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2 wheel GAF UNITE!

M

maxheadwound

Member
Oh yes... wanted to ask you. How are you liking your gloves. I slipped on my winter gloves this morning and I would find it weird to use those gloves as I clutch with 3 fingers and brake with the middle one.

How are you finding them?
 
D

Dougald

Member
Honestly, I haven't ridden in them yet! I only use 2 or 4 fingers so I don't see them impairing my riding, and the fact that they actually have individual inner finger sections anyway doesn't make them "feel" any different to regular 5-finger gloves


Chinese bike was sold on Saturday, just trying to find something suitable for my wife, got it down to these 3 really:

rlaLuaM.jpg
Click to expand...

Kawa GPZ500. It can be had for about half the price of the others (so within budget), should be a pretty safe choice. But safe also means "boring" and it's got 20 horsepower less than the bike she's learning on - it's actually in a lower licensing class than the top class she will have. Should really be a good shout but I feel like this would be another bike that will be sold within 6 months.

F84kQ53.jpg
Click to expand...

SV650, can be had for double her budget (so I'm gonna have to pay). About the same HP as what she's learnt on, forgiving twin. But IMO expensive for what you get and she's not huge on the styling. Not particularly easy to find here but a lot more common than the GPZ.

mYIoC7t.jpg
Click to expand...

Mid-late 90s CBR600F, can be had for around the same price as the Suzuki. Easiest bike of the 3 to find here too, as it was the most popular first big bike in the UK for years. But then it does have quite a lot more power, and I'm assuming less steering lock. Also by far her fave.
 
M

maxheadwound

Member
Dougald said:
Honestly, I haven't ridden in them yet! I only use 2 or 4 fingers so I don't see them impairing my riding, and the fact that they actually have individual inner finger sections anyway doesn't make them "feel" any different to regular 5-finger gloves


Chinese bike was sold on Saturday, just trying to find something suitable for my wife, got it down to these 3 really:



Kawa GPZ500. It can be had for about half the price of the others (so within budget), should be a pretty safe choice. But safe also means "boring" and it's got 20 horsepower less than the bike she's learning on - it's actually in a lower licensing class than the top class she will have. Should really be a good shout but I feel like this would be another bike that will be sold within 6 months.



SV650, can be had for double her budget (so I'm gonna have to pay). About the same HP as what she's learnt on, forgiving twin. But IMO expensive for what you get and she's not huge on the styling. Not particularly easy to find here but a lot more common than the GPZ.



Mid-late 90s CBR600F, can be had for around the same price as the Suzuki. Easiest bike of the 3 to find here too, as it was the most popular first big bike in the UK for years. But then it does have quite a lot more power, and I'm assuming less steering lock. Also by far her fave.
Click to expand...

That CBR600F is the best looking and its a nice ride. Its also going to have more protection from the elements. You can also get loads of spares and aftermarket goodies.

Voted: CBR600F
 
D

Dougald

Member
Power is my only concern with the 600F, but it's not a whole lot more than what she's riding on test... Told her to ask her instructor for his opinion as he's more qualified, knows her skills, etc.

She passed the test this afternoon anyway, so that's it, she can legally ride anything she likes!
 
W

Watevaman

Member
Meh, it's got power, but it's an older standard sport bike and hopefully she's gotten the controls and muscle memory down from riding the Chinese bike. That is, in my opinion, why people recommend to start on a smaller bike. Once you get the basics down and have put them into practice for a few thousand miles, a bigger bike shouldn't pose too much of a problem. I mean, theoretically you will never have a chance to react to all possible situations on the road, so you might as well switch up your bikes if you can and have fun.

edit: and yeah, I wouldn't let a beginner ride my ZRX, but someone with a thousand miles of varied riding, sure. I just know that a beginner, or someone who didn't know what they were doing, would probably do some stupid stuff like releasing the clutch and then bam, problem.
 
D

Dougald

Member
Her instructor said she should go for the CBR, so unless we come across a really nice SV, I think that will be the one.

You are right, once you have the training in you, you are able to "take it slow", whereas a beginner can easily dump the clutch, etc and end up in a bad situation. She's got 1-2k miles behind her now so I think she'll be ok on a 20 year old sports tourer.
 
