that's better

OK - I'm getting a sort of dirty thrill out of contemplating buying my
first ever bottle of two stroke.

right you are, captain.

 

I'd avoid Castrol and go with anything fully synth TBH.

Why? Their oils meet the same standards as the brand name stuff. I
don't see a problem with their fully synth stuff in what is, after all, a
fairly elderly machine.

 

I'll get some Putoline because I like the name.

err, it's only 12 years old - hardly elderly by your standards.

 

In engine development v oil: it's ancient.

 

Yehbut TTS smells *lovely*

It gives me flashbacks to my pizza delivery days and reminds me of manky
old vans.

 

fair comment.

 

you didn't ever hear my R30 - that was probably the 2nd loudest bike
I've ever owned.

2-strokes are louder in a different way to 4 strokes though, so I may
be comparing apples with oranges.

 

I really like the sound of big singles on open pipes; they sound like
they're making 2,000 bhp, in huge, solid lumps.[/QUOTE]

When I was commuting in London on the R30, I had other bikers at
traffic lights make "that sounds fantastic" comments on multiple
occasions - no other bike has elicited this.

The RGV is the only bike that actually causes physical pain revving it
without ear plugs. That was in the garage though, which was kind of
stupid of me.

 

There is a chap who rides past the bus stop most mornings at 06.30 on a
R30 with what must be an open pipe. It's bloody loud. He also overtakes
past two traffic islands on the wrong side of the road every day having
triggered the "do not exceed 30 mph" sign - all this on the approach to
Walthamstow Police Station. How the Police have not set a little trap
for him I don't know.

On a quiet morning with the breeze blowing in the right direction I have
heard his bike from my back window when he must have been at Tottenham
Hale.

 

At the time, I needed the money.

I loved everything about the bike except the build quality.

 

When you say build quality, do you mean finish/paint, or mechanical
reliability?[/QUOTE]

the former. Mechanically, it was nearly faultless (though if ridden in
the wet, the speedo would stop working).

Some of the paint had flaked off the engine within the first 1000
miles. Ditto some of the welds on the frame, the black paint had come
off and it was starting to rust.

The numberplate fell off at around 2000 miles.

etc.

I think SimonK's CCM 400 Supermoto looked a lot better put together,
mind.

 

A design classic, do it.

 

Two strokes can be pigs when not stone cold or working temperature. As
has been mentioned it could be just a bit of plug fouling easily cured
by clearing its throat a bit once hot.

Accumulation of unburned fuel in the crankcase. Possibly more of an
issue with premix though.

Older two strokes often had a little plug to allow any clag build up to
be drained off. More common on MX motors, probably not got one on an
RGV. The alternative, if it will start, is to rev the bollocks off it
until the smoke clears. The lad's KX65 needs such encouragement
occasionally. Particularly if he has just dropped it.

Might as well. Best you can get. Have a look here:
http://www.sparkplugs.co.uk/

My 604 Nordwest on a race can has been compared with a Bofors gun.
The 250 Rotax MX engined Rotarini was v. loud. At one Cadwell day I
tried it with no can at all - truly awesome [1]

[1] As a former Member of the Institute of Acoustics I know whereof I
speak.

--

+-----------------------------------------------------------------+
| Pete Fisher at Home: |
| Voxan Roadster Moto Guzzi Mille GT/Squire RS3 Gilera Nordwest |
| Gilera GFR Moto Morini 2C/375 |
+-----------------------------------------------------------------+

 

Need to move house - the new motor's going to be initially funded out
of the new mortgage (and then over-paid back at 500 quid/month).

Speaking of which - I noticed that the Halifax (I think) are offering
savings account interest rates of 7%.

Now, given that that's well over 1% more than I'm going to be paying
on a mortgage, what's to stop me borrowing at the lower rate and
saving this borrowed money at the higher rate, thus making a profit -
what have I missed?

 

I get this all the time on the 404. Nobody seems remotely interested in the
Aprilia

 

as per Bear's question - how are you finding it in terms of build
quality and reliability?

 

good point.

What if the interest was on a savings account in the name of a
non-tax-paying minor?

 

Not too bad, to be honest, although I've had ongoing electrical gremlins,
which seem to be related to a knackered battery.

Nothing's fallen off, though, and everything generally works. It doesn't
like being aggressively jetwashed, though (see above)

The finish is holding up fairly well, there's just a bit of the aluminium
that holds the clocks in place that's gone a bit yucky. Had I attacked the
thing with some ACF-50 before last winter I think it would have stayed a bit
cleaner

 

I think so - just saw it in the window of one of the banks/building
societies in Enfield Town yesterday.

no - but I'm going to look into it.

 

That's how I used to start it.

--

Paul.
CBR1100XX SuperBlackbird
BOTAFOT #4
BOTAFOF #30
MRO #24
OMF #15
UKRMMA #30
Buy this house: http://personales.ya.com/wibbleypants/main.htm
This will be ready soon:
http://personales.ya.com/wibbleypants/bb_in_andalucia_spain.htm