Most Compromised
Discussion
Just for fun/out of interest because it's a Friday; what's the most compromised or unsuitable bike that you've used or lived with?
I'm planning a complete garage/driveway re-shuffle which will see me swap a sports bike for an enduro, specifically my '02 Aprilia Mille R for a Husky 501 Enduro.
The Aprilia does about 1k a year which, let's be honest, is pretty pointless, so the plan is to swap it for the 501, use that for work a few days a week (with a few mods to make it more road-suitable), a bit of green-laning and also enter a few enduros a year.
There are guys doing hundreds of hours on those engines with no more that regular oil changes and valve clearance checks, so whilst it's sole intention and design purpose isn't to be a commuter tool, I'm happy to make that sacrifice for the opportunity of some off-road fun and hopefully much more two-wheeled usage going forward.
What bikes have you lot had which, whilst being far from ideal, have been made to work where it wasn't really intended to do so?
I'm planning a complete garage/driveway re-shuffle which will see me swap a sports bike for an enduro, specifically my '02 Aprilia Mille R for a Husky 501 Enduro.
The Aprilia does about 1k a year which, let's be honest, is pretty pointless, so the plan is to swap it for the 501, use that for work a few days a week (with a few mods to make it more road-suitable), a bit of green-laning and also enter a few enduros a year.
There are guys doing hundreds of hours on those engines with no more that regular oil changes and valve clearance checks, so whilst it's sole intention and design purpose isn't to be a commuter tool, I'm happy to make that sacrifice for the opportunity of some off-road fun and hopefully much more two-wheeled usage going forward.
What bikes have you lot had which, whilst being far from ideal, have been made to work where it wasn't really intended to do so?
I had a CRM 250 (1989 reg no less) that I put into commuting duty and even did a 130 mile each way trip to visit friends on.
The seat was uncomfortable after about 50 minutes, it drank like a fish, the headlight was useless and it remains the reason I won't complain about any other bike headlight produced in the last 20 years.
The headlight used to light up a small portion of the road just in front of the front wheel and most of the front mudguard. High beam just made the mudguard and the selected bit of road brighter
Doable but not the best tool for the job. Even took it away for a weekend camping/green laning with panniers etc lashed to it. One of the pics below of an overnight trip with a rucksack and my sleeping bag
The seat was uncomfortable after about 50 minutes, it drank like a fish, the headlight was useless and it remains the reason I won't complain about any other bike headlight produced in the last 20 years.
The headlight used to light up a small portion of the road just in front of the front wheel and most of the front mudguard. High beam just made the mudguard and the selected bit of road brighter
Doable but not the best tool for the job. Even took it away for a weekend camping/green laning with panniers etc lashed to it. One of the pics below of an overnight trip with a rucksack and my sleeping bag
Love it, just the inspiration I'm after!
If you can do it on that, there's no reason it's 30 year younger cousin shouldn't be able to cope with the task.
I do plan to make a few mods to accommodate (cush drive rear hub, screen/headlight/nav-tower-style thing (becuase Dakar)) but it's only 18mi of country roads to work.
The planned ride to Mugello in June could be a different story but nothing ventured nothing gained
If you can do it on that, there's no reason it's 30 year younger cousin shouldn't be able to cope with the task.
I do plan to make a few mods to accommodate (cush drive rear hub, screen/headlight/nav-tower-style thing (becuase Dakar)) but it's only 18mi of country roads to work.
The planned ride to Mugello in June could be a different story but nothing ventured nothing gained
Ducati 996
Used it for in excess of ten years as my joint commuting / euro touring / trackday tool ....
Bought with 1200 miles on it, retired to the garage with in excess of 50,000 miles on it, only broke down once, that was at 44,000 miles when the reg/rec finally died, sods law i was in the middle of France at the time !!!
The invoice folder makes for eye watering reading though ... lol .... but wouldn't change the experience for anything, I still have the old girl in storage
Used it for in excess of ten years as my joint commuting / euro touring / trackday tool ....
Bought with 1200 miles on it, retired to the garage with in excess of 50,000 miles on it, only broke down once, that was at 44,000 miles when the reg/rec finally died, sods law i was in the middle of France at the time !!!
The invoice folder makes for eye watering reading though ... lol .... but wouldn't change the experience for anything, I still have the old girl in storage
MotorsportTom said:
I had a CRM 250 (1989 reg no less) that I put into commuting duty and even did a 130 mile each way trip to visit friends on.
The seat was uncomfortable after about 50 minutes, it drank like a fish, the headlight was useless and it remains the reason I won't complain about any other bike headlight produced in the last 20 years.
The headlight used to light up a small portion of the road just in front of the front wheel and most of the front mudguard. High beam just made the mudguard and the selected bit of road brighter
Doable but not the best tool for the job. Even took it away for a weekend camping/green laning with panniers etc lashed to it. One of the pics below of an overnight trip with a rucksack and my sleeping bag
Even the best headlights don't work through bags The seat was uncomfortable after about 50 minutes, it drank like a fish, the headlight was useless and it remains the reason I won't complain about any other bike headlight produced in the last 20 years.
