Motorcycle and Scooter appreciation

First ride out on the bike. 220 mile round trip to Suffolk and back. 62000 miles on the clock and working nicely. Fine at 55mph. Bit windy and buffety at 80 but nothing too bad.
Did stick.some padded inner cycling shorts on as it had been about 5 years since last ridden a proper bike and glad I did.
About £15 of petrol and glad I had it rather than trying there and back in a car. A12 Friday traffic with latitude sucked

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Well I guess that shows they don't know what they're doing either! The bike I had hassle with was mostly Cagiva Mito on a Y reg so hand signals probably did look a bit out of the ordinary.

Mot spot I went last week told me all metal plates are illegal and he fails all of them........ Pointed out if it's right size, font, shape, colours, reflective, spacing and has the makers name on it, then it's legit, but he was having none of ut

I need to buy another bike for this year's LA-Bartsow-Vegas....It's the end of November but I left it too late last time. Currently have a more than minor jones for an Honda XR650R, done up Baja style to live out my desert racing fantasies. They're a bit heavier than I'd like but the route is full of deep, open sand washes and fire roads. They did win the Baja 1000 a silly number of times, so should be great for that. Bit concerned about the lack of E-Start but I should be OK kicking as long as I don't stack too much.

Last year, I rode a Husqvarna TE510 which after chasing innumerable gremlins before the event, was actually flawless for the ride. Plus side, it was a lot lighter than the Honda and made about the same power (over 80 through some of the washes)....downsides were diabolical vibration, uncomfortable riding position and a engine that really needed high RPM to blast off. Fancy something a bit more tractor like this year.

Anyone had a 'Big Red Pig'? Anything else worth a butchers?

Inspiration pic here...

Any magazines worth reading? Scraping the barrel for gift ideas and my brother just got his first bike. Or anything not too spendy that might be useful for a new rider? Cheers

MCN?
Weekly newspaper, good for kit reviews as well as bikes.

Looking at all the stuff in the news at the moment regarding people getting mugged for their bikes. I know it's centred on scooters, but it does make me wary of riding in town. Is there a gizmo I can fit to the bike, with a proximity sensor I can wear around my neck with my data tool blipper, so that if my bike gets ridden off without me it will cut the engine after 100m or so?

something like that would be good but could cause an accident or at least cause cars following to slow down or change direction suddenly

Sounds like it's time for someone to invent a compressed air ejector seat. Remotely activated. Probably pretty easy....hmm...

Ejecto seato cuz!

http://www.houseofvanslondon.com/news/the-assembly-chopper-show-kicks-off-at-house-of-vans

Anyone going to this? Ill be in london for it and if anyone else is there make sure you say hello!

Anyone in London see the scooter courier contingent blocking up a street near Parliament? Seemed to make pretty big news, certainly heard about it up here in Glasgow and not from any motorbike/scooter type people. Doesn't mean anything will change, but ah there you go.

Also pannier racks, why do they not automatically come with a cross brace to stop them collapsing in on themselves? Can imagine anything more than 3kg-5kg each (cheap soft bags alone must weigh 1.5kg of that, each) on any sort of rough surface (main roads in Glasgow) will bend them. Fires up the mighty Lidl inverter stick welder....

ok, maybe not stop the bike dead, but limit the revs right down to a walking pace.

If you tell me when you're there, I'll come down if I can. Just send me a PM.

Yep I'm going, not sure what/which days yet though.

Cargo Net - really useful and looks cool on most bikes.
https://www.sportsbikeshop.co.uk/motorcycle_parts/content_prod/262571?r=GS&gclid=EAIaIQobChMIssPkw7WV1QIVxLftCh1G_QIGEAQYASABEgJiRvD_BwE

Or a mini tool kit.

I wonder if you could do something with the m.lock?
https://motogadget.com/shop/en/m-lock-rfid-zundschloss.html

@reeen has working knowledge of this set up and @psy might be able to comment if rene doesn't.

Anyone able to offer any wisdom? So as it stands, bike is still somewhere in the ether and I don't think it'll ever likely to be recovered. MCE are gonna totally rip my nips off with the whole excess thing. Lesson learnt there.
Now, if I refused their offer, is my NCB going to still be hammered?, as I'd rather sacrifice the pitiful payment then effect that, and search for insurance that aren't a bunch of cunts...if that's even a realistic possibility.

I've installed the m.lock on a k100. Had to add a component to make it work - BMW to blame. Don't miss my ignition lock barrel at all. Reliable and flexible. Added security is a bonus.

Installation requires you not to have two useless hands but working knowledge of your electrics, possession of a wiring diagram, crimp tooling. Good install videos about on the 'tube.

what component did you have to add? and where did you mount it in the end?

It's not possible. Motorbike insurance is one huge scam.

I'm pretty much gathering that. I've spent the past 5 days dealing with the examination company that haven't figured out that you can't attach whatever the fuck you want to an email.

Just bought my first Triumph - going to be interesting - one of the last gen. 2 955i's

Nice! Cracking motors, one of the great noises.

After a week of pedal commuting, I came to work on my motorbike today. And went so fast everything started whizzing backwards on the freeway. Waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah.

Motorbikes are awesome.