Featured What you been doing with your TRIUMPH today??

A trip out to Dunnesforde vineyard today.
They had an open day sort of thing with tasters of wine, cheese and chocolate

Obviously, I could only have a wet as I was driving, but they shared a lovely red with a strong mature cheddar

Nice atmosphere with a few stands selling their wares.
Very well attended.

 

Lovely day out, @Eldon! And look at that beautiful blue sky in both your posts. Spring!

 

Rode the Thruxton down the A49 and A41 to Newport in Shropshire to watch my grandson play rugby in the u16 Shropshire Cup. Great days rugby from the youngsters.
I called in at Ma Bakers for brew on the way home. A 900 Ducati pulled up and parked next to the Thruxton. Two gorgeous examples of cafe racers

 

I had a black and gold one of those with cast wheels in the early eighties, absolutely fantatstic bike.

 

Sounds like a very pleasing day, @Wessa! I really like the photo with the two examples of cafe racers--yes, gorgeous. I do have to say that I'm partial to yours, though.

 

Yesterday our Sunday ride group did our first ride of the year up Mt. Lemmon. I chose to ride my Speed Triple which is particularly well suited to the many curves on this 25-mile climb from 2500 feet on Tucson's valley floor to over 8,000 feet. Our temperatures on Saturday hit 93ºF so I have to admit that I was surprised when we started to see snow in some of the shady spots a few miles from the summit. And once we reached the parking lot at the ski area and the Iron Door restaurant, there was still quite a lot of snow! That said, temperatures were lovely at between 60-65ºF on the top half of the mountain.

My Speed Triple RS and my friend, Randy's, Street Triple with the ski run in the background


I've posted about this ride multiple times over the years, but if you're new(er) to the forum, Ski Valley is the southernmost ski "resort" (not really a resort but more like a few runs) in the U.S. The altitude here is about 8500 feet or so. The ride from the base to the summit encompasses five biological life zones. It's a gem of a mountain and a peach of a ride!



Our breakfast destination was the outdoor deck of the Iron Door Restaurant





I had the Black Forest Breakfast complete with bratwurst and peach strudel. My strudel hadn't arrived yet when I snapped this photo.



And I didn't get my strudel with the mountain of ice cream and whipped cream on it. But Cassie did! Along with a mimosa. She rides pillion so has the luxury of a little brunch "nip" now and again.



It was a wonderful opening to the Mt. Lemmon season which for us is about 7 -8 months out of the year!

Unfortunately the ride home had a snafu. Steve picked up a large bolt in his rear tire--which he had just purchased and installed (along with a new front, too) just NINE DAYS AGO! On the upside, he stopped in front of a guy's house and when the homeowner came outside to see if he could help, it turned out he had a Harley. And he had a lift! He had Steve bring his bike into the garage, got it up on the life, and two of our friends rode to the nearest auto shop and got a plug. After a bit of work, Steve was back on his bike and got it home to our garage safe and sound. But it's not reparable for the long haul so now he has to buy another tire (ouch $$$) before our upcoming four-day tour to Bryce and Zion National Parks in Utah a week from this Thursday.

 

What a fantastic ride up the mountain and the strudel looks gorgeous. Pity about the puncture on Steve’s bike, but lucky another biker came to the rescue. Just goes to show the camaraderie between bikers.

 

Great write up as usual Sandy, do you not carry puncture repair kits and a 12v mini compressor with you or are the tyres tubed rather than tubeless? I think Steve was "lucky" to have his puncture right outside that great guy's place.

