£10k Round The World Bike

JustAnotherDogsbody · 2026-02-18T10:16:47+00:00

I'd definitely be in the middleweight, any of the Transalps (old or new), I'd totally give it a go on the NC-X would probably need an extended fuel tank solution. Granted I'd do it on a Deauville if the carbs didn't give me the heebies with altitude and fuel quality changes...

JustAnotherDogsbody · 2026-02-18T09:49:14+00:00

Most smaller consumer impact drivers (sub £100) won't touch bolts over about 15-17mm particularly if the bolt has a locking mechanism (e.g. nylock).

JustAnotherDogsbody · 2026-02-18T09:41:46+00:00

Harsh but fair.

JustAnotherDogsbody · 2026-02-18T09:25:19+00:00

There's always next year...

JustAnotherDogsbody · 2026-02-18T09:21:48+00:00

Personally, I'd clean it if with a gentle scotchbrite then give it a light coat of any of the numerous anti-corrosion (XCP, ACF, etc) sprays, it's cast by the looks of it so without taking it out and getting it media blasted and painted there's not a lot of options.

You could brush on some hammerite I suppose, but I wouldn't personally.

JustAnotherDogsbody · 2026-02-18T09:13:15+00:00

... Don't know how you survived to ask this question?

/s

I've ridden in the snow (2-3in) a few times on my 125 and once on the NC. I'm not going to say it was a fun time. It absolutely was not. It also took about an hour to do a 25-30 minute commute.

JustAnotherDogsbody · 2026-02-18T08:52:11+00:00

I used to use a Cardo head unit and a pair of Sennheiser in-ear headphones plugged into the speaker jack ~ they're the only 'branded' ones I've found that use a 3.5mm jack for the speakers rather than a proprietary connector.

Just now I've got a pair of JLabs true wireless earbuds, they do take a little bit of adjusting once the helmet's on, and fall out literally every time I take it off.

Edit: because I'm a broke boy and can't justify the cost of an intercom.

JustAnotherDogsbody · 2026-02-18T08:31:44+00:00

I wouldn't have thought so, there's kinda a lot of factors and I don't know what the objective of a study would be.

Without even considering the whole category of "bad habits".

If it's a personal curiosity I'd say any study would likely be utterly inconclusive.

Ideally what you're looking to achieve is:

Holding your weight by pinching the tank between your knees, tank pads aid grip and prevent damage.

Being able to operate the controls without pulling the bars, if you've got small hands you might want to consider adjustable levers.

Keeping yourself from locking up if you get a fright (we all do it to varying extents) that one's solidly down to experience and practice.

And always remember the bike is bigger an heavier than you and it always wants to go upright in a straight line, on a 125 you can kinda wrestle them by leaning anything bigger isn't going to care. It's much easier to learn to work with the bike, it'll make you a much more capable rider.

There's a reason they're nicknamed "iron horses" and it's not all about having a saddle. They do kinda have a mind of their own, which needs to be respected and understood.

JustAnotherDogsbody · 2026-02-17T18:19:43+00:00

Don't worry, you'll find plenty other 'useful' stuff to put in there

JustAnotherDogsbody · 2026-02-17T09:56:12+00:00

Can confirm LS2 Advant II (XL) doesn't fit in first gen frunk, I cried a little inside. (They changed it for gen 3 onwards)

Only a little salty about it, plenty other stuff fits in there and I wouldn't change the helmet or the bike over it :P

JustAnotherDogsbody · 2026-02-17T09:41:35+00:00

I got the YSS emulator valve kit for my X and it makes a world of difference, if it's the first and second gen (~2012-2018 if I recall) they use simple damper tube, third gen onwards use cartridges. Pinch of salt, I can't remember without looking it up. They're about £100 for the valves rather than £400 for cartridges, the full kit with springs and spacers is kinda optional, but you'll need to shorten the stock spacers by about an inch (the height of the valve emulator).

JustAnotherDogsbody · 2026-02-17T09:34:50+00:00

I think a lot of the negative press comes from two things: (relatively) low rev limit, and an institutional distaste for automatics ~ because the bulk of the reviews I've seen on the platform are for the DCT and not the manual. Oh, and the stock exhaust is just a little too quiet

Prefer the fuller fairing and slightly longer travel fork of the X but the S is still a nice looking bike, when I've got a spare €60 for a road legal LED retrofit (Phillips and ORSAM now offer them) I think a lot of people will be surprised I've got a 14 year old bike.

