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Is motorcycling allowed?


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Posted

Hmm, expensive......  :D

 

I paid just a tad over R500.00 brand new for my Suzuki TS 50 in 1973 and a whopping R25.00 for a "Protector" brand helmet. 

 

 

 

Ah, Protector helmets, locally made and their full face looked just like a Bell Star - I was so proud of mine :thumbup: and still have it, all the innards have long since perished though  

Posted

Anyone out there have any knowledge or experience of the Yamaha TMax?  Yes, a scooter, but there a place for them too.

 

And how about Vespas?

Posted

Anyone out there have any knowledge or experience of the Yamaha TMax?  Yes, a scooter, but there a place for them too.

 

And how about Vespas?

Ahhh. TMax. Where shall I begin. I rode one for 6 months as a company bike. I'm probably biased since I haven't ridden any other Maxi-Scooter but it was brilliant. Honestly in all the bikes I have ridden, this was probably the one I could have swapped a car for. The best part was I could pitch up to a meeting, put all my bike gear under the seat, and look like I had arrived by car.

And Bill Hunter rode it in the B-Group at the old Kyalami and scared a few people shitless - so they handle and stop too....

 

Negatives? Fuel consumption wasn't great - around 6L/100km which is bad for a 500cc bike. It's quite big and heavy and the screen was way too short for us South Africans - even for me who isn't a giant. The tyres are silly sizes so expensive, and the belt too.

They are expensive - over R100k I bet now - that's a lot for a commuter.

 

Positives? I loved the fact that I could store my gate remote in the cubby-hole - no buggering around with gloves on, gloves off, press button to open gate, gloves on, try and find pocket with gloves on and helmet on etc etc. It has a handbrake. So while I was fiddling with the above on my sloped driveway, it wasn't trying to roll off the stand into the street.

I felt very very safe - there's no top box needed to store your stuff, and no need for a packpack so I just felt like cars could see my reflective vest better. And the fact that there is no frame between your legs means that if you are side-swiped, your legs don't get squashed against the engine like in a normal bike.

 

The new 535 model arrived just as I was leaving and I never got to test it, but apparently it addressed a lot of the niggly issues of the 500 on I rode.

Posted

Guys some help...

 

Looking for a reflective ( like the think bike ) vest

 

Also looking for a rain suite overall

 

 

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

I got my vest from Builders Warehouse. Was about R30 I think.

 

About a year ago some guy was bringing in a thing called a HaloBelt - rechargeable reflective belts with nice LED's. I use that now, and the cars really do see you at night.

Posted (edited)

Ah, Protector helmets, locally made and their full face looked just like a Bell Star - I was so proud of mine :thumbup: and still have it, all the innards have long since perished though  

Yes, and wonderful helmets they were too. I dont know why the company stopped making them, maybe the market was too small back then I dont know, but today they would be really smiling had they continued, with the prices of imported helmets in SA been what they are.

 

Just as an aside, if you want to get the internals of the helmet replaced there is a place in Boksburg or Benoni, cant remember, but its near Carnival City and there was a guy there with a small factory making helmets on a small scale. I think most of his work was actually replacing helmet inner's, and I had the one of my AGV helmets redone by him. I thought his work was excellent and the helmet was fine. He also polished my visors and it was like suddenly looking through a new glass, one cant believe how road dust etc pits and damages the visor until its polished.

 

I'll try find the details (I cant promise I will find them, but I'll try) and if I can I'll post it here, if he is still there and operational I am sure others will also find it useful.    

Edited by GrumpyOldGuy

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