Just purchased my blue/sliver Cat

Hi.
I am new to bikes.Been in the car trade all my life , but had bikes in the past. I got into car rallying but now that has past me by, and my business has felt the decline from the recession and competetion from dealerships and quick fits. I am now a sole trader , and I am in the process of trying to become a MOT Station for bikes to diversify, and keep my business going,(premises not big enough for car MOT) so it has got me hooked now on these great machines. I will be taking a 10 week course at Wakefield college, then who knows. If I could work on bikes I would like that. How hard are bikes to strip and do maintenance.
I have a full license but not been on a bike in a long time. I looked at alot of bikes , looking at reviews etc, and I chose the Thundercat. for its looks, its power, and power band, and the fact it was classed a sports tourer. I have ridden it once and I love it. I would like to get involved if I could in meeting people and getting some advice on the Cat. My priority was to change the oil and filter , but would like the best oil I can get , but dont know which oil that would be. Thanks for reading and hope I can chat and maybe meet some of you in the future. Peter

Hi Peter and Welcome to the forum.

There's a wealth of info on the Cat here abouts in the workshop area and . . . well all over really.

If you can't find what you're looking for just post up and I'm sure someone'll 'appen along with the answer (might be a bit tongue in cheek at times tho )

There's plenty of rides and meets coming up (see something for the weekend). You can get as involved (or not) as you wish to.
Hope to see you out there at one (or more) of them sometime

Welcome again

Cheers
Tel

Welcome and good luck with the MoT business.

Welcome aboard Pete!

Sorry your a victim of the stupid recession, but good luck with the new venture.

Ellie x

welcome to the world of biking

Pete, dont worry my previous bike was a 350 YPVS in 1988-9. So the transition to a TCAT was a bit of a steep learing curve 2 years ago.

The peeps on the forum help and kept me sane. As well as helping me when I went on my first group ride.

All I can say is jump in. Both feet first, you will not be dissapointed. Honest!

Rich.

Hi Peter,

Welcome to the site. Great introduction BTW; always good to know something about new members.

The best oil would be a semi-synthetic motorcycle oil, but there are others on here with much more knowledge on the subject than me.

Let us know how you get on with the riding and what you think of the bike as you get more miles under you belt.

Cheers,
Chris

Hi!

It depends how you define best oil. As Chris said, the most appropriate is a semi-synthetic 10W-40 but you can get better and worse. Use a bike-specific oil to safeguard clutch performance.

Welcome to the forum Peter, great intro btw.

Possibly opens up the great oil debate so all I'll say on the subject is from what I've read and heard the cat aint fussy about it's oil. Common sense tells you to use a good quality 10-40 Semi as suggested.

Changing the oil and filter was one of the first jobs I did too. Hardest part was taking the fairings off but it's like anything you do for the first time, just take your time and be methodical. Enjoy it.

well i will chip in a nd state that what ever you do , do not use fully synthetic as cat engine is not built to take it (too thin), if your clever you can change the oil and filter without taking the fairing lowers off, just takes a bit of thinking and trial/error. Where abouts in Donny are you as i work at Adwick ??

Pete

Hi & welcome Peter.

Good luck with the new venture.
Plenty of spanners on here and lots of good advice too.

Hopefully see you on a Rideout soon.

Cheers
Rosco

mechy69 wrote: if your clever you can change the oil and filter without taking the fairing lowers off, just takes a bit of thinking...
Pete

That was my downfall, I just followed the Haynes manual

mechy69 wrote:well i will chip in a nd state that what ever you do , do not use fully synthetic as cat engine is not built to take it (too thin), if your clever you can change the oil and filter without taking the fairing lowers off, just takes a bit of thinking and trial/error. Where abouts in Donny are you as i work at Adwick ??

Pete

Hi mechy69
I work in the only garage left in the town centre, and live in Intake, rather than splashing my name about , its near the Salutation Pub. I cant reply to all as i would be here all day, but it was really good to see and read them all.With concern for my business. And it made me feel welcome and inspired.
My bike is 2003. And my instructor at One to One in Marshgate had no problems with me buying a fast bike. He did say full sports bikes can be a bit all or nothing on the throttle. But I would not know. I am actually practising on my cat as I gain confidence. It does pull well but not revved past 8000 rpm I think. Am building up to redline.Is there alot of power after 8000rpm. But the engine sound is music to my ears. Peter

Hi That was a suprise getting all your nice welcome messages. Thank you for your replies. And concern for my garage. I appreciate all your comments. And hope to be on here learning and joining in if I can. Peter

Hi Peter
Welcome to the site, come on in and make yourself comfortable. I'm new to riding altogether and found the cat a great learning curve and very forgiving if you get it a bit wrong. Past 8000rpm the cat is in its element and you find it will blow you away. I didn't get it at first and hovered around 8000 until on a slip road one day with a corsa in front p*ssing me off, dropped a gear and give it the beans and OMG, WTF etc !! you'll see what extra she has when you try it

Look around the forum, ask any questions you have and there's a wealth of experience on here to help you through.

Good luck with the business venture also, good to see the sole trader standing up and taking on the man!!

Oh and my the way, we like pictures of new bikes, plus blue is the best and fastest colour

Best of luck with the business, at the moment scooters and smaller bikes are the big thing. Enjoy the course on motorbikes, they are a different to work on compared to cars etc, loads smaller, strange size bolts and nuts and fat fingers have a problem getting in places. The Cat's not bad to work on but things like Honda VFR's are a pain . Bike engines like the Cat are designed to only work above 8000 rpm so give your self space when you do play with the full rev range. Seeing as you're a car mechanic and the same age as me remember the 1275cc Minis had twin inch and a quarter SU carbs, well the 600cc TCat has 4 of them to allow it to breath at high revs. Enjoy the Cat, just play, fiddle and ask questions.