Motorbikes

simon ess said:
Put the lining back in my jacket last night. Was glad of it today on the misty moor between Macclesfield and Buxton.
Click to expand...

I’m not even close to doing that yet. Still very comfortable with a tee-shirt and all the vents open on the jacket.
 
a little nippy out this morning in north wales so i imagine il not be long adding a fleece under my jacket
 
Hoping to get out later after a few weeks out of the saddles!
 
Brendan Mulachy said:
a little nippy out this morning in north wales so i imagine il not be long adding a fleece under my jacket
Click to expand...
Yes I had a morning out yesterday in north wales on the Bandit , definitely a bit chillier
had a nice run out though and did an oil and filter change when I got back
just the coolant to change when it arrives from Amazon, don’t actually have a local bike shop anymore and the nearest one only sells it in 1 litre bottles, need 7 litres to do both bikes
 
Had a short run - just 16 miles - on the ZRX yesterday. First time it's been out in a week. To be honest, most places I go on the motorbike I can go on the pushbike (I did the 16 miles twice yesterday, once on the pushbike, and once on the motorbike). Not sure things will ever go back to just riding for riding's sake, both from a time and a money perspective. I kind of miss those Sundays riding over to Abergavenny via Skenfrith, and admiring the scores of bikes in the bus station whilst having a burger and coffee, and then heading out to either the Brecons or the Elan valley or even Snowdonia. I did pop into the cafe at Llandovery a while back for old time's sake, but like I say I think those days have gone for me. Although maybe if I bought a new bike...
 
  • Like
Reactions: Nod
I just saw this reviewed on Bike World TV, the first electric adventure bike. I really like it, and the tester was impressed.

BUT.

Prices start at over £24000. That’s more than double what I paid for a brand new Triumph Tiger 900 GT.

www.zeromotorcycles.com

Zero Motorcycles DSR/X

The purpose-built DSR/X is a true adventure machine, featuring cutting-edge technology and a lightweight, robust chassis for unparalleled capability. Its sleek design, ergonomic features, and optimized geometry ensure confident control on the trail.
www.zeromotorcycles.com www.zeromotorcycles.com
 
Ricardodaforce said:
I just saw this reviewed on Bike World TV, the first electric adventure bike. I really like it, and the tester was impressed.

BUT.

Prices start at over £24000. That’s more than double what I paid for a brand new Triumph Tiger 900 GT.

www.zeromotorcycles.com

Zero Motorcycles DSR/X

The purpose-built DSR/X is a true adventure machine, featuring cutting-edge technology and a lightweight, robust chassis for unparalleled capability. Its sleek design, ergonomic features, and optimized geometry ensure confident control on the trail.
www.zeromotorcycles.com www.zeromotorcycles.com
Click to expand...
I wonder how many charging points one would see on an adventure ride? :cautious:
 
Ricardodaforce said:
I just saw this reviewed on Bike World TV, the first electric adventure bike. I really like it, and the tester was impressed.

BUT.

Prices start at over £24000. That’s more than double what I paid for a brand new Triumph Tiger 900 GT.

www.zeromotorcycles.com

Zero Motorcycles DSR/X

The purpose-built DSR/X is a true adventure machine, featuring cutting-edge technology and a lightweight, robust chassis for unparalleled capability. Its sleek design, ergonomic features, and optimized geometry ensure confident control on the trail.
www.zeromotorcycles.com www.zeromotorcycles.com
Click to expand...
It doesn't sound like a particularly long range for a bike intended for 'off road' excursions far(?) away from a recharging point :thinking:
 
Range anxiety will, for now, be a major influencer (as I see it) until the charging infrastructure is that bit better.

Though not about bikes......I recall a news item approx two years back about an Indian entrepreneur who introduced electric motor rickshaws. The range I think was 60 miles but the batteries were interchangeable, do the driver could route back to the base as and when needed to swap for a fully charged one.

Also, on a recent trip to Guernsey I saw a very small (smaller than a Smart car) electric car and spoke to the owner. He said that the range was 80miles but since he bought it 4 weeks ago he had yet to charge it!

So everyone's needs are different.

So a bit like early adopters of any variation of technology it will be interesting to see how the eMotorbike owners get on?
 
Topsy said:
I wonder how many charging points one would see on an adventure ride? :cautious:
Click to expand...


Given that the majority of "adventure" bikes never get off road (unless you count driveways and pavements... :P), I'd guess that you'd see as many as all the other road bikes!
 
What a day for motorbikes yesterday...roads were really quiet, like riding in lockdown still managed to get a breakfast and a couple of cafes for a coffee later on( bit of a loop so we went to ome place twice)..getting petrol wasnt too bad just had a 5 minute wait at one garage in alston when they shut for a small time but apart from that no trouble,we did 280 glorious glorious miles through the lakes over to the yorkshire dales and back , mainly bikes on the road even later on...every biker was buzzing at how good the roads were...never stopped sming all day 20220919_130503.jpg
 
Box Brownie said:
It doesn't sound like a particularly long range for a bike intended for 'off road' excursions far(?) away from a recharging point :thinking:
Click to expand...
Bruce smart AKA teapot1 is doing a round britain trip on an electric bike on youtube at the moment( albeit on a 125)..infrastructure is sadly lacking and recharges in somd areas is already expensive( cost him £6 for 50 miles added range) at one point ...its a big fat no for me i get enough petrol anxiety when that light starts to flash in a petrol bike
 
Box Brownie said:
It doesn't sound like a particularly long range for a bike intended for 'off road' excursions far(?) away from a recharging point :thinking:
Click to expand...

Oh wow 24K for a motorbike that’s mad no way could I justify or afford that
 
I was tempted by one of the new Rocket IIIs but even that was under 24!
 
