[Other Sport] Motorbikes

[Audax]

Personally I find motor bikes to both look and seem dangerous. I have no proof but to me it’s a lot safer having a crash at 30 miles a hour in a car at least you have a chance as opposed to be thrown off a bike at 30 miles an hour . I also find motor bike riders aggressive when they weave and roar past you on roads .

Motor bikes also seem to attract the long haired, big bearded, heavily tattooed bikers which lets face it with all due respect was never a good look .

As with any vehicle, how dangerous it is is largely in the hands of the operator. To a smaller extent, it's also in the hands of the operators of other vehicles as well. I learned to ride as a teen, then had a 6 year gap after moving to the UK from Aus, before taking it up again. All told ... would be around 20 years experience. The closest I came to an accident was when a car decided to try turning right from a left-turn-only lane at a roundabout when I was turning left from the centre lane (as I needed to go right at the next roundabout about 100m up the road). Spotted what the idiot was doing early enough to pick the bike upright, brake, and only lightly clip his wing mirror as he also hauled on the brakes.

As for the hairy biker stereotype ... put it away. There's far more bikers who are respectable professionals such as doctors, lawyers, accountants, police, etc etc than there are fringe gang bikies.

 

[zefarelly]

As for the hairy biker stereotype ... put it away. There's far more bikers who are respectable professionals such as doctors, lawyers, accountants, police, etc etc than there are fringe gang bikies.

The midlife crisis brigade

 

[DarrenFreemansPerm]

The Newhaven chavy herberts vehicle of choice, no crash helmets of course and riding around the streets, police cannot seem to stop them.
Peacehaven have a similar problem.

No disrespect to you as you are obviously wearing a crash helmet and off road in the photos.

No offence taken, this photo is about 30 years old!

 

[Deleted member 2719]

True . I wasn’t trying to sound mean , I guess many things attract a small hardcore element it you are right , just because they might look like hard right gun carrying Trump supporters doesn’t necessarily mean they are .. ..

There are so many sort of two wheeled lovers nowadays:

Lycra lovers with shaven legs that buy Vaseline as a staple on their weekly shop. The sight of any engine in two wheels would give them a cardiac.

The Harley pussies that look hard but actually wail like a Vixon, if you don't admire their fat boys.

The smooth, tuck it between your legs lads, and prefer to ride bareback.


There are too many to name.


I label myself in the BI-cycle category.

 

[Deleted member 2719]

View attachment 129401View attachment 129401

How it all began, me on my PW50 and my brother on his TY80.

Fans of the Nolans I see?

I bet you jumped on his TY when you had the chance and then it all kicked off.

 

[DarrenFreemansPerm]

Fans of the Nolans I see?

I bet you jumped on his TY when you had the chance and then it all kicked off.

I never rode the TY, I soon progressed into a PW80, dad was on his DT125 and everyone was happy
Didn’t know much about lids back then, wore whatever dad deemed safest!

 

[zefarelly]

First bike I rode was, I think, a TY . . It was a rev n go scrambler typew thing. . . rode it round the park on Shoreham beach, it belonged to another kid on the houseboats . a memorable occaision. I was about 10.

 

[Deleted member 2719]

First bike I rode was, I think, a TY . . It was a rev n go scrambler typew thing. . . rode it round the park on Shoreham beach, it belonged to another kid on the houseboats . a memorable occaision. I was about 10.

My first bike was a suzuki 50 like this

https://www.pinterest.co.uk/pin/148548487690109301/?nic_v2=1a5OhlbsV

I used to ride it through 6" wet clay in a field, i can still smell the mud burning off the engine and exhaust as i went though the water!

I never had a proper ignition on it and no cut out switch on it either, and I remember the throttle cable getting jammed full of mud when I came off. The engine was red lining, so I went for a quick pull off of the HT lead.

That was my first time I experienced a long lasting pain at the age of 11 years old!

To this day I do not feck with fast running engines and HT leads.

