What's the verdict on the RF900?

I had a Blue/White one. (with a rare and BLOODY LOUD ex-merkin racer Kerker
4:2)

No they really exist. They made loads and because of the design/build
quality they're mostly still all alive. Minters go for ££££ thanks to the
Classic fraternity but a good GS1000E/ET can still be found occaisionally
for sub£1k money.

At the time the Z650 was about I was more into H1/Mach111 territory and
hence very, very poor and mostly a denizen of Routemasters.

Didn't do too badly in that area. Our boys only grammar school was 'twinned'
with a cathoilc girls convent. We 'shared facilities' etc. mmmmmm.

Jota. YKIMS.

Of course.
JB

 

Using the patented Mavis Beacon "Hunt&Peck" Technique, Jeremy Robinson

Blow In Jez works too.

BIJ you are.

 

Using the patented Mavis Beacon "Hunt&Peck" Technique, Jeremy Robinson

Likely enough. Knowing him it might have been a miner's lamp and the
problem was that the canary in the topbox died. I'm hazy on the details.

 

Just got in.

<pants>

Need coffee/beer, BRB.

 

Fucking hell mate, you had it bad. I used to get laid purely cos I had
a Gold Fizzy.

--
Lozzo
Suzuki SV650S K5
Honda CBR600 FW trackbike
Yamaha SR250 Spazz-Trakka
Suzuki GSXR750 L
Suzuki TS50X
Suzuki TS50X

 

Using the patented Mavis Beacon "Hunt&Peck" Technique, Lozzo

Ah well, see... mine was purple. Which was (obviously) faster but
(apparently) meant less sex.

<thinks>

Damn!

 

Purple eh? They obviously thought you'd go on to buy a BMW GS

--
Lozzo
Suzuki SV650S K5
Honda CBR600 FW trackbike
Yamaha SR250 Spazz-Trakka
Suzuki GSXR750 L
Suzuki TS50X
Suzuki TS50X

 

Using the patented Mavis Beacon "Hunt&Peck" Technique, Lozzo

How wrong they were! Bitches.

KILL THEM ALL, THEY'RE ALL BITCHES!

Ahem...

Anyway, about these Fizzies; you admit that purple ones were faster?

 

Wicked Uncle Nigel wrote:

No, they were all shit, even the gold ones like mine. AP50s were better.

--
Lozzo
Suzuki SV650S K5
Honda CBR600 FW trackbike
Yamaha SR250 Spazz-Trakka
Suzuki GSXR750 L
Suzuki TS50X
Suzuki TS50X

 

Using the patented Mavis Beacon "Hunt&Peck" Technique, Lozzo

<waggles eyebrows, then licks them>

Good call.

I *knew* there was something dodgy about you.

I just never suspected it was this bad.

 

I ran an RF900RR (L-plate) for a couple of years. I gave an opinion
on it here, just the other day:

http://groups.google.com/group/uk.r...k.rec.motorcycles+author:Pip#1e67c3b72fa1e1a1

Briefly - fast as you like. Faster than a contemporary 'Blade, but
runs wide in corners - unless you hang off the inside a bit. Brakes
may be a bit 'wooden' with braided hoses, but they work well (uless
you fit EBC Green pads, in which case they're dangerously,
arse-cringingly shite).

The suspension on mine was hard. Not fast road uncomfortably hard,
but really spine-crashingly harsh in town. Uncomfortably hot in town
too, as the fan pumps shitloads of roastingly hot air out of the side
vents up at you when you're at the lights on a hot day. Very
unpleasant.

I found the riding position uncomfortable, until I gave in to it - but
it always felt awkward for the forst 20 miles until I settled into it.
The bars are sportsbike low, the seat, although roomy, quite forward -
but the pegs, for me, were too far forward, leading to uncomfy ankles.
If the pegs had been a couple of inches back and up, in a proper
sportsbike crouch, they would have been fine. If you are taller than
my 5'10" then you may well find that the extra space that gives you is
welcome, however.

At speed or in bad weather, the fairing is good. The rear plastics
are notoriously cumbersome in a wider than sensible way and if you
stick panniers on, the rig will be wider than a small car. A double
bubble is available for the lankier ****. The headlight, on dip, is
shite. On main, fantastic - a bright white 'T' up and across the
road. I put a 80/100W bulb in and melted the wiring and plug to the
headlight.


