what did you do with your fazer today ?

[Mark YPVS]

Fitted a new (to me) uncut wiring loom to the Fazer 1000 Wonkey Donkey project, it had an old alarm which I bypassed but still loads of issues, clocked turned off when lights were on, right indicators didn't work etc, spent about 20 hours trying to sort the dodgy loom, took me 2 hours to replace it  Next job fix the neutral light (which didn't work before i swapped the loom) as it wont turn over unless the side stand is up


Mark 

[beuleux]

Fitted some aero R&G engine crash bungs, no matter how hard I gripped the bungs I couldn't hold them still up to 40nm, so I decided to make a plywood holding tool only to find the sds mechanism on my jigsaw had jammed so I couldn't fit a scrolling blade, so of course I had to strip the jigsaw to find the problem which turned out to be a broken blade tooth jammed in the mechanism, so fresh grease on a 20yo jigsaw and I made the holding tool, amazing how a five minute job can drag on for hrs 🤬


On the bright side... all done 👍

[robbo]

Gave the bike a quick check over,coolant,oil,tyre pressures, chain adjust and lube. Then started loading up the camping gear ready for Le Mans 24hour this weekend. Kent traffic is a nightmare at present, due to the M20 being used as a truck park  following the P&O debacle. Planning to get to the tunnel via B roads to avoid any hold ups.

[FazThou]

Good luck robbo...... might be better to leave thursday evening then 


Looked at mine today as i passed it in the garage but will be using it for work tomorrow 

[robbo]

I'm going early Thursday, to get a better choice of tent pitches. Catch a bit of night practise as well

[Grahamm]

Found out that the MOT was due, so replaced the rear brake pads which were getting low, then ordered a new front tyre and generally checked the bike over to make sure it's ready to get tested tomorrow.

[beuleux]

Found out that the MOT was due, so replaced the rear brake pads which were getting low, then ordered a new front tyre and generally checked the bike over to make sure it's ready to get tested tomorrow.

🤞

[Grahamm]

Well, I got the new front tyre fitted this morning and, thankfully, the bike went through the MOT ok.

There was one Advisory:

"Monitor and repair if necessary: Brake disc worn, pitted or scored, but not seriously weakend. Rear"

Basically the rear disc is not quite smooth to the touch, but it's still fine as regards the minimum thickness, so I'm not worrying about it.

At some point I'll need to replace the chain and sprockets, so I might think about doing it then.

Now I can ride to Bristol tomorrow to get some surf

[robbo]

Bike all loaded up, ready for an 02:50am start . At least three Brits are in various teams this weekend, Chaz Davies, Bradley Smith and Gino Rea. Expecting Sylvain Guintoli to do well again on the Sert Suzuki.

[unfazed]

Bike all loaded up, ready for an 02:50am start . At least three Brits are in various teams this weekend, Chaz Davies, Bradley Smith and Gino Rea. Expecting Sylvain Guintoli to do well again on the Sert Suzuki.

Enjoy usually a great hectic weekend. French do love their 24 hour
Ray Rea Smith and Davis are not on the entry list, unless there we substitutes. What teams are they in? Wont be there, but will watch a lot of it live on Eurosport 2

[fazerscotty]

Got cracking on the "winter" fettle 

[robbo]

Bike all loaded up, ready for an 02:50am start . At least three Brits are in various teams this weekend, Chaz Davies, Bradley Smith and Gino Rea. Expecting Sylvain Guintoli to do well again on the Sert Suzuki.

Enjoy usually a great hectic weekend. French do love their 24 hour
Ray Rea Smith and Davis are not on the entry list, unless there we substitutes. What teams are they in? Wont be there, but will watch a lot of it live on Eurosport 2

Bit late now I know, but Gino Rea was on the 3rd placed #5 FCC Honda ,Chaz was due to ride the #6 ERC Ducati but was ill and Smith was on the #96 Moto Ain R1, but got rear ended into the first bend and was hospitalised. Ok and on the mend thankfully.

