Bit annoyed with biking this the answer?

[Itchy]

Is a new bike the answer? , when I mean new I mean new as in an 07 bike ,maybe an off chance 05/06 bike depending on condition etc, I'm thinking maybe a newish CBF500 its got to be reliable right?. the £3200 price might be worthy for the amount of stress it'll free me of..

What has given me the hump has I seem to be constantly fixing the bikes , my life seems to be get up go to work come back spent 1-2 hours fixing problems on bikes BCF then bed.

I fix something something else goes wrong ,ie I fix the rear brake on the NTV , its front brake seizes, I fix that then the electrics play up the NTV dies.

I've fixed the CBR to a ridable state , its electrics go iffy. I fix that , the zorst develops a huge hole, I bodge fix that and the electrics go iffy again (tail light).

I've not had a single day since October where the bikes have worked without me needing to fix something.

This is made many times more difficult since I often have trouble diagnosing the problem.

So is a new bike the answer? (kisses good bye to the 08 Touring fund if this is the case).


Going bike to bike destroyer ie 2004/05 isn't possible as breakers here don't sell bikes cheaply and thus its not economical to ride bikes into the ground here and that just inherits even more problems.
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Spain 2008France 2007Big one 2009 We all die. The goal isn't to live forever, the goal is to create something that will. In the end, your life will flash before your eyes. Make sure it is worth watching.

[stan hyd]

For your sanity

get a brand new bike from suzuki with interest free for 3 years and enjoy having no mot to do for a while, a warranty and free aa breakdown.

then when you get close to the 3 years up sell the bugger and get a new one again.

wish i could do this - maybe you can!
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DAS Passed 12/12/07 2 minors!
Looking for a hornet - ?1900 mark

[killa]

Honda CBRF is meant to be a bloody good bike....strange to have such problems with it.

Well i bought a 2001 ZX7R after my 1995 VFR400R....the VFR never once caused me a hassle Until i put fucking diesel in it

The 7R was sweet as a nut only doing the usual maintanance until some idiot opened a car door on me.

I think you've had a bad run, buying a bike brand new is not the answer to make your biking better. By all means, if you can, bloody do it, i would.
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Cleverly disguised as a responsible adult.
Bike:- Yamaha TRX850 | Killas Biking History | Killas Gaming History | Killas autmotive history

[veeeffarr]

Buy the VFR sorted out biking totally for me in my head, only spannering I do on it now is routine maintainance and fitting aftermarket parts.

Don't buy a new bike, buy a reliable bike

Are these problems with the CBR due to you coming off?

Are we just justifying you getting a new bike? I bet you've already decided really

T

[erilaz]

I ride an 1990 ZX10, which to be fair wasn't in the best state when I got it. I share your misery in that there is always something going wrong with it.

I found the time to upgrade is when you're at the stage when as soon as you pull off you're wondering "hmmm, what will go wrong today then?". It takes so much of the joy of riding away when you're just waiting for it to break down or have something stop working.

In 2002 I upgraded to a 1999 model ZX7r and it was a joy. It still needed tweaking and whatnot, but not excessively so like the '10

If you can upgrade, go for it

[Wafer_Thin_Ham]

If you can afford it why not.
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[mattgirv]

My CB-1 was the same, constant problems due to neglect.

Not my neglect but whoever had the bike before me (or whether it was just sitting idle, which is easily as bad) but it meant that lots of problems cropped out of the woodwork and gave me constant hassle.

I bought a VFR, same as Tony, then ripped out all the wires from the CB-1 and did it myself. Took me a day to rewire the entire thing by hand, (bar lights and non-essential bike running cabling) and its perfect. Been running as a spare hack for a couple of months sometimes not being used for weeks. Starts fine, and runs fine.

Your best bet with a neglected bike is to inspect and repair everything rather than fixing what breaks. Sure if it ain't broke don't fix it, etc, but thats not counting for problems that will crop up with older bikes that have corroded god knows where and seized elsewhere.

Mind you, either way it still means either working on your bike a lot still, or buying another bike. My problem was I couldn't do any large amounts of maintenance due to relying on the bike daily. Having the VFR means I can tear my CB-1 apart and not worry if something breaks in the process or won't go back on.
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Bikes: 1998 Honda VFR800Fi, 26,500 miles
1989 Honda CB-1, 38,000 miles

[Ichy]

Without any disrespect (of course!) I think the problem is your bodging, its not a good solid bodge that will last forever. The CBR could be a good bike with maybe a couple of hundred spent on it, maybe less. Possibly the same with the NTV. You knew all along that the simple answer with the exhaust was to get a replacement one.

What you have to weigh up here is the value of a new bike compared to the '08 tour.

New(er) bike, might be problem free, not guaranteed, maybe out of warranty, plus you get stress from the amount of money you've spent and no holiday.

Like Toby said, you need to find a good reliable bike. Personally I look at the number of previous owners, and the general condition of the bike. Looking at my older (running) bikes at the moment I have a '87 XV1000, 18000 miles, 1 previous owner, changed the brake seals last year, that was all. '95 ZL600, 32k, 1 previous owner, used almost everyday, in three years the only fault was a dodgy bulb holder. Even the '84 GS550m I brought a couple of years ago as an hack still passed the MOT without any work.

