Motorcycle and Scooter appreciation

So today the cursed ybr finally died, thankfully not taking me with it.

Hit a massive pothole at about 40mph, proper massive, back still not happy. About an hour later the back end had gone from "mmm tyre feels soft" to "wtf is going on, feels like a snapped axle"

Swing arm has snapped near the weld. On close inspection paint is rucked up in a few places around the joint and a bit of corrosion in there so could have been manifesting for a while. Other side of the swing arm is torn through aboit half way around the weld. Stupidly I nursed it home the 2 miles at 15mph, back wheel flopping all over the shop.

Video shows the crevasse opening by pushing rear wheel with foot only, with rider weight opens much more

https://youtu.be/hGahu0aeIzY

THIS

900

I'll bring the welder over and we'll have that good as new in 5 minutes ;)

It may also stem from bad swing arm bearings, no play in them and move as they should relatively well but not buttery smooth. Although yamaha decided that plastic bushings with no grease from factory is acceptable....
Reading around online it's not unknown for these to snap like this, often only 1-3 years from new and under 5k miles, pathetic really.

Who you with if you don't mind me asking. Mine is coming up as well and I was wondering if you've figured any techniques into dropping the cost a bit?

MCE, because of the free breakdown recovery you get with their policies.

I don't live in London so I get away with slightly lower premiums

Call EVERYONE.

Tomorrows grand plan.

@DethBeard Yeah same, apart from the slightly mental excess, they've so far offered best rates.

I insured with mce my first year for that reason, but they are meant to be a bit off if you have a claim.

Im with Carole Nash know. More expensive but fully comp, euro cover and fully comp.

Carole Nash's incentives are pretty damned juicy. Especially with the Euro cover and breakdown, but the even with voluntary excess, the final bill is mental high.
Funny thing though, fully comp was only £150 over TPFT.

If I was rolling on a long distance machine, they'd be my choice, but not quite bored of silly position yet.

Yeah just worked out okay for me. Guess living out of London is the difference.

Yeah I tested my mates address in Dorset. Ding ding ding ding...£400 less.

I've used Bennetts for the last few years, never had to call on them but they seem alright, usually come out as the best quote for me.

On the topic of insurance is my N reg cb500 now a classic bike? And is classic bike insurance actually any cheaper?

Hello folks...over the next 2 months I've got to get to some arse end places in middle of Suffolk. Easiest and best way is by mbike and it will be 4 trips tops from London.

Question is... would anyone be able suggest a rental firm or even be willing/able to lend me their bike if I sorted out insurance. It would be a round trip of about max 200 miles and done in a day

PMs with suggestions please. No rush bit first trip is 14th July.

Just buy something cheap/2nd hand and then sell it. Would be a loot cheaper than rental. Though rental will be more trouble free.

Edit. Just seen your only doing it 4 times?

Just rent a bike for each trip. Just negotiate a bulk rent discount with somehwhere.

^^^This, and if you arrange the dates carefully you could cancel the insurance policy within 30 days and just pay the admin fees.

xt600 ... 1986, 26k kilometers... 1200 euro'

You really need to have a look. Originally I didn't notice it was 26,000 km which is c.16,000 miles, so it should be good for plenty more. But it does seem a bit high for a 30yrs old bike... but maybe that's just what they cost.

The problem is if you don't know how well it's been looked after. There's a del boy's garage on youtube where he gives you tips on second hand bikes. I think you need to look for overall clues and check if there are any pricey parts. For eg what does a new disc cost? Are fork seals still easily available? Any known faults? etc. Then budget that in.

Have found most policies are 7 or 14 days before they roll over onto full cancellation fee. Also the "administration" fees are now mental high, £45 to £60 then as high as £90 for proper cancel after distance selling time

Damn, used to be around £30 and 28 or 30 days I seem to remember. It's been years since I've done it but it was a regular occurrence as a teenager. Possibly why they don't do it any more!

Just picked it up, engine runs nice and clean, gonna put some new oil and filter in it, clean it up and fix some new mirrors, bashplate and decal set and see how it goes from there. Maybe ride some dirt tomorrow hehe.

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Nice! Looks really tidy, enjoy! Did you get it for less than asking?

May need new tyres for dirt.

Thanks to @skinny
Spent day on the phone. policy now £100 cheaper with £150 less excess.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8Zilur7z7TQ

At last f650 is on the road. So much stuff replaced on it, mostly from being sat outside in Scotland for 18 months.

Rides great apart from bad buffeting that starts as low as 55mph and gets extreme at 70mph (helmet feels like it's an ultrasonic cleaner). Will experiment with spacers under screen to try and relieve the vacuum effect.

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I need a new battery. I've had a motobatt for the past few years, which has worked very well, but has reached the end of its life.
Any recommendations?
Next day delivery would be great. Where should I buy?