I'm getting back on 2 wheels!

[Paul the 6th]

Went for a test ride yesterday and suddenly remembered who I was after 7 months of amnesia :D

Going to put deposit down tomorrow afternoon, more info to follow shortly. In the meantime, it's blue & white, very fast and has it's picture in the dictionary under 'Awesomeness'.

If anyone would like to book me a trackday as an early christmas present please feel free to do so :cheers:

[Mr Speirs]

Good to hear Paul.
Hows the van?

So what you got. GSXR?

[Specialone]

Beemer RR?

[punyXpress]

Nah: he said AWESOME:
http://i.ebayimg.com/00/s/NzY4WDEwMjQ=/$%28KGrHqUOKpIE5V-sCIhUBOkdn3OnMQ%7E%7E60_12.JPG

littleoldman2's scoot for Spain!

[maviczap]

Glad you've come to your senses at last :p

[andrewsmith]

Its an R1!!!
or its a DRZ400 with NOS

[Icanopit]

Welcome home??

[Tim in Belgium]

I know the feeling, after 12 months with no proper biking I had to come back. Cold Turkey didn't work for me!!

VW vans are great, but you need the van for something else (camping at track days ;) ) etc!!

[missyburd]

Wooop! Now just to get your missus oot and aboot too :)

[Paul the 6th]

Beemer RR?

I weeesh...

Narp, thank you @ all guesses but it's one of these:
http://distilleryimage11.instagram.com/d588cb2012ac11e19896123138142014_7.jpg

Y reg 750 with 28,000 on the clock... Took it for a ride yesterday. I didn't think anything could top me old SRAD but this thing makes me wonder what the L0 and L1's are like.. Will report back with moar info & pics tomorra.

Tim - pm coming your way shortly, was in brighton again last week so not had chance to get back to you properly.

Maria, she's already planning a few rides to whitby (on the back) but I'll see if I can give her a little nudge :D

[Tim in Belgium]

No worries, I'm in no big rush :thumleft:

And enjoy!!

[dyzio]

Cool, did you sell the ktm?

[AndyBrad]

Woo give us a tinkle if your playing out. I'll promise not to drop it :)

[Paul the 6th]

Cool, did you sell the ktm?

Yeah... in march. Must try harder dyzio lol.

Woo give us a tinkle if your playing out. I'll promise not to drop it :)

Sure thing Andy, north York moors again? I'll be very steady away after having 8 months off. Only did test ride for about 90 mins but I was absolutely shattered afterwards - need to rebuild my strength!

[AndyBrad]

Aye lad. let me know. its my b day on wed so if you like ill book day off as its supposed to be sunny. let me know.

[TheRamJam]

Very nice!!

Are those standard wheels with the red, blue and white spokes??

Think ut look better dark blue or even the GSXR orange/red :-)

[-Ralph-]

Thank f**k for that, thought you were going to stay a poof forever. Well done for becoming a real man again! ;-)

Enjoy! :thumleft:

[dizzyblonde]

HUUUURRRAAAAH for that.


The king of lunging cake is back........woot :D

[Paul the 6th]

Aye lad. let me know. its my b day on wed so if you like ill book day off as its supposed to be sunny. let me know.

Typically enough I'm working down in birmingham on wednesday & thursday but will prolly be collecting the bike on Friday morning as they're including a full blown service.. Plus will need to sort insurance & tax affairs but *might* be out early on saturday morning if it's dry.

Very nice!!

Are those standard wheels with the red, blue and white spokes??

Think ut look better dark blue or even the GSXR orange/red :-)

Not 100% sure tbh buddy, will need to do a bit of reading up on the options & revisions over the years but it's a 'Y' as opposed to a k1 (but without the fat SRAD back end).

Thank f**k for that, thought you were going to stay a poof forever. Well done for becoming a real man again! ;-)

Enjoy! :thumleft:

The bike is brilliant buddy, hopefully I'll get my penis will grow back out again once I've put a few miles down :D

HUUUURRRAAAAH for that.


The king of lunging cake is back........woot :D

Thinking I might try and make a gsx-r based cake if the weather is bad this next weekend :batman:

The only other thing which I neglected to mention is the price..

