Baron Von Grumble

[PTF]

Yeah agreed. It's brilliant. I'm a big fan of cheap-ish bikes. All of mine were sub-£2.5k and are all brilliant in their own way.

Hope they keep doing good stuff like that. Personally i'm really not fussed about how wonderful a £15k+ superbike is because it's very unlikely i'll ever own one, and i don't think a £15k bike is 6x as good as a £2.5k one. It's not like cars where reliability and condition are worse, just as long as you find a well looked after example.

[egor110]

That interview with hopkins team boss was really good .

[BobSaunders]

Enjoy it. It's silly, harmless fun.

I wish they would post more, but understand it costs time and money to do everything, and at the end of the day this is not their priority.

Would like to see more of the lower budget stuff, and more activity based stuff that the average punter does.

[CaptainSlow]

Really enjoying it and puts a smile on my face. I don't bother watching many of the press release video snorefests.

Maybe they need to realise that if they want to grow subs that creating another Bike World won't do it. Looks at the RJ and BvG sub numbers compared to their 83k.

[SAS Tom]

I’m really enjoying the budget bike battle too. I can relate to it much more than the usual stuff they do. It’s the only thing that is tempting me to buy another bike at the moment.

[Mr2Mike]

Dick Seaman said:

Anybody else enjoying the Budget Bike Battle on 44 Teeth?

I appreciate the presenting style can divide opinion but I think they've evolved into a very knowledgeable and entertaining double act.

It's excellent, just the kind of stuff I enjoy watching. I've always hated the sound from those crappy stubby cans, but the amount they change the fuelling is quite surprising.

[3DP]

Enjoying it too - especially as I've had good examples of both bikes, plus their competitor the Ducati 996S

For my money, a fuel injected 98 onwards SRAD would be less hassle to keep than a carbed ZX7R. The ZX7R pisses on the SRAD for character and can be made as quick for not too much money and made much lighter than standard, but the SRAD is a superior bike out of the box that feels a generation newer, if a little bland.

[patchb]

I'm enjoying it as well.

To be honest I enjoy all of 44teeth's content, BVG is slightly annoying in some of his own videos but don't find him so with 44T.

Makes me miss my old 7R a little.

Zx7r by patrick burrows

[Rat_Fink_67]

Another thumbs up for the Budget Bike Battle too! As an SRAD owner I'm firmly in the blue and white corner, but I have to agree that the 7R is a looker! It's so true what BVG says about running an older bike too, the terror/excitement of wondering if you're going to make it to your intended destination is addictive

[CQ8]

Another fan here! Come on Team Ninja!

[anonymous-user]

Love that 7R with the Muzzy pipe! SRAD's are insane value still, such great bikes and I never owned one...yet. Also, stop posting pictures of the 996, I want one.

[Dick Seaman]

good to see so many fans

I've only had one Yamaha and one Honda, so no allegiances, strangely drawn to the Suzuki though.

Underdog? Not sure.

[patchb]

yonex said:

Love that 7R with the Muzzy pipe! SRAD's are insane value still, such great bikes and I never owned one...yet. Also, stop posting pictures of the 996, I want one.

The pipe to have on a 7R in my opinion, would love to own a Muzzy Raptor one day but probably never gonna happen. Sounded lovely for a 4 pot.

[308mate]

3DP said:

Enjoying it too - especially as I've had good examples of both bikes, plus their competitor the Ducati 996S

For my money, a fuel injected 98 onwards SRAD would be less hassle to keep than a carbed ZX7R. The ZX7R pisses on the SRAD for character and can be made as quick for not too much money and made much lighter than standard, but the SRAD is a superior bike out of the box that feels a generation newer, if a little bland.

Ye gads what a line up

[abw280]

Enjoying also, makes me smile when people refer to new £10k bikes as good value/budget, I always think how many other bikes I could have for the money. 3 bikes in my garage currently

2001 Ducati S4 Monster - £1400 paid 5 years ago
1992 ZXR750 - £1450 paid 2 years ago
1985 GPZ750 - £900 - paid 3 years ago

All are excellent condition and see regular use. Even if I had £10k to spend on a bike I would still end up with a load more cheapo's!

Edited by abw280 on Friday 24th November 10:29

[trickywoo]

Another good review from me.

Interested to see how much the SRAD in particular stands when the rad and forks are sorted.

For me thats one of the reasons to get a newer bike. It costs more to buy but does it have to cost more to own?

[3DP]

trickywoo said:

Another good review from me.

Interested to see how much the SRAD in particular stands when the rad and forks are sorted.

For me thats one of the reasons to get a newer bike. It costs more to buy but does it have to cost more to own?

To be honest, the older bikes at the price point they have chosen are a false economy to buy. I have brand new bikes and older bikes, but the real value point for Jap sports bikes is around £3.5k as bikes bought at that price generally need nothing doing if you buy carefully, looking for well kept, well maintained and low mileage examples.

If you buy a £1500 sports bike and expect to ride it hard and it to perform well, you usually need to budget for the following:

Brake pads
Caliper rebuild
New brake lines
Good tyres
fork rebuild
shock rebuild or replace
radiator flush
go through electrics/loom and fix/electic lube connectors
spark plugs
carb clean
most chassis bearings strip/replace/lube
clean/lube replace cables
new chain

Even if you can do most yourself, there is a significant financial/time input. If you can't do it yourself then the costs are large, hence better off buying newer to start with. That's before you find potentially more expensive or involved issues like exhaust downpipes, valve clearances, worn discs, tired clutches, reg/rec, radiator, chains and sprockets etc.

Personally I enjoy doing all of that, but it's always best to buy the very best one you can to start with as an extra £1k spent initially can save a lot overall, plus the bike is worth more when you sell it.

Of course you can ignore all of this and just buy cheap and thrash around on an unreliable dog.

[abw280]

Not every sub £2k bike is a snotter. My ZXR has 10k on the clock and is absolutely mint. The Ducati has only needed a new reg/rect (£50) and the GPZ was bought as a non-runner, £300 later it's fine.

If you view a bike with weeping fork seals, bald tyres, shagged chain etc then you should really move on to the next one. It's really not that difficult to find good bikes at this price point.

[3DP]

abw280 said:

Not every sub £2k bike is a snotter. My ZXR has 10k on the clock and is absolutely mint. The Ducati has only needed a new reg/rect (£50) and the GPZ was bought as a non-runner, £300 later it's fine.

If you view a bike with weeping fork seals, bald tyres, shagged chain etc then you should really move on to the next one. It's really not that difficult to find good bikes at this price point.

Sub £1500 is snotter territory for the better sports bikes of 80s and 90s. If you buy a decent bike at that price that's a non-runner, then you are getting a discount for it being a non-runner and it is also a gamble. If you are looking at GPZs, GPXs, GSXFs, unfaired Ducatis, etc then they are not really sports bikes in the modern sense, nor particularly desirable in the current market. Not saying £1500 bikes can't be made mint and reliable easily, but if you want reliable, mint, and everything working like near new, cough up more to buy initially, or expect to spend £££ that you won't get back.

If I could find any model ZXR750 in mint condition (actual mint rather than gumtree mint), under £2k, I'd grab it.

But yes - sub £2k you mentioned, if happy to have a less desirable/fashionable 80s/90s, bike can get you some good metal.

[rat840771]

I went from an RD350lc to a brand new 98 GSXR750 and it was an awesome bike, manic top end and was as fast as the Fireblade.

There are some bargains to be had. 4 years ago I bought a k2 GSXR1000 for £2200 with 17k on the clock. Put 6000 miles on it and sold it 2 years later for £2600!