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Probably Hates You posted:I've gone through the thread but I must've missed it. why are you tearing down the GSX-R? I have a theory about Z3n. He is only attracted to bikes that aren't quite right, like those people who are attracted to sick people. Once they are better his interest wanes until a point where he can no longer suffer them to live. And so he euthanises at the earliest excuse, dissects them and sells the organs so he can buy a new 'project', and the process repeats.
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Mar 24, 2011 17:43
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That's pretty much how my interest level went for my CBR F2. I bought it as a piece of poo poo and after finally fixing it all up and getting it nice and reliable, I went "DURR I REALLY WANT A KTM SUPERMOTO" and promptly sold it.
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Mar 24, 2011 18:33
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It's the AI spirit leaking into CA: Buy a $1000 junker, let it bankrupt you, sell it, and buy another. Rinse and repeat.
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Mar 24, 2011 19:14
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ReelBigLizard posted:I have a theory about Z3n. He is only attracted to bikes that aren't quite right, like those people who are attracted to sick people. Once they are better his interest wanes until a point where he can no longer suffer them to live. I actually have realized that this is how I work. I'll buy a bike because it interests me for some reason, ride it until it no longer interests me, and then sell it, usually breaking even or at a minor profit. The flip side is, though, that I do eventually want to make my own frame and bike, and I'll probably end up building that, riding it for awhile, and then selling it too.  AncientTV posted:It's the AI spirit leaking into CA: Except that CA is better because we get it backwards: Find a junker, fix it up, sell it at a profit, buy more junkers! FuzzyWuzzyBear posted:That's pretty much how my interest level went for my CBR F2. I bought it as a piece of poo poo and after finally fixing it all up and getting it nice and reliable, I went "DURR I REALLY WANT A KTM SUPERMOTO" and promptly sold it. Eh I knew this one would never last. I don't want an F2, it was just a way to make money.
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Mar 24, 2011 19:18
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You really should buy some headcase bike that you'll spend way too much time sorting out. I'm voting a vintage Triumph with electrical issues and misadjusted carbs.
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Mar 24, 2011 19:33
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redscare posted:You really should buy some headcase bike that you'll spend way too much time sorting out. I'm voting a vintage Triumph with electrical issues and misadjusted carbs. God, that's the last thing I want. I like bikes that I can fix, ride for a bit, and then sell.
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Mar 24, 2011 19:49
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ReelBigLizard posted:I have a theory about Z3n. He is only attracted to bikes that aren't quite right, like those people who are attracted to sick people. Once they are better his interest wanes until a point where he can no longer suffer them to live. He doesn't do it with women so he does it instead with bikes. I think anyone who has met me can testify that I'm the most sane woman ever. As our friend says women are like cats, he spends his days thinking "What does kitty want?" except for me. He told me he's never at a loss for what I'm thinking
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Mar 24, 2011 23:02
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You're the opposite of "crazy cat lady" but he's the male motorcycle equivalent. 
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Mar 24, 2011 23:19
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Bunway Airlines posted:I'm the most sane woman ever That's not saying much 
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Mar 24, 2011 23:22
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Ola posted:You're the opposite of "crazy cat lady" but he's the male motorcycle equivalent. Things must be balanced out. 
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Mar 24, 2011 23:27
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Z3n posted:God, that's the last thing I want. I like bikes that I can fix, ride for a bit, and then sell. You know you want it, you just don't want to admit it.
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Mar 24, 2011 23:52
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Bucephalus posted:That's not saying much I have high testosterone levels ok? It makes my personality different
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Mar 25, 2011 22:40
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Z3n, seeing as you're the resident Honda and CBR600 expert, what would you do to an F2's suspension for road and track work? Any idea if you can do brake swaps without dropping in a complete front end? Thinking of selling my Hornet and picking up a barn-find F2 that my local bike shop has given a home. The difference could fund a slightly used 200EXC...or just track days and future speeding fines, I don't know. Barring some rust on the frame from British winters past and sitting in an open-sided barn for the last 5 years (this isn't CA remember), there's nothing actually wrong with it.
