Should I or shouldn't I ?

[Nungali]

 

 

 

2019 Royal Enfield Classic  500 R (single)   Desert Storm 

 

Also available in ' Military Green ' 

 

 

Pros :   I used to be a retro bike nut, prefer the British makes , like big singles, used to own a 500 singe before and liked it,  I dont like new motorcycles,  these are relatively cheap, I live  10 mins away from one of the best motor cycle runs on the east coast, there is a dealer not too far away for repairs  and parts if needed.  I dont need to go fast or tear around like a maniac. They are mostly old school , bu with modern touches  *like electronic ignition, electric  starter .

 

Cons :   I dont  need   one . 

[Cheshire Cat]

1 hour ago, Nungali said:

Cons :   I dont  need   one

 

Maybe you need it, but you don't know it yet. 

 

Maybe it's the materialized form of a special spirit that wants a role in your life. 

 

But most importantly, if you buy it, you perform your duty as a consumer and contribute to the economy. 

[joeblast]

depends how good you are with a wrench...you can pick up something to ride on for a lot less than $6k, but one of the pros about newstuff is that there's nobody else's gremlins to deal with (aside from the factory's, of course )

 

my brother sold his bike with the intention to quickly buy another, but wanted to finish his schooling that he's almost done with...and he's still not done, so now he's kicking himself for having sold the bike, lol.  me, I'm glad I got out of my early 20s bike time unscathed   I wasnt very responsible with 70-90-110-130-150-160mph in my gears.  if I were to ever get another, I think I'd go for something like that v6 honda valkyrie, I rode one once, it was like a combination of feeling like I was on a couch, but also on CHIPS with that windshield

Edited June 19, 2019 by joeblast

[silent thunder]

What are you waiting for?  Life ain't all about need mate.  Your situation sounds ideal for a pleasure bike.  My first bike was a Honda 250.  In Minnesota.  Good starter bike, tough location though.  Short season for riding unless you liked being chilly and wet.  Which of course, this viking loved, my gal... not so much... but she did it. 

 

We sold all our vehicles when we moved to Brooklyn, but upon arriving in Cali, my first purchase was a bike.  For four years, she was my only transport in LA.  Hardly ever rains, and even when it does... pfft jacket...  rode all year round... i miss it.

 

Sold it when my gal got pregnant and cell phones got popular, switched to a Jeep.  LA traffic was dumb enough before the phones.  I wanted to play with my son, not haunt him, or have him help me into my chair... lol.

 

Plan is to replace it when he's off to college and we retire fully to the country up north away from the city, which is just a few years off now.  Just too crazy riding in the city for me.  Some days I really miss it... I can taste the memory of those rides along Mulholland Drive and the PV/Portuguese bend area.  Cuz when the wild flowers are really kicking, you can taste it.

 

My ride was a shaft drive cruiser, liquid cooled Suzuki Intruder 1400, very slightly chopped.  So smooth, I could spend all day on her and not feel it.  On the long open straights of the 5 down near San Diego, I'd open it up.  Topped out around 135mph.  No more of that of course, but some fine memories.

 

What you waitin for mate?

[silent thunder]

I know you don't like newer bikes... and I'm all about classics and cruisers too... but a few of these are just... ww!

 

[silent thunder]

https://www.anglotopia.net/anglophilia/top-10-classic-british-motorcycles/

 

mmmm....

[Nungali]

13 hours ago, silent thunder said:

What are you waiting for?  Life ain't all about need mate. 

 

Yeah  .... that did it !    

 

 

 

Quote

 

 

 

Your situation sounds ideal for a pleasure bike.  My first bike was a Honda 250.  In Minnesota.  Good starter bike, tough location though.  Short season for riding unless you liked being chilly and wet.  Which of course, this viking loved, my gal... not so much... but she did it. 

 

It won't be used that much, def a pleasure bike  ( I got the pleasure car and 'utility car' already ), I finished the shed the other day, took a picture to send to a mate and as I looked at it ..... it is missing something  ...   a motorcycle !

