The mythical low maintenance trail bike.

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Jak*
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Re: The mythical low maintenance trail bike.

Post by Jak* »

Neither the Serow or the TTR required the seat ,the battery or anything else to be removed in order to clean them, which is apparently necessary on the CCM. It helped a lot that the Serow and TTR were a lot older and tattier than the CCM and I did not have a warranty to worry about. Spares were a lot cheaper for both of them as well. If you want a really low maintenance trail bike it would probably be best to convert an MZ.
Cheers Jak
ChasF
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Re: The mythical low maintenance trail bike.

Post by ChasF »

My 690 is much more difficult to clean thoroughly than some other bikes I have with conventional frames. Aircooled bikes are generally a lot easier to clean in the engine area. Certainly older bikes are easier to live with as it's easierto ignore scratches and scrapes. I used to have a really well sorted XR350 that was almost the perfect trail bike except that it was kickstart only, it looked a complete bag of shite. I didn't notice how rough it was until I tried to sell it!
micksea
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Re: The mythical low maintenance trail bike.

Post by micksea »

You can worry too much about what the next owner thinks about the condition/mileage of your bike.get your moneys worth out of it and let them worry about doing the same.
ChasF
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Re: The mythical low maintenance trail bike.

Post by ChasF »

I've never worried about the resale value of a bike, mostly because I rarely sell them. I've got bikes in my shed that I bought in 1974. Sometimes needs must, but I do suffer from a degree of blindness when it comes to the aesthetics of some of my bikes.
I do like to get value out ofmy bikes and most of the parts too. I'm bad with off road tyres but I've learnt that knobblies without knobbles don't work.
micksea
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Re: The mythical low maintenance trail bike.

Post by micksea »

You've owned a bike for 43 years??? Wonder if anyone on the forum can beat that,off topic I know
ChasF
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Re: The mythical low maintenance trail bike.

Post by ChasF »

micksea wrote:You've owned a bike for 43 years??? Wonder if anyone on the forum can beat that,off topic I know
I was young at the time. It's a 1954 BSA A10. The previous owner had just blown it up (literally just 30 seconds before) so I offered him £40 to take it off hi hands. It needed new pistons. I ran it for a few years when I was a student, revitalised it in the 90s for a while but since then it's sat in the back of the shed.
Redmurty
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Re: The mythical low maintenance trail bike.

Post by Redmurty »

ChasF wrote:
micksea wrote:You've owned a bike for 43 years??? Wonder if anyone on the forum can beat that,off topic I know
I was young at the time. It's a 1954 BSA A10. The previous owner had just blown it up (literally just 30 seconds before) so I offered him £40 to take it off hi hands. It needed new pistons. I ran it for a few years when I was a student, revitalised it in the 90s for a while but since then it's sat in the back of the shed.
GIS IT (thumbs)

cheers Spud ;)
Life... it's not a dress rehearsal



You don't waste time... you waste yourself
ChasF
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Re: The mythical low maintenance trail bike.

Post by ChasF »

Just been doing some work on the 690, Aiming to get it back to pretty much standard spec. just to remind myself how it was when I first had it. Most of the trail mods. make it less road friendly, so I'm going back to a 15T front sprocket, removing the Rox risers and refitting the plastic sump guard amongst other things. I'll stick with the MT21 front and E 09 rear tyres as they're not too extreme and I find them OK on the road. One thing I notice that is not very good on KTM's is the plating on the nuts and bolts. I've just restored a 1977 TY 125 and most of the main bolts were still in good nick.
jonny955
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Re: The mythical low maintenance trail bike.

Post by jonny955 »

Jak* wrote:Neither the Serow or the TTR required the seat ,the battery or anything else to be removed in order to clean them, which is apparently necessary on the CCM. It helped a lot that the Serow and TTR were a lot older and tattier than the CCM and I did not have a warranty to worry about. Spares were a lot cheaper for both of them as well. If you want a really low maintenance trail bike it would probably be best to convert an MZ.
Cheers Jak
I've never removed the seat or the battery for general maintenance cleaning, Jak!

I would probably do this for the occasional 'deep clean' as I would on any bike however it does sound extreme and careful use of a power-washer should remove any mud that would cause problems in these areas.

I must read my GP450 manual again...

Jon
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