saddamsnightmare
Well-known member
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- Abilene, Texas
October 27th, 2015.
BackWoodsDrifter:
Good luck on your bike. I had a 1978 CB750F Honda (used)that had a hard life before I bought it in 1993, and as the seals were starting to leak oil, I overhauled the top end of the engine. The mechanics estimated at that time it had about 130,000 +miles on it with no sign of any prior repairs..... So I shall wait to see what your results are at about 5 times the present mileage. If the bike makes it you will be fortunate and I will be wrong (at least as regards your particular unit), and I hope that I am proved wrong.
Still, I do find it interesting that the Russian bikes rate so vey low on quality and reliability in user reviews here in the U.S., and the nasty poor Dnepr versions brought over in the 1970's were far worse then the Urals, as almost every spring and ring in the things needed replaced just to get them to run. I would suspect that western riders, used to a better level of workmanship and reliability, probably don't have much use for a bike that takes intensive maintenance to keep it running on a daily basis. The mileage on your 2008 would equal about two summers use on any of the Hondas that I have owned and run, but it may be due to the climate you live in or the way you use your bike(s). I could run 70 or 100 miles easily in one evening just exploring back roads in West Virginia (also getting around bridge repairs could run that mileage up quickly). And the last place you want a motorcycle to break down is on the back roads in West Virginia, I assure you.
Also interesting to note is that you see almost no eastern block vehicles running in the US of late (anyone see a Trabant or a Yugo still going daily)? The one Yugo I helped to repair back in the 1980's used repainted cereal case cardboards for the door liners.....The one ZIL limo that I have seen looked very much like a 1950's Packard Clipper..... When you don't have any competition for the sale of a product, there is usually no reason to build anything better. That is why Harley was stuck with an essentially unreliable 1937 engine into the 1990's or early 2000's, as in that case their unions did not want to shut the plants down to retool for a better, more modern design.
The Russian jet fighters share that philosophy, they use steel riveted where we would use high strength aluminum flush riveted, thus they end up using locomotive sized jet engines to get the needed thrust to move the resultant mass, and greatly reduced range is the normal results. However, one can hope that the rebels will down one in Syria so we can get a better look at it..... I think that their chance to lose equipment against Western designs will possibly be comparable to the 1967 Egyptian - Israeli War, which gave us a look at their level of technology back then.
Have a Great Day!
BackWoodsDrifter:
Good luck on your bike. I had a 1978 CB750F Honda (used)that had a hard life before I bought it in 1993, and as the seals were starting to leak oil, I overhauled the top end of the engine. The mechanics estimated at that time it had about 130,000 +miles on it with no sign of any prior repairs..... So I shall wait to see what your results are at about 5 times the present mileage. If the bike makes it you will be fortunate and I will be wrong (at least as regards your particular unit), and I hope that I am proved wrong.
Still, I do find it interesting that the Russian bikes rate so vey low on quality and reliability in user reviews here in the U.S., and the nasty poor Dnepr versions brought over in the 1970's were far worse then the Urals, as almost every spring and ring in the things needed replaced just to get them to run. I would suspect that western riders, used to a better level of workmanship and reliability, probably don't have much use for a bike that takes intensive maintenance to keep it running on a daily basis. The mileage on your 2008 would equal about two summers use on any of the Hondas that I have owned and run, but it may be due to the climate you live in or the way you use your bike(s). I could run 70 or 100 miles easily in one evening just exploring back roads in West Virginia (also getting around bridge repairs could run that mileage up quickly). And the last place you want a motorcycle to break down is on the back roads in West Virginia, I assure you.
Also interesting to note is that you see almost no eastern block vehicles running in the US of late (anyone see a Trabant or a Yugo still going daily)? The one Yugo I helped to repair back in the 1980's used repainted cereal case cardboards for the door liners.....The one ZIL limo that I have seen looked very much like a 1950's Packard Clipper..... When you don't have any competition for the sale of a product, there is usually no reason to build anything better. That is why Harley was stuck with an essentially unreliable 1937 engine into the 1990's or early 2000's, as in that case their unions did not want to shut the plants down to retool for a better, more modern design.
The Russian jet fighters share that philosophy, they use steel riveted where we would use high strength aluminum flush riveted, thus they end up using locomotive sized jet engines to get the needed thrust to move the resultant mass, and greatly reduced range is the normal results. However, one can hope that the rebels will down one in Syria so we can get a better look at it..... I think that their chance to lose equipment against Western designs will possibly be comparable to the 1967 Egyptian - Israeli War, which gave us a look at their level of technology back then.
Have a Great Day!
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