Uncle, The Born Again Biker!
Being an avid biker for many years, having kids, moving house and everything else life throws, the joy of fast bikes had been missing for too long! Off we go to the local Yamaha main dealers to look at the 2024 Yamaha R1M … close to 200BHP and 200MPH, just what “Uncle Modified” needed to revive his love of freedom, speed and adrenaline! Or so he thought!
After swinging his leg over the high tail unit to actually sit on the bike he quick realised that in itself was a bit more awkward than in his younger years!
Sitting there stretched out, excess stomach laying on the tank, hands on the ultra low bars, wrists already starting to complain, eyes straining to read the digital clocks….and he hadn’t even starting the thing! He suddenly realised why you don’t see any 50 year old MotoGP riders.
Time for a Rethink on the Dream of a 1000cc Sportsbike!
Reluctantly deciding the R1 was a little bit too extreme for him now, Uncle decided that a mid sized sportsbike would be the better route to take.
He jumped on my 2024 Kawasaki ZX6R to show it who’s boss… he thought 636cc and 120bhp will be a bit tame but he could put up with it …… how wrong he was !
“Surprisingly comfortable, but only for 10 minutes” was his verdict. Then his back and wrists started to get all grumpy and middle aged.
“My eyes, reactions, and brain in general just wasn’t sharp enough to even use 50% of what was available!” he announced.
It’s no wonder why born again midlife bikers get into trouble so easily!
Time for a Classic?
Having been humbled by the bigger bikes he thought he wanted and needed, Uncle decided to go completely the other direction and take a look at what he used to call the “Grandad Bike” …the trusty Honda Cub has been around for long time, is still very popular, and actually manages to pull off the modern wheels!
Ultimately deciding it wasn’t for him, but we may take a dabble in modifying one of these in the future, there are some great looking ones out there!
The Final Verdict! - 15 Horsepower!
So this is where we ended up! … The HONDA CLICK 160
15 raging horsepower, with a 105kmh top speed (sounds better than 65mph!) Nice little bike for around town and short journeys.
70,000 baht, or the equivalent of 1500 GBP or 2000 USD brand new ….. don’t know how they do it for the money!
While it’s standard at the moment, I don’t think we can leave it that way. The suspension needs uprating as it is a bit “crashy” over any bumps and tends to bottom out too easily. The exhaust is surprisingly noisy as standard, but maybe not the right sort of noise, so a slightly less stifled one is called for. The variator rollers are a very popular modification for this type of bike so that will definitely be on the list for some better acceleration, maybe at the cost of top speed but that’s not a problem around town here.
There’s a world of tuning and styling parts available for every scooter and moped here, so we just have to decide what’s next for the Click!
Foam and Family
