Well the forecast today was sunny all day with temps at the high teens ( centigrade)
So the Accounts dept and I kittted up and boarded Nelly Pledge (our CB .. she's a Lancashire lass so the name fits)
We are lucky to live right on the doorsteps of the glorious Yorkshire Dales so heading north is our default option.So we set sail towards the area known as the Lake District, but the Lake District is famous for slow moving tourist traffic, so I planned a route round the coastal side of the LD, and it sure delivered with a deserted main road route that offers superb rolling tarmac in perfect condition...well right up to the moment we turned off on a small side road to explore a road into the edge of the LD
What a road!... completely the opposite of the first road...gnarly single track ribbon of tarmac topped off with mud, gravel with many switchbacks flooding across our path.
No passing places (thank heavens we didn't meet anything coming the other way)
It's been years since I rode these types of roads and even longer in wet soggy conditions like today.The LD often see's heavy rainy periods at any time of year and obviously there had been some serious rain on the night before, but as we would be struggling to turn around ( the grass verges were deep and full of rain water we pressed on..
We ended up very close to my original destination of a small coastal town called Ravenglass where we refuelled on tea and cake (naturally!)
All in all a round trip of 200miles so for us that's a good day out given we didn't set forth until 11am
http://imgur.com/a/vK3eROq
Hope you can see the pics..I did this from my phone so don't know the ins and outs of this way of doing it..

JT

Who owns this bike??

Gang, I have met no less than 6 cb1100 owners at this year's Barber vintage Motorsports festival and not one had admitted to being on the forum...where is everybody???

Which one is, your best guess, the most powerful light bike on the market these days. I am looking for anything under 450 pounds wet, and with a high weight/power ratio. Our CB1100, by some considered not powerful enough, comes in at about 6 pounds/HP, which is not bad at all. Funny thing is that many lighter bikes I see on the market come with 450 pounds and a ratio of 8.

Never used heated gear, not even in a New Jersey winter in 1967...I'd probably dismount and forget to unplug!

Wife and I did have riding suits (snow mobile type, but Thinsulate) when we had the 76 CB750F, but not conducive to hiking at riding stops.

When I had the CB, I used Cycle Gear Freeze-out pant liners to break the wind through my Wranglers. Unfortunately I did not keep them when I thought I would not be riding anymore.

The Freeze-outs have been replaced by Axial Block.

Wind would go right through long johns, but Freeze-outs blocked it well.

Hoping the Axial Blocks do as well, as I may encounter snow going to central Arizona, next week.

https://www.cyclegear.com/gear/axial-block-pants

Ordered on line yesterday afternoon, delivered by UPS to local store this morning.

Solo saddle, heated seat, Sunbrella top surface.


The red top is more of a black cherry color that goes very well with the tank stripe and medalion on the black CB. Less so with the red one.

The wings seems smaller than the big seat I had on the Griso - that one was 2nd hand so I'm unsure what sort of body it was build for. While it feels flatter, they also say it takes 500-1000 miles to break in. I suspect most of the break in period will occur on the trip to Death Valley next month.

Gents,

Not sure how many of you follow MotoGP racing, I've watched every race since 2000 and became a die hard fan of Valentino Rossi over that time. This is his final season, sad to see him retire. He has not performed well at all in his final year...really since the end of last season. It's been hard to see, watching arguably one of the world's greatest Motorcycle racers decline in performance over the last several years.

During the Austrian GP of 2020, he had a very close call that could have been the end for him. He has not been competitive since, and I believe the incident was the cause of his rapid decline in performance. Not sure if any of you witnessed the event, it was a terrifying close call.

[url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fq7PXy6MhS0]Austrian GP Accident

I've seen many riders suffer in a serious accident and lose their competitive edge never to regain it. This case, Rossi was not injured, at least physically, but the mental toll sure seems real to me.

Anybody else follow MotGP here?

I am pondering on traveling to the U.S. next spring, buy a CB upon arrival, ride my way, and sell it eventually (may be delays here). That is all straight forward. But the world isn't that simple no more since 9-11.

Would anybody have advice on any complications concerning registration, insurance, etc etc ? Could it be that this is relatively easy (and just a matter of papers and fees) in some states, while bordering the impossible in others ?

Do we care about cost when it comes to our beloved CB/s. Probably not. But it struck me when I added 1 + 1, and figured how motocycle tires (as a specialty market) compare to car tires (none S.U.V, or high speed, or trucks).
What are the factors ?
- changing a tire is much more work, in part. in the back,
- tires are relatively expensive,
- and they don't last as long,
- and any reasonable rider will not take risks w.r.t. wear and age, while this is less a factor for cars.

My rough guess for cost per mile ? One set of m/c tires is are at least 6 times more expensive (all factors included the fact that cars have 4 wheels is accounted for) than in cars.

Nothing new here, I suppose, but I'd like to hear your thoughts.

-WM short front fender
-Rise Corporation headlight bracket
-Lowered headlight position, removed horn
-Modified instrument cluster metal stay to lay flatter
-Woodcraft Clip-Ons
-Motogadget rubber grips
-Motogadget m.View cafe glassless bar end mirrors
-Yoshimura front and rear LED turn signals
-Posh LED turn signal relay
-Moriwaki full exhaust
-Moriwaki rear sets
-Chic Design seat
-Ryujin rear fender eliminator
-Ryujin rear grab bars (still need to fab some brackets for mismatched holes, zip ties for now)

Been daring and tried to read a report published by SHARP, in 2017 I think. It's called the COST327 report, has 235 pages, and is easy to find. And my guess, not everybody will feel compelled or equipped to digest such a volume. So I thought you might be interested in a very, very rough summary:
the good, some people do take a lot of time to look into accident data, injuries, helmet design and all the rest, their work is impressive, let's hope it will eventually make a difference.
the quick (take), when you take the time to understand their data and reasoning, you will quickly realize similarities with safety belts, ABS, and all the rest: any safety device works well at low speeds (of impact), at higher impact speeds (often as little as 35 MPH or higher - I repeat 35!!!), God bless you ! Even the latest, and most expensive high tech won't make a difference.
the ugly, at all the typical velocities which we all enjoy all the time, the accident studies make it clear that no helmet in the world can help you avoid the rotational forces which neither your brain nor your neck can handle. A very bad helmet can make them worse (if it's not as symmetric as possible = round). But whether your helmet cost 300 or 650 won't change that problem a bit.

My personal take. Please don't be upset for the personal "opinion" added to the report's results, and don't shoot the messenger.