Yer basic bike - does such a thing exist?

[tri boy]

Scrambler, Volty, Air cooled Bandit, and 95 Daytona, (carbed, steamer engine).
I'm a simple bastard. (kanny tells me so)

[Bonez]

and 95 Daytona, (carbed, steamer engine).

Those the ones which you have to disassemble the bike to get at the air filter

[popelli]

.
But......sometimes I feel as though motorcycling has lost its way. The no-8 wire mechanic has no chance with modern machines. So my question - is there a basic bike out there today which is simple and easy to maintain/repair? The only candidate I can think of is the Royal Enfield.

I would have thought the harley sportster pre fuel injection would have fitted the bill perfectly

push rod motor

one carb

simple

low tech

basic

been around since 1957 (52 if you count the sidevalve version)


its a shame they "improved it" & fitted rubber engine mounts, and fuel injection and removed the gearbox trap door so its a full engine strip to rebuild the gearbox

[tri boy]

Those the ones which you have to disassemble the bike to get at the air filter

Triumph do such things to see if your worthy to ride their machine.
(actually, it's a totally shit design, that drives you crazy)

[Forest]

Yep. They don't leak oil, they're quiet, smooth, reliable......and surprisingly dull.

My wife had one for about three years, which I rode occasionally too. We opened up the mufflers to liberate a bit of a "voice", and removed the exhaust gas recirculation cr@p. Also fitted a Stage 1 jetting kit. The bike went quite well after that, with a bit more sparkle performance-wise.

It was still boring.

The biggest drawcard is the apprearance and the build quality. Old farts regularly would come up all misty-eyed to congratulate us on the "restoration", start reminiscing about their Trumpy or BSA, and then get confused when their bifocals finally locked onto the Kawasaki badge...

I'd have another one again, but only to convert into a cafe style bike with alloy tank and solo seat and clipons and rearsets and.......where's the Bike Trader magazine?

Thanks. That's great info.

Sounds like they copied the look, but not the character from the old british twins.

[Max Headroom]

Thanks. That's great info.

Sounds like they copied the look, but not the character from the old british twins.

Exactly. The W650 is clinically "correct" yet somehow lacks the X factor.

[nudemetalz]

GUZZI !!!

Takes me 30mins to do all 4 tappets. Challenge ya to beat that with ya Gixxer

No chain to worry about, only 3 grease points on the shaftdrive, replace gear oil, diff oil & engine oil. Easy peezy !!

Mind you, has EFI these days and does require occasional tinkering to get the idle smooth (for a Guzzi anyway !!)

[xwhatsit]

Exactly. The W650 is clinically "correct" yet somehow lacks the X factor.

I was told that they're a lot lighter, smaller and fun than the Hinckley retros. The Kwaka much more similar in size and handling characteristics to the original Meriden Bonnies.

[Max Headroom]

I was told that they're a lot lighter, smaller and fun than the Hinckley retros. The Kwaka much more similar in size and handling characteristics to the original Meriden Bonnies.

The W650 compared favourably to the Hinkley Bonnies in contemporary articles, with journos generally preferring the W650 because all the stuff that was an extra-cost option for the Bonnie (such as rubber tank pads, tacho, alloy rims, mainstand, two-tone paint and chrome mudguards) were all standard on the W650. Not a huge difference in performance either, yet the W650 was a coupla grand cheaper...

[popelli]

GUZZI !!!

yes they have all the characteristics of an old bike, basically because they are an old bike

I had one once, pure nostelgia, it was unreliable and broke down all the time

[madman]

The savage ls650 is butt ugly untill you do a few mods and its a simple single that i have found can become many different styles.

[imdying]

Wow, ditching the bars for something flatter made a huge difference! Nice!

[NordieBoy]

Wow, ditching the bars for something flatter made a huge difference! Nice!

My only mod to my LS400 was flat bars.

[James Deuce]

One day my NZ250 will be going. That's pretty simple.

[Grant81]

Yes, the second photo is my DIESEL bike, all Enfields from India. I get 143mpg / 50 kpl. Ive done 18000K now, it has to share the riding with my VTR250 & GPZ 500 now.
Its never missed a beat. Sorry so long for reply, I hadnt seen your question on our site.
Regards, Grant / Warkworth