advice wanted please

[Richard Simpson Mark II]

Yes, "Honest John" is always worth a look.

I'm not a fan of finance, but having finance on a vehicle does make getting it fixed when the supplier is reluctant a lot easier.

[blue bus]

Have you tried the 'live chat' box on the MGB website?

A lot of business are now struggling to answer phones etc.

yes mate was going to pursue that one

[blue bus]

once again thanks for the feedback and i do take note of the advice

[blue bus]

just to wrap this up RE gone ,BMW F800gt in its place thank you boys and girls

[92kk k100lt 193214]

I had similar issues in 1994, got a Ford Mondeo, binned it after so much trouble they could not fix and got a Peugeot 405 GTX that I love and still have. But for business I got a new Mercedes in 2000 that ended up legal and a big payout over numerous problems and serious safety issues.

I only use old vehicles these days to avoid that kind of stuff and nightmare service. They abuse customers 'they all do that' 'we dont fix that'.......Finance on the Mondeo as in a lease sorted that one but it took a legal threat and a load of defective parts all heading for a courtroom full of potential customers to get the Mercedes settled. Another occasion I had called in to them to fix an issue and they refused despite me travelling 3 hours for the appointment. So I sat quietly until someone came in wanting to move my car to get a Bentley out. I just said its in for a repair and its not moving until you agree to fix it. So they threatened the police!!! I said fine........ but the car is still not moving. They argued for over an hour and it was over 3 hours before the car moved. Against my advice my son bought one some years ago, just as bad for troubles. So he got himself a nice M3 and a VFR 800 and very happy.

It all reminded me of the Fiats from years back, sure one needed to keep fixing them regularly but the service came with a smile and 'they all do that but we will fix it for you'

I still have the Peugeot and a Rover 75 cdti that dont let me down parked in the shed since 2017 because I am just loving the bikes too much.

I think if you buy new dont take s**t.

[Jak*]

It is odd most of the modern Enfields seem to be more reliable than other brands and the finish is better too. I have done over 30,000 miles with very few problems on my Himalayan and it has been regularly ridden all year round. It is certainly more reliable and the service from Smalley Cross has been vastly better than I received from CCM. The trouble with all modern vehicles is that the electrics are so complex and interlinked that one vault somewhere seems to sometimes cause a variety of others. In this respect the Enfields usually are better as their electrics are more basic and easier to diagnose.
I think in many ways a lot of the bikes built in the 90s reached the pinnacle of reliability and finish.
Good luck with the BM, I hope they have sorted their act out now. A few years ago I talked to a recovery driver (after yet another issue with my CCM) and he reckoned that the modern GSs were the bikes he saw most regularly.

[garyboy]

It seems Honda are really making an effort now with their bikes .. reliability .. finish .. etc ... at least with the CRFs, especially the small ones. The plastics are nice and shiny .. ahhh ... and the metal bodywork is clean and very lasting, with little corrosion at all, even after years of abuse, from reading some of the 250/300 L/Rally group threads.

20220119_134227 (2) by gary boy, on Flickr

their styling is also commendable ... jeez .. I got more oap ladies after me (or is it the bike?) than ever lol.

By contrast, when i was looking around a few showrooms, I came across a Himmy .. fakkk me it looked fakkin Grosss ... and heavy as fuuk .. though I liked the wheels. I was talking last year to a guy on a himmy .. he was taking it out `to scrub in the tyres` lol .. he had travelled from somewhere in England, 100s of miles, and he was not impressed with the bike at all, saying it was heavy and underpowered, but he was enjoying the ride nonetheless.

Honda seem to have made a comeback .. in terms of quality and reputation, and sales? .. that's my impression anyway. When I was having my rear tyre fitted, the owner of the mechanics shop, told me that M and P haven't got hardly any Hondas left in their showrooms. He reckons it is supply/transport ... getting hold of stuff is getting really difficult .. I had to wait for my tyre, for instance, for several days , where its usually next day delivery, and mine was the last mt21 left, and not even a very popular tyre at that .. But also, Hondas are flying out of the showrooms, and buyers are willing to wait half a year or more to get one of the crf's. All the internet groups are asking `where can i get one?`

I was looking for a reasonably priced small dual sport bike, ..looked at the Himmy .. past it by (quickly) .. looked at the corsa 4ride .. liked it but thought better of it, as i wanted long distance, and willing to sacrifice some weight loss for that .. not much else to look at, actually .. oh yeah .. looked at the Xtrainer .. really nice bike but i wanted a quiet 4 stroke for stealth trailing. .. then one salesman directed me in the direction of a new crf300 Rally... nearly bought it, but on the way, saw the 2 year old crf 250 Rally !!! .. the styling got me, the price got me, and the finish was `as new` immaculate, with a great service history and original oem condition. The HP payments were 2/3 rds of the 300 Rally .. and .. importantly .. was immediately available .. whereas the new ones were on a long waiting list.

[Jak*]

One of the great things about biking at the moment is that despite the efforts by some companies just to mimic each other’s products there is a variety out there. I have ridden a couple of CRF 250s and they weren’t for me. Too revvy, too tall and carried their weight too high. The Himalayan feels like it has a lot more torque lower down which I prefer, it has a lower seat height and the weight sits lower.Also for daily commuting I like to have hard luggage which is easy to fit to the Himalayan. Again they are incredibly popular and dealers seem to sell them as soon as they get them. A lot of the riders I know who have got them have got or used to have Guzzis or Brit twins which perhaps explains part of their appeal.
It is a shame blue bus had a bad experience with his Interceptor, as generally they seem to be really reliable, My brother has done about 15,000 on his in six months and not had any issues at all. The finish like the Himalayan seems to be copying well with daily commuting. If I didn’t have a garage full of bikes I would be tempted by the Interceptor although the Meteor and new 350 Classic also appeal.

[blue bus]

once again big thank you for the replies people, i think the interceptor is a cracking bike i just think i did not get the best one they made

[clutchspring]

I full agree that modern bikes & cars are just to reliant on electronics these days making then not only expensive but unreliable as in fixing it yourself at the side of the road etc.
I personally just want a simple bike, yes it's hard to get away from ABS & fuel injection these day's.
That's why I've bought a Honda cb500x.

Ian.