Is there any 2B Touring Bike

[ivanm]

I'm a leggy tall guy, at 1.85m, so presumably most bikes won't fit me comfortably.

 

My options are left with scramblers or touring bikes as an option.

 

Is there any recommended touring bikes for 2B?

[pufferfis]

I'm a leggy tall guy, at 1.85m, so presumably most bikes won't fit me comfortably.

 

My options are left with scramblers or touring bikes as an option.

 

Is there any recommended touring bikes for 2B?

 

got...i used to tour up north with a yamaha RD 125....maybe you can try too....

maybe you can get a varadero 125 since its pretty suitable for people with long legs...cheers

[di_andrei]

Baby Vara or Derbi Terra Adventure if you are looking for something with a little bit of offroad / unpaved road capability.

[tootall]

I'm a leggy tall guy, at 1.85m, so presumably most bikes won't fit me comfortably.

 

My options are left with scramblers or touring bikes as an option.

 

Is there any recommended touring bikes for 2B?

 

U can tour on anything Bro, as long as U got endurance and lots of patience.

I rode my 125cc Taiwaneese scooter up to Cameron Highlands with wifey last

June. Aside from a pretty sore bum, its do-able. BTW I am taller than U.

[lkm]

Would you consider this a "2B touring bike"? Just returned from KL....

 

[tootall]

Would you consider this a "2B touring bike"? Just returned from KL....

 

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Yes, and its got the looks to match. Pretty Sharp! Bajaj Pulsar I presume? How's the bike generally? Is it cheap to run and maintain so far? Reliability? Am asking cos I am thinking of a suitable replacement for my 7 yr old Taiwaneeese scooter, if budget permits:smile:

[lkm]

Yes, and its got the looks to match. Pretty Sharp! Bajaj Pulsar I presume? How's the bike generally? Is it cheap to run and maintain so far? Reliability? Am asking cos I am thinking of a suitable replacement for my 7 yr old Taiwaneeese scooter, if budget permits:smile:

 

Yup. Bajaj Pulsar 200NS. 200cc, carbureted, though the newer ones are fuel-injected. That's as many cc's as my Class 2B license will allow. Cheap to purchase, cheap to run and somewhat cheap to maintain. I'm getting close to 40km/l combined highway and city. 39.6km/l and 38.9km/l were the 2 last mileage I recorded - notwithstanding the recent SG-KL run. Cruises comfortably at speedo indicated 130-136kmh on the NSHW with full-opened throttle at gear 6. On a downhill, I've managed to momentarily touch 145kmh (indicated). Takes 1.2L of engine oil and has a 12L fuel tank. Uses 3 spark plugs though - so this is one "unfavorable" maintenance cost. Shares many similar parts with the more expensive sibling, the KTM Duke 200. Made in the same Indian factory too.

[tootall]

Yup. Bajaj Pulsar 200NS. 200cc, carbureted, though the newer ones are fuel-injected. That's as many cc's as my Class 2B license will allow. Cheap to purchase, cheap to run and somewhat cheap to maintain. I'm getting close to 40km/l combined highway and city. 39.6km/l and 38.9km/l were the 2 last mileage I recorded - notwithstanding the recent SG-KL run. Cruises comfortably at speedo indicated 130-136kmh on the NSHW with full-opened throttle at gear 6. On a downhill, I've managed to momentarily touch 145kmh (indicated). Takes 1.2L of engine oil and has a 12L fuel tank. Uses 3 spark plugs though - so this is one "unfavorable" maintenance cost. Shares many similar parts with the more expensive sibling, the KTM Duke 200. Made in the same Indian factory too.

 

 

Nice! Probably one of the nicest small bikes out there. Weird that it needs 3 spark plugs to run a single cylinder though. Its a single cylinder I presume? Makes not much sense. Well, anything that can cruise all day at 120kmh qualifies as a tourer (in my books), regardless of engine size or bike size. Whether U are comfortable after U reach yr destination on said bike is another issue. My scooter did about 1100km round trip to Cameron Highlands last year, 2 up, and I told myself I won't want to do it again, given a choice. It does about 25km per litre,its fuel tank is about 5 litres small and its top speed is merely 100kmh max. Its got CVT seamless transmission for easy twist-n-go riding. Certainly not tourer material but like I said, its do-able. Next time out, we'll take the bus:P. Told myself I'll only go as far as Kota Tinggi or Desaru on it...next time. But I'm an fickle-minded old fart, so who knows. Small Class 2B bikes and scooters make the most sense in our small city. They are light, nimble, easy to handle, frugal on fuel & other consumables, with just enough power to surge ahead most other 4-wheeled vehicles from the lights. An ST1300 or GS1200 makes little sense on our clogged roads. Does yr Pulsar have a main stand? What are the service intervals like? How often do U need to perform a valve-clearance check? Is it specified in the owner's manual?

