1993 Harley-Davidson FLSTC - pic taken last June with 83,000 miles on it. It's still on original clutch, primary chain, final drive belt, and has never been down for anything other than regular maintenance (oil changes, cable adjustment/replacement, antires and brakes).
Modifications include five-gallon tank, beaded windshield, headlight nacelle, police solo saddle, hard bags are 1972 FLH NOS (New, Old Stock) adapted for use on this bike by yours truly, dual exhaust with turn-down tips and numerous nostalgic appearance items. On the motor end, there's adjustable pushrods, a competetition ignition module and high-output coil, the carb was re-jetted, and a Crane cam was added. Custom paint - deep candy red over white/titanium pearl with dark red and dove grey pin stripes. http://www.paddedwall.org/home/image...frontright.png http://www.paddedwall.org/home/image...d_leftrear.png Here's a shot on a clear day so you can appreciate the real color of the paint. http://www.paddedwall.org/home/image...hd_paint2a.jpg |
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http://www.ducati.com/docs_eng/model...ages/strip.jpg 999R Features a buddy of mine got the 999 (straight 999, not the R version etc.) and it's definitely more comfy than the 748R that I had for a short period of time. I'm sure you'll love the sound of it as well :) |
Ive got a Big Red Hog, 2000 Heritage Classic and its a far cry from the old 45 Harley with suicide shift I learned on 30 years ago. hence my screen name Bigredhog . The plate on it reads BGRDHOG. LMAO @ Cathar your pic schocked me for some reason I pictured you as an older grey haired professor type dude, funny the how you arrive at what a person might look like based on what they post. Heck your just a youngster and a smart one at that!
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Well after eyeing off the Aprilia's I went and took this absolutely immaculate 2000 Yammie R1 which is being sold on consignment at a local bike shop for a test ride today and put down a deposit on it. Bike has 8000kms (~5000miles) on it, and has fully mirror polished nickel plated rims, swingarm, and sub-frame. Man, this bike is spotless - they don't even come out of the showroom's as clean or as good.
Get home, wife rings up her best friend to tell her that I've gone and bought a bike. Her friend's husband rides bikes too, and while discussing it with him we find out that it's actually his best friend's bike that I'm buying. Man, what a small world sometimes eh? Get on the blower to his friend who tells me he'll agree to a lower price, and throw in a full Yoshimuri exhaust system, replacement front fairings, and a few other goodies. In return I have to go riding with him at a few Phillip Island track days 'cos his friend can't get under 2:00 lap times like he can, and I know I've done sub-2:00 on the ol' VTR before, so the gauntlet has been thrown down. Final agreed price was the paltry sum of $10K AUD (~$7500K US, or ~£4300). Yeah - really twisting my arm on that one. :D Come Monday, I'll have a few more reasons to smile. ;) |
Might wanna swap the frontbrake out for summat that gives a bit more feedback... tends to get a bit squishy feeling after time... other than that, peachy choice! 2000 onwards they'd managed to iron out everyone's little niggles n' complaints... tend to go for about £3500 over here tax'd n' MOT'd.
Once u get to that trackday, be sure to have someone to hand with a miniDV.... I wanna watch! |
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Probably could've pushed him a bit harder, but given the condition of the bike it seemed a fair price to me. Brand new 2005 R1's here go for around £7900 on-the-road. |
Yeah price is rather reasonable for your neck o' the woods... and the added extras make up for it anyways...
I'm still eyeing over various VFR400's at the mo... waiting for NC30's to drop below £1000... shame this one won't got for it's starting price - http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/VFR400-NC30-Tr...QQcmdZViewItem |
Ahh yes, I used to read Performance Bikes mag and always drooled over the NC30's. When grey imports finally made it this way I test rode one, and can still recall most of the ride some 10 years later.
