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Silver posted:Sigtrap: True. I loved long way down, especially the last episode. I saw more of it than I did of long way round though. So I saw a Guzzi V7 (that pretty white one I posted in the new for '09 thread) in person the other day. Had a sit on it too. It's just as pretty in person as it is in the pics, but the seat is pretty uncomfortable. Maybe I'm just used to more saddle-type seats, but the Guzzi's is a bit of a plank and the edges rub your inner thighs something fierce. Maybe I was sitting on it wrong?
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Oct 16, 2008 19:53
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Ola posted:Unless the seat was rubbing your scalp, there's not a lot of wrong ways. Did you have both feet on the pegs? You usually know right away, if it feels a tad uncomfy in the showroom it will kill your butt on the road. I couldn't stand it up as it was on the sidestand in the showroom. I did get both feet on the pegs though, leaned over. It just felt too wide at the crotch, I thought maybe my knees needed to be bent differently but you're right, it's kind of hard to sit wrong.
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Oct 16, 2008 20:09
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Nerobro posted:LWR is VERY, VERY much worth watching. it's excelent. LWD is.. dull. See, I find Africa fairly fascinating so being able to see it in that way, to see it from a perspective you never really get on the news or documentaries was fantastic.
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Oct 16, 2008 20:26
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something I learned today: a 650 single doesn't rev nearly as high as a 750 v4. Bwwaaaaaah-bababababa oh that's the rev limiter!  upshift! Turns out you need more than one gear to reach highway speed 
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Oct 21, 2008 18:35
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Spiffness posted:I-4's are for people who are too fat and lazy to shift count me as the latter. I got used to passing in 6th gear without downshifting, now I have to get used to not having a 6th gear to shift up into  . It's fun though, I love this bike!
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Oct 21, 2008 19:31
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I finally broke it to my mom that I've been riding two years, and bought a bike here in the UK and that's what I've been using to get to work. It went far better than I thought! Sort or "well I know you'd been thinking about it for some time, and frankly you're old enough to make your own decisions". Then she got all excited and looked up what I ride on the internet to show my dad who thought it was fantastic (he used to ride, back in ancient history). I don't know what the hell I was worried about. Mental scarring from having a bag of semolina smashed across my head as a kid for doing something stupid I guess!
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Nov 3, 2008 00:24
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Rekinom posted:Question: does anyone either own, have ridden, or know anyone that rides a Guzzi? I've been lusting after them for years, and I'm moving to a town with a Guzzi dealership, and I'm drat near sure that I'm going to buy one. I think they're perfect in every single way, but I was wondering if anyone had any personal experiences with them. Me too! The 2000-2006 V11 sport is still my dream bike. The new V7 is beautiful like crazy, but I didn't like the seat much when I sat on one. I've yet to have an opportunity to ride one, though I've got a better chance this side of the pond now!
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Dec 5, 2008 18:45
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Z3n posted:Konica Minolta paintjob... you mean this one?  Something about white hondas...
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Jan 14, 2009 14:20
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I went to the seaside today because I had nothing much else to do and felt like going for a ride. It might not be California, but the fact that I can ride to the sea in the middle of January is fantastic, even if it does rain. And of course it did, despite what the weather forcast said. At least it cleared up once I got there. I saw a nice sunset, had some fish and chips and a cup of tea, and rode home. I've come to the conclusion that my helmet is officially tired. the pressure on my forehead was driving me mental by the time I was halfway home. The padding just isn't what it used to be. Luckily the London motorcycle show is coming up in a few weeks... hopefully I can score a deal on a last-year's Schuberth S1. Anyway, the route I took was basically south from Chiswick, London, through Richmond and Kingston, etc on to the A24 and on down. The bit around Hampton/Leatherhead is only approximate because there was some confusion route: http://tinyurl.com/8bgnwe pictures:    
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Jan 16, 2009 20:25
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Gnomad posted:I spend a fair amount of time over at maximumbikes, a board that has a majority of UK riders, from which I have learned at least 2 very important things. The ones the Romans built are all straight though! All the other ones though, where they basically just paved where the sheep walked, those are great, and they're everywhere! With my Italian bike, Italian jacket, and lack of hair product, I probably would have been the mod! Or more likely the square, given all my safety gear. At least my back protector would keep me safe from hurled stones as I ran away! Simkin posted:Nice, that looks like a fun little cruise. I imagine that place is far more pleasant in the off season. It was pretty deserted and the roads weren't busy, but on a sunny summer weekend? Forget it!
