Classic bikes - a worthwhile investment?

[GRW]

Yes I sympathise, I suppose it’s where people live that’s also part of the the problem, I’m just on the Yorkshire/Derbyshire border so not too bad as yet. I did also ride an Mz Skorpion sport 660 single for many years and most of the fun could be had at 40-80mph on tight corners. It was like a two wheeled caterham seven

I live in Carmarthenshire in SW Wales - so the roads for riding are mega (tho the weather often isnt).
However, Dyfed-Powys Police seem to invest all efforts into being punitive to the point of obsession with "speeding" plus we have what must be the most prolific and active Scamera use in the UK (the joint effort between Council & Police - hiding behind the non de plume that is "GoSafe" (so-called Safety Partnership, but really just licensed public sector Highwaymen).
Riding a motorcycle round here now (unless you ride so steady that a motorcycle becomes rather pointless) is playing Russian Roulette with your licence I'm sorry to say.

 

[Cato]

My second one had a TL engine it was a weapon and a half

Sold it for a drag racing busa

From the sublime to the ridiculous.

The Hayabusa is another Marmite bike, you can't argue with the performance but plenty take issue with the appearance. For me they've gone so far round the ugly dial they've actually managed to look good.

 

[stuvy]

From the sublime to the ridiculous.

The Hayabusa is another Marmite bike, you can't argue with the performance but plenty take issue with the appearance. For me they've gone so far round the ugly dial they've actually managed to look good.

1500cc supercharged wasn’t a question on looks but what I could get out of it

 

[Cato]

1500cc supercharged wasn’t a question on looks but what I could get out of it

I do like a blower on a bike. There's a bloke on OSS selling a Simms & Rohm kit for oil cooled Suzuki 1100/1200 at 1500 eruo it's sooo tempting.

 

[James1979]

I live in Carmarthenshire in SW Wales - so the roads for riding are mega (tho the weather often isnt).
However, Dyfed-Powys Police seem to invest all efforts into being punitive to the point of obsession with "speeding" plus we have what must be the most prolific and active Scamera use in the UK (the joint effort between Council & Police - hiding behind the non de plume that is "GoSafe" (so-called Safety Partnership, but really just licensed public sector Highwaymen).
Riding a motorcycle round here now (unless you ride so steady that a motorcycle becomes rather pointless) is playing Russian Roulette with your licence I'm sorry to say.

I think yours is the force who’s Chief is a militant cyclist, who hates bikes? It’s one of the Welsh ones.

 

[GRW]

I think yours is the force who’s Chief is a militant cyclist, who hates bikes? It’s one of the Welsh ones.

Not sure tbh - but all the Police seem to have any interest in - is in gathering revenue through exploiting the motorist. The Council seem to be in cahoots, with GoSafe being everywhere, plus we have had so many roads (which haven't altered in decades) have had their speed limits reduced unnecessarily (& of course "GoSafe" and Police with Hairdriers can't get out on these stretches soon enough or often enough).
They dropped a limit to 20mph (with a school on it - but then why not have lights flashing to reduce to 20mph for the 2 short periods Mon-Fri when kids are actually ON the road?) - and on the Monday morning the new limit came into force - GoSafe had a Scamera on it before 8am (so they could net a big haul of poor Sods going to work who weren't used to the reduced limit).

 

[minimutly]

I live in Carmarthenshire in SW Wales - so the roads for riding are mega (tho the weather often isnt).
However, Dyfed-Powys Police seem to invest all efforts into being punitive to the point of obsession with "speeding" plus we have what must be the most prolific and active Scamera use in the UK (the joint effort between Council & Police - hiding behind the non de plume that is "GoSafe" (so-called Safety Partnership, but really just licensed public sector Highwaymen).
Riding a motorcycle round here now (unless you ride so steady that a motorcycle becomes rather pointless) is playing Russian Roulette with your licence I'm sorry to say.

Soon to get worse mate - 20 Mphs everywhere.

 

[Robotstar5]

They dropped a limit to 20mph (with a school on it - but then why not have lights flashing to reduce to 20mph for the 2 short periods Mon-Fri when kids are actually ON the road?) - and on the Monday morning the new limit came into force - GoSafe had a Scamera on it before 8am (so they could net a big haul of poor Sods going to work who weren't used to the reduced limit).

They put a 20 mph limit in outside a school by me, no complaints as it's a sensible move, then the school closed and was demolished a couple of years ago, but the limit is still there!

 

[Pete.]

1500cc supercharged wasn’t a question on looks but what I could get out of it

What blower did you have on it a Rotrex unit?

 

[GRW]

Soon to get worse mate - 20 Mphs everywhere.

