New *budget* bike day!
Discussion
Well after finally deciding against touring on my old 748
The only option left was to buy another bike!
At first I picked up an early transalp, which was comfortable and had hard panniers. However it was dog slow and I found it too heavy for green lanes after picking it up 4 times in one outing(this may also be a skill issue).
Managed to sell that on luckily, so the eBay and fb market place browsing started again!
The brief was simple, under 2k, comfortable enough to ride for 3+ hours at a time and ideally have ABS.
I considered the usual VFR800s, triumph sprint STs and the like but found this little beauty;
06 Yamaha Fz1 SA
I’m quite chuffed with it, fits me well as I’m vertically challenged, cheap insurance and 150bhp! It’s my first inline 4 after a triple and afew v twins so was worried about lack of low down torque but the displacement has that covered.
It’s a lot of bike for £2k!
The only option left was to buy another bike!
At first I picked up an early transalp, which was comfortable and had hard panniers. However it was dog slow and I found it too heavy for green lanes after picking it up 4 times in one outing(this may also be a skill issue).
Managed to sell that on luckily, so the eBay and fb market place browsing started again!
The brief was simple, under 2k, comfortable enough to ride for 3+ hours at a time and ideally have ABS.
I considered the usual VFR800s, triumph sprint STs and the like but found this little beauty;
06 Yamaha Fz1 SA
I’m quite chuffed with it, fits me well as I’m vertically challenged, cheap insurance and 150bhp! It’s my first inline 4 after a triple and afew v twins so was worried about lack of low down torque but the displacement has that covered.
It’s a lot of bike for £2k!
excellent choice, it's got a very good engine.
probably worth quickly checking that the generator has been changed and it doesn't still have the OE component which is renowned for failing.
you can buy the part very cheaply on eBay and change it yourself if you are on a tight budget. I just did mine on my 2006 R1 and it was pretty easy with lots of videos you can watch on YouTube before you tackle the job.
your bike may have already been done but if you don't know it's worth a quick look for the cost of a new gasket.
I read that the failure rate is increasing rapidly as the bikes age. apparently it's more a case of when it will fail rather than if. and when it does at best it will leave you stranded but at worst it will destroy your engine!! allegedly.
probably worth quickly checking that the generator has been changed and it doesn't still have the OE component which is renowned for failing.
you can buy the part very cheaply on eBay and change it yourself if you are on a tight budget. I just did mine on my 2006 R1 and it was pretty easy with lots of videos you can watch on YouTube before you tackle the job.
your bike may have already been done but if you don't know it's worth a quick look for the cost of a new gasket.
I read that the failure rate is increasing rapidly as the bikes age. apparently it's more a case of when it will fail rather than if. and when it does at best it will leave you stranded but at worst it will destroy your engine!! allegedly.
if you need panniers for your new bike I can highly recommend the SW motec ones.
they are easy to fit, quick to remove and expandable just by undoing a zip. they are also semi-rigid and hold their shape well as well as coming with an internal removable carry bag so you can take your stuff out and leave the panniers on the bike if you want.
my wife had these panniers on her GSXS 1000 and they were absolutely brilliant. she has subsequently upgraded the bike to a new model which came with the Suzuki hard panniers. but to be honest I think the SW motec ones were better. they carried probably the same amount of stuff but were less intrusive and to my eye looked neater on the bike.
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/197923679646?_trkparms=...
they are easy to fit, quick to remove and expandable just by undoing a zip. they are also semi-rigid and hold their shape well as well as coming with an internal removable carry bag so you can take your stuff out and leave the panniers on the bike if you want.
my wife had these panniers on her GSXS 1000 and they were absolutely brilliant. she has subsequently upgraded the bike to a new model which came with the Suzuki hard panniers. but to be honest I think the SW motec ones were better. they carried probably the same amount of stuff but were less intrusive and to my eye looked neater on the bike.
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/197923679646?_trkparms=...
Edited by A993LAD on Monday 2nd February 12:55
A993LAD said:
excellent choice, it's got a very good engine.
probably worth quickly checking that the generator has been changed and it doesn't still have the OE component which is renowned for failing.
you can buy the part very cheaply on eBay and change it yourself if you are on a tight budget. I just did mine on my 2006 R1 and it was pretty easy with lots of videos you can watch on YouTube before you tackle the job.
your bike may have already been done but if you don't know it's worth a quick look for the cost of a new gasket.
I read that the failure rate is increasing rapidly as the bikes age. apparently it's more a case of when it will fail rather than if. and when it does at best it will leave you stranded but at worst it will destroy your engine!! allegedly.
It’s got an aftermarket rotor on it I believe,probably worth quickly checking that the generator has been changed and it doesn't still have the OE component which is renowned for failing.
you can buy the part very cheaply on eBay and change it yourself if you are on a tight budget. I just did mine on my 2006 R1 and it was pretty easy with lots of videos you can watch on YouTube before you tackle the job.
your bike may have already been done but if you don't know it's worth a quick look for the cost of a new gasket.
I read that the failure rate is increasing rapidly as the bikes age. apparently it's more a case of when it will fail rather than if. and when it does at best it will leave you stranded but at worst it will destroy your engine!! allegedly.
Iv got some throw over panniers kicking about somewhere which will do for now!
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