Motorcycles
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The Versys is supposed to be a good, little bike. I haven't ridden one, but I recall seeing a review some years back where a journalist commented that he and his counterparts would choose it over other, more exotic machinery, as it just worked.
The H2 looks a beast, and I'm looking forward to seeing what else Kawasaki bring out. Suzuki are also rumoured to be building a production version of the Recursion, which could be promising.
The reverse side of the supercharged Thruxton isn't as neat, which is probably why there aren't so many photos of it. I'm hoping, probably in vain, that they bring out a kit.
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(And I still haven't done the Great Ocean Road, which is near me, though it's currently blocked due to landslides.)
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BKS Leather recently put together a set of leathers for the owner of a Ducati Café Racer, so they got a vintage twist. There are more photos on their Facebook page.
I'm off to Exmouth in October to get fitted up for a suit, and am planning something similar, although I'm after a two piece, and the top half will be closer to a Lewis Leathers or Buco J100 jacket. Here's one they did earlier, which I've probably already posted.
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I participated in The Distinguished Gentleman's Ride in Melbourne today. The idea is you dress up in your finery, and take your suitably hipster motorcycle out for a spin with a group of likeminded chaps.
I met up with a group at Pickings and Parry this morning, before heading off to Melbourne Museum for the ride. Here are some photos from the start of the event.
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When the Thruxton R was announced there was also talk of a collection of race parts. These included a quick shifter, high flow airfilter, hotter cam, and straight through race pipes.
It sounds like all of these have now been recalled.
If you've been following the news, the EPA hit Harley with a $12 million fine, plus a $3 million contribution to fund cleaner wood burning stoves. And this has caused other manufacturers concern.
There are a lot of sportbikes that run exhausts which aren't emissions compliant. In fact, a lot of riders view adding race pipes as a necessary step in getting a machine to run properly.
It'll be interesting to see how things shake out. I was chatting to someone who works in the industry last night, and he thought that the EPA's action might encourage other countries to pursue similar claims. There was a proposal in the EU for anti-tamper ECU systems a few years back.
In the long term it might not be a bad thing. If manufacturers have to get a bike running properly out of the box, rather than expecting owners to replace the exhaust and run a Power Commander, then that would be a win. We'll see.
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If anyone is interested in Café Racers, there's a scan of a mid-seventies Read Titan catalogue on Flickr at:
https://www.flickr.com/photos/caferacingparts/sets/72157627096530960/show/
You can actually get some of the fibreglass body parts from suppliers like Airtech or Glass from the Past.
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I'm thinking about adding the fairing to my Thruxton, and heard that Peter Stevens in Geelong had a few bikes with them fitted. Since the weather was lovely today, I figured it'd be rude not to take a run out there.
The Thruxton R doesn't come in green, but this one has been resprayed. It looks rather nice, and note the matching Bell Bullitt perched on the seat.
The fairing kit includes clamps to lower the handlebars, and this also moves them forward a few inches. I thought that this actually made it a lot more comfortable than stock.
The bike also had the official Triumph tail tidy fitted. It really cleans up the back end.
This is my bike from the same angle.
The other option is the flyscreen, but it's pretty much vertical, and the fairing looks better. My wallet doesn't like the potential impact though…
Bell are currently making the coolest lids, and have just (re)launched the Moto 3. I tried one on today, it's very light. The fit is a bit different to the Bullitt, and I needed to go down a size.
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the inner marvel fanboy in me is screaming for this. hjc licensed the marvel characters. iron man, capt, punisher spidey and venom to come..
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Iron Man is by far the best design. The rest are pretty average.
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HJC are also in the Star Wars business. Here's Boba.
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hmm i'm a huge iron man fan, like massive. so i'm kinda bias towards being tony stark..
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hmm i'm a huge iron man fan, like massive. so i'm kinda bias towards being tony stark..
Same!