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Jan 17, 2009 18:58
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I went to the London motorcycle show yesterday in search of a Schuberth S1. I found it a bit disappointing overall. I did find a vendor selling S1's and was able to determine I need an S1 Pro in large, but they didn't have any in the colours I wanted. At least they'll give me the show price (which was pretty drat good) on a new one from their shop when I call them. Not much interesting on display, or maybe I just wasn't in the mood? Anyway I got some pictures that I'll throw in the picture thread later. I thought there would be a lot more manufacturers represented, but aside from small displays from the big 4, Harley/Buell, BMW, and Ducati, Victory and Bimota was as exotic as it got. Credit Crunch I suppose. On the subject of waves, I usually lift 2 fingers off the left bar and nod, although now I ride on the wrong side of the road I guess I should lift 2 off the right bar?
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Feb 2, 2009 20:37
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pr0zac posted:Seriously, if you ride motorcycles and don't live in California  could have gone bigger but didn't want to break tables 
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Feb 9, 2009 22:58
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Phat_Albert posted:If you can find one production model of Japanese bike made in the last 25 years that has been cared for and not beaten into the ground that needs the above mentioned level of maintenance I'll concede the argument. my old 93 vfr? Although, technically speaking, I did actually beat it literally into the ground.
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Feb 19, 2009 22:29
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I'll join up on some of that, I'm in London. I think the cost and time estimates might be a little low though. Of course you can always chop bits off as required. Gas will probably be about 4-500 euro at least. I'd probably want 6 days just to do London-Geneva-Menton and back, and that doesn't even give much time to stop and smell the flowers. I know people do it in less, but they motorway large sections. If I wanted to get to the Med in a day, I'd sleep in and take an afternoon flight!
Finger Prince fucked around with this message at 00:47 on Mar 3, 2009 |
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Mar 3, 2009 00:41
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I'm back on 2 wheels after a brief winter hiatus, feels fantastic. I think I'll go for a ride this weekend, maybe get some pics up here to compete with Ola . I'm planning on doing a multi-day trip around Wales later this spring or early summer, and trip down to Cornwall might be in the cards. Plus some continental touring when I can. I love booting around on my Peg, as nice as my VFR was, it just wasn't as fun as the Pegaso. It's not that great for extended high-speed motorway stuff but makes up for it on the B roads.
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Mar 13, 2009 19:09
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Orange Someone posted:Is it bad that I want to drive down to Cornwall from the Midlands and back, purely for a decent cornish pasty? For those with a less than stellar grasp of British geography, that's a 4 and a half hour journey there. Even worse, I'm considering taking the friend on the 125 who can't use the motorways, that bumps it up to about 7 and a half hours there. not too much further than me, meet you in Bristol!
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Mar 13, 2009 21:21
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I sing, I whistle, I beatbox, I make strange noises that sound neat with earplugs in, I talk to myself... basically if anyone heard what was going on in that helmet they'd probably have me committed. Sometimes I listen to my ipod with noise isolating earplugs, but I save that for long trips where I'm unlikely to encounter urban environments. I think it was on Long Way Round, but Ewen said something about the helmets being miked up, that he hoped there was a way to select the recording off, because he didn't want everybody to hear his horrible and bizarre singing. I think everybody does it!
Finger Prince fucked around with this message at 11:21 on Mar 16, 2009 |
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Mar 16, 2009 11:18
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I just got my bike back from getting my MOT inspection done and noticed the right hand bar end was missing. I went back in and asked if it maybe came off in the shop, but they said nope, and looked around but didn't see anything. The only thing I can think is it vibrated off somewhere? I didn't notice it missing before went there this morning, didn't notice on my ride two or from Winchester last weekend... who knows where or when it happened  . It's not on the ground where I park either. Oh well, can't be that expensive to replace. (famous last words)
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Mar 25, 2009 16:59
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TapTheForwardAssist posted:In case anyone is as noob as I, or is amused by noob idiocy: I have a similar embarrassing pushstart experience. Back when I was having charging issues with my VFR it died on me in traffic. I pulled over and some kindly biker lasses (one built a bit like a brick shithouse) came to my aid. We tried push-starting it (her pushing, she was that kind of girl) a couple of times and every time I released the clutch, the engine wouldn't turn over. Eventually someone with booster cables turned up and I was good. Found out later that you need it in 2nd gear not 1st, otherwise a mule won't get that thing to push start  ... oops...
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Mar 25, 2009 19:19
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sklnd posted:The next bike I buy will have heated grips. I did a bunch of commuting this fall and winter in close-to-freezing temps and nearly froze my hands solid. Liners did little except slow the transfer of heat from the headers/coolant hoses when I jammed my hands in there to warm up. Then I remembered I had my gore-tex snowboarding gloves with me the entire time, and my hands stayed toasty through all kinds of weather. Would they hold up in a crash? I dunno, but good snowboarding gloves tend be built for (and take) a lot of abuse. They're Burton AK Guide gloves, even though the winter is over, now's the time to get them cheap because it's end-of season.
