i24

My son rides a Transalp 750. He uses it for commuting and it has over 120k km on the clock and counting. It is a nice bike and very reliable. But a bit heavy if you thinking of "enduro" style action.

I fear this is not the best example to invest the required time/money. I bought an old Yamaha 180 2-stroke when I was in 1st year varsity. It was complete and could run for a while on a good day but it had a list of ailments, not quite as long as the list above. I was late for an exam once when it took 20 minutes of pushing to get it started. In 2nd year I scrapped it and I invested my end of year vac earnings in a slightly bent Honda XL 250 4-stroke - which I rode for another 5 years. The 180 2-stroke might be quite valuable if it were still around today, so would the XL 250. Would the KTM ever yield some collector interest?

Thanks! I have sent a whatsapp. (I have noted your number, maybe you should edit it out from message above). I will pay things forward when the opportunity arises. 😏

I will finish the back wheel and see how that goes. But, it looks like I need 36 off silver, stainless steel, 266 mm spokes, without nipples and I will also have 36 off 263mm ones left over...

Just don't finish faster than the "max permissible e-bike time". Note new in 2026 is that there is a minimum e-bike time for each timing section, so you can't go fast then wait 1km from the end for your allowed finishing time. Most important, be VERY POLITE, wait for a clear gap and don't shout when passing us Hamish cyclists up Smitswinkel and Chappies etc. Otherwise the combined Karma of 1000's of suffering back markers will descend upon your tyres or cause you premature battery failure. (Italics 'cause I cannot find comic sans).

I need some advice. My old steel frame MTB's originally galvanised spokes are now totally corroded. I bought some stainless steel spokes from Temu with the intention of replacing them. Plan is to replace one spoke at a time so I don't have to work out lacing etc from scratch and I can keep a check tension and alignment as I go. A professional would probably cut them all and start from scratch and get it done in a fraction of the time it will take me. But my plan is working for so for for the first few spokes. But I made a mistake measuring the spoke length when I ordered the new ones. I measured them in situ and I thought they were all the same size. But I was wrong, now I have taken some out and measured vary carefully, I found: Rear wheel drive side 262 mm Rear wheel non-drive side 264mm Front wheel 266mm I ordered 263 mm for all of the spokes. This does not seem to be a problem with the rear wheel - they fit nicely and there is no protrusion from the nipples. But I am concerned for the front wheel. I can fit the spokes and tighten the nipples about 5 turns. But the original spokes had about 10 turns of thread engaged. Is this safe and practical or should I look for some other spokes? Thanks for suggestions.

Motorcycles in China must be scrapped when they reach 13 years old. So the Chinese might not have the motivation or feedback to build bikes that last any longer than that. ☹️

That's positive news for the 1st time in xxx days? Don't panic about the filters - I am sure they can be bought (again) for an (un)fair price. But make a detailed list of the missing hardware items. Even small ones are going to cost you hours of hassle trying to find, make, improvise etc. One or two too many missing might make the project unviable.

You can safely assume that what was paid is gone. You should focus on salvaging as much value as possible. First you want a complete bike with all the parts to assemble it back into its original condition. Even if some of those parts are damaged or scrap - you need the old ones to repair or replace. If parts have been sent to subcontractors, get details of the subcontractors and go and collect the parts and be prepared to pay outstanding amounts to the subbies for work done on them. If you lucky, none of your parts will have found there way onto other customer's bikes.. Smile and wish the man Merry Christmas, you may well need to contact him again in the New Year... Then comes decision time - sell it as a project, or keep it as a project....

Go hire a bike trailer, borrow a tow car if necessary. Take tie downs, ropes etc and somebody to help load...

You don't want your assets lying in his garage over the Christmas break. Rather just go pick up the pieces before he closes. Never mind what you may have paid in advance.

Old fashion pedal mounted reflectors are simple, convenient and very effective. But unfortunately not in fashion on competition style clip-less pedals.

It depends on what you enjoy working on and what you will enjoy riding when you are finished. The Guzzi is quite a simple bike, many parts did not change over many years and some parts are still available. It was all made in Italy, in relatively low volumes - which is both positive and negative. Are you in the mood to build Japanese, Italian, metric or imperial? The V50 is a shaft drive with lots of torque, very comfortable in town and country, It handles like it is on rails. But it is short of reserves on the freeway and does not hooligan well - don't expect it to pull a wheelie. Keep the battery charged and the carbs clean and it is an easy bike to own. (I am biased so I won't express an opinion). Too many bikes, too little time. 😃

Why not just runs tubes with sealer inside the tubes? (Works fine on my old steel MTB which has non tubeless rims.)