snowymountainsmick

Thanks, very interesting. I am a bit of a dill when it comes to electrics so I have a very basic question, does the battery get charged by the bike wjile you ride it? The idea of stalling the bike on a dark wet night and not having any lights does not impress me. I live in a town in the country and it gets pretty dark out here. Mick.

Well one advantage of being an old git, is that you are generally pretty cashed up, I guess I'll just have to go out and buy another bike Turn the TT into a cafe' racer perhaps.

The title says it all, I'm gettign a bit old and feeble for a kick start only bike.

Good stuff, been away for awhile. I'll be back next week, I hope to be able to get the finger out and get this thing registered, I can't be bothered loading it on and off the trailer when there are good trails handy. Mick.

G'Day! Sorry been away for awhile. I like the pics of the TTs sTTeve. Where can you get the long range tanks and luggage racks? Mick.

I learnt to ride on a 42 Harley whilst in the Army as a teenager. I have a bit of a spot sopt for them and the new ones are a hell of a ride (not enough to make me buy one though). What I don't like about Harleys is the fact that the bike is the limiting factor in cornering, not me . I'm also not real keen on the sit back riding position, comfy as all get out for awhile, but you act as a windsock and your lower back takes a pounding. They also generally do not look 'balanced' to me, the styling is wrong on most models as far as I'm concerned. The Road Kings sorta almost make it, but not quite, The Heritage Softail is OK, but must have a screen to balance it's old harley look and my fav is one or two of the Dynas, which funnily enough are the cheaper (not cheap) models. The 21" wheels don't do it for me and some of the Sportsters look cool (but are slow). The Fat Boys look OK, but that silly biggggggggggg chrome headlight / front fork cover is the pits as are those fingernail eyebrows, ). I will probably buy a comfortable cruiser/tourer style bike when I get older, but probably by then I won't be able to ride (I will be 60 in a few weeks). I love the no fuss of the japs, pull out the choke, turn the key, press the button, ride away. Everything is smooth, easy and as quick as you want it. You can have blinding speed combined with mega smooth low down riding in traffic. Roaring through a corner on a country road without worrying about parts scraping and digging in and being able to flick the bike from side to side easily and trickle along at 40kph in a muddy construction zone and then not have the bike sideways as you smoothly accelerate is nice. As to adding bits to plastic bikes, I have a full Akropovic system on my ZRX1200R because it was on it when I bought it, but it is so pretty and sounds so good, I would have bought the system myself as soon as I saw and heard it. I have a Staintune system on my BMW R80ST for the same reason, but my TT600R is bog stock. As all of the running gear on this bike is state of the art Euro stuff, it may get an exhaust system, but it's early days yet, it sounds pretty healthy anyway and one of the uses for this bike is sneaking along dirt roads looking for game when hunting, so quiet is good). It will probably stay stock apart from improved footpegs, shifters, etc to accommodate my large feet and impressive weight, compliments of being a 6'3" big stocky guy with a bit of cuddle thrown in. But, to each his own. Mick. PS, My fav big 4cyl jap bike game was at the lights, move off without seeming to notice the Harley rider beside you, stay a few feet in front of him as he struggles to get in front, when he starts to run out of steam, accelerate away smoothly and emphatically, thats priceless. Chucking a smooth, tight feet up U Turn in front of a struggling Harley or nose down front, mega fat rear tyred sporty bike and smoothly riding away was also fun.

I would never call anyone that or any other racially based names, but in recent years there has been an acceptance of the term as there was a Greek comedian who used to refer to himself as the wogboy and had Wogboy number plates on his hot rod Valiant Charger ( Aussie chrysler 70s muscle car). He even made a movie called the wog boy. A good friend of mine Jack (actually Jacob) who is Romany Gypsy always identifies himself at work on the phone by saying 'G'Day mate, it's Jack the Wog here.' He had a son by a woman I know when she was his girlfriend/mistress and they proudly refer to his son as 'the wog.' Having said that, if you called a stranger by that name, you would either get your lights punched out or be dobbed in, deep do-doos either way. Another friend who is Greek, who I will probably ride trails with occasionally has had his bike, trailer, riding top helmet and bum bag stencilled with 'The Wog' His 13yr old son who rides with him has 'Wog 2' stencils, etc. I'm of pure Irish descent, was raised a Catholic (now RC, not roman, just retired) and my name is Mick. I am referred to as 'arightmick.'

They won't be cheap, as I was going to get two sets so that I didn't have to swap knobblies for dual sport tyres and it wasn't worthwhile. You might be better off getting a new set of rims and H/Duty stainless steel spokes and having the hubs laced to the new rims. You'd end up with a classy set of wheels that way, you can even get red rims to match the bike Mick.

It certainly is, my mate dropped the bike off, but forgot the blinkers, number plate bracket, mirrors, etc which I need to road register it. It is a holiday weekend and he won't be back till Wednesday So the project has ground to a halt for the moment. I have fired it up and ridden it around my front garden and down the side of the house and around the backyard, very hairy, but fun. We have lots of forests and bush within 15-20 mins drive, so I will be giving it a regular blast to blow the cobwebs away as soon as I get it registered. I don't know how I got talked into a kick start bike at 59, almost 60. No doubt if I develop the technique and keep it in crackerjack tune it will be ok. I can see the headlines of the local paper, 'Local man dies on motorbike, chucked a hearty trying to start his wog bike.' I noticed that the RTA (our version of the MOT) have red license plates with white lettering. WOG 30 is available. Very apt for a bike made in Italy with Ducati controls, Brembo brakes, Ohlins Rear shocks, Pirelli tyres, etc. They also have REX 30 in black with gold writing for my Kawasaki ZRX1200R, which is affectionately known as T REX! Mick.

As mentioned elswhere, I just bought a minty 98 model. Keen to yak with fellow owners. Was this bike made in Italy? Sure is a fun big bike. Hauls my big fat ass along right smartly Mick.

I have just picked up a TT600R. Most things other than the motor seem to be European, Ohlins, Brembo, etc. I noticed in the owners manual a caution: TT600R OWNER'S MANUAL 1997 by Belgarda S.p.a. All rights reserved. Any reprinting or unauthorised use without the written permission of Belgarda S.p.a. is expressly prohibited. Printed in Italy Maybe the Belgarda just indicates they made the bike for yamaha using yammy motors and gearboxes. The rest seems pure European. Mick.

I haven't had a trail bike for 30+ years, but am getting my new (to me) TT600R delivered in an hour. It is in great condition and has only travelled 1100Ks (660miles). Looking forward to some serious dirt time, lots of forests around here. I'll post a pic asap.