Not tempted by one TBH. Been there and had the operation.
 
After my recent battery woes, due to a little bit of battery neglect on my part as well as it being a Chinese battery, fitted by the dealer when I bought the bike, I bought a new one. I paid decent money for it, so I expect it to last a while. 3 years on the previous Chinese one though wasn't bad really.

Anyway, I want to protect my battery investment this time so I also bought a battery tender, an Opimate3, which arrived today. I've installed the wiring that enables me to basically plug the bike into it when I park the bike up at home. All looks good. I must admit to be slightly paranoid about leaving it on overnight though, throughout the winter.

I'm keen to find out how good the 'battery recovery' mode works, as the tender is apparently able to recover 'dead' batteries, depending on how far gone they are. My dead battery was retaining 11 volts, so should be recoverable as the limit for truely dead is 2 volts. I'll test this with the Chinese battery.

If this works, I may try it on my car battery, as it has been sluggish lately, although I will need to check the Optimate is suitable for bigger, car batteries.
 
Last edited:
Don't worry about it staying plugged in 24/365(+). Make sure there's an obvious reminder that it's plugged in though... I rotate my bikes on mine through winter to keep them all topped up and have an Oxford solar panel plugged into one as well (that one doesn't get Optimated and gets used on sunny days throughout.

I would guess that the Chinese battery will be recoverable from 11V but I'd keep it as a spare rather than trusting it once it's "recovered"!

It'll be fine on a car battery but will take a while to top it up to full - Mrs Nod's MX-5 gets an occasional day or 2 over the Winter.

The MONITOR accessory is quite handy so you can see when the battery reports as full as well as its state of health/charge. Looks like Optimate themselves are sold out of it but I'd think somewhere like sportsbikeshop would have one.
 
Nod said:
Don't worry about it staying plugged in 24/365(+).
Click to expand...


I'll try not too. It's in my workshop, which has a professionally fitted electrical supply, as well as smoke detection. It's a wooden cabin though, so the vision of it 'going up' is one I try not to imagine.


Nod said:
I would guess that the Chinese battery will be recoverable from 11V but I'd keep it as a spare rather than trusting it once it's "recovered"!
Click to expand...


Yup, that is my plan. It's already had a test cycle and now the Optimate is charging the new bike battery. The Chinese battery was still at 12.4 volts, 2 hours after being taken off. It needs a longer cycle though, to be fair, as it was just a test.

Nod said:
It'll be fine on a car battery but will take a while to top it up to full - Mrs Nod's MX-5 gets an occasional day or 2 over the Winter.
Click to expand...

Cool. I will take the car battery off in the next day or so, check it for anything obvious then give it some time on the Optimate.


Nod said:
The MONITOR accessory is quite handy so you can see when the battery reports as full as well as its state of health/charge. Looks like Optimate themselves are sold out of it but I'd think somewhere like sportsbikeshop would have one.
Click to expand...


Stop it, I see the need to spend more money. :LOL:

That does actually look like a worthwhile investment though. (y)
 
Dale. said:
Cool. I will take the car battery off in the next day or so, check it for anything obvious then give it some time on the Optimate.
Click to expand...

I got an(other!) extra connection thingy so the Mazda's got a hard wired Optimate point.

I've also got a few extensions so the charger lead can reach anywhere on the drive or in the garage.
 
Nod said:
I got an(other!) extra connection thingy so the Mazda's got a hard wired Optimate point.
Click to expand...


I fitted one to the bike today. I may well get one for the car soon.
 
Or get some ring connectors and modify the crocodile clip leads that (IIRC) come with the charger... ;) Easy to get the polarity right - compare it to the one on the bike.
 
I had the opposite problem a few years back! When I bought the Enfield, I discovered that my old jacket was a touch snug so I bought a new one that fitted perfectly. After a few years of illness, The new one was so much too large that I could almost get it on over the old one (that now fitted again [well. I could get it on but bending my arms and breathing was a strain!!!]). Current one fits properly but squeaks.
 
Nod said:
I had the opposite problem a few years back! When I bought the Enfield, I discovered that my old jacket was a touch snug so I bought a new one that fitted perfectly. After a few years of illness, The new one was so much too large that I could almost get it on over the old one (that now fitted again [well. I could get it on but bending my arms and breathing was a strain!!!]). Current one fits properly but squeaks.
Click to expand...
I'm digging out my old gear from a box in the garage today.....should be interesting.
Im sure the boots will fit... :LOL:
 
Did my first oil and filter change for over 30 years and nothing went horribly wrong!

It was a beautiful crisp, sunny morning so went for a ride out for a couple of hours and the new oil has stayed on the inside.

A good morning.
 
simon ess said:
Did my first oil and filter change for over 30 years and nothing went horribly wrong!

It was a beautiful crisp, sunny morning so went for a ride out for a couple of hours and the new oil has stayed on the inside.

A good morning.
Click to expand...

yes I do mine as well modern bikes are actually easy to look after even changing the coolant on my Kawasaki Z750 was an easy job and the oil and filter is easy too
the valve clearance on modern bikes rarely needs adjustment
 
I shall be doing all my own servicing and maintenance as far as possible.
LCPete said:
the valve clearance on modern bikes rarely needs adjustment
Click to expand...
Every 16000 miles on mine, so I'm about a year away yet.

Valve clearance on my old Triumphs was a lot easier - a couple of spanners and feeler gauges. 1/2 hour tops. On this bike you have to remove the tank and airbox and various other bits, measure the clearance, order the necessary shims then reassemble.
 
You are waiting in a queue of traffic. A van approaches from a side road to your left, and you let him out.
You notice the mobile phone in his hand and he’s chatting away.
What would you do?
 
What could you do that would make any difference to anyone or anything?

I learned many years ago to leave ego at home and get home safe.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top