Motorcycle and Scooter appreciation

Not sure how it will work. I'm guessing it takes a photo and most of the time it will be one suspicious looking vehicle hoofing it away from the lights! The guy who told me about it drives track prepped mustangs so he's looking at getting a lot of tickets. His latest one is too loud for most tracks anyway, he's had it measured at +100db. It is needless in that case.

In short I'm sure a quick look at the photo would sort out who's to blame although that might not be prosecutable. I put to you m'lid that it's not the VW Up in the picture that is breaking the sound barrier, it's the Ducati with the Termignoni exhaust!!

Getting hold of a new rear tyre is proving mad difficult, good thing i dont need it in a hurry! Rear had 2mm on it last week now its proper bald, part because weight and distance, but mostly heat and fun.
Need a heidanau k60 (not scout or winter) 130/80 r17, looks like Poland is the nearest place that has one.
Last tyre was a pirelli scorpion s/t, did ok, cracked ans dry rotted incredibly quickly was new in march 2017 but suspect it had been lying around for years (oponeo) but useless offroad due to its massive central solid band, which funily makes it last longer on tarmac (18k mostly courier work) but also terrible on tarmac, even the smoothest white line makes it shoot 4" sideways.
Full fat k60 are pretty blocky but without the huge gaps on an anakee wild or tkc80.
Lets see how fast it arrives and how old it is!

Modified/customised bikes... who has one and what have you told your insurer?

I'm My friend is currently claiming "zero mods" as most of what I've my friend has done is bolt on/off but I'm my friend is thinking about stripping the bike down a bit to take care of some corrosion on the frame and I my friend figures I he/she could take the opportunity to do some more involved customisation work. The kind of stuff that probably will need to be disclosed to an insurer...

Been a long time since I've looked in this thread.

Today I had to drop off a friend's bike to get a fresh MOT and have some other bits done which has reignighted my desire to get another bike after about 10 years. It was an ER5 which being 6' 5" was far far too small to ever be something I'd buy or own.

So my question is - does anybody have any recommendations for a bike to suit a taller person who would be on a new license?

Preferably cheapish, reliable and not tiny (both in engine size and height)

Thanks in advance

Hankering for a bike because I'm bored and haven't done anything for myself in a long time.

Never owned one.

Do I go cheap as possible (think underpowered barn-find kick starter cb500 type thing) or do I buy something new and cool that I love?

Stupid question I know.

Don’t buy a project....

@M_V - insurers expect motorbikes to be customised much more than with cars. IME they've always said 1) unless it has a turbo charger it's fine, 2) any non-OEM parts damaged are at your cost, 3) declare all mods.

TBH other than the hassle of listing things idk why you wouldn't tell your insurers. There's likely no downside, and if something happens you open up wiggle room for them.

@Crop - if you've got a licence go to a few dealers and have a look. Adventure bikes would be my first thought, specifically a Tiger as they're on the taller side. Remember you can always jack a bike up a bit with some new shocks and springs, or possibly a thicker seat.

@bright -

Do I go cheap as possible (think underpowered barn-find kick starter cb500 type thing) or do I buy something new and cool that I love?

Are you in London? If so the ULEZ means you probably want something pre-1980 or post 2005.

You've picked two poles there. I'd suggest a middle ground of a decent condition 2nd hand bike. Personally I'd stay away from a "barn-find". If you want something cheap, a Suzuki Van Van isn't a bad shout, although no idea if they're compliant.

Road next to a dude on a KTM this morning and realised that I've never seen someone riding any KTM and not wanted one.

Is it possible for a battery to go bad all of a sudden? Got home yesterday afternoon, 5 hours later about to go out. Nothing. Zero power.
Got the trickle charger out this morning and it fluctuates between 'full' and 'error'.
Two year old battery that's been nothing but reliable

Is the charger directly clipped to the battery? Cna you check the battery directly with a multimeter?

@BrickMan tyres have a date code on them so you can check when they were made.

@M_V I declare visible upgrades. Have had oe exhaust pipes replaced by aftermarket ones as the aftermarket were cheaper than the oe. But don't give the insurance wiggle room to not pay, as hugo said.

@bright as @Jung said do not buy a project or anything needing work. Get something that works and meets the ulez as hugo mentioned.

Yep. Showing 12.96 on the meter. However, when the trickle charger is in, it keeps giving a fault reading.

Just to reinforce the point I bought a project bike four years ago and recently traded it with a guy for another bike having done almost nothing on it. It was my first bike too so basically hampered me from getting biking sooner...

Failed connection to the clips?

Are you taking the readings on the battery? Start the bike with the multimeter across the terminals and see the reading.

There was nothing on ignition, not even instruments, so tested for continuity and turns out the snorkel eroded part of the harness. Cluster of connections just in front of the front cylinder. Why put it there? Who knows

Take battery out and give it a tumble and shake. If its a wet plate battery lead acid. They like having the acid inside moved around a bit, might have a faulty plate (not fixable as it'll be sealed).
Try leaving multi meter on it (better with an analogue one) and watch it while your eating your dinner/beer o clock.
Have seen terminals crack internally, so if you wiggle it really hard you might see your voltage drop

I'm 6'6" and my first bike was (still is) a Honda Transalp, 700cc v twin.
Likes hills, cruises at 80 with no bother, can go fast enough to lose your license (just not super quickly)
I commuted on it for a couple of years, it's not dull but it's not exciting.
Might be ok if you wanted to go green laning and had the right tyres on.

Also it's a Honda so agricultural, reliable and tough as old boots.

Great ride out to Braintree on Saturday, went to Essex Bike Centre and successfully found an Alpinestars jacket I can zip into my trousers. Lots of 2nd hand stuff you can try on, highly recommended.

En route attempted some filming for a video review I've been making of the bike. Not sure if I'll have the guts to post the finished article here, but here's a very small snippet.

https://youtu.be/-sRlSq-VDKk

Did as you advised and all was fine, so decided to track the loom. It was the loom. Frayed wires that are too close to the frame and snorkel, so I imagine it was all the vibrating and movement that eroded the casing.
All good now and bike is happy as larry.

@jambon Thanks for the heads up. Needing some gauntlets after losing mine. might head up there this week.

@jambon Thanks for the heads up. Needing some gauntlets after losing mine. might head up there this week.

I bought a 1 piece romper race suit years ago from them and again service was great. Do haggle though, the jacket I bought last weekend was priced at £250 but they reduced it to £220 with free postage without much interrogation. Not sure if they do used smaller items like boots & gloves just in case you ride over and are disappointed!

That's cool. I'm looking for something suit-y. I can't for the life of me find any two piece leathers that fit well. I've tried used and new and I always end up feeling compressed and tense, so might be worth visiting to see if I can mix shit till it works.

Anyway..it's more to ride out than anything else, really haven't found the motivation to head out far this summer. Getting out of London is just a massive faff.

I'm exactly the same, could never find trousers long enough so bought Alpinestars extra long legs with another jacket, all second hand mind.

Out of interest is there anywhere considered pleasent to ride in London where you can get up to speed?

This is very lovely. BMW F850G engined custom R60/6 built by Krautmotors to commemorate the 100th anniversary of Bauhaus.

Bauhaus

Weren't they all about form following function?

Are you questioning functionality or performance though?

The functionality.

If Mr. Bauhaus were alive today, what sort of forks and brakes would he use?