Motorcycle and Scooter appreciation

This review

He’s not easy to listen to, seems like he knows what he’s doing. However driving a few thousand km on the black stuff then a bunch more on sand and dry mediterranean rocks doesn’t feel like a fair review for UK people. Maybe, not not really.

The closest thing I get to sand and rocks is massive stones and chalk climbs like on the Ridgeway.

So I’d also disagree that the CRF250 is just a road bike dressed like a dirt bike. I think that does dual sports a disservice. It’s a trail bike, not an enduro, and suits people well on the muddy stuff.

(Plus as he admits, he was given the bike to ride, so of course no matter what he says his ‘honest’ review won’t be unbiased.)

Yeah context is important, for the UK a 250/300L would certainly be up to the job. Who knows, as you can actually sit on one in dealerships and even ride it that might swing things.

The 250 and 450l is an apples and oranges comparison - one is a made to budget, friendly little trail bike and the other a fully developed off-road weapon that you can ride on the road. The 450l was a conscious design decision by Honda not to go the KTM / Husky route for their street legal, off road bikes (which are race bikes with lights) but to make something a bit softer, that was more versatile for the average rider.

I've had a go on a newish KTM EXC500 and they are utterly fucking mental. The only place you might want some of that power is wide open sandwash and desert. For trail riding, they are savagely over the top.

A CRF250 with the right tyres will go just about anywhere a fancy dirt bike will go, but the 450L will let you hit stuff at speeds that would send you over the bars on the litt'un.

You say that like going over the bars is optional!

Oh no, I'm sure it's mandatory once or twice a year off road... :)

In other news…

Bit of ghetto-fabrication I’d put off all year.

Yesterday I finally cut up a set of Chinese wide pegs and welded them to a spare set of DR pegs. Actually DR125 pegs, so then first thing this morning I had to cycle to Toolstation for a 10mm cobalt bit. I wanted to fit the Chinese pegs straight off, but they sat at the wrong angle.

Pegs feel really good on the bike. Only a quick blast across the gravel tracks and a couple rutted lanes. Main problem is the added width means loss of space between pegs and lever.

Then this afternoon much more difficult, the extended shift lever. It’s a non-oem replacement, and the angle it sits isn’t the same as the original.

Cut, welded an extension, then broke it apart again to bend each section until it sat better overall.

Didn’t bother to tidy the welds or paint it. Gonna try it before wasting time on finish.

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Nice work!

Thanks! Gonna see how the shift lever feels. Could probably do with being even longer.

First speeding ticket just dropped on my lap, speeding in a 20. That stings a lot more than it should. Probably because I know the road in question and haven’t ever gone over 20, so I have no idea how I did last week!

Do you just swallow the bitterness, grateful they didn’t catch you the rest of the time when you were really spirited?

I only have a short commute so there have been no problems there. Main longer trips have been Guildford to Reading and back a few times, that's about 30 miles and uses ~27% battery each way (quite a bit of dual carriageway or motorway speeds in that, so not as efficient as it could be).

I got the charge tank and a granny cable too, so I can charge it up at home or on the move pretty quickly. Certainly a lot faster than the standard kettle lead :)

Someone has a GPX 600 at the mechanics. Apparently it’s being sorted out to sell on. Kinda in love with the shape and style.

Just come back from cairngorms, amazing riding /driving /everything.

Came across a few villages that had lengthy 20 zones, each time in villages that didn't have schools, had huge huge open road (former 60 straight through) and all the houses were on one side. Average age, a lot.
Suspect that all the newer plots of land that have been built on, despite moving into a village on a fast road, decided to campaign for it.

Each time there was zero need for a 20. Then a few towns we went through that had multiple schools, tight narrow busy streets were 30 or 40 mph limit. Made no sense to me. Motorbike speedo isn't very accurate so could see coming unstuck

Mine was on a steep downhill after a traffic calmer. I think it was when I overtook a car going 10mph and cruised back to 20. No excuses etc etc. Still gutting.

In other news, lunch stop while testing the lower gearing on the DR - dropped from 15/43 to 14/45 - I was once again called a dog whisperer.

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Another quality outing on the Old bike yesterday in the canyons. Ran out of petrol for the second week in a row! This time right at the top of Topanga Canyon. Coasted all the way down and grabbed my mate’s arm for the last quarter mile to the gas station.

Incidentally, we swapped bikes for a bit - he’s got a 748. Never ridden one before, my bike feels a lot lighter and a bit quicker which was interesting. Despite an obviously much steeper steering angle, the 748 is hard work to turn. Makes all it’s power between 6-10k, where mine is between 4-8k. His needs some proper set up work and a fork rebuild but I can see why people liked them. Good road sports bike.

Much prefer my old stone hammer though.

Looking at a motorbike on one of those warehouse used dealer type places, and they have a surprisingly low mileage BMW R1200gs (2010) for about my budget.
Ran the plate through the MOT checker Gov site, and it expired in 2015(!) and presumably just been sat in a showroom for 6 years.
Sale comes with a fresh MOT and a 3 month warranty (12m extension is another £250)

Reasons to avoid?
Guess I'd factor in replacing all the fluids and battery fairly soon after picking it up.
Maybe tyres too, as they are likely a decade old.

I'll be selling my YBR 125, new job means I'm back on pedal power. Think it's got about 6 months MOT on it but has underlying issues in line with its age and something like 12 owners. Probably around 65k miles, oil change every other month for the past 30 odd months I've run it. I've swapped clocks a couple of times so can't give/prove exact mileage. Brand new Avon tyre on rear, good Michelin up front. Drop me a message and I'll give you a full rundown.

It wouldn't put me off in principle but would like to see receipts for any work done.

Oh an this is currently for sale too, went for a ride yesterday and almost took the ad down. Oh v-twins.

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Shit! How comes? You going dirt?

Yeah, thought I'd try something new. Have the SRAD for track days and spannering, also there's not much more to mod with the RSV.

Look what turned up! I'm now the owner of 2 125s.

the chumps who nicked this clearly had no fucking clue what they were doing as apparently it's been sat in an alleyway a few streets over the whole time, multiple residents on the street were apparently reporting it to the police numerous times between then and now but it took them 2 weeks to "find" it.

the chumps have obviously knackered the ignition/steering lock, as well as losing the side panels (wtf?) and cut through a bunch of wires in an attempt to hot-wire it.

one of the residents told me they overheard someone on a moped on the phone to their mate saying "yeah, it's still here, we need to move it before someone else nicks it"

happy days for me!
now to get it fixed and sell the other one I bought to replace it.

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Standard practice to leave it a few streets away, in case there is a GPS tracker fitted.

Looks absolutely fantastic!

FYI for anyone swapping a Brembo brake mastercylinder to a Japanese bike - they use metric fine thread (1.0mm.) So if you need a double banjo, order one before….

ULEZ would be my concern on anything that old, ymmv. Lots of cheap big bikes around but they all cost twelve quid a day to ride to work.

no way i'd buy a bike that sat for 6 years unless the price really reflected it. I'd rather good use and miles. It's a massive case of it depends, could be fine, could be big trouble.