RVF400 would be nice too.... Have fun with the new ride, Cathar, and keep it sensible on the road. I was never good with the big bikes: I turned nutter even on the way to and from work. Power wheelies just too tempting.... My next bike? http://www.gizmag.com.au/go/2350/ |
Not to worry. I'm a sensible lad on the bikes. Even with a wheelie king bike like the VTR I never really got into the whole wheelie thing, apart from perhaps getting the front wheel an inch or two off the ground for a moment. Doing wheelies always concerns me. Knew someone who flipped a bike and is in a wheelchair as a result, so that's always been a sobering thought for me anytime the front wheel leaves the ground. Even if not for that, I never really enjoyed doing wheelies. Can barrel into corners at racetracks with the footpegs folding up and the rear wheel leaving blackies, but never ever got used to hanging the front wheel in the air. Go figure - I must be a wuss - not that this bothers me. I've always been happy to go at my own pace and not try to keep up with the true nutters. My motto has always been "Keep it at ~80% on the road, and save the 100% antics for the race-track", and I'd like to think that 99% of the time I've kept to that policy faithfully.
The R1 had insane acceleration. Overtook a car that was annoying me today and went from 30-120kph before I even realised I was going that fast. Gotta watch that if I aim to keep my license. Am well aware that the newer GSXR1000's are meant to be better in almost every respect, but for me the R1 is a bit of a sensible step up from the VTR. A bit more of a gentle jump to go from a 110hp bike to a 155hp bike, rather than a 180hp one. Heck, I was always one to believe that 100hp was as much as I could ever need or use, but just for once in my life I'd like to see how the hardcore open-class sport-bike crowd live. ;) I keep reading about how the R1's are meant to be twitchy, but then I read how the GSXR1000's are meant to have vague feeling front-ends, and how the Kawasaki's are let down by their suspension, and the Honda's are the boring all-rounders, firm stable and planted, but missing a raw element. Crap, seems like no matter which bike you buy, someone's got something to bitch about with it. Then I think back to '2000 when everyone was singing the praises of the R1 as the ultimate sports-bike, so are we just splitting hairs here or what? Bikes are meant to be fun items that allow one to explore one's abilities introspectively, regardless of any "niggles" with the bike. As far as I'm concerned, as long as it's not dangerous, it adds to the experience anyway and I firmly believe that the ability for any bike to go fast and/or be enjoyed rests about 95% with the rider, and only about 5% with the bike. Crap, I still remember crafty old Tom Saville overtaking the hardcore sport-bike nutters on his old Honda Dominator (NX650), round the outside of them, with no hands on the handlebars. If that's not a better example of the rider's skill being the dominant factor in the enjoyment of a motorbike, regardless of how good or bad the motorbike is supposed to be, then I don't know what is. This R1 has a steering dampener, so any excessive twitchiness shouldn't be an issue. I aim to enjoy it sensibly, but not sedately. ;) It's more of a bike than I'll ever have the skill to master, so in that respect I just see this more as a learning process of the self, and hey, isn't that what motorbike riding is all about at its very core? That Robert Pirsig guy makes a lot of sense. |
Bike piccies here:
http://www.employees.org/~slf/R1/ Managed to get the price down another $500. Took it out for a little blast yesterday, man what a dichotomy. Such a well behaved bike in town, but twist that throttle even half-way and the brain struggles to catch up. |
Carbon fibre front hugger, annodised front brake caliper?, clear-lense indicators standard?
Annodised valve caps (much faster than standard). Hello jealousy. Power is corrupting. Remember going from my RZ250K to a FZ750. At first it was "never use full throttle, wholly crap" and yet within weeks I remember chasing someone over the gateway bridge at full throttle thinking "come on you fat slug".... |
And a gorgeous beasty she be....! Congrats d00d!
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Cheers all. I'm a happy boy.
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Got to find some time to fit the Yoshi exhaust in the next coupl'o'days. |
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Low down the R1 pulls like the VTR did which really surprises me 'cos every in-line 4 I've ridden before has been peaky. The R1 has strong tractable power from as low down as 2000RPM, but at 7000RPM it's a totally different picture. Where the VTR just continues to pull (very) hard, predictable and steady up to around 9700rpm, the R1 turns into total beast and to be honest it's a real effort to squeeze the tank hard enough to hold on without it slamming you back into the stopper pad. For sure, the more modern bikes have a few more ponies at the top-end but there's no way any sane person could ever describe the R1's power delivery and acceleration as "slug-like". |
I had a poorly carbouretted ex-race RD350LC that was mental. It pulled fine (not like a 1000 four, but not bad for a tiny stroker) from near idle to about 4,500 RPM. Then it went to shit, made zero power and gurgled like you'd run out of petrol. It did this for 1,000 RPM.
