With the progress of the new year, I thought it might be useful to start a thread on camping kit, tips and advice to help those who might be considering it for a first time, and also for more experienced people who are always looking to improve on their kit and technique for this hobby that often seems inextricably linked to the biking experience.
We have recently had a new thread on bivvys and bashas, but this method of stripped-down-to-bare-essentials won't be for everyone, although no reason why it shouldn't also be included here. My intention is for anyone with experience to be able to contribute their thoughts, kit reviews and suggestions, but also for would-be and novice campers to ask any questions they might have on the best kit and general how-to stuff.
My personal experience comes from first camping trips with my parents at a young age, car and trailer loaded up with everything including the kitchen sink, to weekend bike rallies and events, to longer bike tours, and also backpacking trips from a week to 2 months duration, using everything from cheap, heavy Millets gear, to light weight and expensive designed-for-purpose kit, developed by companies such as Rab, Vaude, MSR, Western Mountaineering, Mountain Equipment etc etc.
I have found that purpose designed backpacking and outdoors-pursuits items often transfer very well to bike-based camping trips, as the kit is often light, packs down small, and much is multi-purpose, further reducing the load you need to carry, and so allowing your bike to handle better when packed, and being far easier to organise with less specialist biking luggage, which can also be very expensive of course.
However, I think that we should consider here all price ranges, with their attendant advantages and disadvantages, because of course, not everyone who does the odd camping weekend will be interested in spending major bucks for kit that may only be used once or twice a year.

So, if you have a tent, or camping stove, or air mattress or whatever that you have found to be a great buy, or you want to get it off your chest about how crap it was and should be avoided; if you have a query about how to decide where to pitch your tent when the options seem limited; if you want to know what hydrostatic head is, and how it could be useful to you when choosing a tent; if it's pretty much anything to do with camping/bivvying in the great outdoors, why not pop it in here and help to build a shared knowledge-base for all Foccers - then, next time you go to a big bike meet where a tent is a requirement, you'll be able to laugh at all the other hapless goons who make a pigs ear of it all, without fear of being in that category yourself!

Well hello all!

Front discs need replaced as one of them is a bit warped. While replacing them I was wondering about replacing the disc bolts too as they're notoriously bad for rounding off seeing as they're made of cheese.

The discs I was thinking to go for are the Armstrong wavy ones: http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?V...0974802188 I know a few of the guys on here are running these discs, any thoughts on them, do they last ok, not rust up etc

The disc bolts I was looking at are these: http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/400470035998?s...1423.l2649 at £46.95 you'd hope they would be a bit stronger than the standard bolts.

Any thoughts or suggestions welcome.

Thanks,

chris

P.S. Forgot to mention I'll be using the discs with sbs ceramic pads and new hel braided lines.

I replaced my air filter recently, to a K&N.  Primarily because i'm quite lazy and dont want to have to keep changing filters every 6000 miles or whatever the interval should be...  it was £32 give or take.  an OEM filter is somewhere in the region of a tenner, so assuming i do 12,000 miles a year, it would take me 18 months to recoup the cost of the filter.

But my MPG has gone up, from 54mpg to 57mpg.  Again, assuming 12,000 miles per year and fuel at 129.9, that's a saving of £69.07 in 12 months... Or,  across the same period of 18 months, £104.

So a £32 outlay for me over an 18month period saves £104 (18 months fuel, break-even on the filter)

50,000 miles (4 years) before the K&N needs servicing, in that mileage, i should save £287.78 in fuel, plus 8 air filter changes.

So if anyone is undecided wether to fit a K&N or not, hopefully the figures would suggest that it is worth the initial cost.

* i also replaced my tyres, which may also contribute to the mpg increase

New V-Strom:


http://www.motorcycle.com/manufacturer/s...-ride.html

Really??

When i bought the bike last year, it already had the heated grips fitted, haven't a clue what make they are but they have proved to be very handy the last few times i've been out on the bike in cold weather this winter.
But i digress... Last Sunday, i went for a spin to visit a couple of friends on Anglesey, some 20-odd miles away from where i live.
I used the heated grips on the way, got to matey's and stayed for a cuppa and a chat, as you do.
An hour later i came out to a flat battery, i had left the damn grips turned on, anyway it started easily enough with a bump start and off i went, so visit matey two, called at the petrol station about four miles away and the bike started on the button afterwards.
I noticed on the way to matey two's, that the left grip was loose, turning as freely as the twistgrip, so i assume that the heat build-up when they were left on for the hour i was visiting, had melted the glue that holds it to the bars?
Power for the grips come directly from the battery, so obviously they can be accidentally left on, as i did.
So, is there anywhere i can source a switchable power supply, such as the ignition circuit, so that this problem doesn't happen again?

When i got home, i took the battery off to charge it, i do have an optimate but the bike is outside under a cover, so it isn't convenient to charge it while it's on the bike, sod trailing wires out of the front window in this weather!
Anyway, as i said, i took the battery off the bike, which i found to be quite a wind-up, seeing as i couldn't get any grip on the beggar, so i resorted to threading a thin cable tie through each of the battery terminals and lifting it out that way, otherwise i would have had to have been a touch more inventive!
One of the cells has a slight bulge, as was made known to me when it was at the dyno mans last year, due he said, to the failure of the rec\reg unit, so i expect that the bulge didn't help with the removal of it.
Anyone else had a problem removing the battery?

G ; )

When an item is listed on Ebay with a buy it now price and a best offer price, what sort of discount would you expect to get.


Example Buy it now is £399 - what sort of best offer would you expect to be accepted.

As I have been booted off the "What did you do with your Fazer today?" thread for posting up comments about Kwaks and Peugeots (you bastards!  :lol :lol ), I'm throwing the toys out of the pram, and making my own thread. So there.  :b

So, if you have a nice car, other bike, or even a nice girlfriend (ooh err missus!  :eek ) - what did you do with it today?



I'll start: Cancelled the insurance on the ZX4... And got a pittance back (compared to what I paid the fuckers). :'( :'( :'(

And put fuel in the Peugeot  :car . Foc me, I'm only getting 57mpg out of a diesel!  :eek I miss my bikes...  :'(

Good evening ladies and gents,


I'm having some diagnosis issues with my FZS600 Foxeye and thought here would be the most knowledgeable place to ask!
The problem started rather suddenly as the bike felt like it was stuttering on the way home.
Once back I put it up on the centre stand and something is definitely up as the chain appears to be intermittently jumping off the top of the guide rail by about 2cm but continuing to run.
First thought was replacing the worn out drive chain and sprocket with new genuine parts (rather successfully for my first repair I'm quite proud of) but the issue still persists.
All is well while the bike is in neutral / not moving but everything starts up when the drive starts turning, so I believe it's either something to do with the clutch or the gearbox.
I have gearbox warranty, but don't want to pass it off to them if it's something I can fix myself, so any suggestions as to what might be the cause would be much obliged!


Thanks in advance,


Martin


(Video attached to demonstrate if unclear, though I have to apologise for quality / darkness)

Attached Files

  FZS600 Chain issue.mp4 (Size: 4.95 MB / Downloads: 12)

I need a head light frame for box/fox eye at a reasonable price

Bristol Mayor George Ferguson , is planning to roll out blanket 20mph limits throughout Bristol , which will eventually be enforced by mobile scamera vans according to the local news . It should be interesting I am constantly being tailgated when sticking to 30mph limits , another reason not to go into town .