[lkm]

Nice! Probably one of the nicest small bikes out there. Weird that it needs 3 spark plugs to run a single cylinder though. Its a single cylinder I presume? Makes not much sense. Well, anything that can cruise all day at 120kmh qualifies as a tourer (in my books), regardless of engine size or bike size. Whether U are comfortable after U reach yr destination on said bike is another issue. My scooter did about 1100km round trip to Cameron Highlands last year, 2 up, and I told myself I won't want to do it again, given a choice. It does about 25km per litre,its fuel tank is about 5 litres small and its top speed is merely 100kmh max. Its got CVT seamless transmission for easy twist-n-go riding. Certainly not tourer material but like I said, its do-able. Next time out, we'll take the bus:P. Told myself I'll only go as far as Kota Tinggi or Desaru on it...next time. But I'm an fickle-minded old fart, so who knows. Small Class 2B bikes and scooters make the most sense in our small city. They are light, nimble, easy to handle, frugal on fuel & other consumables, with just enough power to surge ahead most other 4-wheeled vehicles from the lights. An ST1300 or GS1200 makes little sense on our clogged roads. Does yr Pulsar have a main stand? What are the service intervals like? How often do U need to perform a valve-clearance check? Is it specified in the owner's manual?

 

At 145kg, it's rather large for a small cc bike actually. That "triple spark technology" is Bajaj's patented claim to fame. Supposedly helps with efficiency - not quite sure how true. But oh well... Yes, it's a single cylinder 200cc Indian. I did 2 SG-KL runs earlier this month and it seem almost do'able as a "tourer". No CVT so it's clutch play required - which I really didn't mind, honestly. And yes, it comes with an optional centre stand ($75 or so add on). I don't have the original owner's manual as I bought the bike pre-owned. But the Indian version of the manual calls for 10,000km service interval on Bajaj's proprietary oil (otherwise 5,000km intervals), although the Argentinian manual I found online calls for 2,500km oil change interval. The dealer here in Singapore (Universal Motors) recommends 2,000km service interval. I'm still kind of experimenting right now, and may stick to a 3,000 to 4,000km or so service interval depending on what oil I decide to feed the machine. During my SG-KL run, at full-opened throttle, I'm getting about 25km/l too. Not sure about the valve-clearance check thingy though....

[tootall]

Yeah, it may seem abit "porky" at 145kg "wet" I presume...but it probably helps stability (or 'road holding') at higher speeds. My Taiwaneese scooter weighs approx.115kg. Its pretty light for pushing around the carpark & also carving up traffic but its got a pretty vague front end. U push it into a corner too quickly and U do not know if U are going to make it out of the corner upright or horizontally cos U can't really feel anything from the handlebars. Its worse when the roads are wet. Could be due to a rear-bias weight distribution (30:70 my guess). So its 'unsafe' as compared to a proper bike with regular sized wheels and equal weight distribution. But I do not push it hard much these days because I would like to preserve my skin. Not knowing what the front end is up to kinda puts U off performing any heroics on the roads. I have fallen off it several times (mostly low-sides, out of my own stupidity,not the scooter's fault),enough to know that its no sports scooter. Merely a commuter scoot that happens to look sporty. My owner's manual recommends an oil change every 2000km but I do it at around 1200-1500km using "synthetic" oil I got from NTUC Megamart. It takes only 0.9L of oil so it ain't gonna burn tat big a hole in my pocket even if I replaced it every 1000km, which I used to do. It doesn't even have a proper oil filter, just a round little metal gauze beneath the oil sump U take it off to air-blow it and put it back on. Ditto for the air-filter.Easy-Peasy job. Even the valve-clearance check is an easy one + half hour affair if U got the right tools and a little know-how. Can't say the same for multivalve engines. They can be a real pain to check and will probably cost a small fortune if the shop does it for U. In most cases they will probably tell U it "isn't necessary"(HaHa!) to save them the trouble. The engine oil is the life blood of the engine. Methinks its wise not to skimp on it. Keep it fresh and your bike will love U for it:slurp: So how often do U tour? Do U do it with yr riding buddies? How far have U taken yr baby? Should arrange for a meet-up one of these days for a cuppa coffee & more chatter.

[lkm]

I'm a weekend rider (for now at least) and have only changed my engine oil once since I got the bike in Jan this year. I'm rather comfortable working on my machine and would have loved to do it myself, save for the part of oil disposal. So I guess I'll just have to depend on someone else to do that for me. Now that you mentioned the valve clearance checks, I realised that manual calls for inspection and adjustments if necessary at every service interval - 5,000km. Like you mentioned, considering the additional effort in opening up the valve top, not sure how many owners do that religiously, and how many shops are willing to perform that inspection as it's a pure labour job with likely no parts they can sell to make additional margins from. I've since purchased a set of cheap feeler gauge from an online chinese retailer, and waiting for it to ship in. I might just attempt it as a DIY job at next servicing interval or when I'm in the mood for it. I've looked at the 200NS repair manual that I was able to get my hands on (all in Spanish), and the job looked simple enough except for one part - getting the piston to be at TDC position. Manual merely says "use special tool to get TDC and check visually using the alignment marks". Not sure how "special" that tool is and if I could substitute it with any other common tool that I have. Hmm... So maybe I might just send it to the workshop once, observe how they do it, and pick up the technique from there.

