Hi All,
Greetings from Oz. Thanks to all the fantastic contributors to this great bank of knowledge. I have helped myself unashamedly of your nouse and skill.
I have played around a bit with my 93 model. Apologies where warranted. In my defence, I have no defence except that I need a bike that fits my requirements. As I suppose we all do.
The start was a blue 93. I also had a black wreck, so I played with colours for a little bit (err did I say something about "requirements"). Ridiculous but satisfying. Remember the bike was running fine, except for a horrible flat spot around 3500. Raising the slide needle one notch smoothed that out (at sea-level). I'll attach some colour combo's for the like-minded.
Then I was confronted with some left leg issues. Remember the bike was running fine. I decided in my infinite wisdom that I needed a lighter bike, but I was attached to the Steamer. Somehow I bought a Remus 3-1 system for one of the T300's on Oz ebay for a pittance. Low slung, weighed nothing. I did feel a difference.
Great idea, self. Took a shitload of time and micro-modding to fit (hammer, grinder ,etc) . Mostly because I had put a centre stand on it . Best ever addition to any of my bikes. First up I was forced by regulation to manufacture a muffler. A piece of K2 Honda 750/4 header pipe and junk was employed. Sounded nasty, but not very satisfying! Ran ok but I might reveal that journey later. Lately found a Supertrapp that doesn't sound any where near as nasty.
Upshot right now, doesn't run real well. I am not at all surprised! But I can't ride for a while anyway, so fucking around is legitimate for the moment (it will get worse!).
Maybe enough for now. I will attach some colour pix and carry on later.
Again, thanks to all the knowledgeable members. You keep the rest of us going.
Err, I have to go. No colour pix, but I reckon we can all imagine the combo's of black and blue!
BTW a great Aussie band called Chain wrote a fantastic convict song in the 70's called "Black and Blue". Part of Oz heritage. Surely on YouTube.
Thanks to all.
Just had a look at Chain, Black & Blue, so yes it is on Youtube.
Very (black &) bluesy :augie
Gino Vanelli has a great song called "Black and Blue". Not sure if it is on YouTube? Definitely on Spotify.
Thanks Ssevy. Yes on YouTube. What a singer!!
Looks like I have lost a few pics. Here's one (At Deepwater) . You can see the theme. Less blue - a bit at a time. Even though I love blue! Bike now has full black front guard and black (modified) sidecovers. Doesn't change the ride (or mean anything), but I'm just playing with colours! Its in the sick bay at the moment and a bit tricky to shoot, but I am into it again after Christmas and will share a pic. Thanks for looking.
Coming into Gloucester.
It seems like all the steamer action on the forum this month is from Oz!
Hey mate. I'm new to my steamer. How do you find owning and sourcing parts here down under?
Cheers
Quote from: Feisty on December 24, 2019, 06:46:53 AM
It seems like all the steamer action on the forum this month is from Oz!
I think the hemisphere has something to do with that?
Hmmm, could be some truth in that comment Ssevy. Hot as hell here right now! BTW thanks for your interesting and valuable input into the forum. Nice to hear from you Feisty. I haven't had too much trouble with parts, just a bit of a wait sometimes. I also have the luxury of raiding parts from a spare Steamer and a 92 Trophy (only if things get desperate!). It seems the Steamer is still a good mount Downunder - carbs, bugger-all tech and long travel on our shit roads. Carry a couple of key spares and everything looks Bonzer! Give me a yell if you are passing through Lake Cathie.
Nice work on having spares bikes. Ut sounds like the way to go. You live in one of my favourite camping areas in Oz. So many great spots near you along the coast. I was up that way 6 weeks ago on my gs heading home from Byron Bay. The planned route was changed twice due to the bushfires and once due to too much snow (over kosiosko). It's a weird world we live in at the moment. I hope the fires have avoided you and your family. Today is the first of the season down south that is listed as catastrophic. So no riding for me for a few days.
Hi Feisty.
Sounds like a good Byron trip - always a good destination!
Sadly our little paradise has copped a pizzling in recent days, particularly around the coast border. The fires have hurt our countrymen in a big way, with no end in sight. I hope that all your family and friends are safe.
We are fine here at Cathie as we luckily had our emergency early in the season and there's not a whole lot left to burn. Unfortunately, however, it looks like our only saviour from this hell is rain and lots of it.
Be safe,
Thanks mate. Stay safe too. Here's hoping that conditions become more favourable. It reminds me so much of Black Saturday. The luggage from that day working it as a copper prematurely ended my 33 year career. Sadly people are still not heeding the message to get out when the warnings are given.
Sad to hear of your experience Feisty. Much closer than any of mine.
I can only offer my greatest respect to you for being in the front line of a truly horrendous moment in our national history.
All the best to you , Feisty.
One of the reasons Steamers are dissapearing from UK and Europe so much now, other than age, is our emission laws are somewhat extreme.
My one would have cost me £12 PER DAY to ride into London....Hockley Boy, who Commutes had the same issue with the Girlys, but some can be re-assessed.
Going more off topic, but whats with the PM of Oz grabbing peoples hands when they obviously want to tell him hes a "XXXX" but are just not interested enough. He comes across as a bit off in the UK media.
Hope everyone stays safe
Quote from: Feisty on January 03, 2020, 12:50:38 AM
Thanks mate. Stay safe too. Here's hoping that conditions become more favourable. It reminds me so much of Black Saturday. The luggage from that day working it as a copper prematurely ended my 33 year career. Sadly people are still not heeding the message to get out when the warnings are given.
