I have been running Continental Motions on my Buell Thunderbolt and can't say enough good things about them- they seem to work well in the rain , on most tarmac, and can handle the mile or so of dirt road I ride every day. Not the stickiest tire ever, but good enough to allow me to maintain any street pace I like. Best of all, they wear very well and are dirt cheap. Motosport sells them for $150 a set, and will ship 'em to your door for nuthin' unless you live in one of the freak states like I do. http://www.motosport.com/motorcycle/CONTINENTAL-MOTION-TIRE-COMBO
I'm finding that a dual sport tire for the B12 just isn't very available. I may have to re-evaluate because the prices also seem to start rising very quickly for the larger tires. Maybe I'll get lucky and find a cheap KLR to drive on gravel. Tim, thanks for the heads up on the affordable Motions combo from Motosport. I will keep those in mind, they should have no problem to shipping them to South Dakota. Alaska is a little far off but man I loved the little bit of time I got to spend there. Awesome place. Thanks for your tip.
I've had Contimotions on my Bandit since I got it in April (7k miles at this point). The front is in fine shape, the rear squared off pretty quickly and now has a bit of male pattern baldness going on. I can seriously peel the rear tire at 50mph in the rain, so I don't consider them the best rain tire. In dry conditions they do fine, with a bit of squirm at the rear when pushed. Creeps me out but keeps me safe. I'm going with Michelin Pilot Road 3 coming up soon. There's a guy on the Bandit forum I referred you to above that has ridden his 140 on dirt. I queried if he had a side car for his balls but that hasn't been confirmed.
I run 005 Advanced on my daily rider.They are pretty good surprisingly.Totally a street tire.If it wasn't for those pesky foot pegs,I wouldn't have chicken strips.Rear sets aren't worth it on my bike.
Ya I put them on my SV because they're inexpensive, I like the way they look, and I have no quams with all the shinko's I run.
82 yamaha maxim 750 I got for $500, needed tires and such, nothing big or engine related. I still have it 78 yamaha xs 1100 special, got it for $600 , needed new down tubes. but ran well. 82 suzuki 750 triple, got it for $750, needed no work 80 kawasaki 750 twin, $1000 needed no work. 76 yamaha 650 twin, $700, needed no work. 83 honda ascot ft500, ebay $1000 needed no work 73 honda cb 750K $650. needed no serious work but muffler had hole in bottom. these are off the top of my head but its been pretty easy to get cheaper bikes here where I live, in fact this week i am going over to look at a Honda V65 Sabre, guy wants $1100 for it, if it runs as good as he says it does then its MINE! i would be selling the maxim at that point.
I've found the worst part about the Conti Motions is that the carcass isn't very thick. I have had 3 non-repairable punctures in two years with them on my Uly, and I don't even take it off pavement that much.
First of all, I'd like to thank whomever started this thread. As a wannabe first time bike owner, clicking through every page of this thread has been VERY inspiring. It's actually kind of opened my eyes to what the possibilities are for great finds. I know as a first time bike owner (hunter), with very little mechanical skills, most of these bikes which took a lot of you all's blood, sweat and tears (and money) probably wouldn't be the best choice for a first timer but I saw a few in there that were in good mechanical order when bought, so I see there is hope. I live about 10 miles from Barber's motorsports park here in Birmingham Alabama and I'm saving my pennies up for next years vintage bike festival (which I've attended in the past) where there are literally hundreds of old bikes for sale. My plan is to save up until that festival and go see what I can find for a grand or so. Thanks again for the great thread which I will be following from now on. LOVE this conversion! Love the Scrambler style bikes. My new wallpaper. Unbelievable shot man.
1978 and 1981 TT500. Had. To pay $1,500 total for the pair and $1 for the beat up XR80 in the background. Suppose not too bad.
I bought this beaut for $50. 1980 xl500 from my uncle. Ran fine. titled. street legel. Got this for free from my cousin. 1990 Beta Zero trials bike. aaaaaaand got this from my brother for $100. 1985 Yamaha Ty350 trials bike. I like when family members upgrade....... I get good deals!
Finally have time to sort out the $350.00 Suzuki GS. The starter didn't work due to a fuse issue. Once a new fuse / connections cleaned up she turned right over. Gave it a tiny blast of ether to see if it would fire...it fired all right, back fired and lit the ether up everywhere. I blew into the airbox and the flames came right back into my face....nothing like burned up eye brows and mustache hairs.:eek1 So much for the excitement...damned rookie move... Added some good gas and the bike ran although "gasping". Found that someone had pulled the carbs at some point and did not use clamps on the manifolds. Once clamps were installed, that healed the vacuum leak issues. Now it starts with a touch of the starter switch and runs very good. Pretty fast old bike. The mufflers aren't correct and I found some odd fasteners and a couple broken cylinder head fins. Spent some time / elbow grease cleaning it up. Looks pretty decent for an old beater, but it is a "20 footer".
Are scooters for the challenge allowed? Bought this beauty for 290,- €, put in some used parts, I had in stock and bought some engine parts for about 60,- €, to rebuild the engine. Crankshaft was broken and the gearcross worn out. Found a good used crankshaft for 25,- € and took the used and still good gearcross from my sprint engine, which I rebuild last year with a new one. It is a Vespa PX 80 E from 1982 with a 135cc DR Kit. Now it is my low budget daily rider.
Got this 81 GL500 Interstate for $500 on a Craigs List ad. Guy was asking $850 or best offer. Was missing the Hondaline fairing. The poor thing would barely run on 1 cylinder. Found the main jets in one carb rolling around in the float bowl. Tires dated 1996 with nearly new tread depth so I figure it's been ridden about 2000 miles in the last 16 years.. 22000 miles on the odometer. I had the Windjammer fairing already from another project so I made a mount. It did come with the top trunk. I've rebuilt the carbs, replaced regulator, replaced brake shoes and pads, rebuilt calipers, put in fork seals, seat cover, electrolyzed gas tank, owner put in a new battery. Waiting for a warm day to install the new tires. Less than $1000 into it and it runs excellent. Looking forward to some touring next season.
This thread never ceases to amaze me. Beautiful Vespa and the CX 500 is excellent. If you have some mechanical skills and time you can save a heap of cash and have a classic ride to boot.
Could be. The rear mounts are a "home made" affair. I'm not very well schooled on Suzuki Tanks. The mufflers are incorrect too. I think I have a "Frankenzuki" here.