Bonneville Excursion

[WildGoose]

had a good day today, so thought i would share, fully expect to be whinged at, cos how dare anyone be happy! but meh, life isnt always that bad

so, my tiger went in for some work today, and as a courtesy bike they gave me one of these
https://www.bikechatforums.com/viewtopic.php?t=45564
cheesy photo's btw


only 200 miles old was a bit like "ick" at first, and asked if i could have the 05 tiger instead, but they said it had been booked

so off i went, cos i wasnt gonna hang around there for them to do the work... the ride home was misery, you just cant ride these things in a race suit, its kind of an odd position by todays standards, and doesnt allow for the cut of modern leather, at least that what it felt like, wasnt impressed when it struggles to get to 80mph either, when i did pretty much a solid 100 on the tiger on teh way up

got home, and sat down with the intention to only ride it again when i was due to pick the tiger up

but then the sun came out so thought i might as well make the most of it...

and had a great day changed into some jeans, with combat boots and my old leather jacket from scoot riding days..much more suitable kit for this kind of bike to be comfortable, found myself hunting out all the old roads i used to ride on my scooter, tight twisties, and country lane sweepers, was absolutely blinding fun

you forget about the lack of power very quickly, and start to adjust to it, you also learn that there is enough there to do everything you need from it on this kind of ride, with a bit of forward planning you can still overtake etc, just requires more thought

on the A41 heading back into watford from barnet, i managed a 6 car + 1 lorry overtake, dunno why none of the cars were overtaking, but saw the opportunity and went for it, seemed to take weeks, but i was grinning stupidly the entire time

pulled up for a burger after about 60 miles, and realised that i havent had this much fun on a bike for easily a year, possibly more, had been the first ride for pure ridings sake, and was loving it again

wind in your jeans, jacket flapping, only needed the open face helmet to complete the experience

went off for another stint, this time further into the sticks, i went towards bovingdon, through sarrat, some of my favourite twisty roads through there, if a bit under maintained.. stopped at a pub to check the time, and instantly two old guys came out, and wanted to talk about the bike (one claims he had the original in the late 50's, they all say that dont they ) was cool to talk to them all the same

had to head back after that, so back up the A41, from watford to aylesbury this is a very tedious dual carriageway, almost motorway like, and on the way down it sucked, but having adjusted to the bike, the ride back up it was great, did no more than 65-70 the whole way, and just sat back and took in the scenery, not sure ive ever had an opportunity to do that before, or felt the need to..

very pleasant.... got back to the shop, and really didnt want to hand it back so soon, but the tiger was all sorted apparently, they even showed me the evidence of the two problems and explained what they did... even gave me the nackered parts (which is unusual in my experience of dealers) so for that

now after hours of riding a 60bhp bike it really does a lot to reset your sense of power, so the tiger felt totally ferocious again , and the ride home was mental, and very fun, with no leaks or lack of heated gripness

guess my point would be that, even if you think you are a purely into 'performance bikes' a few hours on one of these things might well surprise you (some of you anyway, G you may be excused )

it certainly has me, and the bonneville has gone right to the top of my wanted list, well almost...thruxton is 1 above it plan to get a test ride on one of those at some point, cos if the bonnie is this much fun to ride, the thruxton must be mind blowing

finally...

top marks to the guys at https://www.onyertriumph.net yes i know most dealers are crap, but so far these guys have restored my faith

awesome day lets hope tis the start of many decent rides this summer
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So in other words, he stopped you for being flagrantly in posession of a motorcycle in direct contravention of the Hippies, Darkies and People Whose Face I Don't Like The Look of (Police Powers) Act. 1976

[instigator]

Good on you mate. I know if people just gave cruisers a chance they might like them too instead of tarnishing them Bonneville's I do like

Not for your only bike but for that jaunt where theres some nice long, sweeping roads close by and its sunny

[Zoffo]

Pair of flares and you would have been right at home
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https://hyperbikes.forumsplace.com/

[cagiva gezzer]

OYT are my local dealer. I *would* of used them for servicing on my cagiva and derbi, but they refuse to work on two strokes since having plenty of issues with my brother's derbi.

Shame they don't do MOT's. They're probably the only dealer where i can hand them my property and KNOW it will come back in the same cindition (or better) than i gave it to them.
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"because one stroke isnt enough and four strokes waste two"

[WildGoose]

yeh, very impressed, and they do well in ride surveys as well

they are sister with on yer bike further up the road, thought of trying them for your servicing? should be of similar calibre

where abouts do you live then?
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So in other words, he stopped you for being flagrantly in posession of a motorcycle in direct contravention of the Hippies, Darkies and People Whose Face I Don't Like The Look of (Police Powers) Act. 1976

[pipnet11]

Im after something like this when my restriction runs out. The lack of power is all relative.
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I love the girls that do, I hate the girls that dont, I hate the girls who say they will and then they say they wont, but the girl I like most of all and I think youll say Im right, is the girl who says she never has but looks as though she might. - Max Bygraves

[cagiva gezzer]

I don't like OYB, too much like street machine in Aylesbury. Loads of bikes, a couple if hard nosed sales people who look down on you if you're not loaded with cash.

