Paging Wessie

(SteveH) wrote in

Deep hens. They traded as Rydales.

Mike was the head fitter at Rydales. However, his boss Peter was a slippery
****. Get the report from the chap and then give Mike a ring. If Mike fixed
the bike and signed the report then it will be fine. If Peter had it done
as a kerching insurance job and typed a letter to give it provenance then
get Mike to look at it.

IIRC, Mike took 3 months off when he got married to do some travelling.
There was all sorts of shit happening at that time.

http://www.cardiffmotorrad.com/

 

Having had both, they're both not bad tourers. The LT has the edge in
bad weather as it's got far better weather protection, but a GS is
still a comfy long-distance tourer if you get along with the ergonomics.

Given the provenance of the GS and wessie's comments I might want to
consider the LT though...

 

I've had a CCM R30 (seat height 865mm), a R1150GS (seat height
840-860mm), a Tiger 955i (seat height 840mm) and currently have a LC4
SM (seat height 910mm) so I think it's safe to say I don't have a
problem with tall bikes, despite having a ~31" inside leg.

 

The LT sold yesterday.

Arse.

 

Those things are sought after, in contrast to a CBX750...

BTW, the owner should be back by now so I'll get in touch with him
after next weekend.

 

Heh.

To be honest, I've re-evaluated what I want - and I don't think a CBX is
the answer. Much as I love them, they're no K1100LT, or R1100GS.

I'm just going to snap up the first decent K1100LT I see, now.

 

OK. So do you want me to check it out at all or are we going to forget
about it?

Good plan. Just make sure it is decent.

 

Thanks for the offer - but I think I'll leave it.

That's the problem - every time I see one that has potential, it has
gone before I can even make the bloody phone call about it.

 

No problem.

In contrast to what CRN thinks, they do shift quite quickly.

 

Phoned about 2 and emailed 1 this weekend.

All gone.

A cheaper LT on Pistonheads went within 24 hours of it going up!

 

(SteveH) wrote in :

I've just remembered, last winter Mike at Cardiff Motorrad restored an LT
during the times when he didn't have any other work on. He asked me if I
knew anyone wanting one when I was down there for my spring service. Might
be worth giving him a ring to see if he has a similar project ongoing this
year.

 

I just love being quote out of context.
I was muttering about the K75 but I suspect that the LT is not fast
by 1100cc standards. Nice bike by lardy tourer standards though.

 

wrote in @news.gradwell.net:

you told Steve to go to Bath Rd & wave cash under their nose and demand a
huge discount as they would be desperate for a sale. It seems they had a
queue of buyers, just like any other seller of a reasonably priced LT.

 

Well, the one I mailed you about the other day on eBay (not the example
in Cardiff) finished like this:

http://search.ebay.com/170297890687

Explain that!

 

Ewww, that rings a few alarm bells. De-beaked, generally looks a little
mucked about with and coming over from Germany so of course if it had
been bent, it wouldn't show up on the HPI check.

It just doesn't look right to me, I don't like the "conversion", mainly
because I put de-beaked GSs into the same category as declawed
cats. It's something you just don't do.

 

Look at the price, though! - that's insane for an 1100 with questionable
history.

This one isn't attracting bids, unsurprisingly:

http://search.ebay.com/120370409951

Looks tidy enough, but it has been messed with, although at least this
time he admits it.

 

You're getting no argument from me over that one...

But IMHO it hasn't been messed with that badly - I think that might be
worth a look to see if they can confirm what has been changed. With the
cost of some of the parts on these, they're quite easy to Cat C. Oh, and
the seat looks fugly.

 

I have communicated with the seller about it. This is what he sent me:

'There is nothing wrong with the bike. As Mcgregor and charlie found
out on their trip, the model has a slight weakness, if it hits the deck
the lug joining the gearbox and engine sometimes shears off. My mate,
who I bought it off, has a mutual friend, an engineer and alloy welder
par excellence. Used to own a factory producing treadmills. He
designed and fitted a new lug which your BMW chief engineer pronounced a
very good repair. Bike has always started first go, no oil leaks, odd
noises, electrical problems or anything else wrong with it. I have all
the relevant doc's.

Apparently cat C is the least of the insurance write-off's. It does not
actually affect the insurance premium's. The only reason it was written
off by the insurance firm was because they would have had to replace the
whole gearbox. The lug between gear box and engine had broken off,
weakness in this model as our intrepid round the world pair found out.
My mate actually road it across to Holland and back fully loaded (and
him 19 stone) before he realised the lug was broken. The BMW bike
owners member had not told him!!! However, my mate, who I bought the
bike from got a new lug designed by our friend (owned a big treadmill
factory and is a brilliant aluminium welder) and fitted this. Then got
BMW Ryeland's in Cardiff (they used to do bikes) to retune and check the
repair (May 2001). Their chief engineer reckoned it was a great repair
and it has had 8 mot's since. The guy I sold it to on Ebay offered me
the dealers price, which was just under £1800. I declined, the bike was
originally up for £2950.'

Aside from the illiteracy.... it's not a 'Long Way Down' bike, although
it appears he bought it because he watched it.

However, I don't particularly like the sound of the job done to Cat C
it.

 

It's also got some very useful modifications on it - the lower footrests
are a very good idea IMHO, as are the Tobinators.

 

They're not massively different, though. The 1100 and the 1150 are very
closely related.

I'd have to verify that it is a weakness as I haven't come across that
one, but maybe put a post up on UKGSer and see what they have to say. I
wouldn't be surprised if there is a certain way of dropping it to
accomplish said goal. And I can see that being a write-off simply
because of the labour cost to take out the gearbox, and of course a new
gearbox is brutally expensive, too.

TBH I'd bought a secondhand gearbox of Motorworks, but then again I
don't have any mates (that I know of) who weld alloy for a living.