Motorcycle and Scooter appreciation

I do like a bit of off roading and have done a few hair and hounds in the past but that stuff is amazing. Wish I had that level of balance and control.

Allegedly worth a bit now, and people restore them!

Usual dumped london ones are the lidl/aldi cheapo which are a quite flimsy and don't like being in sheds.

Died in a blaze of glory!!!

The older ones are heavy though. You can see why they slimmed it down. Not worth it without a step though.

Normally I only poke the bear in political threads arbitrarily… but I found myself pondering the crisis all day.

On the way home from a couple hours on the Blackbird this afternoon I saw massive queues for petrol stations across Swindon.

https://www.theguardian.com/business/2022/feb/25/bps-ties-to-russia-draw-uk-government-concern

If there’s possibility of a death by a thousand cuts, I think whenever possible we could offer up a small nick ourselves.

Tough though it is to find meaningful gestures, maybe skipping the BP forecourt is a little step toward standing together.

Okay okay >>>>> politics/war thread… but seemed important to mention here, just for anyone who might be refilling the bike near a BP.

People panic buying petrol even tho allwe get is gas from the Ukraine.

Yes, on the most basic level it seems nonsense. But for me it’s less about the panic buying and more about the link to Russian money in BP. I don’t want to put even a penny into that business.

I’m gonna list it on FB Marketplace… but is this jacket of interest to anyone on here?

Armr Moto leather track jacket. I bought it a couple years ago but stupidly bought it in 42, and I need 38/40 to fit properly.

I’d say it’s a true 42, but maybe a slim-slim 44 could squeeze in.

Armour can be removed, and the back protector pocket will accommodate a full size protector instead of the narrow spine one included. Hump material can also be removed.

It’s kinda shop-soiled-new condition. Never worn on the road by me but a mark on the left bicep.

Gonna list it on FBM for £100 ono but will take less and post it of anyone on here is interested.

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Haven't seen this in Scotland. Could just be deep sleeper agents apparently panic buying fuel to insight the rest of us to panic buy fuel in order to make the current £1.50/l for car fuel seem justified, and any other upwards increases seem 'ok, because there is big demand'.

Gas prices were already on the wonk before the current active conflict.

Maybe the whole Ukraine move is actually a horrible game in order to maintain fossil fuel dependency by scaring the shit out of a load of Euro countries (and beyond) that their existing fossil fuel supply is much less stable than they think .Therefore any upward price rises seem fine. OR maybe its just that Putin has last stage cancer and this is his death throws, fuck everybody kind of a sentiment.

Did my first nadgery trail ride in ages yesterday. Lots of rocky, twisty ups and downs. I’m knackered!
Bike worked pretty well, even with the higher gearing. It’s bloody hard work though - it hits so hard in the midrange, that it’s difficult to maintain drive up the very steep stuff where it’s sandy and more technical.

Ran well on the 100ll Avgas I’ve now figured out how to buy for the delightfully modest price of 5 bucks a gallon too! Result.

Nice!

Yeah was good. The rain has washed away a lot of the topsoils since I was last up there, so even the double blue diamonds are gnarly in spots.

Good to finally get out.

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Managed to get out yesterday and already jealous of you guys, was a cracker of a day where I was.

I changed my mind on the pirelli mt21 today they were great on and off road. I did around 250km. 150 off, 100 on.

Amazing - I did about 30miles and I’m crackered!

Did around 120 miles on the Blackbird yesterday and the wind blew me sideways a few times. Woulda been happier on the DR!

Do you think your fitness stops it being as fun?

Winter is over?

I've a set brand new Oxford heated grips with no packaging if anybody wants them, just cover the postage unless you are near Manchester (unlikely)

You lot off roading has made me start looking at bikes again.

Been looking for local groups so I'm not Billy no mates, and find some trails around here are there are quite a few forested areas.

Looking at what cheap bikes there are, as it will need to be road registered but no MOT. Looks like either cheap bikes with issues, or new newish bikes and then expensive restored older bikes. Wonder where the happy medium is.

There’s no such thing as a cheap dirt bike. There are expensive bikes, and broken/illegal bikes.

Every now and then something affordable will appear near you, and disappear before you can ask to view it.

If you scroll back 2 years, people said to me to budget around £1000-2000 for a DR350. I did, but it was a 200+ mile round trip. A bike in the same condition is selling for around £3.5k now, which is insane.

People first called it Covid Tax, then Brexit, and now the Chip Shortage. Essentially, you gotta gamble and trawl.

Go for electric start, by the way. Nobody wants to stand in the rain kicking over a flooded engine cos they dropped it too much.

It was me saying 350 over 400 ;) (that is a genuine wink with a very big smile) YES I fucking know (is there the I know but know me to well and the rose coloured glasses come out smile) (think I get pleasure or reminded of happy memories of fixing cars and bikes as a child...or I have forgotten all the bad bits)

Am in France and just travelling leboncoin and Facebook.

EDIT: I was born before bikes had electric starts. I have wierd scars on my legs from exhaust burns and kick starts kicking back or breaking.

Wonder where the happy medium is.

I too really struggled with this when realising an XR400 isn't a £1.5k bike anymore. In the end felt more comfortable buying a newer bike that was coming down in price than something 20+ that was almost the same value.

I think being a bike that will have been, and will continue to be dropped etc makes this all even harder to process. My CRF450L is brilliant, but also cost 6.5k so yeah it's a hard one.

Hehe... I thought you'd like that response!

There was an incredibly affordable DRZ go up on the TET gear exchange, €2k, but involves a drive to Valenciana.

https://www.facebook.com/groups/transeurotrailgearexchange