M

maxheadwound

Member
Dougald said:
Her instructor said she should go for the CBR, so unless we come across a really nice SV, I think that will be the one.

You are right, once you have the training in you, you are able to "take it slow", whereas a beginner can easily dump the clutch, etc and end up in a bad situation. She's got 1-2k miles behind her now so I think she'll be ok on a 20 year old sports tourer.
Click to expand...

Have a bit of faith hehe. She will be fine if she take it slowly on any bike. If I drop my clutch my bike will just die and I will have to pick it up.
 
D

Dougald

Member
Yep I think so. Any colossal mistake she makes could happen on anything really

Now to find a decent-ish CBR600F within a hundred miles for around £1500... She has been dreaming about owning a CBR (a Fireblade but one step at a time) for 20 years.
 
M

maxheadwound

Member
Dougald said:
Yep I think so. Any colossal mistake she makes could happen on anything really

Now to find a decent-ish CBR600F within a hundred miles for around £1500... She has been dreaming about owning a CBR (a Fireblade but one step at a time) for 20 years.
Click to expand...

I had a quick look on Gumtree and they have a few there.. also check out Autotrader, and MCN's store.
 
F

Fallout-NL

Member
I vote Monster 620. Because twins are more fun. And holy shit Dougald, this is pretty much the perfect excuse for getting a Ducati in there somehow :p.

Other than that, they say the CBR600F is pretty much bulletproof, though that reputation also jacked the prices somewhat.
 
D

Dougald

Member
I tried to convince her to get an incredibly affordable Monster 600 last night, no go. That "recommendation" from me was 100% self-motivated though
 
F

Fallout-NL

Member
Maybe there's a way you can get her to try them both. I know my ex-girlfriend was infuriatingly stubborn about not wanting a Ducati until she actually tried one.
 
D

Dougald

Member
Ahh she just dislikes Naked Bikes in general. Quite likes the Street Triple but I don't think she'd ever own one, which unfortunately also rules out a Monster. The only bike I ever had that she'd own was strangely the Pan European.

I'm quite sure she'd have an 848 or a Paningale, but a little outside her budget...
 
I

iamblades

Member
Dougald said:
I think regular leather stuff is something like 1.4mm+, with race suits I think 3-4mm+

Custom leather has got to be the way to go long-term, it'll last you forever. Just don't get fat! The cost of replacing my bike gear is my number one reason to control my diet, hah.
Click to expand...

3-4 mm is a bit thick, would be so stiff you couldn't bend your arms.

Dainese's top end race suit is only .9 mm. It's kangaroo hide, but still. Construction and design is way more important than leather thickness, even on high speed lowsides you aren't that likely to burn through 1 mm of leather, it's the seams that are most likely going to fail first.
 
F

Fallout-NL

Member
Tell your buddy he should hang on to it and come hang out with us :p

Dougald said:
This looks alright, asking bang on £1500 so hoping I could drop that down a couple hundred quid
Click to expand...

I see marks on the clutch cover! (or is that on the other side?)

Nice color though, 90s in a good way.
 
J

Jackson

Member
Oh! Also here's a clip of a ride on an amazing tiny road we took over the weekend.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EdwlEOHmwAg#t=175 (good stuff starts at 2:55, if the link doesn't automatically start you there)

The road is barely wide enough for two cars to pass each other and there's a bit of gravel and potholes here and there, but mostly it was amazing and beautiful and very twisty.

This was a leisurely run though, no one was pushing hard. But wow what a road!
 
D

Duderz

Banned
Jackson said:
Oh! Also here's a clip of a ride on an amazing tiny road we took over the weekend.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EdwlEOHmwAg#t=175 (good stuff starts at 2:55, if the link doesn't automatically start you there)

The road is barely wide enough for two cars to pass each other and there's a bit of gravel and potholes here and there, but mostly it was amazing and beautiful and very twisty.

This was a leisurely run though, no one was pushing hard. But wow what a road!
Click to expand...

Beautiful! Thanks for sharing.
 
