Motorcycles

Here's mine, in order of ownership. I'd love to read about others' experiences.

Back in the late '90s I got my first anything with an engine, a fairly clapped out 50cc Yamaha Spy 2-stroke scooter. I was 16 and it was affordable transportation, but it lit the spark of interest in two-wheeled fun.

Then around 2002 I was in college and working part time, I sold the scooter and got a 1997 Yamaha Virago 125. My first 'real bike', with a thunderous 10 horsepower.

A couple of years later I graduated college and wound up getting a car to go to work in, as I lived in Ireland where it rains more often than not, and I could not afford nor have the space to keep the bike along with the car, so the Virago was sold.

Several years of 4-wheeled life pass by, then we arrive at 2014. During the previous 10 years I have moved to the US with my job, got married, and so forth. Now I'm old enough and financially solvent enough to afford a bike as well as a car and a place to live, and I go get my motorcycle endorsement (again, I essentially had to start over when I moved countries) and buy my first (and only) brand new bike - a white 2014 Suzuki v-Strom 650. I lived in Idaho at the time, which provided plenty of access to mountain roads and stuff to ride around on, it was a good fit. I kept the 'Strom until 2018 (I had recently moved to the flat midwest), and then started bike-hopping more.

I traded it in for a used and cheap (because they were very unpopular and wideley considered to be ugly) Honda CTX1300. I wanted to try something with a V4, and the OEM panniers and stuff were very attractive to me. I kept the CTX for just under a year, though. I just didn't fall in love with it. It was very comfortable and would be an excellent machine to ride across America in. Think of it as Goldwing lite. It felt a little bit too 'dad' for me at the time. Also it weighed like 725 lbs.

At the end of the season I traded again, this time getting myself onto a 2016 Yamaha XSR900. That bike was awesome. It had a torquey triple that could get going silly fast, with retro-influenced style. I rode the XSR for several years, and did some simple bolt-on mods like an improved LED headlight (the stock halogen was garbage), nice exhaust, better seat, etc.

I sold the XSR in spring of 2023 and bought a well-used 2014 BMW F800GT. It was a drop of about 30 horsepower from the XSR, but came with a lot of practicality, with OEM bags and stuff. However, this was another bike that I just didn't connect with, and I traded it in spring of 2024.

I replaced the BMW with a 2018 Triumph Tiger 1200 XRx with only 2,500 miles on it. It came with the expensive OEM panniers and is the first bike I've had with factory heated grips and seat. It also has gobs of power with that big triple, something I missed from the XSR. It doesn't get up and go quite like the XSR considering the extra weight and higher center of gravity, but it has more than enough power to keep me happy now. It also is a single-sided swingarm, shaft-drive setup which I think is pretty cool.

I still have that Triumph today, but a few weeks ago I acquired another bike - the 1975 Honda CB750F super sport pictured here. It has 34,000 miles and change on the odometer, but who knows how accurate that is. The state of Illinois doesn't require odometer readings for anything vintage. This is my first inline four bike, and I've been enjoying riding it around. It makes the 2018 Triumph feel like an absolute rocketship. I haven't hard carbs since that late '90s Virago!

The CB had 35-year-old hard-as-rock dry-rotted tires on it, but otherwise it ran pretty great. I've replaced the tires (that was a real pain in the ass, I don't think I want spoked wheels again on a future bike), and have tweaked a few things to make it run even better. Next job on the list is new brake pads and steel-braided lines. The front brake lines appear to be original from 1975 and they're spanked. Also, the front brake light switch is kaput. That's plumbed into the brake lines so I'll replace that when I do the lines.

It certainly helps to have a community of vintage bike nerds in the area to give advice, most shops do not want to work on anything this old.

Did ya ever nick your dads bike and go for a sedate spin to the beach for ice-cream? has to be sedate, she's 60 years old now, runs like a watch. with loud exhausts coz' them internals have long rotted away :)

Think I'd better bring home some ice-cream.

A garda (Irish police) officer has died whilst carrying out a speed checkpoint in County Dublin.

The front shock absorber on my Vespa GTS 250 has been dying fast since the season started. A new one is on its way. I'll stay with the Carbone Sport but the replacement is going to have a black spring instead of red.

Looks like the shock comes with a tool for rotating the bit at the bottom that sets preload for the spring. As seen in the pic, the previous owner (bless the guy - the bike is customised with great execution) opted to tighten it a notch. I love the feel as it is, so I'll need to adjust the new one to the same notch.

Now, the tool is not very long, and I'd imagine it'll be hard work to work against the spring with little leverage. Does anybody know how stiff is it going to be - can I expect to be able to set the preload after installation with the provided tool, or should I do it beforehand when I can put the shock in a vise and use a more substantial tool?

Motorbike racer Morgan McLaren-Wood, who was injured in the crash which killed two fellow riders on Monday, says "there was nothing anyone could do" to prevent the tragedy.

I'm trying to install zero-rise clip-ons, because I find that more comfortable for riding at speed than sitting upright. But the instrument cluster and headlight assembly interfere with using clip-ons, so I need to replace the headlight assembly, and relocate the instrument cluster.

Photos are uploaded on Imgur, because they were too large for Lemmy.

First part:

I'm trying to figure out what the individual wires are that are going into the terminal for the headlight assembly. There are a total of five wires in a six-pin connector (with the last terminal plugged off): blue with red stripe (UR), solid yellow (Y), solid black (B), blue with white stripe (UW), and blue with yellow stripe (?UY?).

When I look at the wiring diagram in the service manual, black (B), blue/white (UW), and blue/red (UR) go to the headlamps, and black (B) and yellow (Y) go to position lights, and I don't see anything, anywhere on the diagram labeled blue/yellow.

