There's someone in Murf's mob who has an animal of an off road bike, saw it at
the Mil Vehicles exhibition in the Curragh recently.... Can't for the life of me
remember the make....
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There's someone in Murf's mob who has an animal of an off road bike, saw it at
the Mil Vehicles exhibition in the Curragh recently.... Can't for the life of me
remember the make....
That would be the guy who attempted the Paris Dakar rally some years ago. Serious offroad biker. He used to have an Armstrong MT500, I think he was talking about getting a diesel bike recently...
[Admin: Goldie, you should know better]
The army have
On-road
Kawasaki GT550s(formally M.P.s), Suzuki Bandit 600s(M.P.s), Honda Deauvilles(2 cav sqn presidential).
Off-road
Suzuki DRZ 400s and 350s(M.P.s have a few but mainly cav) and Kawasaki KLR250s(cav units)
Transport units and CIS are ment to have them, dont know how they work out in PDF but RDF units dont have any!
The guy you are all talking about is ...also known as 'the gunner'...and he occassionally posts here...so be nice. The bike is an ex British army harley davidson.....amongst others!:D :D
Think the Army could improve on those bkes...something like this ...click here
Very flashy, but couldn't see it being a runner in the wilds of Coolmooney !!!
There is people, RDF people who are willing to teach other units DR courses should they be approached and it be cleared by the powers above. The availibility of bikes could be a problem still.:)
I saw on anotherwebsite last night that the UK MOD have lots of MT350s up for sale at the moment,complete with rifle case.
http://www.witham-sv.com/infopage.php?ID=134&Overide=1
Was there any further moves on army offroad bikes? I have not seen anything other than the MP Bandits,which are so not offroad capable.
Meanwhile,here is a useful link to those who want to wear something other than the standard white Motorcycle helmet..
http://www.motovationracing.com/catalog_c22453.html
Goldie
The Seal skinz have been trialed by the DF, but no decision was ever made, and they never sent it back to me, in was in ba como scheme, they were supposed to send it to belgium to get a price for a supply ? That was 4 years ago
about last october I bought a Irish Army KLR 250 from the auctions on the Nass road but by comparrison with come out of the BS it was scrap , no keys no petrol tank no seat just rubbish
I have encosed a picture of the production diesel MC for the us Marines ,
There should be one here in Ireland in May and will hopefull be shown on a CAV course,
Gunner
Claimed top speed is 85 MPH Sorry ( 135 Kp/h)
about 100 MPG and total range of 350 Miles
used the same fuel as everyone else in his grouping
most of the design work done in the UK
engine based on a Kawasaki KLR 650
and crankcases.
the us marines have bought a batch of the diesels
i have a pic somewhere of them coming off the production line
they are still being tested by the BA and as far as i know none have been bought
they would want to make a decision quick becuase they are running out of
HD 350's
and Honda XR250's as used in the Airmobile formations
any pics you want just ask
ps am i doing something wrong when i attach the photos they have to be clicked to open but on other threads the pic's can be clearly seen without further action
Gunner
The army has Bandits??
Bandits?
BANDITs???
How long have they had them and how many DRs have found out the hard way that they are stupidly light, stupidly powerful, stupidly responsive machines which should only ever be used on a racetrack.
Bandits FFS
They've had them for a at least a year & seem to be coping with them alright. I've yet to hear of one being wrecked.
pic 1 bandit old type being picked from the bushes by Tpr's as a speeding PA did not want to stop at a Cav CP on Ex
pictured in kilworth at All Army 03, 2 Bandits new Type with full blues and two's
in escort for COS and Britt Mill attache (sic)
Wait for the next pic
There we were one Cav Tp out on ex having a halt on route for slower elements to catch up (pso 03) when we pulled in to the side of the road, lo and behold what do we find hiding behind a sign ? waiting to catch unsuspecting motorists i must admit he did look a bit uncomfortable with all the unwelcome attention
Garda CBX 750 White
As far as i Know the motorcycle population in the DF is something like this
Oldest to newest
Kawasaki GT 550 1989 about 60 bought for 2 Cav ( escort of Honor ) S+T Ministerial Post and dispatch in Dublin ( Red ) about 4 Now dispersed around Reserve PA units etc and arw ( Very reliable but expensive to replace when dropped and complex 4 Cylinder )
these machines were bought to replace Yamaha XS 500 No off road competence
Kawasaki KLR 250 1996 about 28 bought for training mainly in 2 cav , now in reserve units and some have been sold off in auction ( Not reliable give engine trouble )
off road capable
Suzuki DR 350 1998 about 14 purchased to Reg Cav units and ARW,some since gone to Res Cav and still with Reg very good machine if looked after and reliable the only vehicles to be shipped from Ireland to east Timor and from what i am told the engines never went cold , modified by ARW to soldier proof before mission with long range tanks and bark busters
Off road capable
Suzuki DRZ 400 2000 ? Replacement for Suzuki dR 350 (By Suzuki ) more Complex machine Watercooled and single cylinder about 8 Bought 2 to Ea cav sqn + 1 ea to int and Arw since a second purchase of additional machines about 5 Good but electric start only and army has not invested in a Batter conditioner to keep battery up if not used often
Off Road Capable
Honda Deauville 2000 ? about 38 purchased for Escort of Honor Blue in colour Shaft drive like Kawasaki GT 550 a lot of expensive plastic very weak clutch and suffer from slow speed work ( the Gardai have a big problem keeping clutches in them) still in service with 2 cav
No off road competence
Suzuki GSF 600 Bandit Mark 1 in service mainly with Pa units i think 8 in 1st batch
No off road competence
Suzuki GSF 600 Bandit Mark 2 also in service with pa and logs units ( a lot of parts not interchangeable between the 2 also no off road capability
the question must be asked how could logs support keep up with spares for such a wide range in our small orginazation ? and how come the BA manage to do with only 2 types of machine ?
we need a machine that will be around for a long time and capable of doing all jobs with exception of the escort of honor machines and maybe the new generation diesel would fit the Bill
enclosed medical HD 350 from TA unit in civilian event in Yorkshire last year
:biggrin:
Excellent Photos Gunner... I think I know the CBX Location(and the rider).
I Had a GT550 for many years. Great bike offroad,unless it went over..fine solid pegs to stand up on.
As for the 4 cylinder,it was one of the most maintenance free engines ever,once you dumped the standard cam chain tensioner.
The reason your photos have to be clicked on is because they are attached images. The photos that do not need to be clicked are visible because they already exist as a photo on the web.
ie, they are not just uploaded from your harddrive.
Quote:
Originally Posted by FMolloy
Well I can Tell you the east have six Bandits, four are off the road, and two of those are officially wrote off because of crash damage :biggrin:
Crano
just wondering wath are these ones
http://www.specialoperations.com/For..._Timor/et3.jpg
They are Suzuki DR350s Electric start trail machines, modified in the Curragh with long range tanks and bark busters and off road tyres , when they came back to ireland the S+t tech people in Dublin had a seizure becuase the petrol tanks were not of the origional maker ie suzuki , and impounded the bikes in Clancy Bks dublin until the tanks and tyres were removed enclosed picture again if you notice in the pic you can see the origional yellow colour coming tru the hastely painted fork gaiters etc
I notice in the photo of the 2 Bandits,both of them have scuffed panniers. Either they park them down a narrow alleyway,or they have both been "down the road".
33% rate of attrition is about what I expected from using bandits as DR motorcycles. Actually, it's a bit better than expected.Quote:
Originally Posted by crano
What genius thought an over-powered racing bike was practical for any army?