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Mar 31, 2011 12:51
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Saga posted:what would you do to an F2's suspension for road and track work? I'm not Z3n but I've ridden and tracked F2's so I have some ideas regarding this  . '91-'93 F2s had non-cartridge front forks which were not adjustable and a non-adjustable rear shock. The '94 F2 got cartridge, adjustable forks with an adjustable rear shock (with reservoir). A cheap upgrade for the '91-'93 F2's is obviously swap in some F2 parts.Another cheap upgrade, even though you mentioned not wanting a front-end, is swapping in an F3 front-end, because then you get semi-floating rotors (which no F2 has). You need the F3 front-end to use the F3 rotors. Tuning-wise, F2's are set up very stable and you don't need anything like a steering damper. Their forks tend to be set up a bit softer than the shock is. There are occasionally Fox racing shocks for the F2 on eBay for ~$100 or so that give you ride height adjust as well as better adjustability and damping.
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Mar 31, 2011 13:51
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FuzzyWuzzyBear posted:I'm not Z3n but I've ridden and tracked F2's so I have some ideas regarding this I had a twin-clicker on my GSX-R WV...whither art thou Fox Shocks!? So basically a good set of ebay forks from a '94, new oil and springs should take care of the front suspension? I would have an Ohlins to sell from my Hornet, so would probably go with a Nitron sport shock on the back, or maybe hunt down something used with ride-height adjustment. I've read the back needs to ride higher to get the bike to turn and hit apexes, which sounds about right for an early to mid 90s sportsbike with modern rubber on it. I take it the alternative is to do the usual 90s thing of dropping the forks 10mm through the yokes and seeing what happens? Wow, that'd bring back memories.
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Mar 31, 2011 14:28
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I'd say closer to 4-8mm for dropping the forks, but yeah, that'll give you sharper turn-in without compromising stability too much. One thing I forgot to mention was that most racers prefer the feel of a 120/70 on the front instead of the stock 120/60 - the larger tire will fit on the stock rim fine. The 120/70 makes it a tad tougher to turn-in but provides better stability mid-corner compared to the 120/60. The only downside is that it might rub on the front fender, so you may have to do some sanding or dremeling if you go that route.
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Mar 31, 2011 16:01
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Saga posted:I had a twin-clicker on my GSX-R WV...whither art thou Fox Shocks!? Fuzzy has addressed most of it, but in my mind the most important thing with these bikes is to remember what you have. If you're gonna use it as an all arounder, get it sprung for your weight and go have some fun. The cartridge forks on these are perfectly fine for normal use, and a good shock should give you a nice, stable, sweet handling street/track ride. It'll never be a modern supersport but that doesn't mean you can't have a lot of fun on it. Any money that you'd spend on anything beside suspension should instead be spent on trackdays or tires. Given that you commute in poo poo conditions, I'd probably try and find a second set of rims for track rubber. And yeah, Fox shocks are the poo poo for these older bikes. I'd ride it as is, stock, first, before dicking with the geometry. I've always preferred stability in my bikes, though, I can push harder on the bars to make it turn faster but I can't make the geometry more stable with force. A little bit goes a long ways on fork height, too. The difference between good and bad on my SV was about 5mm. Edit: Ordered clutch cable, clutch, replacement gaskets, and some other odds and ends for the CBR. I'm midway through parting out the GSX-R...and my god, GSX-R owners must be the most flakey people on the planet. I've never had it this bad with any other bike. 
Z3n fucked around with this message at 19:09 on Mar 31, 2011 |
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Mar 31, 2011 18:48
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Great! Thanks! Not quite sure whether I will commit to it, but I figure with a set of Chinese plastics on it, it will never be worth less than it is now, no matter how much I crash it or how many winters I ride it through. I can then pick up a 200EXC or a GasGas EC/CC. I suspect the shop will let me take it home for 24 hours and see how it does on my commute (because they're cool like that). That will be the acid test, I imagine. Z3n posted:Fuzzy has addressed most of it, but in my mind the most important thing with these bikes is to remember what you have. If you're gonna use it as an all arounder, get it sprung for your weight and go have some fun. The cartridge forks on these are perfectly fine for normal use, and a good shock should give you a nice, stable, sweet handling street/track ride. It'll never be a modern supersport but that doesn't mean you can't have a lot of fun on it. Any money that you'd spend on anything beside suspension should instead be spent on trackdays or tires. Given that you commute in poo poo conditions, I'd probably try and find a second set of rims for track rubber.
