@annoying_salman Greying plastics can be given some life with moderate application of a torch or liberal application of Back-To-Black plastic restorers 😉
But it sounds like a perfect reason to go with a motorcycle. And you won't regret going to a manual over an automatic. If you can drive a manual car then a motorcycle isn't too different. Going back to a scooter might be a bit harder due to the mind remapping to a clutch instead of a brake lever.

@dejock oh God I would have hated a double Rekon! Concur that it's fast but that tire definitely did not have enough grip for me. I was running 10-12 PSI at times just to get some grip out back. It was good for bikepacking due to the gravel roads and pavement involved there. But I'd rather have something even faster and more XC oriented at that point. I'm leaning towards having a second wheelset for non-sandy bikepacking adventures that feature something like a gravelking. Okay maybe not that far, but closer to that than the Rekon.

Only problem there is that I keep choosing bikepacking routes where I actually need my aggressive tires anyways, regardless of the easier segments in between.

Anyways, yes this should be a much better balance for the trails I ride without giving up too much speed. I'm concerned about what kind of longevity I'll get though.

@415s30 Also look at Kymco, they started out making Honda engines for the SE Asian market and my experience with them has been pretty good.

@BJ You can find these quill adapters for $20. They allow you to use modern stems and bars. You can put whatever angle of stem you want for his preferred bar height, and slap some MTB bars on there. Just unscrew the quill and drop them in. Helps freshen up the look of older bikes quite a bit.

8600274E-85C8-49B1-9604-3EEE64DC85CA.jpeg

I wouldn’t worry about upgrading the forks. At that point you’re better off finding a newer cheap mountain bike. I found an REI DRT 1.1 with hydraulic disc brakes on OfferUp for $80. Needed a good cleaning and a new chain, but my daughter’s been having a blast on it.

@nermal gotcha

Full Rack Attack in effect today! Took my kids and one other mountain biking today.

69088E51-9BAA-4EAE-BFD5-C69F106D0043.jpeg

08E08EA1-A55E-457B-AF5E-E9F3655D7E8B.jpeg

One minor mishap occurred. One of the clamps on the NEW racks is supposed to latch into the other arm that crosses up around the front wheel. Hard to describe exactly. But it wasn't latched, and half of it fell down on the highway, hitting the rack with a thud. We heard it, looked up through the sunroof, and my bike is held only by the front hook and the rear strap - no tension. I slowed down and found a relatively safe place to stop, fixed it and moved on. OK lesson learned! Make sure those two pieces CLICK together in a very definite way. I hadn't been on the highway with a bike in this new rack yet.

I guess it couldn't have gotten off the car because it was in the middle, but still. Yikes.

In any case, 4x bike rack success, easy enough and no hitch rack to wrestle with. Don't ask about my gas mileage.

@jminer Yuuuup!

@jminer @beefchips @Mr-Ontop @Shop-Teacher Yes, I am a fan too.

Saturday we went and looked at an older Triumph (older than this one) but it was a "modern" one with 3 cylinders and a loud exhaust, it was bigly and I didn't love it. It was pretty but it just felt ... big. PS the owner of that also had a '66 Shelby Cobra with 4,455 miles on it.
E324BDB6-522A-4B54-ACB4-36F364D586EE_1_105_c.jpeg

1201B926-C00F-4FA0-90B2-A6F867E1CB0F_1_105_c.jpeg

But that was not to be. He waited all of one day to go look at another Triumph, this time the Bonneville. It's similar on paper (specs) but better in every way.

Since last night I learned that the Bonneville, like my Honda Trail / CT, is a modern interpretation of a classic, which kind of makes sense. I don't look at the '08 Bonneville and see a modern bike, it looks timeless. My Trail does look new when you look closely, but from afar it looks like a restored classic - it IS new, and you can't hide the shiny redness, unlike the Bonneville which at least has 15 years of something to it.

In any case, the way this friend and I share vehicles, this will be available to me any time I like, and I look forward to the occasional spin on this lovely machine. I didn't even get out of second gear yesterday - which was fine on my sandy road - and I look forward to it.

CT125's are so damn cool.

Wow thank you all for the many helpful responses. I shared this info with my friend. It turns out someone we work with knows "a Triumph guy" so reliability is somewhat less of a concern here.

I'd buy the SV650 if it was me. But it's not me.

@john-norris It's really a special place, very fortunate to have it nearby. And at night, it's a whole different world, with no one else around.

or even just this lil sticker..

cfe7c8d8-8fcb-4f64-a138-57bc0b3f1b63-image.png

@Alfalfa I'd be down to meet up, I'll post up progress as I go

@WhoIsTheLeader There were people in the box after it pulled up, who didn't seem to exit the truck, so it may have a pass through. I didn't look closer after seeing them in back though.

