Andymann

Hi Guys - A bit of a spam mail but I figured I might ask the MC owners on the group before I open myself up to millions of FB scammers. My brother has 6 of these new (sealed in a box) stands that he bought for his collection. He's now moved to the UK and left them in my garage to try and sell. Anyone interested? R1000. if you are you can drop me a PM!

I actually missed the Harley. I think the problem there is you might battle to sell it. An investment bike is only as good as the market wanting to buy it and with KTM doing so well at the moment, your market of buyers will be so much bigger. The Harley might get you more, but you will have to find the right buyer who really wants one. I really would go with the RC8 if it's investment you're looking for.

Probably the RC8 hey. While they weren't all that successful there's not a lot of them around so they are unusual - which I think adds to the collector value. The 999 is slowly increasing in value too but it's not as unusual or rare as the RC8. Lastly GSX. That would be my order

I actually melted some lead and then cast 5c sized 3mm lead disks which I stuck on with double-sided tape. But one came off so I had to then use insulation tape which looked really bad. I've since replaced the insulation tape with a clear profilm wrap but it still looks a bit agricultural

I have a set of ZIPP 404/606 carbon tubbies on my TT bikes and I was shocked at how badly they are out of balance. They are not so bad without the tubbies but once the tyres go on they are terrible. I have actually added balance weights and did my own balancing - which goes against everything we learn as cyclists about trying to reduce weight. It also looks a bit redneck-ish because to get it perfect I had to add weights on each side of the rim but the difference when you are down on the horns at 45kph is crazy. It feels like nothing will unsettle the bike now. Before it was hopping all over the place.

As we say in the Motorbike industry "wiped it down with an oily rag". Was tempted to take it for a rid up and down the street but decided against it. Now just for some Celeste bar tape and cables and it will be ready for display.

My Brother used to race in the early 90's for the SADF and is moving to the UK. I helped him clear out his garage yesterday and found this all wrapped up. Take it he said - I was going throw it out anyway! The only thing missing is the original wheels - he says they went missing years ago so he replaced them with some Mavic SUP rims on period 105 hubs. Think I'm going to clean it up and hang it on a wall somewhere!

On a lighter note - lots of fun was had last weekend!

Of course IM could always just make it a prerequisite that before you can enter for a full distance you need to qualify by being able to complete a swim in a specified time. Much like you need to qualify for Comrades. But then one just has to listen to this to realize that anything which might affect the bank balance of Ironman, such as limiting the number of AG entries will never happen and it's much easier to just shorten the route.

There's a guy in our Estate who has a 650 Lario in his garage. I think one of the valves went and he said to me he couldn't be bothered to fix it......

It must be the same Miguel that I know. Back in 1983 my Dad bought an 850 LM3 from Roma Guzzi. After a while I sold my 350LC (because back then they were worth nothing) and bought it from him - I imported a lot of spares back then from Italy and a funny story was when I ordered a rev counter cable they sent me three and politely asked that I use the one that fits and please to send the others back! Anyway I road that bike for 50000kms and Miguel used to service it for me - only AGIP Sint 2000 back then! I eventually sold it to my brother in Cape Town who used it and then when his son had to go to high school regrettably had to sell it. Luckily, he kept in touch with the new owner asked him that if he ever wanted to sell it, please to let him know. A few years back he contacted my brother and the Guzzi is now back in the family. So very interestingly, one day when I was having the Guzzi serviced I saw a bike there which I didn't recognize - it looked a lot like a Ducati 900SS but was a.......Yamaha. Yes said Miguel - thats a "Yamacati"- or TRX. And that's where my love of TRX's came from. I actually pestered Miguel a few times to sell me that bike but he never did!

You need one of these......only R300k

Sadly no! Which is also why any bike in South Africa built in or before 1936 carries a hefty premium. It also explains why South Africa is the only country in the world where there are more bikes dated as 1936 than were actually built in 1936 by all the factories combined, and that strangely no bikes from 1937 were ever imported into South Africa 😉

I remember that little run - there was a moerse outcry but no-one could do anything because they didn't have proof that he had actually done it! With the roads and trucks as they are today, I think you would be hard pressed to even do it in under 6 hours today in a car

Was a race held on public roads and too many people were getting killed so they decided 1936 was the last year. In 1970 they resurrected it as a regularity run but only on bikes which would have been eligible to do the original race - so up until 1936. The traditional overnight stop was in Newcastle and in the years that we lived in Newcastle my Dad was the Works Manager at Iscor so was quite well connected to the Newcastle Town Council. He was able to convince the Newcastle Traffic Department to turn a blind eye one year and then suggested that the DJ organizers put in an "open" section on the road between Ladysmith and Newcastle to let the guys have some fun. One of the Excelsior Manxman 500 racers was clocked at over 150kph.....

