Very good advice! I took about a year break and have been working back into it the last week or two, and revisiting the fundamentals to knock the rust off. I won’t be setting any speed or distance records on this trip, for sure.
Guy in my local TOMCC branch was selling an X11 recently, very cheaply - I don’t know where @UncleZam is located, but if you’re in the UK I could ask him. It is a big, bulky thing, though and you either love 'em or loathe 'em!
Also, I went from a very fast bike (I tested it up to 150mph indicated) to a Triumph Scrambler and I absolutely loved it. I thought the sportsbike was the best bike I’d owned (probably was, too) and had it for 5 years, but that Scrambler was massive fun - and it struggled to reach 100mph.
Only reason I sold it was cos I had to wring it’s neck on group rides with my mates to keep up and ended up suffering aches from the wind blast.
Thanks @Johnny , but might have to pass this time. I am located in Finland, so there would be some distance and bureaucracy to tackle
Have to think about the model also, that 250kg is quite bulky . Might go with something lighter this time. Have to ponder and also develop strategy to sell the idea to Mrs.
If you want something cheap but still well built and fast I would have a couple of recommendations
Like the Tiger 660 or it’s naked sibling, the Trident 660 - nice bike. Then there’s the Yamaha XSR700, Tracer 700 or indeed their very popular, best selling MT-07. Even their new 300 series look lusty and damn gorgeous! Talking of which - I was just saying to the Mrs, if I’m still riding in a few years I may well get myself a Royal Enfield 350 Meteor- gorgeous bikes if you don’t mind the lower power.
These days one is really spoilt for choice where bikes are concerned.
Yes we are! Just like flight sims…
Thanks, very nice recommendations. Somehow I like the retro looks of the XSR700 the best. Haven’t even looked at the tech specs yet.
This forum is dangerous, this morning I did not know that I need a motorcycle and maybe a FFB joystick also
Im not a fan of the looks, especially those odd pods on the front. But you can’t argue with a blackbird engine.
I vaguely remember someone swapping the gearbox from the blackbird and having a theoretical 180mph naked bike that looked like a fat commuter bike. But i cant remember if i knew the guy or just read it somewhere
I mentioned it because I had a ride on one when I was looking for a new bike - my local dealer does Triumph and Yamaha. I really liked it and came close to buying one but ended up going for the Trumpet Scrambler instead.
I also test rode the XSR900 and that thing is just a wicked thing on steroids! Unfortunately the seat is like a wooden bench and I had to leave it cos my back hurt riding it over our bumpy roads. But the performance was awesome.
Was enjoying relaxing with my wife and kiddos after church yesterday when I got a frantic call from my youngest brother who lives about 6 hours south of me (330mi) that he’d managed to grenade the manual gearbox on his aging GTI. He lives in an apartment and doesn’t have a place to work on anything and it was in danger of being towed due to where it was parked. I volunteered to run down in a borrowed 2-ton rollback and car swap him until this weekend when he can come up and throw a new transmission in it.
The boy skipped school (pre-k) to go with and had a great time watching me trying to remember how to run an Eaton 5-speed (no synchronizers!) with a two-speed rear end. That two-stroke detroit is governed at 2500rpm (71mph) but sounds like you’re really wringing it out every shift point!
I love the size of vehicles (proper pronunciation veer-culls) that you lot have over there. Just the casual 2-ton pickup sir is it, to swallow up the Golf GTI. Just marvellous. If in doubt, make it bigger and put a bigger engine in it.
Over here we’d have a short wheel based lorry/flatbed or a trailer (@Victork2 stylee.
Edit:
That two-stroke detroit
Hold on a minute, I missed this and caught it on second read.
Two stroke, with that monster.
Yep two stroke diesels have been around for ages… a lot of (the really big) marine diesels, M113, T-72, etc.
They sound great. And nothing, but nothing, sounds as awesome as this bad boy…
It could pull a house off the foundations, but is only a paltry 200 cubic inch motor. And gets between 8-11mpg (US).
That is awesome
That’s so cool!
Also like the how the birds are conducting their own flypast past the helicopter flypast in that second one (for a second I was thinking ‘okay, that might be just a few helicopters too many, coronation or no coronation’)
You could sell tickets for that.
I see the entire RAF is doing the the fly past
AA