Serious Touring on a Single

Loved this sign!

Friday bike

Honda Bulldog prototype

Honda showed this bike recently at a show in Tokyo. Based of the home market CB400F (400cc version of the CB500F we get), it has smaller 15" wheels with chunky tyres, a lower saddle height (730mm), and a rack and storage within the fuel tank.

Whether or not we'll ever see a production version is unkown at the moment, but here's Honda's blurb ('lovable touring partner' eh???)

OSAKA, Japan, March 20, 2015 - Honda today unveiled the world premiere of the BULLDOG as an exhibition model (concept model) at a press conference, at the 31st Osaka Motorcycle Show 2015.
The BULLDOG promotes a new world of leisure with motorcycles. The model was developed with the concept “Lovable Touring Partner,” and was designed to go beyond the boundaries of conventional leisure motorcycles, to actively enjoy outdoor life.
The BULLDOG’s 15-inch wide-tires and low center-of-gravity realize a low, 730mm seat height, ensuring a solid footing. Its unique robust, yet charming styling undoubtedly brings smiles to the faces of not only riders, but people who don’t usually ride motorcycles.
The liquid-cooled 4-stroke DOHC inline 2-cylinder 400cc engine has powerful, yet easy to handle output characteristics, realizing a nimble ride in a wide range of environments from urban to rural areas.
The BULLDOG is equipped with a carrier suitable for camping-touring, and features accessory storage on the sides of the fuel tank, which also act as a styling accent.
The BULLDOG, a playful, next-era concept model, will be exhibited at 42nd Tokyo Motorcycle Show from Friday, March 27 to Sunday, March 29 at Tokyo Big Sight.

Friday bike

Looking for a big bike? And I mean BIG!

Neander

 

1430cc, turbo diesel twin producing 94 – 115 bhp (output varies in articles), and weighing 270kg, that's what I call big.

Seems to have been in development for a number of years, so who knows when you'll be able to buy one, or how much it will cost (lots!)

Engine has a strange twin conrod per piston/twin crankshaft setup, probably to combat vibration.

That's a big engine!

SPECIFICATIONS
Neander 1400 TurboDiesel
Engine: Air/oil-cooled turbocharged parallel-twin diesel with twin 360-degree geared crankshafts, dual con-rods per cylinder
Valve arrangement: Apfelbeck eight-valve cylinder head with gear-driven double overhead camshafts, and radial valves with opposed inlet and exhaust tracts
Bore x stroke, displacement: 108 x 78.2 mm, 1430cc
Compression ratio: 16:1
Carburetion: Garrett turbocharger with intercooler, Bosch electronic direct fuel injection, single top injector, 31mm throttle body
Transmission: 6-speed Aprilia RSV1000R gearbox, multiplate dry clutch
Final drive: Belt
Weight: 595 lbs. dry
Rake/trail: 31 degrees / 109 mm
Wheelbase: 68.5 in.
Seat height:25.5 in.
Front suspension: 43mm Paioli inverted fork
Rear suspension: Single cantilever Ohlins damper
Wheels: Spun-aluminum, 18x3.5 front, 18x5.5 rear
Front brake: 2, 4-piston Performance Machine calipers, 11.8-in. discs
Rear brake: 4-piston Performance Machine caliper, 11.8-in. disc
Front tire: 130/60-18 Metzeler Marathon
Rear tire: 240/40-18 Metzeler Marathon
Claimed top speed: Over 140 mphClaimed power & torque (at crankshaft): 94 bhp @ 4200 rpm, 129 ft/lb @ 2600 rpm

Company website.

Article.

40 Years, Man and Boy

This year will mark 40 years of me (legally) riding a bike. Before that I had a few illicit rides, but I only started riding regularly when I bought a Honda CD 175 in 1975. This was 2 years old and cost me the pricely sum of £115.

From this.......

Over the following 40 years I have various bikes, been rich and poor, single and married, had between 1 and 6 bikes at a time, had periods where a bike was my only transport to times where I didn't ride one for 6 months. I've commuted to work, toured at home and abroad, and other than the two bikes I bought new, have always serviced them myself.

I'm going to write a few articles over the coming year about how things have changed, bike clothes and accessories I've owned, and anything else I can think of that might be interesting.

......to this.

A Weekend in the Garage

Had a busy weekend in the garage doing work on my silver Traveller. I haven't ridden it since September last year, but have been doing numerous jobs on it (tidying up and fitting higher handlebars mostly), and as the weather has started to improve a bit, I thought it was time to get it back on the road.

Some years ago I'd fitted an LED light in place of the reflector on the rear mudguard. I'd wired the 'rear light' function to the existing rear light, and wired the 'brake light' function to a switch so I could use it as a rear fog light. It's wired so that it will only come on when the lights are on and has a small LED on it.

Last weekend I'd run the bike and a pool of coolant had appeared under it! Turned out that the radiator to expansion tank hose had split. I'd replaced the original about 12 years ago, but the replacement had started to crack. While I had the fairing off I painted up a few bits that got a bit scruffy and gave the bike a service.

So that's the bike ready for its MOT (annual safety test) and the summer (when it arrives).

Friday bike

Daelim B-Bone 125

Saw one of these parked in the street today and thought it looked really cool.

Buy one and be like these groovy people!

UK importer's website.

Friday bike

Found a bike on British Ebay. that I hadn't heard of before.

1984 Yamaha SRX250 (note rusty chain!)

Not a model sold in the UK, the SRX just looks so light and neat.

Some version have a round headlight, some a square, and most that I could find on the Web had a neat half fairing.

Technical stuff:

Day out

If you're within reasonable travelling distance of Errol Airfield (between Perth and Dundee), there's an auction of interesting cars and bikes tomorrow, March 7th.

You never know, you might pick up a bargain!

Catalogue

Bike stuff in Aldi

From next Sunday, 8th March.

Link.