Motorcycle and Scooter appreciation

Has anyone heard of removing a fork leg to fit a front mudguard? Recently bought a new front mudguard and the lacquer has cracked when splaying the mounting arms. When talking to the seller they asked "Did you take one fork leg out when fitting or try to fit with both fork legs in."

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Splaying? Why would it it need splaying at all? I wouldn't be holding out much hope of that lasting thousands of miles if it's under bending tension. The road vibrations will surely crack it.
Is it designed for different forks?

That was my feeling, but didn't want to admit fitting it incorrectly if that would void the return. Thanks.

Well warranties and return terms are additional to your consumer rights anyway so you should always be able to return it if it is not fit for purpose

Yes, you are right.

Doubt it will crack if it’s carbon fibre. That’s just ripples in the clear coat. You can sand it back and spray lacquer if you can be bothered. I did on the belt covers and cases on the Duc as they’d gone dull. Or return it but there’s a decent chance the next one will do the same.

Hmm. GSXR front end, no way you’d need to remove one fork leg. I’ve done it a few times so far and removing front wheel is easiest option. You can squeeze it it, but ask me why I did it a second time.

dB Customs Katana 😍

Dreaming on a Saturday night? Bike looks great. I loved the original one.

Love that. It's almost OEM+ Just the right touches to make it snappy for today.

Pirelli Scorpion STR put on the other day, can't believe how much better the bike handles.

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Let's see the entire bike

Ooh glad of the recommendation! I'm picking up the XTZ next Saturday and I know it needs new tyres already...
I'd been thinking of trying Shinko 705 but open to other suggestions on 80/20 adv tyres!

The scorpion rally's were highly recommended, not too bad price wise (I think).

I need to take better pics soon!

I fitted a set of old Trailwings to my XR a couple of years back and could barely unstick them on the road, even at big lean. The front was very impressive, good feel, considering. They were fine for some off road trails too, though were shit in sand and mud like any other 80/20 tire.

I'll have a look at them! I'm probably overthinking it to be honest but I'm just a little bit concerned about some of the comments written about some of the 80/20 tyres being bad in the wet considering I'll be riding that 80% on Irish roads which can be very wet indeed!

Trailwings were once monikered Death Wings, but it was a particular version I think.

Yikes... I've been looking at some reviews on those Pirellis and the prices look ok so I think I'll give them a go actually!

I've been deep in thought on planning a sort of restomod job on the XTZ over winter and I'm very massively inspired by this KTM 990 Adventure by Jane Motorcycles in New York.

Do we reckon crashbars in Yamaha Faraway Blue would be too much? Leave the rest of the bike white and get a big Yamaha decal in black?

That sounds like it would look great, I'd go for it!

My goal over the next year is to try various bikes until something clicks. Currently have the street scrambler which will be used for all the B roads around here for the next few months and then will swap for something different.

Next on the list is a dual sport/enduro bike, living next to Salisbury plains means there is plenty of BOATs to explore.

Is buying a 250/350 4 stroke KTM or Husqvarna a bad idea? I'll probably have to employ an armed guard outside my garage but I'm more thinking about servicing etc.

I'm not hugely experienced but test rode quite a few bikes before I tried the CRF300L. And immediately got that "click" you're talking about. Just knew immediately I'd enjoy riding it.

If you're a more experienced rider it might not give you the thrill of a more powerful bike, but for me it's great fun round the local twisty, potholed, gravelly lanes. And would be capable on the BOATs.

Plus the servicing schedule is measured in thousands of miles, not hours. Can recommend.

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Have you had to do anything to the suspension? I think this is the sensible option for me, just need to test ride one as I've got short legs but hopefully with the narrow seat I'd be fine. I also need to figure out what the difference between this and the rally is.

On paper the seat height is 880mm. I had discounted them as an option based on this measurement as I wanted a bike I could comfortably flat foot for confidence reasons. Due to their scarcity I hadn't been able to even sit on one - my local Honda dealer had one in the showroom but it was sold so no sitting allowed.

So I set about test riding some bikes with seat heights in and around 800mm instead. Nothing "clicked" but a motorbike trader I went to for a test of an SV650 had this 2nd hand CRF300L available. I asked if I could take it for a short spin round the block (mainly as I expected it to be too tall but I was curious to know how it rode) and I found that due to the famously soft suspension I could flat foot it and it didn't feel intimidating at all. In fact the opposite, it felt so confidence inspiring due to it's low weight and manoeuvrability.

Knew immediately that I'd found what I was looking for. I'm about 12 stone and for me I'm happy with the suspension for now. Yes it's fairly active, but I'm enjoying the way it rides. Perhaps when I take it off road properly I might want more damping and control from the suspension. But for now I'm very happy with the whole thing. If I upgrade it further down the line, then I'd probably get a Rally Raid level 1 set up as this decreases the travel slightly so I believe offers a seat height similar to that offered by the sag in the OEM suspension.

The Rally has a bigger fuel tank, more fairings for a bit more wind protection, better headlights, a wind shield and a slightly bigger front brake disc. Probably better if you want to do longer rides with some adventure/touring in mind.

Rally will be less tiring at road riding consistently above 50mph.

Soft suspension will mean riding around the way it wallows in corners. You just ride it for what it is, you don’t push it hard on the twisties.

There are lowering link sets available. Don’t bother.