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Upt'North ¹ said :-
Is it our own fault? Is it fault? Is it what we really want? I dunno. But some of the latest bikes could at first glance be exact copies of 70/80's bikes with a detuned modern ICE thrown in.
Is it what we want?
Yes, this is what happens when the nights draw in.
17/12/2025 09:12:02 UTC
Ren - The Ed¹ said :-
Styling Upt'. As you say it's a modern bike in old school clothing. If you took the same chassis and engine and covered it in fairings it's a sports bike. Cover it in angular body panels its a modern naked. I think it looks lovely just as it is.
17/12/2025 11:35:51 UTC
nab301 said :-
That looks great and the original so called (I think) Euro styled versions (although I never owned any) were always my favourite looking bikes , CB900f CB750F etc
Nigel
17/12/2025 15:46:27 UTC
Ian Soady¹ said :-
Yes, not bad looking - te tank seat unit has a Triumph Hurricane look about it. I'm not so keen on the exhaust pipe lines however. It might be improved with something like the Triumph's stacked pipes. Although not the comical front brake.
18/12/2025 15:49:07 UTC
Upt'North ¹ said :-
Anybody after new motorsiccle boots.
Check this out, sizes 42 to 46.
Upt.
*Remember there are fees and vat etc.
https://www.johnpyeauctions.co.uk/Browse?FullTextQuery=Motorcycle%20...
31/12/2025 12:55:19 UTC
nab301 said :-
A pity they don't have any mens sizes!
Nigel
01/01/2026 14:35:13 UTC
Ian Soady¹ said :-
Your feet must be even bigger than mine Nigel, size 46 is about UK 11.
01/01/2026 16:11:19 UTC
Glyn said :-
If anyone is a size 3XL I have a brand new RICHA jacket. It’s never been worn but the tags are not there as it was originally a gift. There is some light armour in the elbows and shoulders but it can be upgraded. I’m not even an L size these days so it hangs in my wardrobe unlikely to ever see the light of day. Sorry Ed I know you frown on advertising on these pages (so I humbly apologise ) but it’s a shame to see it languishing unused.
02/01/2026 12:23:34 UTC
Ren - The Ed¹ said :-
I object to random businesses spamming the feed in the hope of improving their Google ranking. I've no problem with you trying to find the jacket a suitable home.
02/01/2026 17:46:19 UTC
Ian Soady¹ said :-
I don't know about you, but one of the things that scares me is leaving the indicators on, especially the left one. It's not like a car with self cancelling although I believe some modern bikes have this. How they know when to do it beats me however.
So I set to work thinking how I could make the warning light brighter. Attempt 1 used a much higher power LED. This was good as far as it went but had a very focused beam which unless I had my head over the clocks wasn't much help. Then I remembered that I'd dismantled an old pair of binoculars some time ago and retrieved a couple of prisms. After some searching I unearthed them. I then attached one temporarily ocer the warning light. Result: much brighter (see photo). For comparison the standard warning light was like the green neutral light to the right. I do need to make a better mounting - this is just stuck with silicone as a temporary measure.
10/02/2026 16:53:15 UTC
Ian Soady¹ said :-
I've also been playing about with the radiators, especially the left hand side one which wants to be in the same place as a couple of the fixing struts. A lash up shows me I can move it out to the left by about 3" and up 1" which seems to do the trick. The right hand one is less busy but will move it out an inch and raise it to be level with the LH one. I just need to get some proper material to make the mountings.
10/02/2026 16:56:10 UTC
Ren - The Ed¹ said :-
I'm liking the thinking with the indicator light. I too am prone to the occasionally uncancelled indicator - which when you think about it could be terribly dangerous. I've always thought a sound would be better, most cars used to "click" which was the relay clicking, even if a modern car doesn't have a relay some audible click or beep is generated. Of course the thing with bikes the click needs to be loud so it can be heard at speed... but you don't want to be sat at the lights in town with a deafening "CLICK CLICK" coming from your bike.
BMW used a beeper but the story came out of blind people thinking it was a pedestrian crossing telling them it's safe to cross. Dunnno if that's true but it makes sense. I have no idea how self cancelling systems work on a bike - they don't always work that well on a car.
11/02/2026 07:54:27 UTC
Ian Soady¹ said :-
The worst is leaving the left indicator on as someone waiting to get out may just take it on trust. I have used buzzers, and hooked them up via a relay or two so that they don't sound when in neutral or with the brakes on but as you say when cracking on down the road they can be inaudible. An alternative to my prism would be to mount the bright LED on the inside of the screen but I think the prism is tidier.