Yeah, I know. IMO the reality is this - those with the power and the wealth, want the rest of us out of / off of - personal transport.
They cannot ban us and remove the veneer / illusion of freedom (that'd be an Election Suicide move) - so instead there is a steady pressure being applied (using a raft of "reasons" like the Environment and Safety) to "justify" those pressures.
High fuel costs. Lowered speed limits. Exclusion Zones and Emission Zones etc. The car user being made responsible for (legally) and subservient to The Pedestrian & The cyclist on the roads - these are all measures where the true intent is to make personal motorised transport increasingly unattractive / non-viable / unsustainable for the masses.
(Note that a very wealthy individual is unaffected by things like ULEZ / LEZ Zones, fuel cost etc - as he can drive a Lamborghini through these areas ad pollute as much as he/she likes, because the charges are an irrelevance to them).

Perhaps within my lifetime - we will see motorised personal transport become once more the exclusive preserve of the rich, and the status quo will return to a state not unlike hundred+ years ago, where the only "Working Class" driver - will be a Chauffeur.

 

[dobbslc]

Nail on head there my friend

 

[stuvy]

What blower did you have on it a Rotrex unit?

It was built by TTS came as a complete bike with the rotrex unit

 

[minimutly]

Yeah, I know. IMO the reality is this - those with the power and the wealth, want the rest of us out of / off of - personal transport.
They cannot ban us and remove the veneer / illusion of freedom (that'd be an Election Suicide move) - so instead there is a steady pressure being applied (using a raft of "reasons" like the Environment and Safety) to "justify" those pressures.
High fuel costs. Lowered speed limits. Exclusion Zones and Emission Zones etc. The car user being made responsible for (legally) and subservient to The Pedestrian & The cyclist on the roads - these are all measures where the true intent is to make personal motorised transport increasingly unattractive / non-viable / unsustainable for the masses.
(Note that a very wealthy individual is unaffected by things like ULEZ / LEZ Zones, fuel cost etc - as he can drive a Lamborghini through these areas ad pollute as much as he/she likes, because the charges are an irrelevance to them).

Perhaps within my lifetime - we will see motorised personal transport become once more the exclusive preserve of the rich, and the status quo will return to a state not unlike hundred+ years ago, where the only "Working Class" driver - will be a Chauffeur.

What a load of conspiracy theorist tosh. Right now the main group who want you and I off the road are the hippies. Everything else I agree with though, only the "rich" will afford to be on the road. Quite where the cutoff will be will be another matter.

 

[GRW]

What a load of conspiracy theorist tosh. Right now the main group who want you and I off the road are the hippies. Everything else I agree with though, only the "rich" will afford to be on the road. Quite where the cutoff will be will be another matter.

I can see why its easy to dismiss this kind of stuff as the ravings of a loony in a tinfoil hat.

However - there HAS to be a long-term strategy to drastically reduce the use of ICE vehicles - and in a democratic & capitalist country they cannot just decide to blanket ban everyone - that leaves "persuasion" (of both carrot & stick variants) to get the process rolling.

At the same time, there will need to be a concurrent strategy or strategies - to replace the vast amount of tax revenue that the ICE vehicles contribute to the coffers. So, we can be assured that "other" forms of transport (as well as other areas) that currently suit the purpose of altering consumer habits (think the subsidised cist of running an EV, and probably all other Electric wheeled devices, and quite likely Road Cycles) - will have a shock coming.

All the above (given the clash of climate change, burning up of resources etc with the Capalist model of Consumerism & Growth) is not lunacy - its a logical, foreseeable outcome.

You may think it's "conspiracy tosh" MM - but watch this space - cos over the next say 20-years (if we are both still around) I just might be pretty close to the mark.

 

[addjunkie]

I can see why its easy to dismiss this kind of stuff as the ravings of a loony in a tinfoil hat.

However - there HAS to be a long-term strategy to drastically reduce the use of ICE vehicles - and in a democratic & capitalist country they cannot just decide to blanket ban everyone - that leaves "persuasion" (of both carrot & stick variants) to get the process rolling.

At the same time, there will need to be a concurrent strategy or strategies - to replace the vast amount of tax revenue that the ICE vehicles contribute to the coffers. So, we can be assured that "other" forms of transport (as well as other areas) that currently suit the purpose of altering consumer habits (think the subsidised cist of running an EV, and probably all other Electric wheeled devices, and quite likely Road Cycles) - will have a shock coming.

All the above (given the clash of climate change, burning up of resources etc with the Capalist model of Consumerism & Growth) is not lunacy - its a logical, foreseeable outcome.

You may think it's "conspiracy tosh" MM - but watch this space - cos over the next say 20-years (if we are both still around) I just might be pretty close to the mark.

