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My eye! Sweet Jesus, Ouch!


Sledge

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I'm the same to a degree. Once you go litrebike, you never want to go back. I can have a lot of fun on my 100cc step-thru but the grunt of a thou' is just addictive.

 

Having said that, I did love my nimble Guzzi V50 and am now looking for another one.

 

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Just to add to the Chinese bike thing:

 

I've had the cheapest in the range, the Haotian Swift HT100-8, for 2 years now. The only things that have gone wrong are the mainstand being a bit weak, and a gasket blowing because I overfilled it. I've fallen off it (again my fault, I was scratching the pegs down) and body panels were £15... Can't fault the Chinese bikes for new riders.

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buy a car :D

Are you nuts? :huh: I don't want another bloody car, I want a reasonably priced 'little bike'. One that looks ok & goes well enough to enjoy riding.

1, Cars are for people who dont have the balls or brains to ride bikes ;)

 

2, Greg - check out some of the Chinese offerings.

 

http://www.chinesemotorcycledealers.co.uk/products9.html

http://www.superbyke.co.uk/

http://www.pulsemoto.co.uk/motorcycles.php

http://chinesebikesdirect.co.uk/index.php?main_page=index&cPath=1_4

 

3, Maybe a Syperbyke RMR200?

1, Agreed. Cars are good for keeping the rain off your head, moving big stuff that wont fit on a bike & clogging up the roads so that other car users get stuck in traffic. ;)

 

2, Thank you for the links, very interesting. Are parts hard to come by?

 

3, If it had 30+hp & could crack the ton, I'd have it tommorow, it's a great looking bike at a sensible price tag. It's even got a kick start & clocks, which I realy miss. Unfortunately I live near & constantly use motorways, so need a little more top end. I'd hapily pay 3k for a 350cc, 100mph version of that, on the looks alone.

I remember when the price of a new DT125 first crept over £1,500 and thought it was bonkers.

 

A mate of mine has just flogged an R-reg CBR600 for £600 and replaced it with a mint Blackbird he bought for £3k.

 

I know fuel economy and maintenance should be factored in but there's so many dirt-cheap middleweights around these days that I'd probably never be able to force myself to buy a little bike again.

I remember buying a pair of brand new fzr600's for 6k, so the idea of 6k for a 30hp trials bike is absurd, especially when a yr old r1 ain't much more! :blink:

 

With regard the once you go 1L, you don't go back, I agree, to a degree. My first 1L was an FZR1000 exup & tbh, other than the power, (I derestricted mine) I wasn't impressed. It went, as soon as the yzf750 came out. R1's very nice but if you can ride, the truth is, an r6 is about the same, in most circumstances.

 

I think there is a certain status about + 1l, & the manufacturers are cashing in on this. Eg, honda's CB1000r: Why no cb750r? Beemers GS1100; no GS600. Once upon a time, there would be smaller models, the gsxr/fzr/cbr's & zxr's all came in various sizes, 400's, 550's, 600's, 750's, 900's, 1000's & 1100's all come to mind. I think there was even a small period of time when the 'range' went all the way down to 250's. But not any more.

 

I'm as happy on a derestricted 21hp dt125, as I am on a stage 3'd R1. As long as the bike has a little pizazz, I'm good to go. Sure, a proper bike, ain't a 'proper' bike unless it can cruise at 165+ but the cc doesn't have to be over 1l to achieve that.

 

A 'little' bike just needs personality. If it's likely to see motorway use, I like it to cruise at 85 & have a little more in reserve. & a sub 6k price tag! :o

 

 

Greg.

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All those Chinese bike makers sell the parts themselves and as most are copies of Japanese bikes, most parts are interchangeable.

 

I fit Honda CB50/90 parts to my Haotian all the time.

 

If you're near any largeish bike showroom try, just try, a small block Guzzi or even a big block. Insurance is stupidly low, and you may just like them. Expect stable but quick handling and a gearbox that needs to be shouted at to make it work and you'll be okay :)

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With regard the once you go 1L, you don't go back, I agree, to a degree. My first 1L was an FZR1000 exup & tbh, other than the power, (I derestricted mine) I wasn't impressed. It went, as soon as the yzf750 came out. R1's very nice but if you can ride, the truth is, an r6 is about the same, in most circumstances.

FWIW, it's not a case of hairy-chested machismo with me.