D

Dougald

Member
eh, 1.3mm should be fine. 1.3 or 1.4 is what most of the "non-race" stuff you see out there is. Think it gives you around 4 seconds of abrasion resistance at road speeds... compare that to the under half-second of denim jeans! As long as the stitching is decent quality that should be more than safe enough unless you're planning on using it on trackdays. Also I bet that'll be decent quality cowhide, not some of the almost fashion-weight stuff some jackets tend to have these days


Jackson said:
Oh! Also here's a clip of a ride on an amazing tiny road we took over the weekend.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EdwlEOHmwAg#t=175 (good stuff starts at 2:55, if the link doesn't automatically start you there)

The road is barely wide enough for two cars to pass each other and there's a bit of gravel and potholes here and there, but mostly it was amazing and beautiful and very twisty.

This was a leisurely run though, no one was pushing hard. But wow what a road!
Click to expand...

"Tiny"... don't ride in England! If you were doing 60mph on a road that size here, you'd still end up with someone tailgating you. Looks absolutely stunning though, good thing it was dry as wet leaves are lethal. What I wouldn't give for a road like that without junctions every mile..
 
T

thesoapster

Member
MutFox said:
Saw that it's 1.3mm cowhide leather for the jacket I got...
Not 1.4 as recomended... :|
Already paid and stuff, hope it's ok...

Supposedly the factory they're using this year, is the same place that does Alpinestars gear.
Not sure if they're a good brand or not.



http://rubbersidedown.ca/
Click to expand...

Nothing wrong there. Japanese cowhide (some of the best) tends to be 1.3, FWIW. And kangaroo leather, the strongest, is about 0.8. You're after quality first. And, if it is the same leather used by Alpinestars, it's good...I've personally (...yep) tested their leather...

You mainly just want a nicer (usually pricier) model jacket/suit/whatever because they will use larger, fewer pieces of leather, so that means fewer stitch points that could fail when sliding etc.
 
D

Dougald

Member
Offered a few hundred quid less for the bike I posted above with the proviso that it's as described (end can is also a little scratched, though I'm just gonna repaint it, and a bunch of other minor wear and tear), chap accepted. Not a bad bike for the money I don't think, only done 26k in 19 years. If there's anything else wrong I'll just be an ass and knock money off, hopefully it's not a wasted trip.

Going to drive the few hours down to Somerset and pick it up on Saturday. It's cold and wet in the UK now so there's no way I'm letting the wife get away with asking me to ride it home, though.
 
M

maxheadwound

Member
Dougald said:
Offered a few hundred quid less for the bike I posted above with the proviso that it's as described (end can is also a little scratched, though I'm just gonna repaint it, and a bunch of other minor wear and tear), chap accepted. Not a bad bike for the money I don't think, only done 26k in 19 years. If there's anything else wrong I'll just be an ass and knock money off, hopefully it's not a wasted trip.

Going to drive the few hours down to Somerset and pick it up on Saturday. It's cold and wet in the UK now so there's no way I'm letting the wife get away with asking me to ride it home, though.
Click to expand...

Nice man... just do the usual checks... tyres, brakes, check front shocks that shafts is not pitted, start from cold, start from warm, lights, indicators and mot alerts. No leaks on raidators or oil seals, chain and sprockets (teeth)

That is all I can think off. Might be worth for you to ride it home if the weather is really crap
 
D

Dougald

Member
Yes looking at the amount of rain coming, I might have to ride it home!

I'll be checking everything I can't see from photos, so fork seals, bearings, all the usual bits and pieces. As it's an old bike I'm not too bothered if anything needs changing but money will be getting knocked off if I find anything he hasn't mentioned.
 
M

MutFox

Banned
R

richardhawk

Member
MMJfJVJ.jpg
Click to expand...

My girlfriend took this as I was leaving her house this morning. Thought it was a cool shot.
I spent the entire day riding with her yesterday and for her being my first passenger I think I did pretty well. The only issue we kept having was our helmets hitting each other. Doesn't help that I wear an XXL I guess haha.
 
J

Jackson

Member
Dougald said:
"Tiny"... don't ride in England! If you were doing 60mph on a road that size here, you'd still end up with someone tailgating you. Looks absolutely stunning though, good thing it was dry as wet leaves are lethal. What I wouldn't give for a road like that without junctions every mile..
Click to expand...

Well I'm from 'Murica! Land of the 18 lane super highways! This is tiny! :p In the vid there's a truck that passes me and it's a double wide (has 4 tires in the rear instead of 2) and it was over the line when it passed me, good thing I wasn't bombing down the road.

