(20-07-20, 03:24 PM)agricola link Wrote: Centre stand off, licence plate off, mirrors off, taped up the speedo, pillion pegs off, off to Donington on Wednesday for the first trackday of the year. Using the trailer that my two daughters bought for me as a Fathers Day surprise. I was looking to buy a used one due to the restrictions in place now, so if I didnt get in one of the garages, at least Id have a base in the car park. A real surprise when I walked into the hay barn down at the stables to see a brand spanking new trailer there. Weather looks good so should be a good day
Well, that was a disappointment. Two and a half sessions in and the bike started to cut out, then back in again, several times. Decided to cut the day short and pack up for safety reasons. Felt electrical to me, as cutting out rather than misfiring. Hey Ho, just getting warmed up too
(22-07-20, 08:49 PM)agricola link Wrote: [quote author=agricola link=topic=6412.msg318163#msg318163 date=1595255071]
Centre stand off, licence plate off, mirrors off, taped up the speedo, pillion pegs off, off to Donington on Wednesday for the first trackday of the year. Using the trailer that my two daughters bought for me as a Fathers Day surprise. I was looking to buy a used one due to the restrictions in place now, so if I didnt get in one of the garages, at least Id have a base in the car park. A real surprise when I walked into the hay barn down at the stables to see a brand spanking new trailer there. Weather looks good so should be a good day
Well, that was a disappointment. Two and a half sessions in and the bike started to cut out, then back in again, several times. Decided to cut the day short and pack up for safety reasons. Felt electrical to me, as cutting out rather than misfiring. Hey Ho, just getting warmed up too
[/quote]
Side stand switch failure, very intermittent. The bike was fine again when I got back to trailer, but given the intermittent nature of the fault, I decided it was too risky to continue. Checked out the safety circuit tonight and found the switch failing two or three times every one hundred operations. Must have been dropping out as I was riding
24-07-20, 11:07 AM (This post was last modified: 24-07-20, 12:03 PM by robbo.)
Yesterday a very pleasant whizz around Kent and Sussex, clocking up another 216 of our finest English miles. Met at the Oakdene for 9am, the cafe is closed at present, although a take out service is provided in the carpark with a fair amount of seating under gazebos. On leaving the Oakdene we made our way through Wrotham village, and then via almost every B road to Handcross, Cowfold and the Chalet cafe for breakfast. Far too much time was spent eating, sunning and talking rubbish, that one of our group of 5 had to hightail it home to get on with some work.
We then carried on south via Henfield to the Downs, before scorching round the A27 to the A26 to pick up B roads back to Kent via Battle and Rye, winding up at The Bell at Smarden for a beer and a chill, whilst watching the two seater Spitfire earn its £2,700 for every trip. Being based at Headcorn, this was just down the road. Time had marched on and was now late in the afternoon, so more B road action was out of the question due to the increased level of traffic.
After leaving the pub our final B road took us to Leeds Castle, before a shortish stretch of M20/M25. All was going well until a watermain burst on the A21 at Farnborough. The road was closed, and with no diversion signs it was everyman for themselves. Glad I was on a bike as god knows how long the cars/trucks would have been there. The bike needs a proper clean now, but all in all a great day out.
Whizz kid sitting pretty on his two wheeled stallion.
26-07-20, 06:12 PM (This post was last modified: 26-07-20, 06:13 PM by BBROWN1664.)
(24-07-20, 11:07 AM)robbo link Wrote: Yesterday a very pleasant whizz around Kent and Sussex, clocking up another 216 of our finest English miles. Met at the Oakdene for 9am, the cafe is closed at present, although a take out service is provided in the carpark with a fair amount of seating under gazebos. On leaving the Oakdene we made our way through Wrotham village, and then via almost every B road to Handcross, Cowfold and the Chalet cafe for breakfast. Far too much time was spent eating, sunning and talking rubbish, that one of our group of 5 had to hightail it home to get on with some work.
We then carried on south via Henfield to the Downs, before scorching round the A27 to the A26 to pick up B roads back to Kent via Battle and Rye, winding up at The Bell at Smarden for a beer and a chill, whilst watching the two seater Spitfire earn its £2,700 for every trip. Being based at Headcorn, this was just down the road. Time had marched on and was now late in the afternoon, so more B road action was out of the question due to the increased level of traffic.
After leaving the pub our final B road took us to Leeds Castle, before a shortish stretch of M20/M25. All was going well until a watermain burst on the A21 at Farnborough. The road was closed, and with no diversion signs it was everyman for themselves. Glad I was on a bike as god knows how long the cars/trucks would have been there. The bike needs a proper clean now, but all in all a great day out.
