Grace (BikeHedonia)

8 hours ago, Mawsley said:

The only thing in favour of them here is investment value unless you like spending riding time constantly fettling. That, powerbands and daft consumption figures are not my cup of tea at all. Reckon if I was pushed, I'd go for ones not on your list, the Suzuki X7 or the RD400E - but for no other reason than I fancied one or the other when I got into bikes and wanted anything other than my piece of crap CJ250T.

I reckon that you'd probably pick one up far cheaper that 2T exotica goes for here now, they command daft prices.

Why you wanting two stroke?

Because I love how they sound and smell and feel. I just love it. Makes my heart sing.

I also have a crazy plan. Add that to opportunity (which has now come knocking)... and well, the rest as they say shall be history

9 hours ago, boboneleg said:

No offence Grace but I wouldn't want any on them , 20-25 mpg is not my bag nowadays .  You're much younger than me though so crack on

Yeah they're not famous for their fuel efficiency. But damn I love the smell of two stroke in the morning...

57 minutes ago, XTreme said:

I've owned the first two!

I already talked about the S3, and in terms of the GT750 it's now a cult bike so worth much more than the others.

My second one threw me off at 110mph with a tankslapper in 1978 so my memories are painful ones.

Besides that they're pretty quick, fairly thirsty, and ground clearance is a bit limited.

Having said that, I'd still choose that one over the other two.

Thank you  

How well (or badly) did you come out of that tank slapper? Sounds dramatic.

come on guys, wake up, I know it's 3.30am over there but I need your input 

So my fairy godmother of motorcycling is waving his/her wand, and has given me a choice: which bike to restore?? (omg!)

The options are:

Kawasaki s3 400

Suzuki GT750

Yamaha RD250 

These bikes are all before my time, so I'm super keen to hear from anyone who has ridden and loved them. Tell me which one you would choose, and why?
 

Please and thank you!!!

12 hours ago, XTreme said:

Nobody else doing anything?

Is it the weekend??

I am reunited with my mountains and my new gaerne trials boots. Want to finally try out the latter and see if I've forgotten everything.

15 hours ago, boboneleg said:

It will try to kill you

Yes, they have... character 

15 minutes ago, XTreme said:

Not sure about parts availability after all these years though Grace.

And they're pretty thirsty on fuel too......though not as much as the H1 500.

From that era in that sector the RD350 is the best one to get.

You're probably right, but this S3 has additional hidden virtues  

26 minutes ago, XTreme said:

Yes.....I had one back in the 70's.

It was a replacement for the S2 350 which was probably a better bike in terms of performance.

The S3 is a bit tamer but it still goes well enough......it'll wheelie off the throttle quite easily.

Niiiiiiice

Anyone ever have an s3 400? Two stroke triple, baby! I've never seen one in the flesh (let alone ridden one) but I know a guy who has most of a dissasembled one in his garage and I'm kind of excited about it. Refurb time?

On 30/08/2021 at 19:22, boboneleg said:

I've found that the suspension (especially the rear shock) on the all the new Honda's I've ridden in the past 5 years has been built to a price.

That includes,  CRF250 Rally, CRF250 L  , CRF1000 L , CRF100 DCT and NC750 X.  The NC750 was so bad that I took it back after only 15 mins riding (it was a test ride). 

My Rally was transformed by a £280 YSS rear shock and I didn't have to do anything to the front end.

Is there any talk on any of the forums about the suspension on the CB500X  ?

I know this is an old thread but feel compelled to add my vote here for the CB500X stock rear shock, nominated in the category of "REAR SHOCK MOST LIKELY TO LAUNCH YO ASS INTO THE BUSHES". Honestly the worst rear shock I've even had to deal with, wtf. I rode a brand new 2019 cb500x back from Bangkok to Chiang Mai (for someone who bought it and was too scared to ride it BKK) and sweet jesus it was like riding a pogo stick. 19" front wheel was no issue, tipped in nicely, but as soon as you so much as looked at a blemish in the road service that rear shock would be yeeting you through the air. Zero stars, would not recommend, get YSS tomorrow or Ohlins if have too much money.

That's my 2 cents' worth.

My 3 cents' worth is that having something like this wrong in your set up can totally discombobulate you, and once you lose confidence then everything becomes difficult. I had old tyres on the CBR650 for a few months there and it got to a point where I dreaded riding it down the mountain in rain because I had zero confidence that i wouldn't just slide off the road with the run-off. A new set of Rosso IIIs and I feel like a new woman.

Keen to hear what was the outcome for you here.

On 14/09/2021 at 18:19, Tango said:

I was working with a colleague quite a few years ago in our workshop. He dropped a tiny spring on the carpeted floor. I spotted it straight away and picked it up for him. He looked at me and said " Fuck me, Bob, you've got eyesight like a shithouse rat!"