Yeah it was dry for a few days I wouldn't go near that road if the leaves were wet. :)
 
D

Drinky Crow

Banned
welp, the z's gearbox melted down again, this time locking up cold. had it towed into my preferred dealer+service desk (instead of the original dealer), and they looked it over, declared that the original dealer had fucked up prep TWICE by not making sure oil had gotten in the crankcase and gearbox. ("how the fuck did you shift this thing???" the tech asked. "lots of preload!" i said with a stupid, mildly freaked out grin.)

rather than deal with warranty disputes myself, i traded my z to the dealership owner (who is also a friend, and) who gave me a more-than-fair price (plus he's gonna sort out the warranty for himself) and cut me a deal on this as a replacement:

PK28cq0.jpg


2014 street triple r. not exactly the z, but hey, good dealers get my money. also, man, it PAYS to be nice to 'em. :-D
 
D

Dougald

Member
I should make a new thread... subtitle it "everyone bought a Street Triple"

Jackson said:
Well I'm from 'Murica! Land of the 18 lane super highways! This is tiny! :p In the vid there's a truck that passes me and it's a double wide (has 4 tires in the rear instead of 2) and it was over the line when it passed me, good thing I wasn't bombing down the road.

Yeah it was dry for a few days I wouldn't go near that road if the leaves were wet. :)
Click to expand...

I saw that, I was thinking "why is that guy in the middle of the road??". That truck would have serious problems negotiating the average small town here!

I really need to get up to the Scottish Highlands next year with the wife. I've been putting it off for years because it's such a long ride from where I am in England (especially as the multi-lane roads kind of run out at Glasgow). All the roads up there are either like in your vid, or this

7xuVGGu.jpg
Click to expand...
 
D

Dougald

Member
Been meaning to ask, my wife has trouble using the clutch after a while (basically, she's missing part of a finger on her left hand, makes it painful after constant use).

What's the best solution for getting a clutch lever that requires less reach to pull in? I was thinking of getting an adjustable lever, but the shorter levers look like they might be a bit easier to use too.
 
F

Fallout-NL

Member
richardhawk said:
My girlfriend took this as I was leaving her house this morning. Thought it was a cool shot.
I spent the entire day riding with her yesterday and for her being my first passenger I think I did pretty well. The only issue we kept having was our helmets hitting each other. Doesn't help that I wear an XXL I guess haha.
Click to expand...

That is a nice picture. Wish my girlfriend would do that when I drove off :p.

As for the helmets, the trick is to ask your girlfriend to use the fuel tank to brace herself against whenever you slow down or apply the brakes. Makes a world of difference.

Drinky Crow said:
welp, the z's gearbox melted down again, this time locking up cold. had it towed into my preferred dealer+service desk (instead of the original dealer), and they looked it over, declared that the original dealer had fucked up prep TWICE by not making sure oil had gotten in the crankcase and gearbox. ("how the fuck did you shift this thing???" the tech asked. "lots of preload!" i said with a stupid, mildly freaked out grin.)

rather than deal with warranty disputes myself, i traded my z to the dealership owner (who is also a friend, and) who gave me a more-than-fair price (plus he's gonna sort out the warranty for himself) and cut me a deal on this as a replacement:

PK28cq0.jpg


2014 street triple r. not exactly the z, but hey, good dealers get my money. also, man, it PAYS to be nice to 'em. :-D
Click to expand...

Wow, you're even worse than I am, haha. Though you keep coming up with great excuses :D. Nice bike, congratulations!


Dougald said:
Offered a few hundred quid less for the bike I posted above with the proviso that it's as described (end can is also a little scratched, though I'm just gonna repaint it, and a bunch of other minor wear and tear), chap accepted. Not a bad bike for the money I don't think, only done 26k in 19 years. If there's anything else wrong I'll just be an ass and knock money off, hopefully it's not a wasted trip.

Going to drive the few hours down to Somerset and pick it up on Saturday. It's cold and wet in the UK now so there's no way I'm letting the wife get away with asking me to ride it home, though.
Click to expand...

A few hundred?! Nice, it wasn't that expensive to begin with. I hope it lives up to the pictures, because it does look pretty decent.

