Awww no, motorbike sold!

[Norm]

It's just that I had been toying with the idea of getting a smallish motorbike like a 125 to commute on as a cheaper alternative to the car but my uncle who was a keen biker before he got married (!) was insistant that a small car is just as economical, warm, dry and safer. It surprised me, to put it mildly.

I can guess what your uncle rode because a small car is about as economical as a litre supersports bike which will do 0-60 in under 3 seconds.

My Fazer 1000 is as economical as most small cars (if I ride it that way) and return 50+ mpg. If I ride it at the same speed that small cars travel, I can get over 60mpg.

Most 125s will get 80+ mpg, some can get over 100. That's in normal use on real roads, not in the sanctified environment of some European institute which comes up with the frankly ludicrious "manufacturer's figures".

 

[rodgy-dodge]

This is our baby Kawasaki ER600F. Typically it costs DH £50 a week petrol to get to work in the car. This little mountain goat however costs on Average £15....Cheap insu; cheap road tax. I was going to do my CBT a couple of years ago as I quite fancied a bike of my own, However the state of the roads did put me off. If I hit a pothole I don't think I could control a big bike. My other reason was we wouldn't have the same crack on if I was on a seperate bike We wear intercoms so can chat as we're motoring along. You see far more of the countryside on a bike too than in the car, so perfect for weekend trips out, when we want to go further, yeah the gear you wear can be a bit on the hot side, but hey everyone has a picture of bikers being smelly ha haa. but better being smelly than loose your skin to tarmac!

I love the comradary among the bikers, like knights on horseback tipping a nod of mutual respect when passing, sometimes even get a wave if its a pacticularly sunny enjoyable afternoon.

We where thinking of changing the bike for a Fazer 1000, Tried one out last weekend and it doesn't feel to disimilar to the ER6F, obviously a bigger bike, but the car has now developed a lazy tappet so dilemma change the bike or change the car! It took DH 20 years to get me on the back of a motorbike...Now he can't go out without me I LOVE IT.....Bike before this was a Ninga which I loved the sound of, but at high speeds I felt like I was leaving the seat. I'm not so high up on this one, even very nearly fallen asleep on the back a few times (not a good idea)
Motor Biking today and cycling tomorrow I think getting the balance right is the key!

 

[vernon]

even very nearly fallen asleep on the back a few times (not a good idea)
Motor Biking today and cycling tomorrow I think getting the balance right is the key!

Sleeping at the back isn't that difficult. 30+ years ago after drinking a lot of beer I allowed myself to be persuaded to go to the Earls' Court Motor Cycle Show. I cat napped most of the way down the A1 from Darlington to Potters Bar. I can't remember anything about the show other than pies cost a £1 and a can of coke was £0.50. Me and my pal chose to survive of our emergency rations of one packet of ginger biscuits.

Sleeping at the front is a bit more problematic. When I regularly burnt my candles at both ends I worked a full day through to 20:00 on a Friday in Bradford, motorcycled south and went clubbing in Birmingham until the early hours and set off back to Leeds to get some sleep in before going to work for 09:00 back in Bradford. I got some of my sleep a little bit early on the M1 and would come round in any of the three lanes and hard shoulder - it was a terrifying experience.

I'm a tad more sensible now.

 

[vernon]

I sold my last one (GSX750W) five years ago, a very sad day but I needed the cash at the time. A mate has just bought a Moto Guzzi V50 as a project bike but decided it's not what he wants and is talking of selling it. I am REALLY tempted to make him an offer as I love Guzzis and always wanted one. Spending the summer doing it up would be heaven.

Buy the Guzzi.

Riding one is a sublime experience. I had one for a couple of years and found that on tight winding roads it was as fast if not faster than the CBX550F Honda. The only gripe that I had with it was the self destructing wiring loom caused by having a live earth system. I learned a fair amount of automotive electronics during the first winter of ownership.

I'd still have one had I got enough spare room in the garage

 

[yello]

The motorbike is just a mode of transport for me now. I still enjoying riding, prefer it to driving in fact, but I no longer just go out for a ride as I used to. It's not the price of petrol that puts me off either, I've just changed.

My wife rides too but if we're going anywhere together then it just makes more sense to take the car. It is cheaper than 2 bikes, we can talk and share driving, and it's warmer/cooler, drier etc etc etc. If I'm going somewhere on ly own then I'll take my motorbike.