[robbo]

Last weekends trip to Le Mans.
Several early indications made me think this trip wasn’t supposed to happen. With warnings of Operation Brock being in place on the M20, meaning Junctions 8-11 were a truck park in the coastal direction, my pal and I decided on a ridiculously early start, and get us to the Eurotunnel terminal across country. The plan was to use familiar, but not in the dark, B roads to get to Junction 11 and on to the terminal at J11A. We met at 3am at a mutually convenient 24hour garage, and with tanks brimmed, set off. All went well to the first roundabout, barely 100 yards up the road. Our chosen exit road was closed for roadworks. Great start. With no diversion sign in place I decided on a B road alternative only for this to be closed around 2 miles further on. Backtracking in the opposite direction to where we were headed, finally got us under way, although a good 15 valuable minutes had been lost already.
 
All went to plan until a crucial right turn onto an A road was reached. Yep, the road was closed. The only way now was to carry on the B roads to J8, which was the last place I wanted to be, as this was where all non freight traffic was diverted off the motorway. Fortunately we were able to steadily overtake the procession of vans, cars, caravans and motor homes as far as Ashford, a town I’m not that familiar with. The diversion signs were thin on the ground and took a while to get ourselves onto the southern section of the A20 and onwards to the terminal. Good progress was made and we were ushered onto an earlier train than planned. Things were looking up.


I’d spent quite some time planning this trip to make a decent ride of it, the only motorway type of road would be the stretch from Calais to Boulogne, where we could get cheaper petrol at a 24hr supermarket. Then it would be a few N roads before the favoured D roads began. The exit off this main road that I wanted was 29, so was not best pleased to find this road was closed at 31. A quick satnav consult, got us onto farm tracks that led to a village I was familiar with, but was beyond the intended fuel stop. A couple of stiff coffees were the order of the day now, whilst I sorted out a new fuel stop in our direction. This completed we were now under way properly. The D roads I’d chosen were a treat, with Anet being our chosen lunch stop. The planned restaurant was shut, much to our consternation, and that of the local people, with much Gallic shrugging and more than a fair share of Zut Alors being thrown about. An alternative cafe around the corner was an admirable substitute, although no seats in the sun were available. After croques monsieurs and panaches(shandy) were tucked away, it was back on the road headed for the track, with just one more fuel stop en route.


The camp ground was just as I’d remembered it some 10 years ago, although security was very tight, with the log book needed to confirm ownership of the bike, and our tickets scanned on every exit and entrance. At the track bags were searched and metal detectors used. This was to be the first outing of my new Lone Rider tent, and once pitched it was off in search of a few well earned beers.


They’ve been hot on people trying to smuggle beer into the circuit for years, and this was no exception, but €8 euros was a bit strong, but then they had a captive audience. Saturday at 3 pm saw the traditional Le Mans start get the event underway. The Yart Yamaha on pole position, failed to start for the 2nd year running. Bradley Smith whose team had qualified quite well in 7th was also slow to get away, and was horrifically rear ended by a back marker travelling at a serious rate of knots. The pace car was out immediately, whilst the 3 downed riders were attended to. Fortunately Brad was ok after being hospitalised. After an early Honda lead, the current champions Sert Suzuki, started to command a slight lead over the Yart Yamaha, whose riders had made a galliant effort in making up the time lost at the start.


Other than a break to rustle up some food, we followed the racing until around 1am. Sleep wouldn’t be easy, as the “Mad Max City” campsite opposite, would have bikes bouncing off the limiters all night, but that’s all part and parcel of the Le Mans 24 experience. The weekends weather had been perfect, plenty of sun and clear blue skies. Sylvain Guintoli took over the final stint on the leading Sert Suzuki, although one more drama unfolded in the last half hour. An engine, on what I believe was a Yamaha, let go in front of the main stands, meaning the pace car, road sweeper truck and cement dust were all back in play again. With the cleanup completed there was only time for a few more laps of racing before the 3 pm finish time was reached, and Suzuki had won the first event of the new season. They were followed by Yart Yamaha and the FCC Honda team, with Gino Rea of BSB fame, riding for them.


After watching the awards ceremony it was back to the tent to pack and make our way the short distance up to Alencon, for a nights motel stay. A nice shower, proper bed, and food and a few reasonably priced beers in the restaurant next door. The following day saw us pick up another D road route as far as Gournay en Bray, where my pal and I parted company. Him to visit an old army pal in Hamburg, and me to Calais and home. There was no early train for me this time despite arriving nice and early, and had to sit it out for almost 3 hours, before completing my homeward journey, clocking up 761 of mainly French lovely miles.

