The Obligatory Post Your Bike Topic

[RatsMC]

As the title states, every bike forum needs a place to share what you ride. I think for bikers it is a way of putting a face to a name.

Anyway, here is my baby. With the exception of a few parts I put the whole thing together myself.

A cookie to anyone who can tell what the original bike was.



Hopefully, that image works.

[Gustav O]

A picture of my baby. A 1996 TZM250.

[RatsMC]

Very nice. I assume you race it?

[Gustav O]

Very nice. I assume you race it?

That depends on the term you use for "race".
I am actually at a local track right now getting ready for two days of intense racing with four qualifyings and two races in two days.

[RatsMC]

Awesome. Best of luck out there.

[tilbury007]

my 06 R1, 02 CRF450R & 1980 CB900F

[phil]

how do i add a picture?????[/img]

[Kropotkin]

how do i add a picture?????

You need to have a place to host the photos (such as Flickr, Imageshack, or Smugmug), then you can copy a URL between the IMG tags, and the image should display.

[phil]

this thing is actually road legal in holland!!
but now i live in norway where head lights are manditory, the lights are there for show!
smoke the back wheel you ask...try not too!!
wheelies...again try not too!!
stoppies...a walk in the park.
i must confess though the thought of starting the thing cold brings tears to my eyes!!

[RatsMC]

Very, very nice.

What are the forks and swingarm off of? Here in the states, it is hard to find Triumph or Ducati swingarms (not that it is much easier to find Honda's) so I don't recognize them on sight. How difficult was it getting that swingarm on the frame? Even though I was working with all Honda bits it still took a lot of work to make all the spacers needed.

I wish I could find the pics of my former roommates XR. Not the same thing as that CR (is anything like a CR500?) but still a blast with street-bike front end (yes, that sounds weird) and lowered riding position.

[NoMich]

Here is my 1987 BMW K75c:





Please never you mind the little pool of gear oil sitting underneath it. Bad drainage design by BMW.

[phil]

Very, very nice.

What are the forks and swingarm off of? Here in the states, it is hard to find Triumph or Ducati swingarms (not that it is much easier to find Honda's) so I don't recognize them on sight. How difficult was it getting that swingarm on the frame? Even though I was working with all Honda bits it still took a lot of work to make all the spacers needed.

I wish I could find the pics of my former roommates XR. Not the same thing as that CR (is anything like a CR500?) but still a blast with street-bike front end (yes, that sounds weird) and lowered riding position.

cheers rats, the swing arm is off a vfr400, my mate who did it is a top welder, he cut the cr500 shock linkage and the vfr swingarm braced the sh@t out of it and welded them togethter so the shock linkage was the same.
the forks are from a cr 250 (the ohlins sticker is just that...a sticker!)
this things a work out to ride but the grin-factor is huge!!

[RatsMC]

Ahah! No wonder I didn't recognize it. Honda has devrived us of the VFR400 as well as nearly all of their smaller displacement bike (I have been looking for a VTR250 for years now).

As you may be able to see from my pic, I had to fabricate the entire subframe which included the shock linkage. It was fun lifting and lowering the bike trying to figure out the correct geometry.

[phil]

yes mate it takes a massive leap of faith to get going but once youve hacked off the first bit youre at the point of no return and HAVEto keep going where it becomes fun.
that first step is the hardest (for me) that little voice in the back of your head screaming 'dont do it man!'
your bikes a beauty mate, i'll give you a cookie if you tell me what the original donor bike was

[RatsMC]

The sum of its parts:

The motor and most of the frame is from a CBR600F3

- Honda Hawk Swingarm
- VFR800 Wheel (modifying the Hawk spindle to fit the wheel was fun. Case-hardened steel ain't easy)
- CBR929RR forks and front rotors
- VTR1000/RC51 front wheel and brakes
- Leo Vince headers into a homemade exhaust and modified can


Next to go is the tank. I am fabricating a new one but it is probably the hardest part of the whole project.

[DaveP]

My new 250, as starting again after a while with a new and clean licence it does the job perfectly for now!

[OZintheDesert]

DaveP how is the GPX replacement? I had a GPX when I got my learners and couldn't fault it. Are they still the twin or have they gone back to the old inline 4 like the ZX2?

[RatsMC]

My new 250

I have been seriously thinkig about getting one of those. Since I can't seem to get a VTR250, it may have to do.

They are a blast though. Few bikes are consistently as fun.

[DaveP]

DaveP how is the GPX replacement? I had a GPX when I got my learners and couldn't fault it. Are they still the twin or have they gone back to the old inline 4 like the ZX2?

So far it has been fantastic and something you can ride just about as hard as you like all the time -
or just amble about on depending on mood.
Seriously impressed with the build quality too. Brakes are great even with that single front disc.
It's a twin with fuel injection in the UK and carbs in the US I understand..

(Edit) and if it would stop raining for a bit it would be even better, no problem with rain, but 2 weeks solid is getting a bit much...

[OZintheDesert]

I hear you about the rain... all that promise..
I used to love the old GPX. My brother had the '92 ZX2-R it was crazy! revved out to like 20k, Glad they have updated though. The GPX was around for like 16years with virtually no changes

[DaveP]

One more thought for anyone thinking of the "Baby Ninja" - from what I have heard the bike comes as standard with OEM tyres
and I would suggest these get changed as soon as you can - I am using some pretty decent Bridgestone Battlax BT45's now and it does make a heck
of a difference.

[phil]

the baby ninja got me thinking...
whats the best bike youve ever had???
fun factor im talking about here..
mine was a honda nighthawk 650 (i'm laughing myself as i type it )
i only bought it because a work college was selling it cheap and i was saving for my speed triple, i'll never forget the look on his face when he saw i had painted it matt black!! i cleaned that thing every week he moaned!!
it was the only bike ive ever ridden that i could out ride the machine..i could cane it through the gears without having the police chase me down, i ground the footpegs down to nothing just going to the shops and i never cleaned it or changed the oil (had to get the stator plates sorted but thats a common problem with them). that bike has huge memories for me i loved it.
after sitting under a tarp for a year i gave it to a mate who rode it from michigan (where i lived at the time) to maine down to the florida keys across to california then up to stergis where he sold it and got his flight money back to the uk!!
he loved it too!!
whats your funnest bike??

[RatsMC]

With street bikes, it is always what I am currently riding.

Similar to the baby-ninja thing though, I do a little dirtbiking and have a KLX650 which is a pig and feels like riding a giant boar - nothing can stop it, including the rider but the most fun I have ever had in the dirt was on a CRF150. The thing had just enough power to actually make you feel like you were doing something but it was so small and light that you could just thrash it with no consequences. I have memories of crashing the thing 3 times in less than ten minutes without leaving our campsite while keeping my cigarette lit the whole time.

[Tarsnakes]

More tourer than sport.

[gco0307]

Here is mine, just a plain boring Weestrom (DL650)








Garry