RideWithStyles

So probably the nearest competitor will be a triumph street or speed triple, which are better set up and have more scope, imho. the reason being for a higher cost will be because the shock is not rebuildable (well not economically) so a new unit will needed to be sourced, then set up for your specific requirements. Forks will most likely just need a spring and shim stack change (if rebuild able) if not then a new valve set up to spec, new oil and to level spec. so it might sound like a lot but id look at it this way, it will be so much better, safer, more cost effective over time. I don’t get it when people spend £****on an exhaust when it doesn’t do hardly anything better for less of the time, yet whine about suspension which is basic requirement yet fundamentally a extremely important job of keeping you going where you want.

Yes you can use and heard them with ear plugs. not particularly as intended but will do abit, as its a layer filled in that would otherwise have the soft foam insert, that what ear plugs are for.

I’ve tried waxes and creams over the years with various results or dislikes. Best stuff I’ve found is nikwax leather restorer, its waterbased and it comes in a spray, little goes a long way, lasts very well, doesn’t smell weird, doesnt have a strange tacky or oily feel, Not bad for price either. Great on Suits, gloves, boots, chairs, bags….Widely available from sports bike shop, walkers/camping shops and biro places.

Hi. Short answer is no, intention is unwise and not much point. Just get a bigger big when licence allows.

Hi Joe been hibernating? You’ve Not posted for ages.

I love to wonder….how fooked up (and how long for) is that vehicle anybody owns? Thinking of old vehicles that didn’t end on your turn, what happened to them afterwards? What wonders was left in store for them? https://www.gov.uk/check-mot-history my last previous bike: BENELLI LEONCINO 500 Date registered March 2019 MOT expired on March 2025 17 February 2024 PASS Mileage 12,734 miles Monitor and repair if necessary (advisories): Front Brake lever is short but brake can still be readily applied (1.1.2 (d Date tested March 2023 PASS Mileage 11,502 miles Repair as soon as possible (minor defects): Front All direction indicators flashing more than 120 times a minute (4.4.4 (a)) Rear All direction indicators flashing more than 120 times a minute (4.4.4 (a) Date tested March 2023 FAIL Mileage 11,502 miles Do not drive until repaired (dangerous defects): Nearside Drive chain so worn it is likely to fail (6.1.7 (c) (ii)) Front Drive chain sprocket so worn it is likely to fail (6.1.7 (c) (ii)) Repair as soon as possible (minor defects): Front All direction indicators flashing more than 120 times a minute (4.4.4 (a)) Rear All direction indicators flashing more than 120 times a minute (4.4.4 (a) Date tested February 2022 PASS Mileage 7,424 miles so mine was the first mot and I sold it in Oct 2022 before the next mot , to be straight it wasnt sub 10k mile bike when I sold it as the clocks were changed before hand and I managed to rack up some more miles so it lined up. Oh and the mot is out of date and not been up dated so either it’s spontaneously combusted by the loom, rusted to death, needing parts from china they can’t get hold because they stopped selling them before they stopped making them, too expensive to sort or been scam nicked. Oh yeah before someone says it could have been crashed due to the chain/sprocket's but thats no fun. Oh Don’t show LC, he’ll cry over his embassy (lol westy) work robe, needing a dry clean and suck on a chopstick or two. anyway want to share what interesting things happen to yours?

Ahhhh

Agreed. i had them on two cars, including all seasons on others- Bloodly brilliant for our climate! yes they have a slight difference in summer but if you don’t ride like a complet tw@t when its 20-25*c + they do the job - just pay a little attention to the pressures to temp and they’ll last longer so it’s all good. the way I see it - it’s far easier to crash trying to keep it on line in winter than in baking hot tarmac. nothing more more funny than a nobber in a 4x4 with summer tyres struggling to not ditch it when I’m in a what they would call a shite box, over taking them at least 40mph faster on a back road and make them look ridiculous, the games I used to do in the old panda, Oh great days!

Dead Or Alive? Id like to see you ride it when you’re dead, Maybe even the Irish police might attempt at arresting you?

Oh so masked in many layers, Maybe, maybe not . what day is it?

Yes bet it was, It can only get better after those!

Knobbies would be great at the beach and deep plugging stuff but the harder packed parts will chamfer the edges off the knobbies prematurely affecting the purpose of them to work properly. unless you let them down some for the hard pack but then they will handle terribly. id go with what we’ve been saying, mostly road with a “light going” loose stuff, so road 80-20dirt. no this ain’t aimed at you but just saying out….tyres are very important but they can’t necessarily get you out of the shit if you screw up (poor technic), advise off road training… reason I say because like with trackdays, you don’t need nor use the stickiest things going if your riding slowly or poorly. this might be a shock but if you like those tyres why not just get them again? Just instead of oem spec get their aftermarket ones? They will be way better.

I did think of that before at first but I remembered something about it and their own details confirmed: 20ish hp, max speed is 70mph, achieved in forth gear…. So fifth is an over gear as in normal Indian likes and so inputted into their design. Realistic your 50 cruise and pushing it to 60 let alone 70 so this fails for required stats of the OP.

Oh do I say it?…. If it’s a Chinese bike, then yes it’s possible. it shouldn’t be doing this early but hey Ho its just what it is. first check the brakes, most likely the pad hole is just kinked on the pin or sat poorly not resetting properly. first clean the pads, pistons, pins, springs and mating contact surfaces. Ensure the backing plate is of if required, add some grease on the back of the pads if needed. Just a possibility- how ever long it’s been since you got it, this might be the duration of having to repeat this cleaning and service of this part from now on…add in if your using it in winter or rainy days will make it more frequent.

