Jump to content

Newbie Rant


BigNick62
 Share

Recommended Posts

Hi there

Been lurking for a while now, reading various posts on performance tuning various 125's.

I cannot believe how unhelpful most replies are! Along the lines of..... "get a bigger bike" "pass your test" " it'll invalidate your insurance" etc, etc.

I am 57 years old, have been riding since i was fourteen...Legally since 16. Got a full licence at 17, have owned everything from a nsu quickly to v-max.

Present bike...2017 Ducati desert sled, and fully tweaked ( very quick) KLX 250 supermoto. Also have been involved in custom air cooled VW's, for 30 odd years....All of my vehicles over the years, have been tweaked, big bored, lightened, gas injected (lots of failures) etc.

So when a kid asks...... Can i performance tune my KSR 125? Dont diss them, help them achieve, or at least fail in their quest. We are not the police, so skip the legality of the question, unless it involves theiving/ damaging someone elses property.

Tuning and the search for power is human....be helpful!!

Rant over.

Nick

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Hi Nick and welcome to the forum


I wouldn't say the advice is unhelpful and as you have pointed out the legality of it could become a problem!


I for one don't want to be held responsible for giving out advice that could cause problems for someone down the line! as they say where theres blame theres a claim!


Some of these new riders may not even be aware that what they are doing could be illegal.


And lets be honest there is no replacement for displacement :wink:


My advice is to save the money and put it towards a full licence where you can have all the power you want on tap and legal! what you do with that power is then your choice.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Guest Richzx6r

Wait, we're complaining about one of the few occurrences where this forum gives legally sound advice?

 

Who'da thought it eh.....someone comes along and asks us all our advice and we give legally sound advice and we are in the wrong......where would we be if we all just decided to say nah mate go for it stuff the coppers they wont do you for not riding in accordance with your license or that tuning your 125 on L plates won't invalidate your insurance ....maybe he would give us all a big round of applause or maybe even a medal if we all didn't give a shit


My vote for nob of the day goes to......the OP

Link to comment
Share on other sites

If you have a 125 and you really need to get it to go faster then the best advice I could give anyone is to lose some weight :lol:


Its by far the easiest and cheapest method :mrgreen:

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Guest Richzx6r

If you have a 125 and you really need to get it to go faster then the best advice I could give anyone is to lose some weight :lol:


Its by far the easiest and cheapest method :mrgreen:

 

Or as we all keep saying....save the money from modifications and do your test :thumb:

Link to comment
Share on other sites

If you have a 125 and you really need to get it to go faster then the best advice I could give anyone is to lose some weight :lol:


Its by far the easiest and cheapest method :mrgreen:

 

Damn you I was ready to type that 😂


Also only use optimax, regularly use redex, lay flat on the tank, over inflate tyres, don't wear any safety clothing saving more weight, slipstream anything going faster than you especially hgv's as this gives you no view of the road ahead.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Hi there

Been lurking for a while now, reading various posts on performance tuning various 125's.

I cannot believe how unhelpful most replies are! Along the lines of..... "get a bigger bike" "pass your test" " it'll invalidate your insurance" etc, etc.

I am 57 years old, have been riding since i was fourteen...Legally since 16. Got a full licence at 17, have owned everything from a nsu quickly to v-max.

Present bike...2017 Ducati desert sled, and fully tweaked ( very quick) KLX 250 supermoto. Also have been involved in custom air cooled VW's, for 30 odd years....All of my vehicles over the years, have been tweaked, big bored, lightened, gas injected (lots of failures) etc.

So when a kid asks...... Can i performance tune my KSR 125? Dont diss them, help them achieve, or at least fail in their quest. We are not the police, so skip the legality of the question, unless it involves theiving/ damaging someone elses property.

Tuning and the search for power is human....be helpful!!

Rant over.

Nick

 

 

xxgiphy.gif.b84bb869756eb1969b823f137c2e0dca.gif

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Here you go then , don't come crying to me when it goes bang or you get nicked for driving not in accord with your licence . Oh yeah , and don't forget to upgrade your brakes to cope with the extra speed . Good luck .

