• Motorbike Thread V1: Winter is nearly over!
    200 replies, posted
Was a can of redbull in the cup holder of the scooter
I'm most likely buying a Honda CB125F for my sister next month, her previous bike was a Yamaha YBR125. It seems pretty cheap at 30k nok or $3.6k, as the cheapest low milage stuff we found was about 20k/$2.4k. Is there any reason I shouldn't? And can someone explain this Combined braking system, is it any good?
Seems a little odd to go from a 125 to a 125. Most people wanna move up, especially on a 125 where you really can't go on the highway. Only reason I'd see for a 125 if not as a first bike, then economy reasons. Combined braking is where it uses both your brakes even though you only use one lever. Most people I've read either don't notice it or find it annoying as using only one brake doesn't use just one brake with it. Don't have any personal experience though.
Sorry I didn't mention there are about 4 MC licence classes. She has A1 light, so lvl 2 so to speak. Up to 125cc. For $1k in classes she can get a 45hp license but she needs two years of license. But this is something we should consider. She's not upgrading tho, she lost her old bike because my dad is the type who buys you something with your money so he can take it away if you don't listen
I have a CB125F myself and have owned it for over a year. I'm doing my A2 licence soon (23 years old) so hopefully don't cock that up. Other than my current bike I have only ever ridden a Yamaha YBR125 Custom when I did my CBT. I don't really have any experience on other bikes to compare to the Honda but I can't say I have ever really noticed the linked breaks. There isn't much to say about the Honda it does the job for what it is. Has a fuel gauge needle that works but mostly drops in chunks when it feels like it. LED back-light gear indicator is quite nice. Very clunky gear box but is a budget 125 so i'm sure no surprises there. I hear that the exhaust pipe is prone to rusting and I have noticed a little bit on mine as well although not much. I try to look after the bike very well though. It is parked outside when at work but garaged at night. UK rider so it sees plenty of rain. It has left and right turning lights prominently displayed on the dash as a cancel reminder but on a sunny day you can't really see them flashing. They show very brightly if it is cloudy or raining. It's not a terrible bike so I can't think of any specific reason not to get her one.
Do you ride all year or just in the summer? Everything is prone to rusting if it touches road salt, but if it rusts when only riding in the summer, that'd be noteworthy.
All year around rain, sun and ice. Only had to keep it in the garage when it snowed but that was only a few days.
Any Arai buffs happen to be familiar with anything like this on the vent channeling behind the cheekpads? This hole isn't on the other channel on the other side of the helmet, and it very much looks to me like a manufacturing defect, but I'd like another opinion before I take a tube of super glue to such a pricey lid. https://files.facepunch.com/forum/upload/2091/dd9f21d2-61f3-4b47-91ee-8e34696168c9/IMG_20180804_205412.jpg
So I'm selling my Suzuki GS500F. I posted an ad on the below site: https://www.preloved.co.uk/adverts/show/118231403/suzuki-gs500f.html If anyone here is interested in the bike I'll be more than happy to arrange a viewing with any of you peeps.
Aw man I totally would if it was 2008 or later I'd totally buy it, curse the London ULEZ
I bought a really cheap Lexmoto ZSR 125 off my dad (he just passed his big boy test) Unfortunately the headlights (both) have shit out Which bulbs should I be ordering to replace them Also the speedometer wobbles like fuck and is inaccurate how do i fix this
I'd be taking the bulbs to any car shop with headlights, usually they take H4 bulbs though. Make sure that the speedo cable is correctly screwed in to the gauge, my old Suzki Across has this problem
I've had a problem with the speedo cable coming loose from vibrations. When I stuck it back in, it would come undone again at the worst times. It's a good idea to carefully put a drip of loctite on the threads when screwing it back in.
I'm in Italy at the moment and see so many nice motorbikes without even a single disk lock on them, really wish that could be the case back in the UK, it's so annannoying to have to front and rear disk lock at minimum+cover and chain at night for my bike that isn't even high value...
