What have you done to your bike today....

[chas]

Those old Kwaks are mad prices now. The guy at SPS Motorcycles that I've bought my Daytona from was telling me that they had a Z1 coming in and it would be selling for about twenty odd grand. I didn't believe that could be right so had a look about and yep, those old machines are asking for silly money! I like the old Zeds but I could never bring me to spend that much on one.

I gave 1600 quid for my '77 Z1000 in the mid nineties. Enjoyed my years of ownership, I wanted a 'non depreciating' bike at the time as with a young family I didn't get to ride out frequently. Sidestepped from the hamster wheel of being 'current'
Having owned and loved one I think the current prices are bloody absurd for what the bike is.

 

[BAD LUCK DUCK]

Nah I'd rather have a nice Aston Green Daytona with 147bhp and a body design that looks slinky and exciting.

I like that train of thought as well

 

[chas]

To me it says I'm a battleship of motorbikes and gonna blast the shit out of you and not even bat an eyelid

You can't buy one. You have to be called Malcolm to own one.

I don't make the rules, sorry.

 

[Sarky B’stard]

Had a great run out through the Borders hills yesterday. Plenty of folk on every combination of wheels with similar ideas so I came home the antisocial route! The cafe at St Mary’s Loch opens next week having been re-built before it collapsed. Entirely new frontage so the old pile of rotten logs is missing!
Clear skies all the way to heaven but cool . A bit sharp on my tender sinuses!

 

[MartytheMartian]

I was out yesterday just round to Inveraray for a wee breath of fresh air and it was 'fresh' here too despite the bright sunshine. All change today though overcast and wet.

 

[Sarky B’stard]

You can't buy one. You have to be called Malcolm to own one.

I don't make the rules, sorry.

Actually the bloke I knew with one was a Humphrey and, yes, I suspect he was

 

[chas]

Eldest came over with spawn so being the bad grandpa I am familiarised them with a little ride round the garden on the bike then after dinner, with their appetites whetted we went out on the road for a potter up to the village. The good thing about more (relatively) modern bikes is that a five year old can reach the pillion pegs.

I also gave myself a coronary arrest pushing them round the garden i the wheelbarrow. I hope they prefer going on the bike.

 

[Don the Don]

Had to pop out today visit my old pals, had an e-mail telling me one of my old colleagues [still serving] had died, not to old a bloke lights went out sometime life can be a bummer, took the Bonneville with some new grips on and later sat by the sea for a few hours reflecting on life.


Pics of Burghead by the Pictish monument [the old tower]

 

[Flynnt20]

Fair play Don that is a stunning Bonnie really fancy those stripes on the Thunderbird Tank

 

[MartytheMartian]

Well much of today and yesterday was spent ripping my black Sprint RS to little pieces. As the MOT ends in a couple of weeks, as does tax and insurance I decided that she would be 'donor' to renovating/restoring my yellow Sprint RS. It's a bloody big lump that 955i engine. I was dismantling the bike outside in the garden and it was a fair work-out picking up the motor and carrying it along and into the shed! The motor in that bike was very sweet running but had obviously spent a lot of time outside in the weather as the lacquer is flaking very badly and there is a lot of corrosion on the lower crankcase. I had contemplated re-conditioning it but, given that gaskets alone cost something over three hundred quid and some parts are non-serviceable I reckon these motors should be considered 'disposable' to a certain extent.

 

[Public Enemy]

Had to pop out today visit my old pals, had an e-mail telling me one of my old colleagues [still serving] had died, not to old a bloke lights went out sometime life can be a bummer, took the Bonneville with some new grips on and later sat by the sea for a few hours reflecting on life.


Pics of Burghead by the Pictish monument [the old tower]
View attachment 5744

View attachment 5745

Nice pics Don. Hard to beat the looks of a Bonnie in the sunshine.

 

[Public Enemy]

I had a test ride on the new Trident today. Well they wrote to me, offering it so I thought it would be rude not to.
First off I have to say it is a very nice bike. It's quite quick, very nimble, has the best tft screen I've seen and bloody good brakes.
How they do it for the price beats me.
However, for me at 6'2" it's just too small. Rider pegs are slightly up and back, and within half an hour I was cramping in the legs.
Also, please compare and contrast with the photos above, and draw your own conclusions as to which is better looking.
Annie can sleep safely tonight!!

 

[MartytheMartian]

Hmmm I will be getting to see one soon as an old fella in the village has bought one (he traded in a nineties Trident and an Adventure for it!!!!) but, to be honest, straight away it has two things against it for me -

1. It's made in Thailand and I just can't get around that
2. The aesthetics just don't do anything for me, I think it looks a bit of a pig! I can't see many folk gathering around it for an ogle at it's beauty!

 

[Don the Don]

Nice for those that want that style of bike, but they just don't look to me as though they have been finished I mean missing something like a proper rear end, I hope they sell loads but not for me

 

[chas]

I'd love a tear on a new bike to confound my base prejudices, I've never ridden anything 'new' so rider modes, abs may be something I could get along with. I've never hankered after a touchscreen dash, hate them in cars, many of the bikes I've had fun on have had missing or non operational instrumentation. (Got a speeding pull on my horrid 500T and the copper laughed at the speedo needle resting at the bottom of the dial, no longer connected to the instrument and let me off. Too much paperwork and he was nearly off shift. Told me to update my 'tax in post' tax disc before he saw me again. Them waz the days, eh)

The thing that puts me off modern styling is the need to shroud so many ancilliary components that we never used to have. If you use something like a clean Triton, a Moto Martin CBX or an Egli Vincent as my base aesthetic, funny shaped bits of plastic covering bits of shite I neither want or need are not on my wishlist.

And what the fuck is wrong with a round headlight.

 

[Glyn]

I'd love a tear on a new bike to confound my base prejudices, I've never ridden anything 'new' so rider modes, abs may be something I could get along with. I've never hankered after a touchscreen dash, hate them in cars, many of the bikes I've had fun on have had missing or non operational instrumentation. (Got a speeding pull on my horrid 500T and the copper laughed at the speedo needle resting at the bottom of the dial, no longer connected to the instrument and let me off. Too much paperwork and he was nearly off shift. Told me to update my 'tax in post' tax disc before he saw me again. Them waz the days, eh)

The thing that puts me off modern styling is the need to shroud so many ancilliary components that we never used to have. If you use something like a clean Triton, a Moto Martin CBX or an Egli Vincent as my base aesthetic, funny shaped bits of plastic covering bits of shite I neither want or need are not on my wishlist.

And what the fuck is wrong with a round headlight.

Chas you need to catch up on some things, rider modes really only are required on a racetrack, ABS is really a lifesaver.
I agree there’s nothing wrong with a round headlight as long as a dickhead hasn’t put one of those bulbs that blinds everyone else on the road.

 

[chas]

Chas you need to catch up on some things, rider modes really only are required on a racetrack, ABS is really a lifesaver.

I'm sure I'll own a bike with abs before long, it'll be unavoidable. And obv I've had it on motors for a while. I take your point but for me, with bikes, less is more. Engine, wheels and a seat.

 

[Foxy]

Beautiful bike, @Don the Don

 

[Foxy]

@Public Enemy , is that at t'Triumph shop at Whittington?

 

[Don the Don]

Beautiful bike, @Don the Don

Thanks @Foxy , It was a perfect day for riding, just sad I was reflecting on a colleagues death