OzSTOC
Welcome - Getting started & FAQs - Read Here First... => Introduce Yourself & Your Bike => Topic started by: DaleAP on January 26, 2022, 03:49:39 PM
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Hi all.
I'm originally from Melbourne, but currently living in Brisbane. First started riding in 1997 and from then until about 2009 I had bikes as my main transport, mostly Hondas...
* GXP250
* CB250
* CBR600 F2
* CBR954 RR
* VTR1000 Firestorm
Now I'm getting back in to it, and I was looking at either the Kawasaki GTR1000 or Honda ST1100, but the more I look, the more I'm drawn to the ST... so here I am!
Currently saving up my overtime and keeping an eye out for bargains along the way. During my previous riding years I was heavily involved in online groups through Usenet newsgroups (anyone remember those?) and then forums, but I'm a little rusty in using forums so bear with me while I get to grips with it again!
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Hello and a warm, humid welcome from Adelaide. :hatwave
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A Hot and balmy welcome from Lynbrook Victoria DaleAP😄 :hatwave
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Another welcome from SA. :hatwave Best wishes in your search for a good ST1100. Shillas, is your fantastic :bl11 on the market?
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Hi :hatwave and welcome from Warwick QLD
Home of the OzStoc shop
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A warm welcome from South Gippsland Victoria, DaleAP! :beer
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G'day DaleAP, welcome to the forum :hatwave
Good luck on the hunt for a ST and I hope to see you at a RTE soon :thumbsup
As you know we have a RTE (Ride To Eat) coming up on the 5th.
Even in a car you are welcome to come along (to any RTE) and meet some of the guys and check out the bikes.
RTE=Ride To Eat... Basically we pick a place the to eat then everyone makes their own way there, meets up, checks out the bikes, has a feed and a chat and then heads off.
Cheers
Shiney
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Welcome Dale. Good to see a loyal Honda owner in here.
There's a reasonable number of ST1100s available. Some Owners have really looked after them.
After the Firestorm you might find the ST11 a bit doughy. If you get lucky you might find an early ST1300 for a price you can afford. There's a very low kay 2005 bluey going for under 10G here in QLD. The topbox is after-market. The mufflers are also add-ons, but some people prefer them.
The 3 ST11s in Bikesales are all half the price but up to 5x the kays!
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Welcome Dale. Good to see a loyal Honda owner in here.
There's a reasonable number of ST1100s available. Some Owners have really looked after them.
After the Firestorm you might find the ST11 a bit doughy. If you get lucky you might find an early ST1300 for a price you can afford. There's a very low kay 2005 bluey going for under 10G here in QLD. The topbox is after-market. The mufflers are also add-ons, but some people prefer them.
The 3 ST11s in Bikesales are all half the price but up to 5x the kays!
Hehe I don't know what it is, but Hondas seem to suit me well. The 'Storm was a great fun toy and I really miss it, but now I'm after a bike that will do long trips easily and comfortably. And let's face it, the fuel tank and thirsty engine of the VTR was not conducive to long rides (average distance was about 120 kms on a full tank!).
I'm keeping my budget at sub-$5k (as cheap as possible really!), and I gotta say the 1300's don't really do anything for me. I'm a big fan of the 1100's looks, and yes at my budget I'll be looking at either higher km's or some work to be done here or there, but that doesn't really bother me.
Speaking of which, what are the best things to look out for other than the obvious things like fork seals, notchy headstems bearings, etc? How often should timing belts be changed? What would be red flags with these beasts when looking at a potential purchase?
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Welcome DaleAP to OzSTOC from Toowoomba in Queensland :hatwave
Hope you find a suitable ST1100 or ST1300 :thumbs Enjoy the Forum :thumbsup
:beer
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Speaking of which, what are the best things to look out for other than the obvious things like fork seals, notchy headstems bearings, etc? How often should timing belts be changed? What would be red flags with these beasts when looking at a potential purchase?
