bonio

Ooof. Never seen one like that. You're hardly allowed to do anything.

Blimey [mention]Neil M[/mention], you must be made of rubber, mate. Just to sit on that bike would break my neck in two. I remember reading up on the V85 last year. I liked the idea of a Guzzi, but decided to avoid a model that was so completely new. But now a year on, may be worth another look. I took the MT09 out soon after getting rid of the GS. I'd done 50k miles on that bike; you form quite a bond over that time, and the MT just reminded me how good the GS was I tried the AT out last year. I really wanted to like it, but somehow it didn't do much for me. Same with the VStrom. Perhaps it's a thing between me and parallel twins?

Wowzer. That's some good work you're doing there.

Just read this. https://www.bennetts.co.uk/bikesocial/reviews/bikes/mv-agusta/mv-agusta-turismo-veloce-800-lusso-2018-review. Now I know that I need one.

To be honest, I dunno whether to replace the the Tiger or not. The DRZ is a true smile-maker, especially on the local lanes. It's just crap at long journeys: it's not much fun balancing your bum on something akin to a vibrating school ruler for hours on end, even if you do have to stop every 70 miles to refill the tank. I got the Tiger to making commuting to Cambridge easier, but now post-covid, I can't see I'll be commuting very much any more. So I don't need to replace it, but if I were to get something to tour on ... what? Requirements: it's for longer journeys, so: cruise control, good screen, not too revvy or vibey at 70 and oomph enough for easy overtakes. Reasonably upright riding position, cos of a dicky neck. Not enormous, cos I'm small and puny. Budget: £ don't care too much. So here are the ones I'm thinking of: Multistrada 950S. I've never ridden anything sweeter than this. Some secondhand ones starting to come on the market now. So why not get one? The cost of the desmo service. The short warranty period (2 years on models sold before this year) and the possibility of repairs being very experience. To cap it all, [mention]Snod Blatter[/mention] sent me a blog post of some poor soul's painful experience of ownership. F850GS. When I gave this bike a test ride, I liked it a lot, but it was over too quickly to know whether it was *the* bike. This probably means it isn't *the* bike, mind: *the* bike always announces itself in the first 5 minutes of the ride. Ninja 1000SX. Not ridden this bike, but I've had a couple of goes on the Z1000SX, and really liked it. Never took it further because of no cruise control, but this new version fixes that. The real attraction is riding something very different. But I need to take one out for a few hours to know if my neck can take it. Also, it's too new for secondhand models to be available. R1200GS. Like a dog to its vomit. It's too big, the gear box is made of discarded tractor parts, and BMW customer service can be a sad experience. But the bike rides very, very sweetly, and, unlike the Duke, you can buy extended warranties to help soothe the pain of an expensive repair bill. I don't expect any of you to tell me which one I will like the most. But any thoughts or experience of reliability would be very helpful.

3 bottles on each payout. Not even enough for a good night out.

I've said I'd like to reject their offer. They're going to come up with a better figure. I hate systems like this; why have a process that rewards obstinate ar*eholes like me, and takes advantage of the nice people?

In case you're interested, it's a Triumph Tiger XRx Low 2019 with 3900 miles.

The underwriter has got back to me with a valuation of £7800. Similar bikes with similar miles on MCN are for sale between £8200 and £10200, although with panniers (my panniers were at home when the bike was nicked). Mine had an aftermarket Nitron rear shock, scottoiler xsystem and engine bars - all add to the bike's value, and all declared as extras on the insurance. Any advice on getting a higher valuation?

I kicked the cone on my mod 1. I was gutted - never come near it during practice. But the second time was a lot less stressful as I knew what to expect. That's the spirit

Like you say, the test is just 45 minutes. The knowledge you're on the test will keep you focussed for that length of time.

One idea is to talk yourself through what you're seeing and what you're about to do, something like "turning into side road. narrow with oncoming traffic. gap ahead on left, looks quite small." It helps you stay focussed on what you're seeing and on the plan you're coming up with to deal with it. tbh it takes a bit a practice, so i'd say it's not something to start when you're on your test. But it might be useful afterwards. I find it useful if my brain is a bit is fuzzy or my mind's elsewhere.

[mention]rennie[/mention] Watizzit???

Here you can be inches deep in mud, shite, gravel or sand around almost any bend. I've had to adapt my riding to match the conditions. Except if I'm on the DRZ, which just laps it all up like a puppy.

Not worth starting it up unless it's going to be out on the road for a good run. I leave mine summer bikes for months at a time and never start them up. If it's going to be left for more than a few weeks, I make sure the battery's on a trickle charger.

Which half?

