Cheap motorbikes……..ideas?

My brother has a Honda CB750KZ, it’s the bike he bought as soon as he passed his test on a CB250RS. He ain’t selling it…

Never been a biker, but there’s been one bike I’ve always rather fancied, and that’s the Honda NX650 Dominator. I’ve always liked the styling, as a 650 twin it’s narrow and fairly light, the ideal bike for hacking around narrow lanes and byways, and I believe the Ridgeway is still open to motorcycles. There’s one for sale in Malvern, for £3850, so not a cheap bike even now.

Scope for a certain amount of customisation as well, like upgrading forks, suspension, pipes, brakes etc, over time.

Dominator is a single. Thump Thump Thump.

I’ve got a 1986 Tenere 1VJ in ‘that blue with gold rims’ with only 25 000 km on the clocks. It lives 2m from my sofa.

Never been a biker, but there’s been one bike I’ve always rather fancied, and that’s the Honda NX650 Dominator. I’ve always liked the styling, as a 650 twin it’s narrow and fairly light, the ideal bike for hacking around narrow lanes and byways, and I believe the Ridgeway is still open to motorcycles. There’s one for sale in Malvern, for £3850, so not a cheap bike even now.

Dominators are odd. They bottomed out <£1000 a few years ago then suddenly became “classic”.  So beware that some will have been thrashed as a cheap bike at some point in their life.  For that sort of money a CRF300L has more of a modern following which means suspension upgrades are plentiful (and possibly already fitted).

Also (2nd hand info, never ridden one) not that great (soft spindly suspension being the top comment).  The bike you want is the XR650L.  But again they’ve achieved some sort of cult status in part because big air cooled singles went out of fashion for ages, and now that people want them it’s not really practical to make one meet modern emissions rules.  Even Hondas CRF450L (does it still exist?)  was a crap bike in factory trim, almost like Honda were daring people to strip it down and make it a CRF450R with lights (rather than a CRF450R with lights and a very expensive restrictor kit) because it was already impossible to make a real CRF450R with light pass the emissions rules. .

I have an 883 too. Great bikes, mine is an almost completely stock 2005 apart from some extra spotlights. I’d been toying with buying a HD for ages so just picked a cheap sportster but was surprised at how nice it was to ride so it’s a keeper now.

Put a forty quid eBay screen on mine and toured the sw of Ireland on it last year.

Next change on mine will probably be hagon shocks.

Yea, I’m umming and ahhing over suspension upgrades.  The ~£400 YSS adjustable emulsion shocks look like a good compromise along with their fork valve kit.

The stock stuff is pretty shonky, on the rear anyway, mine bottom out on a few dips with just me and a bag on the rack.

Ive used hagon before, on a hinckley bonneville and they were good enough, so being cheap by nature i’ll probably just go for them.

hdforums.com, had a good sportster section, largely America based but you do get some useful advice there.

And if anyone can recommend a better road than the one from Horton in Ribblesdale to Hawes via the Ribblehead Viaduct, I’m all ears.

That is indeed a fantastic road and certainly takes some beating.

A trip to Hawes via Ribblehead isn’t complete without a blast over the Buttertubs Pass also.

“And if anyone can recommend a better road than the one from Horton in Ribblesdale to Hawes via the Ribblehead Viaduct, I’m all ears.”

Devil’s Bridge to Sedburgh (A683) then on to Hawes (A684)

I’ve just bought a Triumph Speed Triple 1200 RR for nearly £8k less than it cost new – bargain! 2021, One owner, just under 1000 miles, brand new tyres, amazing bike

I’ve just bought a Triumph Speed Triple 1200 RR for nearly £8k less than it cost new – bargain! 2021, One owner, just under 1000 miles, brand new tyres, amazing bike

Lovely bike, but uncompromising sports bike riding position sadly! This is why they were shagging them out so cheap… A mate bought one brand new for £12k down from £18.5k, sounds like you’ve done even better! I went to look at one, assuming it would be easy to make it fit like a normal Speed Triple… It isn’t! Gutted… Same Electronic Ohlins as I had on my Tuono Factory 1100 V4, and even more poke from that lovely triple! But I can’t deal with sports bike riding position any more…

That is indeed a fantastic road and certainly takes some beating.

Shouldn’t need saying, but watch yourselves on that road… Too many have a go heroes turning themselves into statistics along there, and almost permanent police presence as such… It is a great road, but it’s one more to enjoy the scenery if that makes sense…

I am very relaxed about lower power bikes,  65 BHP with a load of torque is plenty.  The fun in riding a bike comes in thrashing them.  That 65 bhp bike is sort of legalish speeds when being ridden hard.

Recently been having more fun riding my Gasgas SM700 (74bhp) when out with mates on their big power bikes than I have on my KTM 1290SA to be fair… Only issue with the Gasgas is it’s incredibly impractical and severely uncomfortable after an hour! It’s also absolutely crap on anything other than twisty back roads, but then that’s what I bought it for…

Shouldn’t need saying, but watch yourselves on that road… Too many have a go heroes turning themselves into statistics along there, and almost permanent police presence as such… It is a great road, but it’s one more to enjoy the scenery if that makes sense…

Yep, I keep it sensible but thanks anyway – and just to clarify I’m not being sarcastic.

The statistics on that road aren’t great, some folk ride way too quick.  Not to mention the risk of animals wandering on to the road.  Yes, one for the scenery and a modest amount of speed.

Another vote for the pre VTEC VFR 800, phenomenal bike for the money.  Bullet proof Honda engine that thrives on high mileage, pulls like a train, very comfortable.  I had mine for a few years in the early 2000s and regret selling it. Brilliant two up continental tourer and fun solo scratcher. They can be prone to regulator rectifier issues but that is easily sorted.  Also as someone said above, the riding position is on the sports side of sports-tourer so a little heavy on the wrists over long distance.  At the prices they go for now some of the best bang for buck you can find.

