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Motorcycle Investor mag

Feeding the six-pack

Sunday shed wrap

June 15, 2025, by Guy 'Guido' Allen

Leaky dinosaurs and playing with much simpler toys

Muggins managed to exercise an eclectic mix of four bikes today, if you dismiss the run to the local pool on the BMW R1150GS, which acts as my runabout. (See more on this model at the bottom of this page.)

They were: 1982 Honda CBX1000C straight six (above), 2016 Triumph Thruxton 1200 R, 2017 Suzuki SV650 (partner Ms M Senior's machine) and the 2013 Suzuki DR650.

It's the CBX that was concentrating the mind today, for a couple of reasons. First, it's just a joy to ride – particularly if you love wrestling with dinosaurs. The 'ripping silk' note of the straight six – particularly wth the 2-by-3-into-1 exhaust system it's now running – is addictive, while the combination of decent straight-line performance and gothic handling gets your attention.

The main challenge I had with this and the B-model I had before had to do with the fuelling. This example is prone to flooding on start-up unless I use the fuel tap just to fill the carburettor bowls, then shut off, only to re-open once the bike is warmed up and rolling.

So why not just pull off the carbs and get stuck in? This example is a recent rebuild/restoration and, given I can manage the situation, I'm reluctant to go further unless it's necessary. The issue is probably one or more recalcitrant float needle sets which should be shutting off when the carb is full. There is a hope that more regular use might alleviate the issue as it's generally fine when exercised over longer distances.

Also, servicing these carburettors is a unique and arduous task. I had the job done a little while ago on a CBX1000B (above) by young Brett at Gassit Motorcycles in Melbourne, and it tested his patience while chewing up a lot of workshop time. Realistically, we're talking about circa Au$2000 (US$1300, GB£950) to do it properly. That's a thorough service and not a restoration.

Old School Carbs in California, USA, quotes similar numbers and more if you want the full cosmetic resto. Why? The set-up is complex and has some unique features, the most of obvious of which is the curved manifold presentation.

It says: "The CBX carburettor is a perfect example of industrial art at its highest. Truly, whoever designed these things was a genius of the first order. However, they're challenging to service even when you do it every day. There are interdependent mechanisms that have to work in tandem to achieve a good result and it almost never happens by chance."

And that is why I'm not even dreaming of tackling the job on the 'new' C-model, should it be required. Brace yourself, Brett...

Anyway, it just occurred to me that we're overdue to do a feature and video on this machine – keep an eye out for it.

Another series we should produce a feature about is this, the 2017 Suzuki SV650 I exercised today. Our family has owned a couple and this example is ridden by partner Ms M Senior. I rate them very highly. Light, responsive, a really nice character to the willing engine and decent brakes with ABS. Oh, and ultra-reliable.

Suzuki coninues to sell them, priced at Au$11,490 (US$7500, GB£5500) on the road.

I did a video review of the series back in 2016 and it's time for an update.

Speaking of bikes we need to explain or feature at some stage, this 2013 Suzuki DR650SE was acquired in late 2024. Aside from the road tyres, it has lots of adventure touring gear, including giant Safari fuel tank, Barkbusters, boofy sump guard and luggage racks of various sorts. Plus of course the new and seemingly bulletproof Avduro Pannierz from Andy Strapz in sunny Australia.

Just a quick observation: I needed to load the Pannierz/saddlebags to fill them out for some pics and fell short. First we started with a 4lt cask of De Bortoli Shiraz Cabernet (don't ask...) in each side, which disappeared without trace. We then resorted to camera bags and beach towels. It's only a guess, but I suspect three casks a side (a new international measure of volume) would be required to give the bags some shape and even then may be insufficient to show them at capacity.

The maker, who autographed my Pannierz, suggests the bags have a volume of 15-35 cubic litres (or is that Shiraz litres?) depending on how they are configured.

There's a lot to unwrap with the DR650SE, so maybe that's a priority.

Meanwhile, see our DR650SE profile

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BMW R1150GS

We've owned a couple of these still very capable bikes and have built up a few features. For example we have an overview of two examples here, plus the workshop video below.

Also see the Our Bikes page.