RantMachine

Yep, that sounds like the A14 to me

There's a speed camera by those lights that people often fail to notice (opposite the turn off for the guided busway) - hopefully it caught the prat.

Why not stick with that horrible mask you wore all weekend last year?

We're gonna drop by for a bit.

We're aiming for 7pm I think.

We're heading over from Chatteris, if that's any good for you?

I like it! Which means it's hideous, becasue my bad taste in bikes is well documented.

I was considering one of those Spada lids, so I can look even more like I'm having a midlife crisis when I'm out on my GS

I love the old Goldwings, they remind me of a toy bike I had when I was a nipper so they have a special place in my heart. No contest for me.

We'll probably be along.

Practically on your doorstep

Accuweather is usually a bit more reliable than BBC weather... http://m.accuweather.com/en/gb/conington/cb23-4/hourly-weather-forecast/715463

I wondered if anyone would be crying about rain yet Just checked accuweather and apart from a brief spot at 6pm it's meant to be clear all evening, so we plan to be out. Certainly can't be wetter than the ride back from Somerset yesterday...

Well, I have to go to Girton anyway to drop off some birthday presents, so I'm still gonna set off for the White Swan in a few minutes. Will wait for a little while once I'm there but won't bother sticking around too long if it's raining and there's no sign of any of our lot show up. If you don't see me there, I've either given up and gone home already, or my bike has screwed up and killed me on the way over

And I'll say this, seeing as my disintegrating gear has been used as an argument against cheap helmets in another thread - a £200 or £300 helmet might outlast it several times over, but if you haven't got the 200+ to spare in the first place then at least the £50 ones exist and (in the case of the Spada, at least) can still do a good job of the important bit of protecting your brains. Investing in good gear saves money in the long run but does require one to have enough money for said gear in the first place

Oh, and my speedo is still dodgy as hell and I can't afford any parts, let alone one at a time until I find the problem. So stuck with using my GPS speedo, which nukes its battery particularly quickly in all this hot weather. f**k that and all. Oh, and I'm £1500 in debt on top of all the other stuff courtesy of housing deposit and repair bills. f**k that especially hard.

Don't know the model, but it's the dirt cheap one in the Spada range (~£50)

f**k it, for the following reasons: My left glove is falling apart (sewing it back together tonight). The rubber seal around the visor of my helmet fell out 10 months ago, one of the pins went missing around the same time making the wind whistle through the visor, and now the lining is starting to split at the bottom. The Richa boots I bought at Motorcycle Live stopped being waterproof after 5 months of ownership, and the left boot is now outright falling apart after 6 months (needle and thread and superglue time). The fastenings on my jacket and trousers have all but disintegrated (needle and thread, but need to buy fresh velcro first). I couldn't go to BMF to buy any new gear because the last repair bill ate up all the money I'd put aside. My bike has now cost me as much in repairs as I paid for it, and spent 1/3 of the time I've owned it (three months) at the garage. My old bike is in the garage (uninsured because I can't afford it) needing various work that I can't afford the parts to attempt. I'm mechanically incompetent and have an overwhelming phobia of doing more harm than good, because I commute on this bike and can't go without it. I still need new brake pads, and today something in the region of my rear suspension has started making a god awful squeaking/creaking noise when I get on or off the bike. I love riding my F650, but I swear to god it has broken me. I'm really getting quite close to packing it in and getting my bicycle out again.

Sorry to hear you've been bitten. Slum it with the old bike for now, and do your tests ASAP and get something bigger!! And don't expect parts availability to be any better if you go for a BMW Have you tried Llexeter for parts? They're reasonably good for chinese bike parts, and very quick to deliver. http://www.chinesemotorcyclepartsonline.co.uk/ I am trying SO HARD not to post quotes from old threads and say "I told you so".

I plan to be out this Tuesday, fingers crossed I've paid them to fix every single part of the bike now so it can't go back to the garage that soon... Much appreciated Steve! I'll probably take you up on that at some point - will be needing advice on how to undo the damage I do while trying to sort it Hope to catch you there, heard I missed you a few weeks back. It'd be cool to see the bike in the flesh at last - haven't seen it since the early days of the project!

The two shits on cruisers who overtook me on the road leaving a village today (I'm being a good little boy and sticking to the speed limit) only to go at 50 on the national speed limit stretch that followed immediately after! WHAT IS THE POINT YOU PILLOCKS I know it didn't slow me down at all, and flying past them was fun enough, but my god I hate people that overtake and then drop their speed. Scum of the earth.

