Wow! what a bike!

Twinstar Joined: Jul 24, 2012 Posts: 94 Location: uk

Wow, what a bike!
These photos don't show the grime and dirt but I promise it's there.

This bike went in to storage in the late 80s and came out just a few months ago. As per another thread I did up the brakes, changed oil, plugs and air filter, checked the valve clearances and did all the paperwork/documents to get road legal. Then I set off................750 miles in 3 days without missing a beat.
Road trip to the 24 heures du Man, Northern France from Southampton, UK. 5 others plus me. 3 KTM 990 adventures, a Ducati 916 and a Suzuki of some description plus the CB1100F.
A great trip, good food, good company, (no problems keeping up with the others) and very gentlemanly and leisurely until I left for home ahead of the pack. (To be fair I've had a lot of time for myself this month and my wife made it clear it would be good if I cut this one short). For various reasons I used the Channel Tunnel which involved 4 hours riding in France and 2 in UK. Time was against me from the start and I rode at 80-90mph initially, After a while I got bored(all autoroute) and wound her up. I thought I would fall off the back at 120mph so slowed down to 90-100 which I kept up all the way between fuel stops. On the leisurely ride down I'd managed about 35mpg. On the highest speed return section the figure was 25mpg. It rained most of the way but the cheapy waterproofs did actually work, surprisingly. In all a hell of a trip but at all times I was the limiting factor. The bike performed faultlessly and was easily comparable to the modern stuff in everyday riding. Lessons... Unfaired bikes are hard work, (will have to get the 900F2D running). Biking's more fun in the sun than the rain!
The best part..... Pulling up at the bars at Arnage and having the revellers ignore the other bikes and come straight to the 'Super Bol d'Or' for a worshipping session!
Wow, what a bike!

Posted: Tue Jun 25, 2013 4:56 pm

Ha ha… That was the first impression I had on mine when I bought it. It's the blue faster one, exactly the same as yours (albeit not running at the moment)… I opened it up on the M11 and nearly shot straight off the back of the bloody thing.

You could always consider the little bikini fairing from the US model… or the bigger one from the F2. I think they look ok on the 11s.

Best you get that dirt off now

Very Happy

Posted: Wed Jun 26, 2013 12:53 am

Sounds like a great weekend!
Poor gas mileage is a small price to pay for the big smiles.
A nice F sure does draw a crowd.

Twinstar Joined: Jul 24, 2012 Posts: 94 Location: uk

I think I'll get the f2d up and running Andy. I bought it about 6 months ago and am still waiting to go and pick it up from the PO! I am planning to do a cosmetic and basic mechanical rebuild over the winter. The full fairing is much better for non-boulevard cruising. I reckon 60-70mph without or 90mph with. I had a 900f2c in the early 90s and thought that was great.
I forgot to mention that the day before the trip the starter motor packed up so every fuel/coffee/lunch stop, ferry/tunnel stop was a bump start. What a pain in the arse! I have a starter motor on it's way from Delta Hotel on the forum so hopefully normal service will resume shortly.
One other thing I've found is that the later bike is much lighter/nimbler than the 900fz of 5 years earlier. Is this just down to the smaller wheels?
All the best
Jonathan