Motorcyclography

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Heikos motorcycles

199x[1]-1998 Honda FT 500 '82

After I crashed my car, I bought this motorcycle (the one in front; Kampfbonsais GPZ900 in the back).
FT500.jpeg
What sums this bike up for me?

  • had Koni back shock absorber
  • bad front shock absorber
  • oil leaking cylinder head[2]
  • something loose in the exhaust
  • simple tech, easy to fix and maintain
  • good handling
  • Schuh mount and cases, looking not very stable but never let me down
  • won't start if not used for 14 days. Also when temperatures below zero. Unfortunately the FT is missing the XL's kickstart. :-(
  • pretty ugly :-)

After I bought the Pegaso my father inhertited the machine and drives it since.

1998-2001 Aprilia Pegaso '98

I rode this bike about 26Mm and sold it for the BMW.
Pegaso.von.hinten.jpeg Pegaso.von.hinten.links.jpeg
Pegaso.von.links.jpeg Pegaso.von.vorne.jpeg
What sums this bike up for me?

  • a beauty
  • badly designed ignition box, after "adjusting"[3] it, the hickup below 5000rpm was gone
  • weak Sachs back shock absorber, died after 15Mm, exchanged it for one with handwheel for adjustment, luckily I could convince someone in italy[4] to get it on warranty
  • Hepco and Becker sucks - those folks even denied that there is such thing as resonance frequency, which was in fact exactly at 4000rpm, wenn the whole mount began shaking and buzzing
  • loosing screws
  • a beauty[5]

2001-2008 BMW R1150GS '01

Bought in 2001...
KuhGanzNeu.jpeg
...I rode it for nearly 8 years and 35Mm until I sold it 2008.
What sums this bike up for me?

  • Badly designed ABS, if she was not moved for some days (especially winter), or it was below zero, ABS won't initialize for the next 100km[6]
  • Badly designed rear brakes, when heavily breaking[7] (f.e. when driving down hill like at Stelvio Pass) the brakes fail
  • Badly sized battery, when temperature below zero she most likely won't start (even if you have an fully loaded (but cold) battery)
  • Very comfortable
  • Very reliable[8]
  • Paralever and Telelever are such a great thing!
  • Can take a hell of a beating and still bring me home
  • Yellow

2010-now Honda NTV 650 '91

I bought this Revere[9] in June 2010, with 71,700 km.
NTV650new2.jpeg
Modifications:

  • front springs from Wilbers
  • SAE10 oil instead of SAE5 in front fork
  • adjustable pegs from Thurn
  • Bridgestone BT45
  • Hepco & Becker case mount

What sums this bike up for me?

  • yet to find out

(preliminary:

  • Reliable
  • Nearly unbeatable uphill[10], but very weak downhill due to the brakes[11]
  • Good handling in narrow bends, better than the GS
  • Could use some extra hp
  • Eierlegendewollmilchsaufuerwenigkohle

)


Footnotes:

  1. I have to look this up in the papers
  2. Typical for the XL500 engine
  3. The garage removed some resistors
  4. Yes, I had to talk to some italian call center...*sigh*
  5. Am I repeating myself?
  6. You might think, that especially in winter ABS should work - I agree. BMW obviously doesn't.
  7. Okay, by "braking" I mean: Drive downhill as fast as possible. Braking in the last moment until ABS kicks in. Repeating this for >40 turns
  8. besides the battery-, ABS- and the braking-issue, but that were minor (Okay - probably not minor. It's probably the reality distortion field (or just the need for justifying the price) problems :-) )
  9. Revere looks like an french word, but is actually english (german readers know what I mean). See here. More about the Revere.
  10. Bei meinem Alpentrip 2010 hat der Kilogixxer am Mendelpass keinen Fuss auf den Boden bekommen...*hehe*
  11. Not, that they are bad, but they are just not as good as they could be (or those of the GS were)