One thing I can add is that before they realized what the the Schlesinger Vase was worth, it was presented to the winner of the regularity run which started in 1970 and the winner was allowed to take it home. This was the original trophy that the winners of the race got before it was banned in 1936 and the winning times are engraved on the trophy. My Dad won the DJ a few times, and he took the vase home and I looked at some of the winning times from the race. When I used to travel from Pretoria to Durban for university in the 90's you were doing well if you could do it in 6hrs. On the N1/N3 The fastet time in 1934, (which I think is the official record), on dirt roads with bikes that looked like the ones in the picture I posted from our ride on Sunday was 6hrs 42min - averaging 100kph. I've ridden a DJ bike at 80kph and I can tell you it's scary. Those guys were from another breed.

Sure thing - most of what you will find is here - https://djrally.co.za/ But if you have any other questions - shout!

I knew Pierre very well - I started doing the DJ back in 1990 and did six I think and then stopped. I was the youngest rider for years and Pierre kept on trying to convince me to come back because they wanted more young riders. Later on Pierre helped get a few bikes of ours registered. We miss him at the VMC meetings - he was a real character! This year will be my Dad's 32nd DJ and we have arranged for my two brothers to ride with him this year with me in the backup van. So quite special

We did something a little different yesterday - took the old Velo's on a pre-DJ ride just to check that all is well before the actual DJ next month. Ended up doing part of the old Rand Water Race for Victory Route, the original Hyper to Hyper, the Fast one and the Clover Vets Tour - my old Racing roads when I was racing for Gary Beneke's team in the 90's. Something to be said about cruising along at max 75kph, but I'm not 1930's bike fit - my arse and back is killing me today!

Could you perhaps send me his number too? Going through some boxes and I found my Grandfathers Omega from 1969. Not really my style and the date isn't working so I would like to check and see what it would cost to refurbish before I decided what to do with it. Thanks!

oops.... https://triathlonsa.co.za/2022/10/31/south-african-institute-of-drug-free-sport-update/

That's why when we organize the small Tri races they are all off-road to try and keep the costs low, or have very short road laps so you don't need as much Policing on the day. It's just become such a mission to organize the policing it only works when big sponsors are involved or when someone knows someone and is able to get the right people by promising a little something extra on the day

All my DT's run with normal B8ES NGKs and they are fine. It's the highly strung bikes that tend to be a but iffy. The one thing that we have seen over the years though, is the number of plugs that just die, or actually spark normally when they are tested outside the cylinder, but fail under compression. We have a very interesting talk at our Club a while back about NGK and how to spot the ones which are not made in Japan. There's certain markings on a Japanese NGK that aren't on the ones made around the world. Crazy as it sounds, but I actually order all the plugs for my bikes off the Yamaha Part number, to ensure I get the Japanese ones. We also have one of our old race bikes that will absolutely not run properly on anything other than BOSCH plugs. It's the craziest thing and I initially wouldn't believe it, but put in an NGK and two days later you will be standing next to it cursing.

What does the manual say the premix should be for an 85? I would go with that

Definitely - the moment she starts pinning it with the hotter plug you are going to get some issues again. When I was at Yamaha we had such an problem trying to convince men not to buy their wives and girlfriends YZ85's just because they rode YZ125's and YZ250's. 85's are such temperamental things - hell they literally change with the weather. Have you ever felt how well a 2-stroke goes when it's really cold and the air is nice and dense? Or when it's just about to run out of fuel. There's an old saying - a 2-stroke will run brilliantly just before it blows up! We used to try our best to recommend TTR230's in place of YZ85's because they are just perfect for recreational riding, but they just weren't cool enough with the styling and the old drum brake at the back. Put in a hotter plug and let her ride it and then take the plug out and check it - it's not strictly the right way to do a plug check, but it will give you a very good idea of what the engine is doing.