G'day from Gippy

Arvo all, Tony from Gippsland here.

Been on and off bikes for 30 ish years and being a slackarse I have had my Learners 4 or 5 times (yeah yeah I know).

Off to get it again shortly and this time follow up to P's.

Why im here?

Seems Number 2 Son wanted to ride a bike so off he goes and gets his L's, then its time to buy a bike and he has no clue, no experience and instantly heads to a Learner aproved 600cc rocket.

At this stage I realise he needs an Edumacation in things that go Zoom and run through the usual can you lift the bike, sit on the bike, hold the bike, park the bike which he bombs out on all 4.

And we progress from there.

other issue is he cant ride for nuts and yep it sounds like im over critical but it seems being able to ride a motorbike isnt mandatory to get your Learners.............

Smart boy that he is he asks for help and we sort out a bike for him that's a little closer to the ground and under 250 kg as he is 48 kg wet and 5 ft 6 and I spend his money on an 87 FZR250 and some more money on roadworthy and registration.

Picked an Inline4 because its a bit better IMO than the usual single piston 250's and as we live rural most of the roads are 80/100 Kph roads with cars and trucks, the bike is cool enough so he likes it and timeless enough to not look like an old dunga.

Since the bikes registration we have tidied it a bit more, removed the boy racer decals and replaced them with FZR decals and its a not bad looking thing, I set up a packed sand track so he could get the hand of the bike and had more than a few squirts on it myself, and I actually like the bike a lot.

My wife said to me she hadn't seen me grinning like that in a while after having a ride and I had to admit I was having a ball on this thing and was enjoying the teaching aspects as well so this time im going to follow up and get a full license.

Still tossing up over a CBR or an FZR and thats partly why im here.

Tony

 

Took this pic a month or so ago when the bike first arrived, its a bluey/purple and looks better in daylight.
Since the pic the bike was sorted and roadworthied, the YZF stickers that came on the bike were removed and replaced with FZR stickers more correct to the period and the bike was hand washed and polished with a few scratches buffed out also by hand.

The plastics are cracked and welded a few times and the fairing is not the best but it will do until The kid has a few more hours riding under his belt when i will find him a new set.

Im a tad over 100kg and this thing hauls well even with my bum in the seat and apart from a mystery red light that Pops up sometimes its been pretty good.

More piccies later.

BTW part of the roadworthy work was a full service, brake fluids etc all using Motul oils where possible.

 

Ahhhh that explains it, I was thinking Voltage warning/Charge light but the battery voltage was fine when I checked, my next thought was oil level or similar but that was fine too.
Might pull that globe from the cluster as I taught the kids years ago Red lights mean stop and check.

The bike looks good but its a 20 footer as once you get closer she shows her age, something we can work on anyway.

Tony

Thanks GI, im no stranger to forums and the few I helped with over the years taught me that a good intro is a great start, I always hated short intro's or those who asked instantly for info, manuals etc so I try set a good example first up. It usually gets me a bit of leniency when I crack a bad taste joke or make an Un PC remark too lol
Anyway the forum looks really good so a good intro is par for the course.

Ta McLaren, Havent checked out the for sale section yet but I'll be sure to have a look soon.

Cheers Huntsman,
Im a bit of a hard arse with my kids but i make up for it by giving them guidance when they need it.
James paid for everything and I steered his choices in the right direction.
The kid is small and lightweight, knows nothing about bikes and couldnt really ride for nuts until this week and yet he passed his Learner test so the past 4 weeks we have spent first on a packed sand track I made and then on the road early with no traffic and me following behind in the car to give him some protection and (yelling abuse) *Cough* teaching him via hands free 2 way in his helmet for 20 hours on and off.
Yesterday he did 100 km of shuttles on a good country back road as his first true solo ride and the feedback he gave me said he was good to go solo for good so This morning at 5am he did his first solo commute to work and enjoyed it enough to ride home after work at 2pm in traffic.
So now its my turn again to ride if my huge grins were anything to go by when i was hooning about on the sand track and then maybe we can go for a blat together if I find a good FZR, CBR-R or even an RGV if im feeling brave.

 

A few more piccies from the night we screwed the L plate and rego on, Also added some generic ebay FZR stickers and a few local Motorbike themed Cafe stickers.
BTW the bike shares the garage with the Natural enemy of the Motorbike....... A Volvo.
Cant be scared.

 

Yup Murdo, I reckon you might be right about my own bike.
Im working on an old Suzi TS185 which will get me going again (I have 2 81 models) until I can find something more road dedicated like an FZR or CBR 4 or maybe even a bigger LAMS approved bike.

As for the boy? I let him fall down in a lot of things to get his attention but I wasn't taking chances with his riding, He's actually my Step Son but after 15 years he grew on me and is a decent sorta kid when it all comes to the crunch.

I used to be a Driving instructor and both sides of that I have driven trucks or Limo's or something with an engine and wheels and these poor buggers dont stand a chance the way they qualify for L's these days so I stepped in to fix that and I get to have a quick squirt on the bike too
As an added bonus I get brownie points from my Wife lol

 

I've always had a paddock bike or 10 but the kid never really took an interest until he realised he wasn't going to have 120 hours on his car L's by 18 to get his P plates and so he started looking at Bikes, I thought he'd forget about it and wait but he got his L's a few days after his 18th so I had to teach him as best I could.

Hadn't sat on a bike apart from the Quad in years and hadn't sat on a Road bike in 25 years but some things you don't forget lol

 

Found a few daylight pics.

First up a clarification of the cluster lights would be handy, the Hi beam and Neutral light we know as well as that silly overspeed warning, I assume the yellow/Amber is battery and the far left red is Oil level?

 

And heres those daylight piccies.

And one of my TS185

 

The thought did cross my mind but theres no switch gear down there, Might have to check the wiring diagrams to see if its missing.
I have been looking for an owners manual for the Bike with no luck apart from an old one that was obviously produced by the original Grey importers.
Next stop is the Motor Book shop in Camberwell who have always been good for weird and rare stuff.
If they have one I will scan the thing.

 

A little more about my stuff,

As well as the Suzi 185's I also have some 4 stroke Honda's...

10 of em actually.

A while ago I was looking for an Ag bike with a nice low center of gravity to teach my Wife and kids basic riding and being forever broke I was on the lookout for a bargain.

Found it in the form of a package deal being 2 complete Honda CT 125's and 10 parts bikes, Turns out the Complete bikes were not so complete but I managed to cobble 1 good bike from the bits which a puppy promptly took a liking to and ate/tore/shredded the wiring loom lol

Currently the only light engine bike I have running though is our Quad bike which does work a lot around the small farm, a very early Yamaha YFM 400 Kodiak which I used to chase sheep on (Dont ask) and currently does trailer hauling for fencing and track maint.

Poor old girl needs work but as long as I keep the oil up to her she hangs in there and I enjoy the hell out of her.

I also picked up a Suzi King Quad in poor condition which was also supposed to be complete but has carby bits missing and she is soon to be a long term project as they were one of the first Quads and IMO a very capable machine.

So...
2 x 81 TS's
1 x 76 TS
A pile of CT125's
A Suzi King Quad
And
The YFM 400 Quad

Obviously I dont discriminate