Our Bert bought a pup… or has he? His £100 Hound project begins!
Bikes kinda get under the skin, don’t they? Bikes like Honda’s seminal VFR750F…
Now, I try not to get sentimental, but – when I was courting my late wife – I used to trundle to her place in Kent on a Honda VFR750 F-R in teal green. Even looking back now, after 23 years I think: wow, what a bike. It was quick, comfy and devoured miles with ease, meaning I was ready for action as soon as the front hoop landed on her drive. Ahhh (ahem) happy times!
Since those heady days of the mid-1990s I’ve hardly ridden a 750, but done plenty of miles on its soulless replacement the VFR800i, and the later V-TEC models. It was only when riding a minter F-R for MSL’s sister title Classic Motorcycle Mechanics (which I edit) late in 2015 that I was transported straight back to those times. It was magical!
So, I wanted an F-R, but couldn’t afford a decent, sorted one (single parent and all that) but I did happen to know where a knackered one was sitting… Enter my friend Simon Brown. Now, he used to use my garage to put his commuter F-R in before he got a lock-up of his own. Chatting to him back in early 2016, I found that his machine was sitting bereftof an MoT (shot rear shock) and he would let me have it for just £100.
Bargain! Why? Well, I knew he’d spent £760 on it over the preceding five years, including a vital reg-rectifier replacement and Motad stainless downpipes. Okay so it had 40k on the clocks and had sat for a while, but I was happy as Larry when I pushed it into my garage.
Esta historia es de la edición June 2018 de Motorcycle Sport & Leisure.
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Esta historia es de la edición June 2018 de Motorcycle Sport & Leisure.
Comience su prueba gratuita de Magzter GOLD de 7 días para acceder a miles de historias premium seleccionadas y a más de 8500 revistas y periódicos.
Ya eres suscriptor? Conectar
Mossy's Knowledge
Spec sheet terminology - chassis
Test fleet: Suzuki GSX-S1000GX
Out with the old and in with the new, as Stu picks up a GSX-S1000GX
Test fleet: Suzuki V-Strom 800RE
I've only had it a few days, but I've liked it since mile one. Hopefully my affection for the Suzuki will continue well into the future
Test fleet: Yamaha Ténéré World Raid
A lack of a daily commute doesn't mean that mileage is kept to a minimum
The Longest Day Teapot
While it would've been truly wonderful to have spent time preparing myself and the bike for that one long day of riding in June, there's rather more preliminary work than hoped...
Premier peninsula perambulations
Riding locally is all well and good, but Helen wanted some adventure and to get some miles under her wheels
Around Gran Canaria in three days
What better way to expand your riding CV than with some winter riding in the sunshine of the Canary Islands, and some dramatic mountainous roads
Pass-ing the time of day
Three of Europe's most well-known mountain passes, all covered in day of mind-bending scenery and nerve-wrenching hairpins one
Troubleshooting common 12V battery problems
Diagnosing and tracing faults with a motorcycle's electrical charging system can be a daunting prospect, but with a basic understanding of the bike's charging system you can usually get to the nub of what's wrong. We asked the battery-saving experts at OptiMate to outline the main components of the charging system, and the symptoms of the most common problems encountered with them
Worth Waiting For?
Moto Guzzi is Italy's oldest bike manufacturer in continuous production since its birth in 1921, though Covid forced the postponement by a year of its 100th birthday celebrations held at its Mandello del Lario factory on the shores of Lake Como