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What are you riding?

Oaktech

By Oaktech
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Oaktech

Oaktech

Posted
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Posted
Well, Looks like i killed off this thread :rofl:

 

I'm working on it... I need to end a month with a spare £200 to Tax, Test and Insure my 'new' '74 Honda Cb550/4!

Vaardu

Vaardu

Posted
Posted

Honda S-Wing 125, but I've not ridden it in months. Being on L-plates is kind of a bummer, and embarrassed myself so many times by dropping the bike and being terrible at negotiating roundabouts. It's no wonder I've not done my test (I cannot handle a manual as well as I thought) and attempting to do anything involving handling my scooter as it's impossible to push the bike around on a flat road. It's a heavy 125. Makes me wonder if I do go manual, I end up with an MSX 125 because even if it looks small, I should be able to handle that a little better.

 

I've been riding 3 years, and not long after one year of riding I've been subject to abuse by other drivers on the road.

Joanne

Joanne

Posted
Posted
That sucks. I'm really lucky, because people here seem to be patient because I've got L plates taped all over me!! I've only been riding for 4 months and barely done 300 miles, so only had 1 embarrassing moment where I almost dropped my bike when I went to peek around a bus and there was a car coming and I panicked and slammed on the brakes.... I had a fumble, but didn't drop it (phew)!
crc-ict

crc-ict

Posted
Posted

I briefly restarted my riding career a couple of weekends back when I bought a Piaggio Xevo 400 maxi scooter.

 

Had a bad start when it stranded me at a petrol station half-way home from picking it up when the immobiliser antenna decided to die leaving me with a bike that wouldn't start :rant:

 

Got that fixed then last weekend, my first proper ride out with it, locked up the back end under braking (it was wet, might have been diesel/oil down??) and came off the thing. Smashed up the front fairing and leg shield pretty good - £500 in parts alone - not to say anything about my right-side, especially my ankle :mad:

 

So that's it, I'm off bikes again. Didn't enjoy my first experience of crashing, and have no desire to repeat it even if I did have the £500 for the parts to fix the damn thing anyway.

DJ-1701

DJ-1701

Posted
Posted
I briefly restarted my riding career a couple of weekends back when I bought a Piaggio Xevo 400 maxi scooter.

 

Had a bad start when it stranded me at a petrol station half-way home from picking it up when the immobiliser antenna decided to die leaving me with a bike that wouldn't start :rant:

 

Got that fixed then last weekend, my first proper ride out with it, locked up the back end under braking (it was wet, might have been diesel/oil down??) and came off the thing. Smashed up the front fairing and leg shield pretty good - £500 in parts alone - not to say anything about my right-side, especially my ankle :mad:

 

So that's it, I'm off bikes again. Didn't enjoy my first experience of crashing, and have no desire to repeat it even if I did have the £500 for the parts to fix the damn thing anyway.

 

Ouch... how is your leg now? :( Hope you're ok, also hope you manage to recoup some costs from your purchase at least.

 

Sounds like you might be joining my little hobby [horse] club...

 

It's not the fastest, but mine can take me anywhere my imagination fancies...

 

[ATTACH=CONFIG]44420[/ATTACH]

Clevertouch_Rob

Clevertouch_Rob

Posted
Posted
I briefly restarted my riding career a couple of weekends back when I bought a Piaggio Xevo 400 maxi scooter.

 

Had a bad start when it stranded me at a petrol station half-way home from picking it up when the immobiliser antenna decided to die leaving me with a bike that wouldn't start :rant:

 

Got that fixed then last weekend, my first proper ride out with it, locked up the back end under braking (it was wet, might have been diesel/oil down??) and came off the thing. Smashed up the front fairing and leg shield pretty good - £500 in parts alone - not to say anything about my right-side, especially my ankle :mad:

 

So that's it, I'm off bikes again. Didn't enjoy my first experience of crashing, and have no desire to repeat it even if I did have the £500 for the parts to fix the damn thing anyway.

 

 

Thats the problem, with bikes - if you don't get straight back up and get riding again it becomes a barrier.

