Saul

Talking about potential rust on some less than premium brand bikes I thought I would show you a project I abandoned very early on. A mate of mine gave me a Lexmoto Valencia twist and go scoot for my boy. We though it would get him on the road for a few hundred. The scoot belonged to his aunty who passed away and he just wanted it gone. So I went and got it and pushed it back home, he lives across the park from me. Like he said it was a bit rough but had only done 498 miles in his Aunts hands from new. I had a look over it when I got it back and was shocked by how much it had rusted. It did live outside under a cover but had seen no wet riding or road salt. First things first I wanted to hear it run before spending anything. There was a vacuum type pet cock that was locked shut and the carb was also locked up. I them connected a battery and got it running on brake cleaner. It sounded as sweet as a nut and wanted to run. All the electrical stuff worked. Anyway I thought get some air in the tyres, the tyre valve crumbled in my hand, I tried to get the wheel off and the axel was rusted solid. At this point it was obviously going to be a lost cause. Battery, Tyres, fuel system, brakes and god knows what else, just to get a functional rusty heap. So now it is garden art, I have been meaning to ask my mate if he wants it back but I reckon it will be going to the scrappy. The point I am getting to is these things need to be carefully looked after or they will dissolve before your eyes. Oh and the Dear Boy was on rat patrol.

Yeah but it’s called a Spitfire and has a Union flag on it Judging by my chat with the owner I very much doubt it is ridden very far, apart from the odd bike night in the best of weather. I agree more mobile ornament than practical bike but I still liked it.

No, mirror extenders and right angle tyre valve adapters

I can see that CCM would be an acquired taste, in fact I was ambivalent towards them until I saw it up close. I just loved it, looked to be beautifully put together, more work of art than hack. Sounded good to. Expensive without doubt, the owner told me that CCM send a mobile workshop van to his house when it needs servicing. Can’t imagine that would be budget friendly.

I think I have a farkle problem, I don’t even remember ordering these

I reckon that's an interesting review. I am sure you could run a Mash it would just need more attention than you would probably want to give a winter hack. Budget for a compressor and buy ACF50 or similar by the gallon. You could get a Honda CL500 for £500 more. Or get a really nice low miles Dominator, XT, DR, KL or even MZ Mastiff if it had to be a single with some time and effort.

I must admit I do like the look of the X-Ride but what put me off was looking at one closely at Thor motorcycles. They have two there a white and a black. The black one sits in the porch which can be blown with a bit of weather during the day. There was rust on it everywhere, and as far as I know it has never been ridden in the rain or salt this rust is just from spending time under cover of the porch. Now I know you can deal with this I ran a Chinky 125 to commute on for 4 years and used a lot of ACF50, there was next to no rust on it when I sold it with 12k on the clock but I bought it for £700 in a box so I didn't expect much. For over 5k I would expect much more.

Perfect day, no work, fixed my bike, rode my bike, singing tonight.

Because they sell lots of em mate.

Flushed with success after finally fitting my CB’s main stand this morning I thought I better try it out with a ride to make sure all the as good. Well what was supposed to be a short loop ended up as a 94 mile round trip to Bude and back. It was a perfect sunny day so it will have been silly not to take advantage. Anyway after a lovely ride up the A39, google it, it is a great biking coast road, I dropped into North Cornwall Motorcycles. They had some really nice stuff in stock, spoilt for choice really. I saw several that I would have liked. I think my favourite was an old Kawasaki Z1100 closely followed by a stunning Norton Commando and a Honda CD50. But many other very nice bikes. Even though they had a great selection of bikes the attitude of the sales man was atrocious. When I was there he was slagging off a customer on the phone to who I guess was the owner. I couldn’t believe what I was hearing. Never spoke to me either. No worries I would never spend my money there. After that I went down to the river front for a cuppa and got chatting to a couple of bikers down there. Then an old chap came in on this CCM Bobber What a beautiful thing. I would love one after seeing it in the flesh, every time I looked at I spotted something different, just stunning. Also got chatting a CB500X owner who made me laugh as he reckoned my bike looked like any angry cockatoo with the screen I have. I can see what he meant. Great way to spend an afternoon in the sun.

Lovely looking bike but riding that DGR edition in the UK would get the pissed ripped unmercilessly.

I voted yes, not in the slightest bit interested in it the subject but why not if there is a demand. Also it's a reversible decision if it doesn't fly.

Finally got the right size spring and got the main stand fitted to my CB. I ordered a 3.5mm x 19.4mm x 157mm spring from EBay and it worked out as a perfect fit that also holds the stand up securely. What have I learnt from this. One you can buy a main stand from AliExpress for just £64 but don’t expect it to be hassle free. And two if I were to buy a stand again I would bite the bullet and cough up for the Honda item at £190, just to avoid the grief I had getting the AliExpress stand to work. Your money your choice.

I agree with all of that, very well observed.

Yes please I may get chance to watch it at work later if its quiet

Much as I like him, AJ is to rich and to comfortable now. I think he just isn’t really hungry for it anymore. Also much as I don’t like Greedy Belly I think he would beat AJ now, if he takes it seriously.

Singing up at Lankelly last night, singing down at Pentewan tonight then working overnight Fri, Sat and Sun. Might take the bike Sunday night but weather is rough here so will play it by ear.

True but I would get the blame and have one less mate to ride with. But then again he never rides if there is going to be rain within 7 days so not much of a loss, he is always good for a cuppa though.

He wouldn't last here mate that's why I never pointed him this way. Too much of an angry little fucker.

I haven't a clue Pete, my mate that never rides his bikes had one for awhile. He rated it but god knows how many miles he did on it, not many I guess.

Problem with riding your bike, it gets dirty

The joy of wet gloves at Trago Mills, Liskeard.

Went out for a bimble today and was going to go up on Bodmin moor but the weather was pretty awful and so misty you couldn’t see your hand in front of your face. So I decided to abort and go into Trago and have a look at their biking section. They only had one on display which was a 445cc SWM branded dirt style bike. I liked the look of it to be honest. Weird branding though as it was labeled a 500cc but called a 6, bit of mixed message there. I did think it looked cool. Water cooled 154kg and claimed 29.5 bhp for £4.5k. Doesn’t seem to bad but it’s all about quality I suppose. If a jap manufacturer produced something like that it would sell by the boat load. There was plenty of biking gear and accessories at Trago, if I had a top box I would probably have spent a few quid. Travelling back along the Glynn valley in atrocious conditions it did make me wonder what I was doing there as that stretch of road is a notorious black spot for accidents.

I am going up on Bodmin Moor this morning, getting stir crazy. Did pretty much the same yesterday as I had to activate a card and went to the branch to do it just to get out of the house.