Test Riding a Yamaha R1

Would I like to test ride a Yamaha R1? That was the question I was asked. I didn’t need to think very long before answering yes, I can tell you.

Wow! Was my first reaction when I saw the R1, it looks an awesome piece of kit in the black with touches of carbon here and there. The front end looks mean and I can imagine quite intimidating when you see those front lights in your mirrors. Definitely my kind of bike!

Now as you know, I ride a Z900, a CB1000R and a little old RD200 so we’re not talking race bikes here or sports bikes, more sports tourer or a street fighter as I believe the Z is known as, so I was expecting the riding position to be a little more radical than what I was used to.

This particular R1 has a carbon fuel tank extender which I actually found when riding the bike was good at keeping me in position on the seat but I had just eaten a sandwich before getting on the bike and I found this pressed on my stomach a little. 

If you’re a taller person (I’m 5’6”) you probably wouldn’t notice at all and if you’re short like me, leave the sandwich until you get back from your ride.

The bars are in the normal position you would expect to find a sports bike ie. lower than a touring or sports tourer and your bottom is slightly higher than the bars but when you’re riding the bike, it is surprisingly comfortable, you are sitting on the bike rather than in it.

When I sat on the bike I was immediately struck by how light it was, I was expecting it to to be heavier. As I am a little on the short side, for me personally, it was a little bit on the tall side but I could still reach the ground okay.

There is a TFT LCD instrument display which lights up and looks really cool when you start it up but I can imagine you might have to spend an hour or so working out how to change settings and such like but as I was only test riding it, I didn’t want to fiddle with anything as my relationship with techy stuff is a little on the dubious side.

This bike also has a quickshifter. I have never ridden a bike with one of these so was interested to see how I would find it. Would I want one on my Z?

When I started the bike up, I was struck by how lovely the exhaust note was. This bike has an Akrapovic titanium race can with an Akrapovic carbon heat shield and when you’re riding along it pops and bangs in the right places. 

I found myself pulling on the power only to lift off just to hear the popping but then maybe that’s just me that does that! I really honestly could do that all day, I kept chuckling to myself. I know, I know, I need to get out more!

I found the bike very responsive to what I was asking it to do and although the riding position is extreme for me compared to what I normally ride, I soon felt very comfortable and as though it was completely natural for me to be riding in that position. 

I felt as though I was part of the bike and loved how it handled in the corners and responded to what I was asking it to do. The quickshifter thing was good too and I quickly got used to using it. Maybe I will have to see if I can one on the Z!

I love the look and styling of the bike and it gave me a fantastic riding experience. Hmm… maybe a swap for the CB????

Now for those of you that like techy stuff, here’s some info for you which you may like:

998cc Engine: 4-stroke, liquid-cooled, DOHC, forward-inclined parallel 4-cylinder, 4-valves

ABS with Unified Brake System

Dual 320mm front discs and monoblock calipers

220mm rear disc

Track-developed suspension - 43mm fully adjustable KYB forks using a large diameter 25mm front axle

17” Magnesium wheels

17 litre aluminium fuel tank

Wet weight 200 kg

BK

RJR Motorcycles

Cafe Racer Monkey Test Ride

Pat on the Cafe Racer Monkey

I was contacted by a chap called Pat who has turned a monkey bike into a cafe racer and asked if I would like to have a ride and blog about it. Well I’m not going to turn down an offer like that am I?

We met at The Super Sausage Cafe at Towcester, got a cup of tea and had a chat.

Pat, who is approaching 70 years young, retired from the West Midlands Ambulance Service after 20 years of service and became ill about four years ago with an auto immune disorder. His son could see that this was affecting him mentally as well as physically.

The original Mini Bike

Pat’s son has been riding and racing mini bikes for many years and one day he turned up at Pat’s house with a box of bits which contained all the parts needed to make a mini bike and asked Pat to help him put it together.

