h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

PR: "No offence VV, but any size Virago (even the mighty 1100) can't do the over 200km/h kinda things a VFR can"

I once had a rented Virago (can't remember now if it was the 535 or the bigger bike) up to 180km/h - scary...the mirrors kept flipping back.

greenguzzi, that Corsa looks beautiful (drool)...

Just to let you know - mums sat next to me whilst I'm reading through this thread, and she said it goes bl**dy fast enough as far as she's concerned


But having said that......there's nowt wrong with a chug instead of a roar!

greenguzzi, aye, that's trhe jobby. Gorgeous bike, but then with the exception of the Nevada, most guzzis are. The only problem I have is being 6'3" they are too small they look like I'm riding a minimoto! Hence the CB1000

I appologise if this posts twice but I am getting 502 proxy errors every time I go to a new hootoo page

Icky, are you avoiding the benefits of walking into a pub and shouting "I've got a Big One" coming into your decision?

I get a few of those 502 annoying blighters too.

outrider, such conversations have occaisionally been had it must be said

At least you have the proof to back up the claim .

Really?

Well then Icky - I'm impressed


Hey - Outrider.....next time it's good weather and I have the Virago back on the road....wanna go the Tap?

Hey mine might not be the biggest available, but she's sure big enough to keep me happy...

Forget Italian stuff mate except perhaps an Aprilia of some sort.Dukes may sound and look good but invariably have a bad press when it comes to reliabilty.Have you heard a stationary Ducati?The noise emminating from the dry clutch is truly awful.

I'd go along with the guy with the VFR800,top bike indeed,either go for something like that or buy something with a bit of cult status and buy yourself a Yamaha Fazer600 instead

Well that depends you see.

I personally would never bee seen dead on a VFR800 (or the earlier 750s) or a Fazer. The VFR because it has a fairing and, although it is undeniably fast and handles well, it is a bit of an RUB bike.
The fazer because 1) it tarnishes the memory of the original Fazer which was a cool bike and b) its a Ford Escort on 2 wheels. Same as the Bandits are. and CBR600 are Escort XR3i's. Everyones got one.

Reliability etc. Who cares? Admittedly I am not a Duke fan, but Guzzis? Oh yes, the look, the feel, the power delivery. Its a sensual thing, not a sensible thing. And any real biker can fix their bike

Which is why it never pays to tell another biker what sort of bike he/she should be riding. Take the P out them all you like, extol the virtues of your own ideal, but never tell another biker what to ride!


p.s, Fazer600? Cult status? Since when? and who with? Genuinly curios, not extracting the urine!

VV, Mine hiding this winter too. But if out to play then yeah (subject to shifts, weather, acts of god and a pass out from the boss).

Duke v Jap,

I think most bikes look good and nearly every type has its good qualities (two wheels is good, four bad).
My own preference in not getting Dukes is down to the Isle of Man ferry. Every year, if the crossing gets bumpy there will be bikes on their side, almost always a duke will be involved. So convinced of this am I, that i've hung back to avoid being tied to dukes and hey presto, the row in front fell over (the BMW guy who tied up next to me had the same idea).
It should be a simple problem to sort but Ducati don't even recognise the issue. Suzuki had similar disinterest by telling us not to tour on their flagship sports/tourer.

I've had issues with Honda (every one of the three Viffas has had paint corrosion on the lower fork stansions, one had issues with the injector solenoid) All were done under guarrantee bar the recent forks which are 5+ years old.

I'm envying you antipedeans right now, summer innit?

oh aye, every manufacturer has their achilies heel. Those sidestands on the dukes are laughable and anyone with a modern sports bike will have similar problems. Remember a mates gsxr-1100 going over on a tarmac surface on a hot summers day because the tarmac softened and the sidestand was one of those short stubby ones with naff all surface area on the ground.

For hondas I have found they have a bit of a design flaw on their naked bikes, right from the 1970's CB550 I had, a mates GL1100 to my CB1000 in that the petrol tank design channels rain water down onto the coils. Seen so many hondas with a tescos bag wrapped round the coils for wet weather riding!

I alwas found cam chain tensioners Hondas weakest link. But liked everything else (mind you heavy downpours did for the 400-four above 50mph). Thats why i like gear driven cams so much.

I was always tempted by the CBX-750 purely because it had hydraulic valve mechanism that auto adjusted. Sounded like an emminently sensible idea to me. Dunno if they worked tho' as I never bought one.

Sitting at a set of lights at the TT (years ago) a Kawasaki 400J pulled up next to my 400-four.

He looked down at his bike frantically searching for something. "you alright mate?" say I.
"Nah me bikes just started making an aweful rattling noise"

"That's MY rattling noise! The cam chain adjusters sticking".

His tears of joy even cheered me up!

I never had a problem with the cam chain on the 550/4. Although the number of times I had to take the cylinder head off again because I had put the camchain guide in the wrong way round....... blooming thing.

Was always the electrics on that bike. I remember a classiv comment from the girlfriend of the time. I had just got the bike after it had been sat outside for 18 months through 2 winters and was re-doing the electrics. Now my bike electrics are a little hazy it must be said. But anyway, the regulator had a little problem. I started the bike up and was checking this and that when said girlfriend pipes up with 'Should there be flames here at any point?' Needless to say I lept upon the kill switch and investigated. the HT lead from the regulator had corroded through and was sparking off the regulator which had set fire to the manking old insulating tape which was merrily burning away. Gawd nows how long she had been looking at it before saying anything!

A bit like an ex of mine. Pointing at the strip light in the kitchen ceiling (which was switched on) "should there be water dripping from here?". Only a rugby tackle worthy of Englands backs saved her from a very "permanent" wave!

Ictoan,

Maybe the Centauro would be better for your tall build:

http://www.motorcycle.com/mo/mcguzzi/centauro.html

The styling takes getting used to, but it does grow on you. (And I agree with what you said about the Nevada, UGLY.)

Elkfazer,

Noise is just noise. It doesn't say anything about reliability. It's just that *your* bike makes a different noise. You get used to it.

Like the rattly rockers of the Guzzis.

Guzzis last for ever, and are easy and cheap to work on.

GG

and how many other bikes can you take a ceramic cylinder liner out of the 2004 range and slot it into one of their 1970s bikes and it fits?

Well, they always used to be almost totally interchangeable, might be a bit different with the new corsa tho'

And the one at the NEC Bike show the other year with the brown suede seat and furrry black engiune laquer certainly did nothing for the myth of italian design flair.

But don;t get me wrong, one day