You never know what will come in handy!
11/02/2026 09:46:09 UTC
Ren - The Ed¹ said :-
"You never know what will come in handy!" - Hmmmm. This is the thin end of the wedge to ending up on a TV show about hoarders. It's starts off with a nuts and bolts drawer and a small stack of off-cuts in the corner of the shed. Later on you have a collection of gaskets and headlamp shrouds in the loft and a bundle of clutch cables hanging in the cupboard under the stairs.
Eventually you realise you've got 4 tents, 5 sets of saddle bags, 2 petrol tanks from one model of motorcycle, a stack of part worn tyres that almost reaches the ceiling, innumerable bespoke tools that can only be used for one job on one model of bike that you haven't owned since 1995 - as well as many home made tools from bits of bent metal, keyboards and mice with PS2 connectors, a Nokia 3310 mobile (that's still holding charge) along with a charger for it... and several other phones, expensive HiFi connectors even though you listen to music through your smartphone now, 2 paddock stands, sheet metal from a previous shed, rusting slotted angle iron in various lengths, a folding chair of unknown origin, 4 pairs of waterproofs all of which leak around the crotch but good for working on the bike, same with waterproof jackets.
Since mother died and I had to deal with her considerably less personal effects - I have been having a BIG clear-out.
Guess what - I could just do with a length of plywood about 12 by 20 for a little job... and I just binned something that would have done the trick about 6 weeks ago. Still - I have found bits of "floor" now.
11/02/2026 12:04:23 UTC
Ian Soady¹ said :-
I remember One Track in Motorcycle Sport (before your time probably Ren) suggesting that those of us with British bikes had piles of discarded bits of motorcycles whereas enthusiasts for Japan=eses makes had piles of bits from discarded motorcycles....
As for hoarding we still have unopened boxes in the big shed from our house move which is now just over 6 years ago. I'm sure we've bought new instances of stuff that's in there in the meantime.
11/02/2026 15:46:53 UTC
nab301 said :-
Ian , there are self cancelling indicators on my '99 BMW, not exactly modern ! Afaik they work off the speedo (pulses) . On a motorway at 70mph if I indicate at the 300m marker board without fail they switch off as I enter the off ramp in urban areas at lower speeds they tend to stay on longer than I prefer so generally I cancel them manually... unrelated is the rocker switch on the dash original or an add on?
Nigel
12/02/2026 14:17:28 UTC
Ian Soady¹ said :-
Clever folk these Germans. My speedo is a stone-age analogue version so no use for that. 1999 is modern to me - in fact anything I would have to pay road tax / MoT for is! Yes, I added the rocker switch which was in my box of electrical bits. The ignition switch is just a simple on/off one from ebay but it seems well crafted and has a nice satisfying click to it. The rocker switch has an led in it but I suspect it's originally for 230v AC as I can't get it to light. It's fed from the ignition switch which has reasonably beefy wires although I suppose following my own runes I should fit a relay.
I've also rethunk my warning light and decided it's simpler just to mount the light and its housing on top of the instrument panel. No binoculars were harmed making this mod.
Also:
I've ended up with the nearside radiator about 30mm higher than the RH one. The latter has the filler cap so if I fill that to the brim there'll be an air space at the top of the LH one. Does this matter? There is a bleed screw at the top so I suspect that if I get it up to temperature then crack this it'll let the air out a bit like bleeding a domestic radiator. Or am I going stir crazy?
12/02/2026 15:11:10 UTC
Upt'North ¹ said :-
I can't think why what you're suggesting won't work Ian with regards the bleeding. Does it run a header tank?
Upt.
12/02/2026 17:19:35 UTC
Upt'North ¹ said :-
If it does run a header tank (my head is starting to hurt) then would it push all that volume out every time the temp reached that level? Plus would it actually matter losing that little amount of cooling surface area if it wasn't bled. Trial and error me thinks.
12/02/2026 17:46:30 UTC
Ian Soady¹ said :-
Thanks Mr North. Yes, probably mostly error. The 2 rads are connected at header level via a pipe. There's no separate header tank but there is a conventional overflow type tank. Actually as I think further there should be no reason why I can't get them both at the same height.
Cricked my knee so work suspended for a couple of days.......
13/02/2026 10:22:40 UTC
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