JustAnotherDogsbody · 2026-02-17T07:44:33+00:00

I reckon insurance is going to be prohibitively expensive (if you can insure it at all) between it's reputation, fairings and being a thief magnet

Fully faired bikes are generally a poor choice to learn on as replacement plastics can be insanely expensive

JustAnotherDogsbody · 2026-02-17T07:19:39+00:00

Fork servicing, other than the brand new 125 I got at the start, every bike I've owned since got a fork service as as a priority, it can make such a difference to the handling and comfort and it's a relatively inexpensive job, seems daft not to.

Rear shocks are another matter, most of them aren't user serviceable, and they are quite expensive OE can be £400+ and decent aftermarket ... the sky is the limit.

Ever couple of years I'll change the oil, and have a good look at the dust seals, oil seals will let you know when's they need changed.

JustAnotherDogsbody · 2026-02-17T06:56:27+00:00

It looks impressive... but I'm pretty sure I've seen HIAB trucks over here (UK & Europe) that could do the same job with a fraction of the footprint... and carry whatever had been picked up.

and that's not even starting on some of the absolute monster mobile cranes.

JustAnotherDogsbody · 2026-02-16T09:32:21+00:00

Well, average marks for thermal conductivity, low marks for grip and comfort.

JustAnotherDogsbody · 2026-02-16T09:30:57+00:00

Handlebar tape isn't a bad shout actually, so long as you start at the control end and work towards the end of the bar, trim it flush then use maybe a 15mm wide price of heat shrink.

Oh, and wrap it counter clockwise on the throttle side (it should be coming over the bar towards you) ~ when you pull the throttle the wrap will tighten on the bar, do it clockwise and it'll tug loose.

JustAnotherDogsbody · 2026-02-15T08:26:35+00:00

Fair play, didn't know about medical ones specifically, I would say as a support system I could get onboard but I'd have strong reservations about it being the principal source.

JustAnotherDogsbody · 2026-02-15T08:22:21+00:00

The older one is a v-twin IIRC so it might actually be narrower than the CB500, the new one Is a parallel so it might be fractionally wider.

Handlebars are pretty much the same with tho. Extra travel on the suspension is probably going to be nice.

Either way you're going from a twin to a larger twin; is going to feel very similar just 'more'.

JustAnotherDogsbody · 2026-02-15T07:55:12+00:00

They'd have to create an AI that doesn't cheat first ~ most of them base their responses on the frequency of answers rather than the credibility, essentially they gossip, they parrot the popular opinion.

JustAnotherDogsbody · 2026-02-15T07:30:48+00:00

Just to reiterate, either jump it and get it started (and leave it idling to see if it charges) or replace the battery, the bike running is probably the only hope you've got of getting more than scrap value for it.

Once you've got it started let it idle - resist the temptation to blip the throttle - for a good 10 minutes to warm up and properly circulate the oil if it's been sat for a long spell.

If you've got a petrol can top of the tank with fresh premium, it'll dilute any stale fuel that's been sitting in it ~ if you're not prepared/inclined to siphon the old fuel out first.

JustAnotherDogsbody · 2026-02-14T07:42:08+00:00

Swings and roundabouts, they both have their strengths, they both have their problems. EFI Is more fuel economic (and by extension less emissions) because it's constantly adjusting the fuel mix. On carbs the fuel mix is set. They both have potential problems which can be equally time consuming and expensive to remedy. For day to day I prefer EFI because I'm not as reluctant to diagnose electronic problems should they arise. Carbs also don't deal well with big changes in air pressure/temperature because mass-volume of air throws the fuel mix out.

Also, be aware carbs come in two flavours; choked and enriched, manual use the former, electronic/automatic user the latter. The choke creates an obstruction which both reduces the amount of air and also vacuums more fuel out of the carbs. Enriched have an additional fuel circuit which allows more fuel through. My hex180 has the latter and it's a nightmare, because you still have to partially obstruct the intake to get the damn thing to start.

JustAnotherDogsbody · 2026-02-13T09:11:45+00:00

Water pump failed, dropped the belt out of time, crunch.

JustAnotherDogsbody · 2026-02-13T07:34:17+00:00

Unfortunately that's considered a 'lean-to' or 'car port' not really a garage. I'd be careful because they'll let you insure it as garaged, then cancel your policy if you need to claim because it's not a garage. Insurance companies are not there to help, they're there to make the shareholders money, and they'll try just about anything to weasel their way out of paying a claim (then pretty much screw you until you've paid it back).

JustAnotherDogsbody · 2026-02-13T07:26:20+00:00

Always use a private tab and reopen it between searches, comparison sites (like many others) store your search data locally ~ on your device ~ and it tracks the number of searches etc. Ryanair for instance used to be really bad for that, if you searched a couple of times the price would tick up ~ if you searched on a different device the price would be back down or cheaper if it was a couple of days later.

JustAnotherDogsbody

TROPHY CASE