What Have You Being Doing With Your Non-triumph Today?

I used to use a tyre place in Barnsley many, many, years ago, probably early 90's. A really knowledgeable guy just up from a roundabout in a converted old roadside house, each room was a different brand.
Do you know the place I'm trying to describe?

 

That sounds very much like the old National Tyres branch.
Just found this on the net (scroll down)......

https://www.onthemarket.com/details/13090886/

I'm guessing the knowledgable guy would be Stuart who retired some years ago.
When I first started going there the large buildings behind didn't exist.

 

Spot on @Pegscraper

Yes, it probably was Stuart, now you've mentioned the name. Had some great chats with him and he introduced me to sticking a fingernail hard in to the rubber to gauge grip over mileage.
I still do it now as a matter of habit

 

Oil, oil filter and air filter change for the Fireblade

 

I started my this year's office rides with my BMW R1250 RS. I will change depending on the weather situation between my BMW and my new Rocket 3 R STORM.
Today I started my 60 km ride to my office at -2 degrees celsius. The arrival was at + 1 degree celsius. The ride back home was great. It had up to 16 degrees.

 

Well that's not going to work. No way will a bigger battery fit without extensive remodelling of the taillpiece.
I'm looking at lithium phosphate now. I can get a Provacell one that's an exact swap but with 50% more cranking power.

 

Whats the spec of what you were considering?

 

I'm looking to get from the 210 CCA cranking power of the stock Yuasa to 300+ wth lithium. To do that with lead acid I'd need a battery that will never fit insde the battery well in the tailpiece. It's proving a struggle though. Skylift, who supply lithium phosphate batteries for current production Ducatis that run lithium from the factory do make one for the 1098 SF that's the exact same physical size as the stock lead acid and has 50% greater crnking power, but the terminals are the other way round. I think maybe because they've based it on the 1098 SBK which houses the battery behind the fairing, whereas on the SF it's under the tailpiece and so the routing of the leads is completely different.

I have found a lithium battery that's the correct, has 350 CCA cranking power claimed, and the terminals are the right way round but it's a firm I've never heard of before (Puracell) and I cannot find out where the cells are made, which suggest they will be cheap Chinese which I want to avoid.

 

Just thinking about it ... and scratching a bit !

 

A point worth noting from my recent experience...... a lithium battery is quite a bit odd if you are used to lead acid.
My new Kove 450 comes with a lithium as standard. The battery tray is full and the surroundings are an under the seat fuel tank, so no chance of creating more space.
Cold cranking on a few occasions, the battery appeared flat but once started if then stopped it would crank fine bear in mind everything is new.

I looked into this and found the battery needs "waking up"
If you switch the ignition on, flash the headlights full beam a few times, swith off, then back on, it cranks just fine and starts promptly.
Bear in mind its a high compression 450 single so needs a good push over tdc. Speaking to others they all do it apparently.

The battery terminal orientation is normally indicated by the letters of the part number. Personally, I'd just stick with the manufacturer stipulated cca and ah , use a battery monitor and accept it as a consumable like tyres, first sign of issue, retire it.

 

I might if it was a stock engine, but it's not and the battery just isn't man enough. Every time I wreck a sprag clutch it's £1000 to fix.
I dont believe the battery was up to it on the stock bike. I think Ducati specced that battery to save space, both on the Streetfighter and the Superbike. Throw in the high compression of my engine, plus the extra valve overlap and ignition trimming on the starting map to get it to start with the cam timing it's running, and I need more cranking power.
I've got all three of my bike batteries in the spare room at the moment taking turns on the Optimiser. The battery for my KTM 1190 is higher in AH and CCA than the Ducati one, and the 1190 is an easy bike to start.

I've done a lot of reading on the foibles of lithium and I think I can live with it. But I need a very high quality battery, not some unknown brand with cheap Chinese cells, and I'm probably going to have to modify the tailpiece and battery tray.

 

How about a top box for the bigger battery?

 

Uncovered, wheeled out the garage, battery charged and getting some fresh air around it

 

Taking advantage of the mild Spring temperature and sunny weather, I wnet out on the NS400 today. Popped into Seaways. Plenty of others had the same idea.

 

I'd feel soooooo cool riding in on that!!!

 

I think its my favourite bike, I'm really lucky to have some nice bikes. My Tuono V4 is an absolute beast, the Ducati I've just got is a beauty, my STRS is a fantastic all rounder, but the NS400 is a real hoot to ride. It always puts a smile on my face.

 

You really do have some gorgeous bikes, a dream garage. The Tuono V4 is about the best - sounding bike out there at the moment I think, it sounds like a MotoGP bike!

 

I got out early on the Hyperstrada and went to The Pitstop Cafe at The Danery for a coffee. Still a bit chilly this morning, but absolutely gorgeous sunshine.

 

Damn.I'm going to have to jump the gun and tax the Rocket 3 later. Up here we're going back to winter later on this week but tomorrow looks like another fine day.
I generally wait til late April when the salt has gone from the roads. As long as they don't get the gritters out tonight I think I'll have to refit the battery, cheque the tyres and visit DVLA's website with my credit card..

 

Go on, you know you want to. I did mine on March 1st, been a great few days out there.