Motorcycle and Scooter appreciation

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2gz3DSiSymE

Nice!

I'll check out the you tube channel. I've just picked up a 2002 R1150RS to cover me while I have my R80/7 off the road for some complicated maintenance.

I understand the issues with the input shaft and final drive have been a problem with BMW for a while. Hondas have had some final drive issues too.

Regarding the brakes I'm not sure that any manufacturer has had it right for years. linked brakes and ABS are great as most of us will grab a handful in an emergency, I've done it more than once.

Most of the modern bikes I've ridden are not balanced as well in terms of power and braking as the R80 but they have loads more power from engine management and huge brakes. It's a lazy option to have ABS sort it all out. I like the brakes on the R1150RS but I've not ridden many similar bikes to compare.

BMW build quality is poor, not as it once was.

Hondas are held high even though from experience they aren't.

Same story in most manufacturing. Since the late 70's no one has tried to make a product that lasts. It's all about computers increasing performance. Thinner bodies, lighter cheaper components, CAD designed plastic parts, zero hours contracts for manufacturing labour. It's all about short term purchasing decisions and credit.

It's only the high end watch manufacturers that seem to have stuck to their principles.

It finally happened after years of London living, all that's left of my Triumph is a cut chain and an empty bike bay. RIP friend.

Let's hope the insurer coughs up.

Gutted for you.

Good luck with the insurance. My limited experience with Carole Nash was brilliant, would definitely recommend.

@ inchpincher - That's a bummer dude. Happens to everyone eventually - bennets were also great for me a few years back .

@ Airhead - totally disagree there, modern motorcycles are little miracles of engineering. I grew up riding 70's and 80's metal, it was mostly heavy, slow, bad handling and at least a bit unreliable. Certainly things required constant attention to stay on the road.

Most new bikes will go 60k plus with only basic maintenance, including stuff pushing close to 200bhp/l. Developments like ABS and traction control have made them safer than ever too (even if they're not my cup of tea.)

Cheers guys, I feel like a tit because I broke my cardinal parking rule in London which is 'never have the nicest bike in the parking bay'. Not to mention my iPad in the topbox which is a new level of stupidity. At least no one got hurt.
I am with Bennetts and have been for a couple of years so hopefully it should go ok, I had commuting on my policy and my job as a night worker is listed too so there is a legitimate reason for it to be in a Kensington bike bay on a Friday night.
Can't bring myself to look at new bikes, still in mourning. I need a van too so this might be the end of the love affair for a while :/

That empty feeling still haunts me years after my pride and joy vanished. I stood in the car park looking at the spot where I had parked it the night before. Still gutted to this day. (and especially as the insurance wriggled out of paying for it)

That sucks Ben. Boo.
I still think about the Velocifero I rebuilt over a year that was stolen 3 weeks after getting its first ever MoT.

Sad page. Bike theft is shit, whether it is your pride and joy that goes, or just a commuter tool.

My news isn't going to raise the mood. Picking up one of these next week;

It will be a love/hate relationship, having to remove the fairing and radiator every 8k just to check the valve clearances, and having to replace the stupid plastic expander buttons that hold it all together each time.

@snoops, how's your twin going?

@inchpincher Sorry to hear about your loss, I hope the insurance comes through.

@Jung I'm conflicted about it all anyway, sure bikes have become more powerful but now they need stuff like ABS to keep you safe if you're not really concentrating/switched onto the power or the bike crosses the line between sporting and touring. My most fun bike was a TZR250, still have one. That bike's perfectly balanced in weight/power/steering rake to the point where it's safe and handles perfectly. As soon as you have a 100BHP engine with a relaxed head angle and powerful brakes you are risking a front end skid when emergency braking, a lot of bikes fall in or around that category hence ABS which I like on bikes that that. A real fun bike though is closer to the sports category and in that way ABS is extra unnecessary weight/complication, but if your commuting/touring you don't want a full on sports bike etc. etc.

When you look for reliability issues with modern bikes there's always a few events in forums for any model, then they become folklore regarding the model and like BMW everyone worries about the final drive. Some estimates put failures at 4%, not a lot really.

You can't get away from the material quality shift in modern vehicles though, my R80 is 40 years old. When you look at the engineering you can see it's slow and heavy because it was designed to last.

I don't disagree with you that the cream of current machines are brilliant, but 60,000 miles is not a lot to expect from a late 70's bike or any decent bike, maybe 200,000 miles is more of a test. It stands to reason that electronics and ABS systems will be killing 10/20 year old bikes let alone 30 year or 40 year old ones. We're trading performance for longevity in most modern manufacturing.

Look at the yearly mileage most bikes do nower days, it does seem quite low. Bikes are usually (generalisation) a play thing and not an every day used tool.

Part of the increase in performance is the ability to make engine parts with closer tolerances be it pistons and con rods being the same weight and shape as well as being able to tweak materials to do what you want.

Having had a 190-200bhp bike for a bit I doubt I ever used anything near all the power possible. Yet on an rs250 I'd used every single one of the the little horse to my hearts content. Even getting up to go to work earleir to get a few sneaky fun miles in.