 

I dropped an MT-07 when a car in front of me stalled and i panicked as a novice rider, was stuck like a turtle with the bike on top of me. I had no choice to get back up and ride 30 odd miles back home - worst ride ever mentally but by the time i got back i had built up my confidence again to ride.

 

I've had a few little moments on my HD where I've dropped a gear too quick and locked the rear wheel but most of the time, I've come closest to dropping it when i'm pushing it around.

APMerry

APMerry

Posted
Posted
I've been lucky, riding every day to work for 4 years and not had an accident, had a few very close calls and twitchy bum hole moments though! I can imagine it's quite hard to get back on the bike if you've come off.
localzuk

localzuk

Posted
Posted

Passed 900 miles on my GT125R yesterday. Going OK now that the major issues have been worked out. A few minor bugs with the bike still but nothing show stopping. Confidence was hit a bit with my off in November, but I'm building it back up.

 

Only issue now is that its bloomin freezing!

  • Thanks 1
Oaktech

Oaktech

Posted
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I've been lucky, riding every day to work for 4 years and not had an accident, had a few very close calls and twitchy bum hole moments though! I can imagine it's quite hard to get back on the bike if you've come off.

 

I've been riding since 1997 - pretty much every day until 2010. I've had a bit of a break from the everyday riding since I got married, as I take my wife to work a lot now and I have to carry a lot of crap for work, but I still ride a few days a month.

 

I've had my fair share of offs.

 

Ran into the back of a car within a couple of months of passing my test - came round a corner and it was stationary in the middle of the road and I had nowhere to go - the only accident that was entirely my fault.

 

Came off on a diesel spill on a country lane and went ass first through a hedge at 50. I didn't think I'd done anything, but adrenaline is a wonderful thing and I later discovered 2 broken ribs.

 

Someone pulled out right in front of me on a roundabout and I anchored up, dropped the bike and slid into the side of her car - again, adrenaline, didn't realise till later that I broke 3 fingers on that one.

 

Someone ran into the back of me at a junction and shunted me forward into the back of another car and I broke my nose because I had my visor open and I headbutted the top edge of the windscreen - we had the police to that as the bloody nosed angry biker in the middle of the car sandwich wasn't going to pipe down. Both car drivers decided to try and *somehow* concoct something about me cutting in the line to make it my fault. Ended up with 0 liability on my part.

 

I someone pulled out right into the side of me from a minor road and I ripped the front of their car with my left boot. I was going to just let them get away with paying for my bike repairs and gear through their insurance but then they changed their story and tried to blame me for speeding, overtaking another vehicle and 'appearing out of nowhere' . I wasn't having any of that so I got the police involved as the junction is notorious and has a camera on it. The police evidence shut them up and I ended up getting a full pay out for my bike, a full payout for my gear, loss of earnings and a personal injury claim. It took 2 years of wrangling for that one to go through - I still have a lumpy calf muscle from that.

 

Just get back on it... Always, just get back on it.

Oaktech

Oaktech

Posted
  • Author
Posted

 

 

They also don't work very well, I've had some... These look like crap, but they work... https://www.amazon.co.uk/Oxford-Handlebar-Muffs/dp/B007BKXVIU

APMerry

APMerry

Posted
Posted
I've been riding since 1997 - pretty much every day until 2010. I've had a bit of a break from the everyday riding since I got married, as I take my wife to work a lot now and I have to carry a lot of crap for work, but I still ride a few days a month.

 

I've had my fair share of offs.

 

Ran into the back of a car within a couple of months of passing my test - came round a corner and it was stationary in the middle of the road and I had nowhere to go - the only accident that was entirely my fault.

 

Came off on a diesel spill on a country lane and went ass first through a hedge at 50. I didn't think I'd done anything, but adrenaline is a wonderful thing and I later discovered 2 broken ribs.

 

Someone pulled out right in front of me on a roundabout and I anchored up, dropped the bike and slid into the side of her car - again, adrenaline, didn't realise till later that I broke 3 fingers on that one.

 

Someone ran into the back of me at a junction and shunted me forward into the back of another car and I broke my nose because I had my visor open and I headbutted the top edge of the windscreen - we had the police to that as the bloody nosed angry biker in the middle of the car sandwich wasn't going to pipe down. Both car drivers decided to try and *somehow* concoct something about me cutting in the line to make it my fault. Ended up with 0 liability on my part.