The box sat in the workshop for a few weeks and Pat’s son asked if he could have any bike, what would he choose. Pat’s first bike was Norton when he was 16 years of age and that would be his choice so the seed was planted to rebuild the mini bike into a cafe racer mini bike.

Pat did a lot of research online and the first thing he found was the seat and that was how the bike started to take shape. 

A lot of time was spent looking for the right shape tank and whilst searching the internet found that there is a calculation to reduce anything in size. 

If I remember rightly, you measure the seat and divide by 1.615 and that gives you the tail measurement and again you measure the seat and then add 1.165 to give you the tank measurement and that is how Pat managed to get the proportions right for both the tank and the tail. If you are thinking of trying this at home, let me know and I will double check with Pat that I have got that right – I have visions of out of proportion tanks and tail ends in circulation!!!

The bike started off as a 50cc and after some tweaking it is now 140cc. In a couple of weeks time some more mods are happening to the engine and it will become a 190cc engine. In a mini bike!! Wow, I was looking forward to having a ride of this bike.

The original exhaust on the bike was a single outlet going into a single pipe but Pat decided to change this to a single outlet going into twin pipes as it looked so much better. So the exhaust may have looked better but it didn’t sound right even after buying a pair of motorcycle end cans from a classic motorcycle shop in Redditch.

After much deliberation and head scratching it turned out that the down pipes were too narrow so Pat decided to cut the end of an exhaust that was laying around in his garage and adapt it to make it fit on the cafe racer. Unfortunately, Pat didn’t realise that the exhaust laying in the garage was apparently a very expensive exhaust which belonged to his son and was waiting to go on his bike. Oops. I believe that Pat’s son is now talking to him again!

The original mini bike wheels were 8” but they didn’t fit the cafe racer look Pat was after so he ordered some 10” wheels off eBay. 

The bike was starting to take shape and look right. Many parts were sourced from all over the globe and the Cafe Racer Monkey was ready to ride.

Pat’s first ride on the bike was to the Coventry Motor Fest and Pat was asked to lead the cavalcade.

Pat’s son entered Pat into the Bike Building Championship in July 2019 and Pat came a very well deserved 2^nd place and was awarded his trophy by Steve Parish and Henry Cole.

Two days later Pat rode to Wales and covered some 500 miles in two days. Very impressive bearing in mind it’s a mini bike! Pat is also taking part in The Gentleman's Ride in September to raise funds for a cause close to his heart.

Pat’s goal is to get the bike to do 100 mph and the wheels have now been changed to 12” wheels (which came from the US) in order to help achieve this. Pat is hoping that after the engine upgrade and now with the new wheels, he will be near that 100 mph mark!

My time for a ride on the bike. It’s a kick start and the gears are neutral and then 1, 2, 3, 4 up. 

Well it sounds amazing when it started up, even for a little bike it sure does have a lot of noise. I started away and had real trouble getting my legs up high enough to get my feet onto the pegs. 

After guidance from Pat I re-positioned myself on the seat and did manage to get my feet on the pegs but I’ve got to say it wasn’t the most comfortable I have been on a bike but I would assume that if you rode it often your body would soon get used to the position.

For a little bike it sure does go. I didn't have any problems with the gears and really liked the sound from the exhaust as I was riding. It is light and very easy to ride. 

It is huge fun to ride and I had a silly grin on my face when I got back. I can definitely see why Pat loves it so much. 

Thank you Pat for the privilege of being able to ride your bike, I appreciate that very much.

BK

Super Sausage Cafe

Coventry Motofest

Gentleman's Ride

Cafe Racer Monkey

Thank you for reading my post, I hope you enjoyed it. If you would like to subscribe by email, please enter your email on the right.

If you could please share my blog that would be great - thank you.