Thanks mate. Will do. I have a mate who got the call to evacuate yesterday from his farm. He had to leave his 7 bikes and WW2 jeep behind as there was no time to deal with that and livestock, the house and valuables etc. His parents have the farm over the road. His father left behind a 20 vehicle collection of pre WW2 cars and busses and associated memorabilia. I hope it survives but he doesn't think it will
Quote from: London_Phil on January 03, 2020, 06:05:07 PM
One of the reasons Steamers are dissapearing from UK and Europe so much now, other than age, is our emission laws are somewhat extreme.
My one would have cost me £12 PER DAY to ride into London....Hockley Boy, who Commutes had the same issue with the Girlys, but some can be re-assessed.
Going more off topic, but whats with the PM of Oz grabbing peoples hands when they obviously want to tell him hes a "XXXX" but are just not interested enough. He comes across as a bit off in the UK media.
Hope everyone stays safe
Ive always wondered if the effect on the world is greater building a new bike as opposed to keeping an older one on the road.
We seem to be lucky here. If a vehicle gets to 25 or 30 years it becomes about 80% cheaper to keep on the road registration and insurance wise. No smog or congestion taxes in Aust from my knowledge.
Re the PM.... I'm not sure too many people have much respect for him. He was just the best choice at the time. He us still dealing with the fallout from sneaking off to Hawaii for a family holiday at the start of this national disaster. This was only beaten by a State Emergency services minister heading off to Europe for a holiday right in the middle of it.
The comprehensive insurance costs also drop, my insurer (without asking) dropped the renewal cost, and I don't have my '93 on 'club' plates either. Worth a lot more as a write-off than selling it! (neither in my plans).
Re: Politicians - no matter who gets elected, we finish up with a politician.
[Seems there's a notable exception in NZ....]
Grouse to hear from you OZ Steamer boys. I see a number of interesting issues here already.
Phil has just told us about (I hope I'm right Phil)) the leaders of the UK legislating the old rigs off the road. Please correct me if I am wrong, Phil. Then Feisty brings up the issue of keeping the old girls (read ANY old girls - cars, bikes, etc) on the road. Perhaps big business has a bigger say in the UK than it does here? (Did I really say that!!??!! :cp) Gotta sell everywhere, I suppose.
Maybe our economy is a bit like Cuba! Wish I owned some of their old cars. Dig deeper and look at yours truly robbing Trophy parts to keep the Steamer happening.
Back to Feisty. I also wonder (obviously) about the relative costs. Fantastic bikes to be had for a pittance. It does seem that the old bike and car scene here has little impact on anything but the owner's hip pocket! As it should. Also spreads the cash that the said owners obviously have. Poor people don't own Hot Rods!
Anyway, lets hope the lull in fire activity leads into a cessation. I note some cyclone activity up North. Yee Haa!
Regards,
Quote from: 93TigerBill-2016 on January 04, 2020, 10:42:05 PM
The comprehensive insurance costs also drop, my insurer (without asking) dropped the renewal cost, and I don't have my '93 on 'club' plates either. Worth a lot more as a write-off than selling it! (neither in my plans).
Re: Politicians - no matter who gets elected, we finish up with a politician.
[Seems there's a notable exception in NZ....]
I rang up my insurance company (shannons) to insure the steamer. They were quite happy to insure it at twice its market value (7k) on an agreed value policy. I then went to pay and was told that as it was my 7th vehicle with them my multi vehicle discount went from 10% discount to 20%. Instead of paying them they sent me a cheque for $250 and insured my bike !!!!!!!
Other good part is the excess is only $150 if I claim. This is why all my bikes and cars were purchased to be older than 25 years in 5 years.
Quote from: Beernard on January 07, 2020, 10:07:09 AM
Grouse to hear from you OZ Steamer boys. I see a number of interesting issues here already.
Hiya Beernard. You are lucky to have a trophy to borrow parts from. Id love that luxury. I have it with oilhead bmw bikes but the tiger is all alone. She is nearly done thankfully. Just needs fuel bowl gaskets and a tune as it stumbles below 4k other than that the suspension is pretty average two up. It has white power springs and a rebuilt rear shock but is still horrible. I need to read the manual and screw up the preload and maybe up the fork oil weight. Oh and it came with no thermostat installed so I am waiting for one to arrive from Old Blighty.
The wail over 4k under hard acceleration is super intoxicating. I need to do something to the exhaust........
Gday Feisty,
Great insurance story. Looks like I will have a chat to Shannon's real soon! Most of my bikes are treasured but geriatric too!
Off topic, but the rain is finally here. Yee effin haa!
I agree "Full noise" is grouse. Mine had a modified muffler system when I got it. Evidenced by the welds etc. Sadly I have no idea of what happened inside! Sounded great (deep and gnarly). I became annoyed by the cans restricting my luggage options so I replaced them. I was also trying to reduce high up weight (rooted knees). I lucked upon a Remus 3-1 on ebay for play money and put that on. Had to modify it with my favourite hammer and grinder because it had an issue with the centre-stand, but they are friends now. Lucked out again on a Supertrapp muffler and she looks like a slightly different animal. Don't think she goes any better, but more suited to my needs.
Tigger is having a rest right now due to a recent knee replacement but that has given me time to give her a bit of attention. I am sure all good motorcycles like that!
Good luck with your tuning and suspension adventures.
Hope all is well.