The bike was listed on the York Suzuki website with 48,000 miles @ £1899... Quite a lot but alot of bike for the money if it's in good condition. Went down to speak to Gary and he said he was a bit puzzled because it had 24,000 mile at it's last MOT in march. :confused: We weren't sure if someone had gone the long way round on it, or if it had new clocks. Anywho, I arranged a test ride for saturday and went down. The mechanic came out and said "Funny story bout that gixxer... we've returned the speedo to Miles from kilometers, it's only done 28,000 miles"


Ahhhh shiiiiiz. The price is gonna be £2500 plus now, surely? "Nope, we'll keep the price the same for you because you've bought from us before and it was our mistake, you came to look at the bike all the same so hey ho"..

AWESOMENESS.

Just need to double check my entitlements for towing trailers under 750kg = trackday + vw camper = ultimate camping comfort and razzing day out...

[Mr Speirs]

Yay!! Gixxer!! I was right!!

trackday + vw camper = ultimate camping comfort and razzing day out...

This is my sole reason for wanting one!! Just trying to figure out how to afford it at the minute without blowing the house deposit budget.

[Messie]

Great news and a lovely bike. I had one just the same and regret ever getting rid of it. So if I see you out on it I'm going to beg for a go xx

[Roberrrrt]

Bout 'kin time you saw sense Paul! Knew it wouldn't last forever! ;)

[Wideboy]

It won't last, not when he discovers cross stitch again

[Paul the 6th]

Eyup guys! Mr Speirs, I wrote a massive long reply to you about the camper the other morning but when I pressed 'post' the internet had dropped and I lost my whole ramble about a camper on the cheap. I'm working in birmingham later today so will try and write the same info again when I'm at a loose end in my hotel room later tonight.....

Some pics of the awesomeness taken with the Instagram app on iPhone:
http://distilleryimage3.s3.amazonaws.com/b74fa4f812ac11e1a87612313804ec91_7.jpg


http://distilleryimage11.s3.amazonaws.com/d588cb2012ac11e19896123138142014_7.jpg

http://distilleryimage1.instagram.com/33b8662a145a11e19896123138142014_7.jpg

http://distilleryimage1.instagram.com/b75f2a96145911e180c9123138016265_7.jpg

http://distilleryimage6.instagram.com/4178eef6145a11e19896123138142014_7.jpg

Pick up friday, insurance is in place, just need to tidy garage out first thing friday morning :D Whoop de whoop

[andrewsmith]

Nice!

Is it like this...

http://i727.photobucket.com/albums/ww275/blacklabel7345/my_garage016.jpg


or...

http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2010/03/26/article-1260757-08DDDEA9000005DC-229_966x371.jpg

[Paul the 6th]

imagine a garage smaller than in the first picture, then cram the exact amount of crap from the 2nd picture into the first one... You'd be fairly close lol

Yay!! Gixxer!! I was right!!
Camper & bike & trailer = awesome day out..
this is my sole reason for wanting one!! Just trying to figure out how to afford it at the minute without blowing the house deposit budget.

As above mate, I'll post a bit of info for how you could possibly do it on the cheap later this evening

Great news and a lovely bike. I had one just the same and regret ever getting rid of it. So if I see you out on it I'm going to beg for a go

We'll see what we can arrange messie - I'm gonna be on a mission to convert everyone to the religion of GSX-R like I did with my previous SRAD habit :D

Bout 'kin time you saw sense Paul! Knew it wouldn't last forever! ;)

So when we heading for a rideout? If you haven't been t' north york moors yet you're in for a treat

It won't last, not when he discovers cross stitch again

I thought we discussed this gav. No customer confidentiality with you is there (he's a purveyor of fine fabrics for craft and garment making in case anyone's wondering)

[missyburd]

#drool# that is one swish looking Gixxer :D

[dizzyblonde]

#drool# that is one swish looking Gixxer :D

Careful, his nibs will be giving you a lecture about the perils of drooling over tupperware:o


Not really my sort of bike Paul, but you always did like ghey bikes :smt118

[Balky001]

Nice choice :)

[Mr Speirs]

Nice one Paul. Looking forward to the PM.

