Educating a Dinosaur

[500 T C]

    I went out for a ride today on my 42year old Ducati with my dear friend of the same vintage,he was on a 21reg Triumph.
We paid a visit to Moto Corsa in Dorset.
This was a real eye opener!  Compsite engine casings,fly by wire throttle control,cruise control.Most of the bikes looked like horizontal christmas trees on wheels.A posers delight and in some cases £30k if you got it to spare.
  Not sure if Im part of this any more.A subject that comes up often,while we have a coffee,does anyone, born since my Ducati was made have a clue about their motorcycles or are they just toys?My friend told me his son in laws have not a clue what engines they have in their cars,let alone how to change the oil.
My friend asked his daughter about some technical thing on his computer,and was told he was  useless! He replied ,when was the last time you did a complete engine rebuild,built a shed ,made a pergola ?
    Should I be worried,or quietly ride my bike,and get on the internet ,if I need a part to replace.
 As we left Moto Corsa,we looked around around the bike park,besides the 5 inch rear tyres and other willy compensators,we viewed a CCM Spitfire,the frame is a work of art,or a plumbers nightmare.
                                                             regards a dinosaur

[SteveC#222]

I'm with you!

Modern bikes left me when they got programmable power settings and traction control! They all seem to have touch screen 'speedos' and pointy noses these days.....is it me or do most of the bikes that the 'modern biker' dribbles over look like something cobbled together from the spare parts bin!

[JOOLZ]

I really dont like the modern bikes, even a CDI on a bike is a bit of a problem for me, give me a coil and points or a nice self contained magneto. Its really not a big problem setting the points every few thousand miles and if it does break down you know you can fix it or bodge it to get you home. As for road bikes with traction control, I recon if you cant balance the throttle and clutch then you shouldnt be riding a bike you cant control, and for those who say but modern bikes are to powerful to control without traction control. the Moto Martin GSX1260 I rode back in the mid 80's when I was in my late teens early 20's had 200hp and a nitrous kit that added another 40, no electronics on that except a cdi and im still here to talk about it

[CrazyFrog]

I'll 9nly ever have a bike that I can maintain myself, hence the Jawa and the Himalayan. The EFI on the Himmo is a black art to me, but it's as simple as it's possible to build a modern engine and still pass all the emissions tests. I've invested in an OBD code reader...

[iansoady]

Does it conform to the OBD protocol? My Tiger didn't although that was some time ago. What I did find very useful was the ability to change the air/fuel map. This may be of interest although I'd prefer to be able to change the maps in the existing ECU: https://powertronicecu.com/product/powertronic-royal-enfield-himalayan-2017-2020/

[xbally]

I'm with you!

Modern bikes left me when they got programmable power settings and traction control! They all seem to have touch screen 'speedos' and pointy noses these days.....is it me or do most of the bikes that the 'modern biker' dribbles over look like something cobbled together from the spare parts bin!

Have to say I totally agree. Whenever I see most modern bikes (except some retros!) they just leave me cold.And I cant bear all these  electronics taking over control from the rider with the possible exception of some ABS.

I have spent most of today with my bike mechanic mate trying to bleed the rear brake on my 1996 Monster 750-what else would I do if there were no mechanical / age related issues to sort out.

[Moto63]

    we viewed a CCM Spitfire,the frame is a work of art,or a plumbers nightmare.
                                                             regards a dinosaur

Well having just purchased a CCM spitfire and being a fully qualified plumber for the last 42 years I can honestly say that I’ve DEFINITELY seen MUCH worse plumbing jobs than the spitfire frame. I totally understand the point you’re making and I’m sure once my XBR tracker project bike is finally finished and road worthy (ok, ok you lot at the back of the class🤣🤣🤣🤣) I’ll enjoy riding equally as much as I do the spitfire, just in a different way.
Cheers, Michael

[iansoady]

