Motorcycle and Scooter appreciation

That’s gonna be a proper fiend. Congrats. Winter purchases are the best, gets you prepped for summer wandering.

That’s a European road killer.

It’s new a fairings kit because the old ones were damaged. The originals were red, and the tank is still red, so the PO bought the tank cover to save the effort of painting it (and for attaching a bag etc).

Bike has almost entire history and MOT’s, and 53k (ish) on the clock.

Gotta update the V5, and clearly a black bike is faster than a red one.

Congrats on the new bike. Since we are a London centric site (not sure how true that is any more). What's the score with the XJ and ULEZ? obvs it can pass emissions but do you know if there's working precedent yet or would it be a case of going through the bs.

Just sasw the Black Widow sticker on the XJ. Widow Maker sticker on the CBR maybe? :)

Always fancied the full hopper edit that was hours long.

Hyabusa hunts blackbirds ;)

Congrats and have fun.
Oh and get your brake pads from Honda as they are the nissin pads and personal favs.

In one location?

@Airhead not too certain about precedents, but those articles previously about it said you can do it - the thing is even if 20 owners with old XJ600’s had the test, you still have to do it again for your own.

That is, unless Yamaha can offer the information.

All the same it would be quite easy to set the bike up to run lean enough to get through that test at the independent places. I believe those places are sympathetic to the cause.

Currently the carbs are balanced and engine shimmed with performance in mind. My mechanic took extra extra care because he knows how much I love to get maximum out of the engine. It is likely running a bit fatter than you could get away with, because I have an overactive wrist.

@lynx I would be a ‘busa bro with no ragrets.

Re: pads. Ah hmm okay. I can’t remember what’s already waiting at the mechanics for me, I’ll ask them!

Sorry the busa vs bird rivalry was a big thing years ago. Not sure how real it was and just media hype.

The nissin oe pads are fav's of mine and try to fit them to everything that I can cross reference to a honda fitment. Found them to be cheaper than aftermarket EBC/carbon lorraine

I’ve been happy with EBC on the smaller bikes so far, but I’ll certainly keep that in mind.

Also yea, I got the busa/bird reference but I’m really so far away from these things that I don’t think I care what I ride, so long as it’s Japanese!

Re the BMW urban gs , I have had relatively decent quotes from Bennett’s and BMW for the remote garage .

I'll second Lynx on the OEM brakes - hauling heavy bikes down from triple digits needs good pads. EBC are pretty average, they do stop but not much bite and quite a wooden feel at the lever. I'm trying Galfer at the moment on the GSXR and they're a bit better, still not marvellous though.

The Brembos on the Duc, which are non radial, 4 pot calipers on old, cast iron superbike discs are phenomenal. Astonishing bite and feel - more than the bike needs really!

Dead to me.

Honda dealers are the easiest source of nissin pads.

The twin pad calipers duc brembo are FUCKING AMAZING! Had to get used to little finger breaking as it was far beyond anything I had ever had before.

The four pot brembo are favs, my duc have all ended up with radial master cylinders from the Ducati dealer as they were the cheapest source with a lever ;)

I dunno how true this is, but I heard that leaner doesn’t necessarily mean less NOx. A richer burn means the unburnt fuel forms droplets or something.

Anyway, have a picture of the Vespa I rebuilt during lockdown

2 Attachments

More fuel (running rich) means lower combustion temp and therefore lower NOx emissions. Proof is that two strokes pass the test!

Went for a haircut, heated grips and seat are great, I need a heated lid though, fucking cold tonight

Heated gilet is nice :) Just have to watch you don't blow your accessory fuses though. Hands get very cold fiddling around with fuses at this time of year.

Really nicely done. I prefer that kind of resto to a custom job.

Ah okay I thought there was something about getting leaner to reduce emissions on-test. Wellllll hmm... I need the XJ gone but I make no promises on that front then!

Is it warm enough for a proper test ride yet? Looking forward to your thoughts after you've given it a good rinse through 2nd and 3rd.... :)
I can still vividly remember my first time on a really fast bike...you'll love it. Millennium falcon time.

Way too cold. I only managed under 10 minutes and my hands were so numb and fingers were so hard that I couldn't feel if I had cancelled the indicator or not.

I feel like I have entered the realm of 'a kid with a loaded gun'...

I find the truly terrifying thing is how quickly you get used to the speed.

You'll be riding round on one wheel in no time :)