The Sarge wrote: ↑Sun May 13, 2018 3:05 pm
Happy with my Bikes ? Most definately but ........................
My 2009 GS1200 is too heavy for anything other than mile munching (which it does faltlessly) commuting to and from the Uk.
The 2014 690 Enduro is a blast, I love its raw power but for round here in Brittany its too much reallly, better suited to being back in Blightey where I ride to Bunkhouse weekends and trails. Whereas my 1993 DR350 Enduro is perfect for blatting about here, an requires no effiort to ride or maintain. But my Adventurised 1998 DR650 SE (The Donk) is by far the most versatile for everyday use, great on trails, good enough for 8hrs on roads, but its currently in the UK
With the TET looming in a months time I am going to have to do a swap around, and I am leening toward the DR650
Sarge
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What TET you doing sarge ? ...............................and as far as Donks are concerned nuff said
Happy with my Cali and RX4 outfit, although one day I might look at a Hedingham chair. Happy with my Cali III solo, effortless cruising, easy and cheap to run and maintain, stands up to the winter better than a lot of modern bikes and bucket loads of character. The only issues with it are me getting older and noticing it's size and weight more than I used to, particularly when going through traffic and in the ice and snow. Love my Norton model 50, it is great for the roads in the Peaks and good for commuting, I just need to finish off the rebuild and get it back on the road. I also need to sort out my TSS and ideally find a new set of crankcases to stop the oil leak, as at the moment it has T140 cases which are a bit of mismatch with the barrels.
The real question is my CCM, which is still at the factory. It is undoubtedly the best bike I have ridden off road and I think is still the only genuine lightweight adventure bike. However the unreliability, the poor finish and the almost constant cleaning that CCM say it needs, mean that it is the least useful bike I own and probably the one I am most likely to get rid off, when I get it back. It is with out a doubt the most disappointing bike, out of about 60 or so, that I have ever owned. Although I had much lower expectations of some of the others, but then some of them cost less than a hundred quid and proved more durable and reliable than the nine grand CCM.
After the experience of the CCM I doubt I will ever buy another modern bike although I could be tempted by an Enfield or a Zero.
Cheers Jak
mark vb wrote: ↑Mon May 14, 2018 12:47 pm
Very happy with my several now-ageing machines. Funny isn't it, now being in a position to have any bike/s there's really nothing I fancy.
I can identify with that which is why I think it is what you want to do with it and not about the bike or badge.
Our thoughts of walking 'The Camino' have taken a backward step for this year but instead we are going to do the UK 3 peaks over a 2 week period using the bikes to travel and tour around on ....... something which some friends did a few years ago on 125's.
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.
Phil,
I am meeting up with The Fab Four, Beddows, Tea, Uncle Buck and Sid either in Orleans or Verizon depending on their first days progress ?? They have a habit / history of following blue trails though and wonder why they get wet !!
Only have the 1
98 Honda XL600V, with a few mods here and there. Had it for 6 years, it's got nearly 80.000km on it
and I've done 40 of those. Been very reliable. Only had to replace clutch cable and starter solenoid
other than routine maintenance.
The big thing that bugs me about my bike is it's weight. A heavy donkey low on power, but it does the
job and at least I have a bike :\
My main problem apart from indecision is a surplus of disposable income(no you can,t have it before anyone asks)
When i was younger i had one bike when i could afford it and i rode it all the time in all weathers and didn,t really think about "am i happy with this bike" I did of course harbour intentions of buying bigger and better bikes and had the posters on my wall.
Now at a certain age and being more financially stable i can pick and choose my bikes and have more than one. I tend to do a lot of research,go out and buy the bike and then think "should i have got something else instead" I thought i would buy a do it all bike in the form of a BMW F800gs but of course it didn,t really do it all. It was too pretty and immaculate condition and very heavy off road where i didn,t want to damage it. I am now back down to one bike which is a 2007 Suzuki DRZ400s which i am very happy with. It works well off road and with a large 15ltr fuel tank,rear rack and frames for soft panniers makes a good adventure bike and passable road bike. The holy grail of motorcycles will always be just out of reach for me and that is probably a good thing as there is always scope to keep looking and waiting. I am very happy with the DRZ and have no plans to upgrade...........What,s that Honda bringing out a 450 dual sport...........no Steve you don,t need one..........and so it goes on.
mark vb wrote: ↑Mon May 14, 2018 12:47 pm
Very happy with my several now-ageing machines. Funny isn't it, now being in a position to have any bike/s there's really nothing I fancy. Except perhaps a nice Triumph TR7T Tiger Trail. With only 180 made, I'm not too hopeful but let me know if you hear of one........
Well, one of these has surfaced at Cosmo Classics in Hastings, but is as yet unpriced. I still really fancy one.....
Since my last post, I have in fact bought half a TR7T - a T7
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nuff said 
IMG_3450 by Philip Parkinson, on Flickr
