Motorcycle and Scooter appreciation

Another update from the sunshine states. A while after having my tyres changed, noticed the chain was pretty slack, so I took a torque wrench to the wheel bolt; 45nm. That's 45 fucking NM.

I miss decent workshops.

Good brands for chain and sprocket combo? I want to go up a tooth on front sprocket, reduce rpm at top end a little as it gets old quick

I got a set by JT from Wemoto, at as good a price as I could get sourcing bits separately from moto distributors at trade rates through work

Word. I still covet a red 1198S with slash cut Termis. Just for the very occasional bit of outright fuckwittery I have left in the system. Came close to buying one but Mrs said no.

Still never owned a Duc.

Just got a dream bike ' 78 Z650 B1. Needs a fair bit doing, only thing left is to freight it to Oz, spray my face silver and play silly buggers in the desert.
Kickandbuttonman. It's a good day - let's hope it's not a moneypit.

Bought some oxford indicators from ghostbikes. A quid cheaper than everywhere else, free postage and came next day. Impressed with that.

It’s happening. CBT tomorrow, hopefully getting a twist and go Saturday or Sunday.

Helmet-wise, should I look at open face, flip face, full face? Does it matter? Is it a personal preference thing?

Going into a J&S later but don’t really have a starting point.

It is personal preference but half face doesn't provide much protection if you have a big off. I've got a scar from the bridge of my nose to my chin from the most recent accident and it took 2 hours to sew up. I rode with half face for 25 years though. Flip front are generally heavier and full face can be very light and comfortable but people who wear glasses find them a bit more complicated to put on/take off. If you are riding all year in all conditions a flip down shade can be useful, mostly a need in low winter sun when you tend not to be carrying shades.

Cheers. Went for this. Bit of a hybrid and I e always liked Lazer helmets for cycling.

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For commuting and round town flip up, they've come a long way safety wise and I would be happy wearing one (do wear a convertible Givi and like it, bit noisy though).

For out of town solid helmet, there isn't a single convertible/flip up thats as strong as a one piece helmet.
Get some good gloves, winter is coming, makes ALL the difference to you continuing to use it for the other 9 months of the year. Expect to spend around £60-90 for something that fits, works on the bike (doesn't constrict your control) and keeps the rain and cold out. OR go for two gloves, a thin close fitting set for the hot days, and a big one or two sizes up set for the rest and wear them over the top. Did that when couriering my first winter, that plus big muff's was the only way (scooter prob wasn't powerful enough for heated grips lol).

About to rebuild rear brake, again. Brembo have this plastic liner that the piston (master) sits inside an untreated bare alloy casting. So any moisture that gets in there (right next to rear wheel) gets between the plastic liner (as fragile as ceramic pistons) and the casting and it compresses on the liner, causing the piston to bind, or at least not return properly.

Just wondering what would be the best grease to fill the non DOT brake fluid area of the master, previously used very high quality anti-seize and waterproof marine grease. Both have let the moisture in again. Not sure if 'DOT' specific brake assembly grease is going to be any better, or maybe send the master casting away and get it anodized? Its not just me, its anyone with a 90/00s bike with brembo 11mm master, quite a common issue, want to fix it properly rather than every 6-9 months have to strip it again.

I've had cheaper flip-ups (£~120) around four years ago and after two replacements, wouldn't trust them not to flip-up in an accident. You get what you pay for though.

Anybody know much about modern scooters.

I’ve budgeted about £1k which gets me a Honda Vision 110 on a 12 plate with ~8k miles or a newer Aprilia 125. 65 plate and ~5k miles. Both have V5 present and I’ll do all the usual checks (HPI) and mechanical once over.

Heart says get the Aprilia. Head says the Honda will be easier to gets parts for.

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I don’t know the new prices but those miles seem high for the money... Mrs Hammer got a 2017 Yamaha Vity 125 with about 500 miles on the clock for ~£1400 from a shop. It’s unremarkable but solid and small.

Look for the Honda SH125, larger wheels make a big difference. Don't bother getting something cosmetically sorted in London, it will soon be stolen or damaged. I've not had Aprillia for a long time but the spares used to be a nightmare.

8k on a Honda moped is barely run in!

Schuberth make an open face helmet with a chin bar. Or at least they used to.

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Same wheel size I think. I rode the Vision 110 on my CBT and it’s a great scooter so think I’ll go for that.

The Vity looks like it has tiny little pram wheels. They certainly sell for less. Has it been reliable?

The front one is 16" on the later models but the back one's still 14", SH125 is 16"/16". Easy to overlook as you don't really see the back wheel properly. The SH handling is great, probably the vision is good too.

Ahhhh. Good knowledge. Thanks.

Yeah it’s got small scooter wheels. We’ve only had it since March I think but it’s required zero maintenance (only ridden max 30 mins total a day) and does about a month for £4 in petrol!

In fairness my CBR has 32k and is extremely clean but knowing how scooters get treated, who rides them and on which kind of roads, I reckon they have a hard life.

That just looks plain dangerous to me.

Oh hello decapitation!