 

[zefarelly]

15 000V up your arm is a rite of passage

the pk 50 had more power at the spark than at the back wheel . . . . 32mph flat out . . . . eventually

the 100 sport I replaced it with would do 50 no problem

 

[ozzygull]

The first bike I owned was Kawaski KH125 K9 I did my CBT on it and rode it for about a year on L plates before doing my test. I did my test on Kawasaki ER5 going from a two stroke to a parallel-twin was quite a challenge as one had zero engine braking and the other had a lot. As soon as I passed I got the ZXR400. My Husband had a Honda CBR600 at the time and we would go on long trips on them

This is not my KH125 but it was like this.



This was my zxr400 and my husbands CBR600

 

[rogersix]

Personally I find motor bikes to both look and seem dangerous. I have no proof but to me it’s a lot safer having a crash at 30 miles a hour in a car at least you have a chance as opposed to be thrown off a bike at 30 miles an hour . I also find motor bike riders aggressive when they weave and roar past you on roads .

Motor bikes also seem to attract the long haired, big bearded, heavily tattooed bikers which lets face it with all due respect was never a good look .

christ on a bike...

are you retired as well?

 

[ozzygull]

If you have not see her videos on youtube there is a lady from the Netherland who travels around the world on her own on a motorbike. Her videos are really interesting and well put together

I have put a link to her youtube channel

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCEIs9nkveW9WmYtsOcJBwTg

 

[Audax]

Suppose I should mention my first bike, since everyone else is doing it.

I learned on a Kawasaki GPz250, nominally a 1983 model but by the time I had in the mid-90's it'd had a few replacement parts along the way. Belt drive, and it had been well ridden by many learners by then. The trip where I learned the most about riding motorcycles was a ride from Canberra to an off-the-beaten-track camp ground near Bathurst one weekend. My first ever long distance motorcycle trip, carrying camping gear on the back. Ended with my first ever ride on a dirt road. On arrival, turned to my dad (who'd brought the rest of the family on a sidecar pulled by a BMW K75C) and asked him whether the rattling noise the engine had developed during the trip was anything to worry about. With a deadpan face and tone, he assured me it wasn't and we'd check it out when we got home.

After a fun weekend spent camping and then packing up in the rain, off we went home again. My first ever ride on a wet dirt road, then back on proper roads for the long trip home. Except the bike itself didn't make it very far. Right before we left my dad had told me "just in case" that if the engine felt tight at all to pull the clutch in immediately. Sure enough, first steep hill we got to halfway up the engine went tight, loose, tight, loose, tight ... clutch in and immediately the engine stopped completely and I coasted to a stop. No hope of getting it started. Bike ended up chained to the letter box of the only house on the hill (thankfully right opposite where I stopped) with a note left through the letter box. I'm on the pillion seat for the trip home, mum and brother crammed into the sidecar. A few hours home, hitch the trailer to the car, few hours back to Bathurst to pick the bike up, a few more hours home again.

Next day, dad came home with a manual for the bike and said it was my bike, so my job to figure out what was wrong. Stripped the engine from the top down, because that's what the manual said, to discover the cause was all the way at the bottom: the crank bearings had completely disintegrated and the crank itself was seized solid. Off to the wreckers to get a replacement and rebuild the engine myself. Learned a lot about motorcyles in the space of a week.

From that day I did all my own mechanic work on that bike. But never since then - I graduated from the GPz250 to a Yamaha XJ600 for my uni and post-uni years. Then when I moved over to the UK I had a 6 year gap before picking up a brand new Yamaha XJ6 from the dealer in Worthing. Loved that bike - it did a lot of miles, including a camping trip to the Spa Formula 1 one year. Was stolen shortly after coming out of warranty, so I replaced it with a Suzuki GSX1250FA which I've still got. Still regret not going for the Triumph Sprint at the time. The one thing I forgot to consider when deciding between the two bikes was service intervals - the Suzuki's is pretty short at every 4000 miles.

 

[Dick Head]

When I was 16 I had a Puch Maxi.
Probably the uncoolest thing to have ever been created.

This one's pretty cool.

 

[Deleted member 2719]

15 000V up your arm is a rite of passage

the pk 50 had more power at the spark than at the back wheel . . . . 32mph flat out . . . . eventually

the 100 sport I replaced it with would do 50 no problemView attachment 129407

How many volts would a ht lead chuck out while running flat out

If you have not seen her videos on youtube there is a lady from the Netherland who travels around the world on her own on a motorbike. Her videos are really interesting and well put together

I have put a link to her youtube channel

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCEIs9nkveW9WmYtsOcJBwTg

Thanks for that, looks an interesting watch, I am thinking coronation street might get the elbow tonight!