[Paul the 6th]

Yay!! Gixxer!! I was right!!



This is my sole reason for wanting one!! Just trying to figure out how to afford it at the minute without blowing the house deposit budget.


Righto, finally found time to re-write what I wrote on monday morning before it got lost via a dropped wifi signal (gonna copy & paste before posting this time!!!! :smt065)

Just a thought about the vw camper thing speirs, the vw transporters have a cult following and an intangible value simply because they're vw. Have you looked at any alternative vans which don't neccessarily have the 'cool factor' but would perform in exactly the same way?

Mazda bongo: many of them come with pop tops, motorised window blinds and folding rear seats as standard. Obviously the poptops will cost more, but you won't have to worry about all the faff of cleaning/insulating/carpetting and you get the roof to give more standing space from the moment you buy it. Plus there's a big following over on bongofury forums (maviczap has a bongo too so he could be good for advice).
http://www.autosfocus.info/images/mazda-bongo%20%285%29.jpg

Cheaper vehicles to convert could be:

a toyota hiace - japanese, similar interior size to vw transporters and don't have that premium cool factor. www.AutoBeds.uk.com (where I got my rock'n'roll bed from) make all their folding beds to order and can adjust them to fit VW's/Merc Vito's/Hiace's and many other vans or people carriers. Obviously you'd still have the cost of insulating and carpetting but the intial van purchase cost would bring the overall project price down maybe?
http://www.honestjohn.co.uk/imagecache/file/width/500//media/3337706/Toyota%20Hiace%20%2814%29.jpg

Maybe a renault master ex-works van, more space in the back but again, even less x-factor
http://www.mw-van-leasing.co.uk/images/traffic.jpg

If you've got space to park the van when not in use, you could go for a longer wheelbase version like our works renault master traffic.. You could even build in a dedicated partitioned area towards the back for 1-2 bikes and space for tools/bits like a proper race van. Bang your full sized double bed ontop of the bike garage area and then in the remaining space there's room for cooker & sink unit, seating and enough headroom to stand/get changed without crouching..
http://regalcarrental.co.uk/ESW/Images/-renault-master-27_460x0w.jpg


Example of what you could do if you went bonkers (front half of cargo area):
http://www.convertyourvan.co.uk/sprinter1.jpg

rear half of cargo area:
http://www.convertyourvan.co.uk/sprinter3.jpg


If you're not specifically looking to get into the 'vw scene' with all it's associated festivals/trade shows/rallies etc. then you could save yourself a LOT of money by going for a similar sized van from another manufacturer. Likewise if you don't mind driving a bigger 'works style' van then you can get a bigger living area for the same money as you'd pay for a vw camper.

Just a few thoughts for you. Oh and btw you don't have to get the latest and greatest folding r'n'r bed, many people make their own folding efforts out of timber & plywood for a fraction of the cost of a proper metal thing. Likewise with the cupboards/furniture you don't have to buy dedicated camping stuff, we've used the cheapest ikea kitchen units we could get for ours with a view to personalising them with some subtle graphics in line with our colour scheme..

Anywho, that was for the benefit of mr speirs and anyone else who's interested - mods if you feel this would be better off in it's own thread or in my camper thread, feel free to merge this and pop a post in letting us know where it has migrated to :salut:

[-Ralph-]

Example of what you could do if you went bonkers (front half of cargo area):
http://www.convertyourvan.co.uk/sprinter1.jpg

Exactly that van was on sale at the NEC show. £20 grand!

[Bibio]

cheapest way to convert a van is to get a caravan with a rotten floor or wall. you then get everything you need for the conversion including: cooker, fridge, sink, charging/wiring, hot water boiler, proper light weight (hollow) cupboards, folding beds, tables, seating and windows. decent but burgerd c,vans can be had for very little money and usually come with lots and lots of extras including awnings and water bottles etc. etc.

this is also the perfect time of year to grab a bargain.

