The main chore's finding a bike that's up to the sheer nastiness of Central London roads. That's not as easy as it sounds. I've been through them all - ratty C90's to prime meat 1100 Zephyrs. Well not all, I always draw the line at the replicas. Not because I don't appreciate the sheer buzz of their performance - I ain't that old! - but because I refuse to ruin my back. Some poor DRs stagger off them at the end of a day's riding absolutely bent out of shape, wincing with the sheer pain of it.
I've yet to come across a small commuter that can make the grade in Central London. I had great hopes for a Z200 that had somehow survived a couple of owners with less than 10000 miles on the clock. An immaculate little bike. Took two months to reduce it to rubble. The chassis bearings went first, then the suspension, then the brakes and then the engine seized up! Somewhere along the line, the pot-holes had bent the forks and one of the shocks never really wanted to work. Scrap value, about a fiver.
A C90 went on a similar course of self-destruction but at least it sported a laudable sixty thou on the clock! The handling and gearchange on this were bad enough to have me off a few times, but the chassis seemed quite tough, taking the sides off numerous cars and kneecapping the odd meandering pedestrian! The engine turned molten one very hot summer's day (was there only one?), seized solidly with a large clunking noise. By then everything in the chassis had turned so marginal that I just dumped it in the gutter!
Much shorter lived were a CG125, RS100, RXS100 and GS125. The RS just rusted to an early death as I rode along on it, nothing I could do to stop the rot had the last laugh by dropping a match in its petrol tank! Boom! The RXS was so slow on 25000 mile old bore and piston that I often thought I was going backwards and was nearly crushed by numerous converging cages. By 30000 miles it was going the same way as the RS so I traded it in. The CG's chassis didn't have a hope over the London roads though I failed to blow up the motor with 40000 miles on the clock. The GS was better than most commuters but come 30000 miles both engine demise and chassis rot ruled!
No, much better to go for bikes in the 250 to 650cc range. I rarely keep a machine for more than six months - I like to have something left to sell on to the civilians. Destruction testing has its place but not when you're trying to make a living, though most maintenance does boil down to very regular oil and filter changes.
One of my favourite bikes was an import Kawasaki 400 Zephyr - I've owned three - out of which I manage to get at least 50000 miles before anything serious goes wrong. They need a bit of throttle action to get anywhere fast but that's not the end of the world. The finish is the one weak area, a winter's worth of riding can leave them looking a bit ratty but they do clean up splendidly if a bit of effort's put in. Spraying almost everything in WD40 before the winter is an excellent preventative manoeuvre even if it has a magnetic attraction for road grime - it all wipes off come March to reveal surprisingly good paint, alloy and chrome.
The other thing I like about the smaller fours is their lower running costs - 15000 miles from the cheaper tyres, 10000 miles from the front pads, 55-60mpg and engines that don't need any serious work, save for the all important oil changes, for tens of thousands of miles. After 50000 miles things become a bit dodgy silencers start to fall off, chassis bearings go and even the camchain starts to rattle; much better to trade in or sell on before serious expense looms.
One of the most unexpected bikes to work well in the DR hustle was an old but immaculate low mileage import SR650 - yes, | do like Kawasaki's and have also done huge mileages on the GT550/750's but too boring to mention here - they have had too much DR press already!
| wasn't expecting miracles from the SR but its upright stance and good midrange power made it a very relaxed ride in the madness of Central London. Other DR's found it hilarious but it was as fast through the traffic as any other four I've owned. Put 75000 miles on the clock before I felt any intimations of demise was that the main bearings rumbling? It did need chassis bearings every 30000 miles, or so, and I even found some hairline cracks in the cast wheels just before I sold it! Old Jap alloy does go rather dubious!
Some Jap fours that didn't work very well - Honda CBX550 (kept killing its camchains and seizing its brakes), Suzuki 400 Bandit (never ran like the carburation was right and would sulk in the wet), Yamaha XJ600 (good reputation but mine wouldn't start when the engine became too hot), Kawasaki GPz750 (sharp power delivery in the wet had the back end fishtailing all day long) and Honda CB750 Seven-Fifty (ultra high miler that would seize up if the engine got too hot and was used in anger).
It was never a great disaster when | found something that didn't really work, always possible to sell on or trade in without losing too much money. More an interesting learning experience. At the moment, I'm whizzing about on a GPz500 twin, felt like a bit of a change and have got 20000 miles out of it without a murmur of discontent. Nice enough bike, once used to the gear change and low speed drive-line lash. By the time you read this will have moved on again.
Talking with other guys in the DR game, most of them have got into the right frame of mind, manage to ride in a relaxed yet fast manner that is at odds with many of the tales told in the UMG and elsewhere. There are mad nutters, of course, but they don't last that long unless they have the luck of the Irish and reflexes that Fogarty would envy.
HJ