 

I someone pulled out right into the side of me from a minor road and I ripped the front of their car with my left boot. I was going to just let them get away with paying for my bike repairs and gear through their insurance but then they changed their story and tried to blame me for speeding, overtaking another vehicle and 'appearing out of nowhere' . I wasn't having any of that so I got the police involved as the junction is notorious and has a camera on it. The police evidence shut them up and I ended up getting a full pay out for my bike, a full payout for my gear, loss of earnings and a personal injury claim. It took 2 years of wrangling for that one to go through - I still have a lumpy calf muscle from that.

 

Just get back on it... Always, just get back on it.

 

Damn.... are you bionic at this point?

Oaktech

Oaktech

Posted
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Damn.... are you bionic at this point?

 

Bionic, nope - But I do have stiff fingers, sore hips when it's cold, a lumpy calf muscle and a scar across the bridge of my nose...

crc-ict

crc-ict

Posted
Posted
Just get back on it... Always, just get back on it.

 

I got straight back on and rode the thing home after the off. It's not an outright fear of riding that has made me decide to call it a day again - it's more of a mental thing.

 

I decided to quit 'big bikes' last May and sold my Deauville - this was just after buying a house and the weight of responsibility on my shoulders led me to think that keeping it and keeping on riding wasn't a sensible idea. I kept my 125 scooter to use for local errands etc and not for 'fun' - using it more like a big, lazy man's pushbike really. I'd had a bit of a hard time getting to love the Deauville anyway and while I enjoyed it whilst I was riding, it was always an effort to summon the motivation to go out. I then bought an MGF with some of the money from the Deauville and had fun with that over the summer.

 

As autumn came along, the weather was a bit cold for the MGF and I found myself getting into the scooter. Although they were sporadic I started to really enjoy my scooter trips - more than I had enjoyed the Deauville. This then developed in my mind until I saw the maxi scooter advertised in mid-January and convinced myself that a big scooter was maybe the way to go, and was a way to get back into riding for pleasure but addressing the bits of the Deauville that I didn't like so much (weight, high CoG, gears etc).

 

Now, having had the off with the scooter, it has brought right back into the forefront of my mind the thoughts and the reasoning for why I decided to give up bikes in the first place. And unfortunately nothing has changed in that - it still seems like a really irresponsible thing to do with a family depending on me. Seeing the family's response to the accident has also left me feeling it's not fair to put them through the worry of me continuing to ride just for fun.

 

And the thing that cements the decision for me most of all: I tried to visualise how I would feel if the accident had been worse, if I had been seriously injured could I have sat in the hospital bed, put my hand on my heart and said that riding was worth it, and that I didn't regret going out that day? The answer to that question for me was no, without hesitation. With that knowledge in mind, I don't think I can ever ride a bike just as a pastime again.

 

There will be times that I will miss it, that's for certain. But deep down, I know that if the worst happened, I would miss my life with my family much more, and the rewards of riding aren't, for me, sufficient to put that at risk unnecessarily.

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Oddbod

Oddbod

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Posted

Currently servicing and upgrading my Honda Deauville with all the bits I bought for her over the last few years…

 

My triumph tiger leapt through its MOT in early January…

 

Um… first ride out on me dad's Yamaha vmax will be a giggle :D

  • 2 months later...
Joanne

Joanne

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Posted

Gonna try and hammer mine this week. Came in the car today because I needed shopping, but will be taking long routes to and from work the next few days to try and get that battery charged!

 

It passed its MOT the other week with a couple of advisories, so might look into sorting those niggles out. Fork seal and some welding for a bracket on the exhaust.

foofighterjim

foofighterjim

Posted
Posted
Managed to score a new cowling for my SV FOC last week. An apprentice at the garage backed the works van into my bike and cracked it by the headlight (all checked over and just cosmetic damage). The cost of a new part was more than the cost of my Service and MOT so a net gain on that one! Not to mention that the old cowling was all scratched from my one and only off some 10 years ago.

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