I had an ST11 and loved its smoothness. There's plenty of power for our purposes and the range is all you need- they used to be popular in the Ironbutt Rallies where range is vital.
The timing belt must be inspected at 120K and replaced at 150,000. Every inspection I've heard of resulted in it not needing replacement, and the belts replaced at 150K were still in good condition. It's just that a belt failure is catastrophic for the engine that they get nervous about them. I'm pretty sure they are a quieter engine than the 1300 which has a chain drive. So when buying, you must have a service history for the engine, and if it's not forthcoming you can haggle vigorously, because the seller hasn't got a leg to stand on.
And really, that's it! Sure, all the usual issues like fork seals, pedal rubbers, seat cover, pannier appearance, locks- where do you stop with an old bike? But as you say, if you're prepared to lavish some TLC on her, the engine will be the least of your worries.
There's hours of reading in the ST1100 section of this Forum, and another huge amount on the USA Forum, so you can easily become an expert! ;-*
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Well, I'm taking a look at one this afternoon that apparently had the timing belt done less than 10k kms ago. Watch this space.
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Deposit paid! Hopefully picking it up next weekend, if not sooner. :-)
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It's an interesting one. It looks as though the paintwork has been made matt at some point in its life, but it's quite consistent all over and I think works quite well.
It is reasonably high mileage at 160k kms, however it has recently had the clutch and timing belt done, and the fork oil and brakes haves been refreshed along with new tyres. It also has an upgraded alternator. It's ready for another 160k kms!!
All in all I'm very confident I've found myself a good deal (under $3k!) and I'm looking forward to hitting the road very soon. Next steps, saving up for a topbox and seeing if I need to make any changes to the screen.
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Congrats on the new bike Dale :runyay
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The colour scheme isnt standard, the Ks mean the bike has been ridden (of course) and the price would be about right. The 1100 is an old bike but reliable.
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DaleAP Welcome from near Toowoomba
Rgds
GB
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Congratulations on the purchase of your new bike. Enjoy :like
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Congrats on the new bike, DaleAP! :beer
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Welcome Aboard DaleAP.
Enjoy the bike.
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You've made an excellent purchase. The 40 amp alternator (up from 28A) is an important improvement if you want to add any extras like lights (although LEDs don't require many amps). Having the clutch done as well as the belt is brilliant! New tyres are the icing on the cake, so you're a very fortunate buyer. Have a look around- you might get a genuine Honda topbox from a wrecker since they generally don't get damaged in a wreck. Put up a plea on the forums (here and Facebook). Eagle make after-market screens for every bike. Any original ones are going to be way past their use-by date unless stored in a box from new. Get one with a laminar lip that throws the wind above your helmet.
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You've made an excellent purchase. The 40 amp alternator (up from 28A) is an important improvement if you want to add any extras like lights (although LEDs don't require many amps).
Funny you should mention that, as it already has a lightbar fitted. :-)
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Funny you should mention that, as it already has a lightbar fitted. :-)
More proof you've won the ST1100 lottery. I hope the PO wired it with its own on/off switch and it only comes on with the high beam.
Those look like Michelin PRs, so even the tyres are among the best.
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More proof you've won the ST1100 lottery. I hope the PO wired it with its own on/off switch and it only comes on with the high beam.
Those look like Michelin PRs, so even the tyres are among the best.
Picked it up this evening, and managed to make a 30 minute trip home last 2 hours. :-D
Yes, the light bar is wired to come on with the high beam, however I gotta say I found the headlights to be overall underwhelming.
The tyres are actually Bridgestone Battlax's front and rear. I had those on other bikes and found them to be pretty reliable.
Oh, and whoever re-sprayed it have chosen a peculiar colour that looks blue under certain conditions, and deep green in others.
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Yes, the light bar is wired to come on with the high beam, however I gotta say I found the headlights to be overall underwhelming.
