Bad dog!

“Bad dog!”

Written on: 20/02/2020 by 2wheellover51 (4 reviews written)

I traded in a beautiful 2012 TMax 500 mark 3 against a lovely looking Bulldog BT1100 at Metric Motorcycles in Bournemouth, test riding it in February on our local bypass in cold, wintery conditions. I was really happy with the bike, just what I wanted,a big relaxed V-twin motor in a roadster frame with good handling and brakes and a little screen for some protection. The Bulldog was giving me around 60mpg, and cruised easily at 80mph, with a top speed of just over the ton. All in all a great bike and I was really happy with it.. until the weather warmed up, and I began to notice that the slight tapping sound the engine had had turned into a nasty knocking noise which vibrated through the tank and into my upper legs - horrible! Despite having the clutch modded by a person of SV fame, and replacing various bearings and parts I couldn't track the cause of the vibration down, and Metric didn't want to know, telling me "they all do that, it's part of the V-twin character", which was only half true. I sold it back to them for half of what I had paid (I had also accidentally put a couple of small dents in the tank when the wind blew the tank backwards while I was working on it). Nice though the bike was it had to go, and I did a deal on a VFR750 with them, but I made sure I gave it a good long test ride before I bought it, and the engine was good and hot. So thereby a lesson was learned. The fact that I got a speeding ticket on the Bulldog after having a clean license for 50 years just added to the experience. No matter. If a nice one came up at a decent price (with no engine knocks) I would be tempted to buy it. They are a very endearing bike.