 

I gave then up when I moved here , I had very little money back then and  deiced to settle here and get a house, so I had to choose between that and bikes.  Now I got the house , dont have to go to work, no  partner or kids , older .... time in life for ' two wheeled sanyassi '  

 

 

 

Quote

 

We sold all our vehicles when we moved to Brooklyn, but upon arriving in Cali, my first purchase was a bike.  For four years, she was my only transport in LA.  Hardly ever rains, and even when it does... pfft jacket...  rode all year round... i miss it.

 

Sold it when my gal got pregnant and cell phones got popular, switched to a Jeep.  LA traffic was dumb enough before the phones.  I wanted to play with my son, not haunt him, or have him help me into my chair... lol.

 

Plan is to replace it when he's off to college and we retire fully to the country up north away from the city, which is just a few years off now.  Just too crazy riding in the city for me.  Some days I really miss it... I can taste the memory of those rides along Mulholland Drive and the PV/Portuguese bend area.  Cuz when the wild flowers are really kicking, you can taste it.

 

I wont go near a city with it .    I plan to mostly stick on 'Waterfall Way '.

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Waterfall_Way

 

 

 

 

 

 

   caught myself leaning as I was watching 

 

 

 

 

[Lost in Translation]

22 hours ago, Nungali said:

Cons :   I dont  need   one . 

 

Oh, please! 

[Nungali]

Oh noooooo  

 

During my 'research' . I found  these 2 .  Now I won;t be satisfied with anything else .

 

 

 

 

 

RE 'Meteor'   700  1959.

 

 

 

 

 

 

RE  'Constellation '   (spokeless wheel model    )  

Edited June 25, 2019 by Nungali

[silent thunder]

those new spokeless wheels... are they reverse engineered from off planet tech? 

 

*drooooool. 

[Nungali]

Thats British Engineering !  

 

Unfortunately,  the new REs are Indian engineering  ... or I should say   Indian ingineering  .

 

Issues NEW owners have - that is , a new bike from the factory ;

 

 the fork sleeve alignment and travel,  - rubs mudguard or scratches on tube (mudguard not placed in locating recess properly )
 the Auto de-comp spring tension, -  noisy  tap tap tap - weak return spring
the air filter box design,  - lets in dust and water - a killer on an engine -  last year we  lost a MF 154-4  (tractor - expensive ! ) due to dust and stuff getting past air filters.
the swing arm design,  handling issues, pulls to the side, or chain tensioner isnt placed at equal positions on either side
he oval box locking mechanism,  - locks great !  .... permanently .
the break peddle at cornering,  - scrapes on road  and pushes up on your foot and releases back break  !
the main stand angle, - wears, bike sits too far forward on stand  and is hard to get off stand
missing lembda,  -   cheap EI , rough running, mixture probs
Vibes at high er speed  - needs new cam plate inside (an Aussie invention ! )  - seems not that complicated to fit .

 

 

 

 

 

Bad finish , early rust -   paint job incomplete (near joints )
 clutch burns out - from ‘backfire starting ?
 fuel leaks - o ring from lines and sensors
 battery acid  burns on  side covers  ( cheap battery, no overflow hose,  acid spills  out when loading and unloading  new bikes 
side  boxes  dont open   
fuel consumption is LOW  ( as odometer inaccurate  )

 

Most experts agree many are not engineering problems but finish and assembly problems .

 

Its interesting to read Indians experience - there a service includes 'wash and clean' , apparently they always do that, but not the work you have asked for them to do 

 

Another guy complained that he had to wait in the customer service centre lounge .  "Only two hours Sir . "

 

" Oh good, I will go and attend to some business and be back then . "

 

" No Sir you must have misunderstood me  .... you  MUST wait in the customer service lounge while we service your motorcycle. "

 

"What ? ! "

 

" if you do not wait, we will not service it, and if you leave we will stop servicing it !  "

 

 

Whaaaat ? !     They have some guy checking on the room  ?   " Sanjeev !   Customer for bike job number  18 has just left the waiting area ! Stop work on number 18 and wheel it out into the street !  "

 

Crazy Indians !

