BFF Newsletter XIV

NEWSLETTER 12 Update
December 1998

EDITORIAL

Various groups of members have been getting together in different parts of the country. Usually this has happened at quite short notice. With the BFF Mag. going out only four times a year (and no, sorry, it really does not seem a practical possibility to make it any more frequent) it is necessary to have a lot of notice to get things in the Mag. in time to be of use. I use this special extra number to ask: would you like to think ahead, look in your unopened diary, propose a date and a venue, send in the details by the first week of January so that we can publish a calendar of meetings like other clubs do? Let either lan or Paul know your suggestion and we'll get back to you and ne- gotiate if two suggested dates clash. Leave out the third weekend of May when (subject to confirmation) we can again get together at the BMF Show - this has always been popular. Otherwise, the more the merrier and It doesn't matter whether two or three meet, or dozens. All you need is a pleasant pub. or cafe or some such venue where people can turn up, and your own willingness for them to 'phone you in the preceding week or so to check details and announce (if they feel like it) their intention to be there. An interesting couple of dozen miles route worked out in advance by you, to ride together, if the weather is less than dire, is a bonanza.

COMING ALONG NICELY, SHOULD DO WELL

Most of us BFF members are not interested, for ourselves, in the smaller models - what we have been waiting for is, precisely, the "400 - we must surely be delighted that there are now several good 125cc FF scooters available for post-CBTlearners (or as second bikes forour households?.) An- other signof the times Is the first glimmering of awareness in the trade that PTWs can have a broader appeal than to the existing community of traditional bikers. As mentioned before, Peugeot is sell- ing scooters on Peugeot car fore- courts as well as in bike shops. Now the importers of interesting SYM scooters are aiming to sell through bicycle shops and car dealerships to new sorts of PTW clientele. And there have been more features on scooters as useful transport tools as well as leisure toys! - in the mainstream press notably in The Times, the Financial Times and the Daily Telegraph. Prices are failing, too, and if the newer offerings from Taiwan take off they will have to fall further yet. European makers are engaging in economies of scale by using one another's, or Japanese, parts. You already know that the 250 version of Piag- gio's Hexagon uses the tried, tested and true power-and-drive unit of the CN250. Now Malaguti, no less, have a 25Occ scooter here next Summer, (they tell us) that uses the Majesty drive. You will see Aprilia and ]taijet ma- chines with Piaggio power-plants. Too, the message that customers really do want full roadworthy performance from enclosed machines seems to have got across at last. Hitherto up to 125cc machines ruled the roost in scooteriand, but besides the 250s we already have, and the forthcoming 400cc mod- els, we are told to expect big (biggish) capacity machines from Peugeot, Malaguti, Betamotor and Benelli in 1999. The Benelli, like the Malaguti, will use the Yamaha Majesty power plant. All is far from quiet on the "extreme FF"front as well. The Banana nears compie- tion of its long overdue refurbish- ment; Graham Fryer continues work on his VF500-powered FF. The small fleet of Voyagers that reached the road is still going strong and owners had an enjoy- able meet (story with photos, will be in BFF Mag 13. out January 1999). The new Banana may be along to the meet at Oldbury-on- Severn on 3rd January.

LOOK OUT FOR The January 1999 edition of 'Motor Cycle Sport & Leisure', out now, features a Giant Test of the Majesty, the Foresight and Suzuki's Burgmans 250 - and 400 ! There is also a highlighted letter from lan Leslie and a defence of the Voyager (by Graham Robb) among many other articles of interest. THE HONDA 400 SUPERSCOOTER With all this going on the one truly amazing thing is that HONDA are still dragging their feet over their 400 superscooter, despite having trailed it for so long, with pictures in magazines and on the Net and even with full-scale mockups now at a whole series of shows. Since it was they who started the whole superscooter scene with the still high1y esteemed Helix I am sure that we all want to see the Honda 400 reach the market - whatever other companies may provide.

As shown in the pictures we must have by now all seen, it would once again be a mould-breaking, truly unique, machine. With the forward-mounted boxer engine it is likely to retain the very low cen- tre of gravity common to all the superscooters but to be quite different from the rest in its weiaht distribution front to rear, and it's easily possible to speculate that this will give even better handling. It is an open question, though,until the machine appears "in the flesh" whether this engine placing will permit a true FF riding posture.