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Mar 31, 2011 20:22
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Saga posted:Great! Thanks! Honestly, I don't know if I'd even really bother with swapping the plastics if it current has plastics on there. Drop a coat of flat black, maybe with some amusing stencils or something, rat it out, and go make an rear end out of squids who don't know how to ride on it. If you don't already know how to, use it as a learning experience in plastic repair, attend to any mechanical oddities it might need, and then go flog it until it pops (ie, probably never, drat hondas). My single complaint with the bike is that the bars are canted slightly too far towards the rider and it puts my wrists in a really awkward place and causes minor pain after an hour or so of riding unless I'm constantly adjusting my wrist position. If i were planning on keeping the bike I'd dremel off the locator tabs and rotate the bars forward a bit. I saw a GasGas trials bike on the way to the kart track last weekend, it was a peach. I'd love to have one of those for screwing around on.
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Mar 31, 2011 21:57
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The plastics are in mint condition, so I'd put them in the loft, lovingly polished. There will be a CBR600 pervert out there who will pay through the nose for them in a couple of years. There's usually pre-crashed stuff floating around on ebay which are obviously good candidates for matt black spraypaint. But those Chinese panels are so cheap they're almost worth it if you're keeping the bike a while. Cheaper than race plastics, albeit no catch-pan.
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Mar 31, 2011 22:16
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Saga posted:The plastics are in mint condition, so I'd put them in the loft, lovingly polished. There will be a CBR600 pervert out there who will pay through the nose for them in a couple of years. Ahh, very nice. The chinese panels are super cheap, but you also get what you pay for...I personally prefer older, OEM pieces as you can often pick them up for a song, especially if they're damaged, and they are a lot more hardy than the chinese stuff (although it has improved in the last few years). Hell, I'd probably list the fairings once I had the bike and see if anyone will take you up on them, could potentially fund a good chunk of the bike mods on the mint fairings alone. I love projects like this  And besides, the best bikes are bikes that when you wad them you laugh as it cartwheels. Carry the title with you, sign it off, dump it on the burning wreckage and walk away giggling. that's not gonna help my rep as the motorcycle equivalent of Hannibal Lector Z3n fucked around with this message at 22:44 on Mar 31, 2011 |
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Mar 31, 2011 22:42
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Z3n posted:Drop a coat of flat black, maybe with some amusing stencils or something, rat it out, and go make an rear end out of squids who don't know how to ride on it. I wish I met more people with these sensibilities in my local area.  That is pretty bang-on my take on how to properly use older sportbikes. I'd go with Hello Kitty stencils.
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Mar 31, 2011 22:58
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Z3n posted:Drop a coat of flat black, maybe with some amusing stencils or something, rat it out, and go make an rear end out of squids who don't know how to ride on it. This worked for my crappy old Suzuki!  Speaking of which I've killed the cheapo chinese tires on it and need to replace em...
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Apr 1, 2011 01:38
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Z3n posted:that's not gonna help my rep as the motorcycle equivalent of Hannibal Lector For fairness and balance, please post your ecomium to the automatic gearbox. Also Har The thing is there's no-one to bait on my commute really. I already wind-up the car drivers by being there, and all the bikes I normally see are going in the other direction. None of them are particularly squidly. There's one guy on a speed triple usually going at stupid speeds in a fairly suave manner and two F800s being ridden politely by dudes in reflective vests. I think squids are mostly an American thing - we just have the Harley Owner's Group. Insurance is expensive and getting a full licence is also expensive (lessons) and can take months. Actually, I take that back slightly - we have the enlisted men of Aldershot, who do try to imitate the Americans in the buying sportsbikes and getting arrested stakes. They're unlikely to ride around in a wife-beater or use the word "Jickser" however, which to my mind disqualifies them from the squid stakes. Anyway, yes, my ideal would be a pre-rashed set of race plastics, several cans of Halfords matt black, a hole cutter and some halogen ceiling lights for that endurance racer look.
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Apr 1, 2011 07:22
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Shipwrek, that bike looks great in flat black. FuzzyWuzzyBear posted:I wish I met more people with these sensibilities in my local area. The Gucci logo would be good to. Or maybe the logo of Paris Hilton's race team. Saga posted:For fairness and balance, please post your ecomium to the automatic gearbox. Also Har quote:the best thing about harleys is watching them cartwheel as you wad them That's a good point on why you guys don't have squids. Have you ever ridden out in the states? Enjoyed the pure, unadulterated freedom of riding without a helmet? Watched guys on brand new bikes clumsily ride over sidewalks while attempting to perform U-turns? Ahh, well, at least we have cheap spares. An endurance racer setup would be awesome. Time to hit the local wrecking yards or ebay or something? Also I'm still  at "Jickser". It's "Gixxer".
