Motorcycle and Scooter appreciation

Had a little go on a mates Bandit 1200 nearly 20 years ago. They are very quick. They used to be everywhere, the 600 and 1200. I managed 130 in the first 5 minutes without any trouble at all. Not a scary bike either. The guy whose bike it was used to spend most of his time on one wheel, he dropped 2 pillions at traffic lights in the time I knew him.

A month or two ago he had offered to give me a pillion ride on it some time, and luckily it has a topbox (daily work bike for instructing) so I’m unlikely to fall off the back... or rather, when I do I’m taking all his stuff with me. Not had the chance yet.

He was remarking it’s been a long time since he went out just to enjoy riding, rather than as a job. We agreed once we’re on the other side of the festive season, we go for a few hours with me on a 600 and swap bikes halfway.

It's fairly instinctive with those bikes to lean over the front when you accelerate hard but they pull very hard. You'll enjoy it if you get the chance I'm sure. He's probably not going to want to see you doing some crazy speed on it I guess!

Well, he knows that since I am a full license holder it’s on my head if I lose it. That and he already stated clear as day, “bin it, you bought it” !

I think you should think about it! I should stay away from this thread completely as it gets me thinking too!
Santa on a TZR or RGV!😁
Have a great Christmas🎉

Merry V-mas!

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Due to their high fibre diets Rudolph, Prancer, Blitzen and the other reindeer are not ULEZ compliant, so Santa has had to make other arrangements to get presents delivered to inner London kids. Today I saw his ride, Santa rides a Triumph.

Does anyone have a cheap commuter they want to be rid of? Someones tried to have a go at all three locks on my Ducati whilst parked in central. I think my best option is simply to buy another beater. I'm looking for something 500c-700c. I'm not fussed with looks I just need cheap and reliable. I'm thinking about another honda Hornet but I'd like a V-twin for that low end commuting life. If anyone knows of anything let me know.

After riding for 22 years I still feel most relaxed on a 650cc ish bike. I think people can be a bit quick to jump on the big bikes when the smaller ones perform perfectly well. I've been fortunate to own an array of big fast bikes (RC8, BMW 1000RR, Fireblade and currently a 1299 Panigale) but my 600 Hornet was the one I love the most.

Indeed. Totally agree.

As I need to manhandle the bike often (in and out the shed and such) and I have awful joints even in my 30’s, I love the low weight of enduro/dual sport. That forced me to think small, and I am don’t regret going smaller displacement.

That, and I also think that for everything but highway miles the 350cc is more than enough to get me in trouble.

A 600-ish would be great though. I’d love the experience on bigger bikes, but I’d sooner go light.

Fucking arse nuggets. That sucks.
You got a budget in mind? Mt07? Old street triple?

I'll always recommend the SV. My one if you remember it was £700 and has done me for about 30k miles.
Ratty enough that it gets ignored for flashier stuff. I'll never get rid of it.

Yep + 1 for the SV's - lovely things. Have had lots of different machines but fell in love with a 350 Royal Enfield. For British roads you need a bit of punch though. CB500 was my best ever commuter ( when I couldn't cycle of course ).

Yeah I reckon smaller capacity bikes are coming back into fashion. SV can do everything in third and still give you good mileage.

Not quite small capacity but keen to get a SRAD 750 for the garage in 2021. Although have been watching a few ZXR400s so you never know.

thinking about another honda Hornet

Not really cheap anymore*. Bandit, SV, or gladius would be my choice.

*relative based on condition etc.

Duke390 for the lols

Depending on your commute that sort of thing is great in London.

Mate had an MT03 before his Speed Triple and admitted that it was actually more useful 99% of the time.

Apart from the windy high speed roads to get to N. Circular my old 125cc in that style was probably better in every way for commuting.

Obvs not a great shout if you don't want it stolen tho.

@Soul What tyres you running? Not even going to let these Metzelers' wear out, time for change.

Hating on Metzeler?

Avon is always worth a looking into. Surprised how well they grip on the DR.

Conti trail attack 3s at the moment. Like them a lot.

Previously had Pilot Road 4s which were also great.

Would definitely recommend either.

Banging. Will look at getting a set then.

Running PR4's on the SV and they've been superb in Spanish heat and rainy winters here.
CBR has Supercorsa's but that's dry only.

@pdlouche The metzeler's are frankly alarming when the temp drops. There is zero feel to them. Any surface change and the front squirms. I've never felt so much anxiety from tyres. Hitting those metal expansion joints on the westway is unfucking pleasent.

Sounds terrifying. I have Avon Roadrider on the DR’s road wheel-set. No idea what we were running on the Bandits, but these Avon are very very grippy. In the dry they felt like you could ride the sidewalls.

A week ago I was riding in low temps in pouring rain and I could feel them start to break out a little when leaning, but at 90/90-21 and 110/100-18 it doesn’t take much. It was very consistent and responsive even for a relatively new rider like me.

As a new rider I mean, in the last 14 months I’ve done something like.... 7k miles or there abouts? All weather. But that’s almost exclusively on digestive biscuit tyres.

By the way, the Avons survived the M25, so they are ‘fine’ with constant surface changes ...!

A week ago I was riding in low temps in pouring rain and I could feel them start to break out a little when leaning

That's a good thing in my books. At least they're reliable in terms of feedback. For me personally, that's a metric in how I gauge tyres. If I can feel it letting go a little, that gives me time to correct or let go. That time is valuable when combined with braking and I'll rely on the tyre for that information.

What's fucking fucking is when there's nothing from the tyre coming back through the bike.

Yea I was concerned when temp started to drop, and it was less than +5’C on the road in the mornings with fog. In reality the tyres never warmed up but never lost grip at moderate speeds.

A week ago it was pouring with rain after dry days, the roads were diesel-spill clusterfucks. I was still riding like the roads were dry, and I could feel a bit of drifty loss of traction. It was very consistent. The more I leaned in the wet the more they let go, and on the occasional concentrated diesel patch there was a clear break in contact.

But days earlier on the torrential rain on the motorway at 75mph? No problem at all. They felt like an all-weather option. Felt horrid overall, but the Avons never gave me the fear.