Idle thoughts while stuck in lockdown

[Bigyin]

A nice skinny V twin is what sir needs, perhaps a Monster

He said he had no access to tools.

Thats why i didnt suggest a Buell

fucking heathen

[KungFooBob]

ER6 has just enough power to still be fun with a passenger, dunno how wide it is tho'.

[Zimbo]

I'm with the skinny V-twin, how about a Ducati SSie? The 750 is reasonable with a pillion power wise and comfortable for the pillion, and still handle well two up, fairly light and easy to move around, cheap (£2K should get you a good one) and 780mm wide, plus the mirrors fold in easily. And they are reliable

[Taipan]

Himalaya? Good bang for your buck and most just under £4k. No idea on dimensions though...

[Wossname]

Sprint 1050 is a good suggestion, and the mirrors, which are a good bit wider than the rest, are spring loaded and swivel inwards. Makes it a lot slimmer. Great bike for a pillion, too.

[Potter]

Panigale?

[the_priest]

K12.... er no. Mine!

CB500F, enough poke, handles nicely and narrow. Cheap insurance.
New one: https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Honda-CB500F ... SwiS9ffg15

Old one: https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Honda-cbf-50 ... Sw5NRgAJM7

Older one is narrower and with good lock, so you can waggle through the gate...

Alternatively, CBF300 is 720mm wide. https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/2019-Honda-C ... Sw0zBfUbwg

[demographic]

How wide is the rest of the route into the place?
Mine has a back alley then til this Tuesday it had a narrow gate that I couldn't get my GSXR or KX through in a totally straight line.
I could however get it to the gate posts, then turn the bars a bit so one would pass the post, move the bike forward slightly, lean it slightly and get the other bar through.
What I'm saying is that in my case I could get a bike that was wider than the opening through all the same.

Fortunately that gate is now knackered and I've just built a wider one and IIRC the new opening is about 900mm, can't remember where the euro profile lock is though so its currently just screwed shut.

[Jody]

How about a tatty bike that you hop on to go and collect the rockstar ?

[Rockburner]

How wide is the rest of the route into the place?
Mine has a back alley then til this Tuesday it had a narrow gate that I couldn't get my GSXR or KX through in a totally straight line.
I could however get it to the gate posts, then turn the bars a bit so one would pass the post, move the bike forward slightly, lean it slightly and get the other bar through.
What I'm saying is that in my case I could get a bike that was wider than the opening through all the same.

Fortunately that gate is now knackered and I've just built a wider one and IIRC the new opening is about 900mm, can't remember where the euro profile lock is though so its currently just screwed shut.

Yes - I know how to do that (London filtering standard practise), it just increases the faff levels.

How about a tatty bike that you hop on to go and collect the rockstar ?

That's one of the reasons for it, hence not concerned overly with performance or kerb appeal.

The CBF300 that Priest suggested is kinda what I was thinking of, I just don't know what's out there - I haven't paid attention to the bike market for about 15 years!

[Scotsrich]

https://www.visordown.com/news/general/ ... iest-bikes

Possibly nothing here ticks your boxes but might give you some ideas.

[mangocrazy]

So - bit of backstory: I've moved in with a new partner who lives on a main road, no parking, very narrow alley into the back garden (no shed) with an even narrower gate.

Additional info:
The back gate opening is 74cm (29") wide. That's the narrowest gap the bike would need to fit through.

I understand your dilemma, as I have a similar one (although nothing as severe as yours). I live in a terraced house, with the passage I use to get bikes in and out running between my house and my neighbour's. Narrowest part of the c. 6 metre passage is about 850mm wide, so at least 100mm wider than your bottleneck. I was very surprised to realise just how wide most bikes are these days. Any kind of Adventure bike is a no-no, as is any sports-tourer. Even sports bike widths have gradually crept up over the years.

The only suggestion I can make is to buy a naturally slim bike (single or v-twin) that doesn't use clip on type bars, but handlebars that mount off the top yoke. Then look at getting a custom set of bars made up to minimise the overall width. I bought a KTM Duke 690 knowing full well that the bar width was marginal and then had to get a set of bars made up that gave me room for manoeuvre. Original width of the bars was around 825mm, and that was with the bars shortened by about an inch each side by the dealer. I stuck milk bottle caps over the bar ends when wheeling it down the passage way to avoid scraping the anodised (shorter than standard) bar ends.

Next step was to get a set of narrower bars made up that also improved comfort. Bar width was reduced to 740mm (same as the gap you need to fit through), but which gave me a couple of inches leeway each side. I posted a pic of the bars here:
viewtopic.php?p=44783#p44783
If you were to have a straight bar (without any welded parts) you could reduce overall width further quite substantially. You'd lose leverage so it would be harder to get the bike to turn, but at least you could get out and ride.

Not sure if this helps...?

[Bigyin]

Himalaya? Good bang for your buck and most just under £4k. No idea on dimensions though...

Having seen RB ride, he would die of boredom on that as they are happy at 55-60 mph but seem to be a bit noisy above that as a 411cc single putting out 24 BHP ish

[KungFooBob]

I guarantee this will fit down your alley, not so good for taking a passenger though.

https://www.facebook.com/marketplace/it ... =undefined

[Rockburner]

Himalaya? Good bang for your buck and most just under £4k. No idea on dimensions though...

Having seen RB ride, he would die of boredom on that as they are happy at 55-60 mph but seem to be a bit noisy above that as a 411cc single putting out 24 BHP ish

I actually quite like pottering about on slow bikes, and an old brit thumper would be exactly what I'd have, if it could survive minimal maintenance while living outside in all weathers and not disapearing into a pile of oxides in short order!

[David]

Thats my bsa out then.....

[Rockburner]

Walked past one of those bright yellow Groms the other day.


Got the brian ticking it has.....

[Bigjawa]

My old courier weapon of choice, the GPZ500.