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Apr 1, 2011 15:30
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Z3n posted:That's a good point on why you guys don't have squids. Have you ever ridden out in the states? Yes, for many years. Z3n posted:Enjoyed the pure, unadulterated freedom of riding without a helmet? No, I'm not a fucktard, why do you ask?  While I'm here let me tell you what I think of cruisers and viscous couplings...Z3n posted:Watched guys on brand new bikes clumsily ride over sidewalks while attempting to perform U-turns? Watched squids riding an R6 in wife beaters and sandals get caught in a freak New England hailstorm, check... Z3n posted:Also I'm still Yeah, but it's usually pronounced jickser or gix-ur, instead of the correct Gee Ess Exx Arrr, like Suzuki helpfuly printed on the side of the bike. They forgot squids can't read. Looking closer at this F2 I'm not sure whether to get it or not. I think it must have been ridden all winter for years and literally never, ever washed until the current owner got it. The plastics are really good and it has a stainless full system, but it will need new forks, as the stanchions are pitted to gently caress. They're really and truly completely shot in the last 1/2 - 1/3 of the travel where they've never seen fork oil. The frame also has rust spots coming through in many places, which is probably just surface rust, but still would mean a job of work to tear down the bike for power-coating. It's low mileage, but the cases and covers are pitted, presumably from exposure to salt and dirt. This may sound par for the course for a potential rat bike, but for like $600 more I could probably get hold of the relatively spotless (if not concours) '96 F3 below. OTOH, I could pay what they're asking and get my money back any day of the week by putting it on e-bay for £700. That's about the price for a running bike that's not a 250 4t.  Bear in mind this isn't CA and roads are covered in salt for four months plus, but the F3 still looks like this. (Actually, I wonder if it's a US import, going by the "special" seat.). Saga fucked around with this message at 16:10 on Apr 1, 2011 |
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Apr 1, 2011 16:06
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If you can get an F3 in markedly better condition for $600 more and it's in your budget, I'd probably go for that. It'll save you some money that you'd spent on upgrading the F2 and you get to say that your bike has ram air.
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Apr 1, 2011 16:18
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FuzzyWuzzyBear posted:If you can get an F3 in markedly better condition for $600 more and it's in your budget, I'd probably go for that. It'll save you some money that you'd spent on upgrading the F2 and you get to say that your bike has ram air. Hmm, but if I bought a GSX-R1100 I could say I had steel S A C S. And if I bought a Thunderace, I could point out my huge A S S. Decisions, decisions. Well, I'm going to go check out the F3 Saturday, so we'll see. FWB, is it definitely the case that the later F2s had cartridge forks? Wikipedia says that was the F3.
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Apr 1, 2011 16:33
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1994 F2's most definitely had cartridge forks, guaranteed or your money back. You can tell the difference because 91-93 had black lower fork legs and 94s were all naked metal, not to mention the adjusters up top.
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Apr 1, 2011 16:41
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FuzzyWuzzyBear posted:1994 F2's most definitely had cartridge forks, guaranteed or your money back. You can tell the difference because 91-93 had black lower fork legs and 94s were all naked metal, not to mention the adjusters up top. Cool, I ask because I'm watching a set of 93s on ebay, that's all. They are silver, whereas the F2 I've been looking at has black forks.
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Apr 1, 2011 17:10
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Saga posted:Cool, I ask because I'm watching a set of 93s on ebay, that's all. They are silver, whereas the F2 I've been looking at has black forks. They might be mislabeled. Here's my stance on it: If you want something to flog relentlessly, I'd take the F2 home, inspect it carefully, ride around, make sure everything else is in OK shape, check out the surface rust, and sell the fairings to fund the fresh set of forks and some work on the shock. Install the cheapest beateriest plastics you can find, flat black everything (including the frame after sanding it down), and enjoy your rat bike. Bonus if you rhinoline the entire thing. If you don't want a full on project and just want something to tinker with while you ride, pick up the F3. quote:Yes, for many years. quote:Watched squids riding an R6 in wife beaters and sandals get caught in a freak New England hailstorm, check... That's a thing of beauty. quote:Yeah, but it's usually pronounced jickser or gix-ur, instead of the correct Gee Ess Exx Arrr, like Suzuki helpfuly printed on the side of the bike. They forgot squids can't read. The homophone just really cracked me up. From now on that's how I'm going to spell it too.