“Lovely bike, but uncompromising sports bike riding position sadly! This is why they were shagging them out so cheap… A mate bought one brand new for £12k down from £18.5k, sounds like you’ve done even better! I went to look at one, assuming it would be easy to make it fit like a normal Speed Triple… It isn’t! Gutted… Same Electronic Ohlins as I had on my Tuono Factory 1100 V4, and even more poke from that lovely triple! But I can’t deal with sports bike riding position any more…”

I’m 6’2″ and 57 but I don’t find it too bad for the kind of riding I (mostly) do so I’ll live with it. It’s somewhere between full-on sports bike and the naked version. Given the magic carpet suspension it’s fine. I hear that the normal Speed Trip will have the fancy suspension for the next model year.

But again they’ve achieved some sort of cult status in part because big air cooled singles went out of fashion for ages

There’s a reason for that, bloody horrible for everything unless all you want is a bike to ride for 30 mins to the cafe/pub on a sunny Sunday in July.

I remember years ago buying a copy of Classic Bike and then leaving it at my folks.  My Dad was amazed at the money been spent on ‘classic’ bikes from his era (50’s thru early 60’s) – to quote, “they were crap back then”.

Now I’m my Dad 🙂

Well done @RustySpanner on getting a Guzzi for “a grand, maybe £1500” ;0)

30 years ago it would have been LC’s, narrow power bands and a box of holed pistons under the bed.

My holed LC piston is now a pencil holder on my garage workbench!

So, just over 1000 miles in  on the Guzzi and I can’t really fault it.

I’d prefer a slightly more sporting riding position, pegs further back and lower bars, but I’m getting used to it. It’s very similar to a late 70’s Bonneville.

Brakes are fine.

The biggest change has been the updated  engine map. Very unpleasant and unpredictable from a closed throttle initially, massive change after the service. Now incredibly smooth and predictable.

So, just over 1000 miles in  on the Guzzi and I can’t post a pic of it

😉 the forum is shite for doing photos still.

Hiya.

Summer appears to have buggered off but the Guzzi keeps on trucking.

220 miles today around Yorkshire and Bowland – the bike is fine, filled it up this morning and the fuel light came on just outside Downham.

MrSparkleFull Member
Well done @RustySpanner on getting a Guzzi for “a grand, maybe £1500” ;0)

Ah…sussed. ?

It was £5200, the cheapest V7 850 on Autotrader, due to it’s high mileage.

Still think I might have overclubbed it, tbh. Once moving it’s fine, but I’m non too confident at standstill or moving it round whilst stationary. It’s a big lump when tired.

Quite happy with my riding, but would appreciate some advice on shifting a heavy bike at rest – have signed up for a Police Bikesafe course but all advice welcome.

 but would appreciate some advice on shifting a heavy bike at rest – have signed up for a Police Bikesafe course but all advice welcome.

Riding at slow speed, counter intuitively, put both feet on the pegs the moment it starts to move, no matter how slowly.  That thing people do where they stick both feet out like kids bike stabilisers has the opposite effect to what they are trying to achieve. It makes it much harder to balance.  Also, a light drag on the rear brake helps sometimes when slow manoeuvring.

Manhandling the bike around whilst off it, in the garage etc. There is an exercise they do on some of the off road experience days where they get you to walk all round the bike in a full circle with just 1 finger holding it up.  Easier than it sounds and a real confidence boost.  When upright on a flat surface, even a heavy bike is nicely balanced,  There is an angle of lean, say 12-15 degrees when it suddenly becomes impossible to hold up don’t try, let it fall –  you’ll put your back out otherwise. But keep it out of that kind of lean and it easy to keep upright.  Left side of bike, left hand flat on the pillion seat or on a grab rail and front hand on the bar.  If you’re worried about stopping it rolling, put it in gear and release the clutch to act as a brake.  If your garage is very tight you can get one of those lazy Susan type turntables for the centre stand.  There is a way of pivoting a bike around on it’s sidestand but that never feels safe to me.  I always think the side stand will snap!

Practice and confidence is the main thing.

A lot of man handling avoidance requires you to plan your stops and parking a bit before you jump off – taking the time to reverse roll a bike in to a space , ride in and loop to face forward etc . You can bounce a bike down on the forks to get it to start rolling back and pivot them on the side stand to spin them around but at the end of the day a big bike is a heavy beast.  A lower seat also makes it easier: my Harley is easier to push around than my kwak 550 was.

Good advice @kilo about planning when parking/stopping. I would add a couple. If you have to park on a slope, park facing upwards with the bike left in first gear. Avoid parking across a slope as it risks straining the side stand and makes it harder to lift back to vertical or… makes it more likely to be knocked off the stand if it’s leaning up hill. Parking on a road side, rear tyre against the curb, in gear, steering lock engaged.

If it’s windy, park so the wind is from the right of the bike, pushing it onto the side stand, not off! I’ve seen a few bikes blown off their side stand in high winds.

Brilliant advice folks. Much appreciated.

Mrs is away this week and I’ve had some time off. Spent today just practicing low speed stuff locally. Feel more confident now.

Bike has been named after my great aunt, Anastacia Duplex. Duplex because of the frame, obviously. Anastacia because it’s 50 shades of grey.

And I accidentally found a forum post from the previous, original owner, who got rid because of paranoia about cheap Chinese components (cheers Piaggio) and overcomplicated electronics.

Still loving it.

Luggage arrives next week. Extended delay because the Givi factory closes for the whole of August.

This was mine. It was a scream to ride wish I’d never sold it.