Motorbikes!

Hi all!

Anyone here rides a motorbike? There must be some! :D

Given my personal interest in bikes, and there not being a thread ‘round here for it, I thought I would create one so we could share stories / pictures.

I’ll start with a story of a … “mechanical mistake” I made couple of weeks back... :P

The headlight failed so had to replace the bulb.

In the immortal words: “How hard can it be?”

Right…

H4 light bulb – check

Tools – check

Sunny day so I can see what I’m doing – check

Right, let’s get down to it. Unplug the old light, remove the dustcover, so far so good (at this point I’m already slightly irritated because of the lack of working space and the frickin’ fiddling in there...).

The bulb is held inside the housing using a metal clip (here’s the “mistake” :helpsmilie: ).

What to do… Right, unscrew so I can remove the bulb. Easy.

Unscrew the clip …

*Ptoing!*

Grmbl!!

The metal clip has boinged away to… somewhere…

After 15 minutes searching I found it. Then realizing this is going to be fun reattaching it with a bulb in as well!

Right… New bulb in, excellent. Now for the clip… After several minutes fiddling with the clip, reasonably satisfied with how the clip was hanging in there and I proceeded getting the screw and screwdriver.

Now the screw shoots way... INSIDE the light housing Grmbl!!!

Great. There’s literally NO way in there.

The coming HOUR removed the ENTIRE front end to be able to reach the screw with a magnet, easily installing the bulb and REALISING the clip can be pulled off quite easily! Grrr!

Another hour working to get the frontend together again.. Moment of truth (drums!)

Ignition… LIGHT!!! :cheer3nc:

Like I said.. Changing the light bulb. How hard can it be?

But to kick off as well, here’s a picture of my beauty :)

I hope you didn't touch that bulb with your bare fingers... The oil off of your hands will burn that bulb out in a matter of hours...

Anyway, nice bike... I am a lifetime rider here and have owned just about every sport bike known to man... (Really.. More than 50 motorcycles/snowmobiles in my life starting at 4 years old.. First streetbike a 1976 CB550k and then a brand new Honda Hurricane 600 and on from there!)

Last year I swapped off my KTM RC8R (Stupid fast and silly motorcyle that one!) and picked up something more suitable that my wife could ride on the back... NO WAY I was putting her on the RC8..

Bought a 2013 Ducati Multistrada and really enjoy it... Not as fast as the RC8, but it doesn't try to kill you every time you start it either!

I hope you didn't touch that bulb with your bare fingers... The oil off of your hands will burn that bulb out in a matter of hours...

Off course not ;)

Anyway, nice bike... I am a lifetime rider here and have owned just about every sport bike known to man... (Really.. More than 50 motorcycles/snowmobiles in my life starting at 4 years old.. First streetbike a 1976 CB550k and then a brand new Honda Hurricane 600 and on from there!)

 

Last year I swapped off my KTM RC8R (Stupid fast and silly motorcyle that one!) and picked up something more suitable that my wife could ride on the back... NO WAY I was putting her on the RC8..

 

Bought a 2013 Ducati Multistrada and really enjoy it... Not as fast as the RC8, but it doesn't try to kill you every time you start it either!

 

Nice! Really fancy the Multistrada! Read a lot about them and talked to several riders of them and they all loved it.

I'm looking forward to swapping my bike for a 2004/2005 Kawasaki ZX-10R.

Ahh too funny. I just wiped the oil from my hands and taking a breather from working on my bike.

Changed oil, coolant, brake fluid, new high end battery, air filter and more today.

Nothing is ever easy. Aluminum oil drain bolt head stripped. Had to go buy air impact wrench and bits. Then grind down the 24mm bit to make it flat (not beveled) at top. The good old $150 oil change.

But I have a cool new air impact wrench.

Hope to ride all weekend.

BMW F650GS

A friend had a TR1 1000cc V twin Yamaha, he bought a nice set of shiny anodised blue handlebars for it and he put them on it.

I got a phone call to say the bike wouldn't start and could I come and have a look, which I did. A nice property of anodising is that it is very high resistance to the point of being a good insulator so none of the switches on the handlebar had an earth return.

