Introduction

Hi there
Just joined the forum and wanted to delurk. Am 37, live in Northampton, passed my mod 2 test last week on an ER5 and I dont like naked bikes...Haven't brought a thundercat yet but am hoping to in the near future when I get back from holiday (and get some time !!). Once I get a bike then definitely looking to do some ride outs so hopefully I will get to meet some of the group in the near future.

biscut

Im just down the road from you.

Lookup Ashby Foleville, big biker meets second Tuesday of each month during the summer. Finished for this year now.

Have a good holiday.

Hi Biscut and 'officially' welcome to the forum, I'm sure you'll be very happy here

Hi B.

Welcome and good luck with your search. Im sure youll find a nice one.

Rich.

YZFJohn wrote:Im just down the road from you.

Lookup Ashby Foleville, big biker meets second Tuesday of each month during the summer. Finished for this year now.

Have a good holiday.

Hi YZFJohn
Will definitely keep in touch to find out when the meets start again, I go down to a biker group in Southend (friends I used to work with) but would love to come along to a meet or two when I have a bike.

Snowcat wrote:Hi Biscut and 'officially' welcome to the forum, I'm sure you'll be very happy here

Hey snowcat, I peeked on to the forum a while ago and it does indeed seem to be a nice place, hopefully I will get to meet up with peeps in the near future...am kind of friendly myself ;-) I only bite if asked to LOL

Welcome aboard chap, anybody with food in their name is a friend of mine

Panzerbuilder wrote:Hi B.

Welcome and good luck with your search. Im sure youll find a nice one.

Rich.

Hi Rich
Many thanks for the welcome, am sure I will be grinning like a cheshire cat when I manage to get some time to get a Tcat :-)

ellie wrote:Welcome aboard chap, anybody with food in their name is a friend of mine

well, i could tell you how I got the nickname but that might be one for face to face rather than over the forum ;-) thank you for the kind welcome though...very much appreciated.

Hi, welcome ..quite a few IT types here as well. Good time to be looking for a 'Cat, prices tend to drop as the temp goes down.

Hi and welcome mate.

I'm sure you'll enjoy your time here.
Just remember there is no I in biscut.

Can't wait for the explanation.

Cheers
Rosco

Hi and welcome, cat was/is my first bike after passing test and I am still enjoying it/ her.

Cheers

Billy

2 things Biscut:

1. What's your name (unless I missed it in one of your posts)?
2. Blue's are quicker!

YZFJohn wrote:2 things Biscut:

1. What's your name (unless I missed it in one of your posts)?
2. Blue's are quicker!

1) real name is David or Dave, either/or dont care which but most people call me biscut
2) Was a blue one that I want to test ride (although any colour looks really good), its at Stratford Rd MC's in Wolverton...going for 1595 so not sure if that is about right for a bike that has done 34,000...also, is it true that you should replace the rear shocks at 24,000 miles or is that a myth?

Some pack up around then, I had mine for well over 70 000 miles before having it checked - verdict was it was fine, I changed the spring for an uprated progressive because I'm not a lightweight and also use the bike a lot for touring and all the stuff I get in the Givi and roll bag maxed the shock out.
I moved it over to my second Thundercat, so the shock has done over 100 000 miles and is still working fine.

What year is that bike? Not that it really makes any difference. Probably not a bad price from a dealer, you do have some peace of mind going that route. There's one or two going on here at the mo.

Me good boy, me found link:
Stratford Road Motorcycles

Let me know if that's not the one Dave.

bike is advertised here:

http://www.stratfordroadmotorcycles.com/490168/used-bikes.htm

is a few down the list but is blue ;-)

year is 97 and done 34000 hence wondering about what would need changing and when.

As long as it looks good and sound I always do a service, oil, filters and sparkies unless you know it's just been done.

Have a look for any of Tomcom's threads asking about buying a bike, there are literally BILLIONS of replies with pointers on looking over a bike, most of them repeat as fell on deaf ears the first 50 time they were said.

ahhh ok, will have a search for them as its something I need to get my head round.

biscut wrote:
2) Was a blue one that I want to test ride (although any colour looks really good), its at Stratford Rd MC's in Wolverton...going for 1595 so not sure if that is about right for a bike that has done 34,000...also, is it true that you should replace the rear shocks at 24,000 miles or is that a myth?

The one in this link I assume?

Looks OK, but note that it is a non-standard paint scheme (colour and decals) so worth asking if it has been down the road, or assuming that it has when viewing it (non-standard bar ends are another hint). It may all be perfectly innocent and just what a previous owner thought looked good. I think that it strong money for a '97 bike, but not totally out of order for a 'dealer'.

Rear shocks are said to be a weak spot. Mine (also a '97 bike) has done about 20k miles (yes, yes... I know!) and appears to work OK for me (although I am sure a rebuild or replacement would feel better, it hasn't collapsed or stopped damping the rear end). There's no mileage at which they must be replaced; any figure bandied about will be finger-in-the-air. That said, it's another bargaining point.

Also, by 34,000 miles, it should have had a big service including valve clearance check/adjust. Make sure you have evidence that is has because this is a costly service.

weasley wrote:Also, by 34,000 miles, it should have had a big service including valve clearance check/adjust. Make sure you have evidence that is has because this is a costly service.

when is the "big service" due ? is it around the 34,000 per chance ?

Welcome to the forum.

I would advise standard colours if you can, as Weasley said less chance of having been dropped.

The shock fitted to my 21,000 mile T cat feels a little bouncy but it goes along along ok.

Dealers will ask a little more than private

Welcome along.
Enjoy the bike and be safe, mine's still trapped by the builder's scaffold :(

According to the Haynes manual it is 28,000 miles for the valve clearance check.

The earlier bikes have a 4,000 mile service interval but this was raised to 6,000 miles on later bikes. There's no real difference between the bikes so 6,000 miles would be appropriate, if not in keeping with the letter of the service schedule.

I get mine serviced "every so often"; as far as I am concerned the service history on a 15 year old bike is pretty irrelevant to its value compared to its condition and general appearance, so long as you can prove mileage (MoTs can cover this).