Motors Motorcycle Mayhem

That field is so lush it makes my eyes hurt. Where you do photography types find these locations?

(Don't you dare tell me it's your garden )

So is that a...pit bike? Or a crosser? It's impossible to get a sense of scale without someone riding it...the wheels are tiny. Stunt bike? I've really never seen one like it on the road...

 

That would be an enduro/supermoto. Essentially a MX bike adapted to the road but still good for a bit of green laning.

 

i had a KTM motard blow past me the other day sounded sooooooo good. They are straight up hooligan bikes

 

It is a factory build Supermoto, yes. This one is pretty low maintenance, has got only 400CC and is pretty quick up to 100kmph/60mph and still does 130kmph easy. They are light, nimble and will take any underground.. dirt roads, trials, stairs, speed bumps at 50mph, highway (not too comfortable, but still), detour because of road-work? not for this bike! But it isn't a long distance or topspeed bike, it's just perfect for being a jackass around the city (trips up to 30-40km's single are fine) and filtering through traffic (high seating, great view, narrow and high bars).

Those are 17" wheels though, and it is much higher then your average street bike. I'm about 6feet and can just touch the ground on bouth sizes. KTM's are even higher though. The handle bars are higher then your average car's mirrors.

This is a park near bruges wich was pretty green, but I did add some extra green in postprocessing ;-).

 

They're also fairly nice in the twisties...(Ardennes come to mind) ;-)

 

Getting my Fireblade back on the road this week

Moody Picture.

 

And now.....







Here

 

I can't make up my my mind as to whether or not that thing is really cool, or really stupid.

Ten put of ten for execution, though.

 

Combining the worst of two worlds...
Then again, so do trikes, quads and roadsters, and there's lot's of love for those

 

The side car looks very cool... but what's the point of riding on a bike when you can't lean over

I'd much rather have a trike that leans, or drive a carver, or just drive a turbo mini or a golf, etc.

 

Has anyone got any tyre reccos? My front tyre is worn down, so looking for reccos please?

Is it paramount I replace them in pairs too?

 

Unless you're really pushing it (like track-day or stupid fast road riding) you'll be absolutely fine to mix and match assuming they're vaguely similar tyres, you don't get anywhere near the limit during normal, or even moderately quick road riding

that said i wouldn't mix some commuter tyre with a really soft track day tyre mostly because it'd just be weird

 

Yeah, it's even more important to have very similar levels of grip on a bike than a car, since a little slide can much more easily become trouble!

It's not just how uneven the bike would slip, but also if your front is sticky, it will be easy to be lured into going hard than what the rear can handle, and vice versa.

 

I'd keep them in pairs, yes.
From at least the same manufacturer, as they're usually designed in pairs too.
Having an unmatched pair (or too cheap tyres...looking at you Maxxis and Chen Shin) can result in horrible shimmy and problems in the wet.

You can usually combine different generations of the same tyre though.
What rear tyre do you have, and how do you intend to use it?

I can recommend the Michelin Pilot Road for everything except track riding..

• lots of grip (beeing a sporttouring tyre)
• lots of lifetime (beeing a sporttouring tyre)
• prime grip in wet conditions.

Also, Michelin states themselves you can combine all three generations (Pilot Road, II and III) as you like.

...Prime price though

 

Thanks guys - repped all.

I'd have to check what the current tyres are, am not sure.

My rear tyre has lots of grip left on it (over a couple of mm), whereas the front is totally shagged. Maybe I should just get a pair and keep the current rear as a spare then or something.....

 

Turns out I have Bridgestone Battlax BT020Rs - which seem to get pretty bad press. And they also appear to be ancient

Think I'll be buying a new pair of tyres then...!

 

Some Michelin Pilot's would be a major upgrade, it would probably feel like near double the grip, and steering response would probably be doubled as well

 

Little s**ts on 'peds should be shot. Had four of the arseholes tailgating me, a quick blast on the front brake had them back off sharpish. Yes, I have better brakes than you, arseholes.

And yeah, I know it's dangerous to do such a thing but I'd had it with them.

 

Michelin Pilot Road 2's are years ahead of the original Pilot Roads.

If you can stretch to the PR2's get them.

 

Tbh, if that happens when I'm driving again, I'll be doing the same thing. Or when I get a bike.

Should have challenged them to a drag near a speed camera, then casually coast off the line as they get snapped.