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

What a great way to spend your birthday, @Mrs Visor! Well, other than the rerouting part. Happy, happy birthday!!

 

I got my Honda NT-1100 back from the 24.000 km service appointment. Everything is ok, no adds needed. € 554,20 was the price for it. In comparison to my former TIGER 1200 the costs for the maintenance of my HONDA are lower.
@Mrs Visor: You may guess! Yes, it rained again! 200 km to ride with rain for 150 km.

This year I did till now 2.000 km in heavy rain. I don like 2023!!!

 

Commute on the Blade today. Pleased @Markus kept the rain at bay for me .

 

@Mrs Visor: It's a pleasure for me!

 

I once came back from the outer hebrides and the first 500 kms (300 ish miles) was absolutely hammering it down. I stopped at one petrol station and did a full strip and entire fresh change of clothes despite wearing a one piece waterproof suit.
The next 250 kms passed into a drier day but my enthusiasm had dwindled by that point.
750 km day with a ferry and two sets of clothes, I was glad to be home; you have my sympathy.
Rain is inevitable from time to time but when it becomes full on all day, or what appears to be every time you go out, it becomes tiresome.

 

@Eldon: I fully agree with your arguments. Some rain sometimes is a bikers normal experience. In 2023 it is to much for me! The phase of the so called "April-weather", with changes of the weather conditions in a very short time, lasts since the beginning of 2023 now in my region.
Also the temperatures are mad. 7-9 degrees in the morning in the mid of June is not normal here.
I'm waiting for the forecasted "summer".

 

Commuted on the Blade today, beautiful weather for it again; a yellow warning for thunderstorms popped up on my phone mid - morning but thankfully nothing resembling one appeared!

 

Yellow warnings seem to be popping up all the time these days yet in my experience they usually fail to materialise. Reminds me of the old story that we all learned in school about the boy who cried wolf.

 

Then when the forecast doesn't think it will rain at all we get biblical downpours .

 

Another commute on the Blade - my new levers were waiting for me when I got home; very exciting!

 

Looking forward to hearing your review of your new levers once you get them on and try them out, @Mrs Visor!

 

Today I had my new brake and clutch levers fitted to the Blade. Minor change I know and not very exciting to most - but what a difference it has made to me being able to have the levers in closer - love them!

 

A fellow Triumph owner mate (2020 Speed Twin) asked me for assistance with his car service which we carried out today.

Skoda Yeti 1.6 tdi



Rear brake pads, apparently they gave a little noise now and again

Err, I wonder why?

New discs and pads all round and a full service saw him on his way a happy bunny.


........... And he left a box of bottles to restock the garage

Cheers!

 

Eventually got round to fitting the Evotech tail tidy. The quality of the kit is superb and about the same price that Triumph will charge for theirs. There are a few other Evotech bits on the bike, all outstanding quality.

 

Just a short local ride for coffee with Helmut today as he is on call for work so we cannot stray too far. An odd - looking pairing I think on the Nightstorm and Fireblade! I love my new levers so much that I have ordered some for the Street Triple too .

 

Very, very nice, @Mrs Visor! I completely understand what a difference it makes to have the levers in closer. I think they look pretty slick, too! Looks like you have 6 adjustments? My Oberons have 5 and I typically have them set at 3.

 

"a little noise now and again".....YIKES! Those look like they'd been pulled off the trash heap. No wonder he's a happy bunny. I think two boxes of bottles might have been in order under the circumstances.

 

That looks great, @Baza! I've had an Evotech tail tidy on my '19 Speed Triple since shortly after I bought the bike and have been well pleased with it. My only issue was that the license plate bracket wasn't designed for American plates so had to do a bit of a mod job to attach it.

 

Today I rode El Gordo on our Sunday group breakfast ride. Our group of 5 was small but mighty! Mr. Sandi (Steve) opted to stay home with the dog and do some yard work and laundry since we'd just arrived home last night from a four day family visit (his family) near Cincinnati, Ohio. I, on the other hand, was itching to get out for a ride and enjoy the sunshine! It was cloudy every single day that we spent in Ohio. How do you guys that live under regularly cloudy skies do it?!

As I was fueling up my Fat Boy, this beautiful old Corvette pulled up on the other side of the pump. I chatted briefly with its owner and learned that it was a 1956 model. And it was absolutely pristine!





Someone suggested we ride to one of our standbys this morning, Coyote Pause. It's a beautiful ride and it allows those who want to ride back home right after breakfast the option to do that. Today two guys rode home back over Gates Pass while three of us opted to ride the long way home through Saguaro National Park West.



It was really quiet at Coyote Pause. Some of that might have been because we started at 8:00am rather than 9:00am. But I think that it's because it's summer and the snowbirds have flown back to the Midwest and because the U of Arizona is on summer break. Whatever the reason, it was delightfully low key and peaceful, both at the restaurant and on the roads. Well, it also could have something to do with the fact that it's HOT!



I had my favorite breakfast here, the Southwest Scramble. It was delicious as usual. Sometimes I get a mesquite pancake but this time I chose the biscuit with honey.



After breakfast and saying 'bye to the two guys who rode on home, the three of us who wanted to ride more (Russell, Chas, and me) discussed our plan. I requested a stop in Saguaro National Park West at the Red Hills Visitor Center. I wanted to purchase my National Parks and Federal Recreational Lands Pass which I will need for our Sturgis trip because we will be going through Grand Teton and Yellowstone National Parks on our way to the rally.



Inside the visitor center it was nice and cool, and the folks who work there are incredibly nice and helpful.



It took me about one minute to purchase my Senior Lifetime Pass for $80! What a good deal. But when Steve bought his about six years ago or so, a Senior Lifetime Pass was only $15. I still think $80 is a steal of a deal. In case you're wondering, "Senior" for purposes of this pass starts at age 62. I've found there's not a lot of consistency in what constitutes the lower age of "senior".



The views from the Red Hills Visitor Center are magnificent and there are interesting signs to read about things related to the Sonoran Desert. This photo is looking at the Tucson Mountain range to the east.




And this expansive view while looking west. The view is far winder than even my pan shot indicates so you really can see to the south and north, too. The sign said that on a very clear day you can see about 80 miles!



The rest of the photos I'll share in the following post are from around the Visitor Center with a focus on saguaro cacti if you're interested.

 

The best bit was, these were on the nearside (left) ...... the offside handbrake cable wasn't even attached so the pads were better on that side with around 5mm remaining
It would be very fair to say, the rear brakes, both foot and handbrake, were not contributing alot

The owner is ex-military who's seen action abroad so I cut him some slack, although there was a bit of banter thrown at him and there will be more to come in the future
The person who sold him the car, some ten months or so ago, is to blame as it was "claimed" to have been fully serviced prior to his collection

It does make you wonder how many defective cars are out there on the roads?