@Just-Jeepin

He can goose when straight up but he simply can't do anything in the corners. Hamstrung to likely about the time and speeds an intermediate rider will do, maybe a touch slower. Again, very frightening for her but a Sunday stroll in the park for him.

@RallyWrench said in Your moment of Zen:

Family fire and Scrabble nights have become a favorite around here.

That sounds great.

Have you ever played Take Two with Scrabble tiles?

It's a fast-paced game, where you're making your own crossword in front of yourself, racing against the other players, trying to get the most points before all the tiles run out (and hoping not to get stuck with a Q at the end).

@415s30 Yeah, it's getting a bit out of hand!

@RallyWrench

Thank you for getting out and helping with trail work. I recognize that access to trails doesn't come for free, and I'll remind my local PNW trail users to support the local groups that do trail upkeep.

Volunteer if you can. Make a donation if you can't.
https://www.evergreenmtb.org/visitwashington
https://www.wta.org/

@BeaterGT yeah pretty sure something is wrong with the cable. Had tried tightening it since it felt loose but it might just need to be replaced. Currently stuck at full height and the lever doesn't feel right.

@Albino-Kangaroo I do wish that more gloves had both gel and protection. You generally have to choose between one or the other which is annoying. While yeah the cloth on my gloves does offer some coverage, it only helps with minor abrasion from brush. But I love the gel in my gloves, helps a ton with fatigue. All of the MTB specific gloves seem to skip the gel part.

@Ad-absurdum-per-aspera yeah but the world looks much the same at sunset too! Little less quiet because of all the damn people around. So its not exactly the same. But not having to deal with being a zombie sure is a plus.

@john-norris I wish I could do something about that.

@drVanTraveler no theyre all the same

@jminer I've been using top quality AGMs in my FJR since I got it in 2017, and this will be the fourth battery in it (and first non-AGM). Seems to me that the battery size is very small for such a large displacement, high compression engine and it will only reliably start the bike for about a year and a half before it loses enough cold cranking amps to begin struggling to turn the engine over while maintaining a high enough voltage to run the ignition and actually fire the engine.

Compare:
2021 Ford Escape, 1.5l inline-3, 10.0:1 compression ratio
Battery: H6 AGM, 47 lbs, 760 Cold Cranking Amps, 70 amp-hours

2005 Yamaha FJR1300, 1.3l inline-4, 10.8:1 compression ratio
Battery: YT14B-BS AGM, 10 lbs, 210 CCA, 12 amp-hours

The new Noco lithium battery has more than twice the cranking amps (no CCA rating as there is no CCA testing procedure for lithium batteries) and will crank with more amps for far longer AND at a higher voltage than a lead-acid battery can provide in the same physical size. So while the Noco only has 4 amp-hours of energy, it can use ALL of that energy for effective cranking, vs only about 20% of the 12 amp-hours that the original AGM battery is rated for, can maintain a high enough voltage to actually start the bike with.

@pip-bip Around here it'd take an act of government to get a test ride, even in good weather. The dealers just don't do it.

@bbg2d I've noticed the market already taking a downturn to what we've seen this past year. Good deals on local classifieds are staying up for weeks at times. New inventory seems less behind as well. Probably best to wait for spring.

@newjoekaz It's a lot of money when you see what 6-7k can buy. You have to really need a small bike and really want this particular bike to pay that much.

@WBizarre
Just have to smoke your own!

@bbg2d The van would probably be easiest to get it into and out of.

@09GT-now-boosted said in New old bike day:

1997 Trek 820

They look similar but the Trek was a $290 msrp bike while the bontrager was a $1200 msrp bike! The 820 is an entry level bike and the Privateer is one step from their most expensive offering in the day with top end components and USA welded frame.

@Exage03040 I have yet to see any of them wheeling down the street in bikinis, and this makes me sad.

@ClassicDatsunDebate Thanks for the suggestion 🙂

@bbg2d It was fun but my e bike is more useful. I was going to keep it but I haven't touched it in months so...
20210317_194100.jpg
20210317_181344.jpg
It does make nice garage art though.

hesitate and you will regret it

@AestheticsInMotion That's absolutely insane!

@pickup_man said in First Ride: GREAT SUCCESS!:

If you have a foam air filter, check if it's supposed to be oiled.

Well would you lookie there ... that could certainly do it!

253eece3-eb80-40dd-964c-af88518b97c5-image.png

I fiddled with the tune, it backfires less at 3-1/2 turns out, but its still backfiring. But a dry filter that's supposed to be oiled can definitely be letting in too much air and causing it to go lean.

Unfortunately it's raining now, so I'll try oiling the filter and seeing where I'm at tomorrow.

I did confirm that there is no leak at the exhaust or intake.

