More toys......
BrianNZ
I got an '82 Yamaha SRX 250 for my youngest boy as a 'learner'. $1500NZ,
41,000km and just serviced. makes me feel old watching both boys head
off down the driveway into the real world.
I got a call from the gunshop with the usual "I have something you may
be interested in".....the 'something' turned out to be a cut down and
silenced .303. My brother does re-loading so I'll be picking up 50
rounds of sub-sonics @ Christmas. It should be an ideal bush-bashing gun
out to 75-100metres (50m is a long shot in the bush!) and be as quiet as
a .22!
My mate with the SuperDuke 990 went to hamilton for a service......he
dropped his bike off at the shop and wandered over the road to the
Ducati dealership and scored a ride on the new Streetfighter. now he's
muttering about going back to his 'roots' (he used to be a ducati man
before the temptations of Aprilia and KTM). Apart from the small petrol
tank, he loved it and made his SuperDuke feel agricultural and
slow......a sure recepie for 'new bike syndrome' to set in. I hope he
gets a white one..... :0
TOG@Toil
> Doing my bit to keep the economy going.....
>
> I got an '82 Yamaha SRX 250 for my youngest boy as a 'learner'. $1500NZ,
> 41,000km and just serviced. makes me feel old watching both boys head
> off down the driveway into the real world.
Hum. £670. Had to google for that bike, as we never got it here. What
a sweet looking thing. SOunds like a good deal in anyone's book.
What'll it do? 80-85mph?
<snip gun stuff>
>
> My mate with the SuperDuke 990 went to hamilton for a service......he
> dropped his bike off at the shop and wandered over the road to the
> Ducati dealership and scored a ride on the new Streetfighter. now he's
> muttering about going back to his 'roots' (he used to be a ducati man
> before the temptations of Aprilia and KTM). Apart from the small petrol
> tank, he loved it and made his SuperDuke feel agricultural and
> slow......a sure recepie for 'new bike syndrome' to set in. I hope he
> gets a white one..... :0
Small petrol tanks put me off bikes more than just about anything
else. You can improve suspension, uprate brakes, modify seats, change
handlebars and foot controls, but there's generally not much you can
do (at reasonable expense) to make a fuel tank bigger.
Don't suppose it matters on something like a Sportster, where you'll
be aching to get off after an hour anyway, but nothing ruins a ride
more for me that a desperate 50mph drone every 100 miles as you hunt
for a filling station.
I saw one of MCN's correspondents put it *so* neatly the other week,
after the paper criticised that new Honda VFR thing for its sily small
tank. "Nobody ever refused to buy a bike because the tank held too
much fuel", or words to that effect.
Mark Olson
> I saw one of MCN's correspondents put it *so* neatly the other week,
> after the paper criticised that new Honda VFR thing for its sily small
> tank. "Nobody ever refused to buy a bike because the tank held too
> much fuel", or words to that effect.
No, but it's been used as way to criticize some bikes for being top-heavy,
the ZG1000 for one. Mostly by folks who haven't owned one, though.
TOG@Toil
My Trophy 1200 with its monstrous 25-litre (about 5.5 Imperial
gallons) tank was a bit like that. Mind you, it was a bit like that
with an empty tank, too. Still handled better than my BMW.
Mark Olson
28.5 liters on the ZG1000. One of the best things about that bike,
IMHO. As a commuter, especially with a topbox, it couldn't be beat.
M.Badger
When I filled mine from being damn near on vapours to brim full, the chap
behind the cash desk double checked with me that a bike could hold that
much fuel. I was honest with him.
I never got on with the handling when a top box was fitted. It was OK when I
had a pillion on as well, but solo, it seemed to disturb the bike a bit. I
just stuck with my tank bag for commuting duties.
Mark Olson
> I never got on with the handling when a top box was fitted. It was OK when I
> had a pillion on as well, but solo, it seemed to disturb the bike a bit. I
> just stuck with my tank bag for commuting duties.
I never noticed a difference on my ZG, I had a cheapy topbox from JC Whitney
fitted, more or less the same size/shape as a 46 liter Givi. But I have that
problem with my FJR with its factory topbox, without a pillion it's very
unstable feeling at speed, with a pillion it's solid as a rock. Not a big
complaint, just an observation. At legal speeds it's never a problem...
TOG@Toil
That'll be the weight of the pillion pushing down the back end and
rsiing the front and increasing the trail. Not uncommon.
Some bikes I've owned have been worse affected than others. The Trophy
just shrugged off the weight, no matter what I put in the box. You
definitely notice a heavy load in the box of the BMW, though.
And back in the day, a full top box on my SOHC Honda CB750 got the
thing wobbling in a frightening manner.
tomorrowat...@yahoo.com
I never owned one, but my friend Tom had one when we met back in '91
or '92. I rode it often enough to find that the weight of a full fuel
tank bothered me at parking lot speeds. But then, I am a much
smaller guy than you are, and back then, I did not have anywhere near
the upper body strengh I have now. I doubt it would bother me at all,
today.
Mark Olson
I am not convinced that you have to have above average size or upper
body strength to deal with a top-heavy bike, simply that you need to
be conscious of balance at all times. Most of the complaints about
top-heaviness seem to come from less experienced riders.
TOG@Toil
> I am not convinced that you have to have above average size or upper
> body strength to deal with a top-heavy bike, simply that you need to
> be conscious of balance at all times.
Agreed. Strong legs help sometimes, thobut.
> Most of the complaints about
> top-heaviness seem to come from less experienced riders.
Agreed again.
BrianNZ
> On 15 Dec, 07:33, BrianNZ <br...@itnz.co.nz> wrote:
>> Doing my bit to keep the economy going.....
