The Bonnie passed it's MOT today - needed a new front disc so went for the EBC floating one, looks better it's lighter and braking is improved. Had valves adjusted while it was there - thanks to Alan Lear Motorcycles of Winchester - never questioned my slightly noisier then normal pipes! Note Tiger and Sprint ST in background.
Took my Sprint to the hospital to have an operation to fix her leaky front forks. I am too old and feeble to be doing hard stuff like that these days and anyway i don't get the time ( well thats my excuse)
Open day at Destination Solent - spot my Trident in there. Hampshire Constabulary now using a Ducati Panigale 899!
Had a quick ride to a mates to help remove a vf1000r engine which he is doing a nut and bolt rebuild on
Took my daughter to work at 7am. Got back home and decided to take the sprint out for a little run. Went from Bicester to Ace Cafe London. British legion day and to my surprise there was a vehicle I had the displeasure of driving many years ago,,,a SADF Buffel. Anyway made it there and back no map 111 miles.
New run Sunday 7 june to Loomies. Leaving Bicester Village 8am. Quick breakfast and back before the rest of the family wake up.
I had the spongey-est front brake ever so today I changed the front brake pads, the old ones came out fine and I cleaned up the calliper. I thought the old pads looked about half way through their life, the new ones out the packet however were no thicker! I was really surprised! Is this because the old ones were perhaps organic and the new ones being Sinter are thinner from new??? Then I bled the brakes at the front, new oil, Dot4. The lever seems better, the bike is just warming up in the sun before I go for a test ride to check its all working properly. I also tried to change the indicators on my bike but found the standard ones have two wires and the new ones, despite not being LED and hence should be a straight swap, only had 1. See my other thread about that.
Just got back from Loomies. Beautiful morning. 178 miles round trip and the sprint was great. Now it is time to clean off the bugs. Someone once said that the bugs hit the visor with all claws and teeth bared....I believe them. Stay between the hedges.
I'm liking my (new to me) 2005 ST. Great on the twisties, handy turn of speed on the motorway and slim enough to trickle through stationary traffic. No complaints from Madame about the pillion; had a blast to Weston yesterday, coped with the streams of crawling four-wheelers without overheating (read a few comments about the under-seat exhausts being a bit warm) and am now having second thoughts about spray-on chain lube. Might revert to just brushing on gear oil in future........ Now it's time to wash the bugs off the fairing and screen.......... Prior to going out I removed the brake pads, pushed the pistons back and then reassembled. A much firmer front brake as a result, although I read on various forums that this is unlikely to last.
A couple of thoughts SS : 1. If you get yourself a Scottoiler auto chainlube device, you'll never worry about chain maintenance again; 2. If you wash out the brake callipers regularly with hot soapy water and a toothbrush, you'll never have brake problems.
took my rear suspension down a setting and went out for a blast, much much better handling. now at 3rd from hardest, loved it so much I went into deepest darkest Surrey for a couple of hours, Are bugs getting bigger or my face getting softer!!
Today for the first time ever I rode with a Pillion (my brave wife) around town. It felt like a huge responsibility having someone other than myself to look after. We loved it though and are both buzzing. I feel a celebratory snuggle coming on! Back in 1 and a half minutes (If I think of Roy Keane)
Went up to the Triumph Day at the Ace Café and met up with Half Ton and said Hi to SteveJ on the Jack Lilley stand. Nice Guy that Halfton Chap, its good to put a face to the sarky banter. Had the obligatory cup of tea and a wander around the many forms of Triumph on display. weather wasn't great but it could have been worse. On the way home I had to get the London traffic out of my system so went on a detour via 2 hours of Surrey a roads. Aaaaah!
that's a reference to a couple of ozzys who had shipped their bikes over and were just leaving to ride bike to Australia. one of them pulled off on his rear wheel.! Good to meet you too mate, we'll have to find a midlands spot to have a mass meet-up one day
Took the bike for a Cuppa. Turned into a 174 mile round trip(only beaten by me going to Belgium 5 years ago) to Barnmouth for a cuppa by the sea side. Biking at its best just buggering off for a couple of hours. Daytona 900 never missed a beat sounded & felt great after I balanced the carbs the other week. While I sat enjoying me cuppa I didn't notice a nice layer of sand forming over it rrrgggh. I had cleaned it with silicone spray as u do so yes the bloody sand stuck to it!!!!!!!! So for the 3rd time in 8 years I had to get the old girl wet n wash it.
Hi Stiffler, if I could just offer a piece of advice? The picture file sizes you are posting are sufficiently large to make it difficult and slow to view them. If you were to either : 1. Reduce the picture file size setting in your device, or 2. Use a program such as Pixresizer to resize your pics down to perhaps 850x600, or 3. Have your pictures on a hosting site such as Photobucket and post links to them on here. Your pics would be viewed quickly and enjoyed by many more people.