 

 

 

 

 

.... and I am thinking of buying a bike made by them ! ?????? 

 

 

 

 

 

Been raining constant for 3 days  - not good for test drive - eased off a little this morning so I am off down the coast to the dealers

 

< fingers crossed >

 

[Nungali]

.... out of stock  ! 

 

Only had the 650  twin .   Now I gotta wait for one to be s roaded up from the docks in Melbourne  .

[Nungali]

Which it has  ... which I did and today its snug in its own little shed with a nice insulated cover on it .

 

I went for the 'squadron blue' colour ... niiiice !

 

 

Gotta stay under 60kph for the first 500k  - run in .

 

 

those 650 twin RE 'Interceptors' are looking better, got great write ups and half the price of a triumph !

 

 

[silent thunder]

8 hours ago, Nungali said:

Which it has  ... which I did and today its snug in its own little shed with a nice insulated cover on it .

 

I went for the 'squadron blue' colour ... niiiice !

 

 

Gotta stay under 60kph for the first 500k  - run in .

 

 

those 650 twin RE 'Interceptors' are looking better, got great write ups and half the price of a triumph !

 

 

Daaaaayam!

I think I'm in love...

[Nungali]

sorry , taking the rear seat off and putting a little rack on it .    

[Cloudwalking Owl]

The earth is dying and rich people talk about buying expensive toys that destroy Mother Nature. 

"Daoism"?----I think not.

[Starjumper]

I Love them Royal Enfields!  The first one I saw was in Seattle, starting out from a stop light, doing a little wheelie with the gear shifts, and sounding like thunder.  I was impressed!  It was a twin cylinder 750, get that one for a road bike, a single for off road.  They're made in India now, and I heard the Indians are using some lower quality metal the the Engrish did.

 

Oh, I see you already got one.

 

I always like English bikes, they have a soul, unlike the plastic Jap crap.  

Edited September 27, 2019 by Starjumper

[Nungali]

10 hours ago, Cloudwalking Owl said:

The earth is dying and rich people talk about buying expensive toys that destroy Mother Nature. 

"Daoism"?----I think not.

 

Thats right .

 

 

... you think ,   not  . 

 

 We already went through that side of things pages back .   Hence the thread title .  You should have weighed in back then , berfore I got convinced otherwise . 

 

Now great sage ... make a list of the things in YOUR life buddy that you have yet could do without .

 

Come on, cough it up .

 

 

- and what makes you say the Earth is dying ?  That is such bull shit !

Edited September 28, 2019 by Nungali

[Nungali]

8 hours ago, Starjumper said:

I Love them Royal Enfields!  The first one I saw was in Seattle, starting out from a stop light, doing a little wheelie with the gear shifts, and sounding like thunder.  I was impressed!  It was a twin cylinder 750, get that one for a road bike, a single for off road.  They're made in India now, and I heard the Indians are using some lower quality metal the the Engrish did.

 

Oh, I see you already got one.

 

I always like English bikes, they have a soul, unlike the plastic Jap crap.  

 

Yes, they have a soul .... but apparently not a daoist soul    , obviously, now being made in India, their soul is more  related to Vedanta .

 

Its a re-incarnated Royal Enfield 

 

(how about a nice English triumph ?  

 

https://riders.drivemag.com/features/triumph-motorcycles-thailand-factory-visit

 

  )

Edited September 28, 2019 by Nungali

[Earl Grey]

14 hours ago, Cloudwalking Owl said:

The earth is dying and rich people talk about buying expensive toys that destroy Mother Nature. 

"Daoism"?----I think not.

 

4 hours ago, Nungali said:

 

Thats right .

 

 

... you think ,   not  . 

 

 We already went through that side of things pages back .   Hence the thread title .  You should have weighed in back then , berfore I got convinced otherwise . 

 

Now great sage ... make a list of the things in YOUR life buddy that you have yet could do without .

 

Come on, cough it up .

 

 

- and what makes you say the Earth is dying ?  That is such bull shit !