Just to give an update I passed my mod 1 and 2 no problems so I have my A2 licence now. I did the tests on a Kawasaki Z650 restricted down to A2 limits. The funny thing is that another person was doing their A licence test on an unrestricted Z650 along side me and the instructor told us that because of how everything is re-mapped the restricted bike actually had more power in the mid range so it would pull away quicker. Was a fun bike and very comfortable although i'm not a huge fan of the dash for it. My Honda has served me well the past year getting around but I have my new bike on order now so I will be trading it in. I found that although the 650 handled really well my small size and weight made moving the bike walking it around quite inconvenient for daily use so I have bought a Kawasaki Ninja 400. It is a great weight in the middle at 168kg wet. Enough to not get blown around by the wind like my 125 but light enough to not cause me strain walking it around. I don't have a date I for when I will be picking it up but it will likely be within the next 2-3 weeks. Cannot wait. This isn't a picture of my bike specifically just one from online but this is nearly what it will look like. Mine will have R&G crash protectors instead of the Kawasaki protectors in the below picture. Mine will also have heated grips and a tank pad installed for me. Other than that the exhaust and seat cowl will be the same as in the picture. https://i.ebayimg.com/00/s/NjAwWDgwMA==/z/kUwAAOSwscNbKrY~/$_86.JPG
Congratulations! It's beautiful. More pictures once you actually have yours! I faced a similar decision as you but went the other way. I could have gone for something lighter, less powerful and smaller than my bonneville (~250kg wet, 1200cc) and I have yet to regret it. I spend very little time pushing it around because it's heavy but there is literally only one situation where it is unavoidable, It gets pushed once a ride the 4m back in to the garage. Then again, mine doesn't have to be a daily, I can take my car if I want. I think also if I'd gone for something smaller I'd be pining for a bit more power now (2 years, 12k miles in) but the bonneville still has more power than I can safely apply and it's me holding the bike back rather than the other way around. Each to their own!
When you say nearly does that include the whole Kawasaki racin team getup with the Akrapovic?
Yeah. The other colour scheme advertised for the UK is black and I like to be more visible. I also love green bikes in general. Not everyone is mad keen about the flashy decals though I know. The Akra, seat cowl and tank pad are part of a package that was cheaper to add on than to buy them afterwards separately.
New rider here with about 3.000 kilometres of experience. Could someone who uses clutchless upshifting perhaps tell me what I'm doing wrong? At around 3000 RPM I pull off the throttle and at that instant upshift without the clutch, but it's not exactly smooth. It kinda micro-stutters before being stable again. From what I've noticed myself I don't instantly open up the throttle again after shifting. It takes me about half a second, probably because of checking if I did it right.
Normally I do clutchless upshift if I want to get to a target speed quickly That means I accelerate more than usual and while the bike is still accelerating I perform the clutchless upshift, which ends up being buttery smooth It's important to do the upshift when the bike is still accelerating, if you let it travel at a fixed speed then do the clutchless upshift you'll get a jolt
Hnnnng I just had my first motorcycle lesson, straight onto class A. Feels so fucking amazing. Just look and let the bike do it's thing.
It came to me as an epiphany while I was riding one day and I figured it out once I thought about how it works. In the gear box there is a slight amount of play. When you acelerate then let go of the throttle for a fraction of a second, you are free wheeling. That's when you need to shift because the gears aren't engaged. Another thing that helps is the let the bike rev out a bit. Its much easier and smoother if the bike is revving high. Every bike is going to be slightly different though, so it will be a bit of experimentation. The gearbox on my Vstrom also has 27k on it, so it might be slightly more broken in. Plus they have really smooth gearboxes in the first place.
Motorbike friendly buslanes are a fucking godsend, have a new commute this week and I'd be driven fucking nuts if I wasn't able to use buslanes nearly the entire way, sure I can filter but fuck, buslanes just make it sooo much easier
I get my gas tank back from the painter on Friday, which should complete a five month long bike build. If it actually holds gas instead of pissing it out (lolthanks pinholes), I'll get to ride for the first time in years over the weekend. bet'cha it rains.
pictures pictures pictures when its done :p
I missed the 9-1PM window on Saturday to get it inspected because it took longer than I expected to get it shipshape. Now, it's supposed to be thunderstorms and rain for the next few days. aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa pictures soon though
This thread lackin' some old school lovin' feelin' https://files.facepunch.com/forum/upload/245015/c7aaac60-2524-48e6-875f-c499c8f9e035/24255001_10210683685194693_5155778928132980536_o.jpg https://files.facepunch.com/forum/upload/245015/255cead3-bb95-443f-a4c7-a7b5fdb74426/IMG_4566.JPG https://files.facepunch.com/forum/upload/245015/fae6e8a3-b496-427c-bc7e-5d6998b38912/IMG_5461.JPG
Aw man that is such a nice bike, I am jealous! I'm in Germany...gotta ride back to London on Monday and my chain is not feeling good at all, time to douse the fucker in ATF. Does anyone else fucking hate chains?
there might be a pinhole in my newly painted gas tank did I ever tell you the story of how I threw my entire fuckin bike in the trash?
Better than a belt and only fractionally worse than a shaft drive... My mates 1200GS has done a set of seals and bearings on the final drive in just over 20k miles which is easily attainable with a chain for less cost and complexity. Not a fan of ATF as a chain lube though, it's easy to put too much on and get it flung literally everywhere
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