[robbo]

Just a few pics. The Fazer is certainly, in my book, the Swiss Army knife of bikes, as being good at every discipline, from Sunday breakfast runs to long distance touring. It might look well loaded, but was cruising steady as a rock at 80 to 90.

[agricola]

Chatting to an old pal last night trying to organise a ride, I said Id ring him in the morning once Id sorted my insurance out for the year out. Sorted that, and while putting the papers away, stopped and stared at the MOT sheet for last year. Expired 12th Feb 2022. Cant believe I missed that, been riding without MOT and invalid insurance. Stupid. In the back of my mind, I had it that tax/insurance/Mot were all May 1st. Anyway, down to the station at 9 this morning, legal again at 9.45. Anyone local to me, I can recommend Street Machine, Stapleford, Notts. Been using them for a few years now, excellent.

[robbo]

Was intending to give the Fazer a good clean this morning after last weekends trip. However, a late notice call from the breakfast crew put that task on the back burner. So at 9am it was off for another day of fun and frolics, taking in the 1066 on the A21 for something to eat, before finally ending up near Headcorn for a few shandies, whilst watching the Spitfire. More of a talking bollox sort of a day, rather than riding, but still clocked up another 170 of our wonderful English miles.

[Grahamm]

I wasn't planning on going out today, but last night someone posted on the Facebook Hampshire Bikers' forum that they were in need of a new FZ6 clutch cable to get them home from Fleet, however they couldn't get one delivered before Tuesday or even get to a shop until Monday.

So I remembered that I'd bought a spare that I'd not fitted and, after some messages back and forth, and noting that the forecast was for a nice sunny day, I agreed to pop up there and drop it off to them.

Firstly, though, I had to give the bike a hose down because I'd been doing some more work in the shed and forgotten to cover the bike, so, instead, it was covered in sawdust!

Anyway, it was a nice ride up there although, disappointingly, the B3349 which used to be a nice biking road has been ruined with 50mph limits and lots of double white lines, even in places where it would have been perfectly safe to overtake

I dropped the cable off to them, but, as they had only recently got the bike, ended up helping them fit it as well as making a few recommendations on how to improve the bike with useful mods, rather than the flash aftermarket pipes and heated grips that were on it

On the way back, I took the A30 to Basingstoke, then did a nice ride towards the Candovers, but cutting down Spiers lane which is very enjoyable. When I got to Alresford, rather than carrying on down the B3046, I decided to look for Old Park Road which I remembered when I'd ridden several years ago and, thankfully not only found it, but also found that it was still a nice road

So I eventually got home a few quid better off and with 120miles under my wheels.

[beuleux]

Went to change the oil and filter as I wanted to ride it tomorrow, only to find the fibre sump plug washer completely deterorated, should have seen that one coming doh!

[FazThou]

Yesterday......
I thought it was time i changed the brake fluid in the old girl as was starting to get a bit soft and squishy.
Removed the reservoir cap then undone the banjo bolts on both the calipers and drained the fluid into an old bottle.
Then took both calipers off and turned them upside down to get the fluid out of them.
Was definately well overdue by the state of the reservoir lol
Anyways cleaned up all the gunk and a good spray of brake cleaner in the reservoir, wiped it clean and let the rest evaporate
Put the calipers back on and reconnected the banjo bolts.
Topped the reservoir up with DOT 4 and gravity bled both of the calipers.
Cracked open the banjo bolt at the reservoir and pulled the lever in slowly then done it back up again.
Still a bit soft so cable tied the lever up for a few hours and hey presto.... the perfect feel
Happy days


Today.....
Off to hastings for the mayday run 

[robbo]

