Motorcycle and Scooter appreciation

Posted on
Page
of 1,061
First Prev
/ 1,061
Last Next
  • Stupid young boys thinking they can make easy money and all they are doing is starting a life of crime that only get worse. Fuckin so daft

  • This could become an epidemic, I mean Glasgow doesnt seem to have it for some reason but Edinburgh terrible for it.

  • Tough one, but seems that we're faced treating the symptoms on this one.

    I only use SS-Gold disc locks when out and about and rarely leave a bike for longer than absolutely necessary. The CBR is fortunately undesirable, but the DR it is almost never left unattended because it's just too risky.

  • Dublin is hideously bad for it at the moment. A chap on the Motorbikes Ireland FB group had an MV Agusta Superveloce stolen and the little shitheads just took it for a joyride and dumped it in a ditch.

    My only reassurance with the XTZ parked outdoors is my neighbour has an R1200GSA parked a few spaces up and obviously hasn't had any trouble but I still use an alarmed disc lock and keep it under cover.
    I've been considering a tracker and a secondary electrical killswitch too which I might add when I'm doing a few jobs this winter.

    We're in an especially awkward situation in Ireland as our police force isn't like normal police... An Garda Síochána translates literally to protectors of the peace and as such they choose to take a very soft handed approach towards policing which in some ways is very good but when they're up against stuff like this renders them effectively powerless.
    The little shitbags know that if they're not wearing a helmet the Gardaí legally cannot chase them so they get away with it.

  • The helmet thing is UK too.

  • Ah fair enough. I've seen some of those videos of UK cops knocking thieves off bikes with cars and that though... we'd never get that around here.

  • Think that stopped as victims (?) sued as they were hurt

  • What about an AirTag or similar for tracking?

  • Problem with bluetooth tags is that they only give a rough area depending on pings from other devices.

    Secondly as some people used them illicitly, so there are apps to scan for them nearby.

    Smart thieves will just scan the bike and it's the first thing to get removed. May be good if the thieves are in a rush, but again as soon as it's hidden in a container you've no chance.

  • Smart thieves are stealing to order. May assist with 'joy riders' or 'death drivers' as they appear to termed now.

  • I recon a lot of these bikes stole are as said joyridden or stripped for bits and sold on.

  • Yeah cos we love cheap parts....

  • It’s true. The shit I’ve searched on AliEx is testament.

  • People used to happily buy datatagged stamped panels from a breaker yet never checked if the panels were stolen.

    Same with cheap bikes.

  • Madness. That said a lot of old old datatagged parts will have passed through a number of owners without ever updating them.

  • So effectively pointless.

    Joke was how many police had the datatag scanners

  • Has anyone learned to drive a car "later in life" after riding bikes for a few years?
    I've never had the urge to drive a car, but MrsDeth has hinted more than once that it would be helpful if we could share driving duties occasionally (I read this as pick her up after a night on the sauce)
    Zero chance of her getting on the bike.

    She has a car (automatic) is it "easier" to learn in an auto?
    I know you are limited to only auto so "better " to get a proper licence, but chances are I will only have access to her car or rentals on holidays (which would likely be auto too)

    If I can learn in half the time with autos, I'd do that route.
    (reluctantly)

  • I didn’t take my car test until I was 30-something. Drive around in the auto for a bit to get used to it probably a good idea.

  • No point in manual these days. I’ve not wiggled a gear stick in 15 years.
    The only difficulty with an auto is slow speed control.
    The only difficulty in learning to drive as an experienced rider is slow speed manoeuvres in a big box with shit visibility, like reversing and parking.
    The hardest part though appears to be finding an available test slot.

  • If you can ride a bike you can operate gears. It is not rocket science.

    As for auto being better...may be the zf 7 and 8 speed but everything else is miles behind that tech.

  • Yep. Like you I'd have been happy to never ever drive a cage, but I gave in eventually.

    I got my car license 18 months ago, a few years after the bike license. I did a manual test because I knew I'd need it for driving a van (for bike transportation).

    Manual is easy, you already know how to use a clutch and anticipate junctions.

    Only issue I had was getting my head around parking, and how awful deathboxes are in general.

    18 months on I still hate driving a cage, but I do it happily knowing the next journey could be on the bike instead.

    Get it done with a manual. Even if you never use one again after at least if you ever need to move one you can.

  • Thanks all, appreciate the input.

    I figure the concept of driving would be not dissimilar and I can balance clutch, throttle etc.

    The biggest hurdle will be not having the power I am used to (assuming most learner vehicles don't have a power to weight ratio of 500hp/ton?) And being unreasonably sized for 2 people to travel in.

    I'm talking myself out of it, might grab a lesson or two and see how shit it is / I am

  • Have you seen car drivers today?

  • It's different. It's not like a bike where you want the power to keep balance and momentum. Nothing like passing full bike license where you figure-8 slipping clutch and counterbalance.

    In a car you'll be going so so so dead slow to begin with. You need to learn how it operates, and get the muscle memory. My instructor's car was by no means a bag of shit, it went well and it had a lot of torque.

    Find a good instructor, ideally one who is a biker so they know what your bad habits will be. If you were in the vicinity of Swindon you would be going to my guy because he knows how to teach.

    Remember, unlike a bike you don't accelerate into junctions. In a car you get all your braking done as early as possible, giving you time to get into the correct gear and check all your mirrors and so on. It's a different beast, a much slower process, and you'll have a headache after each lesson.

  • Post a reply
    • Bold
    • Italics
    • Link
    • Image
    • List
    • Quote
    • code
    • Preview
About

Motorcycle and Scooter appreciation

Posted by Avatar for coppiThat @coppiThat

Actions