My mates had RS125's from OYB and they wern't too quick or relaible with the servicing.

Although OYB and OYT are owned by the same people, OYT hasn't change much (AFAIK) from when it was 'market motors' years ago.

I don't need any help with serviving anymore, just a few years ago i could of done with them doing work and stamping the log book for warranty purposes.

They're an excellent place and always find time to fit me in for tyres. I think they carry a stock of two stroke purely for myself and and the bloke who works there with a Runner 180.

I'm from Tring.

Excellent place, just wish i could afford more than the oil in there!
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"because one stroke isnt enough and four strokes waste two"

[El_Bandido]

got my bike from onyerbike. some of the sales staff were a bit snotty but i was really impressed with the bike when i got it. they even put brand new tyres on
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Hold my beer and watch this!

[Zoffo]

[VTR SP1]

I took my SP1 into my local dealers for it's first service and came away with a new Triumph bonnieville T100.
It was really nice to ride something so different and really good fun to ride.
Comfy and so much more relaxed.

sp1

[mr.z]

I miss my old bike

The whole feeling of the ride is different with older/retro bikes, crude but sturdy, just enough power, anymore and the handleing would send you stright to the nearest hedge! can't overtake? so what.. whats a big hurry?! just enjoy the ride

I'd be quite happy to own...

70's Z1000, first goldwing, another CX, any modern/oldstyle triumph... anything pre 75ish is a bit too crude and oil leaky for me
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>RidingSkills<->Tech Tips<->MyBikes<

[Will87]

Ride a real classic!

Sooo much more fun, the ES2 tops out at about 60mph, but when your plodding through lanes on a summers day there is nothing like it. Back to front upside down gearbox missing a gear or two aswell, and for all you modern folk, a . . . kickstart!

[MarJay]

Well done Goose, looks like you had a top day!

I had the Daytona serviced yesterday, they regreased the suspension linkages and did the valves, the whole shebang. It now feels like a rocket!!

I know what you mean about speed readjustment!
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British beauty: Triumph Street Triple R; Loony stroker: KR1S; Track fun: GSXR750 L1; Commuter Missile: GSX-S1000F; Cheap project: CBR900RR FireBlade
Remember kids, bikes aren't like lego. You can't easily take a part from one bike and then fit it to another.

[instigator]

How much was the valve clearances Marge? If thats what you mean by the valves..

[Mr C]

I thought this was a trip to the salt
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187.3bhp = 201mph

[Annabella]

Big grins all round Mister Goosey!



Sounds like great fun being an old man magnet
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Avast! Pirates ahoy!
I did Cadwell!
www.bikepics.com/members/bella

[stinkwheel]

It is really funny when you get old blokes coming up to your bike. I have a few mates that ride brit. bikes. Being regularly used they have fitted various non-standard parts to make them reliable and able to stop, handle etc.

You get old pipe-smoking blokes in cloth caps walking up to them then commenting on how "They didn't use that kind of brake the Rocket A10 in 1967." and "The bolt holding the rear pillion peg bracket on has the wrong thread pitch.". You just have to be patient with them, or comment that " Quite right, neither does it have avon speedmaster tyres or a large pool of oil under it like it did when it came out of the factory."

I was out on my Suzuki T500 once when some old bloke came over commenting on how his T140 bonneville was the best bike in the world and they knew how to build bikes back then not like this modern japanese stuff. I pointed him in the direction of the registration number of the suzuki which showed my bike was actually two years older than his one.

My mates 980cc conversion BSA A65 really gets them going though. The bolt of the short-stroke crank sticks out through the side of the engine casing and you can see the belt primary drive through the hole. They almost disappear entirely in a cloud of pipe smoke.
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“Rule one: Always stick around for one more drink. That's when things happen. That's when you find out everything you want to know.”
I did the 2010 Round Britain Rally on my 350 Bullet. 89 landmarks, 3 months, 9,500 miles.

[Will87]

The A10 racing bike was the Rocket Goldstar iirc. Using the A10 design with of course higher tuned parts and ally head etc. . .

[stinkwheel]

They did one called a road rocket as well which is what my mate had but with a shooting star front end.
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“Rule one: Always stick around for one more drink. That's when things happen. That's when you find out everything you want to know.”
I did the 2010 Round Britain Rally on my 350 Bullet. 89 landmarks, 3 months, 9,500 miles.

[Annabella]

[Will87]

[goony]

check this out https://www.irvingvincent.com/

[Will87]

Not as nice as the originals, but very nice all the same. I heard about those and have seen them before didn't realise they had a site!

My dad is after a vincent but he needs to find one for the 'right' price. A friend of his picked up a Series C BlackShadow for £7,000 and thats good!

[Kickstart]

[Will87]

This is absolutely fine condition. Even has a couple of ariel single decompressors drilled and tapped into the head of each cylinder. . .