What I can't get over when I look at the Spitfire is all those curved tubes. The aesthetics are a matter of taste (or not) but I was always under the impression that structural tubes should be straight between fixing points as far as possible. Like the famous Francis Barnett "built like a bridge" frames



or more recently things like the Seeley:

[CrazyFrog]

Does it conform to the OBD protocol? My Tiger didn't although that was some time ago. What I did find very useful was the ability to change the air/fuel map. This may be of interest although I'd prefer to be able to change the maps in the existing ECU: https://powertronicecu.com/product/powertronic-royal-enfield-himalayan-2017-2020/

I think so Ian, but it seems there are two different busses that can be used for OBD so I'm not 100% sure. The reader I got was a generic one, but with a connector specific to the Himalayan. I've no idea if the connector is specific to Enfield, but I would imagine not...

[mthee]

Posting on behalf of Michael who sent in the attached pic. Having taken this whole thread to heart, he had an epiphany and on a ride out with his brother, swapped his CCM for this slightly older machine before sloping back home 🤗😁
Or something like that....

[Moto63]

Thanks for posting up the pic Matt. Yes as Matt says, I was out yesterday with big bro and a pal when I clocked this panther “sloper” parked up, haven’t seen one in years so felt I had to snap it and share it with you chaps on here as I’m sure some of you will appreciate the old girl. They used to be built in cleckheaton (West Yorkshire) which isn’t a million miles away from where I was brought up. Unfortunately couldn’t find the owner so sadly no chiddy chat.
Hope some of you enjoy it... cheers Michael

[themoudie]

OH!!!! That is luverly! 

Thank you both for taking the image and posting.

Wrestling with another dose of Italian 6v electrickery gremlins on the Moto Morini 125H. 

Some British and single may oust the 'Italian Mob'! 

Good health, Bill

[Steve Lake]

oh dear... moto morini electrics ....  know them well .... if we're out in the evening #1 son usually has to follow me home on his 3 1/2 sport, as i watch his slowly fading headlight in my mirror , there must be a way of upgrading to 12v and use LED lamps to reduce the overall current drain ....  in fact , surely LED's would work well off a 6v system?

[Itsme]

Hi

What I like most about Thumper Club is that I rarely have to deal with the modern world when I'm reading posts, which is good as I find most of the modern world to be vexatious and utterly unfathomable.

As far as I am concerned there are two sexes, man and woman, I don't care if you're a different colour from me as long as we respect each other, I don't buy new if I can mend the old and motorcycling for me isn't a lifestyle choice.

I use my bike as transport and pleasure and need it to be cheap to run and maintain as there ain't much money to be made in healthcare. I'm not interested in what other people own but rather where they go on the bike/bikes they have. I see people all decked out as Paris-Dakar racers on 15 grand GSs and they don't excite me as much as talking to the old boy who because he has a heart problem can only ride a Chinese 125 but went to do the Wild Atlantic Way anyway.

I know people have a right to enjoy life their way but I get the impression that a lot of the stuff modern bikers do is done to impress other people rather than because that's what they actually want for themselves, otherwise why do people insist on telling you how much their bike cost or how many bhp it has or how expensive it was to modify?

Each to their own but leave me alone.

Spartacus

[Moto63]

Hi
motorcycling for me isn't a lifestyle choice.



Spartacus

Yes, well said Ian...eerr, Spartacus. Motorcycle is a way of life for me personally. I can’t imagine not having a bike in my life, I wouldn’t care what that bike was so long as I had one. That’s  what was quite refreshing on our Sunday ride where we clocked the panther. There were more “older” machines out than new ones. Not all old Brit stuff, but just older machines (and generally riders😉) That I think is it in a nutshell, to “older” bikers, biking is a way of life so we’ll go out and ride come what may, because we want to be on a bike. I think to the “younger” generation, like you say Ian it’s become a past time to show how cool They think they are when they look at themselves in the big shop window as they ride past it. Like you say though, each to their own and so long as they don’t upset my world then so be it.
Name withheld to protect the innocent 😇