the cylinder head covers from being damaged though, annoyingly, but I've since replaced the crash bars with Machine Art X-Heads for a cleaner look and to cover up the damage to the cylinder head covers.

During that crash my bonce did bounce off the asphalt so I haven't used that helmet since I got back from the trip.  I'm not too unhappy as it wasn't a great helmet (HJC RPHA 70), noisy, fogged up a lot in the damp weather, even with the pinlock, and not extremely comfortable.  I've replaced it with an Arai Quantic which is much, much better.

When I got back from Belgium I took the bike for a bit of a once over at Stroud Motorcycle Company since somebody else on the trip suggested it wasn't running properly and that it might have contributed to the accident.  The throttle has always been a bit binary at low speed, it's very difficult to smoothly roll the power on.

SMC did indeed find that the engine wasn't running right, one of the coils on the right cylinder had packed up and was making the throttle response unmanageable - it's been a completely different bike to ride since I've had it back.

So, in that sense I'm almost glad I crashed, I'd never have known there was anything wrong otherwise and would still be riding around on one and a half cylinders.

Anyway, I've gone on for far too long now so I'll shut up.

Strangefan

Evening, I just sold my blade .... To buy a super duke!

What a damn machine I am am used to very powerful bikes, had them all zx10, r1 x11 blades,  for road riding this is the one which can't be beat. Absolutely brutal. 

AK99

I'd send that back...there's a gap on the orange edge-binding on not just one, but both wheels 

Cool thang otherwise! Does it have all the wheelie / stability control systems and stuff ?

thebreeze

Haych said:

thebreeze said:

Haych said:

Had my first real crash last week, fortunately I wasn't going very quick.  No damage to me and the crash bars on the bike took the brunt so no other damage on the bike, luckily.

This was the first of about four offs late last Tuesday afternoon, we were falling over like dominos.  One guy, who fell off twice, hurt himself quite badly, but didn't know until he got home a couple of days later and went to A&E, where he was diagnosed with four broken ribs and a broken ankle!

Anyway, have a larf at my expense.

Glad you’re okay Haych.  I’m always surprised by how bikes can get damaged from seemingly innocuous drops and falls, so I hope yours gets the all-clear too.

Thanks bud.  The bike didn't sustain much damage, thankfully.  The engine crash bars took the brunt of this fall and the few more I had after it before we decided to abandon the bikes in Jalhay.  They didn't completely prevent the cylinder head covers from being damaged though, annoyingly, but I've since replaced the crash bars with Machine Art X-Heads for a cleaner look and to cover up the damage to the cylinder head covers.

During that crash my bonce did bounce off the asphalt so I haven't used that helmet since I got back from the trip.  I'm not too unhappy as it wasn't a great helmet (HJC RPHA 70), noisy, fogged up a lot in the damp weather, even with the pinlock, and not extremely comfortable.  I've replaced it with an Arai Quantic which is much, much better.

When I got back from Belgium I took the bike for a bit of a once over at Stroud Motorcycle Company since somebody else on the trip suggested it wasn't running properly and that it might have contributed to the accident.  The throttle has always been a bit binary at low speed, it's very difficult to smoothly roll the power on.

SMC did indeed find that the engine wasn't running right, one of the coils on the right cylinder had packed up and was making the throttle response unmanageable - it's been a completely different bike to ride since I've had it back.

So, in that sense I'm almost glad I crashed, I'd never have known there was anything wrong otherwise and would still be riding around on one and a half cylinders.

Anyway, I've gone on for far too long now so I'll shut up.

That's interesting and it's funny how bad things can often bring benefits in the long run.  Also, not only have we got similar taste in bikes but I've got that exact helmet too (the HJC one), I bought the carbon one because it was the lightest helmet I tried.  I haven't found it too bad tbh but I haven't done loads of riding in bad weather either.  Anyway, hopefully it will see me right for a few years yet!

Dominic

i have been riding KTM a Superduke R 
hooligan machine.....will lift the front wheel in 5th
its more useable on the road than Pannigale naked V4 S I was using last year

Haych

Also, not only have we got similar taste in bikes but I've got that exact helmet too (the HJC one), I bought the carbon one because it was the lightest helmet I tried.  I haven't found it too bad tbh but I haven't done loads of riding in bad weather either.  Anyway, hopefully it will see me right for a few years yet!

I have quite a limited taste in bikes - I'm not really all that into bikes but I am into motorcycling, if that makes any sense.

It wouldn't take many fingers for me to list the bikes I'd have in my garage.

The RPHA 70 is a good looking helmet, I will give it that much, so long as it works for you then that's all that matters

Strangefan

AK99 said:

I'd send that back...there's a gap on the orange edge-binding on not just one, but both wheels 

Cool thang otherwise! Does it have all the wheelie / stability control systems and stuff ?

A full refund is needed!   It has zero rider aids just how I like it! 

Strangefan

Dominic said:

i have been riding KTM a Superduke R 
hooligan machine.....will lift the front wheel in 5th
its more useable on the road than Pannigale naked V4 S I was using last year

That's my next bike..... When I can afford it 

Dominic

It's a great bike .......fantastic torque ,so punchy and yet so easy going but ferocious if you want . In normal road riding as opposed to a track day it's so tractable and easy to live with that you just don't need to keep it humming to get a snappy reaction and you don't need to keep it bubbling at 6-7000 rpm to get the best from it.
As opposed to previous Dukes and Superdukes  the frame is finally properly sorted and it handles so politely as sharp as a razor,great feedback etc .I really do ride quite hard( front wheels are fully scrubbed out to the edges ;not just the back ) and it just keeps it's line in the carve .....never runs at all wide at the front and there's always another 10% to give without murmer when you need to lean in a bit further to tighten the line .
 On the road it's the best bike I have ever ridden which includes Pannigale V4 , V2,'Blade,RC45 etc etc .I have done a few track days on a Pannigale v4 which is quicker but I still actually prefer the KTM on a track even though the 6th gear is too tall .

AK99

Strangefan said:

AK99 said:

I'd send that back...there's a gap on the orange edge-binding on not just one, but both wheels 

Cool thang otherwise! Does it have all the wheelie / stability control systems and stuff ?

A full refund is needed!   It has zero rider aids just how I like it! 

Proper hooligan machine then

Nice.

AK99

Btw - and apologies if this has been asked before - but what kind of boots / shoes do y'all wear in the warmer months when you're not kitted up to the nines with track-type  gear ?

I'm normally one of your ATGATT types, but full track-type kit and interlocking boots/leathers feels a bit like overkill at times, especially when running around taking in the sights and sounds of the world at 55mph on the new acquisition.

Are there any other alternatives you'd recommend ?

p90fool

AK99 said:

Btw - and apologies if this has been asked before - but what kind of boots / shoes do y'all wear in the warmer months when you're not kitted up to the nines with track-type  gear ?

I'm normally one of your ATGATT types, but full track-type kit and interlocking boots/leathers feels a bit like overkill at times, especially when running around taking in the sights and sounds of the world at 55mph on the new acquisition.

Are there any other alternatives you'd recommend ?

Just make sure that the crossbar of your flip-flops coincide with the gear lever, or you'll end up with terrible blisters.