Frustration

"TheOnelectronic" (theoneelectronic) 03/10/2016 at 18:30 • Filed to: None

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We’ve had a really nice week. I’ve been itching to ride the Monster.

There’s just one problem: when I put it on the trailer to store it over the winter, the incredibly low-slung oil cooler hit the ramp and broke the bracket. And of course I kept putting off ordering a new one, so now I have to wait a couple of weeks for it to come in.

So far I’ve managed to ignore those little voices in my head saying “Zip tie it! It’ll be fine!” since it attaches directly underneath the hot-as-fucking-hell headers. (On a completely unrelated note, I burned myself three times today.)

Decay buys too many beaters > TheOnelectronic 03/10/2016 at 18:37

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Metal zip ties, done :)

Been holding the exhaust on my race car for the last 2 seasons...

Master Cylinder > Decay buys too many beaters 03/10/2016 at 18:40

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Heck, we don’t even have to get that fancy, the new part is already on its way. Bailing wire’ll hold ‘er until then.

TheOnelectronic > Decay buys too many beaters 03/10/2016 at 18:41

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I actually did consider that. Or, like, hose clamps or similar.

Mostly I’m trying to avoid risking any further damage. As it stands I broke a $100 bracket. I probably don’t want to know what the cooler itself or that fancy painted surround would cost to replace.

Decay buys too many beaters > Master Cylinder 03/10/2016 at 18:44

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It never occurred to me to consider my $6 pack of 100 harbor freight ss zip ties fancy, thank you for giving me a bit of perspective ;)

Decay buys too many beaters > TheOnelectronic 03/10/2016 at 18:48

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ooo, that’s a good point, parts have been so cheap for my SV that I’ve generally let some pretty questionable temp fixes slide!

BobintheMtns > Master Cylinder 03/10/2016 at 18:53

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+1 on the bailing wire or zip ties...

TheOnelectronic > Decay buys too many beaters 03/10/2016 at 20:49

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It’s honestly the biggest downside to the bike (beyond the sticker price)

I had a nearly-stopped oopsy in a gas station and the bike fell over. It did $7000 of damage. Most of that was from the tank and frame, which is apparently a sacrifice item on this bike.

Decay buys too many beaters > TheOnelectronic 03/10/2016 at 23:21

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I can’t even imagine that! You’re doing a great job of convincing me to stick with the Jap bikes instead of making the swap to either KTM or Aprilia (love the tuono and the superduke)

TheOnelectronic > Decay buys too many beaters 03/10/2016 at 23:30

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I can’t speak for the other brands: My Triumph Tiger at least seemed to be designed to be easily repaired. (The tank had plastic panels on the sides that were easily replaceable)

The thing is, the steering stops on the Duc are welded onto the frame. When it went down, the steering stop got bent back. (AND the bars hit the tank. Good job.) While I probably COULD have fixed it with some pliers, since I was going through insurance anyway for the $1000+ tank the ENTIRE FRAME had to be replaced.

I would check out those bikes if you’re interested. I try my best not to get stuck in brand/region loyalty, but something like a Street Triple blows my old SFV-650 (the ill-styled Gladius) out of the water in almost every regard. There’s just a different... feel to the euro bikes (that I’ve ridden.)

I’ve been considering trading the Duc for something a bit less made of money, and honestly I haven’t found anything from the big 4 that really catches my interest. The FZ-07 is the only thing that comes close, and I’ve heard there are some fuelling issues with those. Rough fuelling is one of my personal dealbreakers. Hopefully at some point I can take one for a test ride or something, although in my experience the japanese bike dealers are way less liberal with those than the european brands. Both Duc/Triumph dealers I’ve worked with would basically say “Hi, welcome to _______ would you like to take one of our demos out?”

RacinBob > TheOnelectronic 03/11/2016 at 00:23

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The answer to everything is owning some safety wire and a safety wire pliers. Stainless steel wire is the most Jalop solution to fixing almost anything . Example LINK (Note, when you cut wires, it leaves razor sharp edges)

Decay buys too many beaters > TheOnelectronic 03/11/2016 at 01:39

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I’m honestly amazed that wasn’t totaled out, you must have been right on the edge. And I totally get that from dealers, I see demo days constantly at the local Euro dealers but don’t think I’ve ever seen them from the Japanese ones. The KTM dealer earlier this year was like “hey, do you want to take a spin on the new Superduke R?” to which my response was “Well, I’m just here for an oil filter, but hell yes” At the Honda dealer they wouldn’t even let me test ride a Grom (which is probably why I don’t own one, I was ready to buy that day too)

You should try out a GSXR fork swapped second gen SV, made mine a better canyon scalpel than my buddies Street Triple R ...though both the Duke and the v4r blew my freaking mind, like borderline religious experience.

TheOnelectronic > Decay buys too many beaters 03/11/2016 at 01:48

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I’ve considered the duke, although its ergonomics are a bit too aggressive for my tastes as I remember. One of the things I love about the Monster is I can ride it for hours at a time without getting fatigued. Due to my short arms and long torso I tend to be leaned over quite a bit even on “upright” bikes. It’s my major concern with the Street as well. IIRC the duke has a tiny little pancake of a seat, too.

I haven’t even really looked at Aprillia or MVA, just because I feel like I’d just be compounding the Italian-ness of the Duc, for good and for bad. Plus, I don’t even think we have a dealer here. I’d have to drive an hour and a half to Philly or Baltimore, most likely. Not the best thing for a bike whose reliability I’m skeptical of.

Decay buys too many beaters > TheOnelectronic 03/11/2016 at 12:14

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Ah makes perfect sense, comfort doesn’t really factor heavily into my sportbike purchases as I’ve got a beat up old 80's Yamaha cruiser than lives under a cover behind the garage. She gets fired up exclusively for the longer journeys and camping trips :)

And I totally get why you wouldn’t look twice at the Aprilia, wouldn’t be considering either KTM or Aprilia if there wasn’t a dealer within almost walking distance of my house.

TheOnelectronic > Decay buys too many beaters 03/11/2016 at 12:42

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I apparently an an old man. I can't ride an actual sport bike more than 30 minutes without extreme pain.