Motorcycle and Scooter appreciation

Are you sure??

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Honestly, no! LOL. n+1 territory. Am I dreaming but don’t you have a GSXR? Space shouldn’t be an issue - you just need more space. Explanations about speed really make no sense - a bike can either cope with speed or not. Try a 70s bike at 100 and get ready to change your pants. Same speed on a 90s bike - it feels slow.
And you know I am making sense! 😁

I did think about it! No joke. I’m in Norn Iron so it’s not handy for me. Having thought about it yesterday, I had a look at similar bikes locally - especially when I saw the pick of the bike with the different fairing!

Why, because the double bubble is so nice? It’s a lot of protection from the wind.

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It's not my place to give advice. I'm not going to let it stop me though :)

170kg's wet is a light bike.

I made a mistake and thought you were Jung! Apologies. If you re-read what I said, it applies to him. My mistake !!! I’d keep the BB and only open up when it’s safe. You have not got past the novelty sage yet. Smaller bike will not be the answer until you’ve got past the novelty stage. I’m not saying you will ride slower but you will pick you time and place for high speed.
Does anyone else agree? I could be wrong.

One problem you have is the kind of bikes that are affordable are from the era when the big capacity sports bikes were becoming todays sports tourers.

What you want is super sports from any era but below a certain value they have been battered into the ground. I understand the budget is a big factor in your choices. No harm in trying out some different bikes though.

I've never got to the point where the novelty wore off!

I was trying to be reasonable not honest! It never wears off and you know that! I rode with a group of madmen outside Kendal on the way to the IOM in torrential rain at speed of 130++++ on roads which were great but no crash barriers and big drops - my brain said ‘the novelty has gone’ - my mind said ‘ride on, it can only get better’. Guess who won??!
Bizarrely, I almost came off on the way to the boat when I hit fog at the top of a mountain travelling slightly in excess of 60mph - lost sight of the road completely. That was about 6 hours before Kendal.
If the novelty ever wore off - I’d not be looking at Gumtree! 😁

Re-read that. The boat took us from NI to Scotland before we headrd to Haysham. Hope that make sense.

They say the same thing about flying planes. A lot of accidents happen when visibility changes rapidly.

Most of my experience is in London. Conditions don't vary as much.

I don't really ride for fun either!

I’d guess 100mph into a bank of fog. Black visor (it’s cool!). Brakes on. And the bike had luggage on it. Left hand bend - luckily a good surface. Brakes on - hard. Stopped with the front wheel on the grass on the wrong side of the road. Seems like yesterday but it was 1991. Brown stains on the inside of the leathers.
Novelty - OH YEAH! 😁
Close calls are part of it, but luck doesn’t last - and, that day, was luck. As previously mentioned, 130 into a wall was the end of the luck but not the novelty. Family responsibilities took over and bikes were forgotten about. Today my wife is fine with me buying another one. She didn’t know me when I had the last one!
Novelty is a good word for the madness but you could substitute ‘experience’ or ‘sense’ for it. I worry that I don’t have the sense and I know I now don’t have the experience but I still want the novelty!
Hope that makes some sense.

Most of my motor biking is an Electric Brompton these days! I lack a reason to ride the R80 at the moment and I've got too many hobbies to spend my time riding to the coast on the weekend. I'll be very happy to start the R80 in May though.

Stay safe and good luck. I’m still looking at mad two strokes but we are in lottery win territory again! I saw a mint YZR 1000 tonight - dreaming on.
I also saw a CBX with six pipes - £14,000. Dreams are good, reality not so much.
£2000 FireBlade with low (ish) miles is affordable and there are a few about but I have to think about family! Saw a nice RF900 - higher miles but nice - that could be a sensible option except my bloody legs are too long.

Haha, at least they are proper knobbies. Nearly wiped out twice this morning with a wrist full on half knobbies on cold moist diesel stained back roads, was feeling a bit tired and just wanting to get back to civilisation as quick as poss, and twice was wondering why I was going a little sideways and not really around the corner. Tiredness + cold = mild fuck ups lol. Though TBH I think being a bit tired + cold meant slides were nice and steady as I didn't really react to them at all, just let tyres catch back up with the ground. Probably looked sort of baller if you were in the right place with a cam.

No way in a million are they 183Kg dry. That’s lighter than the first Fireblades and contemporary 600s. They are over 200 dry for sure - they’re big, heavy bikes. Still seriously fast too.

Hmmmm. Hmm.

Yes I get that. Tired, I have had some “oh shit” moments but only really registered them some time (often minutes) later in the form of a slow “oh…shit…”

Still cool bikes - Kawas of that era have an unmistakable and addictive intake growl and monster motors. Barely, if any slower than the ‘bird I reckon. Just a bit more raucous.

I go for a 929/954 Blade all day though.

Probably stupid of me to sell the bird. I should just stick with it for now.

Getting really itchy for the van though. 2.5hr AA inspection was all clean. Shook hands on it with the friend yesterday, so long as our other ex-Ford mechanic has a look at it as well.

Gonna be a week or two more to wait until he can actually sell it though due to other commitments. Today, for example, it carried two bikes to Castle Combe for a track day.

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Great looking van!

Big enough to lay down in the back of, and big enough for multiple motorcycles. Literally my only concerns outside of reliability/mechanical condition.

Bug-out bag, wheel chock, small storage anchored to the corner. Sorted.

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Very jealous, looks perfect for your needs.

High mileage and not perfect, mind. Long time coming too.

Most days for the past year(s) I’ve been daydreaming about a trials bike (or monoshock scrambler) in the back of a van. Parking up, sleeping, riding…

Having only passed my car test a few weeks ago I’m concerned about my ability to drive a huge van. I guess that will melt away once I get out on the A-roads looking for spots to use the Sherco.

Treat yourself to a winch to load bikes. I have. Not used it yet though. You can get portable ones which you can also use for recovery or pony play or whatever. I got one of these on ebay for £40 https://www.rapidonline.com/sealey-pw1360-portable-winch-1360kg-line-pull-12v-89-9186
£275 rrp. New, but never used, from someone like me who had a idea but never finished it.

Interesting idea!