Michelin are great tyres and i don’t mind there tyres, have a softer feeling to them but you might find the front wearing before the rear and it will definitely be a change a set each time rather than a two rear to one front scenario. Mutants are quite road bias but they have the 4season certificate for mud and snow! so its essentially and all seasons tyre for bikes. They are available in all sorts of sizes and bikes. its one I’m interested in myself as I think things will change where I might have to use the bike daily. another tyre available are anlas, these probably are touch more off road and winter weather capable but still a road tyre. Designed and made in turkey off memory. They do small bikes and larger shell sizes for it, just double check they have your size. good grooves for water displacement and thick mud/stones but these de bend on an extra feature of snipes (the tiny zigzags) their real benefit is for snow and mud (also heat control) as it pack in and clings other material to give it purchase and grip. unfortunately they probably ain’t much cheaper than the others given the name but they have been round a long time with proper R&D, testing facilities and factory.

Well cardo are waterproof ones were as sena is a low level water resistant . Oh and the mesh is primarily just universal software piggyback connection system with auto connect which is beneficial if you have aload of friends that are more than 750ft away out of eye sight and that might not have the same make of unit but have mesh. As that war has been agreed as sena were arsey about universal connection for years. Technically the security of the connection is better but I don’t think you’ll need to worry about that when your not even feet away from your partner, plus your traveling a speed and im sure your not going to be talking about sensitive issues unless your wife want to do the hurl obsence words so the cashier and others around you hear while your paying for fuel trick, it never gets old. Normal units you have to connect/pair them first each time unless its a duo pack then they should be straight away, till you have to replace a unit then repairing will be required of course that is assuming cardo havnt done a memory auto pair feature? even cheap units on markets do a good job of auto connect if you go out of range for moments and they don’t have mesh. Connection and distance is still blue tooth dependant but it’s been worked over for a better system.

The really big burgmans (800?)do weigh a bit but it’s a flagship with big engine, good cvt and loaded luxury, so look a the smaller ones and below 200kg is easy. Weight of forza 350 was about 180, a bit more than a 125 manual but way less than my previous 500cc manual A2.

You lucky barsteward!

Looked at them before, Great bike in general though a few things put me off. Agree the seat is a below than expected. Not great welds and little things stood out that once seen I couldn't un see them again. the other thing was it weighs more than I thought it should of done as it quoted at 217kg kerb, would that be a problem?

So they can stuff all there shite into the baggage compartment above and leave you with nothing. Ohhhh wait till you find someone in your seat, because they suddenly want a window or aisle seat… enjoys and good luck!

As bud says Cb350 wouldn’t be a bad shout? If left field -what about around 350cc modern scooter?

I have no f+++ing idea what you’re on about, I’m not soaping anything and very rude to say that sort of BS when you have no idea. I said as previously, have actually have been through it and explained the reason for the out come. facts I did state and said they will get there soon if you bothered, you still blindly ignore it as it leaves a stain on your view as you want to justify your purchase or you’ve got some personal interest to gain. If you don’t have problems with that bike throughout the years then great, as it should be. if you do then hope its quick, easy, has no repeat recurrence but don’t be surprised if it does and hear others say “told you so”.

So who’s that aimed at? if your aiming at me, Err no from actual experience of knowing a risk, owning one, getting a bit burnt through no fault of my own. I mostly enjoyed the bike but it came with far more woes than any other 15-20 year olds with many miles on and owners. talking to numerous dealer garage workers and independent mechanics that Don’t have an affiliation with that brand to get to the bottom and understanding the issues… yes there is a difference to multinational companies working together and another going their own way with either design and manufacturing of a components or a unit of a whole, could be cam, valves, turbos, mother boards, seats, switches or chassis, looms, software. When it’s that cheap and easy to just do it yourself without any over bearing overload above you to govern, it’s a long term game of gains, I get that, how or why they go about it and for what reason is always in question. Some get it right or just about gets it and some get it very wrong… doesn’t matter if it’s ford, Honda, ktm, Volvo, bmw/mini, Mercedes, smart, fiat or anyone else from the upcoming far east. so would you trust brembo to make brakes that is their main business and success with it for so long or an engine/gearbox to do its job if either came from a start up from somewhere you didnt know? most TVs and dvd components were sourced from Phillips, even giant like Sony and so forth, only when you bought a Bravia model did you get their own make/design of certain components. from my old bike I could tell which parts most likely came from where… as with sub brands, yes Brembo and byebre or Yokohama and Shinko tyres or merc and smart, but made to a different spec or place or the impression of quality. is it good or bad? Depends really, byebre, smart and shinko to name a few isn’t bad in general but many got burnt or wish to avoid. again depends on how low a parent firm wishes then to go. how many posts do we get asking for help on bikes? How much of a difference is it that it’s a far east bike over another from jap or else where? how common is these faults? A lot more. again I don’t have a whole downer about it and china but just saying again, I think they still have some way to go, it’s not a matter of if but when they get to the standard that main players have spent years getting to.

Just a thought: Sometimes going too soft (depending on what you’ve got and done) can give the impression of a harsher ride because it’s not dampening the force, sitting at the top of the stroke and patting the shite out of you. What tyres are on and pressure your running? That can make a high difference too.