Yesterday was the annual May Day Run to Hastings. There was quite a good turn out at the meeting venue, Locksbottom in Kent, almost like the old days, bearing in mind this event has been going for close to 50 years. Bike parking spaces were at a premium due to the cars carrying the "I had a bike once" brigade.
Meeting pals you haven't seen since the previous years run is always a pleasure, and this year was no exception. To actually follow this run to Hastings is not really much of a pleasure. Maybe do it once to say you've done it, but it's not really a pleasant biking experience, mainly due to the volume of traffic and the riding antics of a few, which when they go wrong can be quite messy.
For the last 25 years or so, the group I ride with, take well known B roads eventually arriving at our usual pub meeting place in Rye. This guarantees a good days riding whilst still experiencing what is a special day in biking history, in this neck of the woods.
We left Locksbottom at around 10:30, and were soon turning off the A21 onto empty B roads that we know quite well. Calling in at the 1066 cafe on the way, for a tea and a chinwag, before carrying on to Rye for food and a pint. On arrival we managed to grab an outside table at the pub, and the food service was quite speedy.
With clean plates and empty glasses it was time to saddle up and head homeward, the long way. Fortunately another pubgoer had warned us of a main road closure in Rye, due to an accident, so were able to divert through the town to get to a favoured road that crosses the marshes. Once through Appledore and on to Tenterden we were now back into Kent and heading for a pubstop closer to home. All in all a good May Day with the weather playing ball which is always a bonus. Another 156 of our lovely English miles clicked on to the odometer, noting that a new rear tyre is top of the "to do" list.

[agricola]

Yesterday actually. Donington Park trackday, and a wet one. Rained most of the morning, it stopped before lunch in time for the last session, then pissed down all lunch hour. Stopped raining then, and the track started to dry as the sun came in and out, the track was semi dry for the last session. I reckon half the riders had gone home by lunchtime, one chap in our garage went out for one session, did a couple of laps, came in, then packed up and went. And his bike had rain mode too, but must have been around £15,000 worth. I could well have been the only rider to ride all seven sessions right up to the chequered flag. Strange though it may seem, I really enjoyed the day, only had one arse clench moment. Id gone down one on the front sprocket for a bit more punch out of the corners and wound it on a little too much for the conditions exiting the Melbourne Loop, bit of fishtailing for a few metres but stayed upright. The Fazer was faultless all day.

[agricola]

Trackside

[Grahamm]

Monday I rode from Portsmouth to Croyde in North Devon, but, as I wanted to surf in the evening, I went the quick but boring route up the M3 and A303. Annoyingly, I saw an RAC van which would have let me complete the FOC-U Bike Picture Challenge, but I don't think it would have been a good idea to stop on the motorway hard shoulder to take a photo...!

Yesterday, rather knackered but happy after some good surfing, and it being a nice sunny day, I rode back the fun route (A377 to Exeter, then A30 to Salisbury), although the last section on the M27 was dull because, although they've finished "upgrading" it to (not) Smart Motorway, they'd stuck all the speed limits at 60mph. In a way that was good actually, because I was running on reserve by then, so keeping the speed down meant I was conserving fuel.

Even so, I was 25 miles into the reserve by the time I tanked up. I know that, theoretically, I should have about 40 miles on the reserve, but I've never tested that and it was a little worrying.

I stopped off to vote before I got home and, just as I was leaving the Polling Station, I spotted an AA van, so snapped a photo of that. Now I need to think of something for the next Challenge...

[robbo]

Made arrangements late on Wednesday for a whizz out yesterday. Our favourite B roads were devoid of traffic, and had an excellent ride down to Beryl's cafe at Rye. The sun came out and whiled away a pleasant chill out after breakfast, with copious pots of tea.
The road beckoned, so the fun and frolics continued to our mid afternoon pub stop, for shandies and more sun. My pal on his MT10 had been todays leader, with the Fazer giving a good account of itself,as always. As much as I'd like an MT10, as they are truly bonkers, I know which one I'd choose for camping and long distance trips in general though.
Only 135 miles clocked up today, but a very enjoyable day indeed. With a holiday approaching and the need for a new rear tyre, I expect this will have been my last outing for a while, until I go to Spa next month for the 24 hour endurance. On the subject of tyres, prices have really shot up with my next Roadtec 01SE going to be £190 fitted on a loose wheel. The guy I use is mobile so saves me having to drive anywhere to get it done, and he's meticulous with his work, which certainly matters to me.

[unfazed]

Took a wander through the byways of West Cork