ktm jeff

The Yamaha is a great bike , but as you say , the Benelli is much more so , with its Italian style and flair. At such a good price , you could soon sell it next year without loosing out , if you dont like it.  You will like it .

taichiplanet , My Aprilia RSV has nitrogen filled tires. Would that have any effect on the 9.8 M per second/2 gravitational pull , or would i have to add lightweight susspension oil to the shock.

denkiblue555 , iv had no problems with the clearances on my Kawasaki H2 rotor injectors. I use them to spray water onto my rotors , helping to cool them , as i blast around BKK , delivering pizzas. Had them modified when the nitros was being fitted. My driving instructor says im ready for my test soon. My doctors however , diss-agree.

Happy Grumpy , i very nearly posted something similar yesterday. Same tenacity. LL2 posted some informative posts. RE , Duke overheating. It was caused by both a poor quality , under- powered electric fan , whose fan blades could detatch from the motor , and a very reistrictive shroud / deflector that encased the rear of the fan. This was an attempt to re-direct the hot , expeled radiator air , away from the rider , due to some riders complaining about hot legs , when in both trousers and shorts.The shroud design / outlet hole was too reistrictive , not allowing enough hot air out. So it ran hot. The cure is too ditch the shroud , and fit a better quality , higher powered electric fan. The process , and the fan details are on various KTM forums. In Thailand , if these mods are done , there wont be any problems. Some have gone the extra mile / kilometer , and added "Engine Ice" coolent , or similar.

Have you considered the Yamaha Grand Filano. Superb underseat storage , build quality and fuel injection. May mean you loose "Honda Girl" though. Yamaha gives 60 KM/L. Honda only 42.

The steering dampers do help dampen out the shakes ( side to side ) at the bars. They wont help a wheel going down , in a pot hole , but do calm down the sharpness .Necessary ? . Well , thats for you to decide. But if it saves you from just one crash !. I have an Ohlins on my factory Aprilia and its a nice addition , but it was much needed on a 2004 Kawasaki ZXR 1000. Evil bike.

Honda have thrown a huge amount of money at this engine , trying to sort out the reliability problems , so i cant see them releasing another model using the same engine.It has been changed so much , it became a "300". Point of intrest , the real capacity of this engine is closer to a 275 cc . Performance upgrades could be made , or simply buy a Kawasaki KLX , and go for a real 300 cc big bore kit.

I dont think there are any "new-old-stock" 250,s about. There may still be some 150,s hiding at the back of store rooms in obscure shops. Malasia seems to have had the last of the production. Sorry Happy Grumpy , i meant FZR.

thaiguzzi , ive seen some Honda NSR 250,s circa late eighties / early nineties , for sale , claiming to have real green books. Rare though. Never seen the Yamaha TZ 250. As for 350,s (liquid cooled) there may well be some Brazilian built RD,s about , but i doubht very much they will have green books.Air cooled 350,s , Kawasaki KH ?. Good luck with that search.

Two main reasons to use nitrogen . Nitrogen has larger gas molecules , so less seepage , and it is a more thermally stable gas , so pressure is more consistant regaurdless of tire temperatures. Everyday use - not really needed.

Stevemercer , you are correct in saying the Ron and , to an extent , the Cetane rating can be raised by the addition of Ethanol / Methanol , however as Ethanol only provides about 70% of the energy that Gasoline provides , this shortcoming has to be propped up by blending it with the higher quality 95 Gasoline. It isnt totally sucsessfull though , as the lower specific energy released by E20 means you can use 10% more of it to go the same distance as Gasoline . This is why E20 91 is not recommended. And why many countries dont sell E20 , in either 91 or 95 grades. Ethanol causes many more problems than just perished seals and hotter running - as if we need the engines to run any hotter for christ sake. Wait a few years and the oil companies , and governments that forced this on them , will end up looking as foolish as they have over the diesel fuel fiasco.

Well done BQuik. Best way to get more customers , and repeat business , is by providing such a good service in the first place. In complete contrast to the thieves at Quick Fit , England.