 

How often do I tour? Not often enough! Hahah... Well, would certainly like to do it more often, but with a two-year old daughter in tow, it can sometimes get a little tricky to find some time off. At present, I don't have any riding buddies. Most of my closer friends either drive or do the BMW routine - bus, MRT and walk. Taking my 2B was a response to a mid-life crisis call. I was merely looking to pick up a useful skill then, and decided to complete my 2-wheeler collection. So now I have a kick-scooter, a bicycle and a motorcycle - the duo-trio!

 

I had some admin business to sort out in KL earlier this month and was deciding between driving and riding up. Considering that I was trying to make it to a meeting before office hours end, and that I left SG around 1:30pm in the afternoon, I figured the bike would let me weave through the infamous KL traffic jam and get me to my destination easier. And I was certainly glad I did as I saw the cars getting stuck in snaking lines.

 

As I've mentioned, I've only recently acquired the machine - also because I've only recently acquired my 2B license (just 3 months ago), and haven't had the opportunity to take it anywhere "too far" yet. And so, so far, it's only been 2 SG-KL runs earlier this month, although this would probably be further than many SG bikers are willing to go. Not just bikers, but drivers too. I have many SG friends who refuse to take their cars anywhere beyond the Singapore borders. Such mundane people. Hah. Anyway, it was more of an administrative run than a leisure tour. I've heard a lot about the Cameron Highlands twisties and would definitely love to do it one day. I've also been following ride reports on ADVrider.com, I guess the touring bug has bit me, and I won't be too surprised if one day I decide to go for a trip beyond the MY-Thai borders too. Yes, we should catch up for a cuppa and some chatter. BTW, how long have you been riding for?

Edited April 29, 2016 by lkm

[tootall]

I have been riding since 1992. My first bike was an old Kawa KMX 125 dirt(y) bike and my last bike was a Honda Varadero back at the tail end of 2004. Have been riding scooters ever since. As I have mentioned earlier, they make perfect sense here in our congested city. They are cheap to run & keep but they will never keep up with a 'proper' bike on the highway or the twisties. Well, we do not have many highways here, much less twisties (unlike Msia).

 

Finding TDC on my scoot was easy. I merely nudged the kick-start lever at the side, but I had to make sure I did not "over-nudged" it or else it would rotate past TDC and I had to do it all over again cos the lever only turns the crank over one-way. The timing marks were fairly easy to spot & align on the cam wheels up top. And it only has 2 valves and screw-type adjusters so its kinda easy-peasy. It may be a little more scary if U had multivalves with multiple cylinders with bucket-&-shim type adjusters. Screw tat one up and U can definitely be assured of a f**ked up running engine....probably worse than if U had not attempted to adjust it. So like U said, its probably a better idea to have the shop do it the first time round and U see how difficult(or easy) it is, before attempting to do it yourself. I have so far done it twice on my scooter. I hope not to do it again,even though it isn't difficult. The last time round I had actually given the exhaust valve abit more 'gap' than was recommended in the hope tat I will not need to open it up to do it again (Ha-Ha! Lazy me). So far so good, except for a slight rattle noise after initial start-up which could be due to that bigger-than-necessary exhaust valve gap, or a leaky exhaust pipe muffler, or whatever... But it goes away once its warmed up so it should be OK I guess... I do my oil change at office cos I have a way of disposing the old oil 'responsibly', so that's not an issue for me. In fact oil changes are what I do best and most often cos I think its one of the easiest jobs for the novice mech.(like myself). I shun other jobs cos they are considered difficult for me. For example, replacing my headlamp bulbs took me more than 2 hours cos I had to remove the front apron of my scooter. Putting it back properly was a minor nightmare. I will not want to attempt it again thank U very much. There's a canto-chinese saying "You More You Thor", meaning "the more you meddle/tinker with something the more problems you gonna face". So I have learnt to leave well enough alone...

 

Like you, I have not had much time or opportunity to go riding as often as I'd like to. But after my last "epic" ride to Cameron, I have had second thoughts about it all. I have decided that riding a thousand kilometres, 2 up, on a 125cc scoot is torturous, especially when U are trying not to be late for your hotel check-in time and trying not to keep yr other riding buddies (who were on bigger bikes) waiting. Also, trying to stay out of the way of speeding coaches (that were doing 120-140kmh easy) wasn't fun. I was often "bullied" onto the shoulder of the highway by these behemoths. No fun there. So I have decided that if I ever attempt a long distance ride again, beyond Johor Bahru, I would do it on a big(gish) bike...... or just take the bus.

 

I think I will PM you my number and we could carry on this conversation off-line. I do wonder what happened to the creator of this post. AWOL or MIA?

[lkm]

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