My Test Ride of a Kawasaki Z1000

So I was asked if I would like to test ride my friend, Leigh’s, 2017 plate Z1000 and not being one to pass up an opportunity of riding a different bike, I said yes. I’ve got to be honest with you though I did think to myself would it be much different from my Z900. Well ……

At the time the Z1000 was purchased, Leigh also had a ZX10RR and was looking for something to compliment the ZX. The ZX was only used on sunny days and high days, I don’t even think it had seen rain and Leigh was looking for something that he could go to work on, ride in the rain and not be too worried about it getting wet and dirty.

Leigh has also had three knee operations so he was looking for something less punishing on the body in terms of riding position.

Along came the Z1000. For those of you that like techy stuff, here are some basic specs for the Z1000:

Displacement : 1043.0 ccm (63.64 cubic inches)

Engine Type : In-line four, four-stroke

Power : 142.0 HP (103.6 kW)) @ 10000 RPM

Torque : 111.0 Nm(11.3 kgf-m or 81.9 ft.lbs)@7300 RPM

(Now if you’d asked me I would have said it was silver with green bits here and there)!

At the time it was released onto the market, Kawasaki described the new engine and chassis settings as being able to deliver a stiffer, more direct ride transforming the Z1000 into the market's most radical Supernaked and they rejected the fashion for electronic rider aids which can be costly. Other than ABS it has no ‘bells and whistles’.

Leigh likes the riding style, feels comfortable on the bike and describes the seating position as sitting in the bike rather than on it. The Z can keep up with the traffic with no problems at all and has all the power (and more besides) that Leigh needs for travelling to and from work.

The exhaust downpipes are somewhat rusty (the previous owner used the bike as a commuter bike) and this winter’s project for Leigh is to keep the akroprovik exhaust end cans that are on there and to replace the downpipes and link pipe and remove the cat. By so doing, the bike should not only sound better but it will look a heck of a lot better too than the rusty ones on there!

So time for my ride. Leigh hopped on my bike and I followed him on his.

OMG it was so comfortable to sit on and even though the bars are slightly lower than on my Z (or at least they felt like they were) I found the riding position very comfy and as soon as I rode away I felt at home straightaway. It is a little heavier than my Z but not a great deal and it was easy to ride. It somehow felt more stable in the corners than my bike and I can tell you it went really well too.

On our way back I passed Leigh and started to enjoy myself in the corners.

I did comment to Leigh when we got back that it was weird following my bike but apparently it wasn’t as weird as his bike overtaking him and heading off in front of him. Ooops.

I was really enjoying myself and to be honest with you, I could quite easily have carried on riding it. Maybe it’s time to think about changing my Z……

So in answer to my earlier question, would riding a Z1000 be much different to riding my Z900. The answer is yes, they are so different to ride.

For those of you that do like the techy stuff, here are the specs for my Z900 so you can see the difference:

Displacement : 948cc

Engine Type : In-line four, four-stroke

Power : 125 HP / 91.2 kW @ 9500 rpm

Torque : 98 Nm / 72.7 lb-ft @ 7700

Again, if you asked me, I’d tell you it was black :-)

Thank you Leigh for letting me ride your bike, I really appreciate the opportunity.

BK

Thank you for reading my post, I hope you enjoyed it. If you would like to subscribe by email, please enter your email on the right.

If you could please share my blog that would be great - thank you.

My test ride of a Yamaha 250 Torque Induction

I had the absolute privilege of being asked by a chap called Steve if I would like to test ride his recently restored Yamaha 250. I didn’t need asking twice, I can tell you!

We arranged a day and time to meet up. I was sooo excited, I have never ridden a two stroke bike before.

Let me start with a little bit of history about the Yamaha 250.

Back in 1972 Yamaha first produced engines with reed valves, called Torque Induction. This system helped deliver more low-end power and quicker engine response over the entire RPM range. 

The 250 replaced the outgoing YDS7 model with Yamaha changing the front end and squeezing in some reed valves in front of the carb and into the backs of the cylinders and this heralded the start of a new era for two strokes.

