Motorcycles

The moral of this story is never start sorting out one bike before finishing the previous one ...

Pop’s Coffee shop is part of the Triumph shop in Roswell, GA just north of Atlanta in the US. It’s pretty cool.

How's the weather up there for riding? Not afraid of water, just careful with it.

I'm back.

That damn daylight savings time fucked up my picture today by putting the shadow of our building right across my parking space. Oh well.

Here's my super grubby and somewhat ADV-ified Bashan BSR-250. I didn't think about it until I got it out today, but it could really use a wash.

She's called Theseus.

This death trap is built on the frame of a junker 1985 Honda Shadow I bought for very cheap. It combines a 30AH 48 volt battery with a beefy Kelley Controls bldc controller and a 3kw motor which seems to be intended for golf carts.

On a flat, straight road this thing can achieve 50mph, limiting it solely to city use, but it climbs hills decently well and has gotten me to work and back many, many times.

The front sprocket has 16 teeth, and the rear sports a whopping 72. This is to compensate for the very high speed of the motor but frankly pathetic torque. At a lower gear ratio, this under-powered machine would not be capable of hauling its heavy 80s frame up my long and steep driveway.

It is ugly and probably quite dangerous, but I love it very much.

Only mod is the noid delete which restricts WOT in third gear (to meet noise regulations). Love the bike and torque from the V twin. But maintenance is high. The valves need to be adjusted every 8k miles. The rear sprocket is aluminum.

Note the front brake is a perimeter brake system. Fuel is in the frame. I bought the bike because I appreciate engineering.

She leaves a blue smoking trail behind but I love it!

Meep meep!

We're supposed to have one more day of temperatures in the 80's today before plunging back into the 50's and rain for the foreseeable future. That sounds like a great day to get this little thing out and about.

The Metropolitan has all the charm of a Vespa but since it's made by Honda it actually starts every time you press the button, and the electrical components never come over all Italian. This one is from the last model year before they all went two-tone, and has a fuel injected (!) GY6 engine with 49cc's, generating a whopping 4 horsepower. It's like Baby's First Motorcycle, with a full compliment of handlebar controls identical in layout to a full size motorcycle: High and low beams, turn signals, a horn, and a giant retro dial speedometer with a digital odometer, trip counter, and clock in it.

This is a twist-and-go machine with no manual clutch. The clutch is centrifugal, built into the little belt driven CVT transmission. Thus both levers on the handlebars are brakes. The brakes are cable actuated and linked, so one lever can brake both wheels. Although, each one does favor one wheel or the other a little more -- The layout is like a bicycle, and the left lever is biased towards the front wheel while the right lever is biased towards the rear.

My state classifies it as a "moped." Tru fax about that, regarding the laws where I live:

• You don't need a motorcycle license to ride one.
• Registration is $5 for 5 years, and they give you a teeny little license plate to put on it.
• No insurance is required. Just pay your 5 bucks, put gas in it, and go.
• The law considers it a motor vehicle and a bicycle at the same time. It is legal to park this on the sidewalk or in a bike rack, and also roll it down bike paths -- provided the engine is off at the time. (Tough since it doesn't have pedals, but not impossible if you can find a suitable hill.)
• Operation on public roads is permitted, but not interstates or controlled access highways.

Also:

• This son of a bitch gets 117 MPG.

And yes, you can make it do a wheelie if you stand on the rear grab bar. I haven't been able to make it pull off a stoppie yet. I think the brakes and tires are too dinky. The realistic top speed is about 37, until you find your first hill. The speedometer is marked up to 40.

Made by Nicot and distributed by Orion, the RXB has a very KTM "inspired" frame design with a Honda CB derived single cylinder 249cc engine. A lot of Chinese drop-shipped bikes are advertised as "250" cc, but this one actually is. It's got six gears, too. Capable of 20-ish horsepower, lightweight, simple, cheap, it's about 75% of a KLX250 or CRF250L for 25% of the price. Mine is one revision older than the one they're selling now -- the current version has fuel injection. Mine is a carb.

Somehow, my local DMV tried to give me shit for the relatively tame Shinko 805's on my KLR, but this thing and its tires sailed right through and they let me slap a plate on it. Go figure. (The stock ones it came with weren't even DOT. I replaced the rear with a Tusk DSport after burning it up pretty much immediately.)

The photo is about 6 years old, the CRF1000 looks quite rough now after my ATW trip :)

199cc and a widowmaking 14 horsepower. A lot of people call their motorcycles "toys," but this bike really feels like one.

Any chance to identify the brand? 🤣

Hi everyone, I am not new to motorcycles but I am new to cruisers, I wanted to make this short post to hear from you if you have any recommendations on cruisers intermediate/lower intermediate riders, if possible I also wanted to keep this under €15k for a new one, I think I'll be buying a used bike but if I din't manage to find one then I would buy it new.

Helps that out of all my bikes the KLR is the one with the heated grips on it, and all my rain stuff is in the panniers full time.

Slightly artfully cropped as well, since my boss showed up at the ass-crack of dawn today for some reason and stole my parking space. Special guest appearance by the broken down Prius that's been at the end of our lot without moving for the better part of a month.

Took the family to Hawaii, after a day or two I saw only one rider in full gear.

Damn near everyone is wearing sandals, no helmet and riding sportbikes or HD's.

Does it vary by island? What state has more squids?

Some interesting moto films for this upcoming film fest in the US. The films in this link were intended for public vote, but it seems the voting deadline has passed. I got this link from an email from Triumph

This may be one of the only second series RC8Cs in the world that's not already sold. Anyone have $41k burning a hole in their pocket?