And, although it appears likely, we cannot be sure that it will have a boot as luggage provision, one of the most cherished of the innovations that Helix incorporated- Helix was so good that, thirteen years on, it has not been bettered overall by any of the new alternative models and still sells at the highest price of them alfi So we are entitled to have high expectations of the new Honda - and we must have it. Will you please write to Honda UK, Honda Europe and Honda Japan to make these points and ask them to hurry the new machine along. There is a feeling around that they do not have confidence in there being demand for the 400 superscooter - please make it very plain that there is

FORESIGHT - LONG(ISH) REPORT

(We like to have members' own reports on bikes, and hope that as readers you agree they offer insights usefully different from any journalist's point of view. We have had several reports on Majesty; now here is the first "nitty-gritty" account of ownership of a FORESIGHT)

By Alexis Hadjisoteriou.
The "Mille Migliall on Honda Foresight After two years and 7000 miles on my P-Reg Piaggio Hexagon 125 and ten minutes after passing my bike test, 1 decided to upgrade to a super-scooter. After test driving the Hexagon 250. the Majesty, the Foresight but not the Burgman (it's just too long for my small garage and 1 don't like the three acres of pillion space), i decided on the Honda.

I had nearly given up on the whole exercise when Motorcycle City quoted me œ3000 to p-ex, but thank God 1 had eventually stumbled across those wonderful guys at Harrgate of Mitcham in Surrey. After very little haggling (by Greek standards at least!), Andy agreed an all-in price of œ2300 to upgrade to the Foresight. This price included a GIVI rack (SR14) and Honda's leg deflector kit, fitted.

In the eight weeks That 1 have owned my "Candy Extreme Blue" Foresight, 1 have covered nearly 1000 very enjoyable miles. Initially the combination brakes were not very effective but that was put right in the 600 mile service. AS a man of 5ft 10in 1 find that the foot rests are a tad too low. When 1 place my feet in the FF position 1 find that 1 am at my most comfortable when they are 3in above the edge of the rubber footrests, but fortunately 1 have managed not to scratch the plastic there yet. The feet wind deflectors are doing a grand job, eas ' ily on a par with Piaggio. Additionally, 1 love the stability of the bike and the confidence it inspires when going round corners. 1 don't know whether it is the lower centre of gravity or the very grippy Bridgestones (top scorers in a recent "scootering" test), but it feels much safer than the Hexagon (itself a cracker of a scooter).

I also love some of the small details like the self-cancelling indicators and the perfectly shaped front screen, although the absence of a low-fuel warning light is illogical. Regarding luggage space, 1 thought 1 would be disappointed after owning a booted Hexagon, but that has not been the case. The flexibility of the available space is incredible. Also, unlike the Hexie, the fact that the underseat space is long (and shallow), means that 1 can place all my belongings (gloves, helmet, sweatshirt, neck-warmer etc. in a way that lets me seelget to everything easily. With the Hex. thingshad a tendency to disapear into the depths of the boot. Besides, 1 can carry longer items in the under-seat storage space than was ever possible with the Hexagon - such as tripods or umbrellas. The usefulness of the two glove boxes on the front would increase if Honda made them a little more water-resistant. Still on the subject of the under- seat storage, please note that my Size 62 Shoei XR-800 full-face helmet JUST fits under the seat. The fuel economy was the other big surprise. My œ4.50 worth of unleaded was good for about 75 miles travelling exclusively in Central London on the Hexagon 125; the œ6.25 that it costs to fill the Foresight tank is good for 140 miles taking the same route, which roughly translates to Foresight, in these circumstances, being 35% more economical than the Hexagon 125. Finally, with an achieved top speed of just 78 mph, 1 would seriously urge Honda to follow Suzuki's example and rush the 40Occ version to the market as soon as possible. When they do, could someone at Honda PLEASE make sure these bikes are made available in the gorgeous Sparkling Silver Metallic and Blue Metallic colour options available only on the Pantheon 125 at present. Overall, I'm very happy with the Foresight and judging from the looks 1 get from bikers and non- bikers I'm not alone in thinking it's a stunner!

ALL CHANGE FOR THE FORESIGHT!

From Mike Barker:

I have recently shocked my friends (both motorcyclists and other) by selling my Honda CB750 and buying a Honda Foresight. 1 am still running in and have done about 450 miles, but my impressions so far confirm those 1 got from a day on a@ demonstrator earlier this year. Whilst it might not have the performance of the 750, it is far more comfortable and convenient, it does 88mpg and is heaps of fun! However 1 doubt that 1 will convince my biker friends, their loss.

