Bikes which waft

[Couchy]

@Couchy that's brilliant, overtaking litre bikes on a 40hp retro.

It was the slowing down last lap

I’d like to agree but it wasn’t, there are people who buy 180hp bikes and don’t go over 90 on track !

[Yorick]

@Couchy that's brilliant, overtaking litre bikes on a 40hp retro.

It was the slowing down last lap

I’d like to agree but it wasn’t, there are people who buy 180hp bikes and don’t go over 90 on track !

You bit too quickly. Too easy

We'll see your enduro skills in a few weeks

[Le_Fromage_Grande]

The Fantic has a Chinese engine, it was designed by Cagiva, the Mash has a Chinese engine, it was designed by Honda.

[A_morti]

The Fantic has a Chinese engine, it was designed by Cagiva, the Mash has a Chinese engine, it was designed by Honda.

And they're both not ideal for pillions.

Currently debating the cb500x because it'll be good, or the Enfield Scram 411 because it's cheap and looks cool.

[matt]

Have you tried any of these bikes yet?

[A_morti]

Busy couple of weekends with guests, but I'll get to it.

Definitely leaning towards the cb500x for now.

[A_morti]

The local Enfield dealer has a Scram in stock, so I went for a butcher's.

The bike as a whole looks good, but when you get close you can see the price point. Welds aren't pretty and bolt heads are all mismatched. Most of the bolts seem to have been bought at the hardware shop, dipped in a big bucket of zinc, taken out, and left dull. My old f650gs was the same and that finish does seem to do well against sea air, but it doesn't look nice.

The engine sounds decent for what it is, but with a long stroke and I'm guessing a heavy flywheel, you wouldn't call it urgent to pick up revs.

The seating position feels good and the seat itself is lovely. The grips are hard-plasticky though.

I can book a test ride, which I think I will just to see if the engine is good for what I want.

Even with that bit of cheapness showing, I think the Scram 411 is plan A pending a ride of it. They are by no measure pretty yet they look cool in a way the CB500x doesn't. Plus I could look forward to spending the difference in price on accessories to make it nearly as good as a much slower CB500x

[Taipan]

The Mash 650 is in stock €6,200 but might be a bit too Chinese for me plus doesn't seem to review that well.
Same consideration about exhaust placement as above.

That has a whiff of an XT500 about that but is undoubtedly a much better bike. I actually quite like that! But, if me were thee, i'd still be going cb500x...

[A_morti]

@Taipan the cb500x is undoubtedly objectively the best bike out of what I'm considering. But someone recently said to me that life is too short for perfectly adequate motorcycles and it sounded good. I've had a lot of adequate bikes in my life already.

[A_morti]

I know the brief was A2 legal, but this might rewrite the brief. A new Transalp is apparently to be announced at EICMA in November. If they can price it as keenly as they have the Hornet, it's in the running.



https://www.hondaprokevin.com/first-loo ... motorcycle

[KungFooBob]

I quite liked my old 700 Alp, but it needed another 10bhp to be 'fun' (and make it more of a match for the Wee-Strom).

If it's got the full fat 90bhp engine from the Hornet it should be comparable powerwise to my old 800 Tiger (which I didn't really like).

Like the retro paint job.

[A_morti]

It's power I don't need at all, but it looks cool.

[KungFooBob]

It's power I don't need

Said no one ever.

[A_morti]

It's power I don't need

Said no one ever.

You don't live on an island where the highest speed limit is 80km/h.

[Supermofo]

It's power I don't need

Said no one ever.

You don't live on an island where the highest speed limit is 80km/h.

When I was on hols in Malta in August it sounded like some of the bikes hooning it up the hill out the back were doing way more than that. But having seen the roads not sure you'd be doing it much!

[KungFooBob]

It's power I don't need

Said no one ever.

You don't live on an island where the highest speed limit is 80km/h.

But that's only 10mph less than the UK national speed limit (and 20mph less than the M-Way). Using that logic no one would buy a bike with more than 30bhp!

[A_morti]

I can book a test ride, which I think I will just to see if the engine is good for what I want.

I did, and I just got back from it.

Nope. No. Nuh-uh. It's not the one for me.

I'm not particularly tall at 5'10", but the ergonomics are no good for me. Either sit at the front of the seat and have the tank cut outs pressing my knees, or try to sit at the back but it's sloped and presses you back forward.

The front brake is woefully underpowered.

The suspension is crude. I've grown accustomed to cartridge damping, and forgot how bad over damped damping rods can be. This bike does take the sting out of speed humps pretty well, but clatters over irregularities and small bumps worse than my short-travel cb300r.

The engine is what it is, and I'm sure you'd get used to it. But I don't want to. It revs so slow that to pull away you really need to telegraph your intentions and give it time to build revs before gingerly feeding in the relatively heavy clutch.

And all that's before we wonder if the build quality is any good. They've had frames snapping at the neck, rust can apparently be an issue, and just walking around it I could see where the main look rubs on the inside of the tank, that's a future breakdown for sure.

So... Nope, not for me. Still glad I tried though.

[Taipan]

Can you not get a test ride on a cb500x?

[Taipan]

@Taipan the cb500x is undoubtedly objectively the best bike out of what I'm considering. But someone recently said to me that life is too short for perfectly adequate motorcycles and it sounded good. I've had a lot of adequate bikes in my life already.

MT09 then. Can be as sedate as a 250 but can also fook off like a scalded cat if you want it to and riding the torque curve is a dream!

[A_morti]

Can you not get a test ride on a cb500x?

Probably not, but I will ask.

After my disappointing test ride, I went directly to the Honda dealer. The Honda guy was off sick but I could have a look and sit on the bikes. They had these in stock.


The 500X felt nice, but still pretty taut. By contrast the 300L felt like it would give that magic carpet ride that I (think I) want. The question is where's the right compromise? Is the "SUV" suspension on the 500X going to be too road focused, or am I going to get seasick on the "proper dirtbike"?

I'm also less interested in the 300 Rally than the regular 300L. Partly because I'm not on my way to Dakar and I don't need that much suspension, but partly because it's listed for 1,250€ more than the regular 300L.