So maybe we could adopt this as the imperial standard for eyesight classification?

Haha... I've only ever been told that I'm "cunning as a shithouse rat" but clearly don't qualify for the eyesight classification, being -13  I guess I'll just have to live with the disappointment

7 hours ago, Slowlycatchymonkey said:

Don't worry activities have returned to the usual mud and dishevelment   

26 minutes ago, XTreme said:

Great shots Grace.......is your foot OK now?

Oh it's totally fine. Although someone later informed me that coral cuts can lead to all sorts of interesting complications. Very happy I didn't get any of them (coral cellulitis sounds like no fun at all.)

Okay my lovelies, this episode comes with a content warning: idyllic beaches and tropical delights may possibly evince hazardous amounts of ennui for those of you confined by a sleety winter.

https://bikehedonia.wordpress.com/2022/01/06/im-on-a-boat/

Back in the times when borders were things you could cross, I did a border run to Myanmar, which was fantastic road trip involving the delights of pleased nobody but myself, a dead body (not so great), and being able to swim from one country to the other (for someone who grew up in Australia, a million miles from anywhere, this is a radical notion).

Here is the looooooong version: https://bikehedonia.wordpress.com/2022/01/03/before-times/

And here is the short version:

14 hours ago, boboneleg said:

I still have to buy two Rich

 

Outrageous

46 minutes ago, boboneleg said:

Good choice Grace.  I've worn Sidi trials boots for years for off-road riding, I also have a pair of Sidi Adventure boots but they are nowhere near as flexible as the trials boots. 

Yes, the Adventures have that nice hinged ankle support but it's not quite right for trials. I have to admit that I wear MX boots for off roading these days (because I fall down a lot lol). My less gravitationally-victimised friends like to ride in the Gaerne trials boots though. I loved the sg12s for off roading (made me feel like Terinator)  so I'm looking forward to wearing in the trials boots now.

1 hour ago, Richzx6r said:

I really do enjoy reading your adventures 

Thank you so much! In that case I shall continue spamming you all with stories

I've been writing about the times before covid, when border runs were a thing, my KTM was in my hot little hands, and I could have probably swum to Myanmar without getting shelled by artillery. Ah, memories. It was a good time. Except for the dead body bit. But apart from that... a good time.

https://bikehedonia.wordpress.com/2022/01/03/before-times/

10 hours ago, Richzx6r said:

Look good Grace, can't you go out for a bimble on your own?

I could, but good manners dictate that the owner of the bike always gets the last word, and he seems to be concerned that I might fall off a cliff in the jungle and die?? Haha apparently I need supervision. 

So I did the obvious thing and took the CBR650 which I do own, and rode up and down the mountain playing tag with the drunken holiday traffic. Much safer

Well Santa brought me a shiny new covid variant and closed borders AGAIN this year - bloody hell Santa, two years in a row? Not very creative. But, he also brought me brand new Gaerne trials boots to distract me, and it worked a treat. Yay!

This means no more trying to ride trials in Sidi Adventure boots. Can't wait to feel the difference. Unfortunately my friend who owns the trials bikes - well he went out with his friends riding all over the mountains for about 7 hours yesterday (which is a Very Long Ride on a trials bike) and is now too exhausted to go riding again. He's on the lounge napping now, so looks like I'll have to wait for another day try out my new boots! Could be worse

The highlight of this forum has been my long discussions with @Slowlycatchymonkey and the chance to make quality new connections with people like that! Big thanks to Tym and Pete for all the work you've put into the forum. Thanks for having me here and reading my neverending stories 

11 hours ago, Slowlycatchymonkey said:

Oh thats totally on me Grace, going too fast, not paying attention, a moment of utter stupidity and there was no way the Himalayans shitty brakes were gonna save me  

@XTreme I think youll find Im great in gravel traps, Im thinking about offering lessons  

The road accident and death stats for Spain are nowhere near as good as the UK. The UK consistently ranks third safest roads in the world and Spain hovers between 9th and 10th which isnt bad until you consider how busy UK roads are and how empty most Spanish roads usually are. 

 

omg let's not even talk about Thailand, it's daily carnage over here... I think it might be number 70? There are like 850k injuries and 14k deaths here on the roads every year, and that doesn't include people who survived long enough to die in the hospital. Oops this is not a very festive thought, next topic...

9 minutes ago, XTreme said:

How are you in gravel traps Grace? @Slowlycatchymonkey needs a bit of help on those!

@Slowlycatchymonkey I just saw the gravel trap photo, omg wtf were they thinking?? Gravel trap of doom