Dont think youll have to wait the full 20 years, suspect itll be more likely 10 to 15…..

 

[minimutly]

I can see why its easy to dismiss this kind of stuff as the ravings of a loony in a tinfoil hat.

However - there HAS to be a long-term strategy to drastically reduce the use of ICE vehicles - and in a democratic & capitalist country they cannot just decide to blanket ban everyone - that leaves "persuasion" (of both carrot & stick variants) to get the process rolling.

At the same time, there will need to be a concurrent strategy or strategies - to replace the vast amount of tax revenue that the ICE vehicles contribute to the coffers. So, we can be assured that "other" forms of transport (as well as other areas) that currently suit the purpose of altering consumer habits (think the subsidised cist of running an EV, and probably all other Electric wheeled devices, and quite likely Road Cycles) - will have a shock coming.

All the above (given the clash of climate change, burning up of resources etc with the Capalist model of Consumerism & Growth) is not lunacy - its a logical, foreseeable outcome.

You may think it's "conspiracy tosh" MM - but watch this space - cos over the next say 20-years (if we are both still around) I just might be pretty close to the mark.

Well I'm not arguing about the ultimate outcome, just that there is some drive by whoever controls us (given differing countries in the Uk are controlled by different "factions") to get us all off the road. If the makers of battery cars would make them competetive to buy and maintain I'm sure the various governing factions would be more than happy to fleece the owners. Sadly, I think they will become the domain of company car drivers and the well off.
Please lets not start another argument, I know you can buy one for £30k or whatever, and how cheap they are to run etc, but the second part of that is set to change with pay per mile. And as I've said before, I can see ice engines being included in that revenue gathering exercise. I say this as someone who has a car allowance but prefers to spend it on a 10 yr old Jag xf over a leaf/tesla/whatever. Sadly the choice will disappear slowly over time.

 

[GRW]

Well I'm not arguing about the ultimate outcome, just that there is some drive by whoever controls us (given differing countries in the Uk are controlled by different "factions") to get us all off the road. If the makers of battery cars would make them competetive to buy and maintain I'm sure the various governing factions would be more than happy to fleece the owners. Sadly, I think they will become the domain of company car drivers and the well off.
Please lets not start another argument, I know you can buy one for £30k or whatever, and how cheap they are to run etc, but the second part of that is set to change with pay per mile. And as I've said before, I can see ice engines being included in that revenue gathering exercise. I say this as someone who has a car allowance but prefers to spend it on a 10 yr old Jag xf over a leaf/tesla/whatever. Sadly the choice will disappear slowly over time.

30K plus is well beyond the means of a very large proportion of motorists MM - so the shove we are getting to adopt the Milk Float will exclude I suspect millions of people.
I saw an Ad on telly the other day for a Leccy MG - a Chinesium badge engineered "budget" car brand. The price? £32K!!! Also, no-one trusts there ICE's of today as a reliable 2nd-hand option (rightly) - who would risk maybe 10-15K on a 4-year-old Milk Float?

 

[minimutly]

30K plus is well beyond the means of a very large proportion of motorists MM - so the shove we are getting to adopt the Milk Float will exclude I suspect millions of people.
I saw an Ad on telly the other day for a Leccy MG - a Chinesium badge engineered "budget" car brand. The price? £32K!!! Also, no-one trusts there ICE's of today as a reliable 2nd-hand option (rightly) - who would risk maybe 10-15K on a 4-year-old Milk Float?

Be careful, pages of arguments on here about the pros and cons of scaled up scalextrix...
I think we're in general agreement though, just that I don't think its about getting people off the roads, more about fleecing said people. Motorists are easy targets - witness the stupid mayor of Londinium, wanting to extend the Ulez to the m25...

 

[Pete.]

It was built by TTS came as a complete bike with the rotrex unit

My mate Neil bought a TTS rotrex charger setup had it fitted, melted engine had it rebuilt, melted engine. I then rebuilt his engine in exchange for him tape and jointing my kitchen ceiling. I think it went 20k miles after that without much trouble. Except that he took it on a track day at Snetterton and overheated the brakes so badly the friction material came off the brake pads and sent him into the gravel.

 

[stuvy]

My mate Neil bought a TTS rotrex charger setup had it fitted, melted engine had it rebuilt, melted engine. I then rebuilt his engine in exchange for him tape and jointing my kitchen ceiling. I think it went 20k miles after that without much trouble. Except that he took it on a track day at Snetterton and overheated the brakes so badly the friction material came off the brake pads and sent him into the gravel.

Richard was and is a see you next Tuesday

Had many a disagreement with him that came to a full blown fight

Like most people I’ve ever met and worked for they pretend they know what they are doing but honestly don’t