Motorcycle and Scooter appreciation

Varadero (face-lift injection model) is prob the best made 125 out there. Built nice, good for tall people, good for a roads, sound great with a dominator exhaust on them, decent mpg (80-110mpg is possible) and quick enough for a 125, it's no yzf125/cbr125 but really not far off given the same road conditions and tyres. But the Varadero rider will be more comfortable for longer distance

If your in Glasgow im really not far of opening now. Mid Jan eta. Won't be allowing full on works to all, but little jobs and cleaning is ok
There is a place in Hillington industrial estate that has about 4 bike ramps and full gear to hire by thr hour, about 10-15 ph I think and they help you a bit

That's a beast! I could live with one of those.

I want a cheap (up to £1.5k secondhand) 125cc twist and go that even a child could ride.

What are my options?

they're teeny tiny

your size then?

Sounds incredible.

Have a look on motorcycle giant. You can get a 2015 125 for that sort of money. Lots of options, Honda Vision 110 is simple and reliable. Seems like the SH125 is out of that budget, it's probably the best 125 scooter to ride.

Vision are solid.
Or piaggio x7/8 125 are comfy without being too big, also cheap because no one buys not retro looking piaggio anymore

I’ve just got a well used Vespa LX 125. The clutch slips a bit before engaging so I keep getting burned off at the lights by Boris Bikes.

Before I faff about taking it to bits, can anyone comment whether a big dump of brake cleaner into the case would do the belt any harm?

Anyone want a hjc fg-st in white medium. I bought, wore it once but it’s just not right for me.

My Uncle in Aus recently picked up a Honda Africa Twin and after some prepping the bike he's heading off this week solo across the outback, coast to coast, west to east.

Pots and kettles! :)

V4s have always been the aural horn. Given that I AM going bald and grey waiting for another more affordable Honda V4 Superbike, maybe I shouldn't hang on any longer.

My last Aprilia was an unmitigated disaster and still leaves some residual prejudice. It was over 20 years ago though.

Finally getting round to selling the CBF 500. Great little bike, heated grips, scottoiler, engine bars and 12v battery socket. Selling as after a tourer for a longer commute and some touring. Solid Bike, no mechanical issues but high mileage and so low price. £1000 if anyone is interested. Lots of stamps in the Book.

1 Attachment

Double post as can't get more than ome picture up from the phone. It is also o the bay so not sure etiquette on mbike sales here. Based SW9

Ffs. New page fail!

1 Attachment

That’s barley run in. My blackbird is on 60,000 now and looks new. Well until I scratched it.

Cheers...should mention it's on 63k miles!

Getting warmed up then.
Stick it on eBay. Will sell fast. People always want a cheap commuter at this time of year.

My mate ran one of these as a courier bike for about a year, made a raspy little sound which I never really liked, but ran like a champ needing nothing but fuel, oil and tyres in the year he had it. Was on about 85k when he sold it and you'd never know TBH.

Honda V4, tried an early 00's VFR850 (?) a few weeks ago thinking I'd like it. Sort of, loved the engine, but not as quick as was expecting, or maybe because its so smooth through the range it doesn't feel that quick? Also was not as sharp to ride as I was hoping, much better than current bike at those things but not exciting enough to part cash.

VFR800 guessing the year? I never tried one of those, did have a soft spot for the previous generation VFR750 though. They were never really a sports bike, but could be properly hustled along. The engines were creamy smooth and everything delightfully soft - you tended to be going far faster than it felt.

My hardcore V4 fetish derived from an old mate of mine. He had a couple of RC30s let me ride them every now and again when I was a wean. Different firing order from the VFR750 (which gives them the signature sound)...not that dissimilar to ride as stock. More sporty but still soft with a bit more power and brakes. Very easy to ride extremely fast, even on poorly surfaced roads. Suppose that's why they did so well at the TT.

CBF500 are probably not the prettiest but as I'm near Brixton won't want anything too shiny.
These bike are like the ak47 of the bike world, reliable, robust and with a bit of care keep ticking along for ages.

Changing for. Triumph tiger 800. XC if possible but not losing sleep if bog standard but want the foglights and heated grips as doing some rides in the dark country lanes

PQR - These are really, really good bikes.
Having sorted out the Trumpets little idiosynchratic drawbacks, currently going a bit mental whenever possible - must spend an evening in the garage with tea and radio doing serious TLC. Gotta love bikes.

If anyone fancies the ride out, my work are doing a bit of a new premises launch party this Saturday: https://www.facebook.com/events/157466104994542/

There will be some giveaways, some food stalls, some race bikes to poke at, etc etc. Should be pretty fun.

Saw this in Vauxhall this afternoon, lovely looking bike but appears to have spewed its guts ! Sodding picture posting failure it's rather nice Harley flat tracker if I can ever post it

Looking at buying my first helmet. What’s a good for a beginner and what should I avoid?

Go to the biggest shop you can find. Try on as many as possible. Once you find one you think fits your head and budget, keep it on and wear it while you try on gloves. I've probably ended up with a too small helmet because I didn't spend enough time with it on.

My personal unscientific feelings are:

• £100-250 buys you a lot of helmet nowadays, HSJ, Shark, caberg for eg are decent and inexpensive.
  
• internal visors are really useful (and saves you buying spare visors)
  
• pinlock compatible is a must (something that includes free pinlock insert even better)
  
• white helmets are more visible and match as many colours as black
  
• once you buy check if you need to register it to validate your warranty - AVG for eg give a 5yr warranty if registered vs 2yrs without.
  
  
  

If you're on a tight budget I'd stick to helmets with less features. In particular fixed/non-flip up ones and old fashioned D-rings. That said if you're in the city or do deliveries then it's quite useful. The Sharp's helmet rating website gives lots of detail on safety - including flip up failure rate.
https://sharp.dft.gov.uk/

Ultimately helmets are a pain. The only way to really test them is to buy and ride for a month.

Edit: if you have a search of this thread there's some useful pointers.

Post photo you bastard computer. Shame about the massive oil leak!

1 Attachment