I offered to take a little of the anodising off under the switch so they would make contact and work but my friend said no he didn't want the handlebars marked. I ran a hidden wire to provide an earth return and the bike worked again :)

My friend took the bike out for a short run to make sure everything was ok, and he didn't return... I waited about 30minutes or so and went off to look for him.

He had stalled the bike turning around to come back spotted the earth wire under the handlebar and ripped it off and so the bike would not start. When we got back to his house I took the handlebars off, cleaned off the anodising in the areas it needed to make contact and put it all back together again.

I have many tales just like that about my friend, I was forever hauling him out of trouble.

Alas I could not help him on his last day when he got it wrong at high speed into the front of a large 4x4.

On a lighter note

My father on his 350 Cotton during WW2 in Glen Coe Scotland

My cousins on their Triumph Tiger Cub

My son and myself on my Yamaha R1

I'm in France on my FJR1300

So what is the deal? I have ONE pic of the Multistrada and it gets removed.. And yet everyone else can have multiple pics and that is OK?

WTF?

So what is the deal? I have ONE pic of the Multistrada and it gets removed.. And yet everyone else can have multiple pics and that is OK?

 

WTF?

It's not removed. The link is broken.

EDIT:

This img src="http://www.totalmotorcycle.com/motorcycles/2013models/2013-Ducati-Multistrada1200e.jpg" just takes you to their main page.

So what is the deal? I have ONE pic of the Multistrada and it gets removed.. And yet everyone else can have multiple pics and that is OK?

 

WTF?

Maybe the site you linked from doesn't allow hot linking?

Nice looking bike tho, you can see the pic if you open it in another browser tab

Great idea starting this thread and its great to see other people's photos and stories!

I've recently taken to riding my Honda Firestorm again due to my car's engine dying last week. It makes getting to work so much quicker and so much more fun when compared to my dead 1.2l Vauxhall Corsa, but it does like to drink a lot of petrol! :D

I've also attached a pic of my Honda VFR400 which was my first bike and I still own today. It currently needs a little cosmetic work but I still love it all the same :thumbup:

Good to see some fellow bikers. I don't really have any particularly share-worthy motorcycle stories (mostly just your run-of-the-mill, "some idiot tried to kill me while making their lane change" type stuff), but I do have a pretty sweet picture of my bike that my cousin's aspiring photographer friend took.

She's a 2013 BMW K1300S and I take her out on the streets of Southern California just about every day for my commute. Every once in a while I take her down Ortega Highway. One day I'd like to do a motorcycle trip around Europe, probably go to a MotoGP race or the IOM TT.

Any other Beamer fans here?

Found another couple of old pictures of bikes I've had

BSA M33, it was a bike built to haul a sidecar around, it had the frame from a BSA M21 and the engine from a BSA B33, it was made by BSA in 1955 so is a year older than me :)

I got this Suzuki GT380M in 1976 and ran it for more years than I can remember, it had 120,000miles on it when I sold it and it still ran well.

What a Great thread:thumbup: I've had a few bikes over the years.This is my current ride...2013 Harley RoadGlide

One of my favorite bikes Ive had was a 2006 Harley "Police" RoadKing.It had a very "Old School" 40's-50's look

I fell your pain with replacing your Headlight bulb,I've learned over the yrs that YouTube is great recource for information on various projects,from fixing Washing Machines to Car Starters.I've saved a lot of $$$ by watching video do's and dont's.

Great pics everyone,The Older I get the more I realize how large a part The Motorcycle has played in History,I'ts No Wonder we are so in Love and Connected with them.

I also have a bike, a red Honda CB-500 from 1993 or so. The "naked" version before it got the ugly wind shield.

Although I admit, with all my hobbies and work and bad German weather I ride it..... well, twice a year maybe? It's a pity.

Unfortunately a bad shot...

My 1200 Triumph Tiger Explorer, the other thing to do besides flying sims :joystick:

My first ride years ago was a scooter then a CBR600 then a 929 custom streetfighter (granted, a bit "overdone" :D), now after moving away from my old country I want next year a... CB500 :lol: and maybe later some R1200R

Time to sprout things up a bit given the (@%* weather out there and the snow that's heading to us the next couple of months..

19th of october I had a major crash.. Head-on collision with a fellow biker.