[-Ralph-]

cheapest way to convert a van is to get a caravan with a rotten floor or wall. you then get everything you need for the conversion including: cooker, fridge, sink, charging/wiring, hot water boiler, proper light weight (hollow) cupboards, folding beds, tables, seating and windows. decent but burgerd c,vans can be had for very little money and usually come with lots and lots of extras including awnings and water bottles etc. etc.

this is also the perfect time of year to grab a bargain.

Then with the left over chassis, you can build a trailer to tow your bikes with!

[maviczap]

Mazda bongo: many of them come with pop tops, motorised window blinds and folding rear seats as standard. Obviously the poptops will cost more, but you won't have to worry about all the faff of cleaning/insulating/carpetting and you get the roof to give more standing space from the moment you buy it. Plus there's a big following over on bongofury forums (maviczap has a bongo too so he could be good for advice)

Yep still got my Bongo, although its up for sale as we're not using it for what we bought it for. Lots of reasons why, work being the main obstacle.

Freetop Bongos tend to hold their price, but don't spend over £5k on the pre facelift model. The facelift models go for more.

You could buy a tintop Bongo and convert it, as they go for peanuts. But I prefer the Freetop model as you just raise the roof for your sleeping quarters.

Plenty of advice on the Bongo Fury forum.

Best thing about Bongo's is that the engines will run on almost anything, easy to convert to run on old chip shop oil and veg oil.

https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-vearhXTkX2I/TrrTvDKwigI/AAAAAAAAAq0/XwUd-pxXIDM/s640/DSCF0593.JPG

https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-OBN6v2tUGkI/TrrTufDNljI/AAAAAAAAAqk/wms6dL4uGUA/s480/DSCF0595.JPG

[Tim in Belgium]

Or you could go for my 3 minute conversion approach, unroll thermarest, bit of ply on a back seat for putting the cooker on. Job jobbed, none of this soft furnishing fandango!

http://inlinethumb35.webshots.com/19618/2301649020084392296S600x600Q85.jpg (http://rides.webshots.com/photo/2301649020084392296dJHvfo)

[Paul the 6th]

Eyup guys,

took the bike out for it's maiden ride on saturday.. Absolutely sublime. Didn't care that I got caught in the rain, or that the roads were greasy as hell, or that I had a bit of a wobble/slide moment from the back wheel during a steady overtake (5th gear)... I loved every second of it including the freezing cold wind blast, the aching wrists and the sore neck.

The engine is fantastic, the handling is brilliant, the sound and thrill is pure excitement and the whole thing looks immense.

The brakes could be a tiny bit sharper but that leaves room for my man gene to flex its muscle and fit some brake pads/swap brake fluid (and if they're still crap find another brembo m/c, maybe braided lines or just new rubber ones to keep the precise feel).

Thank you suzuki:
http://distilleryimage1.s3.amazonaws.com/33b8662a145a11e19896123138142014_7.jpg

[Owenski]

you still expecting me sunday?

[Paul the 6th]

you not got pics of yard yet? Thought you were being a bit ignorant as usual?

Edit: also, thought it was saturday? Either way :)

[Owenski]

Yeah its Saturday sorry not Sunday.
Nope just thought you were been as slack as usual and hadnt sent them on... touche!

Recieved them now though squire, is that a wall to next doors garden or is it an extension/conservatory effort?

What are you wanting done over all? Are you aware of how dog 5hit a concrete slab would look or is aesthetics not an issue?

[Paul the 6th]

6ft x 6ft wall to next doors garden. Yeah concrete will look crap but be best option for low/non maintenance & cheapest I would thought? What's other options?

[Owenski]

You'll see in my email pal concrete isnt the cheap option.
Yes its a cheap material and a single strata soulution but so much more money goes into bit a: you never see and b: you chuck away
7x2m patio at a min of .15m thick concrete is around £300 on its own.
You've then got the form work (which gets chucked away. Along with the timber used to level/work/float it off afterwards.
You've got the broom you'll ruin when brushing it, used for making those tiny lines you see which are great for grip, unfortunatly they're also great for collecting muck and moss.
You've got the reinforcment, essential on a pad that size, especially if you're parking a bike or 6 on it from time to time.
Sorting/fixing that gully will cost some pennies too dude.