[St0rmer66]

It's kind of like "buy cheap, buy twice". You paid bottom dolla' for your CBR, so it's bound to have some problems. If you'd spent another £500-1000 on it in the first place, you would have got one with lower mileage and likely less problems. You're lucky you can actually fix things though, I wouldn't have a clue so I have to buy a pretty decent bike in the first place . But on the other hand, I don't need my bike for commuting.
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:: Honda XR 125 L ('53) => Kawasaki GPZ 500S ('02) => Suzuki SV650S ('00) => Aprilia RSV-R ('51) ::

[Itchy]

[Itchy]

[Ariel Badger]

I ride a 1939 Ariel 350 everyday and get little in the way of problems.
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Bikers make great organ donors, get 115 on your licence today.

[feef]

It's always the same when you have more than one bike...

it's not possible for them all to be running at the same time, One will break because it's jealous the other one is in use, and then the first one will break in sympathy...

at least that's how it seems to go for me. Getting more bikes isn't the answer, as then they just gang up on you...

a
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Mudskipper wrote: feef, that is such a beautiful post that it gave me a lady tingle
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[Ichy]

At least its not just me that thinks that.

[st3v3]

[the grim reaper]

I had four bikes at one time once, I spent more time MOTing them, fixing them and generally getting oily than I did riding them. I prefer to have one bike, get it well and truly sorted and then ride the damn thing. Try getting rid of one and using the dosh to sort the second properly.

Cheers

Grim
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Adverts don't always work: Remember that advert, where the army are running across the desert and they have a wounded man on a stretcher. They get to a ravine, the bridge is down and a caption pops up that says, 'What are you thinking?'. I don't know about you but I was thinking, 'Christ, I'm glad I'm not in the f***ing army'.

[veeeffarr]

[yambabe]

Erm yeah cos nothing can go wrong with a new bike......... like mine for example, 3 weeks out of the showroom, less than 250 miles on the clock and the jubilee clip to my rad hose broke in a way that no-one (Himself, the AA man, the dealer) had ever seen before and I had to get recovered off the M6 cos it was pissing coolant everywhere...........

Warranty is only useful if whatever breaks is actually covered by it, you'd be amazed what the manufacturer will turn down on a warranty claim as "fair wear and tear". Also, warranty work tends to go to the bottom of the dealer to-do list cos they don't get paid very well for it, so although you may have peace of mind that a problem will get fixed if it takes a while what do you ride in the meantime? Will you get a courtesy bike or are you back to square 1?

I kind of know where you're coming from cos if you remember I had a number of "issues" with my 400 Eliminator, to the point where I lost confidence in it and wasn't enjoying riding it because of thet "what's going to go next" thing. I should have been upset when Ms Dozy Bint knocked it over and wrote it off, but I wasn't.

I think what I'm trying to say is what others have already told you; it may be time to give up one of your current 2 in favour of a more reliable bike, not necessarily a new one that is going to drain you of all your spare cash. Once you have that, you can then take your time getting the remaining "spare" sorted out.

Although this

[deanoet]

With a new(er) bike you stop worrying so much about if it will start in the morning, and the worry switches to if it is where you left it in the morning

Also any damage on it is more painful, that slight scratch, or dent, or scuff on the bars is more noticable.


May be more reliable, but you may trade one worry for another
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CBT Passed 18th July 2007 : Previous Bikes> CG125 : Current Bike> Hornet 600 : PASSED DAS 30th Oct 2007
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[JBurrows88]

I got in this mood couple months ago with my Cagiva. I spent 5months waiting for parts and then broke my thumb a month after i get back on the bike. Was abit depressing, actually put me off biking at one point... The bike was/is a heap of shit, and i actually dislike/d having to ride it, which is something i'd never expected to feel!

I realised i have more fun riding a bike 'off road' soaked and covered in mud rather than going anywhere fast . Thats where i set the task of getting rid of the Cagiva (pm for details ) and looking for something i want.

Just finding out what you want and getting direction seems to help!

good luck on getting the right bike!
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Dave
XJR400 Kenney Roberts Paint Job

[neatbik]

My rs125 gave me problems, then the cb1 i had started playing up after a while. It was nothing serious, just constant niggly problems due to its age and mileage. After it let me down a few times i bit the bullet and bought a year old bike with low mileage - the peace of mind it gives me is well worth the extra outlay
(plus i dont have to put up with tired suspension, weedy brakes and getting my hands dirty every weekend)

[St0rmer66]

[st3v3]

[mattgirv]

Yeah the sad thing with my CB-1 was selling it would get me about £400 tops the state it is in. I'd rather keep it and deal with the hassles it gives me than sell for such a small amount.

Its hardly costing me that much to keep it, even spares are dirt cheap.
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Bikes: 1998 Honda VFR800Fi, 26,500 miles
1989 Honda CB-1, 38,000 miles