Lots of places with memories for me there. I used to drink at The Bell when a friend of mine lived in Biddenden. My mum still lives in Sutton Vallence. Used to drive up the A21 through Farnborough on my way to work at Aquila (Chislehurst) and later to DirectLine in Bromley. Also, the Chalet is near to where I live now but never really go there as it is too close to go to as part of a ride out.
Havent done anything to my Fazer this weekend but went down to Somerset to try to get my sons FZS600 running again 11 months after he parked it in his garage with the carbs overflowing. New float valves fitted and cleaned out all the jets but it still leaking. This time though I think it is the bowl gaskets. Also managed to fubar the throttle cable so another trip west in a week or two to drag it back to Sussex where I can take my time playing with it.
Spent the afternoon sorting out the preload and sag on my new rear shock and fork springs (with help from a very patient and understanding girlfriend! :thumbup )
A lot more in the FZ6 forum...
27-07-20, 10:18 AM (This post was last modified: 27-07-20, 10:19 AM by robbo.)
Lots of places with memories for me there. I used to drink at The Bell when a friend of mine lived in Biddenden. My mum still lives in Sutton Vallence. Used to drive up the A21 through Farnborough on my way to work at Aquila (Chislehurst) and later to DirectLine in Bromley. Also, the Chalet is near to where I live now but never really go there as it is too close to go to as part of a ride out.
Hi BB,
If you live in the Chalet neck of the woods, you could always ride a big loop and finish up there, bearing in mind it shuts at 2pm in the week. From Cowfold you could do the A272 as far as Loomies, go left at those lights down to West and East Meon, coming out at Tangmere eventually. A whizz up to Fontwell, then left up to Whiteways before a right there will get you Storrington,Steyning. Left at Steyning, through Small Dole to Henfield, and on to the Chalet. I'll recommend the sausage baguette .
Whizz kid sitting pretty on his two wheeled stallion.
(27-07-20, 10:18 AM)robbo link Wrote: Hi BB,
If you live in the Chalet neck of the woods, you could always ride a big loop and finish up there, bearing in mind it shuts at 2pm in the week. From Cowfold you could do the A272 as far as Loomies, go left at those lights down to West and East Meon, coming out at Tangmere eventually. A whizz up to Fontwell, then left up to Whiteways before a right there will get you Storrington,Steyning. Left at Steyning, through Small Dole to Henfield, and on to the Chalet. I'll recommend the sausage baguette .
I tend to head out west towards Midhurst then drop down to Goodwood, back along the A27 (I hate dual carriageways and motorways on the bike) to Font well and up to Whiteways at Bury Hill. After a stop there, on to Pulborough then zig zag through the lanes to Cowfold (so just missing the Chalet), Plummers Plain, Handcross and home.
If I go to the east, it is Handcross, Turners Hill, West Hoathly, Crowborough, Heathfield, Pevensey and stop at the Custom Café or somewhere for a coffee.
Other times, like recently, a few from various places (Heathrow (GarethG), Gatwick(me), Portsmouth(BigMac)) have met in Guildford and ridden on from there somewhere.
The Chalet is too close to teh start, or finish, for me even if I do a figure of 8 route
I know what you mean. The A27 is just a necessary evil just to get to the next good road. Don’t know the Custom Cafe, will look that one up. Heathfield seems to feature heavily in a lot of my trips, not by intention, just always seem to be going through it in one direction or the other. :lol
Whizz kid sitting pretty on his two wheeled stallion.
30-07-20, 10:25 PM (This post was last modified: 30-07-20, 10:44 PM by coffee.)
Decided to get rid of the cat while I was fitting a booster plug,bit of a rigmarole but got it all out,the main thing is avoiding the 02 sensor which is just in front of it,it was nice to run it open to get the crap out afterwards :lol .Fitted the booster plug with the sensor in the open underneath the headlight as they recommend it only took about 15mins to fit as apposed to a good hour with the cat,still it's done now,only trouble is I can't try it yet because I've had some more surgery on my head which I've got to wait to heal before I wear a helmet.I guess that's the price you pay for being bald and working outdoors all your life. :\
never look down on anyone unless you're helping them up.
Not today, or yesterday, but on Wednesday, I met up with Mr.Red at Godstone, which is roughly in my neck of the woods. After gassing up with Shells finest, we set off on a 40 minute cross country ride, from Surrey to Sussex to meet up with Flooky.
The plan was to ride to The Haven cafe, just north of Salisbury, taking in the best bits of the A272. Wednesday is the usual bike night at this venue, but was very poorly attended when I went two weeks ago, but the ride is what this jaunt is all about.
