Motorcycle and Scooter appreciation

It's a piece of info I should have anyways, and I have a lot more to sell on* that needs photos etc

*track bike, steamroller and a couple of retro mtb things. Might sell the rim roadie too.

Am serious as I was thinking of building something silly, as I think a friend has an sv700 engine with sever bottom end knocking ;)

Well, I need this bike gone so if anyone wants to have a look. Giz a shout.

100% wrong, black bikes are shit. Rare to see one that looks half-decent and it seems to encourage a lot of unpainted plastics.
The louder the paint, the better the bike.

The cars which are (to me) utilitarian in nature I tend to favour lots of torque- 720Nm in the E63 from, basically, idle onwards.

But cars which are for fun? Put it this way- the 911 engine is being built with ITB’s, very lumpy cams, and the entire valve train has been re-engineered for an 8,500rpm redline. 1,300 higher than the stock unit.

Which of course poses the question of what would a motorcycle be for?

And the answer to that is that it would be for fun.

In terms of size and shape, I’m very flexible, 187cm and 79kg. I have been told (although the teller was not of unimpeachable authority) that I’d be too tall for a Ducati. I’d be happy for them to be wrong.

And the over riding motivation here is to try a powered bike out and have some fun, without losing a leg.

Some context- owning the E63 for a year cost me around £12,000, which surprised me when I added it up, but it was a thirsty beast. Ideally I’d like my foray into motorcycling to cost less than that.

It could quite easily cost you half that for the first year if you're not bothered by showroom spec bikes.
I had an SV650 on hire for a bit and whilst not a Ducati, I just didn't have the same fun on the twin that I had on the inline 4s.
The sound and torque is great but there's just something about a 12,500/13,000 rpm redline that I can't ignore.

You could buy a brand new sportsbike, immediately bin it into a ditch and never ride it again for less than that.
More sensibly:
£4-5k on a bike
£1k on gear
£1k on training
£500-1000 insurance

The bike will probably be worth similar after a year if it’s not for you - my first bike (2001 CBR600) I bought for £1500 and sold for £2k after a couple of years.

I road MX bikes in my teens and my first road bike in my twenties was an sv650 just like the one above. They’re quite light, plenty quick for a new rider, really good fun on track with a set of sticky tyres and there’s tons of part available to mod them.

They’re not as exhilarating as I4 600+ proper sports bikes, but if you’re going to be riding mostly on the road I think something in that vein is a good starting point as they’re cheap, reliable and versatile.

I’d highly recommend some sort of advanced road training once you’ve settled into riding.

If you’ve still got the bug after a year or so, go for something a bit more bonkers and do lots of track days would be my suggestion.

Ducati Supersport is fine for me at 188cm, 80kg and (fairly) flexible - taking into account being closer to 60 than 50!

Anyone actually interested in my XJ600?

I have a line on a new bike and need it gone. I put it on fbm at £1500 which is of course inflated.

‘96 XJ600N naked with small Puig screen. Hel braided lines. Rebuilt brakes, recent EBC clutch friction plates, you name it.

In Swindon but delivery not impossibly out of the question.

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So I’ve bitten the bullet , splashed out on a BMW urban gs .
My Vespa is insured down our brick side passage that they accepted as a ‘garage’ it’ll be a squeeze with both .
I do have a garage a couple of hundred yards away and I used to keep my motorcycles in there but nowadays insurance don’t really like it.
Any one got a friendly insurer that accepts this arrangement?
Cheers

BMW urban gs

Excited for the pics of this! Afraid I can't help on the insurance though...

Is there any love for choppers and bobbers here or do we all consider ourselves "proper bikers" by the way?

My mate in Paris has this awesome 1992 Fatboy and it's making me really want to pick up a proper bigboy HD in the future...

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HD in the future

Dude, do it now while you're young and can pull it off.

But yeah I'd like a modded FXR and a lightly bobbed dyna wide glide.

The urge is strong alright... I could see it working out for me next springtime maybe. I'd also love to buy one somewhere else in Europe just to get to ride it home!

BUELL is more fun

I’ve only ever hired them in the US, but I must say I did enjoy cruising along on them. Hired a fat boy and a forty-eight, both with what seemed like open pipes. Was deaf as a post by end of the day.

There's a good scene for that stuff round my way so it's hard to ignore all the inspiration. Not limited to HD at all, and pretty heavily in the Mad Max territory which is definitely more for me than the OCC side of things

Oh yeah man I do not enjoy the OCC thing at all. No bike benefits from black hardware with machine polished accents...

I'm a big fan of the whole Japanese bobber and chopper vibe though, relatively skinny tyres and nicely shaped tanks and bars are much more attractive!

Bosozoku FTW

Never really got the peanut tank appeal.

I know it's a weight thing... But it just makes me think of ordering a diet coke with your large MaccyDees.

I've ridden Harleys on 5 continents, still wouldn't want to own one in London though. They really suit the terrain and roads of the west coast and national parks of America though.

Rat bike?

Think you are right, but buells are different.

I've always rather admired this guy's bikes, in particular this Duc. Not seen him about as much now I don't commute into Brighton

https://www.instagram.com/p/CPgRiw-hTPP/