 

It's simply a case of getting value for money.

 

I used to buy and sell TZR125s and DT125s for £50-£100 as a kid.

Hell, I bought a 1999 VW Golf for the missus to put shopping in for £850.

In a world where you can buy an absolutely spotless Blackbird for £3k there's no chuffing way I'm spending more than £500 on a runaround.

Given that all you'll get for £500 is a knackered bog-seat you might as well up the stakes a bit and get a half-decent CBR600 for about a grand.

 

TBH, I don't do much in the way of short-distance commuting anyway so there's rarely going to be a reason to deliberately choose a small bike rather than something with longer legs.

 

Course, now I've got my Duc' I'm done buying bikes anyway. I might see if I can swap mine for a 998 at some point but I'm not interested in the new 1198 or even the D16 TBH. They still aren't as pretty as the 916.

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My rant, living in Atlanta, GA. I can't buy a motorcycle here (although I want to one so bad) because its likely my first time out I'll get hit by some parent in a bloody hummer doing 85 in a 25 zone talking on her cell phone and changing her child's diaper while driving, putting on makeup, and reading a book. People here just can't bloody well drive! And you know what? A motorcycle is the only vehicle I can afford right now and I REALLY need a vehicle now. I can't bloody well find a decent car for under $3000, damned living in ATL.

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When I was after a short range commuter for work (2 miles each way) I had the usual option of thrashed Gilera Runners/Honda H100s, Yamaha RXS100s etc but they were all going for £4-600. Why bother getting used then paying twice again getting them up to scratch? Got the Haotian for £700otr brand new. No contest.

 

Unlike cars though, the prices of larger bikes does come down quickly. Noone seems to be satisfied with last year's model these days, let alone a decade old machine. It's all about IMAGE now. I havent seen a proper bunch of backpatch MCers in years. What that does, however, is leave the intelligent ones of us with a hure range of year-2 year old machines at bargain prices with less than a kilo on the clock.

 

Used car prices these days are totally freakin' nuts! 5 year old Golf 1.4s going for £6.5k? Get outta town! The roads are bloody saturated now, and you're only going to shift that to someone with no credit rating who probably can't really afford the payments without putting themselves deeper into the overdraft.

 

And while we are on the subject, I can only think of 2 good reasons why anyone should EVER enter into unauthorised overdraft - funeral costs and legal costs. Anything other than that, if you can't afford it, don't bloody buy it. Government help is available if you can't make your living costs on benefits.

 

Back on bikes, I agree with you Stealthy. After the 916/996/998 (or 748), far as I'm concerned Ducati closed its doors. Those were the last decent looking bikes they ever made. I'm more partial to a 600 Supersport or an 888 personally but you know I like older machines anyway! Though if you ask me, the Ducati V-Twin has always been pointed the wrong way ;)

 

I also agree with Greg on the FZR1000R. I had an 89 model and it was fast as funk...but I was never really comfy on it. I'm more than happy with the Griso which has just as much torque and a LOT more comfort.

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If you're near any largeish bike showroom try, just try, a small block Guzzi or even a big block. Insurance is stupidly low, and you may just like them. Expect stable but quick handling and a gearbox that needs to be shouted at to make it work and you'll be okay :)

Tried a few guzzers over the years, 'cos I loved the look. Unfortunately I never found one that I truly enjoyed riding. If I do, I'll have one.

 

It's simply a case of getting value for money.

Agreed, as pointed out, this pidly 250 is retailing at £6300 otr. A CB1000r is about £8000. I think £1700 difference is ridiculous.

 

 

Any how, I managed to find one (brand new, not previously registered, 0 miles), for less than £4500 otr, with a race exhaust worth £600. Basically under £4k, so I'm happy now. Ish. <_< I'll get to see/ride it next week with any luck.

 

 

Greg.

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In this outing, my fury is being aimed at the people who insure my bikes. These butt-holes have just sent me a final reminder to send them proof of my no claims discount or they will cancel my insurance in 7 days time. At the same time, they've sent me a cancellation notice because I haven't sent them the paperwork they've asked for. Both of these letters are dated 28/4/10. Why the hell are they asking me for proof when they've already got it? They've never asked me before! Swintons = BUTT-HOLES!!!!

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I'm annoyed because it seems that I need a 1mm allen key to take apart the brand-new USP Tacticals that just arrived so I can swap the safety catches and triggers onto some brand-new standard USPs.