So, first, which wire does what? I assume that two are low beams/DRLs, two are high beams, black is the neutral (?). If I trace the wiring diagram, the blue/red comes from the headlamp dip switch, so I think blue/red is the high beam, and blue/white is the low beam/DRLs? Black seems to go to everything, so I'm assuming that's neutral.

...But what the hell are the position lights, and what it the blue/yellow wire for?

Second part:

Does anyone know exactly what the connector is that I need here? It looks like it's a Sumitomo DL 090 Sealed Series 6195-0024; does that seem correct?

Third part:

If I'm trying to wire in a 7" JW Speaker LED adaptive headlamp. Since that's only one headlamp, but the existing wiring harness wants to have two high beam wires, and two low beam wires, will I want to splice another wire into the high beam and low beam on the before crimping on terminal ends? And what about that pesky position light? Will that be the red wire--front position--for the JW Speaker headlamp?

...And I still have no idea what that blue/yellow wire does.

In my country as part of the test for you fill licence you need to perform some manoeuvres one of them being a U Turn on a normal 2 lane road, usually done in a quiet housing estate.

I have been practicing but I am struggling to get it consistently, just wondering if anyone here has any tips!

Any gear that you have liked the most? Helmet, jacket, boots, or luggage?

Was it practical? Stylish?

Oh hey there motorcycle friends of Lemmy!

I wanted to share this gorgeous beast and the hilarious story on me getting this bike. 4 years ago a postal truck decided to run over my parked 2005 GS500 and obliterate it 🙃 in the middle of a sunny beautiful day. It was definitely a shitty experience because I had to crawl the bike home with the damage it sustained (speedo cable ripped out, exhaust crushed, bent forks and bars). Luckily the postal service was deemed completely at fault and I got my dream bike paid for entirely by the postal service insurance.

So in a way...thanks postal service for your service in totalling my bike and buying me a new one 🫡

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.world/post/28414905

Let's go Yamaha!!!

Can't wait for my ankle to heal up so I can take this beauty for a spin.

Greetings to everyone in the Lemme Motocycle Community. Quite new to the site, and this is my first post. My main ride is a 2000 Moto Guzzi California model with a 1100 engine. I have had it about a year and a half and bought it from a person in Markham, Ontario with just over 5000 km.. The picture is right after I bought it. Since then I have added a top box, trailer hitch and an engine guard with highway pegs. My wife and I rode our bikes to the east cost last June and they performed wonderfully. Living in the Kingston/Ottawa area.

This is a 2024 e-clutch CB650R with the old style shrouds installed, including the Black edition shroud faceplate and decals.

Installation pictures are here: https://imgur.com/a/EaSxj8I

I ordered all the parts from the diagram, but it turns out I didn't need all parts, as they're either already (re-used) on the e-clutch version, or come pre-installed on other ordered parts.

Parts needed:

Parts not needed:

I recommend google searching for each part as the price and shipping varies massively. The bulk of parts came from bikerz bits but the shipping total was more than the parts themselves, still cheaper than going only local sourced though.

For the shiny logo on the tank, it's from the black edition:

The existing tank sticker is under the clear coat but the decals from the black edition are EXACTLY the same size as the sticker. Each letter and wing part come as separate stickers on the same sticky back paper, so you just carefully place each one-by-one over the existing sticker.

Original post HERE.

Hey all, just thought I'd post an update. Sad to say it, but insurance has written my bike off as a Total Loss. The front end is mangled just enough that their inspector said frame damage was basically guaranteed around the steering column. It's a bleeding tragedy, but my bike is off to the great Hog Meet in the Sky.

As for me, I'm handling it as best I can. Ankle is healing up, and my shoulder is almost back to normal. Yippee! I'll be buying a new bike sometime this week, a 2012 VStrom with some 30K miles on it, for $2500 from a friend. As much as I wish I could keep it, this is the end of the road for my SR400.

Finally, I'd again like to remind people to wear All The Gear, All The Time. Even with everything that's happened, I got off easy because my gear saved me. Wear the gear, even if it looks silly, because it'll help save your life.

My beloved Moto Guzzi V7 Centenario (2021, 850cc)

Moto Guzzi V7 centenario (2021, 850cc)

cross-posted from: https://fedia.io/m/technology@lemmy.world/t/1997571

TL;DR: Self-Driving Teslas Rear-End Motorcyclists, Killing at Least 5

Brevity is the spirit of wit, and I am just not that witty. This is a long article, here is the gist of it:

• The NHTSA’s self-driving crash data reveals that Tesla’s self-driving technology is, by far, the most dangerous for motorcyclists, with five fatal crashes that we know of.
• This issue is unique to Tesla. Other self-driving manufacturers have logged zero motorcycle fatalities with the NHTSA in the same time frame.
• The crashes are overwhelmingly Teslas rear-ending motorcyclists.

Read our full analysis as we go case-by-case and connect the heavily redacted government data to news reports and police documents.

Oh, and read our thoughts about what this means for the robotaxi launch that is slated for Austin in less than 60 days.

Was cruising with my riding group in Virginia, when I took a curve too fast, too wide. Ended up in the hospital, with a broken ankle and badly bruised shoulder.

It could've been worse. FAR worse. Thankfully, I subscribe to ATGATT, and made it out with relatively minor injuries. If you, or anyone you know, thinks it's OK to skimp on riding gear, let this be the reminder you need to hear: it isn't, and WHEN you crash, not if, you will regret not wearing proper gear.

Stay safe on the roads, Lemmy riders.