Unitrack removal / strip-down?

Um....

Car: does high 40s mpg, costs £250 a year to insure, tyres last for
ever, carries lots of stuff as well as humans, protects me from getting
wet or cold, has on-board music etc, goes 500+ miles on a tankful.

BMW bike, does similar to the gallon, costs the same to insure, tyres
shagged in 6k miles, can't carry as many humans or stuff, lets me get
cold and wet, no entertainment, does 200+ miles on a tank....

As a logical means of transport, except in town, the car wins out every
time.

 

Not sure logic applies with some people though TOG. ;-)

For some their bike *is* (delete as applicable) their social life, a
penis extension, a source of excitement, a hobby and all the negatives
you outlined above are simply for them, badges to be worn proudly.

"I rode f'in 10,000 miles at f'in 150 mph, at night, in a f'in
monsoon, got soaked through to the f'in skin and was
out_of_my_f'in_brains. What a great f'in ride!" [1] ... sorta thing.
;-)

As mentioned elsewhere their bike(s) is bought (and sold) on a whim
(like a toy, as the next fastest thing comes out) and the only
spannering they might do to it is to remove the highly tuned /
matched factory exhaust of it and fit the loudest aftermarket can
there is, that and some coloured brailed brakes hoses and matching
fairing screw and anodized foot pegs kit etc etc.

That's not to say their way is wrong (it isn't) but just not what
motivates many of us.

Personally, whilst I have great respect for those who can and do
actually ride their bikes safely over vast distances (be it on a tour
or regular commuting) and those who wring every last second out of
their machines round a track or over 120 ft jumps whilst holding the
saddle with one hand etc, *I personally* have more respect for those
who find a wreck of a bike in a barn or ditch and lovingly restore it
to it's former glory (on a budget), because I understand that more.
maybe part of that is that I've never had a lot of money (never bought
a new bike or car etc) so much of my interest was born from a need to
get (and maintain) reliable 'transport' and initially a motorbike was
the easiest way to do that. [2]

I also 'enjoy' looking at some of the custom works_of_art, purely from
the design / effort POV (ie, no use as an everyday motorbike as such).

Sad though it may be to some but I am currently 'looking forward' to
turning up stainless steel replacements for these rusted plain steel
Unitrack bush / sleeves, partly because I like to improve stuff where
I can but also because even to buy the stainless and including the
parts discount I get, they work out cheaper than buying OEM ones, but
mostly because I'd like to think I never have to touch (or de-rust at
least) that area again! ;-)

All the best ..

T i m

p.s. Another biker who missed the point on why I'm currently doing
what I am on this 550 has 1) offered to loan me his 750 Nighthawk
(which was kind) and 2) said "if the bearings have lasted 22 years
already ... " without knowing how many sets the bike may have already
had in it's life and how long it may have been ridden with the
bearings seizing or actually seized up?

[1] No I didn't copy / pase that from anyone here <weg>.

[2] I actually rebuilt my first car (at 15) before my first motorbike.

 

That's probably not good.

Oh, there's something else that might be a factor: I was 23-ish at the
time (actually, I had to be sober on my 23rd birthday because of the
painkillers and what-not), whereas you're a /little/ bit older...

At least they're going to look at it.

True... I was allowed on crutches the next day.

The physio said that I could have crutches as soon as my knee (having
been battered about while they put the intramedullary nail in) could
cope with lifting my leg off the bed. "Like this?" was my immediate
response. I suspect my urge to use a proper toilet may have been a
strong motivating factor; I got the physio to carry the drain bottle
that was connected to my knee and put it on the toilet floor. Rarely
have I known such relief.

 

Decent snipping would have confued me less then. :-(

All the best ..

T i m

 

My legs managed to retain their strength when I was down, I guess due
to being able#Wmade to walk, at least a little bit with the physio
assisting, from about ten days after the accident. The relatively
small amount of skiing I did that season (just a 2-3 weeks' worth)
also helped maintain the muscle.

But the lost core and upper-body strength has taken two years of hard
work, and I'm still not sure it's back to what it was beforehand.

--
_______
..'_/_|_\_'. Ace (b.rogers at ifrance.com)
\`\ | /`/
`\\ | //' BOTAFOT#3, SbS#2, UKRMMA#13, DFV#8, SKA#2, IBB#10
`\|/`
`

 

I am? It's the Usenet ... !

Well (with respect) we will have to agree to disagree (otherwise I
wouldn't have replied in the first place), unless you would be so kind
and explain how anything I said had any relevance to the reply and
hence why it should have been left in?

