I hate you all....:)

[JohnnyBoxer]

How much?

Down at Princetown last September Casey, fresh from a spin on JB's willy extension claimed he was going to build a £2K special - he even suggested that would include the donor bike.

Now I'm not doubting the man but I have a fair idea what an airhead will cost and I am very sceptical how it can be done for anything like that.


If you are going to aspire to something like JB's then my only advice is to spend as little as possible on the donor bike, in fact buy a crashed one or a broke one as you will be junking most of it.

I've seen a couple over the years go for £600 but these were the 'lesser' Paralever GS and one was a Devon shipwreck and the other had a blown gearbox.

The cheapest I've seen a monolever go for was about £1.5k and one of them needed shitloads of work and the other was serious 'mates rates'

Welcome to the world of airheads where I'm afraid you have to be in it for the long term and there are no instant answers and instant fixes.

We tend to like our bikes, in fact we're very protective of them but play it right and we airhead owners can be your friend

Agreed Andy

But the donor bike has to be half decent (mechanically) to base a rebuild - motorwork is expensive and time consuming, but rewarding when you get it right

Casey..............never did build a bike (well not yet) and there's nowt wrong in my trouser dept to necessitate the purchase of my bike

She prefers the Adv anyway

 

[judge]

Agreed Andy

But the donor bike has to be half decent (mechanically) to base a rebuild - motorwork is expensive and time consuming, but rewarding when you get it right

Casey..............never did build a bike (well not yet) and there's nowt wrong in my trouser dept to necessitate the purchase of my bike

She prefers the Adv anyway

My childish comment aside - I think the further you are planning to go with your project the less important it is what you start with. For instance I wouldn't use either of the two currently advertised PD as a starter for a special but I would consider the crate recently purchased on eBay by Rob Farmer's best mate

 

[Rob Farmer]

by Rob Farmer's best mate

 

[ozzy]

Big numb and far to havy

if you wont to go real off roading like green laining , bogging and such like , get as light and slim as poss , as you will be sick of your life picking the dam thing up , look out for the tree stumps if you take one out big pots on them bikes , but if you just wont a potter about on some dirt no probs

 

[Garry H]

Don't underestimate the amount of time and money that goes into making a special
If you are going to make it correctly and not bodge it together that is
I have been putting this together for quite a while now and still loads to do...But when it's finished it should be a blast

 

[JohnnyBoxer]

Wise words Garry

 

[JohnnyBoxer]

if you wont to go real off roading like green laining , bogging and such like , get as light and slim as poss , as you will be sick of your life picking the dam thing up , look out for the tree stumps if you take one out big pots on them bikes , but if you just wont a potter about on some dirt no probs

So you're saying we should get something more suited, like a KTM for real Greenlaning and Rallies/Offroad events

Maybe I'll sell mine then and buy at least 2 KTM's with the money

Hey...... I could buy both a 2 and a 4 stroke KTM with the sale proceeds...

KTMs are cheap and then I'd have one for any type of fast (not pottering) real offroading I might fancy

Ozzy ...........I already have another pukka dirtbike that's as light and slim as possible, as you say

Will this one be ok , for bogging, dodging tree stumps and she's real easy to pick up after a fall.....light as a feather

However that's not the point............

However having had numerous pukka Enduro bikes, I find my Airhead G/S more than capable as all of them on 90% of the trails, I can legally ride here in Yorkshire.............the other 10% of trails unsuitable for it aren't worth riding.......unless your idea of a fun ride is hauling your pukka Enduro bike out of a peat bog with the help of 2-3 mates for an hour or two

This trail in Wales with 10-15ft slate bedrock steps, on a steep, narrow slope through woods would have been hard on a Serow, but all the GS's managed it admirably

It's the skill of the rider, not always the capability of the bike

 

[Garry H]

This trail in Wales with 10-15ft slate bedrock steps, on a steep, narrow slope through woods would have been hard on a Serow, but all the GS's managed it admirably

It's the skill of the rider, not always the capability of the bike

It's the guys that ride stuff like this on 1150's that i take my hat off to John

 

[Rob Farmer]

Thats a great picture Johnny

 

[Spout]

Simon,

to get yourself a decent and capable off road BM you don't need a special. If you can get hold of a standard monolever I think you'll be pleasantly suprised at how capapable they are.

