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Motors Motorcycle Mayhem

Discussion in 'General' started by RTT, 24 Feb 2009.

  1. Xir

    Xir Modder

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    Driving with a pillion passanger takes some getting used to, but isn't as bad often thought...
    ..then again, mine is a sportstourer*, and probably made to behave well with a passenger. It has half a sofa on the back so that's an indication.
    It "lies" better on the road with a passenger than without, though going up pases the front does come up when accellerating :D

    *Aprilia RST1000, ask anyone who's ever sat on the pillion af one, it IS a sofa (but a quick one) :D
     
  2. boiled_elephant

    boiled_elephant Merom Celeron 4 lyfe

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    The overall weight of the bike must make a big difference, too, sports tourers are heavier. I've tried taking passengers on my CG 125, and it feels like someone's loosened the front wheel. The bike just has no weight at the front, so it's hopeless.

    I imagine choppers, with their long wheelbases and gargantuan weight, probably handle passengers really well too.
     
  3. Xir

    Xir Modder

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    Yeah, I suppose two people weigh more than a CG125 :D
    Then again I rode like this on several Honda Wave100/125's and had no problem, also a week on a Honda XLR 250 Baja (125kg) with passenger and luggage, and it handeled well.

    My passenger (wife) and me and the luggage and gear would weigh about 200kg, but I won't tell you how they're distributed ;)
     
  4. TheDodoKiller

    TheDodoKiller Minimodder

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    Does anyone on here have plans to go to the MCN show this coming weekend? I'm going on Sunday.
     
  5. Cabe6403

    Cabe6403 Supreme Commander

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    I was thinking about it but tight finances + lack of any of my biking friends going + potentially horrendous weather and a 150 mile round trip are persuading me not to.
     
  6. TheDodoKiller

    TheDodoKiller Minimodder

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    That's a bit of a distance, yes. not something you'd want to be doing on a bike with snow falling.
     
  7. RTT

    RTT #parp

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    MCN show was crap last time I went a couple of years ago :(
     
  8. TheDodoKiller

    TheDodoKiller Minimodder

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    If you say so. It's gonna be the first time I go, so I'll try and enjoy it. For the £12 ticket cost, I can't really complain.
     
  9. EvilMerc

    EvilMerc Minimodder

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    I ought to be going. Not sure if I'm going by car or bike yet though.
     
  10. RTT

    RTT #parp

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    Sorry; my comment mostly stems from having been to the NEC show which is much bigger plenty of times over the past... 15 years perhaps. A couple of years ago when I last went to the MCN show, it was absolutely tiny and I don't think KTM, Honda or Triumph even turned up. It was quite badly received :) Maybe better/bigger this year though, I hope so!
     
  11. TheDodoKiller

    TheDodoKiller Minimodder

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    Yep, not been to the NEC, so I have no basis for comparison. All of the big brands *seem* to be going, one of my motivations is that I'm going to try and get a reasonably discounted jacket, and a pair of gloves and boots.

    Anyway, this year the wedding show isn't on at the same time, so maybe that'll stand for something.

    To be honest, for the sake of £12 and 30 mins on the tube, I see no reason not to go. I can understand if it's any sort of distance, and the ticket price is £20 because you're not a student.

    By the by, no reason to apologise.

    *Edit* I am wrong about the wedding show! It is on at the same time. I guess they do it as a day out for the family; your wife (Or soon to be) goes to the wedding show, whilst you waste all of the money saved for the wedding on a bike in a hall next door.
     
  12. bdigital

    bdigital Is re-building his PC again

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  13. TheDodoKiller

    TheDodoKiller Minimodder

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    Bike show was pretty good fun, I might upload some pics of me on a couple of bikes.

    Bought some gloves Richa gloves, because they were a good deal. But, as always with these things, spot the diffrerence:

    [​IMG]

    [​IMG]

    Also bought a swanky RST slice jacket, albeit from a different retailer, and saved £35 on the retail, so jobs a good'un.

    EvilMerc might know of the shop, Hrs in Bristol. The gloves were only £25, so I can't complain. Apparently, they're a production sample, so *should* be of better quality than the final ones sold.

    You live and learn, but I think that was a real fun day, and I found out that Ducati's are just painful for me to even sit on, for some reason, R1's are wider than I thought, The KTM 690 SM is a tall bike, and the 990 seemed shorter- and the RC8R is the business and I really want one, but first a Street Triple, that was the most comfortable bike I sat on all day, for me at least. It just felt, right, and purposeful.

    On a side note, I don't understand why companies go to shows like this- You pay loads of money to go there (As a business) Where people have to spend money to go, so that you, the business, can sell stuff for less than you would normally? It seems stupid.

    But yes, spot the difference!
     
  14. EvilMerc

    EvilMerc Minimodder

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    Can't say I recognise the name, had a google, turns out I didn't even know there was a bike shop there!

    I went to the show too, I quite enjoyed it. Sat on a Ducati Streetfighter 848 for the first time expecting a bad seating position for my lanky self, but I'm even more smitten now that I find it fits fine and it 'suits' me according to my friends.
    That RC8R though, god dayum, gorgeous machine, not cramped either!

    All I bought was a copy of Ride magazine, and had a quick chat with the editor. When you see a picture of three bikes with horse-masked people astride them in the next issue, you know who to blame! ;)
     
  15. RTT

    RTT #parp

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    All of the KTMs are tall and always have been. In fact they are a lot shorter than they used to be! I used to have a 950 and it was a 1-foot job when at a stand still, which got interesting if the road was slopey at all. The old 690SMC was pretty much designed for people who are about 6'4". Quite ridiculous but so much fun as you can literally see over traffic, rather than having to look around!

    I had an RC8R for a day while my 950 was in for a service, bloody lovely machines and I would have gotten one instead of a 1098 (which has now gone!) but didn't want a KTM again quite so soon :D

    Random bit of inside knowledge, the stands for retailers are unthinkably cheap - all of the £ is made on ticket sales and the big manufacturer stands.
     
  16. Fat Tony

    Fat Tony Minimodder

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    Really ? I do furniture trade shows all the time, and the stands cost a fortune !!
     
  17. RTT

    RTT #parp

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    Yeah, apparently. Mate of mine used to work on MCN at Bauer. It's the only way to get traders in, otherwise they just go to the NEC show instead, which definitely isn't cheap!
     
  18. TheDodoKiller

    TheDodoKiller Minimodder

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    It's contrary to what I have heard with regards to Knitting shows and the like, where the charge for a half decent place at Alexandra Palace is around £2k.

    Mind you, with the amount of market stall-type 'Retailers' there, I wouldn't be suprised. I was looking for a pair of gloves, and I did end up with that Richa pair. But other than that, you were either paying £20 for some no name Chinese crap, brand names such as 'ultrafast' or Alpinestars, which is kinda out of my budget.

    But the problem occurs when you're 5'10'' and you can just about put the tip of your shoes on the ground (Like a ballerina) and you have to stand on the bike just to get your leg over.

    But the RC8R was fine for me. And despite that seat looking like a thin slice of foam, it seemed really comfortable.
     
  19. julianmartin

    julianmartin resident cyborg.

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    Anyone know someone with a bike to sell? Just looking to get back on two wheels, don't have a lot to spend, maybe £1000 at most. Not sure what I want yet, curious to hear about anything! Would love a zxr400 though?
     
  20. RTT

    RTT #parp

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    for £1000 any xzr400 is going to be a complete shed with moon mileage!
     

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