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Mar 30, 2009 18:02
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I ride when I feel like riding, and I don't always feel like riding. Odds are when it's cold and miserable out I'm more likely to pass on it. Cmdr. Shepard, don't feel obligated to ride when you aren't feeling up to it. It's a good way to get turned off riding and a good way to get yourself hurt. I have a friend who always used to look down his nose at me for wearing my winter coat in October. My response was always "at least I'm warm!"
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Apr 3, 2009 09:28
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Whoa. Wife Turds posted:Seriously? Ride when you want to ride and don't let anyone tell you otherwise but maybe you should hold onto these details next time you feel like elaborating. 44 degrees isn't that cold. At all. I'm not trying to be all macho man but your hyperbole is a little ridiculous. it's cold enough, it's below freezing at highway speeds. Sure on a bright sunny day down country lanes it might be fine, but on a damp drizzly morning 6C is lovely and cold and not even remotely fun to be out riding in. If you're touring or cruising and just enjoying the scenery it's not going to factor really, but if you're on a sport bike and looking to attack some twisty roads it can be dangerous at those temps because you never know when you're going to run into a frost patch in some shady low-lying spot, and your tires are never going to get any heat into them.
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Apr 3, 2009 21:05
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Phat_Albert posted:The disk looks ok. I honestly think the PO just lightly rode the brakes for a million miles. The pads are so smoothly glazed that I dont think they could do any damage to the disk. What sort of benefits and changes can you expect from that sort of upgrade? Is it a matter of adjustability, or a better ride? Will the bike sit differently? I might pass this info to my buddy, I remember him talking about suspension upgrades for his Bandit a while ago (though I know in advance that his answer will be "too bad I'm broke!")
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Apr 9, 2009 18:17
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Simkin posted:One does have to wonder how a person gets to that point in their riding career, with nobody telling them that they're dumber than a sackful of hammers, or having them write themselves and their bike into something large and unmoving. "career" might be stretching it a bit. Summer job, at best.
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Apr 13, 2009 10:27
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Doctor Zero posted:I learned on a 6 speed, and now I'm forever trying to upshift from 5th. I learned on a six speed too, and it took forever to get over that on my new bike. Eventually I just learned that ~4.5krpm = ~75mph in 5th and that's all I've got.
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May 22, 2009 09:55
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Gr3y posted:One of these days I'll shift into 6th on my CB750 and it'll work. the day that it finally does is the day that you really wish it hadn't
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May 23, 2009 01:05
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Bucephalus posted:A cursory googling discovered this: wow, that works for the UK too! Cool! (not that I'd trust any sort of UK weather forcast to be accurate)
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May 27, 2009 17:57
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gave the bike a general visual inspection yesterday along with a chain lube. Noticed my rear tire is squaring up nicely, and that I make more left turns than right. Something like a Michelin Pilot Road dual compound will be my next tire I think.
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Jun 3, 2009 06:38
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I had such a good ride today. Well, it started off a bit iffy. Sort of a failed reenactment of a WW2 landing. I took the channel tunnel across to France, just to see how easy it was (answer: really freaking easy), and like an idiot forgot to fill up in Calais. I made it to Dunkerque, but I ran out of gas searching for a station. I need a GPS. Thankfully I managed to nurse it to within 3/4 of a kilometer from a gas station and only had to walk it across a mall parking lot. That pretty much ate up what little time I had so I cut my losses and headed back to Blighty. Once back on the other side of the road, I found an absolutely beautiful stretch of road (A28/A262) that was almost deserted and had dinner at a little village pub. But that wasn't the best part. The best part came when I was back on the M25 heading home, thinking about rearsets and I decided to try out my passenger pegs. Oh my god, it's like they were built specifically for that purpose! Feet on passenger pegs, leaned up over the tank, it's like I found another gear! 85-90mph was actually comfortable and easily maintained! Previously I never really cruised much above 75 because of the wind and vibrations. Downside is boy howdy do you ever burn through gas at that speed!
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Jun 3, 2009 22:33
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I just prefer the "works right in the first place" kind of fuel delivery system. I should never have to worry whether the engine is getting the right amount of gas. If the bike starts running badly, it should be a sensor fault, not something actually wrong with the fueling system.
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Jun 4, 2009 23:19
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all those are good suggestions but "that won't happen to me, I'm good  "
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Jun 8, 2009 14:55
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Ola posted:This. Nobody ever has to lay 'er down, she done laid you down son. Well if you can think of a better way to slide under a giant robot to shoot it in the nuts, I'd like to hear it! 