In truth though, I find there are fewer advantages to the motorbike over the car for me now. I find I need higher levels of concentration on the motorbike than in the car (I know that shouldn't be the case but it is!) so have to stop more frequently if on longer journeys. Plus there's all the gear. Not just the heat but also carting it around when you stop. Even though bikers here in France (including the gendarmes) do not clad themselves in leather, I just can't make that transition.

I couldn't bring myself to sell the motorbike (Yamaha YZF600R Thundercat) though. It will be my last one though, when it gives up then it'll not be replaced and that'll be the end of my biking era. Says he.

 

[bigjim]

I've just sorned my VFR800. I should get rid of it as it has hardly ben used since I was made redundent. Bikes these days do not seem to fetch decent money any more though, so for now it sits in the garage dreaming of days past when we shared many a ride in all weathers.
I shall have to harden my heart one day but as soon as I ride it I decide I cannot part with it. Crazy sad old git.

 

[yello]

Bikes these days do not seem to fetch decent money any more though

Try flogging it in France then! Used bikes (and cars for that matter) fetch much higher prices than in the UK.

A salesman in Fowlers Bristol was telling me that there's a Dutch dealer that comes over and buys clean 2nd hand UK bikes by the van load. He gets the relevant certificate of conformity, makes any changes required (headlight, speedo) and flogs them in Europe. There's enough of a price difference to make it worth his while.

 

[bigjim]

Interesting. Especially as it's a parallel import and this has KPH speedo. Be nice to ride it over there. And my niece lives in Paris.

 

[brockers]

I was speaking to a French neighbour last year who (rightly) thought that his T reg 600 Hornet would likely fetch about 800 quid in the London market, as it had the odd gouge scrape and mismatching plastics. As he was going back to France to live, he decided he might as well ride it home and flog it there. I spoke with him on his return as he was clearing out the flat and he told me that he'd managed to get £1500 for it, so there's a definite business opportunity to be had for those who are brave and energetic enough!

 

[danphoto]

Ahem ...

I was sad to see my 1955 Vincent Black Shadow go, but I was in dire need of 20% deposit on a house.

Got £360 for it and the house was £1750

(And the answer to your question is - 1968. Soon got another bike though, and did another 21 years on them. Very happy to be on a bicycle nowadays though ...)

 

[yello]

Especially as it's a parallel import and this has KPH speedo.

Parallel's can cause problems, depending on where the bike originated from. To get a French reg (as any European country I suspect), you need a certificate of conformity issued by the manufacturer. This basically states that all the bit on the bike are EU approved. If you can't get a CoC, for instance in the case of a parallel import from the US or Japan, then you're into a bit of a minefield. In some cases, there being no way you can register the bike.

 

[Vapin' Joe]

Can you still get grey imports in this country? Loads of second hand low mileage Japanese bike were imported during the nineties, often no more than a year old as their MoT was so strict many riders over there didn't bother and chopped in for a new one after a year.

I have a lovely Honda Bros V twin in the mid nineties, MPH sticker on the speedo to comply with UK law. Only 5000 kilometers on the clock, dirt cheap and immaculate.

 

[Norm]

The UK, as suggested above, is now a prime market for exporting rather than importing, especially second hand bikes. I know a lot of Buells that have gone to Germany, for instance.

 

[yello]

I have a lovely Honda Bros V twin in the mid nineties, MPH sticker on the speedo to comply with UK law.

I had a grey (import) VFR400, cracking little bike. I used it on track days primarily as it wasn't the most comfortable of bikes to ride any distance. I still think of it with great fondness and I do sometimes wish I still had it. Handled beautifully.

 

[Proto]

The UK, as suggested above, is now a prime market for exporting rather than importing, especially second hand bikes. I know a lot of Buells that have gone to Germany, for instance.

Still got my Buell XB12S Lightning, I taxed it last week and it's been out for a spin, but I don't do anything like the mileage I used to do. I paid next to nothing for it, and it costs me so little to keep on the road I won't be selling it. Just can't bear the thought of not having a bike.


Norm, on the M1 a few weeks ago I saw a German registered van pulling a trailer which was loaded up with Buells. I'm guessing the van was full of them too. Very strong market for them over there. France too, I believe.