Long story short - lost grip (road was slippery/wet), recovered, after the recovery found myself on the other side of the road... Where the other guy was.. :noexpression:

He suffered a broken arm, I got away completely uninjured. We were both VERY lucky! Thankfully we're on good terms with eachother :thumbup: Visited him a couple of weeks ago, and he's getting better. He needs to practice using his arm a lot, but recovery looks promising.

So the bike's a total loss...

:helpsmilie:

But.. End of november bought this bad boy.. Bring on the spring!

Love the Ninja. I'm not even into racing bikes that much, but the Ninja is sexy.

Hi all!

 

Anyone here rides a motorbike? There must be some! :D

Given my personal interest in bikes, and there not being a thread ‘round here for it, I thought I would create one so we could share stories / pictures.

 

I’ll start with a story of a … “mechanical mistake” I made couple of weeks back... :P

The headlight failed so had to replace the bulb.

 

In the immortal words: “How hard can it be?”

Right…

H4 light bulb – check

Tools – check

Sunny day so I can see what I’m doing – check

 

Right, let’s get down to it. Unplug the old light, remove the dustcover, so far so good (at this point I’m already slightly irritated because of the lack of working space and the frickin’ fiddling in there...).

 

The bulb is held inside the housing using a metal clip (here’s the “mistake” :helpsmilie: ).

What to do… Right, unscrew so I can remove the bulb. Easy.

Unscrew the clip …

*Ptoing!*

Grmbl!!

The metal clip has boinged away to… somewhere…

After 15 minutes searching I found it. Then realizing this is going to be fun reattaching it with a bulb in as well!

 

Right… New bulb in, excellent. Now for the clip… After several minutes fiddling with the clip, reasonably satisfied with how the clip was hanging in there and I proceeded getting the screw and screwdriver.

Now the screw shoots way... INSIDE the light housing Grmbl!!!

Great. There’s literally NO way in there.

 

The coming HOUR removed the ENTIRE front end to be able to reach the screw with a magnet, easily installing the bulb and REALISING the clip can be pulled off quite easily! Grrr!

Another hour working to get the frontend together again.. Moment of truth (drums!)

 

Ignition… LIGHT!!! :cheer3nc:

 

Like I said.. Changing the light bulb. How hard can it be?

 

But to kick off as well, here’s a picture of my beauty :)

 

I miss riding, I keep nagging wife that I want to again. Until I go out and get me a new ride.

Been stuck to long now with darn games cooped in like a pigeon :doh:

Although started getting into 4WD + Camping but costs on large trips means only once a year in a group.

I will ride again maybe not yet but within a few years for sure I always ride with clubs.

I have been looking at the new BMW S1000RR its a sweet fast ride link:- http://www.bmwmotorcycles.com/us/en/index.html

BMW S1000RR 2015 race day.....

Awesome :thumbup:

Although I have owned several bikes and have enjoyed two Honda VFR's in my keep with some add-ons for best performance - http://motorcycles.honda.com.au/Sports_Touring/VFR800

So unsure with current changes to this line if I go down the same track the pre 2001 were the best, gear driven beasts they were!

This one............

I've done 52 miles in 12 months on mine. Do I count as a biker?:lol:

Have an ER6-F, got it for commuting but a few years later I bought a house closer to work so I rarely get out on it.

I've done 52 miles in 12 months on mine. Do I count as a biker?:lol:

 

Have an ER6-F, got it for commuting but a few years later I bought a house closer to work so I rarely get out on it.

You mean this - https://www.google.com.au/search?q=ER6-F&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8&client=firefox-b&gfe_rd=cr&ei=c30DWauzG_Dc8wekrqWgCA

An old freind had a Honda Rossi 600 this - http://www.carbon-garage.com/ic/576130277/CBR600FR1-Y163.jpg

Stands out looks and rides nice he let me ride it once, it gets the looks LoL

You mean this - https://www.google.com.au/search?q=ER6-F&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8&client=firefox-b&gfe_rd=cr&ei=c30DWauzG_Dc8wekrqWgCA

Yep, it's called ER-6F in the uk. I think we call the ninja a different model of Kawasaki.

Nice enjoy it.

Have you taken any courses in advanced riding?

I haven't but could probably do with some more tuition now. Will have lost a lot of skills and confidence now I'm not riding in all weathers and at all times of the day!

I've always liked VFR'S. One of the few other bikes with single-sided swing arms like Ducati.

My Monster 1100 S.