Might be worth putting a pair of these in: https://www.powerbulbs.com/au/product/philips-x-treme-vision-moto-h4-single (https://www.powerbulbs.com/au/product/philips-x-treme-vision-moto-h4-single)
I've got the car version of these bulbs currently fitted in my ST1300 and find them quite adequate.
I only just recently discovered that you can buy these motorcycle specific versions...
I'm assuming, like with the 1300, you'd have to snap/cut 2 of the tabs off each bulb to install... :think1
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You can also buy H4 LEDs with a little fan on the back that are very bright but a bit diffuse. The Narva 120s and 150s are good but only last about 20,000 km before they burn out.
The Battlaxes are OEM. Adequate and affordable.
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You can also buy H4 LEDs with a little fan on the back that are very bright but a bit diffuse. The Narva 120s and 150s are good but only last about 20,000 km before they burn out.
The Battlaxes are OEM. Adequate and affordable.
Very interesting! I had been going mad trying to work out why there is a fan noise behind the dash. Maybe it has those globes. I'll have to pull them out and look. :think1
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Very interesting! I had been going mad trying to work out why there is a fan noise behind the dash. Maybe it has those globes. I'll have to pull them out and look. :think1
You would expect white light if they're LEDs.
Don't forget the radiator fan- it's pretty loud.
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You would expect white light if they're LEDs.
Don't forget the radiator fan- it's pretty loud.
Definitely not the radiator, and it comes on as soon as I turn the ignition on.
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You can also buy H4 LEDs with a little fan on the back that are very bright but a bit diffuse.
Fitting H4 LEDs will also mean your bike will no longer be roadworthy! :fp
Which is why I went for the Halogen H4s, as tempting as fitting LEDs were...
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... Fitting H4 LEDs will also mean your bike will no longer be roadworthy!
Why so? (He asks, even though this may have been covered previously.)
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Why so? (He asks, even though this may have been covered previously.)
I've found this in an Aussie 4WD site...
"The short of it is if you take a vehicle that didn’t come with LED or HID head lights and you install them just by changing the globes, its not legal. It’s actually really simple; halogen lights have a specific reflector (the housing) that is designed to distribute the light evenly and safely in front of your vehicle. When you throw and LED or HID globe inside a normal reflector that light gets scattered everywhere as a pose to the one direction, blinding oncoming traffic and annoying the absolute daylights out of those driving around you."
I checked and my bike does have the LED globes with fans fitted. I'll be getting rid of them not because they're illegal, but because they're useless!
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Thanks Dale, that explains it pretty well... :thumb
When I bought my ST it had HIDs fitted and the previous owner reckoned they were the bees knees...
I reckon they were bloody awful with the spread of light all over the place.
Yes, they were bright but I got sick of oncoming cars "flashing" me so I ripped them out, put the halogen bulbs in and now I enjoy riding at night.
What surprised me was that it passed a roadworthy with the HIDs fitted as, if the mechanic had done his job properly it shouldn't have... :-(((
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I checked and my bike does have the LED globes with fans fitted. I'll be getting rid of them not because they're illegal, but because they're useless!
That's good enough reason there. You really didn't need the prefacing quote.
I've found this in an Aussie 4WD site...
"The short of it is if you take a vehicle that didn’t come with LED or HID head lights and you install them just by changing the globes, its not legal. It’s actually really simple; halogen lights have a specific reflector (the housing) that is designed to distribute the light evenly and safely in front of your vehicle. When you throw and LED or HID globe inside a normal reflector that light gets scattered everywhere as a pose to the one direction, blinding oncoming traffic and annoying the absolute daylights out of those driving around you."
Having said that, an unattributed quote from a 4WD site is possibly only one step up from a Facebook group, especially this bit ....
... as a pose to ...
I suppose he / she meant to say as opposed to. The younger generations are often criticised for poor spelling, grammar, punctuation, etc.. What hope have they got if / when they're fed this stuff?