Then it came good. Big time. It lit up like a mental two stroke, which it was. As a race bike, it was either idling or between 6,000 and its redline (10k by memory?) and hence fine. As a commuter, it was real "fun" to ride. I loaned it to a sensible rider mate who didn't get the throttle vs rpm right and it lit up and wheelied across an intersection with a none-too-happy wife on the back. One of my few smoking-the-rear-wheel-steering moments was me getting it wrong mid corner in Lutwyche (busy inner city of Brisi). Great fun until the oil line dropped off the oil tank and it seized on the SW freeway. Ever ridden a 500cc stroker: RZ500 or RG500? They're the same: you ride around thinking "this is nice and sensible" but then they just light up and f*** off. Its the reason why I like to doodle and draw electric bikes (so much more design freedom) but I don't they'll be popular until fuel is $100 a litre. Flat power curves and predictability are just sooo boring. My ideal bike, as per above, is a cagive 125 mito evo (916 looking model) with as big a single-cylinder 2 stroke traily engine (CR500cc would be nice, WR360 more likely). Who needs broad power when you can have mental peakiness? Yummy. |
Got the Yoshi exhaust fitted
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Probably taking the analogy a little far to compare the R1's power delivery to a 2-stroke. The extra power on tap in the high-end is not "light switch" peaky - it's always under the rider's control to dial in the power they want from the engine from the throttle, it's just that the acceleration gets progressively more "urgent" as the revs rise, unlike the VTR for example where it accelerated steadily and strongly. By "urgent" I mean just when you're thinking it's not going to pull any harder than what it's doing right now, it surprises you and does so. I mean, the thing gives graceful, controllable, and progressive power wheelies in 1st, 2nd, and 3rd, and heck with a few engine mods I wouldn't be surprised if it could do so in 4th as well. I do understand the desire for an RVF400 too. Nice, light, small, and flickable. Thing is that I "graduated" from a ZZR-250 to a ZX-6R, and the R1 is smaller and lighter than the ZX-6R, so it's almost like a 400cc bike of the mid-90's anyway. The seat height is about the same as a 400cc bike. While it wouldn't suit a 5'0" person, anyone 5'4" or taller would have no troubles putting their feet down when waddling around while seated. Yeah, maybe when I've had my fill of the litre-bike cup'o'seduction I'll return to own a nice little 250-400cc bike, but when the litre-bikes of today are so close to the same size, weight and handling of the mid-90's 250-400cc bikes it's hard to give up the pull of ponies when there's not a lot of gains in doing so. If Honda released something like an updated RVF400 with 80hp and quality suspension, a comfortable seat, and stock suspension better than "preload adjust only", then yeah, I'd be sorely tempted to take another look. |
FZR400 + FZR1000 engine = YZF R1
I went from 750's/600 to 400 to extend my life expectency and save the license. |
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My 2T 125 performs practically the same in terms of powerband... altho ignore the rpm stop... pulls off the guage and gets a superb little kick up the ass from 12.5k thru to 14.5k before the CDI loses the plot and it all goes to shit, only solution start to advance the timing afaik... or replace the CDI but finding suitable is proving difficult... Agree on the Cag's.... love em. Definitely the best roadrace 2T 125 out there... 110mph stock, 130mph race tuned I think... Quote:
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Can always replace the shock. By memory RVF's are popular at Ilse of Man and I doubt racers will accept non-adjustability given the islands deserved reputation.
In my head was wondering about a VFR400 swingarm transplant to my Cagivo Mito CR500 hybrid in order to have single-sided swingarm like 916 big brother, and also to get a larger rear tyre for the power. No engineering analysis done beyond knowing its a single sided and the Cagiva has a "swept" (gull?) but otherwise normal swinger. |
Today I did a 300km round-trip of the local twisties to properly familiarise myself with the R1. Man, am I sore!