The 250 was fast, light, flexible and handled. Yamaha added the ‘Torque Induction’ graphic to the side panels as a reference to the new system and continued to use a four bearing crank, the use of two main bearings per cylinder meant the RD’s bottom end was always that little bit more resilient than other bikes on the market.

The petrol tank was fitted with a locking cap and the dash is simple yet elegant combined with functionality - everything you need is there: two lights for the indicators and a bulb checker which was advanced for it’s day. The new black switch gear on both bars was easy to use and proved to be something Yamaha would continue to use on future models.

Steve bought his 250 back in 1982 and back then it was his second bike that he used when it was raining as he didn’t want to get his main bike wet.

A few years later children came along and the 250 was consigned to the back of shed. Some thirty – yes 30(!) years later the 250 was uncovered and a meticulous restoration project beckoned. The bike was started and amazingly the engine roared into life straightaway.

Steve, and his mate who was helping with the rebuild, started stripping the bike. The frame and the swing arm were sent off for powder coating and the paintwork was re-done to, if I may say so, a beautiful standard. The blue, to me, is iconic of the bikes from the seventies and has a lovely shine to it.

Unfortunately the exhaust was not salvageable and had to be replaced with a new one but it is a standard exhaust for that bike. I love the long clean lines of the exhaust and to me, it sets the bike off nicely.

The wheel rims and spokes have also been replaced but the original hubs remain as to do the handlebars, yokes and clocks albeit they have been restored.

The forks are original but were pitted so they went off for re-chroming but the rear shock absorbers had to be replaced.

All in all, Steve says that about 80% of the bike has all its original parts that have been restored and/or rebuilt.

I did not know, but there is a sixth gear on the 250 but it has been blanked off but the later models do use this.

Finally, the bike was back on the road and Steve started riding it again. Up until this point the engine had not been touched and was still running as well as it did back in the 80’s. 

It wasn’t until earlier this year that the engine was treated to the same meticulous rebuild that the rest of the bike has received.

So, my time had come to ride the bike. I jumped on the bike and went to press the start. It doesn’t have a start button! It has a kick start. Having never used one before, I was fairly impressed with myself that I started it on the second kick. 

The smell of two stroke was amazing. I am of the firm opinion that you can’t beat that smell. If only they would bottle it!

I set off. As I did I went to change into second gear and got a false neutral instead and the engine revved a little – I was wincing to myself at this point. Sorry Steve!

As I pulled away and got the rest of the gears ok, the bike came to life. It was so easy to ride and smooth and just handled the corners effortlessly. The noise and the smell was amazing and I could feel that I had a huge grin on my face. I was loving it.

As those of you who have ridden two strokes know, they tend to have a relatively narrow power band but once you get it into this rev range, for the size of bike it goes really, really well.

Obviously being somebody else’s bike, I didn’t feel that I could go too far but I still managed a nice ride on some roads I know.

Compared to modern bikes, which let’s be honest, makes it pretty easy for you, it is a whole new way of riding. You really feel that you are riding the bike, reading what it wants and how it wants you to do it. Before this I was never sure that I fancied a classic bike but now my opinion of them has firmly changed.

The only downside were the brakes. The brakes reminded me of my old  ‘65 Mustang. If you wanted to stop, I found it prudent to give it a weeks notice. To be fair they were substantially better than the Mustang but I suppose I am used to riding a modern bike with ABS. 

Pretty soon I adjusted my riding to take account of the brakes and once I had done this they were no problem.

All too soon my ride was over and I parked back up and reluctantly handed the bike back to Steve. What an awesome bike it is. Yamaha certainly knew what they were doing with this bike.

I had decided by the time I got back that I definitely needed a two stroke in my life. They are just so much fun and the grin factor is right up there.

Thank you Steve for allowing me the opportunity to have a ride on your 250 pride and joy. I can definitely see why you love it so much.

BK

Thank you for reading my post, I hope you enjoyed it. If you would like to subscribe by email, please enter your email on the right.

If you would like to share my blog that would be great - thank you.