Some more surprise nasties when my bike had its MOT on Wednesday left me so far out of pocket that it wasn't worth going

Mine is a 2000 model, so it's a single spark. Got it from a friend of our very own ActingStrange, for the very appealing price of £1000. It was in need of some work, so the final cost to me is nearer £1500 because I'm mechanically incompetent and had to pay a garage to do it up I'll start off with the engine. It's pretty straight to the point. Key goes in, turns, here's 90% of your torque now have fun. So much as look at the throttle, there's the last 10%. And that's pretty much what this thing is all about - even more torque and less horsepower than similar displacement cruisers like the Dragstar or the Shadow. Going uphill into strong wind taking a pillion and carrying 20kg of camping gear? I hadn't noticed. No, really - you just don't feel any difference. The engine pulls just as well when we're both on the bike with all of our crap as it does when I'm commuting in the morning. But, if you want horsepower by the bucketload, don't buy one of these! Seriously, how did you even get as far as reading this review? This is NOT the bike for you. But if you want a bike that can deliver anything up to the national speed limit irrespective of how much you pile on it or how much you throw at it, look no further. It'll carry on up to 80 without a fuss, but past that it starts getting rather reluctant and vibrates like a 125 hitting its redline. Also, rolling off the throttle slows the bike down almost as fast as slamming your foot onto the rear brake. Maybe that'll be why these bikes have a reputation for brutalising their chain. Oh, the lower gears are insanely short. Bit annoying at first, but you get used to it. Makes city riding a little bit frustrating at times. Handling of the bike was kind of surprising at first, mainly because of how low slung the weight of it is and how stable it feels for a relatively tall bike. The bike is insanely sure-footed, not one wobble when crawling along in traffic at a speed that would embarrass the average hedgehog, and ridiculously confidence inspiring on bad road surfaces. Standard dual-sport fare I guess. It loves to dive on its forks, so I've had to start being a little more mindful of sharp corners, and revise my braking habits (read: bother using the rear brake sometimes). Some notes on the general design of it: The dial for adjusting the preload is a really nice touch, especially as I'm constantly hopping between commuting on the A14 and long two-up rides on beaten up country lanes. The similar dial for adjusting the headlight angle is not so smart, if you have big hands like I do. Fitting my hand between the instruments and the bars hurts like hell Seat is insanely comfy for both rider and passenger, riding position great for long rides (and occasionally standing on the pegs to fart in your pillion's face), and all the reviewers who badged it as too vibey for prolonged motorway riding obviously need to try going at 60mph on a VanVan for a few hours to gain some perspective. Protection from the elements is a mixed bag; mine has an aftermarket screen, which directs any airflow right at my throat. Need to sort that. The stock screen is even smaller - I know that not everyone riding this bike will be 6'4", but I still can't imagine the stock screen achieves much. Oh, and believe me, this bike likes to get messy. Everything from your shoulders down to your knees will stay pretty dry, but from the knee down gets utterly soaked. If you have a pillion on a rainy day, make sure you fit the topbox or the water kicked up at the back end will try its best to drown them. Cleaning the bike is almost pointless, because it gets filthy quicker than Pig Pen in Peanuts. But really, a clean adventure bike is just doing it wrong Waffled on long enough, quick summary time: Good Points - Laughs in the face of bad road surfaces, hills, strong winds and additional weight - Unbelievably well behaved engine, handy if you don't want to piss of the neighbours when commuting at 7am every morning - Very comfy ride, irrespective of road surface - Spectacular fuel economy, more or less even with my old 125 - Incredibly stable - Some nice design features for altering the bike on the go, very handy for a bike that gets used for a bit of everything - Loads of engine braking, and stock brakes give more than adequate stopping power - Looks absolutely awesome, if you're into your adventure bikes - Pillion seat allegedly brings a certain Beach Boys song to mind - A2 legal Bad Points - Rather lacking in the ponies department - Unbelievably well behaved engine, frustrating if you want to make fun noises - Makes unholy noises when going at 30, no matter what gear you're in. Either sounds like it's insanely angry or drowning in mud. - Needs a bit more care when cornering than most - Possibly the last bike to look at if you're a speed demon - Experience with ordering parts from BMW themselves has thus far been diabolical - Sometimes my mind drifts to my DAS on a CBF600, which could probably go faster than the F650 without leaving 3rd In summary; Great "first big bike". AMAZING A2 bike. Nice complement to something a little more sporty if you want a second (or third, fourth, or tenth given some of our members) bike in the garage with more of a "go anywhere do anything" aesthetic. (I'm tired as hell so will probably realise tomorrow that some of this is crap and make some follow up posts in the future)

As mentioned last week, I had to drop my bike off for its MOT last night so I didn't have a bike to be on! Would've come on the old bike but it needs some work and I've promised myself that I'm gonna learn to do it myself, so it could be out of action for a while I should be out next week.

Needed some bits the other day, wanted to use the card but I've already lost the bloody thing somewhere in my bedroom Time to tidy, I think