But of course, any G/S is special

 

[TERRY RYAN]

How the fuck can you be more helpfull

how did you sneak that F word in

 

[steveo]

`cheap` monos are out there i `rode` mine away for £400!..........two years and £1500 later........and i havent touched the motor yet

 

[forry]

Thats a great picture Johnny

My photo Rob Johnnys nicked it

 

[Rob Farmer]

My photo Rob Johnnys nicked it

Ahhh! You have to watch these bankers, Forry! Nice pic

 

[sycomoto]

im with jonny.

I agree with the Boxer on the virtues of off roading a GS. I raced Enduro for 4 years on a proper enduro bike and have to say the couple of forrays off road on the GSA have been a hoot. it's far better than i thought and not as unwieldy as id thought.

 

[Spikehammer]

Either of these worth a look?

Like the HPN but the engines a later model, isn't it?

 

[Zebedee]

Like the HPN but the engines a later model, isn't it?

I’ll stick my head above the parapet here, and say that that the first bike has the older head covers, but the lower bike with the modified frame and sub-frame has the “new” head covers, it’s got nothing to do with engine internals, which is an entirely different ball game.

The “new” head covers are generally thought to be more robust than the earlier version, which may be a consideration if you want to get down and dirty with your prospective purchase.

However, I don’t think that the new style look anywhere near as pretty old style.

Cheers

John

 

[judge]

I’ll stick my head above the parapet here, and say that that the first bike has the older head covers, but the lower bike with the modified frame and sub-frame has the “new” head covers, it’s got nothing to do with engine internals, which is an entirely different ball game.

Agreed, rocker covers give no indication of age or what is happening underneath the cover both are based on the original 2 valve design of Eighteen Hundred and frozen to death. There is little externally to say which hass had what done to it, the white Basic may be hiding a full 1043cc power kit and a HPN gearbox but it will look largely standard. Equally the yellow Q-tech subframed bike could be a standard engine/gearbox with natty red HT leads

But you have reversed which is new and old.

The “new” head covers are generally thought to be more robust than the earlier version, which may be a consideration if you want to get down and dirty with your prospective purchase.

Squared-off rocker covers = 'New' and stronger

Round rocker covers = 'Old'* and weaker

*Though just to confuse the round rocker covers were standard fitment on the last two airheads in production, namely the R80GS Basic/Kalahari and the R100GS-PD 'Classic'

However, I don’t think that the new style look anywhere near as pretty old style.

Horses for courses as they say I prefer round

 

[ozzy]

So you're saying we should get something more suited, like a KTM for real Greenlaning and Rallies/Offroad events

Maybe I'll sell mine then and buy at least 2 KTM's with the money

Hey...... I could buy both a 2 and a 4 stroke KTM with the sale proceeds...

KTMs are cheap and then I'd have one for any type of fast (not pottering) real offroading I might fancy

Ozzy ...........I already have another pukka dirtbike that's as light and slim as possible, as you say

Will this one be ok , for bogging, dodging tree stumps and she's real easy to pick up after a fall.....light as a feather

However that's not the point............

However having had numerous pukka Enduro bikes, I find my Airhead G/S more than capable as all of them on 90% of the trails, I can legally ride here in Yorkshire.............the other 10% of trails unsuitable for it aren't worth riding.......unless your idea of a fun ride is hauling your pukka Enduro bike out of a peat bog with the help of 2-3 mates for an hour or two

This trail in Wales with 10-15ft slate bedrock steps, on a steep, narrow slope through woods would have been hard on a Serow, but all the GS's managed it admirably

It's the skill of the rider, not always the capability of the bike

love to see you hall that big lump out of a ditch or your face when you dint the tank