motorbikes old/new...open thread??

Don't really know why I have a slightly soft spot for maggots - never had one and never will but did enjoy the few rides I had on one.
 
There can't be many Maggots still going, When I was dispatching most of the distance bikes were CX500's ridden like a race bike and only maintained when something fell off or It actually stopped ! Oftean wondered what the 650 turbo was like.
 
Nod said:
Don't really know why I have a slightly soft spot for maggots - never had one and never will but did enjoy the few rides I had on one.
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Hi, had to look up HONDA maggot in Wiki. I had a spin on one in 1973 (I think). At the time, it was quite innovative, had shaft drive, tubeless tyres, watercooling.

But I never got a HONDA, stayed with BMW ... ---
 
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A Wee not Vee!
 
Thought it was about time I took a few shots of the current stable! As and when they get exercised, they'll be shot (as long as there's some 1/2 decent light.)

The latest addition; a late 2017 Triumph Bobber 1200.

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And a couple more for good measure!

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justpix said:
Hi, ... :

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Mind was an earlier blue version, non comstar wheels, handled like a blancmange, blew up, rebuilt it and sold it, on paper they were all things to all men, loads used by couriers in the UK, fancied the turbo version.
 
Hi, this BMW was the only bike taking part in the Bergfahrt Königstuhl 2019:


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Dragged the old Adventure out for a quick flit down to Hayling island for the day, 484 miles round trip and a day on the water testing a couple of boats for the fishing magazine. Stopped off for coffee and cake at this flight of locks near Warwick.

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(I am struggling to understand the picture sizing thing for on here - this is the 3rd resize downwards from 800 pixels biggest....it was only 525kb, but the thing said it was still too big to process.... why the hell do we all have cameras that produce 20MB files if the most you can use is 500kbs!)

Then I took the old 80GS out for a tank and half around Staffordshire and Stoke-on-Trent to blow the hibernating spiders away.

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In a couple of weeks I shall be doing the South West Peninsular Rally on the lightweight 650 (158kgs fuelled!) These tyres are gone now, I won't bother with knobblies again, it was like riding a pneumatic drill. I got a pair of Michelin Anakee 3s for £25 - and they were as new as doesn't matter, from a friend, he got a pair of wheels and they were on the rims, complete with porcupine quills all over them, he didn't want them. RESULT!

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To put things into perspective as to just how good the R80GS was, the 650 single is light at 158kgs, but the 800 is only 10kgs heavier. Why are modern bikes SO heavy?
 
ABS, emissions control devices, all add to overall weight.
Fortunately, lightweight wheels keep unsprung weight low, so heavy modern bikes don't feel as heavy as the old stuff.
 
blow_away said:
ABS, emissions control devices, all add to overall weight.
Fortunately, lightweight wheels keep unsprung weight low, so heavy modern bikes don't feel as heavy as the old stuff.
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That 650 has fancy ABS.....it is also Euro 4 compliant, so that blows the ABS and emissions out of the window... NEXT :p

The R80GS, is still only 168kgs, even with the steam driven alternator and whale oil pump...
 
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Out and about on the old one again this afternoon. I need to use these tyres up!

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How are you all still alive. I met so many guys who died on a moterbike, its rediculous
 
justpix said:
Hi, maybe, one must know when to stop. I did in 1986, after 18 years ... :)
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I knew young lads in their very early 20`s. Didn't last 24 - 36 months on earth after getting a bike.

Mind you I live in rural Wales, a car pulls out onto a windy road and bike goes straight into them.
 
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Caerus said:
How are you all still alive. I met so many guys who died on a moterbike, its rediculous
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Possibly because we too have been to too many funerals of fellow bikers. Festina lente (hurry slowly!) - treat every junction as though there's a car about to pull out on you, treat every car you overtake as a potential hazard, every corner as though there's a queue around it. Wear the right kit and keep the bike(s) well maintained. Follow that advice and you stand a better chance of survival.
 
Caerus said:
I knew young lads in their very early 20`s. Didn't last 24 - 36 months on earth after getting a bike.

Mind you I live in rural Wales, a car pulls out onto a windy road and bike goes straight into them.
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Well, there is always the danger that other motorists underestimate the speed of motorcycles - if they see them at all ... ---

Years ago, I went with my young motorcycling colleagues across our company parking lot and showed them, how few cars
had clean rear-view mirrors, thus being unable to see them when overtaking.

What kept me alive - apart from luck - was extreme caution, never riding in a group, a high-power police horn to clarify situations,
and even a rear fog-light after almost being run down in fog in Belgium on my way to the ferry at Ostende.

Once, in town a car went into my path at a crossing. Despite breaking maximally, I hit it, went down. Fortunately, unharmed. ---

On a country road at night, at around 90 mph, a deer crossed my path 15 meters in front of me, I could not have done anything.

Near-misses like this made my quit motorcycling. --- It was a wonderful time ...
 
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