Mr Bignel

makes an awful noise, but since it is only a worn valve i have left it, they are like hens teeth to find and even then the access fixings will be rusted. whereabouts are you s/bite please? just roughly.

What do you reckon? They might be fun but then I've never ridden one. I know that I'm often glad to be behind an electric car, if I have to be in traffic that is, as opposed to some poorly serviced diesel lol.

south coast neo, kent mostly, bit of sussex - brighton, lovely place to be. the piece was prompted by attending SS90's funeral, about 3 years ago.

best bike i've owned, three years of happiness now, what's not to like - comfy, sits well and goes well.

Teenage Memories There was a gaggle of us back then, I had a battered Honda twin 125 of around 1963 vintage that somebody had sprayed white, what were they thinking of? It didn't go that well but it was 'alright', main thing I recall is how smooth it rode after my jerky Bantam. My friend had a new Honda 90 SS which seemed quick to us. My other friend had a scooter with dampers on the front wheel and his cousin had an earlier model that had been bored out to 200cc. Our motley gang was occasionally supplemented by a small bloke on a British bike that had a side car frame attached, sadly he died before getting much older, through cancer I believe. Then there was a German chap - funnily enough on an MZ 250, who swore a lot - I got the impression that he didn't realise what some of the swearing he did actually meant. Finally, there was a BSA C15 boy who was always fun to be around, his mum and dad were similar. The crew with their seven assorted machines would bunch up and travel from town centre to town centre, visit cafes there but mostly just hang around and bump into other not dissimilar rabbles. Every now and then there would be a spontaneous trip to the coast. Honda SS and BSA were ahead of the game as they might bring their then molls who looked good and giggled. Once, when Honda SS was one up, he charged into a huge spongy hedge out of exuberance. There was another chap, Honda 350 twin, who lived further way and didn't join the evening sprees or the coastal trips but was there albeit, in the background. He got an apprenticeship that was time in industry so to speak and time on a sandwich course. It involved periods of long commutes,. I remember the way he would stuff newspapers down his bike over trousers and jacket in an attempt not to freeze. 350 was cleverer than the rest, he'd continuously mess with the engine, I must say that it ran very well indeed. We wasted the time that should have been spent studying for A levels. Fortunately for us, there were more opportunities in those days and we eventually gained reasonable jobs. Probably the most surprising was Honda SS who became an auditor having been a poor mathematician all his life. Cannily he married the girl mentioned above who was gifted in the maths department. I got local work initially for the ready money but I could see the future in the staff, my grades were good enough for further education and there were grants available. I took the bike to college, 200 miles away, the headlight wasn't up to the task and it got robbed of parts one night. I got a anti social hours holiday job in a bakery towards the end and saved for another 125, this time a Honda trail bike. When the course finished jobs were harder to get, I sold the motorbike for lack of funds and used a bicycle. In due course I was taken on and that involved a rail journey which was OK when it ran but this was a period of strikes, signal failures and 'driver shortage' disruptions. Fed up with cancelled trains I was pleased to accept an MZ125 from SS who was by now established. he had been using the bike for site visits yet claiming car rates and had now moved on to an office based position. Latter I took out a bank loan and upgraded to a Honda 400/4 and thereafter others. A driver abruptly turned into me but then the roads seemed less threatening or maybe I worried less. SS is no more, 350 is a recluse, Scoot with dampers lives in an executive enclave and 200 is divorced/shunned apparently. I don't know about the other two, I've lost touch. I expect you have a history that isn't too different except you may have been more adventurous, gone abroad on your bikes for example and had a more upmarket experience but, at the end of the day, it's that basic thrill and freedom that comes with motorcycling that's the universal pull. Cars keep you dry and safer, however they aren't so raw and sensual. There's danger with a motorbike but there's being outside, leaning and being part of the scene as opposed to observing it. Bikes are integral to our world.

