I’m with you on the 2 stroke thing. My first half decent bike was a 350 ypvs and I still maintain that the 5 minutes before it got warmed up in the morning were some of the most spine tingling, anticipation filled moments of my life. You just new that it was going to go mental at any moment. You just didn’t know when. Obviously the potential for it to randomly seize at any minute added to “the thrill”.

I miss bikes. I may get another. If the wife will let me………

My brothers sold on small 2 strokes too. Honda NSR250SP in Rothmans fag packet colours, Aprilia RS250, TZR250 all in the garage. He sold the Diavel because it was the least fun and the only one that was depreciating!

Right now I’m happy with slow and plodding.

I’m commuting 50 miles a day from Aldershot to Kingston on my XVS125, and hoping that all the road time will help with the test.

Not really grabbed by speed and power, but like the idea of a modern classic, and I love the Guzzi for the heritage and the styling.

I may change my mind down the line, but that’s where I’m at.

tootallpaul – Member
Thanks everyone!

Everybody mentions “bad habits”- but what are they?

Basically driving a bike as if you were still driving a car.
Making assumptions car drivers ‘see’ you, they don’t, you don’t appear on their peripheral vision.
Driving faster than your stopping distance.
Underestimating your stopping distance
Underestimating your own capability to stop without coming off within an average stopping distance (Ever practised a full on emergency stop at 40?) Imagine what it’s like at 60, 70 or greater.

I could crack on, my advice to everyone is to accept you will come off sooner or later and it will likely be because a car or truck driver causes it, so be well dressed, well vizzed, and well helmeted, Over the 50 years I’ve ridden bikes I’ve had half a dozen or so nastys and only one was down to anything other than car driver issues and that was gearbox/failure locking up the clutch.

I’m just about to buy my nth bike hoping for a Triumph Scrambler which may deal with the pot holes round these parts better than most, because if cars don’t get you, often shitty third world road conditions will.

I’m commuting 50 miles a day from Aldershot to Kingston on my XVS125, and hoping that all the road time will help with the test.

if you’re in the south east i would ensure that any proposed purchase will be allowed in the new emission zone in London, I think this may realy kill the second hand value of some older bikes. I do like your choice of a guzzi though they look lovely (even if my old v50 was a pile of leaking crap)

Had someone pull out of a side-road on the dual carriageway on me today. 70ish down to about 10mph very quickly. It’s not something I want to repeat often.

Rachel

Other bad habits…
Braking mid corner.
Target fixation and not looking where you want to go.
Using rear brake excessively (unless at low speed)
Getting intoxicated with exhaust noise
Not opening up corner
Move weight mid corner
Prepare before corner entry
Trying to carry too much corner entry speed
Not looking for vanishing point

There’s a million bad habits and all depends how you ride as to what you might need to worry about.

But read up on the right approach with twist of wrist and roadcraft at least makes you understand what a good habit is and how to recognise bad habits.

Missed one. Listening to people on internet forums (me included! )

Practise braking hard – practise locking the front wheel. take it to lock up, over and back again without releasing the brake completely. Best done in slippery conditions. This then gives you the skill to emergency stop properly. Its astonishing to me how many bikers both powered and peddled cant use the front brake properly

Practise braking hard – practise locking the front wheel. take it to lock up, over and back again without releasing the brake

Or buy a bike with ABS!!!
You should try this on my 78wing.. you’d need the grip of a **** gorilla!!!

I will take the abs option for now. Locked up the front once and that was enough…

Bought a Guzzi V7 cafe racer after passing my test and loved it but it is harder work than a newer sportsbike or the likes.
Took my V7 to Isle of Man on TT week and there weren’t that many passing me on the mountain course and it was fast enough for me at the time.
Makes you appreciate bigger bike when you upgrade, easy to work on, shaft drive,adjusting valves etc. and my one was pre ABS but that wasn’t an issue.

If I was going to go for a traditionally styled bike the V7 is the one I’d choose. They’re a bit more authentic than what other manufacturers produce like Triumph’s Bonneville’s and Ducati’s Scrambler.

Not sure I’d want to commute on one or at least not in all weathers as I’m not sure of the build quality compared to what the Japanese produce but I’d imagine it’s not as good.

If you haven’t already then you need to try one for size as they’re pretty small, I’m 5’10 and when I took one for a test ride a few years ago my bro said it looked a little small for me.

Bikes like the V7 do have their limitations dynamically too and if you want to progress your riding with a view to going for something more powerful or fast in the future (you don’t have to, my main road bike is a 650 and I’ve ridden bikes for 32 of my 38 years) something more modern but similarly powered might be better like a Kawasaki ER-6/Ninja 650/Z650, Suzuki SV650/Gladius or the Yamaha MT-07.

If you cannot control a front wheel under braking to lockup and back then you cannot stop the bike as quickly as its possible.
Practising braking hard is a very good skill and its astonishing how many bikers can’t do this. I haver twice been hit from behind by following motorcycles when I have stopped as they couldn’t stop in the same distance due to being scared to use the front brake in the wet – and once on an MTB the same thing happened.

I almost never used to use the rear brake on my motorcycle

Hmm interesting what people say on here.

Twist of the Wrist is really aimed at track riding and even then there is a lot of conjecture as to if some of it is really applicable to modern bikes with modern suspension. If you want to look at some of the alternative views on this have a read of Simon Crafars Motovudu.

tjagain, if you don’t use your back brake then you are probably losing a metre of stopping distance. In the initial stages of braking before the weight is transferred to the front, it can be very effective. It also can be trailed into a corner, particularly down hill corners.

I really like the look of the V7 Racer, only thing that put me off is the polished look tank is actually plastic. I know it should not matter but it kind of did for me 🙂

My advice is take care build up slowly and most of all enjoy it 🙂

If you cannot control a front wheel under braking to lockup and back then you cannot stop the bike as quickly as its possible.

New bikes all come with ABS (part of Euro 4), you’d be hard pushed to lock the front wheel… Not arguing with the rest, when I got my first bike one of the first things I did was to practise emergency stops (in a local industrial estate, out of hours and no traffic around).

Was about to mention you should practice emergency stops often, but beaten to it. Still good advice. And practice acceleration too, and sharp changes of direction. No point being on a fast a nimble machine if you don’t know how to be fast* and nimble on it (*fast at stopping and turning too). Best advice i can give pretty much covered above, assume no one has seen you and always have an escape route (or two) planned. You don’t need much space to avoid a collision.

p.s. If you do find yourself carrying too much speed as you enter a corner, use the rear brake – not as powerful so doesn’t unsettle the bike and more importantly, doesn’t stand the bike up.

If you can’t find a red one, I can promise you that even black ones are plenty quick enough 🙂

Cheers, Rich

bazzer – Member

I really like the look of the V7 Racer, only thing that put me off is the polished look tank is actually plastic. I know it should not matter but it kind of did for me

Only plastic for the first few years then metal thereafter.I think the racer is a bit OTT in the styling department to be honest.
All the V7s are the exact same just in different disguises.