The R1 handles and provides feedback like a dream. Man, the VTR was "numb" in comparison. Talk about confidence inspiring. Every little interaction with a bump, stone, twig, whatever, is broadcast back through the chassis to let the rider know exactly what's going on. Wow, I never knew that bikes could feel this good. Absolutely visceral road-rider interaction. Any line through a corner I wanted to take, the bike did it. It did exactly what I told it to. A patch of stringy bark mid-corner, with a few bits of gravel, those damn white reflectors in the middle, and a nasty ripple? Yep, happy to make 4 mid-corner line adjustments to thread through it all and keep tyre happily in contact with bitumen, all while cranked over hard. Enter a corner a little too hot? (Something that's somewhat easy to do with the R1's monster engine). No problem, just feather the front brake and the front wheel suspension feedback is there telling you exactly what's going on, and all of a sudden I'm feeling like I'm a pro-racer (yeah, in my dreams!), braking deep into corners with nary a concern about the front wheel's traction because it's telling me exactly how hard I'm pushing it, which to be honest, wasn't really that hard but the difference is now I can tell that I'm not pushing it hard, unlike the VTR where in comparison the VTR's feedback is something akin to attempting to assemble a technical lego kit with boxing gloves on. Heck, I literally used to sleep at night and a recurring nightmare about riding the VTR, and losing the front-end for no adequately explained reason. What a monster engine! Almost a total waste really, but then somehow, it's not a waste. Despite the 11750rpm redline, I kept the engine toodling along in the 3000-6000rpm range throughout most of the ride, especially in the tighter stuff (e.g. the famous Reefton Spur which is 24km of 50-80kph non-stop gruelling swervery) purely because the engine makes stupid power otherwise and the last thing you want is to exit one 60kph semi-hairpin, and accelerate hard over the next 80m to hit 140kph as you enter the next 75kph semi-hairpin, braking like an idiot. The bike purely has too much top-end power to be used sensibly on the road, but despite that, the engine is absolutely fantastic for lazy 2nd/3rd gear up-down transitions through the swervery just using the ample luscious low-end grunt to smoothly drive through the corners and on to the next, rather than dancing on the gear-lever trying to keep a small engine on song. Sure, the engine has all this top-end power that's next to useless on the road, but that doesn't matter, because it has all this ample low-end drive which perfectly suits the tight stuff just as well. Yep, the R1 is almost as light and flickable as a 250, as visceral as a surgeon with a scalpel, and an engine which is every bit as "lazy" and grunty as a big V-twin, but with the monster top-end should you ever feel the need to show off. I tell ya, I'm in love with motorcycling all over again, but even moreso than before. I never in my dreams thought that bikes could be this good. I am sore. I can barely walk from hanging off the bike for 2.5hrs straight flicking from side-to-side transitioning my bulk with muscles that have long since forgotten that they had a purpose in life. But I am happy! :D :D |
Re: Any Motorcycle Riders Here? Post Your Ride(s)
i currently ride a 2002 NSR 125-RR with an Arrow full race exhaust, nsr250 powervalve, carbon reeds, larger jets,1 tooth smaller back sprocket, twin plate clutch, lighter flywheel, dyno ket, and a port polish
she puts out roughfly 48 at the flywheel and 39 at the back wheel, she weighs 135 kgs and has recently recived new tires 130 back 110 front http://i16.photobucket.com/albums/b42/FuRi0/bikes.jpg http://i16.photobucket.com/albums/b42/FuRi0/ewan003.jpg yup that is my ugly mug i used to ride a TZR 50 which i absolty thrashed the life out offor 9 months till i near exploded (no thanks to the guys at RAF thievale you can guse what they did) http://i16.photobucket.com/albums/b4...0/DSCI0010.jpg my guardien if you are wondering rides a stock (and i mean compleatly stock) CBR125R which is not a bad bike i even manged to squeese 80 out of the glorafied CG im still on a provisional license (soon to change) |
Re: Any Motorcycle Riders Here? Post Your Ride(s)
will post more picks if you want (weather permiting)
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Re: Any Motorcycle Riders Here? Post Your Ride(s)
Sweet bikes FuRi0. Nice to see there are some sweet small capacity bikes out there. They'd be great fun at the track too I reckon. Betcha can't wait until the weather gets a little better there.
