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[Titan performance]

Is everyone on holiday?....last post back in May? What's everyone doing, or been up to?

 

[Sonreir]

They're all out riding, Paul.

 

[ridesolo]

They're all out riding, Paul.

Or fogged in.

 

[Titan performance]

Since the last post on here, I've made my annual pilgrimage to the TT.....32 years and no plans to stop, it's an experience like no other. It's also a couple of weeks away with mates I've had for 50 years. This year the weather was not kind. The race programme was thrown into disarray, which also meant there was a lot less mileage done on the Island than there usually is. I took both of my T500s this time, the Alpina was in running in mode, after a catastrophic fail last year....I'll come back to that, and the Kamikaze needed the new flat slide Okoes dialling in. Foolishly I thought there would be ample time to make progress with that, but in reality, the weather was so poor, I rarely wanted to be working outside, so very little fettling was done. I did make some adjustments, and got to ride it the short distance to the pits and back, but there's still lots to do.
Anyway...that fail....it was July last year, and I was on my way to a bike night at a local cafe with a good mate. The Alpina felt a little flat, but I wasn't sure if it was in my imagination as it was so slight. As we pulled out from a filling station, it dropped onto one pot....it never does that...and my pal Colin, sped off unaware I had stopped. There was nothing obvious to see, so I restarted the motor still running on one. Realising I was not now going to the cafe, I turned to ride the three miles back home. It started to make some tinkling sounds as I approached home, but nothing too bad....
I stripped the left side as soon as I got home, to find the piston had broken up, both skirts had broken completely off. That's a lot of metal going down into the crank case, and needless to say, the big end was toast, even though the bore looked miraculously undamaged. Arse ! I was off to the Classic Festival in Chimay Belgium in just a few days time.....that'll be without the Alpina then ! We do a lot of miles in Belgium, and the Kamikaze and the Kettle cafe are just too uncomfortable, and the R1 is just not appropriate. Luckily my pal Tim was able to lend me an XBR500 Honda..
The bike sat for a long time waiting for me to build the enthusiasm to do the rebuild, but eventually it happened, and as stated earlier..I was still running it in at this years TT. Firefox racing rebuilt the crank for a super keen price, and I used all Mitaka components for the new top end. Had a couple of minor issues...cracked a couple of heads where I hadn't torqued a stud down sufficiently, but all good now. In fact, we did Chimay again this year in July, did loads of miles, some quite hard, and the bike ran great.
Next trip of any distance, will be to Blue Haze day at the Ace cafe next month....100 miles each way from where I live, and a nice ride right through the middle of London. Maybe see some of you there?

 

[beachcomber]

I was just about to post the same over the weekend !!!!

And looking back to the beginning when I set this section up with Tim's permission ..... where have all the eager peeps gone who wanted to attend shows etc ? I still have the banner which was made for the first meet point at the Classic Bike show on the RAM stand. ......... only used twice since ! :

We KNOW there is a wealth of talent in the UK all banging and clattering in sheds, workshops and kitchens throughout the country, seems we are just too busy.

My build thread is over in the main body of the forum - and seems a bit pointless to duplicate here. However there are new Brit peeps joining up all the time and we never see them "here" ?

Thanx for your input Titan and has complete relevance to our little patch. More please from others. 8)

 

[NoRiders]

2 months since the last post is poor....but maybe symptomatic of how forums are dying due to FB, Instagram etc.

I used to post but it didn't seem to be worth the effort as not many (or any) commented and so the slow slide into the doldrums began.

I'm active on FB groups and see a rise in interest in that form of media.

My Suzonda project has stalled over the summer, mainly due to life/work getting in the way....but I have to be honest as say I have lost my mojo a little.

After scoring a GT200 engine including carbs too I haven't even taken it out of the car.

My garage is a mess, despite numerous attempts to sort it out.....I find I can't raise the interest or energy to be bothered.

I did ride in the Oxford DGR, but even that was a bit of a bore.....stop start through busy Sunday lunchtime traffic is not my idea of a good ride out...despite the good cause.

So, what are we to do?

 

[Titan performance]

I think you are probably right NR....I too am a member of a large number of F/B pages, and they are very active. They are probably easier to use than a forum for us fat lazy bastards too....no categories to browse, and everyone comments together. The latest posts always rise to the top, so nothing ever gets old. Posting pics is very simple too.

Anyway, enough of that.....

As I said in the original post, I made the trip to the Ace cafe for the 2 stroke day in September, and luckily the weather was good all day. From home, it's near bang on 100 miles each way avoiding the motorways, and riding through central London up to the A406. My old bike never missed a beat....it was a relaxed ride, cruising along the A20 at around 60 mph most of the time. Probably the best turnout I had ever seen at the Ace, there were a great number of strokers to be seen. Many Kawa triples, but mine was the only Suzuki 500. Roll on next year, I'll be there.

 

[CarbsAndCylinders]

I'm on a bunch of FB pages as well but I the forum format more and I would very much miss Do The Ton forum, I go on it a bunch of times every day, it's the best.