incredible transformation, i sold my xj900f pre diversion recently, totally stock and same colour as the one you show at the top of the photo sequence. i think those engines will go on until the end of time, hardly stressed are they? I now have a Thunderace which is a different set up, crouched forward as opposed to sit up with the XJ. Really impressive work, well done, something to be proud of.

membership resolvbed with thanks

I'd think any deep cleaning with aluminium as the subject is rather a dodgy business, I'd try Youtube on that as alloys in general can be damaged fairly easily

hello john what bike have you got and where abouts are you please, just roughly. Ian This is my thunderace, I don't have to worry too much anout cleaning the engine as it is largely hidden lol.

thank you, much appreciated

thanks, i have messaged alex under the contacts facility on the home page (bottom) but no reply. Any other way to personal message him please. I'm with peter james insurance and I would like to resign the vjmc membership i have in favour of another club to still benefit from discount. Bikesure are a brokers - i got a quote but assuming the discount is around 15% it won't match what I have already unfortunately. I've had a blue/black 1967 thunderace for just under 3 yrs, in the process of selling my thundercat as I wasn't using it. the ace is actually a less practical bike but I just like it and use it in preference. Ian

can anybody help please, just joined with a £10 subscription but can't find a membership number anywhere. Need it for insurance discount, any idea where to look please?

great thread

check the fuses, fuse connections - often it's the simple things

since that model range was 92 to 04 i don't see why not, it's the same frame. tell you who will know http://xjrider.com/

i know that i am not a perfect rider or motorist,. however y/day that is sunday, did about 200 miles, met a friend with the same bike great day except... coming and going to our meeting point i had several car drivers push out in front it was like they saw me but came out anyway, in each case i had to slow in order to build up a decently safe distance i don't think i was speeding or going any faster than anybody else what is going on? i can't work it out, mostly elderly men with family in the car but one younger bloke who, judging by his later dithery driving, was lost. the only thing that i can think of to stop this is to get running lights in addition to the h/light, spots and hi viz, maybe i'll give that a go.

that's very similar to one of the people i know. when i built up the first bike, which incidentally runs brilliantly, i found it expensive, just little things like gaskets, difficult bolts/getting rethreading done, it cost more that i bargained for, in fact, had i known i wouldn't have done it but now it's done i'm glad i did it.

i think you might be right about 'wimen' but then i look at a couple of people (bikers) I know who aren't married and, well it looks good initially, long term though you can see we motorbike enthusiasts need to be reigned in a tad.

I have a load of 'spares' left over from making one good motorbike out of two i started thinking about building a second motorbike out of the bits i didn't use, the frame is too far gone but the engine is ok, the swing arm needs rebuild, shocker has had it and the oil cooler has had it too etc etc -there's a lot that's shot bear in mind I have used the best parts for the bike that i restored i made what i think is a realistic list of what i need and the real cost of getting it running to a good standard. then i set that cost against what i could buy one for with a decent margin for contingencies so that i was comparing on a level field the conclusion was that there wasn't a lot in it, both came out at just over £1K so the thing then became do i want the hassle of a build when i don't have to i quite like to tinker but if i add all that time on eBay, collecting items and rebuilding it isn't really cost effective especially as mrs bignal wants stuff doing

yes i have to agree - i was rather taken aback at that. however the current series was good. he's such an enthusiast.

BMW/Audi types? now that is interesting. I have independently identified drivers of those two makes to be the biggest hazard on the road, other that crazed farmers and dotty old bags.

i don't think that there's an awful lot that you can do - the best thing i found was an 'airhawk' which is an inflatable pad but they are not cheap, the trick is to keep it relatively low on air but that only helps to some extent. the only real solution is to have the seat rebuilt for comfort, that definitely extends range. i know that you don't want to but I'd say take breaks, maybe every 45 mins to 60 mins. and walk about, it's not a bad thing, you can check luggage is secure, clean visor and check directions.