I've been making my way down to Phillip Island GP circuit a bit of late. Visited 3 times in the last month, but one of those times was a Superbike School training session. Managed to get my lap times down to high 1m53s. For comparison someone of the skill level of one of the present Australian Superbike Championship winners should be able to punt my exact bike around the track in around a flat 1m40s if really trying hard. So I've got a fair way to go. I can see myself getting to 1m49s fairly easily based on all the mistakes I'm presently making (lots). Give me 3 more track days to practise and hone the basic essential skills and I should get there. My long term (2yr) goal is to reach 1m45s with this bike in stock road-going trim, and once I achieve that I'll look towards modifying it. Here's some action shots: http://www.employees.org/~slf/R1/pird-06-01-06.jpg http://www.employees.org/~slf/sbs/pic1.jpg http://www.employees.org/~slf/sbs/pic2.jpg |
Re: Any Motorcycle Riders Here? Post Your Ride(s)
i want that r1 m8 *drools*
am picking up a slightly damaged GSX-R 750 SRAD soon so once thats up and running i will get some pics (permiting the git dont get a better offer) your right i cant w8 untill some better weather picked up some "sparkeys" so cant w8 to get them into use my last pair of leathers discovered what consentrated asfault tastes like if you know what i mean :evilaugh: i had her out on a track once but was getten anihalated by the bigger bikes managed to keep pace with a stock rs250 though setting 3s faster laps than the aprillia rs125s but in saying that i know most of the riders on them and well i can take them on normal roads so why not on a track comes to mid :hammer: |
Re: Any Motorcycle Riders Here? Post Your Ride(s)
Don't have to tape the lights up Cathar?
Very generous. I used to take my little FZR around Lakeside (QLD) and it was a case of keeping up around the back, and having everyone fly by on the straights. EXCEPT for the superbike guys. They anniliated me everywhere, everycorner, like I was driving-miss-daisy on some early-english velocoped. eg: end of the straight is a 180 degree corner and I've got my knee down, gently scraping the right-peg and thinking "I AM MICK DOOHAN" and this guy comes on his GSX750RRRRRRRRRRR and rides around me mid-corner and then just F***'s off into the distance through the twisty bits and I'm like "I AM SHITE!". Mind you, I went like 5 times ever and he probably goes a couple of times a week. Better skilled, and know's every bump etc. Don't know about you, but it knackers me. Riding on the roads I can do for hours at a time, but at the track after 10 or so laps I'm ready for a break, and on track days by the time it gets to the sixth sessione I need a nap. |
Re: Any Motorcycle Riders Here? Post Your Ride(s)
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A good check to do is you should be able to do the chicken dance with your elbows, even when under braking so heavy that the rear wheel is starting to lift from the road. If you can't do that at any/all points of the track, then you're holding on too tight. Aside from gripping onto the tank with your thighs/knees under heavy acceleration/braking, you should just be a loose lump of jelly resting on the bike in whatever way is most comfortable for you to do so. Also caused by not dropping the inside elbow enough, and not getting low enough to provide steering input perpedicular to the steering head axis. When entering corners you should be relaxed, low, almost slung across the tank like you're a rag doll just draped there. Steering inputs should just be a quick sharp jab to put the bike onto its side, and after that you shouldn't be doing anything else other than not falling off and winding the throttle on. If you find yourself holding on tight onto the handlebars through the corners, holding pressure either on the inside or outside bars, the problem is you. You're not relaxed enough on the bike and you're not letting it just do its thing with you merely as a dead weight on it. The more you fight it, the more it'll fight back, and the harder the work is. It's something I'm still working on too. The faster you try to go, the more you tend to tense up and fight the bike. It's a natural human instinct. It affects everyone, and you HAVE TO do your best to fight the instinct to hold on tight, and just relax. Always remember, the bike is happier without you than with you. It's your job to gets yourself in a way that the bike's geometry doesn't really notice that you're there. |
Re: Any Motorcycle Riders Here? Post Your Ride(s)
Yeah, all good in theory and at the high-performance courses I did at Mt Cotton we had exercises on this. My lap times and tiredness prove it was something I needed to work more on. Anyway, all history now: no bikes for eight years and counting.
I miss the uncontrollable smiling and giggling after being very, very naughty on public roads. Given what I see driving in Sydney I wouldn't ride here anyway: people are idiots. Saw another "wrong-way-around-a-round-about" incident just this week. Track-day-bike for Eastern Creek is financially un-obtainable for near future, but you need to have dreams... |
Re: Any Motorcycle Riders Here? Post Your Ride(s)
track days are never "financialy unobtainable" you just have to know the person that runs it
in my case jeremy mcwiliams :) |
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