Motorcycle and Scooter appreciation

You are in the wrong place for that.
Do it!

And let me have a go.
In return I will let you laugh at a 6'6" guy falling off riding a clown bike

Edit for OG post:

I want to build an adventure Grom.
Please list as many reasons as possible as to why this is a fucking stupid idea.
Save me from myself.
USER SOUL

Would it take 2x35L hard case side panniers and a 55L hard case top box?
If not, is it a true ADV dad bike?

Be sensible and convert a grom to a chopper, complete with monkey hanger bars, peanut tank and a bobber seat you fool.

Also second dibs for a spin

I have a GS with alu cases for that cosplay already :-D

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It’s true, and because everyone wants something with patina. If you go the Vespa route, I’ve got some reed valve PX cases for a quicker engine and some PK125 that gives you a far superior front end suspension setup, both of which I need to get round to selling

I love groms. Adventure builds are cool to look at don't get me wrong but if you want to ride it off road and not just pose on it there are better options. Stock suspension is good but basic obviously, you can do distance, but you won't get there very quick.

If you wanted good little off-road bike to tour around on get a Dr, or a serrow, or a KDX220 etc etc.

Why??

Build a sweet Mini-moto from a YZ85 and go terrorize Kart tracks instead.

Adventure Grom or this...come on now...

I knew that.
Seriousness though, why off-road a grom when a monkey is almost off-road ready and makes a cool scrambler?

Groms are much better, and parts availability for the dirt conversions are plentiful

Took my bike in to get some winter tyres (less aggressive 50/50’s) and new swing-arm linkage bearings.

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That must have felt great.

Went out on a bike today for first time in weeeks. Felt fucking great. Only sat down at lights.

Completed my IBT (Irish version of Direct Access training) last week! I'm doing Category A Unrestricted which means I'm now legally allowed drive ANY bike I want (Ireland rules are different to UK), no restrictions whatsoever aside from staying off motorways until I pass the test (IBT is only training, no test yet)!
I rode this Kawasaki ER-6F on the training and it was great fun, weather was biblical though... at one point the sky turned pink and orange and dark all at once and the Heavens opened with strong winds and leaves swirling around type stuff!

The one big outcome is that I can't actually sit my test on the Suzuki 250 I own... bike has to be over 600cc, over 50kW (67bhp) and over 180kg!
I don't even think there's any real point in riding the Suzuki at all as I should really be getting used to a bigger bike so my plan at present is to sell the Suzuki and buy an XL600V Transalp after Christmas...
It's actually under the power requirement ('89/'90 models are 55bhp) but at least it will be big and heavy and I can rent that Kawasaki off my instructor for the test day then!

The fun part is that all of the nice clean Transalps are down around the Med so planning to find one in Italy or France and ride it home! €3,000 buys a low mileage minter and there's no import costs on a bike that age so it's a no-brainer!

A few subtle mods makes them look like this too...

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I've also signed up for Monkey Run Morocco 2023 so I'll be spending a week in May riding from Merzouga to Marrakech, across the Sahara Desert and Atlas Mountains, on a 50cc Monkey bike :)

I'm quite excited!

Congrats!

I had an XL700 as my first "big bike" after passing my test.
Decent torque, can hit triple digits if you wring its neck a bit, fairly economical.
Did probably 10k+ miles a year on it commuting, had nothing more than an annual oil change and didn't skip a beat.

The practicality and reliability are definitely decisive factors alright! Seems sensible to start with something that isn't rocketship fast too... I have been getting tempted by new Tenere 700/ Tuareg 660 and even Norden 901 and Desert X but probably going to dampen those aspirations for a year or two...

TransAlp is back as a 750 parallel twin!

Here's a huuuge flapdoodle about safety ratings for motorcycle clothing. https://www.bennetts.co.uk/bikesocial/news-and-views/features/product/motorcycle-clothing-safety-ce-standards The argument is all about abrasion resistance. Apparently some makers of biker jeans are implying they're as abrasion resistant as the safest leather race suits. Seems like a big 'so what' to me. When did you ever hear of someone being injured because their kit has abraded all the way through? Impact damage is what kills or cripples us.

Edit: here's a timely example https://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/horror-moment-motorbike-couple-sent-28608688

It looks pretty fantastic to be honest! Sensible price, likely to be great on and off road...
Closest thing to a poor man's Desert X in some respects?

Horrifying example, especially graphic since it was captured on camera. 15 month sentence for that is a joke.
Theres plenty of folk that will defend recreational drugs, 'its just weed, get over it man and chillout', problem is once decriminalized for possession or small dealing, this kind of stuff the police & CPS will have even less teeth to hand out any kind of sentence.

Re Abrasion resistance. I think in places like the USA / Canada where the roads are smooth and there is just a lot more tarmac with buildings and structures set well back from the kerb you do get a lot more sliding injuries (better weather so less gear on as well) than here where roads are narrow and jam packed with solid metal things, trees, walls, buildings and bus stops to impact you.
Edit would take spine + neck protection (external brace etc) over abrasion resistance any day, skin and meat you stand a chance of putting back on, spine + head injuries its game over unfortunately.

€3,000 buys a low mileage minter and there's no import costs

Sounds like a plan. What would it be worth once you got it home?

That's an insanely low sentence. Why offenses like this aren't charged the same as GBH with intent I don't understand.

Cager culture

There is an argument to be made that while it's certainly worth trying, ultimately no amount of protection is going to save you from the very worst accidents - but sliding protection will make the much more common "small" accidents like lowsides without involvement of a 3rd party much less painful and save you from a having to nurse large patches of skin back to health over the course of many weeks.

What a lot of people overlook (until it happens to you) is joints. If you get an injury near or in your knees, elbows etc. the risk of infection and complication increases massively.

You can of course die from the shock of loss of skin too.

Especially at this time of year you should be prepared for a low speed lowside at least. Otherwise you're not really trying 🙂