my brother had one of these........ mike hailwood replica mille (1000cc)
i was lucky enough to get my leg over this baby a number of times and winding the throttle back was truly exhilarating!
pat
Well, I sold my 2002 VFR800 last year with 120,000klms on it and was just looking at getting the valves done!! Turned around and bought an 08 zx14SE and absolutely love it. More power than I will ever need, but a whole lot of fun.
here is my love child, 2012 883 iron. Harley of course.
And do you say your prayers every morning Jeremy:
Our Harley, which art a chopper, hallowed be thy twin Vee,
Thy engine hums, thy tyres run, on dirt as it does on asphalt,
Give us this day, our daily run, and forgive us for our straight pipes,
as we forgive those that ride fully dressed amongst us.
Lead us not to Suzuki, and deliver us from the fuzz,
for ever and ever. Amen
I saw this poem in the very first issue of Easyrider Magazine, oh so very long ago. And, if you are riding a Harley, then you do need to pray that it makes it home again. Mind you, they have been building them for nearly a hundred years, so it is about time they got them right!
the "other" poem of course peter, a mate of mine had on his t-shirt in the 80's was:
"on the sixth day god created harley davidson, and on the seventh day he was still trying to start the effing thing!"
and of course for the trumpy bonnevilles dropped so much oil that they used to get "two petrol stations to the mile" ha ha what a ripper!
pat
I take it your son has been riding a gs500 and was it restricted? Either way it should have had enough power to have learnt the basics.
I would vouch for upgrading. I feel a lot safer on my 1200 than I ever did on the 4 stroke 250 that I had. Nobody can keep up with you on the roads. Don't have to play bumper cars with the mental chip on their shoulder person at the end of the day who plays traffic boss. You just leave them all behind.
The only thing I would say is go for the lightest bike as it will be easier to manouvre with. Probably the only setback with my 1200 is it is a little too heavy.
And buy him a day at the racetrack so he can learn to leave his ego there. On the road ride to live to ride another day is a motto I like.
Cheers simmo,
He's back from Thailand and we've had another shop around. He's put a deposit down on an ex demo 2013 BMW F800R with 1500K on the clock and finance is underway. It's an upright inline water cooled twin and the fuel tank is under the seat to keep the weight low, so it should be fine in traffic. He said it outclassed all of the jap bikes he has test ridden. $12,490 + about $400 for stamp duty and to transfer the rego.
It's got the same power and torque figures as the K100RS but will be way lighter. I'm sure a few of those horse have escape from the old K100 over the last 27 years too
I see Christian Phiffer as a stunt rider. That won't be a normal old F800
Cheers Ric, I'm happy too. I think he'll be a lot safer on that than some street racer.
I'm surprised at the performance figures, 65Kw and 86Nm which are the same as my 86 K100rs.
The K800 was 83Kw and 83Nm but torque always wins
It has a whopping 12.5:1 compression which means premium fuel.
This one has pannier racks and the yet to be bought panniers expand from 17L to 25L somehow. They are almost a grand.
It's 2 months old so has 2months less than 2 years warranty and that includes roadside assist.
He'll have it paid off in 3 years. Perfect.
[edit]
I can't get that K1300R I saw down there out of my head. The front end is something out of a scifi flick yet hidden behind a fairing. $27,000 2nd hand.
I've been riding my K12S for about 6 years now, and that Hossack front end does more than just look good. It is light years ahead of my previous bikes - and 170HP doesn't hurt either...
Go beemer!
cheers,
Andrew.
Greg, he got it from morgan and wackers the long term Harley/BM dealers here. I bought my BM's from them 30 odd years ago. They have put new panniers on the bike at a discount price, upped the price of the bike to suit and it's gone through finance just fine He's picking it up today.
I was at the bm shop Friday getting an air filter for mine. More oily industrial unit than shop
Agreed re; The BM shop, but if you need to know stuff and their parts were always well priced, we have BM Motorcycles in Ringwood similar but a lot more professional, BMW have been known to consult these blokes. I do like the look of your 'K' but lean to twins and I am on my third, and last.
Greg.
I hope that your son enjoys his bike, I rode one at a launch (Broardford R/Track) mighty and usable.
P.S. I have used Motobins in the past.
Last edited by taminga16; 11-05-2013 at 10:38 AM.
Reason: Addendum
Mind you, they have been building them for nearly a hundred years, so it is about time they got them right! 
