Can you help me choose a bike?

Back to basics then

D

 

Actually, you're wrong there - with proper fettling (including braided
hoses) I got the 400/4's brakes to the stage where they will lock the
front on most normal road surfaces. Takes some effort, mind, but can
be done.

FWIW I'm a great believer in learning what it feels like to lock the
front, as you're suggesting. Many people have no idea just how much
braking is available on modern bikes.

An ex-iam observer friend of minerecently went on a safe riding course
run through the copmpany here where they were trying to get the
students to induce stoppies and/or lock up. He said he was astonished
at home quickly he could bring a bike to a standstill - much more so
than he'd though.

Must have been an atypical IAM group he used to be at, mind, as he's
never even done wheelies or stoppies (despite having a CCM supermoto
as well as a 955i daytona) let alone go to the intermediate skills
like drifting the rear out in bands...

 

*waves*

I definitely need some hard braking tuition, I reckon.

I'd feel the benefit of doing that, for sure.

heh. You little tinker.

 

Depends what you want from yer granny, really.

There is serious downforce available from yer foul-weather granny in
her soaked camel overcoat (mind the hatpins) but for braking
assistance you really want to aim for the SummerGran, comparatively
lightly clad in three vests, chemise, Liberty Bodice blouse and
cardigans. Pile a pair of them under your front wheels and you'll
stop on a sixpence every time. Additionally, they are durable due to
the many layers employed in construction - improved abrasion
resistance, see?

The average Gran is good enough for cornering assistance, but if you
want to go drifting avoid the old codgers - they're all stick-men.
Best bet is to lurk outside a rural Post Office of a Thursday morning
(but do this soon before the Gummint close all the traditional POs)
and collect yourself a set of heavyweight old munters, Go for the big
fat ones, them that stretch their woollen tartan overcoats to the
point of seam-burst, tightly wrapped in crocheted cardis and
voluminous bloomers.

Aerodynamic efficiency is not an issue as much as sheer bulk in this
case. Once you've loaded up your cow-catcher, grab another couple by
braking hard at impact and let them roll up and over until they catch
on the lip of the whaletail roof spoiler. A bit of weight over the
rear really helps when aiming to maintain a nice even rear-wheel
slide.

 

Yes.

A CB500 is probably quite a good bet for a starter bike, BTW.
Trailie/supermoto type things are ideal commuter tools, though (he says,
with the zeal of the recently-converted)

 

I have braided hoses on the 550 too. Even with new fluid and pads up it`s
still not the most effective braking system I`ve come across. It`s good
enough, and I have managed a small lock when trying (reflex took over and it
wasn`t anywhere near a major one). Maybe the BT45s help. Damn, they`re
sticky tyres..

Still, I challenge you to lock the front on a cable-operated disk brake a la
CB200. Short of throwing a bar into the spokes it appears to be nigh-on
impossible. )

I tried similar on something as mundane as an ER-5. It would stop on a
sixpence that thing. I was quite impressed.

Heh. I`m not one for wheelies/stoppies or drifting myself. All my bikes have
been hairy old dogs. After years of abuse they come to me to be loved,
cherished, and never to see a redline in anger again.
They`re still hairy old dogs mind you, as tatty as the day I got them, but
they get oiled, serviced, and lovingly taken for a jog around North Wales as
often as I can manage.

 

There is that, but 99% of the time you don't have deep enough snow to manage
it. I doubt someone who relies on ABS to stop in the rain has any idea these
things are possible.

 

It was somewhere around Barstow, on the edge of the desert, when the
drugs began to take hold. I remember (Alan)
saying something like:

You must be a shit driver.

--

Dave

GS 850 x2 / SE 6a
SbS#6 DIAABTCOD#16 APOSTLE#6 FUB#3
FUB KotL OSOS#12? UKRMMA#19 COSOC#10

 

Cheers Pip. Bright spot in a dull day.

 

Or how little is needed in deep gravel before you lose the front.

 

Yeah, I'm sure they'd make a difference. The metzelers on the 400 are
pretty old and don't feel at all grippy to the touch.

Before I overhauled the calipers the back brake was more effective
than the front - the pads were almost completely perished, and about
as much use as a chocolate teapot. Maybe with sticky tyres I could
even get it to stoppie. Managed a couple of wheelies last week when I
was performance-testing[1] it prior to handing it over to the Blane,
which was nice...


[1] It's difficult to tell whether it's developing anything like its
full power[2] when you step off the gixxer, so I did a few 0-60 runs
on it, just counting off the seconds, and it seemed pretty much OK,
summat around 5 seconds, so I reckon it's running fairly well.
[2] When I got it it was impossible to get the ignition timing correct
on all 4 pots, due to an incorrect model of contact breaker, which
meant that it would pretty much bog down around 5k. Once replaced, it
ran much more cleanly, but I've not got anything to compare it
against.

 

We'll have a bash when you're over, p'raps?

On the Honda, mind. I don't want you looping the gixxer, TYVM :-}

 

Heh.

"None" is, I believe, the correct answer to that one :-}

 

I know that *now*. I was accidently just resting my fingers on the
lever.

 

Exactly what I was thinking.

Exactly the opposite of what I was thinking.

 

"flash@work" <> somehow managed to post:

Don't listen to him, Pip. T'was a bright spot in fairly bright day.

 

I would say so. My 550, although it has to put up with carrying my lardy
arse, is quite a touch slower than that. Then again, as before I`m not one
for pulling the arse out of the throttle at the best of times anyway..

I`m having a bit of a mare with ignition timing myself, funnily enough.
Apart from, with new points, the timing plate has to be fully clockwise to
bring it anywhere near in, the advance/retard appears to be worn. If I set
it using static timing, it over advances, making feel a bit lethargic up the
revs and also pinks under load. If I set it dynamically to the advance mark
(as you probably know, full advance is 2500rpm) using a strobe it bogs down
under 2000rpm and ticks over like a bag of nails, with the happy side-effect
of clutch rattle/primary chain rattle from hell.

I`ve left it at "tickover like a bag of nails" for now, leaving it as just
another one of those small, annoying jobs that old SOBs always seem to need.

 

Dunno if it's exactly the same as the 400, but the spindle on the a/r
unit on mine seemed quite worn - for a while I thought this was the
cause of the problem, although it clearly _was_ advancing at higher
revs.

Is it on the T mark when you use the strobe at tickover as well? If
not, then the a/r spring may be fucked: Same problem (and apparent
solution) discussed here:
http://www.greenspun.com/bboard/q-and-a-fetch-msg.tcl?msg_id=00ApqO

 

That's the first time that's actually made me laugh, mainly due to the
image of said bloke setting off into lots of new worlds all at once.

 

Buy something cheap to start with. My ER5 might be ideal at around £1350.
Run it for 6 months whilst you define what you want in a bike then sell it
on for little loss.

John