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View Full Version : Good, Cheap Winter Hacks?

Mej
14-10-10, 09:29 AM
Thinking about getting one for the winter, lay up the KTM.

Want something fairly reliable, and also something i wont have to do much to.

£1000-1500 max.

So far:

Old Naked SV650
Thundercat/ace
KLR650
RF900 or 600

Any suggestions or recommendations??

cheers
mikerj
14-10-10, 10:54 AM
A Honda, just for it's ability to resist dissolving. You could do worse than a VFR750. Or perhaps an NTV650 - no chain to lube/replace and they go on forever.

The KLR might be more useful if it snows though (and you have knobblies) :D
yorkie_chris
14-10-10, 10:56 AM
Any of the above really... depends how many miles you do
Tim in Belgium
14-10-10, 10:56 AM
A faired curvy SV to keep the cold wind off?

Or even a higher mileage pointy?
Mej
14-10-10, 11:19 AM
hmmm, like the idea of the VFR

http://www.motorcyclenews.com/MCN/bikes-for-sale/searchresults/detail/Honda/VFR750/1991/_/R-NXGN-7551598

this one dont look too bad.
speedplay
14-10-10, 12:58 PM
Enduro for the winter.
If you drop it, you can replace all plastics for about £100 and you can use it on the lanes etc too.
Skip
14-10-10, 01:11 PM
Enduro for the winter.
Definite winner - if I was going to commute in the winter thats the way I would go
warrenhewitt10
14-10-10, 01:40 PM
chituma CTM125-c

Bought it for £100, did me a whole winter :), it did like 600,000mpg aswell

sitting in my garage now with a bent swingarm....not entirely sure how it happened as it was never crashed or dropped
rob13
14-10-10, 01:50 PM
950SM surely?
Jayneflakes
14-10-10, 04:44 PM
I bought a Yamaha XJ for the daily commute, however now that the weather has turned chilly, the little ****er wont ****ing Start!

The battery seems a little short of charge too!

It left me stranded in the car park outside work the other day, which was most embarrassing because it was only my second day working there! After giving it a good kicking, it started again! so I now know how to fix a Yamaha XJ, give it a damn good shoeing! ;-)
Wideboy
14-10-10, 04:55 PM
Thundercat/ace


ooow yeah!! tsskk :rolleyes:

well mine was a bargin and they are well worth the travelling if the price is right. There were 2 nice ones in Gloucestershire last time i looked and a nice one in malvern (sort or same area)
yorkie_chris
14-10-10, 04:57 PM
I bought a Yamaha XJ for the daily commute, however now that the weather has turned chilly, the little ****er wont ****ing Start!

The battery seems a little short of charge too!

It left me stranded in the car park outside work the other day, which was most embarrassing because it was only my second day working there! After giving it a good kicking, it started again! so I now know how to fix a Yamaha XJ, give it a damn good shoeing! ;-)

TBH old UJMs don't seem ideal hacks to me... they have old school brakes and chassis parts that love to seize and rust... and parts are harder to find or very expensive like when ye olde cheesium/unobtanium alloy exhaust collector box rots in half!
Jayneflakes
14-10-10, 05:34 PM
Just fitted a brand new Motad Exhaust that I got direct from them for £99, the brakes are a huge disk on the front that is pretty powerful, the rear is a monster of a drum brake. When it runs, it pulls like a train, but the engine races, even in top gear while accelerating up hill! I think that the rear sprocket is too large and dropping it a couple of teeth will mean that I have a usable first and second gear. At the moment I need to be in forth to do 25MPH with out the engine screaming.

Having been through the bits that were damaged, we have fitted an air filter because it had been removed and not replaced by the previous owner. The indicator relay was held together with a bit of toothpaste and did not flash, so was replaced. The spark plug caps were rotten inside with years of grime and corrosion, so they too have been replaced. Now it is just the starting issue, we have wondered if the battery is knackered, so I have pulled it out to give it a charge.

Any more than that will have to be sorted by the wife when she gets home. ;-)
Smudge
14-10-10, 11:04 PM
Check this dulsville NT650 out.
http://dealerservices.autotrader.co.uk/124937/stock.htm
sunshine
15-10-10, 08:50 PM
im considering a little 125 this year, i can pick one up for £900 sell it to a friend when she turns 17 in the spring for the same money after i give it is first mot, but its an expense i can afford this year so im considering trying the sv till i have no other choice this year. a little 125 enduro will do the job of commuting