Polish_20200604_222713643.thumb.jpg.2d72f36c57db8b636b9fb3719c556e0c.jpg

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I'm not completely sure that i got my point across very clearly.

Coming from the modified VW beetle, bus, Karmann ghia world....if you want to go faster, you dont buy a porsche, you upgrade your aircooled engine!

Aircooled, flat four, std 1200cc maybe 30 bhp, modified 2000cc same physical size engine running carbs and pump fuel, 200+ bhp.

You still have your old car but with more Ooomph, yes you need better brakes....but the point is..why tell everyone to buy a bigger bike, when its possible to keep what you have, and still get the performance you want?

Is everybody afraid to get their hands dirty and experiment any more?

Anyway.....If nobody gets the point of this post, i'm just wasting my time here.... please just give people/ kids/ plebs, whatever..the answer to their question, not your personal biased opinion.If you don't know the answer, just say NOTHING!!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I'm not completely sure that i got my point across very clearly.

Coming from the modified VW beetle, bus, Karmann ghia world....if you want to go faster, you dont buy a porsche, you upgrade your aircooled engine!

Aircooled, flat four, std 1200cc maybe 30 bhp, modified 2000cc same physical size engine running carbs and pump fuel, 200+ bhp.

You still have your old car but with more Ooomph, yes you need better brakes....but the point is..why tell everyone to buy a bigger bike, when its possible to keep what you have, and still get the performance you want?

Is everybody afraid to get their hands dirty and experiment any more?

Anyway.....If nobody gets the point of this post, i'm just wasting my time here.... please just give people/ kids/ plebs, whatever..the answer to their question, not your personal biased opinion.If you don't know the answer, just say NOTHING!!

 

We get your point, it is the licensing restrictions, telling a Learner how to make their bike go faster will inevitably lead them to lose their licence, and bring them a whole load of pain unneccessarily, once they pass their test they can ride what they like age permitting :thumb:

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Guest Richzx6r

I'm with dynax here, we arent saying categorically no you can't or shouldnt do it we are merely stating that doing so could land a person on L plates in a lot of hot water and we are not wanting that on our conscience

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Here you go then , don't come crying to me when it goes bang or you get nicked for driving not in accord with your licence . Oh yeah , and don't forget to upgrade your brakes to cope with the extra speed . Good luck .

big rise in price for a cbr go faster kit from the others :shock:
Link to comment
Share on other sites

And lets face it ... Its not as if insurance companies charge us more each year due to them having to cover the cost of claims involving uninsured motorists.

We all have done things in the past which we may now condone others for now doing but it is with the knowledge of the consequences.

As for helpful advice ... Most need to realise what it is they actually want to achieve not just what their mate said that their brothers cousin dog walkers sister's boyfriend read on the internet forum where some lad knows some one whose boyfriend sisters dogwalkers cousin's brothers mate has done to their bike but they don't want to spend more than what AliExpress charges .

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I'm not completely sure that i got my point across very clearly.

Coming from the modified VW beetle, bus, Karmann ghia world....if you want to go faster, you dont buy a porsche, you upgrade your aircooled engine!

Aircooled, flat four, std 1200cc maybe 30 bhp, modified 2000cc same physical size engine running carbs and pump fuel, 200+ bhp.

You still have your old car but with more Ooomph, yes you need better brakes....but the point is..why tell everyone to buy a bigger bike, when its possible to keep what you have, and still get the performance you want?

Is everybody afraid to get their hands dirty and experiment any more?

Anyway.....If nobody gets the point of this post, i'm just wasting my time here.... please just give people/ kids/ plebs, whatever..the answer to their question, not your personal biased opinion.If you don't know the answer, just say NOTHING!!

 

so your 17 year old son on his 125 with L plates asks you if you can make his bike go faster.. " of course son im a dab hand at making things go faster than they should, don't worry about the legality of it , your insurance will be void etc , don't matter....

and the father of the year award goes to ...

