Motorcycle and Scooter appreciation

Just had my KTM (390 Duke) commuter stolen from outside my house. Knew it was going to happen eventually.

What's the cheapest, nastiest, ugliest, sub 500cc, manual, ULEZ compliant bike out there?

Sucks, hope the insurance payout is swift and generous.

I honestly find it fairly comfy, my only real issue is I’m definitely too tall for such a small bike, mid back is not great after a while if I’m not watching my posture.

Saw some real nice bikes about today in the sun, made me real jealous I was sat in the back of a car.

Damn, this sucks! Hopefully it’ll return. Have a thorough check of alleyways in the area (like I should’ve).

Got sick of staying in, so popped out for a bitter shandy and did a quick loop. Despite best efforts looping three roundabouts, I could not scrub the last of the tyre. No idea how I managed it on the left side now!

More exciting though, was the accidental wheelies.

It wasn’t the only wheelie today, but I managed to get what I believe was either air followed by the front touching down, or a sick wheelie, at about 90/95mph over an undulating stretch of road.

As the wooping feeling was followed by the front going ‘donk!’, my eyes went wide and I burst out laughing in my helmet. I couldn’t stop laughing for a good minute or two, and my grin and intermittent laughs followed all the way home.

I managed a few more, also not wholly intentional, coming out of a few bends onto the straights closer to home.

Probably need to watch out for brown envelopes this week and next.

Good work. I have been wrestling the two stroke through the dusty, rocky stuff. My hands don’t work anymore….

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Super jealous. Looks amazing.

It was fun. I need to get the forks revalved for that stuff though. The flywheel weight helps a bit, so that was a win. Still way harder to ride than it should be though!

Is the weight doing the same as it does if you fit one to a trials? Slower uptake on power so more tractable and a little bit tamed, but massive long runoff after?

I think that’s the theory. In practice two stroke MX bikes have such a brutal hit in the midrange that it doesn’t do much! A marginal gain for sure.

Shit, really sorry to hear that dude.

Kawasaki Er5? 500 and under are in big demand at the moment it seems, so prices aren't great.

Bit late to the jeans chat but xlmoto.co.uk are currently doing a jeans and leather jacket combo deal for £80 until the 27th. Have no idea on quality but thought might be useful to some, the site is fairly reputable at least.

So I ordered a pair of their cheap jeans, Bit of a strange purchase, no email confirmation or anything but they turned up after about four days.
Used for the first time today. Reasonable fit, deep pockets to chuck my building pass into and they have quite a bit of weight to them. Were comfortable for a half hour commute this morning . They have knee and hip armour and a full lining.
I just commute now on a 250 scooter,so half an hour and a bit into town and lucky to see over 40mph and for this they felt fine. They have a bit of heft to them so hopefully would be ok in low speed tumble and for the same reason I wouldn’t sit at a desk in them all day.
At present they get a positive vote.

Gutted to hear, and agreed, hope it turns okay in the end. I know nothing about ULEZ but my first thought was CB500 if they're still reasonably priced.

Glad they worked out for you, I just thought I'd mention as the prices seemed very reasonable compared to anything else I'd seen.

Unrelated but if anybody is hoping for a productive day, don't watch this.

https://youtu.be/EvGVx6JbpJE

Thought I'd post this in case anyone else is looking for a way to reduce road noise / protect hearing.

For years, I've used custom moulded silicon earplugs from Ultimate Ear. I've had a set of full closed, slightly open and a seriously expensive pair with dual drivers. They've worked for thousands of miles and helped massively to reduce road noise and stave off tinnitus.

Last year, I picked up a Motikom MPlus noise cancelling headset. It's been ace - no connection issues, great battery life and decent sound quality, especially with some Comply earphone tips. Haven't gone back to the silicone earplugs since.

However, I didn't realise how much better they were until I forgot to charge the headset the other day and went back to the plugs. The difference was stark. The low bass frequency from turbulence off of the screen and the peak on my helmet were super noticeable and even uncomfortable on the 50 miles into London. Definitely better than nothing at all but so much worse than I realised vs the Motikom. Charged the headset up at work and was glad to have it on the way back.

Obviously no affiliation to the company and no referral link as far as I'm aware but I would highly recommend picking up a pair if you're interested in hearing protection.

I haven't used them as a phone headset (they come with a boom mic) so can't speak to the quality of that.

Could really do with that.
It’s the low bass frequency that gets to me these days. It’s like a constant thud.

How does it fit though? Just wraps around your neck or something. Haven’t had a proper look.

Yeah, you wear the unit over the collar of your jacket. It's completely imperceptible during riding for me.

I've found the volume controls and track controls (rotating knobs on either side) super easy to find and use whilst riding, even with winter gloves on.

They work well as a noise cancelling to reduce / remove ear fatigue without playing music btw. Just nice to have that feature too.

Only criticism I have is that the external mics can pick up a little clicking in high winds but it's minimal. They now sell foam pieces to go over the mics, which weren't available when I bought them so no idea if they eliminate that issue.

I use Moldex Contours and sometimes the reusable Comets. Comets are uncomfortable for me. But my ears are weird.

Seriously serious question. If I did sell the blackbird, is anyone on there interested?

Nothing wrong with it and I have started to love it, but I don’t know that I have the discipline to stay even within sight of legal.

You should keep it for a Europe trip. Get down to the south of France for a few days once the weather is a bit more reliable. Riding in France and Italy is bliss.

I’m more concerned I will try to Dougie Lampkin the whole way there

I see a replacement set of fork seals in your future.... ;)

They were only done last month!!

For some riders (me included) it is basically impossible not to use the available power.

My concerns about buying it would be, is it Ulez compatible and will I die pulling a wheelie over Wandsworth Bridge.

That sounds perfect really. I don't have much care for the mic as 1. I hate calls, and 2. I'm nobby no mates when riding. I like that it's removable.

More than anything, I like that it's not intrusive and I can just leave it hanging around my neck.
I know it's a personal question, but how's removal of helmet with earphones?

@pdlouche This is why I sold the Multistrada..every journey ended up being 'how quickly can I get there'.