 

[beachcomber]

I post up my build progress [ or lack of ! ] in the main body of the forum rather than repeat it here.

When I started this section the idea was to keep UK builders in touch with each other, shows [?], possible meets, and a section for respected and recommended suppliers and artisans.

My thinking was that as the instigators of the original Ton Up / Cafe Racer culture here in the UK it would be a good place for others to dip into.

I am NOT a child of the modern electronic era, and far prefer the intimacy of a forum over FB or any other such.

Just keep on keeping on guys, build those awesome bikes and just let us know over here every so often...........

 

[Titan performance]

Again another slack spell on the UK page.
What are we all working on? Once Christmas is out of the way, the weeks seem to race by as the TT approaches. This year I'll be able to make the Margate Melt Down too, as the TT starts very late May...which is a bonus.
It's a busy year, as we are having a large extension built on our bungalow, along with a large workshop where I can at long last get my bikes at home with me. I've abused my friends goodwill for long enough ! Once that's built, I plan to rebuild an NC30 that belongs to my son. He was knocked off it 10 years ago, damaging every panel, so I've purchased an entire set of body work from China for around £300, and plan to convert it from it's current Repsol livery, to a Joey, Gemini Oils lookeylikey, as per his 750. Can't wait to get going on it, as it's a beautiful little bike.
While the weather is shite, I've taken the opportunity to refurb the seat unit on my T500 Alpina (avatar bike), as the paint had reacted, and the vinyl split, so it'll be nice and smart again for the season. The Chimay classic in July is a given....it's a brilliant looong weekend, some of you that haven't, should definitely give it a try, and then in August, some of the lads are organising a Classic sprint weekend, near Deal. Options to race and stay over are available for all, so that should be a good one too. https://heritagesprint.co.uk/?fbclid=IwAR13CsbVjhm0e0oMjj0ieez8VWsgik-822X0I0iKXoKZzzOouAG1w7XmTW8 Anyone fancy it?
Must confess to considering selling my R1, and possibly my Kettle cafe, as they just don't get used and it seems such a waste...I'll still have the two T500s, and to be honest, they are the bikes that I enjoy most, the appeal of doing 175mph isn't there any more.....
So what's everyone else doing?

 

[teazer]

Trying to get my late brother's NTV650 running by long distance. My other brother took a look at it and seems like the fuel pump died, so a replacement is on order and I should probably look for a pump relay just to be sure. That way I can fit them when I'm back in the west country in a couple of weeks time.

The bike is immaculate and with less than 35,000 miles, so it should sell - as long as I don't find anything else that needs fixing when I'm down in Somerset.

 

[semmins]

Trying to get my late brother's NTV650 running by long distance. My other brother took a look at it and seems like the fuel pump died, so a replacement is on order and I should probably look for a pump relay just to be sure. That way I can fit them when I'm back in the west country in a couple of weeks time.

The bike is immaculate and with less than 35,000 miles, so it should sell - as long as I don't find anything else that needs fixing when I'm down in Somerset.

NTV's are great bikes. By far the best dispatch bike that I've owned.
Managed to squeeze 312,000 miles out of a 600.

 

[semmins]

Not very interesting. These have had a bit of tarting up over the last 12 months.

 

[teazer]

Nice bikes. Just out of interest, what's an NTV650 worth now? My brother's bike is pretty good, but nowhere near that one. That came out really well.

 

[semmins]

To be honest teazer they seem to sell for peanuts.
I'll have to wait for some time to get back anything like the money that I poured into mine.

 

[teazer]

500-700 quid or even less? We just need to get it running and sell it to add that cash to what he left for his widow to live off I have no idea what they sell for now or the best place to sell one.

 

[semmins]

Maybe a little more than that, but not much more.
Btw the bike should run without a working fuel pump if the tanks over 3/4 full.

 

[teazer]

Thanks. Tank is almost empty, but that can be fixed..

 

[NoRiders]

I post when I have updates....but get so very little/zero response....is it the boring posts or no one interested in replying? I wonder why I bother sometimes.....but plod on in true British spirit...

Project Suzonda is rumbling along, slowly but surely ( see my update post in this forum) as I have lost my mojo a bit tbh.
The engine is with my bike engineer neighbour for a rebuild so that's a positive, I'm sure when that's done it will kickstart my enthusiasm to carry on. I'm ever so close to nailing the rear end on, front is pretty close to complete, just guard and longer brake line to caliper, tyre change, powder-coat wheels, paint caliper etc....nearly there innit?

Every aspect is very nearly there...but having to make each part 'fit' is a much bigger job than I first thought.

 

[ridesolo]

I post when I have updates....but get so very little/zero response....is it the boring posts or no one interested in replying? I wonder why I bother sometimes.....but plod on in true British spirit...

I understand. I rarely get comments either. I finally quit (mostly) worrying about it and just post anyway. If nothing else I'm able to go back and review things I've done, remember what I was thinking at the time, and cringe at my first (and second and third) attempts! If there aren't posted comments at least there's no criticism!