Motorcycles
-
@MP:
…..I haven't had a chance to ride a Roadster yet, but that's the other Harley on the list. The Triumph Bobber is another interesting proposition, which should be on sale soon. I sat on one at Moto Expo and it felt pretty comfortable.
I traded in my street triple last October for the Roadster. The street triple was a thief magnet, my first one got stolen after 10 weeks and the replacement had thee new ignition barrels after theft attempts in three years. Also the battery was a pain for draining after a few days not riding. The Harley has had no tampering whatsoever. I think the keyless ignition, alarm and immobiliser makes then not worth the hassle of theft when locked up to something solid. No issues at all in the months since buying it and now has a natty Roland sands exhaust and rough crafts air filter fitted (as well as a new seat to replace the very uncomfortable stock seat). Harley's are very reliable these days and the only downside (on the wallet) is the massive amount of aftermarket parts available; you can personalise/modify/upgrade them to your heart's content.
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
-
@MP if you're in Melbourne, City Triumph in Abbotsford had a few Bobbers on display last time I dropped by.
I haven't heard of any reliability problems with the new Bonneville range. My Thruxton has started first time whenever I've taken it out, which hasn't been much recently because I'm waiting for a new pair of glasses to arrive.
If you're local, give me a shout if you want to take a look at the bike.
-
Hey everyone! I feel like I am posting this in the most appropriate place given the topic and what we are about.
Just to introduce ourselves briefly, we are a custom motorcycle shop based on the South Coast of the England, close to Chichester and the Goodwood Race Circuit. We carry out work ranging from subtle electrical modifications to complete custom builds.
Along side the workshop side of things we also have a coffee shop and retail space. So if you every find yourself down this neck of the woods, drop in for a coffee, check out some great gear and have a chat about some tasty modifications you may have in mind for your ride.
If you really want to get to know what we are all about, we are having a Spring BBQ Ride-In on the 1st April. We've got a tight customer base and a lot of them should be along on their bikes so you'll get a good chance to see some of our past work. (More on the event - https://www.facebook.com/events/1242900855806238/)
Looking forward to seeing more on this thread!
-
Welcome @foundrymotorcycle I'll most likely pop in for a visit soon! Feel free to come this way too. If you have any images to post of past and present projects i'm sure we'd all love to see them.
-
Fun ride yesterday to Antelope Island. There were a ton of buffalo around. We were a little to close for my comfort. They are huge and fast.
https://www.instagram.com/p/BRlbMvHAD3r/?taken-by=summ3rhays
-
Here is one of our builds ("Silver R8cer") from last year that we had on display at The Bike Shed show last summer. We've got a strong presence in the Cafe Racer scene here in the UK but it's not our sole focus. Below is a Triumph Bobber ("56") we did a couple of years back for another customer.
I've had a look back through this thread and seem some interesting stuff. Would be nice to see some more custom work, both shed and pro.
@Sam Yes, please do come by some time. 1st April we have our Spring Ride-In, if the last one is anything to go by it should be quite busy with loads of bikes. We'd love to come down Gosport way some point over the summer. Its been discussed here in the workshop a couple of times. We will let you know, and we will take a ride down.
You can see more of some of the builds we have done over on our website.
-
Me and @Giles are loving the Triumph bobber. What are your thoughts on their new ready built bobber?
April 1st is in my calendar now! Thanks for the heads up. I'll definitely try and come over for that… Sadly i'll be coming on my Suzuki GSX600F.... which has seen better days. I'll use it as an opportunity to do some bike window shopping!
Sam
-
Oh man is the Silver R8cer nice. Well done!
I've seen the new Triumph Bobber in person. I think they did a great job as a start. It's not my style, but I can appreciate it.
-
@Sam @summ3rhays I think Triumphs new Bobber will have a massive effect on Sportster sales. Bonnevilles have had a huge impact in the custom/cafe/brat/tracker scene the past few years, Triumph have been not just spot on with their builds but also their marketing. We've been speaking with Triumph about them maybe bringing down a couple of their new Bobbers to our event on the 1st, whether on not you'll be able to test ride them or not from ours is another story but I'll keep whoever might be interested in doing so updated.
-
-
Seconded
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
-
@foundrymotorcycle That would be great to see one in person. I keep meaning to pop into the Triumph garage near us.
I'm currently torn between saving my pennies for the new BMW Rnine T Racer or one of those Triumph Bobbers… or going the custom route. Now if i can only get someone else to pay my mortgage.
If i could get any bike to end up looking anything like this i'd be a happy man.
-
You can see more of some of the builds we have done over on our website.
Will swap clothes for bikes….
-
@Sam The custom route is always the better option!
Do you know where you'd want to start if you did? Doner? Style? Always good to hear what ideas people have.@Giles I'm sure we can come to some kind of arrangement, maybe some custom parts in exchange for keeping both of us kitted out in the workshop.
-
@Sam the advantage of a Bobber or R nineT Racer is that you'll get a modern bike that happens to look (sort of) like a custom. That's probably better for a daily rider, but not as cool as what our new friends at @foundrymotorcycle build.
That said, there's a feature a R1150GS based Café Racer at BikeEXIF, which shows what can be done with a modern bike.
And the R nineT you posted above is really cool.
If you're looking for inspiration for a basic custom, some of the bikes on the Show your Thruxton R mods thread at the Triumph Rat forums look good with a few tweaks. I particularly like this one.
Going a bit further, but not as far as the R1150, there's the Darkster, which is a Thruxton R with some minor frame mods.
As for R nineT Racer or Bobber, surely that's a case of deciding which style you like best, or riding both bikes. I'd throw in the Thruxton R as a third option, and possibly the XSR900 as a fourth.
-
"the advantage of a Bobber or R nineT Racer is that you'll get a modern bike that happens to look (sort of) like a custom. That's probably better for a daily ride…"
I think you nailed it @Graeme . I like to ride first and foremost. It doesn't have to be an authentic vintage for me. Give me a modern bike with kick ass brakes and suspension that pays homage and I'm happy camper.
-
I'm with you there @summ3rhays & @Graeme
I'd love a beautiful vintage custom bike in the garage one day but when i'm riding the Suzuki and it's working well nothing beats that feeling. Not that i'd call it modern with its dirty carbs but still. I loved the Harley for what it was but sometimes in certain corners i felt like it didn't want me to make it. But riding the Suzuki is just a pleasure. Having both made me appreciate both sides of the fence.
-
@Sam there's a review of the R nineT Racer at Visordown. The riding position sounds a bit more extreme than the other bikes in the range, but it looks good.
A set of Wilbers suspension, or the Ohlins Retro 43 fork and matching shock, and a set of serious Brembo brakes would be a good set of upgrades. Plus bar end mirrors, tail tidy, smaller LEDs, and maybe some BST Carbon Wheels…
It'd be fun to see what @foundrymotorcycle could do with the bike, but I wouldn't want the bill at the end of it.
-
Thruxton Run is a series of films about Wenley Andrews, a custom bike builder, turning around a project for an upcoming show in Sydney.
There's a series of videos on YouTube. This is the first one, which isn't great.
Part three, which has just been posted, is more interesting as Wenley is starting to cut up the bike's frame.
Bike EXIF have a piece about a Street Twin Flat Tracker. It's another light custom, but I really like how they've done the tail section.
