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[cbr900]

cdsc,

Did your Suzy 850G have a tendency to stand back up if leaned over in a corner and you hit the gas, my old girl used to, frightened crap out of me more than once....... ???


Roy

[cdsc123]

Yes, another effect of the shaft-drive I think. Nice Dunstall (or Rickman?) accessories on yours, will find pic of mine and post later, she was also a real beauty to look at.

Edit; Found one!

[cbr900]

cdsc,

Very nice bike mate, from here it looks like a few Katana parts forud there new home.

My extras are fairing and screen from a Honda Polcie bike 1975 model, panniers are from a BMW, just put it together to suit me,,,,,,


Roy

[cdsc123]

Thanks, yes the Katana was my favourite so I tried to make my poor old GS look like one. The seat was Giuliari, Micron fork brace, Laser exhaust, Marzocchi shocks and some fibreglass bits up front. I loved it and thought is was great, have since owned a few gixxer 1100's and thou's and there's just no comparison in terms of just about everything (weight, power, handling-all from a different planet).

What did the policeman think about you removing all those bits off his bike?   

[DavidHale]

Spent the past 12 years or so commuting into London but every now and then I get out and about:  me and my BMW 1150GS at Lands End earlier this year.

[Kmot]

I have owned a few bikes, but not since about 1990 when I sold off my Suzuki GS700. I bought my first bike in 1975, a Honda 400 Super Sport. Next bike was a Honda 900 Custom. Then the 1985 GS700. I have no pictures digitized of my 900 Custom but here are some of the Honda 400 and the Suzuki 700:

[Marks Model Bits]

cdsc123, At least I didn't need a spanner to remove my centre stand!!!


 Mark.

[cdsc123]

I'll stick with the spanners thanks, Volvo, tankslapper, highside and lowside, I've survived one of each and that is my lifetime's quota as far as I'm concerned.
Touch wood...

[Aussie Bruce]

Well Lets see whats in my shed at the moment Oldest first

1 1952 ducati cucciolo on a mountain bike the 50 cc clip on push bike engine

2 1974 SFC Laverda 750

3 1981 Laverda Jota

4 1981 Cx 500 plastic magot X 3 off 1 cafe racer 1 every day and one thats in a million bits

5 1982 Cx 500 turbo bitza

So 7 bikes at the moment

In the past Maico's Suzukis Hondas Yamahas the odd Guzzi and Harley Triumph and Enfield

Still its all fun till you toss em up the road   

[glennb2006]

2004 Yamaha R1, 1983 (I think) DR 350SM Suzuki and a DRZ400E here, so yes, it would seem there are a fair few bikers who like to build models. Or is it modellers who like to ride bikes?

Glenn

[Sub driver]

Bunkerbarge...I do hope you were about to go into a left hand bend just after that shot......? AND what is wrong with Capris ?????

[Bunkerbarge]

To tell you the truth that is probably one of my half dozen favourite corners in the whole country.  You can see the corner from half a mile each way so even if you are unlucky to be approaching at the same time as another vehicle you can time your approach to be when it is clear.

I'm afraid it is one nice tight right hander which you can open out considerably by taking it wide and you can be on the power just before the apex and on your way up the hill on the other side.  My favourite afternoon ride out contains a number of such similar corners and all can be taken using all the road in complete safety.

As for Capri's, well, they were made by Ford, and they were made by Ford, oh and they were made by Ford.  Apart from that and the fact that a lot of people thought they were cool because Dennis Waterman drove one in "Minder".

Mind you I still remember my Mk III Cortina fondly.  I don't think it had two panels of the same colour but it had a 1600 engine and I was a young Merchant Navy Engineer, with mates in Manchester and I was living in Northwich.  2.00 am most nights would see me belting along the Chester Road trying to take roundabouts without slowing down!!

[Andy M]

Here's two hobbies in one photo. Andy M.

[scott]

heres my bike done over 50000 miles 53 plate

[Bunkerbarge]

Here's two hobbies in one photo. Andy M.

What are they then, gardening and shed building!!

[Colin Bishop]

At the risk of introducing a jarring note, my impressions of bikes are not altogether positive. I really do admire the pictures posted on this thread, the machines are works of art that anyone should appreciate. My personal experience is limited to riding pillion a couple of times many years ago which was an exhilarating experience. BUT! Everyone I know who has owned a bike has come off it at one time or another. Some years ago we were driving in the French Alps when a biker came around a blind corner at speed and went straight into the side of our car. There was a separate dent for the bike and one for where his head connected. He got away with a broken shoulder and wrist while our Primera needed an entire new sideframe and came back to the UK on a truck. The feeling I had standing over the guy after the collision is not one which I'd ever want to repeat. Not to mention tha fact that my wife and two daughters were still sitting terrified in the car but fortunately unharmed. It just taught me that bikers are just incredibly vulnerable. This guy had the sense to launch himself backwards off the bike just before the impact which undoubtably saved his life. Afterwards we had to deal with the police and the guy's mother who came round to see us with both of us talking different languages - not a pleasant experience. It has left me very, very wary indeed of bikes which is probably a good thing. having said that, I think that most bikers are considerate road users but there is always that minority, usually younger ones, who think they are immortal. One of these took a chance too many a few hundred yards away from where I live a week or so ago and there is now just a heap of floral bouquets at the scene and a coffin in the mortuary. Makes you think...