All the best ..

T i m

 

So keep the GS and put the BMW on EBay. <B-).

In my case the choice is between 2 1/2 tons of disabled minibus which
can just manage 30mpg and cannot get under the bloody stupid height
barriers at many car parks and costs 350 to insure versus the GS which
parks free anywhere, gets 65 mpg costs 82 to insure (both FC) and makes
a handy shopping trolley when I dont need to lummox the missus around.

OK, the minibus can do 600+ miles on a tank versus around 200 but that
is not an issue. I can use it if the weather is really shit but then
traffic becomes an issue instead of a bit of filtering fun.

Getting back to the point, when buying a bike some of us go for a
practical answer and others go for fancy toys. Its all a matter of
objectives. For my purposes since retirement the GS is overpowered for
the task but has far better brakes etc than the damned 125 that tried
to kill me instead of stopping.

 

Shame.

I only asked for help re the Unitrack FFS (but this is the Usenet etc
....) ;-)

Ho hum.

All the best ..

T i m

 

Is there an ideal age for smashing yourself up now?

 

On 03 Sep 2008 09:37:46 GMT, wrote:

Indeed, horses for course etc and I'm surprised that within a group
(motorcyclists) generally known for their comradery that there are
(here) a minority that seem to want to be otherwise?

Al the best ..

T i m

 

Mine certainly did, at least in places: the muscle on the inside of my
forearm would pop out like a tennis ball if I bent my fist inward.

 

Yeah, it's shit. I remember being told I was getting on a bit when I did
mine. :-(

 

"seem" is a key word here. Wind you neck in and stop overreacting.

Oh, and that's not how you spell camaraderie, assuming that's what you
were trying to spell.

 

OK a couple of things. Firstly, many of us aren't into the whole bikers
camaraderie thing. A ****'s a **** no matter what their hobbies are.

Secondly, if you're looking for acceptance from a group of peers based
on how you get from A to B, you're in the wrong place. If someone
thinks you're talking shit, they'll more than likely say so. When that
happens, never apologise, just admit you're a fuckwit, or start getting
shouty & sweary - either will do. Just don't make out you should be
given a break because you're a 'biking comrade'.

And just in case you think I'm being a sheep & picking on you, I've
already stated I agree with you on the 'riding for fun/enjoying the
ride' thing, but you're totally wrong about the Alex/Andy snipping
thing.

Oh, & thirdly, if you could lose this...

....it'd be good. It's really wanky, especially when you haven't got a
sig sep.


--
Krusty
www.MuddyStuff.co.uk
Off-Road Classifieds

'02 MV Senna '03 Tiger 955i '96 Tiger '79 Fantic Hiro 250

 

Careful, you'll get cane all excited.

--
Krusty
www.MuddyStuff.co.uk
Off-Road Classifieds

'02 MV Senna '03 Tiger 955i '96 Tiger '79 Fantic Hiro 250

 

Hardly surprising, though. The thing that sufferred most for me was my
overall fitness level - sure, the legs were still strong, but I was
unable to sustain any high level of activity sufficiently long to get
properly fit - the pain would kick in too early - so I think I got
progressively less fit right up until about six months ago.

Even during this last ski season my fitness didn't improve that much -
I think I was doing too much, such that I was hurting too much to
really push it, if that makes sense. Probably I'd have done better,
fitness-wise, with only about half as much skiing and a lot more gym
work. But sod that, eh? Any day on the mountain is worthwhile in and
for itself, IMO.

--
_______
..'_/_|_\_'. Ace (b.rogers at ifrance.com)
\`\ | /`/
`\\ | //' BOTAFOT#3, SbS#2, UKRMMA#13, DFV#8, SKA#2, IBB#10
`\|/`
`

 

<waves>

 

I use Agent and it does thread reasonably well (I think).

I have no issues with Alex's reply.

I have no issues with the name calling it was the reason it was
confused by (obviously by my posting what I did to who I did).

What frustrates me is we are having this conversation in the first
place because people reply (not that your reply was in itself an issue
etc).

"eh? What other reason is there?"

... especially when I was replying to someone specific (as specific as
one can here).

But no matter ... move on ... there's nothing to see here ... ;-)

All the best ..

T i m

 

No, like I said elsewhere, I have no issue with that.

All the best ..

T i m

 

I don't feel I am Eddie, as in I'm not actually bovvered etc, it's
just chat after all.

I was and thanks. ;-)

All the best ..

T i m