 

Good god, another sanctimonious turd belittling others for not fitting into their criteria for what is a Taoist. Sounds more like a Sunday school fundamentalist than an impartial Taoist, let alone a non-judging Christian, for fuck’s sake.

[doc benway]

5 hours ago, Nungali said:

- and what makes you say the Earth is dying ?  That is such bull shit !

 

I would offer that the rate of extinction of species, the loss of 30% of North America's birds in the past 50 years, and related occurrences are ample evidence that the Earth (which I take as organism-environment) is dying. It's more than simply rendering the Earth uninhabitable, we are killing her with far more rapidity than the normal background extinction rate. It's been estimate it's happening ~1,000 times more rapidly than the background rate currently. Granted this is a challenging thing to measure or predict but I feel humanity has become a cancer on this Earth. Looking at us from a medical perspective, our activities and the consequences are eerily similar to the behavior and effects of a malignant tumor. 

 

Don't get me wrong, buy the bike and enjoy the fuck out of it. Lord knows I'm contributing to the problem as are nearly all of us to some degree. A bike is far less toxic than a car (with the possible exception of all electric but even they have a considerable footprint). My only objection to bikes is that I used to deal with the consequences of the wrecks which can be horrific. I live in an area with very high traffic density so I wouldn't get near one in my neighborhood.

 

We need to enjoy the things that get the juices flowing, do so with some awareness and consideration for our Mother, and look inward at our own contributions to the problem and responsibility to help. I think it's rather presumptuous and useless point the finger at others, particularly when we know next to nothing about their lives.

[ilumairen]

16 hours ago, Cloudwalking Owl said:

The earth is dying and rich people talk about buying expensive toys that destroy Mother Nature. 

"Daoism"?----I think not.

 

Hi Cloudwalking Owl, you're fairly new here, and don't share much history with @Nungali - the individual who bought an "expensive toy." Perhaps he would be kind enough to find one of the threads where he shares about his home and how he lives? Or perhaps you could take a slight step back and search it out yourself? It's actually rather inspiring imo.

[ilumairen]

 

1 hour ago, steve said:

We need to enjoy the things that get the juices flowing, do so with some awareness and consideration for our Mother, and look inward at our own contributions to the problem and responsibility to help. I think it's rather presumptuous and useless point the finger at others, particularly when we know next to nothing about their lives.

 

Nice post.

[silent thunder]

Our Great Mother is the Void Beyond void.

Some call it Dao, others Brahman... many names.

Regardless of how local awareness labels to interact with the concept...

 

We all Spring from her Gateless Gate and return our form  there when our little blink shifts.

 

All we love and all we despise, arise from one source and to it, return.

We are one flowing ocean of waves that seem independent in our localized tinyness.

 

The one true impossibility to me, is to ever be separated from Dao, for one half moment, by even a hair's width... ever.

 

 

[Starjumper]

12 hours ago, Nungali said:

how about a nice English triumph ?  

 

https://riders.drivemag.com/features/triumph-motorcycles-thailand-factory-visit

 

 

I mostly had Triumphs, topping it off with a Triumph Hurricane 750, fastest bike in the world when it was first produced in the early 70s.  It was really a BSA (Bastard Stopped Again) after BSA closed their doors, and was given a Triumph name plate.   It had bigger carbs than the standard 750 triple, and got around 22 mpg.    They were limited production and I never should have sold mine, they are worth a mint now.

 

 

 

My Favorite was a BSA 650, it was said by road testers to be the most stable motorcycle ever made, and I do believe it.  Once it was going 5mph or more it felt weightless, and it was so responsive it reacted as if reading your mind and would do anything you wanted with no effort.  In strong side gusts it would automatically lean into the wind and keep the same track.  I could make fast S curves, while staying within my lane, so fast that the front tire would hop off the ground each time.  It was even good on ice.  You really did feel like one with the machine, like you were flying.

 

Compared to that, the Jap bikes always feel remote, like you can never trust it, like you're sitting high up on top of this plastic fake unstable 'thing' that could bite you any second.  Of course anyone who never rode an English bike wouldn't know the difference.  Italian bikes handle really well too.

Edited September 28, 2019 by Starjumper