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i've been a bit quiet on here since martins passing just been mulling things over

Thinking / seriously considering swapping the GSXR for a KTM EXC either 450 or 525

Cant enjoy the GSXR on the road because when it does get exciting its on the ragged edge at speed, and i cant afford / bring my self to track it for fear of dropping it and making a mess of an immaculate bike

Constantly looking over my shoulder for police and expecting police to be wombles everywhere, another mate got caught at speed on Friday too,

i used to love off road racing and enduro trails, no cars to worry about just good fun so figure it would be an easy transition back into it, no idea what a road going EXC is like as i only owned motocross bikes that needed a lot of maintenance so not sure if an EXC model is a highly strung as the pure racing models

Christ not another one ,Martin passing has really made people think about their lives,me included ,to be truthful the gixxer is so fast on the road your licence is in peril all the time,I'm at accrossroads too seb nicked for speeding and not enjoying the storm right now,looked at a 800 BMW this morning and giving it some serious thought,supermoto is the way to go I think,really great fun upto say 100 ,enough I reckon as long as its an animal getting there and handles.good look mate deciding what to do ,but we would still be on here and on the rideouts anyway.all the best buddy ady.

2 of my mates have ktm endures. Both have been moneypits, but its your choice.

Money pits by way of mantance or customisation?

I've done so reading on the exc 450 they sound a strong engine more reliable than the Honda and valve adjustment can be done externally in under 20 mins so they say

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Just get another storm and be done with all this off roading stuff!

Stay safe no matter what you ride

Don't know what age and experiences you guys are and have been through, but don't be hasty.
it is very sad with what has happened recently but we are all in a high risk hobby / activity if we love / ride bikes whether we like it or not.
It is natural to feel like we do currently and to assess our lives when affected by bad experiences.
Please, please understand I am not any kind of smart butt but I feel well placed to share experiences that will hopefully help.
Over the years I have lost friends for exactly the same reason and can tell you the reaction is
always as we feel now, counter this with the facts on the back of these experiences and
those who have left would in my experience have wanted us to carry on.
High risk activities will always carry a cost and unfortunately whether we like it or not,
biking is one of them.
My motto is " I live, risk and enjoy now what some may never experience"
I would like to think Benny would like us to carry on.

I just bought a duke, low ish top speed, no wind protection either so it forces me to ride on windy roads mostly below 70mph. Obviously cant go off road but it does keep the speed lower.

Yeah I know exactly what you mean there Seb. I am going to be selling my blade early next year for something a little more comfortable. The blade's totally awesome on the track, but it's just uncomfortable at slow speed on the road and only comes into its own at 100mph +

Personally I was thinking of either VFR, Blackbird of ZX12 as a road bike as the off road bikes don't really do much for me.

If you like the sports bikes and riding fast, why not do the same as me, get a cheapish track bike and also a road bike (or off road bike) too. Best of both worlds. Something with track fairings you don't mind crashing on the track, and something for the nice weekend blasts around the dales without being too mental and egging you on to go too fast. For what you sell the GSXR for, you should have enough to do both.

Your be wheeling ever where

My TDM is in at the dealers for shims and injector balance (pig of a job to get to, unlike the Storm). They have lent me a FZ1 demo bike. Bloody horrible when you are used to twins and you are just tempted to wind the throttle on to see what happens at 12,000 rpm. Spounds like a poxy dentist's drill too, so can't wait to pick up the twin again.

I like my twins because the grunt is there low down and you just don't want to be riding at 120mph plus, at which point Blades/R1's etc come into their own but it's just stupid speeds on the road really.

I like to find smaller roads where you ride hard, but technically and probably rarely exceed the speed limit by much anyway and in any event there aren't any police about.

Miztaziggy wrote:Yeah I know exactly what you mean there Seb. I am going to be selling my blade early next year for something a little more comfortable. The blade's totally awesome on the track, but it's just uncomfortable at slow speed on the road and only comes into its own at 100mph +

Personally I was thinking of either VFR, Blackbird of ZX12 as a road bike as the off road bikes don't really do much for me.

If you like the sports bikes and riding fast, why not do the same as me, get a cheapish track bike and also a road bike (or off road bike) too. Best of both worlds. Something with track fairings you don't mind crashing on the track, and something for the nice weekend blasts around the dales without being too mental and egging you on to g o too fast. For what you sell the GSXR for, you should have enough to do both.

Good advice There is always the fact that you could be sensible and do sensbily fast ish speeds instead of suicide squad timings .. I aint no expert, I ride fast when I want, not as fast as you guys but I can hold my own and yeah, Martins passing hit us all hard I think a bit of common sense is the key, get home safely and all that.. Burn rubber not your soul.. Funnily enough my hubby says i'd prob faster o na track than I do on the road lol..

Miztaziggy wrote:Yeah I know exactly what you mean there Seb. I am going to be selling my blade early next year for something a little more comfortable. The blade's totally awesome on the track, but it's just uncomfortable at slow speed on the road and only comes into its own at 100mph +

Personally I was thinking of either VFR, Blackbird of ZX12 as a road bike as the off road bikes don't really do much for me.

If you like the sports bikes and riding fast, why not do the same as me, get a cheapish track bike and also a road bike (or off road bike) too. Best of both worlds. Something with track fairings you don't mind crashing on the track, and something for the nice weekend blasts around the dales without being too mental and egging you on to g o too fast. For what you sell the GSXR for, you should have enough to do both.

Good advice There is always the fact that you could be sensible and do sensibly fast ish speeds instead of suicide squad timings .. I aint no expert, I ride fast when I want, not as fast as you guys but I can hold my own and yeah, Martins passing hit us all hard I think a bit of common sense is the key, get home safely and all that.. Burn rubber not your soul.. Funnily enough my hubby says I'd probably faster on a track than I do on the road lol.. ABB

Miztaziggy wrote:Yeah I know exactly what you mean there Seb. I am going to be selling my blade early next year for something a little more comfortable. The blade's totally awesome on the track, but it's just uncomfortable at slow speed on the road and only comes into its own at 100mph +

Personally I was thinking of either VFR, Blackbird of ZX12 as a road bike as the off road bikes don't really do much for me.

If you like the sports bikes and riding fast, why not do the same as me, get a cheapish track bike and also a road bike (or off road bike) too. Best of both worlds. Something with track fairings you don't mind crashing on the track, and something for the nice weekend blasts around the dales without being too mental and egging you on to go too fast. For what you sell the GSXR for, you should have enough to do both.

DONT trick yourself - Blackbirds are not as comfy as you may think, try one and you will find the footrest position is extreme and the reach to the bars does not suit all, and vfr's are comfy but unless its the 1200 feel like scooters, especially the gear driven cam models.

Seb m8tey.. Martin would not want you to give up in fact
he would probably really encourage you to go out and swap it
for something else :thumbup:Hey but I know its all
cash ..... Had a look myself at a good range
of new / used machines at JS Warehouse Oakmere .. some decent stuff they
have a lot reduced at the mo must be on a sales end of season drive.. well
worth a look.I never swapped or purchased anything though . ta ta fer now.Alb

I've been teasing myself looking at other bikes. But not slower I keep eyeballing things like an SP, Duke 1098R, Aprillia Mille and RSV4's etc.

(:-})