>>
>> I got an '82 Yamaha SRX 250 for my youngest boy as a 'learner'. $1500NZ,
>> 41,000km and just serviced. makes me feel old watching both boys head
>> off down the driveway into the real world.
>
> Hum. �670. Had to google for that bike, as we never got it here. What
> a sweet looking thing. SOunds like a good deal in anyone's book.
> What'll it do? 80-85mph?
No idea what the top speed is (yet?). I don't want to thrash it with my
fat arse on board. :) I sits happily at 110kmh with me on it, and since
the learners speed limit is 70kmh (teaches young motorcyclists to ride
timidly in the gutter while the cars zip past??), I'm happy with that.
>
> <snip gun stuff>
>> My mate with the SuperDuke 990 went to hamilton for a service......he
>> dropped his bike off at the shop and wandered over the road to the
>> Ducati dealership and scored a ride on the new Streetfighter. now he's
>> muttering about going back to his 'roots' (he used to be a ducati man
>> before the temptations of Aprilia and KTM). Apart from the small petrol
>> tank, he loved it and made his SuperDuke feel agricultural and
>> slow......a sure recepie for 'new bike syndrome' to set in. I hope he
>> gets a white one..... :0
>
> Small petrol tanks put me off bikes more than just about anything
> else. You can improve suspension, uprate brakes, modify seats, change
> handlebars and foot controls, but there's generally not much you can
> do (at reasonable expense) to make a fuel tank bigger.
>
> Don't suppose it matters on something like a Sportster, where you'll
> be aching to get off after an hour anyway, but nothing ruins a ride
> more for me that a desperate 50mph drone every 100 miles as you hunt
> for a filling station.
>
> I saw one of MCN's correspondents put it *so* neatly the other week,
> after the paper criticised that new Honda VFR thing for its sily small
> tank. "Nobody ever refused to buy a bike because the tank held too
> much fuel", or words to that effect.
It was the small tank on his 'old' SuperDuke that had him buy the newer
model.....he was sick of having to carry an extra few litres of petrol
in a backpack. My SuperMoto has a 17.5 litre tank and can chew through
that in 200-220km if I'm being heavy handed. That works Ok for me cos I
need a break by then.
Are the small tanks purely for 'looks' or do manufacturers do it so
their 'wet' weight figures look good?
BrianNZ
> TOG@Toil wrote:
>> On 15 Dec, 07:33, BrianNZ <br...@itnz.co.nz> wrote:
>>> Doing my bit to keep the economy going.....
>>>
>>> I got an '82 Yamaha SRX 250 for my youngest boy as a 'learner'. $1500NZ,
>>> 41,000km and just serviced. makes me feel old watching both boys head
>>> off down the driveway into the real world.
>>
>> Hum. �670. Had to google for that bike, as we never got it here. What
>> a sweet looking thing. SOunds like a good deal in anyone's book.
>> What'll it do? 80-85mph?
>
>
> No idea what the top speed is (yet?). I don't want to thrash it with my
> fat arse on board. :) I sits happily at 110kmh with me on it, and since
> the learners speed limit is 70kmh (teaches young motorcyclists to ride
> timidly in the gutter while the cars zip past??), I'm happy with that.
>
.....and I was wondering......would an XT/TT 550/600 motor fit in the
chassis? :)
The Older Gentleman
Heh. Tall engine, that.
--
BMW K1100LT Ducati 750SS Honda CB400F Triumph Street Triple
Suzuki TS250ER GN250 Damn, back to six bikes!
Try Googling before asking a damn silly question.
chateau dot murray at idnet dot com
The Older Gentleman
> Are the small tanks purely for 'looks' or do manufacturers do it so
> their 'wet' weight figures look good?
They tend to quote dry weights anyway. So it's got to be styling.
tomorrowat...@yahoo.com
I don't think you need to be above average size or have great upper
body strength to deal with a top heavy bike. A good, experienced,
competent rider of just about any size or shape should be able to deal
with a top-heavy bike, including the ZG1000 Concours. Dealing with
it is one thing. Noticing it, and being bothered by it, is another
thing.
You noted that the bike has been "criticized" for being top-heavy. I
think it is top-heavy, and I think the saddle-type fuel tank of 7.4
gallons capacity (iirc) over a backbone frame over an inline-four
engine exacerbates (or causes) that top-heaviness.
Whether the criticism was leveled by riders who owned the bike or just
rode it, whether the the top-heaviness was manageable by simply being
concious of balance at all times (something I think all riders on all
bikes should be) I think - based on personal experience - that the
criticism was spot-on and quite fair.
Mark Olson
> Whether the criticism was leveled by riders who owned the bike or just
> rode it, whether the the top-heaviness was manageable by simply being
> concious of balance at all times (something I think all riders on all
> bikes should be) I think - based on personal experience - that the
> criticism was spot-on and quite fair.
OK, that is true enough.
I can't deny that the ZG1000 was top heavy, although looking back now at
what I wrote it looks that way. I was trying to get across the idea that
despite the fact it is indeed top heavy, in my opinion as someone who put
more than 20k miles on one over a couple of years, that characteristic
wasn't a total deal-breaker that should automatically disqualify the bike
from consideration, as some would make it out to be.
tomorrowat...@yahoo.com
Agree wholeheartedly.
Mark Olson
.p.jm.@see_my_sig_for_address.com
wrote:
>tomo...@erols.com wrote:
>
>> Agree wholeheartedly.
>
>Kum-bay-yaaah...
When is the group hug scheduled ? And what if the guy from
the fart joke thread wants to join in ?
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