With her half a million subscribers and my NSC fan base, we may have to start up a show called Mouldy and Itchy in the real world.

The first show will be about 'back street banter'.

 

[Muzzy]

I’ve been riding around 20 years but have only just come across the perfect for me bike. I passed my test on the direct access route on a GPZ 500 kwaka. Had a few bikes since including Suzi gsxr750, zx9r ninja Kwaka, suzi 1600 intruder and a Harley fatbob.

I’m currently the proud owner of a Triumph tiger 1050 sports. I love this bike and my only swap for this would have to be a BMW 1250 GS.

I am planning to cover the North Coast 500 route around Scotland either next year or in 2022. If anyone fancies joining me and a couple of friends then feel free to get in touch? It will probably be a 10-12 day trip.

 

[ozzygull]

I’ve been riding around 20 years but have only just come across the perfect for me bike. I passed my test on the direct access route on a GPZ 500 kwaka. Had a few bikes since including Suzi gsxr750, zx9r ninja Kwaka, suzi 1600 intruder and a Harley fatbob.

I’m currently the proud owner of a Triumph tiger 1050 sports. I love this bike and my only swap for this would have to be a BMW 1250 GS.

I am planning to cover the North Coast 500 route around Scotland either next year or in 2022. If anyone fancies joining me and a couple of friends then feel free to get in touch? It will probably be a 10-12 day trip.

That is really nice

 

[B-right-on]

Personally I find motor bikes to both look and seem dangerous. I have no proof but to me it’s a lot safer having a crash at 30 miles a hour in a car at least you have a chance as opposed to be thrown off a bike at 30 miles an hour . I also find motor bike riders aggressive when they weave and roar past you on roads .

Motor bikes also seem to attract the long haired, big bearded, heavily tattooed bikers which lets face it with all due respect was never a good look .

Of course being in a car crash is safer than a motorbike crash. However a sensible rider can anticipate others actions and be ready to react to stupidity (cars pulling out etc..) But this doesn't detract from the fun and enjoyment from riding bikes. Been riding on and off for 40 years, only accidents I've had have been my own fault

I have long hair, beard, small tattoo and ride a big noisey Harley. Don't really care if I fit others prejudices against bikers, happy enough in my own skin to not give a shit what others think of me. I work hard, have all my life, only ever drink when going to watch the Albion, never smoked (anything) got a great wife and kids and live in a lovely house on Shoreham Beach.
My fun in life includes riding my 1900cc bike (only in the nice weather) so if others want to make assumptions about me, then they have the problem not me.

 

[AK74]

My Dad built me a bike when I was 4: I've been on two-wheels (initially off-road) ever since (I'm now 46). I also teach people to ride, which is enormously fulfilling. If anyone's thinking of learning, feel free to drop me a PM.

 

[The Fifth Column]

Personally I find motor bikes to both look and seem dangerous. I have no proof but to me it’s a lot safer having a crash at 30 miles a hour in a car at least you have a chance as opposed to be thrown off a bike at 30 miles an hour . I also find motor bike riders aggressive when they weave and roar past you on roads .

Motor bikes also seem to attract the long haired, big bearded, heavily tattooed bikers which lets face it with all due respect was never a good look .

For every twatty biker I could give you 50 twatty car drivers. Don't think I've ever seen a fellow biker texting whilst riding or doing half the stuff I see car drivers doing every day. There are good and bad but bikers are generally a very friendly bunch and a lot are involved in charitable causes and other good causes, don't really see that from groups of car drivers. If I see another biker stopped and broken down I will always stop and see If i can help if its possible to do so, this is not uncommon in the biking world. I have been on several bike trips across Europe and the overwhelming experience was very positive both with other bikers and non-bikers, they definitely seem more biker friendly in certain countries. Here if you dare to legally filter through traffic even at a low speed and safely it is not uncommon for car and van drivers to deliberately cut you off or close the gap or just not bother looking when they change lanes.