Yesterday actually but just got in front of my computer.
Down to ThunderRoad Cwmbran for MOT and a new pair of Bridgestone BT016s, after some advice from Ogri (Paul).
Then out for a 50 odd mile rideout in the sunshine.
With the new sportier rubber and recent front suspension overhaul and rear suspension setup (R6 shock) to match, by the wizard that is Darren at MCT in Suffolk (thanks for the tip and help again Paul) my Gen 1 thou is now an absolute magic carpet of a machine.
I thought it was amazing before all this but now it's at a different level.
And spring & summer are just round the corner - come on!! :woot
Take a deep breath, coz it all starts now, when you pull the foccin' pin
Lovely ride out up to Ashbourne, up the hill past the market place, then turn right onto the B5056, mile after mile of zero traffic B road, bends, villages, fantastic counrtyside, past the Longcliffe quarry, through Grangemill, then pick up the A6. A coffee at the Peak Shopping Village, then home. A guy on a grey fzs600 at Belper Mills traffic lights turned right as I went straight on. Matlock was rammed full. All told, I was out over 4 hours
Took advantage of the sunshine and quiet Monday morning roads for a nice hoon around the wolds. Didnt go 'anywhere' as such jist a nice big loop round. Stopped off at a mates to help him sort the brakes on his Bandit 1200, after 20 mins of ripping him about the fact it's too slow to need any I went for a bite to eat down the seafront (nipped past the stadium for the photo challenge) then back home to give her a much needed clean.
Was only out around 3 hours but was just lovely to feel like summer again
An afternoon in the garage. Exup valve overhauled, together with front and rear calipers. New pads in the front as well. Oil and filter change to do in the morning, leaving just the chain and sprocket renewal next week.
Whizz kid sitting pretty on his two wheeled stallion.
(25-02-19, 11:19 PM)robbo link Wrote: An afternoon in the garage. Exup valve overhauled, together with front and rear calipers. New pads in the front as well. Oil and filter change to do in the morning, leaving just the chain and sprocket renewal next week.
Hope you don't have the nightmare I had getting the front sprocket off,some would have you believe you can just tap it and at the same time turn the socket/spanner,well that might work for some but I had the mother of all jobs undoing mine,I ended up with the front brake on,a stump of wood through the rear wheel and a scaffold pole on a bar and socket ! couldn't fucking believe how tight it was. :eek
never look down on anyone unless you're helping them up.
I usually use an old fork stanchion wrapped in an old towel. Put it through the rear wheel, then half inch breaker bar with a length of tube normally does the job. Can't tackle that until next week as my rivetter is worn out and will be borrowing one. It can be a mare of a job but this method has always worked for me.
Whizz kid sitting pretty on his two wheeled stallion.
Had to ride from Portsmouth to Coventry for a business show and on the way up it was blowing an absolute hooley!
It wasn't actually too bad, though, as long as I took it easy, it wasn't anything I couldn't handle, although I stopped off at a Services on the M40 because the constant buffeting was really hard to take.
On the way back, the wind had dropped, but it had also rained, so there was a lot of fine spray around that wasn't big enough droplets to bead off my visor.
Even worse, the temperature had also dropped and I found that my heated gloves had stopped working for some reason. The result of which was that I had to ride back in sections of 25-30 miles, because after half an hour my fingers were absolutely frozen and it was very hard to control the bike
Not the most pleasant riding experience I've ever had...
(11-03-19, 01:05 AM)dazza link Wrote: Grahamm, have you ever thought about doing an advanced riding course to help you control the bike a bit better ?...... :lurk
dazza, have you ever read The Three Billy Goats Gruff?
(11-03-19, 01:01 AM)Grahamm link Wrote: Had to ride from Portsmouth to Coventry for a business show and on the way up it was blowing an absolute hooley!
It wasn't actually too bad, though, as long as I took it easy, it wasn't anything I couldn't handle, although I stopped off at a Services on the M40 because the constant buffeting was really hard to take.
On the way back, the wind had dropped, but it had also rained, so there was a lot of fine spray around that wasn't big enough droplets to bead off my visor.
Even worse, the temperature had also dropped and I found that my heated gloves had stopped working for some reason. The result of which was that I had to ride back in sections of 25-30 miles, because after half an hour my fingers were absolutely frozen and it was very hard to control the bike
Not the most pleasant riding experience I've ever had...
I think because i've been using these Vee Wipe's for as long as i can remember i naturally presume everyone else does as well, but i s'pose not everyone does, or even knows they exist!
I always have one on my waterproof gloves, an old one in my jacket and even a new one still in it's packet in my top box.
I could not ride without it in the rain, it's possibly the simplest yet most effective and useful piece of kit you can buy.
They did slightly change the design a couple of years back, and i notice both are shown in the ads, i wasn't too keen with the new one compared with the older version but after a quick email they cut me the old type again instead which was rather decent of them on the Bob Heath site (rjhgear).
me n dynspud did our usual south wales tt course, was a cracking day, just what we both needed. Funny how a bike ride puts the world to rights innit? swapped bikes for a bit, the new bridgestones/suspension set up has turned his thou into a fireblade
(11-03-19, 07:04 AM)darrsi link Wrote: I think because i've been using these Vee Wipe's for as long as i can remember i naturally presume everyone else does as well, but i s'pose not everyone does, or even knows they exist!
The Gerbing glove has a rubber "wiper blade" on the left thumb, but the problem was that there was so much spray I was literally having to wipe it every five seconds because as soon as I'd cleared it, the visor was coated again
Chain and sprockets finally changed, so a brief ride over to Box Hill this afternoon to make sure nothing was likely to fall off, after having spanners waved at it from all directions. Arrived just in time for the caff to shut, which was a tad inconvenient. Thanks for bringing your chain rivetter Flooky, shame the caff was shut. Hopefully do the Chalet soon :thumbup .
Whizz kid sitting pretty on his two wheeled stallion.
I found out why my heated gloves weren't working after almost freezing my fingers off coming back from Coventry last weekend...
When the workshop installed the new engine last year, they didn't connect up the bloody negative end of the cable!!!
I also took the fairing off the front to try to find why the LCD instrument display was flickering so much, but although I've taken all the connectors apart and cleaned them with WD40 Contact Cleaner spray, there still seems to be an issue.
There may be a faulty connection inside the actual display, but it doesn't look easy (or maybe even possible) to take it apart
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