Motorcycle and Scooter appreciation

Been a few years that one.
Must be CE certified as motorcycle PPE.
Also applies to pillions.

There’s a Harley site called tour1.com which has some good clear guides covering the basics. Things like personal breathalyser requirements and high viz.

The UK is Mad Max country in comparison.

Something arrived for the DR350…..

(400cc/82mm ATV kit: cylinder, piston, pin, rings, gaskets… pushes to 376cc)

1 Attachment

. It seems the original owner liked it enough to give it twin plug heads...

Doesn’t look like it’s twin plugged. Nicely done, but I’m another one who would’ve preferred originality, always liked those big tanked boxers.

Hard pass from me. Ruined rear suspension and exposed air filters. Something wrong with the front forks, those gaiters should be extended under no load.

Also tear everything off and put engine protector bars on! Probably worried about BMW R owners kicking it over in the car park :)

What a waste.

I suppose it’s the original vs custom , but the look is very now I think .
The rear tank seat junction looks a bit awkward I guess .
Not for me either , it was probably very expensive to do and will take a lot of work to keep it looking pristine .
But it’s good we’re not all the same , some of the Pier city custom stuff is much nicer

it does look a bit like you could pull the seat off and play goal in a lacrosse match

TBH i do quite like these stripped back airheads, though preferably the rattier the better. the only thing is that it seems to be the go-to format, bike shed show a few years back was full of bikes to this template, so I wonder if its actually quite an easy approach

It's puppy killing on a massive scale. Donor bikes have been available for reasonable money, especially fully faired RT's and relatively underpowered 650's. The whole scene is classic clueless hipster with angle grinder mentality. Turning out stupid bikes that are basically not roadworthy to please cartoon mindsets.

Doesn’t look like it’s twin plugged

Do I mean 8 valve heads?

in France there is a rule that you must always wear gloves

Whereas in some states of the US there's a rule that you don't have to wear a helmet if you have health insurance

Amazing that a helmet is way cheaper than health insurance, but I bet the odds are on the breezy choice.

The helmet can work against you. If you crash wearing jeans and a t-shirt or a denim vest, you can spend years in hospital after losing skin, flesh, nerves and tendons, and your life might not, to you, be worth living. If your health insurance pays $250,000 towards hospital bills, which ISTR is the minimum to give you helmet exemption, it's going to run out long before you have all the skin grafts you need.

I had this conversation with a friend, essentially DNR. I am in enough pain every day as it is, I would hate to spend the rest of my life as a vegetable or with such injuries that I had severely diminished quality of life.

Your point is quite valid for a different reason there - life not being affordable to keep living.

I am in enough pain every day as it is

Sorry to hear that. What's the cause?

Hereditary stuff

There are lots of odd rules, like one about wearing prescription glasses

GLASSESIf you wear prescription glasses you are required to take a spare pair of spectacles in the car with you when driving in France, so assume the same applies to a bike.

Then the hi viz and helmet reflectors issues.

Breathlyser requirement no longer checked and no one has them.

UK has MOT for bikes and lots of EU countries have nothing!

Which one is mad max?

Time for a block skim and raised compression ;)

That’s cool! Remember, increasing the bore raises the compression ratio anyway, worth calculating what it will be. Also, I always measure piston to bore clearance just to check the hone job is good.

Get the head looked at when you have it apart too, valve seats and maybe a little gas flow? Should rip!

They removed the fine but not the requirement. It’s a roadside lecture where you have to apologise profusely for your ignorance before being allowed to ride on.

Have had comments about prescription glasses and reflectors on Helmets when motorbiking, but that has been it.

Car wise last time I was stopped they didn't even ask for documents.

Any old school direction tips?

I never got round to ordering earplug headphones, and I want to use earplugs for most of the journey.

I've written down my directions on my phone and looked at the route.

Any tips for fixing study cards/similar to your gloves or something like that?

It's a naked bike with handlebars not clips-ons.

You'd be best off with a tank bag with a clear pocket for paper maps; like this

Yeah. I really shudda asked this question earlier in the week. I need it before noon tomorrow.

I guess I could go to Halfords and have a look there.

Don't suppose anyone knows if there will be issues putting one on an old fashioned style tank? It's for an air-cooled Triumph Bonneville/Scrambler.