GazzyG

Cheers guys! Really enjoying it thus far. A sturdy beast of a machine. The acid test will be Friday when I take it on a long tour of the continent, haha!

FJR was just too good all-round, so decided to get rid and get back to basics with an old school beast. 1981 XS1100 Midnight Special. Bought her from an enthusiast who looked after her very well. I hope to do him justice, but at the same time this bike is going to get RIDDEN.

Both would be awesome. The 1300 has that extra grunt, but is by no means fast. Coming from a YBR, however, even the 950 will feel like it has all the power in the world. Whichever you get, enjoy!

Great stuff! Superb bikes. Not that I'm biased...

Wife and I ended up taking the FJR to Skegness today in the end. Weather was superb. Roads brilliant. Bikers aplenty out and about today.

Not today, but hoping to take a trip to Skeg tomorrow if the weather holds.

You can't go wrong with many, tbh. But I do rate the Michelin Pilot Roads, myself.

This is why I have kevlar jeans and a mesh summer jacket. Gives you some protection whilst still being light n airy.

That's pretty damn unique. Wouldn't lose that in a line of bikes, lol!

I've had a sit on an r6. You're right lol - r6 is a much sportier, more compact riding position. I wouldn't hesitate to recommend a Cat to anyone. Served me well. Main reason I'm getting rid of it - I ride two-up a lot. My legs are short and the Cat is quite tall and top-heavy, especially two up. The 600cc engine doesn't enjoy hauling two of you through town either. Get it on the open road and it'll lunge along, mind. I'm sure the 1300 Midnight Star won't be as fast or agile, but I'm hoping it'll be easier for me to handle and it'll make me smile in different ways

Good lad! The Cat'll put a smile on your face!

Nice work, looks a lot better. I used to have a plastic maggot too! Mine was an absolute shed that had been abused its whole life, lol. Only thing I liked about it was the noise. Oh - and the engine looked pretty beefy too.

Hey Matt! RXS100 eh? I love the little two-strokes.

Hi Matt, welcome!

It BEGS to be revved to 14k. That's where the power lives. An SV650 has quite a flat powerband, from what I recall. Whereas on an i4 600 the power just builds and builds and builds till you don't think it can anymore. Then it does! Gets very addictive. Leads to illegal speeds in no time flat. Part of the reason I'm making the migration to a cruiser, lol. Though I'm very glad I had the 'Cat while I did.

They're great bikes. A nice step up in terms of power from your SV650. Be a very different riding experience though.

Not if he contacts Pidcock Triumph of Long Eaton and gets mine after I trade it in Year's MOT, new fork seals, recond brakes, new downpipes, full service and carb balance, new chain set. new tyres... Passed MOT with flying colours and ready to rock and roll! I'm sure they'd give it him for a steal, too...

You WON'T find a lot of complaints about second gear. It happened on a tiny handful out of the thousands upon thousands of bikes sold. Yet people keep repeating it as though it's something you should expect on every 'Cat lol. Such is the internet, eh, haha? Once the rumour mill starts, it takes a long while to put something to rest lol. I've had my Thundercat for two years so feel I can help you out here. It's big enough and comfortable enough that you can ride two-up quite happily for a whole day, though I will say the revvy 600cc engine, though supposedly torquey compared to an R6, doesn't enjoy hauling two of you through traffic. There's a lot of riding the clutch to smooth out the ride in town. But go out on your own and its got the power and handling to keep up with many more modern bikes. I regularly ride out with an SV1000, S1000RR, GSXR600 and an R6 and never get left behind. Mine has a Viper race can and it sounds great. Exhausts, actually, are one thing to look out for on a Cat - the original downpipes were made of monkey metal and tend to rust through. Mine did, so I replaced them with stainless steel Motads. If I were to keep mine, I'd lower it and put some raised bars on it, as my back doesn't like the hunched over position (even though it's nowhere near as extreme as an R6 or the ilk). I'd probably also gear it down a bit to give it a bit more low-end oomph. As it stands, I'm trading it in for a cruiser which I'm hopefully picking up this week, simply because I want to take it easy, do more two-up touring and no longer need the speed a Thundercat can offer. If you get it, you'll get a fast, frugal (50mpg+), good looking, capable and ultra-reliable sports-tourer. You'll enjoy it.

Slt Clause, bienvenu au forum! Combien de motos, mdr?!

Welcome to the forum. Nice choice of 125!

Looks quite snazzy that, good job.

I knew you could get some aftermarket stuff for cruisers, but didn't realise it extended to booster rockets!

Out of interest, what is the 0-60 of a smaller cruiser, eg a 535 or 650? I know sportsbikes (the Cat is ~3.6secs) and I know what a bigger cruiser can do (the 1300 Star will apparently do it in 4.5secs) but what are the little ones like? I had a friend at Uni who had a 535 and used to speak of beating Imprezas from the lights. That seems somewhat optimistic to me, but he might be right?

Nice Tiger! I like them and they look very comfortable and suitable for two-up riding; plus you get that lovely triple engine! Shame they don't suit a 28" leg, lol!

Hey Kristian! Nice bike, I learned on one.