Motorcycle and Scooter appreciation

@soul - Johnson Valley. Amazingly there was an 848 parked in the lot of the pub. He must have ridden down at least a mile of Sandy dirt road to get there. Puckering.

Chak, kind of - Johnson Valley is completely open riding and it's massive. Like size of a couple of counties massive. You can point and go but the terrain is very varied - from dunes to extremely sharp lava / Rock sections. The main problem is running into something you can't get back out.

I got stuck for a bit in some seriously gnarly rock sections and turned around by a (wet) and super gloopy dry lake bed that I nearly sank up to the axles in!

I probably won't strat out quite as far next time if I'm on my own.

Oh and I hit a GPS clocked 70mph jump on one of the dirt roads back to where I staying. Total accident. Looked down at the GPS, looked up. Oh shit! Fortunately remembered to grip and stay on the gas - flew a bloody long way though. Lots of nervous laughter after that... :)

Just had a look on google maps - it's fucking massive. Looks like so much fun.

Obvs joking about the Harley but I might be out that way next year so maybe if you're around when I'm there...

Yeah, deffo. Most fun you can have on two wheels. Desert riding season is from now through to april / may. Starts getting too hot after that.

hmmm - late May is probably when i'll be there so might not work. Let's see what happens.

Thanks for input.
I don't have recovery on my policy. I had to limp it home on a single cylinder last week due to a broken fuel banjo on the left carb. I cut out the cross over fuel line to be able to shut off fuel to one side only.

Hi folks. Does anyone know of, or have a 125cc scooter for sale? Looking to pick up one cheap in the South East London/North West Kent area. I wanted to try a winter commute on one to see if I like it. Looking at no more than £500 – ideally less! Thanks for your help!

Credit card and recovery card ;)

What can you do at the road side and what was in the original tool kit.

Looks so fun, sorry to sound like a dad, but please be careful.

Mine is similar to @BrickMan 's, but no allen keys (bikes are too old) and the addition of a 8" adjustable spanner, plug spanner, spare plug (bikes are both 2 strokes) and hand cleaner.
Especially the hand cleaner, otherwise roadside repairs effectively cost a pair of gloves.

Especially with 2 strokes eh? Spooge central.

I'm missing the aroma of Maxima 927 in the morning...about time I got my CR250 fixed for a good braaaaaaaaaapping.

@Lynx - damn right. I was riding no more than 75% of my already pedestrian pace most of the time. Until I knew where I was at least... Still get a little quiver in the harris everytime I think about that jump!

Trojan Minimotor and a Bown. Much aroma, very little 'braaap'. Also much roadside fixing.

I used to have a 500cc two stroke. Lot's of brraaappping on the occasion that I actually got it started.

Adjustable spanner and bits screwdriver is what I'll get. + tyre/tube repair, knife, tape and glue.
No space for a coffee brewer under the seat unfortunately.

Thought 2 strokes were outlawed in your neck of the woods?

Or disposable gloves?

Actually using a vintage moped is seen as behaviour of dubious morality in this part of the world - adding latex to the spectacle would probably lead to a mob with pitchforks burning the bike and driving me out of the village.

Amazing. So all the markings of a perilous journey into the middle of nowhere with no help, but paradoxically, enjoying that more than somewhere easily accessible.

The area looks like a knobbly tyre wet dream!

True that!

@TM - Street legal 2 squeaks were banned ages ago. Dirt bikes are still fine, though there are seasonal restrictions for some places for riding new models. Mine's a 2001 so I can ride it all year around.

Ah yeah, forgot about that stuff, decathlon used to sell little aerosols canister of it for a pound, the foamy rubbery stuff?

I had a go on a friends cr500....spat me (and anyone else who rode it) off regularly.

Beast of a bike.

That stuff is vile and can ruin a tyre.

What I have learnt, to carry a tubeless repair kit (bought from a french hypermarket) and one of these https://www.wilko.com/wilko-tyre-sealant/p/0344045. If I get a puncture I move the hole in the tyre to the bottom, remove the valve and add the tyre sealant. The reinsert the valve, then inflate with a couple of co2 canisters, then ride gently to somewhere where I can inflate the tyre fully. Has worked everytime and the tyre sealant can be simply washed out and a proper repair made if need be.

I had an 86 CR500. It put the 'tard in Motard. They're kind of terrible. Bastards to start and not all that fast, particularly on the street. The vibration is like riding a cement mixer.

They're very, very reliable though. Need far less maintenance than 250s.

It was the early 90's and didn't know better. Mainly from modding piaggio engines.

Yeah, I'd come the other way at that point, from uber-speed street bikes. They're still ferociously fast for a dirt bike - a well fettled one can probably still roll over a new 450 in a straight drag. Going for silly money now too - another bike I shouldn't have sold, doh!

Bit of a shite pic, but here's mine. None of the lights or anything worked, no speedo etc...I had a very awkward incident just by the US Ambassadors house in Regents Park on it once.

Anyone driven across Spain but not through Pyrenees? Looking to drive back to the UK the long way around, but not keen to do mountain passes in November again.

Any road recommendations through the middle? I only know north and way south.

Just cross between San Sebastián and Bayonne - the west coast of France has some nice B road equivalents or nearby motorways if you’re in a hurry.

I did Lagos and back a few years ago - after France did san
Seb to caceres to Lagos then on way back followed west coast of Portugal (amazing quiet mountain roads) up to Lugo then up to the coast and along back to san seb.