Motors Motorcycle Mayhem

I got 1 minor on the Mod 1 for being 1kph too slow on my first avoidance run. Got 51kph the second time round, so was bang on. Sadly my budget for new bikes is rather tight, if currently none-existent... I've been earning £280 a month for the past 15 months so not exactly mr rich! Took me most of that time to save up for the lessons and tests.

Thanks! If you're able to point me in the right direction of where to look for good enough 1st bikes. Learnt on a cbf500 with abs, and would love to try to find something similar to get me started. Gear isn't an issue as got all that already.

 

Honda CB500, cheap to buy, repair and insure. Apparently it's great fun to ride, it's indestructible and it's economical too.

It's what I was looking at before I considered buying new.

 

The issue I found with bikes in that sort of price category is they all have umpteen owners, so it's always going to be a significant risk as you have no idea how it's been treated, whether you had some wannabe rossi upshifting all the time with no clutch, how many times it's been binned, etc etc. I was lucky with mine as it was off an ex-student of my instructor so I had a vague amount of trust there that it wasn't a heap to start with - there are certainly things wrong with mine though, front brake is shot etc etc.

I think eBay is probably a bit sketchy as I've heard of and know of people who just use it to shift their imminently dying motorbikes - many of which have deathtrap potential. Have you got a mate who is very experienced in bike mechanics? If so, take him whenever you view something.

You might get lucky on somewhere like Gumtree, or the MCN Classifieds but I found the latter a little bit on the expensive side.

CB500 is a pretty good idea IMO. And I don't think you'll get anything with ABS for sub 1000 but I may well be wrong. But if you wanna go fast, defo keep an eye out for a CBR600F2 - I'm in love with mine.

 

If you are sensible you won't bin the bike although a lot of people crash/drop their first bike you should stay positive and think you'll be the exception to the rule.

This is the reason I got an alarmed disc-lock because I can see myself forgetting about it. Hopefully it won't be to expensive.

Upshifting without the clutch is actually easier on the transmission if done properly the trouble is on that price category people are still learning how to do it...

Also I had good luck with finding decent bikes on pistonheads although they tended to go quite fast.

 

Highlighted the problem right there

Ducati don't sell the thing itself, onle a complete side of a fork for a small fortune
I'm a bit wary of buying a used fork from ebay though.
decisions decisions...

 

I'd say bite the bullet, and go for the one from Ducati. Getting one off eBay would probably result in you spending more in the long run.

 

Will any of you fine motorcyclists be attending the Jurassic Coast Run on the 7th of August? Looks like good fun.

More details here.

 

Depending on the Ducati (I know you've posted pictures but I can't remember) try hitting a Ducati forum to see if anyone is upgrading their forks and selling the old ones. You could also try and see if a pair of aftermarket forks is cheaper/similarly priced but I doubt you'll find any.

 

Biggest problem is most used forks are Showa (for this type of Ducati, and mine is Ducati itself)
I don't need the stanchions, just the...errr
What's that called, the part were the brake calipers are attached to that holds the axle?

 

Pictures of my baby? Pictures of my baby.

2006 Kawasaki Ninja 650R, had her for just about a year now. Arrow exhaust was the only real performance mod I've done so far, mostly just cosmetic work. If you take a look at the stock 2006, I think it's quite an improvement.





vs. stock

 

I know exactly which part you mean just can't remember the name. For my bike I know that part isn't sold separately but they do stock the inner tube which is about half the cost of a fork - still pricey but not quite so bad.

The part number for the inner tube for Showa can be found here on drawing 25 item 17 or 24 depending on the side not sure about Ducati forks.

 

I know, but strangely enough...they sell the inner tube seperately WITHOUT this part

Nice parts book
I have the SS without the i.e. though, so it's the model before...

 

No motorcycle wreckers around you Xir?
That way you can buy cheaply, and thoroughly inspect before purchase

Yes, same with the stretched busa shown earlier.
A standard busa is a very close match for a good standard litre sports bike btw... who wins depends on the track, and a slightly stretched busa with nice tyres as shown in this thread, isn't that far off.

 

Nope, east of germany is a bad place for breakers, even car parts are hard to get.
In communist times people hoarded what parts they could get, and since the 1990's new breaker yards wouldn't be allowed because of strickt enviromental laws.

Anyway, it's a Marzocchi fork appearently, doesn't say on it though.

This is the part which name I don't know in english.

 

I think there are all sorts of names for them. I have most often seen them called "fork lowers" as in the lower most part of a fork. Also heard them called boots before but not very often.

 

You could email or call the manufacturer themselves, or an official dealer. They're meant to know the official name of every single part, since they have to order them in individually.

That's been my experience with Honda, anyway, not sure how that translates to Ducati (do they even have dedicated dealers anywhere?)

 

I dumbfounded ducati UK with that question while looking for a ducati part in London last year.
I work in a town with a population of 15000 in former east-Gemany and it has a bigger Ducati dealer than central London, I can tell you that much.
Best regards to rossocorse.co.uk in Bethnal Green btw. you guys saved my holiday!

Love what you did with the ER6-F....errrr Ninja The black highlights are awesome

 

I got my first bike puncture, yaaaaay! Parked up in Street and came back to the bike and a passer by was having an ogle then mentioned my back tyre was looking a tad squidgy. It was. Nail straight through the tread.

All fixed now, no thanks to the AA (I'll post about that in the 'What's ruining your life?' thread shortly) so I took a ride down to Minehead to 'test it'. The A39 is utterly gorgeous! 50/60 speed limit out of the villages was just right for the road, some of the views were lovely too. Definitely heading down there again!

 

Thanks! I think the fender eliminating really cleaned it up as well.

Don't know if there are any actual physical differences between the ER6-F and the Ninja, but that's what she's called in the States. Are the ER6-N's pretty popular across the pond? I've only ever seen one over here, and it was in a showroom. Still not sure which look I like better.

 

Incidentally, this is one of the stupidest and most embarrassing displays I've ever seen:



The guy's actually the editor-in-chief of a biking magazine, apparently. I can't believe how bad his riding is.