K1100RS

It was.

I'm not sure it was that impressed by you hanging off it, although it was
probably the most imperturbable 16-year-old you've ever ridden. This may
also have been before I fitted the Progressive springs and the Technoflex
shock.

TBF, it wasn't ever supposed to be a sportbike. I liked the way it would
chunter along placidly all day, at a reasonable speed, turning in
respectable averages.

 

From the R1100 on they added oil cooling.

My bike has an oil cooler above the beak.

http://lh6.ggpht.com/monsouli/Rw-nlTNNgoI/AAAAAAAAAn8/7IQJoWr-7RY/Z2240[2].jpg

 

Yus, but as I wasn't in a position to pay for repairs or replace, if I
binned it, I just trundled round the block...

 

OI!

EWOK!!

NOOOOOOOO!!

 

One of those would scare the shit out of you the first time you went
into a corner even slightly too fast.

 

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

heh.

 

I had to check the headers to make sure this was really you. Twice.

 

I'm vaguely thinking about buying a sports tourer. I genuinely hadn't
even thought of one of these. They're rather expensive for what they
are.

that's for the best.

 

I do like something a bit different now and again. The LC4 I have
right is a lot of fun, but it's incredibly useless as a bike to
actually go anywhere on, so I need something else as well (or instead
- I'll see how much use the LC4 gets by mid summer, and if I find
myself not using it, I'll out it). I don't seem to find the time for
much "just for fun" riding, but can plan the occasional weekender,
which is why I'm considering something more touring oriented (without
being a boring "just touring" bike).

I actually agree with you that the K looks pretty good tooled up with
panniers etc. Then again, something like a Blackbird is just so much
cheaper for a bike in a comparable class. It is, of course, a Honda,
and I'd sort of sworn-off them.

Maybe I'd should buy a 'busa.

 

I can imagine. The only bike I've ever two-up toured on was my B12;
that was "OK", but not ideal, as there was no fixed hard luggage. I
had a full set of hard luggage for my RGS, but never took a pillion on
it.

Oh, I like all sorts of shit that no-one else likes the look of (for
instance if Aprilia made a version of the Shiver with a bigger engine
in it, I'd have one in a trice).

true. And I'd forgotten about the linked brakes. Is it just me, or are
they a recipe for disaster in certain situations (for example, heading
down a steep hill, on a road covered in wet leaves: normally I'd be
dragging the back brake to maintain a constant speed - with linked
brakes isn't this still possibly going to lock the front?)

It'd definitely just be me - A. isn't interested in bike touring any
more. I actually like the look of the 'busa too, but they're
relatively rare and expensive. Also - and clearly this isn't a barrier
to my owning one - they seem to fairly exclusively be owned and ridden
by complete cocks.

31" for me, but I don't mind tall. Tall and heavy could be a problem,
mind. I suppose trying one out before buying is the sensible option.
Not an option I've ever actually exercised, mind (except, bizarrely
enough in the case of the two SOBs that I've bought from UKRMers)

 

That's what I asked a few years back, when I (briefly) contemplated
getting one. I was informed that I couldn't 'ride for toffee'. It'll
be interesting to see what reaction you get...

D.

 

I think the fact that you can't ride for toffee is unconnected to any
inherant problems with linked brakes.

 

Quite possibly, yeah. 'course, that the phrase was written by the same
cretin who had never seen me in person, let alone on a bike, and who
proudly boasted that he didn't have to ride an FJR (in fact, he'd never
even _seen_ one at that time) to know that it was a 'lardy, underpowered
shed', is neither here nor there.

S'all 'grist for the mill', as they used to say.

D.

 

Tell you what- if you get one, I'll get one too

 

well - I have my "compensation and benefits" review meeting at 11:00
on Friday. I'll know then if I'm buying a new bike and booking a
holiday in the sun, or treating myself to a indian takeaway.

 

oh, me too - I haven't had one this year (I'm taking the doctor's
orders to lose weight pretty seriously - I've lost 8 pounds since New
Year).

yeah. She doesn't like anyone in the UK, mind - I'm not special in
this regard.

heh.

 

yeah - I think they look fantastic, but so far Aprilia have only
brought one out with the sleeved down 750cc motor - if they put the
mille lump in, it'd be fantastic.

Assuming we've undergone some sort of phase change from discussing BMW
K1100RSs to Kawasaki ZX-12Rs, my major objection to these are that
they have 3-4 major design gaffs (I mean aesthetically).

 

On a diving trip on Bonaire in the autumn I noticed there seemed to be
two types of bike on the island. One was small to medium sized traillies
- ideal for the dirt roads, massive potholes, wandering goats and
donkeys etc. which are characteristic of Caribbean road travel.

The other common bike - and I must have seen at least half a dozen of
them in Kralendijk - was a Hayabusa with a swingarm about a foot longer
than normal. They look absolutely ghastly. I assume they're intended for
drag racing, but I can't think of anywhere on the island they could get
out of first gear without ending up embedded in a cactus grove or in the
sea.

Literally the only place it might work would be the airport runway. I
suppose that's possible - airport security don't seem to be up to
keeping the donkeys out of the precincts, and there are only three or
four planes a day - but I wouldn't have thought you could get away with
it too often on a small island.

 

Just rereading your post, and recalling more details of that particular
Cliquefest. Binning my FJR had left me very shy of using the front
brake in the wet, and I asked about the Blackbird's linked brakes. The
group himbo (aided and abetted on this occasion by (IIRC) Paul) started
whittering on that anyone who worried about that, shouldn't have a bike
licence (or something equally fuckwitted).

D.

 

i think the fact that you can't ride for toffee is unconnected to any
inherent problems with linked brakes.