Bottom line is - take it for a ride. A grand is fuckall for a bike
and you may find the performance impressive. If it is not comfy
enough, don't buy it.

I paid 500 quid for mine with a dyno chart attached showing 140bhp and
I'll have to try hard to beat that. I never fitted anything but
sports/touring tyres to it, but it may well ahve benefitted from
stickier rubber and maybe a drop on the forks to counter the running
wide thing. The weight of the beast meant I could bang it off the
lights and the front end never smacked me in the face in a Bandit 12
style, which I felt was an advantage.

If the bike you look at has a dodgy second gear - it costs 240 quid in
parts to fix it and that's a known weakness. The motor is nigh on
bulletproof. A lot of them suffer from clattery top ends and rumbly
alternators, which isn't really a problem. They go really well (for
their age) and return good mpg without ripping tyres or shagging
chains and the pillion perch is pretty good.

Pays yer money ...

If it fits you, have it. If it has a gay-as-**** colourscheme and you
get laughed at, there's always barbeque paint.

 

BJ for short?

 

The real question is, why did you wait so long to enter into
conversation with these muppets?

Oh...

 

Pip or the bike?

--
Catman MIB#14 SKoGA#6 TEAR#4 BOTAFOF#38 Apostle#21 COSOC#3
Tyger, Tyger Burning Bright (Remove rust to reply)
116 Giulietta 3.0l Sprint 1.7 145 2.0 Cloverleaf 156 V6 2.5 S2
Triumph Sprint ST 1050: It's blue, see.
www.cuore-sportivo.co.uk

 

"from the next village"

Suddenly, I understand you a whole lot better.
--
Champ

ZX10R | GPz750turbo | GSX-R 600 racer
My advice as your attorney is to buy a motorcycle
To email me, neal at my domain should work.

 

uh huh. What the manx call a "come over". If you stay for 10 years,
you might get promoted to "stop over".

I was! Are you stalking me? I was only there for a year (ahem).
We used to have another IC alumni from that era here (many years ago
now), called Andy McGladdery (sp?). Remember him?
--
Champ

ZX10R | GPz750turbo | GSX-R 600 racer
My advice as your attorney is to buy a motorcycle
To email me, neal at my domain should work.

 

Using the patented Mavis Beacon "Hunt&Peck" Technique, Champ

Heh. Come on, this can hardly come as a surprise to you.

 

Bareback riding through Bedford ?

P.

 

That link and and the other comment have left me feeling a little less
sure but Monday's test ride will be the decider.

I'll keep that in mind, although I am used to crap brakes.

The fact that you described it as the most uncomfortable bike you've
ever had worries me more. Basically, I always found that my ZR-7 had a
lovely riding position. However, I've started experiencing coccydynia
every time I do more than about 40 miles and I find myself leaning
forward to ease it. I wondered if a sports-tourer set up might help.
But I am lanky, as opposed to big, my legs are disproportionately long
and I don't enjoy having them folded up.

To date I've used the bike for 2 things - commuting 30 miles each way
with 20 on motorway, very little town work, and the occasional weekend
blat. The ZR-7 lacks top end performance but is actually very easy to
ride and quite punchy up to, say, 80. It's not good for motorways,
doing 5k revs at 70 and making my hands numb after about 40 miles.
Also, after 3 years of all weather riding (2 years almost every work
day) it looks shagged. The swingarm is quite rusted in front of the
shock, the forks are pitted and it generally looks ropey.

The new bike needs to do the two things above, as well as take me to
Rhine/Mosel/Nurburgring in July. It worries me that you've said it's
useless for touring - although I may not use panniers anyway. I
currently own a top-box, tail-pack and tank-bag, so the width may not
be that relevant. I'll have to splash out on a rear rack though.

OK, I don't really get this. What is the standard bulb and what
exactly would it take for me to use a reasonable xenon bulb - without
meltdown. Are you saying that the standard bulb is good on main beam?

Aint that the truth. If only my wife could see that. I was talking
about SteveH's lovely shiny black thing and as soon as I mentioned 17
or 1800 she nearly shat. It doesn't help that I'll need to borrow the
grand but it's still a reasonable purchase in my book.

I think I need whatever tyres will last best on the motorway miles I
do - I tend to square them off quite quickly - I just don't do enough
hooning.

That's all good info. At what speed does it go clattery - I'll see if
I can get up to that on Monday.

Corrected.

Cheers for the info, much appreciated.

 

Natch.