SCOOTERS (ESP. SUPER- SCOOTERS) AND THE PRESS

Members who have been travel- ling around the EU, and/or have contacts "on the Continent", have again been bringing back confir- mation of how far ahead are other countries compared with the UK in embracing the charms of the new scooters. They have also brought back wonderful magazines from as far afield as Greece - and Paul Atherton brought back from a holi- day in Corfu an amazing video put out by one of the Greek motorcy- cling magazines! This gives a comprehensive coverage of both the Munich and the Monaco mo- torcycle shows of 1998. With both their variety and their sheer flair they put the NEC to shame with- out doubt. French, German, Span- ish, Greek, Finnish etc., motorcy- cle mags. all treat scooters as a serious choice and some, of course, specialise. Far removed from the superficial glances the British press confers, these mags. examine the machines in great de- tail and compare them both as to style and also on lots of objective criteria. In many cases they give precise performance compari- sons... just like the British motor- cycle papers used to 50 years ago! If you, too, are dissatisfied with the superficial, style and sen- sation is all, ethos of the British mags.' treatment of today's bikes and the way they regard scooters as peripheral, you will write and tell the editors, won't you? Don't forget: packed sacks of mail on any issue are a fiction. If an editor (or your MP, or a Crown minister) gets four or five letters expressing the same point of view they take notice.

CAN THE SUPER- SCOOTER TAKE OVER?

Given the way the club started, and given our scant resources for publicising our existence else- where than in biking circles, it was never surprising that most mem- bers are riders experienced with conventional motorbikes What has been remarkable is the num- ber of letters we are beginning to receive from riders who have not just learned to love the low, long, FF scooter but in fact to complete the switch to one. Here are a cou- pie of examples. The first is from John Woodcock, who writes; After twenty years of riding many differ- ent models, I'm well aware that the perfect motorcycle does not exist. Such endeavour has left me with a bad back and a poor bank bal- ance - amazing how depreciation takes hold between "dream" bikes. And then along came a Feet For- ward Honda Foresight. What a revelation. Three months on and still an absolute delight. Each ride seems to uncover new treasures - storage, comfort, protection, clock, mirrors, looks, economy, weight, shops, washing, fun, steering with your feet, all without any vibration, gears or numb fingers. Tremen- dous! But there is a problem, one that grows the longer 1 keep it. My friends and family think I'm crazy to have swapped a Honda Black- bird for a "hair dr-yer/moon buggy/ moped." Their abuse grows in in- verse proportion to my admiration for the wonderful, little machine. So what to do? Eureka! Find some fellow "lunatos." Ones that have discovered the future, this rational form of transport.

JOHN MALFOY

We're very sorry to tell you that John Malfoy died on Monday 30th November, terribly suddenly from a brain tumour. He first fell ill at the end of October. John was 58. John was on the original Quasar crew, a friend of Malcolm Newell even before Quasar production in 1978, when his wife stitched the seats.

When Wilson & Sons stopped Quasar production John per- suaded his company, Romarsh Ltd., to take over. He probably built more Quasars than Malcolm, of least doubling Quasar produc- tion. He always kept riding, BMWs usually and recently a CN250. He was a quiet man but with a wry and ready sense of humour coupled to thorough knowledge of the two-wheeled business. He will be missed by many people and our sympathy goes especially to 'his son Shaun and to Shirley, his wife throughout.

Royce Creasey

For Sale:
Honda CN250-L, 1990 @G, Regn., official UK model in red. no modifications from standard except heated grips fitted. new silencer put on last year. One lady owner prior to me (honest) but high milage at 46,000. £1,150/offers. Tel John Dunning 01284 811118

John Dunning owns Red Shift Motorcycles and he will send you a catalogue F.O.C. on receipt of an A5 sized S.A.E. He sells pattern air filters imported from the U.S.A for the CN250 at £9.95 including post. He also says that Yamaha reduced many spares prices last October; drive belts down from £57.99 to £39.26., silencer down from £279.02 to £172.74 and batteries down,

PLEASE NOTE THAT we have enough material in hand for at least one or two full size magazines, so if your contribution does not appear in the January edition it could well appear somewhere sometime in the future ! All contributions are on file. If the article is condensed it won't be a comment on your style - just pressure of space ! Keep the for sale and oddments bits coming in. There's always room for those.