Flat-Tracker, Street-Scrambler, Custom-Bobber. Why Retro is the future (for adventure biking).

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ChrisA
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Re: Flat-Tracker, Street-Scrambler, Custom-Bobber. Why Retro is the future (for adventure biking).

Post by ChrisA »

Metisse. from the French metis, a crossbreed.
Sprockette
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Re: Flat-Tracker, Street-Scrambler, Custom-Bobber. Why Retro is the future (for adventure biking).

Post by Sprockette »

Some more lovely pictures:

A Honda something:
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A gorgeous Bonnie type thing:
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A Dominator:
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A Harley from BSH that's titled a Sportster Supermoto:
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Lovely.
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Freeloadeur
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Re: Flat-Tracker, Street-Scrambler, Custom-Bobber. Why Retro is the future (for adventure biking).

Post by Freeloadeur »

Oooo pretty bikes.

And of course I know there's nothing new in people building their own bikes, what i was trying to get at is that as moderns get more sophisticated and reliant on computers the bike who wants to ride off into the sunset and wake up in far off lands is going to struggle with breakdowns without a trained technician and a laptop.

So the option could be to look to the nu-custom scene, pick up an older, simpler bike and tailor it to suit. Builders seem to be bursting out of the woodwork, familiar with modern materials and technologies who'll make what you want for not too much cash instead of you having to pick out of a catalogue for your farkles.

That was it really
Happiness has 125cc ...
Sprockette
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Re: Flat-Tracker, Street-Scrambler, Custom-Bobber. Why Retro is the future (for adventure biking).

Post by Sprockette »

Freeloadeur wrote:...what i was trying to get at is that as moderns get more sophisticated and reliant on computers the bike who wants to ride off into the sunset and wake up in far off lands is going to struggle with breakdowns without a trained technician and a laptop.
The thing is though, these computers are becoming easier to use. As far as fuel injection is concerned I don't think this will be too much of an issue for the near future. I did a little research before buying my W800 as to how "home-tunable" the FI would be (once the warranty runs out, of course). Turns out some people have already been fiddling with the maps and safely tweaked their own W800 without factory equipment by reverse engineering, even power commanders can be fitted, although there are no downloadable maps for the W800 at the moment, you can still have them tuned on a dyno and store the map.

Currently there is progress being made into things such as MegaTunix which is a piece of Ubuntu Linux based, open-source software that can be run using a Raspberry Pi (very cheap and easy to learn). It can be used to operate MegaSquirt FI controllers at the moment but I'm sure plenty of others will jump on the band wagon.

I have no experience with traction control and ABS control and all that stuff but I do know that brake systems can be replaced (I was considering this with the shockingly primitive ABS on my Bandit 650) so maybe other things like that can be bypassed or removed.

In all honesty though, fuel injection is just another thing to learn, most people run screaming because they don't understand it. Although I do admit that manufacturers are loathe to hand out this software and information as it means you keep coming back to them and giving them stupid amounts of money for something you should realistically be able to do at home for around 2/3 the cost of replacing a FI unit. And once you've paid for it, you can change it whenever you like.

In the near future all this stuff will be easily do-able for the home technician. I know it's extra stuff to learn but really, if you want to fix your bike out in the Ulu, you need to know mechanics, no one is born with innate mechanical knowledge, it all has to be learnt. These days FI is just another thing to learn. In the past they had to deal with setting up points and condensers before CDIs were used.

6:26 on this video shows it once it's been installed, prior to being dyno'd for it's initial set up:


And this one is the software running on a £30ish Raspberry Pi computer which primary school kids are learning to programme at school these days. Although it's doubtful they choose fuel injection as a suitable project for the wee darlings:


If it's still running in twenty years time Classic Motorcycle Mechanics will probably be showing people how to reliably do this using something extremely cheap.
Boo Cock
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Re: Flat-Tracker, Street-Scrambler, Custom-Bobber. Why Retro is the future (for adventure biking).

Post by Boo Cock »

RE the Rickman Metisse in Africa. The shock were made in Taiwan! Crap shite imported junk! I recently had a Triumph to rebuild and found one shock wagglin about where the top eye atatches to the body. The following week there were reports in the club maazine about a similar event. Never had that happen on Hagon shocks, Ever. Come to think of it, the bloke who did the welding looked a bit oriental!
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Re: Flat-Tracker, Street-Scrambler, Custom-Bobber. Why Retro is the future (for adventure biking).

Post by kito »

Any more pics of this bike .it would be good to see the other side. I realy like the look of this bike
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Re: Flat-Tracker, Street-Scrambler, Custom-Bobber. Why Retro is the future (for adventure biking).

Post by Tonibe63 »

Open your eyes and you see what is in front of you, open your mind and you see a bigger picture but open your heart and you see a whole new World.
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Re: Flat-Tracker, Street-Scrambler, Custom-Bobber. Why Retro is the future (for adventure biking).

Post by kito »

I wounder what it would be like as a every day green laning bike :evil:
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Re: Flat-Tracker, Street-Scrambler, Custom-Bobber. Why Retro is the future (for adventure biking).

Post by Chris S »

Great topic Mr Freelo. Last line of your post says it all.

A couple of my faves:
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More here

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(More here)

And in case no one's discovered it yet: Sideburn magazine
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Re: Flat-Tracker, Street-Scrambler, Custom-Bobber. Why Retro is the future (for adventure biking).

Post by Sprockette »

Freeloadeur wrote:...apologies for posting a bunch of bikes that all look the same, I was wanting to stick to the theme a bit.
No apologies needed, it's your thread and it's titled to include the bikes you've posted pictures of.
Freeloadeur wrote:The new scene gets the rider involved, in the creation of their machine and in the day to day running and repair and that's why I reckon they might just be the future for all types of biking.
I know what you mean, you were talking about the Yamaha SR400 release over here, I believe that's what they have in mind for people to do with them. Their little YBR250 never really sold well over here so I doubt they're trying to get in on the commuter section of biking anyway.

When you mentioned about the easily repairable nature of these types of bike I was hoping my post about fiddling with FI kind of supported that, that's what I was going for anyway. Maybe it's a little early for that but it's definitely do-able and soon everyone will be doing it, I'm sure.

Well, time for more bike pictures, of which I have many squirrelled away.

A couple of Yamahas, Viragos of some size I believe:
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A BMW:
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Another Yamaha, I think it's a XS650 engine, correct me if not:
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And a Jawa:
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:P A Jawa:
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