The headlight used to light up a small portion of the road just in front of the front wheel and most of the front mudguard. High beam just made the mudguard and the selected bit of road brighter
Doable but not the best tool for the job. Even took it away for a weekend camping/green laning with panniers etc lashed to it. One of the pics below of an overnight trip with a rucksack and my sleeping bag
Cush drive rear would be lovely I'm sure and I'm a big fan of Dakar looking bikes.
Should have said my commute was 14 miles of NSL single carriage way A-roads on the CRM.
I also rode my CG125 through France, Belgium, Germany, Switzerland, Liechenstein, Austria and back through Germany, France to home. Mugello on a 500 should be a doddle
ETA -
Should have said my commute was 14 miles of NSL single carriage way A-roads on the CRM.
I also rode my CG125 through France, Belgium, Germany, Switzerland, Liechenstein, Austria and back through Germany, France to home. Mugello on a 500 should be a doddle
ETA -
An old 70's AJS Stormer, 370cc 2 stroke. Bought it for some off road hoons, have to ride about 20 miles on the road to get to the green lanes / enduro course. With off road gearing and big knobblies it really is a s
t road bike. I've put the smallest ring on the back I could, still has a top speed of about 50mph cruising, if you ring it's neck it'll do 70 though. It has a silencer but could still wake the dead. Oh and it's a total pig to kick over and get started, the lights are dismal due to having no battery just direct lighting, the flywheel keeps working itself loose which also has the stator in so all power gets cut including that to the ignition. Every nut and bolt on the bike shakes itself loose despite judicious use of Loctite and nyloc nuts. I lost the brake light and number plate holder last time I was spanking it about off road and to get a ziptie from a dog walker to re-attach the thing.
Plus points are wheelies in 1st and 2nd without trying, it weighs about 100kg and has a hilarious power band. Oh and no tax or MOT needed, insurance is buttons.
I have to set aside a whole afternoon free every time I go out on it as it breaks down so much. I should have just bought a KTM 250 and enjoyed myself...
It does put a smile on my face though. Even if it's a total pile of st. Will do a few commutes on it for a laugh soon I think.
t road bike. I've put the smallest ring on the back I could, still has a top speed of about 50mph cruising, if you ring it's neck it'll do 70 though. It has a silencer but could still wake the dead. Oh and it's a total pig to kick over and get started, the lights are dismal due to having no battery just direct lighting, the flywheel keeps working itself loose which also has the stator in so all power gets cut including that to the ignition. Every nut and bolt on the bike shakes itself loose despite judicious use of Loctite and nyloc nuts. I lost the brake light and number plate holder last time I was spanking it about off road and to get a ziptie from a dog walker to re-attach the thing.Plus points are wheelies in 1st and 2nd without trying, it weighs about 100kg and has a hilarious power band. Oh and no tax or MOT needed, insurance is buttons.
I have to set aside a whole afternoon free every time I go out on it as it breaks down so much. I should have just bought a KTM 250 and enjoyed myself...
It does put a smile on my face though. Even if it's a total pile of s
t. Will do a few commutes on it for a laugh soon I think.Edited by Cardinal Hips on Saturday 19th January 10:51
Get used to changing tyres a lot! You won’t want to ride it on the road much with proper knobblies on it, I had to ride my WR250 30 miles on damp roads the other week, I could get it to spin up in 5th gear quite easily and that’s only got 30bhp!
Equally you probably don’t want to do any more serious off road with dual sport tyres on it.
Equally you probably don’t want to do any more serious off road with dual sport tyres on it.
patchb said:
Get used to changing tyres a lot! You won’t want to ride it on the road much with proper knobblies on it, I had to ride my WR250 30 miles on damp roads the other week, I could get it to spin up in 5th gear quite easily and that’s only got 30bhp!
Equally you probably don’t want to do any more serious off road with dual sport tyres on it.
The plan is to have a road-biased adventure tyre for general use and a bit of green-laning and then just stick MX/enduro tyres on for proper off-road enduros.Equally you probably don’t want to do any more serious off road with dual sport tyres on it.
Eventually two sets of wheels would be ideal but I'll see how annoying the tyre swap gets for 3-4 enduros a year.
Probably not too extreme but I used to commute every day on a Kawasaki KR1s. I ran the ol girl on top grade 2-stroke oil and I used to average somewhere around mid 20's mpg. I used to fill up between daily and 2nd day.
One thing is for sure, I certainly felt awake by the time I arrived at work.
Edit - One more practical point... I never had a single thing go wrong with her, other than her drinking issues
One thing is for sure, I certainly felt awake by the time I arrived at work.
Edit - One more practical point... I never had a single thing go wrong with her, other than her drinking issues
There is an enduro bike theme. My KTM 350EXC. It’s been reliable enough but does need plenty of fettling. It gets very uncomfortable at speed on the road. The bars make filtering iffy. It’s noisey and vibrates loads. And the off road biased tyres are lethal on the road. I had my first ‘off’ on tarmac since 1997 a couple at weeks back when the front just washed out. It’s too tall for my 5 foot 10 frame. And it wants oil and filter every 15 hours.
It’s wonderful on the green lanes though.
It’s wonderful on the green lanes though.
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