Dougald said:
Been meaning to ask, my wife has trouble using the clutch after a while (basically, she's missing part of a finger on her left hand, makes it painful after constant use).

What's the best solution for getting a clutch lever that requires less reach to pull in? I was thinking of getting an adjustable lever, but the shorter levers look like they might be a bit easier to use too.
Click to expand...

Depends on what finger it is I guess. If the trouble is with the outer left part of her hand I imagine a shorter lever might not be an improvement.
 
D

Dougald

Member
Fallout-NL said:
A few hundred?! Nice, it wasn't that expensive to begin with. I hope it lives up to the pictures, because it does look pretty decent.
Click to expand...

Amazing what you can get when you offer 5 minutes before someones listing ends ;-)



Fallout-NL said:
Depends on what finger it is I guess. If the trouble is with the outer left part of her hand I imagine a shorter lever might not be an improvement.
Click to expand...

Unfortunately, it's the middle finger. I read that the shorter levers can be brought in with a bit less force, which is part of her trouble. Of course, I think that the regular lengths are probably a bit safer
 
M

maxheadwound

Member
richardhawk said:
My girlfriend took this as I was leaving her house this morning. Thought it was a cool shot.
I spent the entire day riding with her yesterday and for her being my first passenger I think I did pretty well. The only issue we kept having was our helmets hitting each other. Doesn't help that I wear an XXL I guess haha.
Click to expand...

That is a standard problem... and the fix for it is to ride more with her on the back. She will get use to how you ride and when to expect the gear change. When we did our long EU trip it got a bit irritating but after two days of riding I started moving my head forward on every change haha.

Its good to share the ride with your girl... take it slow and they will love it in the long run. Ride like a mad man and you will be on your own. Well for the girls I have dated long time ago.
 
M

maxheadwound

Member
MutFox said:
Thanks for all the info dudes!
I'm slowly learning stuff from you guys... ;D

I'll post pics of the gear once I get it a month from now... :p



Those are the pants I chose... :|


They are nice pants but I hope they have some nice protection in the side. Let us know how they come out as the site looks like they are very professional.
Click to expand...
 
M

maxheadwound

Member
Drinky Crow said:
welp, the z's gearbox melted down again, this time locking up cold. had it towed into my preferred dealer+service desk (instead of the original dealer), and they looked it over, declared that the original dealer had fucked up prep TWICE by not making sure oil had gotten in the crankcase and gearbox. ("how the fuck did you shift this thing???" the tech asked. "lots of preload!" i said with a stupid, mildly freaked out grin.)

rather than deal with warranty disputes myself, i traded my z to the dealership owner (who is also a friend, and) who gave me a more-than-fair price (plus he's gonna sort out the warranty for himself) and cut me a deal on this as a replacement:

PK28cq0.jpg


2014 street triple r. not exactly the z, but hey, good dealers get my money. also, man, it PAYS to be nice to 'em. :-D
Click to expand...

It does pay to be nice to them as they tell you about all the deals about. Grats on the bike and it does look really nice. Weird that the dealers stuffed up the gearbox.
 
F

Fallout-NL

Member
Dougald said:
Unfortunately, it's the middle finger. I read that the shorter levers can be brought in with a bit less force, which is part of her trouble. Of course, I think that the regular lengths are probably a bit safer
Click to expand...

Yeeeeah, that lever on the CBR600F does look like it requires some manhandling, not hydraulically assisted either. Though it's possible to add that as a modification, right? Might be worth the hassle in combination with an adjustable lever.
 
O

opticalmace

Member
MutFox said:
Thanks for all the info dudes!
I'm slowly learning stuff from you guys... ;D

I'll post pics of the gear once I get it a month from now... :p



Those are the pants I chose... :|



Yeah dude, I'm in the North Van area...
Which area did you grow up in? :)
Click to expand...

North Delta, myself.

Nice Striple, Drinky!
 
W

Watevaman

Member
Dougald said:
Yep, it's October



My new gloves are definitely waterproof, though.
Click to expand...

I don't know how you do it. I'm perfectly cool with riding in the rain, but only if I have to. If it was like that for a good portion of the year I would be miserable. No fun back road runs (you've seen what wet roads do to me), no playing around, and my bike would be rusting like mad.
 
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