Bang for Buck mods & upgrades

The 18" rear wheel is off a '77 Standard. Somebody brought the remnants of one to toss in my dealer's boneyard. It was just a chassis, no motor or bodywork. They brought it in the trunk of their car and to get it to fit, they cut the steering neck w/ forks off the front of the frame, lol. I just happened to be about to bring my dealer a junk XS500 (or was it a KZ440, lol) and I offered to trade him. He said fine. This was a good score on my part - flanged allow wheels, good fork set w/ gauges (and a key), side and centerstand, lots of good stuff for free.
 
flanged alloy XS650 wheels are like hens teeth here in the UK I wouldn't like to think what they would cost .
I'm sure other make bikes of the period would have used the same rims .Maybe that profile is still available new I don't know.

Free is so much more satisfying isn't it lol its why I always prefer to salvage if I can . My idea of heaven as a lad used to be to take a bag of tools and lunch and spend the whole day at a breakers yard ...
 
How'd you pass road/safety inspection with 12 year old tires? I thought y'all have more stringent requirements than us

not necessarily . providing the tyres look sound with no damage or degradation they will pass an MOT test. The inspector doesn't check the date of the tyres on classic motorcycles . Vintage motorbikes could have tyres that are 30-40 years old .

Besides my bike being manufactured in 1978 it qualified for Historic vehicle this April which means there is no requirement for either an annual roadworthy inspection and MOT certificate nor road tax either . ! From now on it is my responsibility to maintain the bike in a safe roadworthy condition at all times.;)
 
Last edited:
If your back is as ba thd as you say it is........... forward controls with the buckhorn bars is going to aggravate it.............your going to be sitting and rolling on your tailbone and the center of gravity will be more to the rear of the bike with more wind resistance and even less stability than you have now................ Themain part of your weight will be taken on your tailbone/arse and not distributed through your feet and leggs coupled with the extra wind resistance it will put more strain on the lower back........

FWIW
well I was lying about my spine missing the L5/S1 cartilage of course .....but then you would know far more about my medical condition and also what i find comfortable than i would naturally :)
 
Funny how you highlight a perceived slight...............Ignore the facts at our peril........You claim a bad back ..........i have no evidence to say it isn't so............having a bad back myself i pointed out an obvious problem

Ill remove my previous post.............
 
60C84329-9928-4D29-B9F1-82AEF98ABEB6.jpeg
Wish I could know first hand how Captain America handled ?
 
don't you think someone would be aware of what is likely to aggravate their particular back problem rather than relieve it ? It took me 4.5 years to learn to walk properly again after my spine collapsed . you learn a lot in that process

if you have a bad back as you claim , lol , then you will be aware that what aggravates or relieves pain in your back and it is not necessarily the same as anyone else.

With my particular issue I find that bending my back in a C shape further than a sitting position immediately causes pain and can result in weeks of spasms because the facets of my vertebrae pinch my sciatic nerves . The further I can straighten my spine the more relief I get.

your situation sounds like the reverse
 
don't you think someone would be aware of what is likely to aggravate their particular back problem rather than relieve it ? It took me 4.5 years to learn to walk properly again after my spine collapsed . you learn a lot in that process

if you have a bad back as you claim , lol , then you will be aware that what aggravates or relieves pain in your back and it is not necessarily the same as anyone else.

With my particular issue I find that bending my back in a C shape further than a sitting position immediately causes pain and can result in weeks of spasms because the facets of my vertebrae pinch my sciatic nerves . The further I can straighten my spine the more relief I get.

your situation sounds like the reverse

Ring life line..........
 
Ring life line..........


? only you could say that to a fellow biker who is disabled


So....once again Skull650 has taken one of my threads off topic so that he can have a go and be his usual obnoxious insulting self.
I'm going to abandon this thread before it turns into his private slanging match
 
Last edited:
If you have a DVD of Easy Rider there are a bunch of special features. In there is an interview with Peter Fonda. He talks about how hard it was to ride that bike.
leo
 
If you have a DVD of Easy Rider there are a bunch of special features. In there is an interview with Peter Fonda. He talks about how hard it was to ride that bike.
leo
I keep meaning to get that video ........I read a really interesting article recently about the idea for the movie and who designed and built the bikes etc but for the life of me I can't remember where.:(
Of course although my riding position on my bike is similar to the picture my bike is a completely stock 78 Special and the bar grips are a lot lower ... well below
the level of my shoulders so stability simply isn't an issue from that perspective................ unless every special model suffered with instability :)
 
Peanut. Next time you're riding and experiencing cross-wind instability, momentarily release the handlebar (hands hovering just above), and see if the instability remains, or recedes.

If it recedes, consider that your body, and grip, are inducing the effect.

If not, then bike handing upgrades may be warranted...
 
Peanut. Next time you're riding and experiencing cross-wind instability, momentarily release the handlebar (hands hovering just above), and see if the instability remains, or recedes.

If it recedes, consider that your body, and grip, are inducing the effect.

If not, then bike handing upgrades may be warranted...


good tip 2M thanks.;)

I always ride and drive with a loose fingertip grip . I let my vehicles steer themselves as most of them have strong self-righting characteristics. Its a habit I acquired over the years driving my sports cars as their much easier to drive with just a guiding hand. The high bars and lean back riding position aids this as I do not have any bodyweight on the bars like most have

its been raining cats and dogs for a couple of weeks but as soon as we get a dry spell I'll stick some new tyres on and see what difference that makes. The bike is an import from Iowa with 18k on the clock so I wouldn't expect the bearings and bushes etc to be significantly worn but rubber deteriorates with age so a thorough check over will be done starting with the swingarm and forks .

hey 2M I just had a mental picture of you riding down the road with your hands hovering above the grips .....look Mum no hands ...:laugh2:
 
Last edited:
I would expect both steering bearings and bushes to be shot at 18K. Really 90%?? of these are bad no matter the miles traveled. I didn't change the swingarm bushings on Allison's period piece (they passed the wiggle test). Riding it the other day after changing the rear wheel (long dull story there) I can feel the bushings need replacement. On Madness I have decided it's time for lower fork bushing replacement, thought it was steering bearing, adjustment needed, but checked and the problem is lower.
 
Last edited:
yes I suspect you're right . I've always planned on replacing all of it anyway and have had the parts for a couple of years waiting for a roundtoit to come along. :)
i'll take another look through Mintons mods..... 5T reminded me the other day
 
Back
Top