If you look at the Nc700 enine is supposed to be half a honda jazz engine hence the low reving and loads of torque. So the development costs are lower. The costs are reduced further in the engine manufacture by the way the crank is made, sort of twisted to shape post casting. Even the idea of the 270 (think) crank giving the bike a vibby twin feel. Same as a yam trx850.

@lynx I'm always looking at the bike as a tool for work and primarily transport, I agree sports bikes and fun riding are a big part of the market and the needs/desires are different.

There's a piston/barrel upgrade for the R80 with lightened pistons (800-1000cc) that produces 33% more bhp without changing the carbs, so that is definitely one area where more power can/is produced. It would probably overpower the braking system then leading to more front end skids and fewer surviving R80's ;)

The 250 2 strokes were brilliant, the power to weight ratio and generally low weight makes them handle so well, plus exhaust note, power bands etc. I've not ridden a 500cc 2 stroke but it's on my bucket list. My TZR used to destroy itself the whole time, I detonated a piston backing the throttle off too fast on the A3 one morning. Still got home on one piston. Maintenance was quick and relatively easy despite the liquid cooling.

@lynx I respect what Honda have done with the NC700, I think the 270 crank lowers the torque curve in the rev range? Sure a lot of the factory engineering advances have helped to make good mechanical ideas financially viable, further down the line will these cranks be repairable or available at a cost that makes the bikes worth repairing by amateurs or small engineering shops?

I'm also personally focussed on not having water cooling in a bike engine, simplifies engine gaskets and repairs/maintenance. That's just my circumstances though, if I had a barn full of bikes and a workshop it would bother me less.

Sorry to hear this @inchpincher. Hope it all works out with the insurance.

I just pasted a load of this stuff on my bike - hopefully it'll act as a deterrent: http://www.carolenash.com/carole-nash-dna

I think the only thing that may have made a difference is a disk lock and even that's presuming they didn't just lift it into a van. They only cut one link of the chain and then took that too to reuse I'm sure, leaving the lock behind. All my panels were data tagged for what it's worth and the bike covered and chained. What really irks me is I cycle 95% of the time and the bike lives on the streets of Peckham/Dulwich. The one time this month I take the triumph and it gets robbed from a bike bay opposite the Natural History Museum. Cunts.

Sorry to hear that dude :(

sorry for your loss inchpincher. have you got a track on your ipad ,,,, might be a chance of getting to whoever has the bike. like the find my phone thing. also somewhere as visible as that should have pretty tight cctv no?

It pains me to say that I sold it on Friday night. It was riding very well after your helpful tinkering but I had to admit that it was too small for me (6' 3"). I'm sure other tallies have managed on an R80 but I'm particular about ergonomics.

I picked up a 99' R1100GS a few weeks ago in Milford Haven and rode it back through the Brecon Beacons to London. The weight distribution took a bit of getting used to but the riding position is much more comfortable.

I was very sad to hear the R80 burbling away when I sold it but I couldn't justify it as my main bike. I'd like to get another one in the future, probably a /7, as a second bike but for now I only have space for one and my GS (George Smith, Georgie Boy, Gorgeous George, depending on my mood and George's) is more practical and I’m riding it daily without a hitch so far.

Hows the engine performing at low revs? My r1150rs is a bit rough around 2500-3000. Apparently the lean fuelling on the 1100/1150's can cause a few problems round town. I've put a Booster Plug on mine but it's not completely sorted.

@Airhead - yup I love TZRs (and most 2 strokes from RDs through to RGVs...) I had a huge amount of fun with those back in the day, despite the regular top end rebuilds. I really do think modern bikes exhibit greater longevity though the difference in rebuild costs and complexity are greater. You're looking at complex re-plating versus re-bores, or new liners. After market parts (at least significant engineering parts) for new bikes are in general less readily available and often not of comparable quality with OEM (often as the bikes are so reliable, that they don't support a large aftermarket.)

Totally agree with you on the electronics front - computer controlled suspension and braking, fly by wire throttle and traction control (seen on the new BMWs and Ducatis) are going to make those bikes complex to maintain as they age.

Although I think this is close to a golden age for bikes in terms of the sophistication and performance you get for your money - the thing I'm most afraid of is that legislation will kill it off. With proposals floating around to ban modifications as simple as tyres and exhausts, we're in danger of killing off the aftermarket altogether. No manufacturer can be expected to maintain an inventory of parts for their products for ever and without an aftermarket to step in, what's going to keep all these bikes running down the line?

I do have find my Iphone but the iPad is still offline. Plus I've activated the erase feature to hopefully protect my details so if it connects to a wifi network it will blank but also no longer be traceable.

Anyway the police phoned today and the triumph has been found! It's now in a pound in Perivale and they're being cagey about damage, "it's a bit scratched up mate" which on a fully faired bike could be serious £.

Let's hope it's more Cliff Richard than Jimmy Saville on the molestation scale.

Crikey - that's a result! Ideal world, it'll get written off and you can buy the 'remains' back off the insurance company for pennies.