The 272 wasn't as bad traffic wise at this time of day as I expected, despite an accident that had blocked the road to 4 wheeled traffic, within the first few miles. It was a big ask to keep 3 bikes together in the volume of traffic, but once we'd skirted Winchester hardly anyone was going our way, which suited us just fine. A six mile whizz down the B3049 Stockbridge Road, got us to, remarkably, Stockbridge. We stopped briefly to check out the trout holding station in the river Test, waiting for any passing morcels. All that was left now was a hoon down the A30 to the cafe.
A few bikes were already there as we arrived, which was a good sign, with many more piling in as our helmets and gloves were dispensed with. Our stay would only be about an hour and a half, as the plan was to enjoy the 272 back home, in daylight. This had been my first opportunity this year to take a Fazer groupshot, and this done, I spotted another thou which had been seriously "messed about with". The wheels certainly made it look different. I couldn't locate the owner, as would have loved a chat. Maybe he's on here. Mr.Red and I voted an immaculate Norvin as our favourite bike. It should have been immaculate as it was brand new in every way, having been hand built to the owners specification. Electric start, 5 speed box,Carillo rods, 4 leading shoe Robinson (copy) front brake, and the bill for that lot, £40k ish. At the other end of the biking scale, an Abarth Yam was a rare modern beast.
At 7 ish it was time to leave, heading back down the hill past Porton Down, to rejoin the A30 at Lopscombe Corner, to enjoy a traffic free whizz back to Stockbridge and on to Winchester. By-passing Winchester involves navigating a couple of involving roundabout systems. The second one didn't much resemble my earlier look on google earth, which resulted in a further lap of this massive roundabout as I'd missed the left lane exit. I had just caught sight of Mr Red to my left, in the correct lane, which was a surprise as I thought he'd taken a totally different route home to us. If I'd have known, I could have followed him :lol .
Now on the 272 in perfect conditions it was hammer down until the gas station next to Loomies, for a splash'n'dash. Out of the garage and back on the pipe eastbound, the road gloriously empty, the bends and curves perfect. At Billingshurst Flooky and I normally part company, him right, to the seaside, and me left towards South London. However after a brief chat we felt a pint would round off an excellent ride home. After a bit of searching to find one open, we came across the Selsey Arms at Coolham. This had loads of WW2 RAF memorabilia, including a lifesized Spitfire model in the garden. The pub had loads of WW2 history as Coolham airfield had been right next door. The governor was well into his bikes, having about 5 or 6 including an early Z1. An hour of chatting soon flew by and it was home time for me. Back to average speed cameras, 20 limits, burst watermain diversions, coned off dual carriageways. If the weather stays fine I'll be back next week for another go at the 272TT.
Whizz kid sitting pretty on his two wheeled stallion.
31-07-20, 09:22 AM (This post was last modified: 31-07-20, 09:24 AM by red98.)
Another excellent write up mr ROBBO :thumbup ...great day out on some new to me B roads, 60 ish mile run for me to get to the meeting point at Godstone, a quick whizz on the M25 and then A3 to Guildford and then picking up the A25 which would take me all the way down to Godstone, stopping at Newlands corner for late breakfast and Abinger hammer, a place we would stop at on summer holidays back in the late sixties, happy days...then onto godstone...
excellent food at THE HAVEN ,cheers for the tea ROBBO and some good bikes in the car park...same tastes as robbo the NORVIN was fantastic and the ABARTH is now on the top of my "want list"...
Had planned to take the A30 on the way home Basinstoke,Reading and home to High Wycombe...but changed my mind and followed ROBBO until i picked up the A31 up to to Alton, A much better route, no fuel stops for me on the way home, light on for the last 20 ish miles, 262 miles for the day
great seeing you again ROBBO ,FLOOKY thanks for leading and tea and introducing me to bike night at THE HAVEN :thumbup
I experimented with adjusting the length of the spacers on my front forks to get the sag on the Hyperpro springs right (more in the FZ6 forum) which is now much better.
Then I finally got around to adjusting the position and tilt of the handlebars and levers so that the bike fit me rather than (as has been the case for the last 13 years) adjusting my position so I fit the bike...! :eek
Also, I took off the right hand switch gear (which was rather full of crud ) and cleaned up the contacts on the Kill Switch as well as putting some silicone spray on the throttle cables to make the action smoother :thumbup
Another good whizz out yesterday clocking up 203 miles, taking in the Custom Cafe on the A259 between Pevensey and Bexhill. Thanks for the headsup BB. Very nice American themed,but not over the top,cafe, which I'll definitely return to. Headed home mainly on B roads via Battle, Goudhurst and Yalding. The Pied Bull, just off the A20 past Brands Hatch, beckoned, so it would have been rude not to pop in for a pint. Then just a short trip home to watch the mornings WSB and WSS that I'd remembered to record.
Whizz kid sitting pretty on his two wheeled stallion.
.