 

Why, you ask?

 

Because, apparently, no-one thought to make USP Tacticals with green bodies. Equally, apparently no-one thought that the standard USP should have adjustable sights or an ambidextrous safety catch... <_<

 

I don't seem to have a 1mm allen key - I thought I did, but if I did it's lost somewhere. Where can I get one and how much will it cost me?

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3D cinema.

 

I went to watch Clash of the Titans last night and it was presented in 3D. I just don't understand it! I could maybe understand for a film like starwars with the epic space battles and roaring tie-fighters but it just seems like a novelty which I hope will go away rather quickly.

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Ah well, it's funny you should mention that.

 

Clash Of The Titans wasn't shot in 3D, it was shot in regular old 2D and the 3D stuff was added in post production.

 

If you watch a film shot in 3D it is different. That said, it isn't a huge thing.

I found the cryo-pod bit in Avatar looked amazing (even if a real space ship would have had some kind of bulkhead every few meters in case of hull breach) and the holographic displays in the Avatar universe looked really good in our 3D.

Besides a couple of times the movie gave me vertigo I could have seen it in 2D and still enjoyed it.

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Good news!

 

I found a nice set of small allen keys in Maplin for £4. The grub screw in question actually seems to be 1.3mm - Which is odd, but hey, whatever works.

 

So now I am sat doing a 3D jigsaw puzzle, trying to my USPs back together with certain bits swapped between them and hoping like hell they work when I'm done....

 

Stunt - cheers muchly for the offer, by the way, but I'm too impatient to wait. When I saw on the ParcelFarce tracking website that my parcel was in Manchester, I leapt up and went straight there to get it, just before they closed at 1900 last night. I could have waited until this morning, when I had most of a day to myself, but no....

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What is it with politicians these days? I don't give a flying *fruitcage* what terrible things the other parties are trying to do, I want to know what YOU'RE going to do. Stop telling me what the other parties are proposing and tell me what it is YOU'RE going to do for ME! Seriously, it's like they're only asking for your vote to stop the other parties from eating your babies, not because you agree with their non-baby-eating policies. Ugh. Enough with the name calling and all this rubbish, just tell me what you're going to do and how you're going to do it and i'll decide on my own whether or not to vote for you, thank you very much <_<

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Negative campaigning - just one of the more recent in a series of US exports...

 

Follows such popular products as Ambulance Chasing Solicitors, Hurt Yourself and Sue for Compensation, Getting Mispelling Accepted as Legitimate, and many, many more...

 

 

:flamed:

 

 

In relation to my previous topic - I put the USP together, and it works fine. So why is there a tiny thin pin left over? :blink::unsure:

 

Well, the damn thing seems to work fine, so I'm not going to take the swine apart again just to figure out where the pin goes.

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A trip into Dumfries has yielded a couple of worthy gripes.

 

1) Road signs.

There's a bunch of small villages between me and Dumfries and they all now have those fancy LED signs which warn you to slow down if you're speeding.

Pious and finger-wagging as that might be, what I find REALLY annoying is that the f**king things STILL flash messages at you if you're doing less than the speed limit.

In a 30mph zone I found they all flashed "YOUR SPEED... 27MPH... STAY LEGAL"

Oh, bloody marvellous.

Do we really need signs on the roads to tell us when we're doing something right?

Would it not be simpler, less distracting and safer to simply have it not display anything unless you're speeding?

 

2) Car drivers.

Specifically, the way they treat pedestrians at road junctions.

I stand on the kerb and patiently wait for any cars to turn into the junction and then, when there are no cars around, or when there are no cars signalling, I step out to cross the road.

In the mean-time, if a car whizzes into view and wants to turn into that road or, more usually, a car driving along the main road suddenly sticks their indicator on and then turns I cannot arbitrarily teleport myself out of their f**king way.

I was there first, you arrived later. Get over it.

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Car drivers. They're just thick.

 

Its amazing how you can get a well-adjusted, intelligent person...put them in a car and they become complete ****wits.

 

I see too many examples of this on a daily basis to list. Leave the driving to the professionals and get the hell off the road!

 

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ASM - how much did you pay for the house?

 

Gotta admit, you have more balls than I have, taking on such a property. Mind you, you undoubtedly have a lot more skill to do something with it.

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