"Whats that all about" , you ask. Well , its marketing bull. As your page 93 clearly shows , E20 is of a standard so low as to require the 80% of petrol / gasoline to be the higher quality 95 octane fuel , where as E10 has enougth petrol/gasoline in it ( 90%) that you can "get away" with using it in some low powered /l ow compression engines in both 91 and 95 octane form. On any bike other than performance bikes , i would recommend Shell E10 91. Shell 95 " Nitro " is best for the higher compresion engines , and the expensive full fat " Benzine l" for the 2-strokes.

Ive always had good results with Castrol "Power 1" Racing. Was called Castrol TTS. Fully synthetic. Even at 25:1 , very little to no smoke. If this isnt easily available , then fully synthetic Shell.

The answer to this strange pricing system may be that 10 years ago there was very little choice in the bike ( and car ) market. Prices were high and choices were very limited , so you bought a Honda and keep it untill it died. The few people selling a second-hand bike asked a high price for it in order to recoup some of the money. Today thats not the case. Bikes are cheaper , in real terms , and choices are far better , with many bikes overtaking Honda on both quality and value , and many "new" makes such as Benelli , Stallion and Keeway coming to the market , offering great value alternative choices. With more dissposable income , people now decide they "want" another bike , rather than "need" another. So they sell their 1 or 2 year old model and purchase an upgrade. The resale price is no longer such an issue to many. Others , as you say , fall victim to reposession. Kf6vci , the Spark sounds great value. Did you buy it from Chiang Mai. If so , i saw the advert.

I dont know who is designing all these generic bikes that are coming to the market recently ( such as the Stallions , the smaller Benellis and the Keeways ) , but they are doing a dam good job of making some very attractive , purposefull looking bikes , at amazing prices. Seems a very good alternative to a scooter , for a runaround bike. Stand by for some highly modified versions of these bikes hitting the streets soon.

RIP for the consul. Ive used the Birmingham Thai embassy for over 25 years. Great service. Do i now use the "Thai embassy" , and if so , where is it. Has anyone had better service posting the paperwork down to London.

Thank you seedy. There are also photos of the "new" version , with nicer mirrors , a different exhaust tip ( not as nice ) and a Petronas blue/green "water-splash" color scheme , that hides the sharp style somewhat.

Benelli have shown their 250cc super-moto / super-motard at a bike show in India. Looking very sharp and Italian , and much like the model first shown in 2013 , the bike uses much of the mechanicals of the TNT 250 but with longer travel susspension. The Italian designed bike is expected to be priced around 120,000 Baht. I dont have any details as to when it will arrive in Thailand. Im unable to download a photo yet , but its on the net , so maybe someone can help.

Thats the old air cooled "Long way round" bikes your talking about . Not exciting. The new 1000 RR,s are good. Im testing a modified one soon , for a company , so ill let you know. Hope my care home nurse looks like that.

canthai55 , i replaced brake master cylinder piston and seals on my Platinum PX 250 ( not worn , just making a modification ) , Honda parts were a direct replacement. Seems both Honda and Platinum use the same supplier , many other engine / gearbox and electrical parts are interchangeable. Cant speak for Harleys , but the Itallian bikes ive owned , Aprillia , Benelli and Ducati , have never required me to use a bus or breakdwn truck. Need to add these to the Honda line. The KTM is spot-on HA HA.

Opps. Yes , they ( MT 21 ) are more aggresive than i remember. Honda went in 2009. My memory around the same time , it would appear. The AC 10,s are more suitable for the riding i do as i live very local to green lanes , and although road legal , they are not good on tarmac - dry or wet. Sometimes you have to use what you can get , at the right price.

I dont consider the MT 21 to be much more off-road biased than the tires ( IRC ? ) that the KLX / CRF come with. I ran MT 21,s on my Honda XR 650R for green laning in England , but that consisted of tarmac / Roman road and general off-road riding. I used AC 10,s in the winter , that i now use on my Husaberg FE 450 green laner. 3000KM on the road / tarmac is good ( mine lasted 1600 - 2000KM on the 650 ) and points to them being a pretty good road tire , more so than 90/10. The problem is trying to get the tires you want in Thailand , without having to import them. You cant always get what you want. Hang on , theres a song there !.

For a number of years , Yamaha has had a far higher build quality than Hondas , and the re-sale values will soon start to reflect this. The Spark can achieve up to 94 KM / litre. The honda manages 64KM/L. Makes a small difference to ownership costs , but the Yamaha is just a better built , more stable bike. Great price on the shooter.