[scott]

any vehicle is a lethal weapon in the wrong hands  in 20 odd years of riding only one accident when a drunken bus driver took me out at a roundabout
i got a broken thumb he got 18 months at her Majesty's pleasure .
there are lots of born agains coming back to bikes and think because they had a bsa goldstar in 1960s they can ride the latest machinery without taking a refresher course and end up in the nearest hedge.
just think if everyone rode bikes no congestion lower co2 emissions and far less road rage I can only dream .

[Colin Bishop]

Quite agree Scott. I've nothing against bikers. Good riders make sure they are seen and don't take risks. It's just that they tend to come off second best if something goes wrong. No protective metal around them. Also ALWAYS have your headlight on and don't undertake!

[edible_engine]

i used to have a kx 85 now i have a Honda CD 200 that i have made in to a field bike stripall the lights of apart from the front one take mud guards off etc.

[Bunkerbarge]

Colin,

I have spent a lot of money and a considerable amount of time doing advanced training and I am now a Gold standard Rospa Advanced rider but there are many out there who have very little experience and are in control of a guided missile.  I agree you have less protection which is why you should take it very seriously and responsibly.

My father once experienced a similar situation to you however the rider ended up through his windscreen and wasn't as lucky as your chap was.  Needless to say he was always very much against me having a bike and is probably why I did so much to put his mind at rest.  All through my life my bikes have slowly  become more powerfull so I now feel that I have the required amount of control and common sense to give me the best chance.

Unfortunately I might one day meet the lunatic on the wrong side of the road with too much beer inside him and that may well be it for me but there again I might end up in the same situation in the car.

The most important thing I have gained from all the traing was to think for everyone else around me and think as far ahead as possible.  If you assume they are going to do something stupid  they may well prove you right and you will have been ready for it.

I have had a couple of tumbles, nothing serious, but they both tought me to think for the other idiot and take nothing for granted.  I once got knocked off while I was stopped at a zebra crossing, the guy behind didn't see me, I have to admit I had to sit there and take that one or run over the young mother crossing the road in front of me with the pushchair!!!

All in all I still love riding the bikes but my preferences are as far away from anyone else as possible.  Luckily I have the Pennines on my doorstep to play out in!

Oh, and I always have my headlights on and I hate with a passion any imbecile who undertakes, be they on a bike or in a car.

[banjo]

Did anyone say this yet?

"There are bold bikers and there are old bikers, but there are no old bold bikers."

Matchless G3C
Honda CBR 1000

[scott]

all new motorcycles since I think 2002 have hard wired headlights you can not switch them off
But I think the mentality of car drivers has to be addressed in some way to make them actually think of motorcyclists at road juntions etc
I really dont believe that it even enters their head to look for anything other than cars trucks etc
Ive just looked up the latest statistics 84% of bike accidents involving another vehicle the rider was not at fault that to me is overwhelming that other road users should be actively looking for bikes and not the other way round.
Yes there are idiot riders out there but they are in the minority.

[Colin Bishop]

If all riders were only part way to Bunkerbarges's standard there would be a lot less accidents. Unfortunately some youngsters tend to rely upon their fast reactions and have no concept of risk assessment. I agree that car drivers tend not to see bikers as readily as they should but to be fair there is not so much to see and it's usually moving faster than you expect. That's why the headlight is so important. I hadn't realised they were now hard wired - good idea! You can always pick out the good riders by the way that they don't make sudden unexpected movements or roar up behind you and dodge about from side to side etc. They don't pose any sort of a hazard and I'm always happy to let them pass.

I suppose the nearest car driver equivalent is when you are touring somewhere like Greece. You drive very defensively and assume that everyone else is an idiot - which a lot of them are!

[roycv]

Hi all, I used to have an Ariel Leader in the late 50's.  Lovely bike, 250 cc twin 2 stroke.
I used to be stationed at RAF Lyneham and was travelling back there one night when the lights failed on a bend.  I came off and hit a tree with my head, or at least the helmet did.  A motorist stopped, he thought I was dead!  I came too, so to speak, standing with my bike talking to him.  He asked me how I had managed to get my bike out of a ditch and over a 3 foot wall, I was unaware that I had!  Any way the helmet saved my life.

Two years later I am out of RAF, I've bought a new helmet, my brother was going on a motorcycle holiday and his passenger did not have a helmet.  So I gave him my old one, better something than nothing.  They came back a half hour later after an accident.  His pillion passenger had been thrown from bike and hit his head on a curb stone and the helmet finally broke!  But he was alright, they cleaned up, another helmet was found and off they went, with the pillion passenger definitely converted to wearing a helmet, which he had never done before.
regards to all. Roy

[sheerline]

Aerial Leader eh? Good ole 'Smokey Joes' and they went like the clappers! Your story of the failing headlight reminded me of my youthful bravado on motorcycles. We as young nutty bikers used to hurtle down quiet country lanes at night and switch off our lights to see who chickened out first... absolutely crazy!! But is'nt that typical of youthfulness, as young men, we all felt invincible, had quick reactions  and lacked the wisdom of years. We obviously survived our younger mad biking days and none of us received serious injury because we all retained a sense of danger and the fear factor is what preserved us.
One last thought on the Aerial electrics, as with all Brit bikes, the installation was the creation of Joseph Lucas and we nicknamed him 'THE PRINCE OF DARKNESS'!! Bloody unreliable stuff it was!