A stable of bikes

Arrivisto · Post by **Arrivisto** » Mon Feb 16, 2015 12:13 pm

I rarely have more than one bike in the garage. When I rode off-road, I would have a road bike and an enduro bike. Once (in 1976) I even had three: a CB550F1, an AJS 250 Stormer MX and a Sunbeam S7 with a Steib chair. But I never had two bikes at once that serve the same purpose. That may change...

When I rode my beloved Yamaha TRX850 to look at a 2003 Dyson 11S with 15K miles, I thought, "What am I doing? The TRX is all I ever want or need!" Yet I bought the Beemer and a month later I've sort of grown to like it. But when I rode the TRX to the garage for a pre-sale service, I thought, "This is more like! A bike that's light and nimble, with sensible switchgear. A bike with a tank that's not unnecessarily wide. A bike with a battery and fusebox you can access. A bike with a reserve tap on the fuel tank (which is steel and takes a magnetic tank bag). A bike with a sensible top gear. A bike with readable clocks. A bike that's faster and gruntier".

The Beemer looks smart, and I love the clean back end, and I rather like the feel of the Telelever. But I'm still not completely convinced. So I'll keep both bikes until I'm finally decided. My head says "the 11S is just the bike for my pipe-&-slippers dotage", but my heart says "Stick with the TRX"!

jeznewsome · Post by **jeznewsome** » Mon Feb 16, 2015 12:40 pm

Surely you can justify both as they are 'different beasts'?

And I reckon you'll get used to the swithgear.... perhaps it is becasue I am riding the BMW a lot at the moment (it being winter), if I get on any of the 'normal' switchgear bikes now it is them that feel 'wrong'

slparry · Post by **slparry** » Mon Feb 16, 2015 12:48 pm

My "fleet" currently comprises 4 BMW's. Only the BoxerCup and the K12GT have the same switchgear. The F8GS and the R80RS both have completely different switches to themselves or the others.

To be honest though I never have a problem. However, if I could wave a wand and make them all the same I'd plumb for the BoxerCup/K12GT style switches as I just "prefer" them

Arrivisto · Post by **Arrivisto** » Mon Feb 16, 2015 12:57 pm

Since I'm a serial monogamist (bikewise), I don't have a "fleet", but in approximate chronological order since 1969, these have been my sickles:

Lambretta Cento, BSA 250 CI5 SS80, BSA A10 650, Triton 650, BSA A65T, BMW R75/5, Trident T150V, Honda 550 F1/F2 (3 off), AJS 250 Stormer, Sunbeam S7 & Steib chair, CZ 250 enduro, CCM 550 MX, Honda XL 185, Honda XR 200 (2 off), Honda XR 200R (2 off), Montesa VG 414 MX, Hesketh V1000, SWM 370 MX, Honda XR 250, Honda XR 280, Honda VF 750 (2 off), Honda VFR 750, Honda ST1100, Honda XBR500, MZ Skorpion 660 Traveller (2 off), Triumph Daytona Sprint 900, Ducati 600SS, Moto Guzzi 750 Strada, Ducati ST4 916, Honda 400 Bros, Yamaha TRX850, Aprilia 1000 Falco, BMW R1100S

Corvus · Post by **Corvus** » Mon Feb 16, 2015 3:44 pm

jeznewsome wrote:Surely you can justify both as they are 'different beasts'?

And I reckon you'll get used to the swithgear.... perhaps it is becasue I am riding the BMW a lot at the moment (it being winter), if I get on any of the 'normal' switchgear bikes now it is them that feel 'wrong'

At least two! More, if room and money allow. I don't believe it's possible to have too many.

No need to justify it either.

As for the switchgear, it's just a switch! Who cares where it is?

That's my potted philosophy! I have been wrong before, although not as many times as geo phys on time team. They NEVER get it right.

Arrivisto · Post by **Arrivisto** » Mon Feb 16, 2015 4:07 pm

Corvus wrote:As for the switchgear, it's just a switch! Who cares where it is?

It should be possible to find the flasher and horn in milliseconds, not seconds. That's why the standard Japanese switches are safer.

However, BMW's self-cancelling indicators are a great safety feature. My instructor on a day's advanced riding course advised me to use the indicators as little impossible, in fact, only when absolutely necessary. Cars expect bikes to overtake; but if a car that's pulling out of a sideroad thinks you're turning left because the indicators are still on, then the biker is contributing to the crash.

Mitch1100 · Post by **Mitch1100** » Mon Feb 16, 2015 10:01 pm

[quote="Corvus"][quote="jeznewsome"]
"At least two! More, if room and money allow. I don't believe it's possible to have too many.
No need to justify it either."

Ahh single man then?

dave the german · Post by **dave the german** » Tue Feb 17, 2015 4:52 am

Mitch1100 wrote:
Corvus wrote:
jeznewsome wrote: "At least two! More, if room and money allow. I don't believe it's possible to have too many.
No need to justify it either."

Ahh single man then?

And it's great!!

Must remember to update my fleet

Corvus · Post by **Corvus** » Tue Feb 17, 2015 6:30 am

Mitch1100 wrote:
Corvus wrote:
jeznewsome wrote: "At least two! More, if room and money allow. I don't believe it's possible to have too many.
No need to justify it either."

Ahh single man then?

Nope.

Finding space and raising money is our limitation, not the principle of pursuing our passion. Life's too short to put a limit on that!

Fw190 · Post by **Fw190** » Wed Feb 18, 2015 6:00 pm

I have two bikes at the moment, it did grow to three when I still had the Rockster, but now we're back to the 12's and my older brothers much loved R60/6, which to be honest I can't ever part with as he's no longer around having shuffled off a while back.

BMW switch gear, hmm, not sure I even think about it anymore, there have been a few occasions where I've gone to hit the horn and ended up indicating left!

Now mountain bikes, I think the count is five at the moment, a new Orange five, for everything! and old orange Sub 3 (its been around a while and raced a lot of 24hr races can't ever sell it) a Saracen Kili flyer for trail riding, a Saracen Ariel 150 for Enduro stuff, and a BMC four stoke for xc days (which are less and less) funnily enough the only bike with 26'' wheels is the old Sub 3, everything else being 27.5 and 29... like mo-bikes, they all have their merits.. and very little switch gear to cause confusion!

Droptarotter · Post by **Droptarotter** » Wed Feb 18, 2015 6:05 pm

The correct amount of motorcycles is;

X+1

Cheers

Corvus · Post by **Corvus** » Wed Feb 18, 2015 6:26 pm

Droptarotter wrote:The correct amount of motorcycles is;

X+1

Cheers

Hee Hee. I like that.

X squared would be better!

mrjon · Post by **mrjon** » Wed Feb 25, 2015 8:17 am

I'm in a bit of a quandry, currently have 4 bikes,as listed below in the garage.I'm buying a bigger garage (oh, with a house attached for the wife) not to put more bikes in but to have room to sit, polish and just stare at my bikes during the winter months. However in order to make the mortgage application look better on paper one of the bikes might have to go.

boxerscott · Post by **boxerscott** » Thu Feb 26, 2015 11:49 pm

I have some brilliant tools in my box, I always try and buy the best, I have never found it essential to go and buy the wrong tool for the job I wanted it to do.