Hello,

short after i bought a Yamaha TT600R (yes, kickstart...) for off-road fun next to my 1200GS, i decided on a trip through central america, starting in Mexico, ending in, euh, wherever i end up around Darian ;-)

Simple, light, cheap and reliable bike, and lots of aftermarked stuff to convert it to a decent travelbike to go to the america's.

Bought the (4000kms onroad) bike for eur. 2850,- and ordered approx. 1500 for spareparts, big tank, very solid panniersystem, center stand and other usefull bits and pieces. For eur. 4500 i'm ready to go.

I (still) think it is a good decision to go on a cheap low profile bike, but not entirely sure about the absence of the all-mighty-magic-button ;-)

good luck with your choice.

cheers,
Sander

__________________
http://sanderonasingle.blogspot.com/

Without this getting into a kick vs button debate, iv far prefer having a kick only bike than a button only.

As long as its easy to kick when your knackered that is.

__________________
Did some trips.
Rode some bikes.
Fix them for a living.
Can't say anymore.

What year is your TT? Just curious.

If you have owned a few 600 or 650 kick start bikes, or some old
Brit bike singles like the 441 Victor or Matchless 500, then you should have no problem.

Mostly there is a routine to follow and once you learn it its' not too bad. Never kick without wearing boots. Mostly, the only time they are hard to start is when they have gone over. If the bike falls...pick it up quickly (if you can).
Turn off fuel right away. Wait. Be patient.

Modern dirt bikes have "Hot Start" circuits. If your TT is a 2001 or newer maybe it has this feature? Helps with starting when the bike is flooded from falling over.

For me, I like to do this routine with a fallen bike:

1. Turn off fuel
2. pick up ASAP
3. Rest
4. Throttle wide open (HOLD wide open)
5. Choke OFF
6. Compression release pulled IN
7. Kick 20 times gently, now release throttle.
8. Wait 30 secs.
9. Start normally, fuel on, no choke, NO throttle when kicking.

Cold starting should not be a problem if valves are adjusted, ignition is strong,
and carb is correctly set up. Fuel on, kick few times to prime using compression release, now, Choke on full, raise idle up one or two turns, kick firmly, do not twist throttle as you kick.

Good luck.
Patrick

__________________
Patrick passed Dec 2018. RIP Patrick!

Hey all...

I started this thread as a definitive bike thread. Lets please not dilute it will arguments and essays about old cars.




Luv ya all !!

__________________
Did some trips.
Rode some bikes.
Fix them for a living.
Can't say anymore.

Patrick ,once again you are making wild assumptions about what kind of vehicles I bought, how could you possibly know ? I didn't buy miled out pieces of crap, so get your facts right before you pass judgement .
My Datsun needed new wheel bearings every 3 months and the brake pads used to catch fire , reliable ? My brother sold his Datsun pick up at two years old because it was rusted out and wouldn't start in the rain .Oh but wait Patrick says there weren't Jap cars in Britain ! - So call me a liar !
Furthermore ,having driven in the UK for the period in question I know much better than you could ever possibly do, what kind of vehicles were extant at the time , so bullshit to you buddy .

Fact is this all sprang from one comment I made about Japanese metallurgy being substandard to British , which I still believe to be true for the period we were discussing which was post ww2 to the early seventies .

Please quote my words back to me and lets see where I mentioned the US !

I saw a great number of the racers you mentioned ,Kenny Roberts , Wayne Rainey , Kevin Schwantz , most of the British stars of the day ,John "Mooneyes" Cooper ,our local hero, beat Agostini in the Race of the Year so I know a bit about what bikes won what .
Didn't see many arses on plates .
The best racer I ever saw was Kenny Roberts ,racing in the snow!, at Mallory Park in the Transatlantic Trophy ,clearly a biking legend .
Ever heard of Colin Seeley ? Built frames for Yamaha engines , Harris ? -- no I don't suppose you have .
Mike Hailwood didn't win at Daytona on a Honda it was an MV , I know he raced the works Tri/BSA there but Dick Mann DID win on Honda and then switched to BSA to win again , do try to get things right Patrick old fellow .
I said the Honda that Mike Hailwood raced was evil handling ,not all Jap bikes , please try to read carefully what I wrote .

Sorry mate but the Benly was an awful looker and the 400 was known as a girl's bike .My opinion only- but if you liked them ,well that's OK .
CB 750s appeared in 69 , not 72 .

Now about BSA/Triumphs ,do you mean Norton Villiers Triumph or the Triumph Cooperative ?
NVT in the end was purely about asset stripping , but Triumph Coop was doomed because ,as I said, they could not see the writing on the wall . I don't have to read books about it , I followed it very closely at the time .

Brit planes crashing ? Yep possibly but which ones ? Shall we talk about Starfighters buddy ?

HD had to connive with the AMA so that they could race 750s against Brit 500s for many years . So HDs don't really impress me much although they did eventually get a good 750 built .Didn't they also get Kenny Roberts TZ 700 banned so that he had to go back to the Shell Thuett XS750 . [I've got one of his cams in my bike ]


Shall we go on ?

Hey Patrick I've got a really thick skin but a low tolerance for being called a bullshitter .
You covered every subject from planes ,cars ,coal , unions ,electrics , racing [ F1 and bikes ] even managed to invent things I didn't say .Wow !

Relax buddy .

So my suggestion is for you to fly over to France and stay at oldbmw's B&B , see if you can borrow his pipe and slippers ,relax a little ,have a cup of Ovaltine , take your medication and chill out .But be careful or Mrs oldbeemer might whack you with a slipper for being impertinent .

Sorry Ted -- off topic . How's your job/love life /trip coming along ?
Well OK ,I'm not really sorry .

__________________
Blessed are the cracked, for they let in the light. - Spike Milligan
"When you come to a fork in the road ,take it ! When you come to a spoon in the road ,take that also ."

Dodger and Mollydog,
I tend toward endorsing Ted's plea; these long posts are getting very confusing and a lot of people are too young to know what you are talking about!

I'm going back to the October 07 edition of "The Classic Motorcycle" now.

Regards,

__________________
Dave

Well ,don't believe everything you read in that mag .

__________________
Blessed are the cracked, for they let in the light. - Spike Milligan
"When you come to a fork in the road ,take it ! When you come to a spoon in the road ,take that also ."

No problem Dodger: I don't believe everything I read in any magazine, and I don't bother to read newspapers too often nowadays for much the same reason.
However, this month, there are a couple of things in the mag that I have some knowledge about and I can relate to them OK.
I don't usually read it anyway, but my mate may get a classic while I might, just might, take a look at a new RE.

Cheers,

__________________
Dave