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Jun 12, 2009 16:05
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Spiffness posted:It's my observation that a big thumper engine with FI has a hard time running smooth at constant throttle. The KTM just does not like going at a constant boring speed. The solution? my 650 Pegaso has a bit of an issue with a constant ~4000 rpm. It crops up at certain speeds, but just a little variation in revs clears it right up. I also found out just recently that it loves to sing at 5500+ and there's a lot more power up there than I thought, once you crouch down out of the wind.
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Jun 12, 2009 18:36
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Spiffness posted:This is certainly true. Redline is 7800 RPM and at about 5k the thing just takes off. If your in 1st and accellerating hard, violent wheelie. 2nd? wheelie. 3rd? If your sitting forward the front will just chatter. Sitting back? Wheelie. I've got about 1000rpm less headroom, and though I did get it to lift the wheel a bit once or twice, there was nothing violent about it. It might catwalk all day though, if I knew what I was doing! I'd love to try out a KTM, the guy who sold me my Peg had upgraded to a 990 SM. re: colour tuning One thing I have noticed with a point&shoot, is where auto white balance is usually fine for sunny days, setting it to the "cloudy" setting when it's overcast does wonders for the colour and helps things from looking washed out. (edit- I know this sounds kind of dumb, but I always forget about it because it's buried in a menu on my camera.) Finger Prince fucked around with this message at 19:23 on Jun 12, 2009 |
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Jun 12, 2009 19:17
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 Why hello there, are you new around here? KTM 990 SMT -as in SuperMotoTouring Same bike as the 990 SM only with a proper seat, a half fairing, luggage rack and mounting points for panniers, pillion space, etc. Basically a loving awesome hypermoto that is actually useful for going places. Sign me up! Only down side is the 196kg curb weight and she ain't that pretty. Oh and I'm in no position to be running out buying a brand new bike.
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Jun 18, 2009 01:00
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Z3n posted:Everything that KTM is calling "SMT" is basically just a "standard". Obviously, they can't get off as a seller of Austrian Exotica as saying they're selling standards, but the duke/superduke/SMT are all just standards with pretty plastics. well, the SMT is a 990 SM, which isn't an Adventure. How similar or different you think they are is up to you. They seem pretty different to me, spec wise (accepting the fact that a small company like KTM isn't going to have the same quantity of different platforms as say Honda). Nothing wrong with standards, but it's such a wide and all-encompassing label that everything from a Rebel 250 to an FZ-1 to a Pegaso Strada (but not Trail, even though it's essentially identical) gets included. Why don't we just get all automotive and call the SMT a crossover?
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Jun 18, 2009 03:39
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Dubs posted:There's no manufacturer in the world that does, or will ever, make a 990cc Supermoto bike. while I agree that a bike like the 990 SM is straying a bit from the hardcore definition of a supermotard, it isn't the only bike in this category. Ducati makes the Hypermotard, BMW makes the HP2 Megamoto. Aprilia has the Dosoduro which is a 750 "supermoto", even though they also make the SXV 4.5 and 5.5. My Pegaso Strada is a street version of their dual-sport Pegaso Trail. If a supermoto is a dirt bike with street tires and a road biased suspension, then what's a dual sport, or "sort of dirt bike" with street tires and a road biased suspension? I think crossover works pretty well actually!
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Jun 18, 2009 10:07
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Gnaghi posted:That doesn't make any sense, the website says it "oozes cool." "cool" is a Harley word for "oil", and that's a weep, not a leak.
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Jun 21, 2009 22:52
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Hey 8ender, I don't know what you've done so far, but if the rectifier is getting hot, then it's working. However, if things are getting hot elsewhere in the wiring loom, that could be the problem. That was what was killing the charging system on my old VFR. Have a look at your electrical connectors, and things like the main relay housing for corrosion and/or melting. As a connector or plug gets corroded, it builds up resistance and acts like, well, a resistor. It will then get hot, start melting itself, and eventually grind the whole charging system to a halt.
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Jun 25, 2009 12:25
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8ender posted:I'm going to recheck the grounds tonight but when I limped it home and noticed the rectifier was getting real hot I checked most the the other wires by touch and found them to be okay. Just to confirm with everyone, when I set my multimeter to check resistance and put one lead on a ground wire connector and another on the frame I should get infinite resistance right? rectifiers are going to vary by design and heatsinking etc., but the one on the VFR gets loving hot. Ground to frame should be a short, ie. 0 ohms.
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Jun 25, 2009 16:25
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