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Apr 1, 2011 18:02
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Fix up a gen 3 250, I'll be in San Diego weekend of July 16th. Kthx. Just kidding, fly and riding cross country would be an awful idea for a first time rider Whose bike are you riding for the mini indurance race?
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Apr 1, 2011 21:53
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Saga posted:Yeah, but it's usually pronounced jickser or gix-ur, instead of the correct Gee Ess Exx Arrr, like Suzuki helpfuly printed on the side of the bike. They forgot squids can't read. I say Gixxer, but I'm Australian and our right to be too lazy to say something's whole name is enshrined in our constitution.
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Apr 2, 2011 00:37
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Isn't that "our constie"?
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Apr 2, 2011 03:28
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Z3n posted:They might be mislabeled. That makes sense. I'm going have a look at the F3 (same place also has a nice 918 blade and a gsx-r 750 in the original '96 black and gold) and that will give me an idea of the relative value of the "rat".
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Apr 2, 2011 08:04
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Russian Bear posted:Fix up a gen 3 250, I'll be in San Diego weekend of July 16th. Kthx. I really wish I could do requests. And in certain cases, I might. But usually I just end up feeling bad because I'm not the sort to try and make money off my friends...I can justify the price I charge for the bikes when I know every component has been looked at to strangers, but for people I know, or have helped personally, I have a hard time charging for everything. This is probably why I have difficulty funding my race career. Ola posted:Isn't that "our constie"? Was going to make this joke, beaten by Team Ola yet again. Saga posted:That makes sense. I'm going have a look at the F3 (same place also has a nice 918 blade and a gsx-r 750 in the original '96 black and gold) and that will give me an idea of the relative value of the "rat". Yeah, relative value and what the market will accept for parts is really the determining factor for if it's better to rat a bike or just buy something nice and keep it nice. I like ratbikes for the simple fact that I just flat out don't care if I crash it, but that's not always the best decision, especially if you have to rely on your bike for daily commuting. The beauty of it all is, though, you can't really go wrong with any of the bikes on your list, they're all great motorcycles and fun in their own way.
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Apr 3, 2011 06:29
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The F3 was too nice. It actually has hyperpro springs front and rear and was at one time set up on a dyno by PDQ (well known tuners and suppliers of anodised tat/junk/tchotchkes). At the same time the damping on the shock is long-gone and there's no documentation for it after 2003(!). It's not worth the shop's time to do the valve clearances for what they're selling it for, but at the same time it's too pricey to be a real budget bike/rat. Looks like I'll go for the F2 if I can convince the shop to sort out the valve clearances pre-sale.
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Apr 3, 2011 07:33
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The whole Honda F series are just really drat nice all rounders, my F2 is on the uglier side, but it's been an awesome and besides the stupid regulator/rectifier a solid reliable runner, plenty of performance for the 1500$ I bought it for. After riding my other bikes I forget sometimes how good the F2 is at just about everything: Nice neutral handling, just the right amount of power unlike the newer race replica bikes, and overall comfort, I could pretty much ride it all day. edit: If it starts and runs ok the valves are probably ok, I think fuzzybear had issues with his valves because it wouldn't start until he found out all 16 valves were tight as gently caress :| infraboy fucked around with this message at 08:51 on Apr 3, 2011 |
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Apr 3, 2011 08:49
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infraboy posted:The whole Honda F series are just really drat nice all rounders, my F2 is on the uglier side, but it's been an awesome and besides the stupid regulator/rectifier a solid reliable runner, plenty of performance for the 1500$ I bought it for. This is basically what the shop said about the F3 - if the valves were out, you'd know about it. (They did have trouble starting it until I pointed out they had the tap set to off!) The good thing about the F2 is it would be pretty impossible to lose money on it if I decided it wasn't for me. Just stick it on e-bay and collect the purchase price 7 days later.
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Apr 3, 2011 11:43
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infraboy posted:I could pretty much ride it all day. How about three days straight? The F2 really is decent at touring.  My bike's the black one. That picture was taken in Key West. I live in Connecticut. Was pretty comfortable.
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Apr 4, 2011 02:22
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