@tae the frame and wheels look really good, so I suspect it's all repairable. But it looks awful!

@bbg2d said in Fellow Oppos who Ride, a query::

@Shop-Teacher how often do you replace helmets? I've heard 5 years from purchase, or immediately after a serious impact.

Well, I haven't been riding long enough to have to deal with this yet. I've been riding for five years, and the first couple I used the open raced helmet I bought for rallycrossing. This helmet is three years old now, and I think it makes sense to replace it after five, because the padding degrades over time.

I've also never had a major impact. The only "crash" I've had was screwing around in the grass on the grounds around Road America. I laid it down at super low speeds. No damage to anything, no impact to my head.

@drVanTraveler
Nice set up!

@Shop-Teacher I remember your post about that, which is why I added the caveat "locally" as no matter the carrier, the driver on the last mile can make or break the experience for the whole company. Lord knows, with all the Ring cameras now, there's plenty of evidence... some funny, some sad, some infuriating.

@I-love-KTM-s-and-Puch-s-and-Audis

Electric works well for the slower speed moto and scoots. Like I could definitely see an electric Grom, Navi or Ruckus being a viable little bike or scoot to dice around urban hell (even up to a 300). There's a lot of Chinesium "moped" that are already doing this actually (and causing problems).

Big bikes suffer too much in performance due to space constants and weight penalty or manufactures run into insane cost. It follows the exact same issues we have with making aircraft fully electric.

@BicycleBuck they would be a challenge as they are just for drop bars. The key is that they'll run virtually any Shim/SRAM rear derailleur of your choice on your road, CX or gravel bike. Which means you can anything from 11-21 to 10-52 in the rear cassette depending on your derailleur choice.

@bbg2d while the wife has been thinking about it she's not yet on board with a full motorcycle.

She bicycles a lot anyway but that's for pleasure but for more a daily commute an ebike should be fun. Prices are all over the place from $700-10k on them but she'll probably get one in the $2-3k ballpark.

There is still also very much the chance she end up on a scooter too. I do need to take another look at electric scooters, there wasn't a ton out there the last I looked.

@decay-still-has-too-many-beaters I commuted for one year on 1966 small frame. I would bet that for every 40 hours of operation it required 2 hours of maintenance.

The gas bill was nice though!

@decay-still-has-too-many-beaters LED lights have gotten so good. I've owned cars that output less light than the small Niterider lights on my bicycle.

Bernie Sanders saying "I am once again asking for your use of the #twowheelsgood tag

@Exage03040 Oh for sure, every hyper I've tried has been super docile around town, I'm just the type of dumbass that gets bored if I cant go WOT a couple times every commute, the faster the bike the more antsy I get stuck in traffic XD

If I lived in Texas or something I'd totally own a 1290 Duke

@decay-still-has-too-many-beaters I did some sport biking on sat. this coming weekend is the first track day of the year. i'm looking forward to it.

@jminer said in The GSXR Lives:

@decay-still-has-too-many-beaters excellent progress! This is how is usually tackle a big project too. Triage it and see if it runs, then spend the time and money to do it up right.

This. Even at work I'll mock up new equipment in a test environment at the shop to see that all the requisite magic happens before actually installing stuff at a remote field site.

@Darkbrador
There was a time when most or all bikes had their handlebar levers hinged at the outside until they quite suddenly went the other way.

@Arch-Duke-Maxyenko for you?

dude. if I coudl buy this, i'm buying ti for myself

@Shop-Teacher enjoy! And if it stops being fun and/or satisfying, your back up plan to part it out is safely in place.

@Roadkilled said in Making a Case for Dealerships:

Now, who's post will I copy tomorrow and then deny that the original poster already had it?

Certainly not one of mine, they're too boring. 😁

@Highlander Good luck..

@e90m3 said in As the weather warms, the squid exits hibernation and returns to its preferred behavior, breaking traffic laws in order to attract a mate.:

@nermal e0e21f9f-69fe-4b77-b080-fdb52599716f-image.png

I can hear the rev limiter screaming in agony...or is that the Squid when he low sides and his muscles/tendons feel fresh air and concrete for the first time.

@Darkbrador I'm going to look like a circus bear, but I love it and wear it as a badge of honor!
Goofy.jpg

@Alfalfa OK, not too bad. At least I got a majority of what I paid for then 🙂

I have lithium batteries for both my '01 Yamaha FZ-1 and my '08 Boxster S. Best decisions I've made. I don't drive either as much as I should but these things never leave me having to jump start them or even add a trickle charger. Plus besides the obvious weight savings, both start and run better too.

the video's title is either a subtle hint to the owner's true colors or is plainly wearing the irony so that you would subconsciously come back to catch the e-bikes in a vintage car garage.