I hadn't planned to write this this review right now: I had the bike for just a year and a day, and rode a tad under 4000 miles, so I was only just getting to know it when the end came. But anyway, here’s my review, or obituary or whatever, It’s a 2019 Triumph Tiger 800 XRx Low. This is the middle-market road-focussed model. It has alloy wheels in sensible sizes, and a package of extras – ABS, heated grips, TFT screen, riding modes (dunno why - it stayed on “sport” mode all the time) and cruise control – all as standard. It was the cruise control that sealed the deal for me. I love it. I use it all the time: at 30, 40, 50, whatever. It's an old person thing: great to be able to let go and stretch while you’re still moving. To this I added a Scottoiler x-System (which delivered 4000 miles of maintenance free riding), some crash bars, a mount for the sat nav and I had the suspension upgraded. Triumph threw in a set of smart ally panniers as part of the deal. Put in the key, start it up, and it responds with a cough and a guttural tone that always pleased me. Yes, I am that shallow. Put it in gear and set off, and the engine, the gear box and the light clutch combine in a magical trinity: the 3-cylinder engine revs to screaming point, delivering smooth, clean power, and when you come to change gear it is fluid: crisp yet unpronounced. Coming from the R1200GS, this was a thing of incomprehensible beauty. But not perfect; once stopped, it’s hard to persuade the thing to change gear: stop in 2nd? move off in 2nd. Stop in neutral? You'll be fiddling with the gear shifter after the lights have turned green. The brakes are good. Nice progressive action with good feedback; no complaints there. And the overall handling? Here things start to look a bit less rosy. I test rode the standard height bike and bought the factory-lowered version. Bad mistake. The low is very low, and the first thing you have to do is unscrew the hero blobs from the base of the footrests, just to get the bike to lean half over. This done, the bike is fine for Sunday afternoon pootling, but push it a bit round the corners and it acts like a puppy having a moment: all jumpy and unpredictable. Steering is imprecise, and even going along straight, the front wheel is restless, edging from side to side, trying to find a bit of road It’s comfortable with. So I took it to Darren the Suspension Guy at MCT in Stowmarket. He fitted a Nitron rear shock and resprung the forks, raising the bike just tad at the same time. Different Bike. A Completely Different Bike. It now wants to be ridden. It likes the corners. It knows how to settle its tyres into the tarmac and keep them solidly there. It still scrapes the footrests too easily, and it’s too sensitive about tyre pressures, but it is nonetheless Totally Transformed. What about comfort? The screen is adjustable and pure shite: noisy and buffeting. I added some spacers to push the bottom out from the bike, making the air to flow over it more smoothly, and this improved it to the point of being mediocre, but it's still too noisy for whole days on the bike. People complain that the seat is hard, but it always seemed fine to my senseless backside. The position is neutral, and wide bars make for effortless manoeuvering. The panniers look awesome. They are top loading (which means the stuff all stays in when you open them up) and can be locked to the frame. They’re big too; you can just continue to stuff more things and they don’t seem to be any fuller than before. But they are wiiiiiide! Like as wide as two GSs. Placed end to end. When they’re on the bike and I’m in traffic, I keep repeating, like a mantra, “the panniers are wide, the panniers are wide” under my breath for fear of taking someone’s bumper off. And I’m often left looking enviously at the sports bikes filtering through impossibly narrow gaps, while I’m waiting with all the cars and trucks. So I bought a tail bag and stopped using the panniers. Final gripe: the side stand. There’s no centre stand on the lowered XRx, so you rely on the side stand for everything. But it’s not completely reliable: I hadn’t had the bike long before I stopped on a slight incline on rough ground, got off, and before I knew it, the bike had shifted forward, the stand folded up and the bike was on the floor. No damage, thanks to those crash bars, and it was easy enough to pick up, thanks to not being a GS. But since then I’ve put the bike in 1st gear more often when stopping. If I look back, I got the bike because I wanted something with cruise control, and there was nothing around at a similar price that had a comparable set of equipment. Was I happy with it? Yes, I had no plans to change it. Would I buy it again? Well, no I wouldn't. Why? Not really sure; I guess – even after the suspension was done – it didn’t quite have the spark I was looking for.

Good stuff! I have two fitting kits here which are no use to me, you're welcome to try them and see if they fit yours, if so you would be welcome to them. yes please. Happy to try them

[mention]goat[/mention] Mate. I'll have it.

Cheers guys. Makes me feel better It was the Travelodge at Thurrock West. With hindsight, not a good choice. The car park was well lit. But it never dawned on me that I was in London. No reviews of stolen motorcycles there, although one person says they had 12k worth of tool half inched by a man with a van.

Ta! The cctv covers the parked cars, but it doesn't reach the the m/c bays. But even if it did, the police aren't really interested. Can't blame them really, they've got more important things on their plates than trying to find posh gits' bikes.

Tablehurst Farm Shop Green Man, Eversholt Woolpack, Fornham St Martin

I stopped at a Travelodge on the way back from Devon. Parked the bike in the special m/c bays here: At least, this is what the bays looked like in the morning. Reported it stolen and came home by train.

The Tiger bites back.