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I'm not completely sure that i got my point across very clearly.

Coming from the modified VW beetle, bus, Karmann ghia world....if you want to go faster, you dont buy a porsche, you upgrade your aircooled engine!

Aircooled, flat four, std 1200cc maybe 30 bhp, modified 2000cc same physical size engine running carbs and pump fuel, 200+ bhp.

You still have your old car but with more Ooomph, yes you need better brakes....but the point is..why tell everyone to buy a bigger bike, when its possible to keep what you have, and still get the performance you want?

Is everybody afraid to get their hands dirty and experiment any more?

Anyway.....If nobody gets the point of this post, i'm just wasting my time here.... please just give people/ kids/ plebs, whatever..the answer to their question, not your personal biased opinion.If you don't know the answer, just say NOTHING!!

 

I totally get that and I would bet that 99% of us would rather do this


But as mentioned if someone is riding on a CBT then getting more power will land you in trouble if you're caught we have many coming on asking for big bore kits for a 125cc! but the CBT limits you to a 125cc with 11kW (14bhp) of power no more


Passing a full test avoids this as you could get as much power as you like out of the smallest bike with no issues


Its a bit of a catch 22 really!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I totally get where you're coming from Big Nick, I bought an old Escort MK11 1100cc and dropped a 1600 engine in it back in the 80's it went like stink until I wrapped it up :) Seemed like a good idea at the time until the insurance refused to pay out, and I only got a wrap on the wrist from the police, but hey ho it was only worth a couple of hundred quid anyway.

Trouble is, it's a different world today, if I'd done that as a new driver today it would have probably had my license suspended as a new driver and not be able to insure anything for years to come.

If my youngest lad was going to do that today I'd tell him to wait until he could afford to buy and insure the real thing, it's just not worth the risk these days and that's probably where the advice given out to youngsters today comes from, it's more to try and protect them than belittle their efforts.

Just my opinion like.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Guest Richzx6r

I totally get where you're coming from Big Nick, I bought an old Escort MK11 1100cc and dropped a 1600 engine in it back in the 80's it went like stink until I wrapped it up :) Seemed like a good idea at the time until the insurance refused to pay out, and I only got a wrap on the wrist from the police, but hey ho it was only worth a couple of hundred quid anyway.

Trouble is, it's a different world today, if I'd done that as a new driver today it would have probably had my license suspended as a new driver and not be able to insure anything for years to come.

If my youngest lad was going to do that today I'd tell him to wait until he could afford to buy and insure the real thing, it's just not worth the risk these days and that's probably where the advice given out to youngsters today comes from, it's more to try and protect them than belittle their efforts.

Just my opinion like.

 

Well said that man

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Something else to consider, swapping engines in a car is one thing, but once you start messing about with bikes you can drastically change the dynamics of how it handles, and if going too far and modifying the frame to drop in a non standard engine you also change the stress points which could result in fatal frame failure, companies have spent millions on designs to get the best possible outcome for their machines, yes some improvements are possible but not at the cost of human lives when it goes wrong :cheers:

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Something else to consider, swapping engines in a car is one thing, but once you start messing about with bikes you can drastically change the dynamics of how it handles, and if going too far and modifying the frame to drop in a non standard engine you also change the stress points which could result in fatal frame failure, companies have spent millions on designs to get the best possible outcome for their machines, yes some improvements are possible but not at the cost of human lives when it goes wrong :cheers:

 

Pretty much how I ended up totalling my Escort, it had a great engine but the brakes and suspension were made from cheese, :D

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

 Share

  • Welcome to The Motorbike Forum.

    Sign in or register an account to join in.

×
×
  • Create New...

Important Information

Terms of Use Privacy Policy Guidelines We have placed cookies on your device to help make this website better. You can adjust your cookie settings, otherwise we'll assume you're okay to continue.

Please Sign In or Sign Up