 

You should get yourself one of these Sandi....
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/144866150001?itmmeta=01HW6F2QRTAD6YGYQBGJ37PHP7&hash=item21bab20671:g:4uAAAOSw9kpjovi7&itmprp=enc:AQAJAAABAPGWhsY3qeF77AU8CBTaQlgpkjmA6qiFWs1uVHxUkXs16O89qlmfiS7NmEjUO2ieRwneY/QJkH0u/DPRAY+dDAi9tX8iaHudKgcobdvoEuTBVctjxjenYqtZPaR5rIS/BeLJThwb1ZxRzF69Wzz3YtXpkKmmV8nfBvt+O5JyENdGsoMVjcKByLtjuh8pZnzexkyCwORS2aNk4TduFFkyiCUNIpPegJ+0ISMYQOvlmUm95ZtyFbyqhXeEpEBcWXsFQr87ZJolAZQM9mHcabnuU3+ZxhcbFXsnL9AdfvA2LtMjTaRXNI9kyMW1JQCejTKgTzi9/g1eL56Tcy/xWdh9fXQ=|tkp:Bk9SR8T8is_hYw

I've carried one around, very similar to this, for years after getting stranded with a screw in the back tyre of the Fireblade. There's quite a few different kits out there but this one works a treat, remove the nail/screw etc, fit the plug and re inflate, easy. I got a rear puncture on the Street Scrambler last year and being tubed tyres meant a recovery but as the new 1200 has tubeless rims I now carry the kit when I'm out on that too.

 

Yes, @littleade, we do carry some items to deal with punctures and the like. We're especially careful to be sure to include everything we might need when we're on road trips away from home. In this case, Steve got a warning message on his TFT screen that he had a tire that had low pressure (his bike has a TPMS). The actual psi was still decent enough but he was still about 7 or 8 miles from home and he had heard something "rattling around" a few miles prior to the TFT warning. It turned out he had picked up a large bolt in his rear tire.

Steve was definitely lucky to stop in front of that great guy's place! And even more lucky (though I don't believe in coincidence or "luck") in that he didn't actually puncture in front to that house but made a decision to pull off the road there. So even more amazing! And more amazing still...that helpful guy said that another biker had broken down iin front of his place only a couple of weeks earlier. And the guy did the same thing--invited him into his garage to help solve the problem--and they worked on the bike together for two hours and then the biker was on his way. I think that guy needs to hang out a sign saying "Good Biker Samaritan Lives Here!"

 

Thanks, for the link and recommendation, @littleade! I'll see what Steve typically carries with him and we'll plan accordingly. We have an battery-operated gauge/inflator but if a tire was close to or totally flat it would definitely be preferable to have the CO2 inflators which is what I always used to carry on my bicycle. We definitely need to be well prepared as we have three trips planned between now and August that will total between 6,000 and 7,000 miles. Multiply that by the number of bikes in our group and that's a lot of "opportunities" to pick up some nasty road debris.

 

I'd like to take the credit Sandy, but it was pegscraper not me

Here's what I take with me.

A airman mini compressor rather than the CO2 canisters-the airman will inflate a fully flat large bike tyre to the correct pressure repeatedly if needs be where as the cannisters are single use throw away so if you run out of them you have a problem Houston. From what I understand the cannisters struggle to inflate the tyre to the correct pressure so once you've repaired the hole you then need to find a gas station to inflate the tyre fully.

https://airman-uk.com/product/tour-...paign_id=293395&utm_prod_id=2109&gad_source=1

I use different plugs (I've not tried pegscrapers type)

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/16656146...GsqUo9UTo-&var=&widget_ver=artemis&media=COPY

The string ones I've seen in action and work well. I also have the screw type which would be useful if you need to repair the puncture quicky because for ibstance it was p1$$ing down or you were in a dangerous place.

 

I found it takes 3-4 CO2 bulbs to inflate a 17" 150 section tyre to 40psi. The main thing to avoid with a tubeless puncture is forcing the tyre bead off the rim which can happen if you try and ride, even just a few yards, with it very soft or flat. If the bead leaves the rim it will be virtually impossible to reseat with a 12v compressor. A CO2 cartridge has more chance of doing this due to the sudden surge of high pressure gas. You can now get bigger cartridges.
The mushroom type plugs are still supposed to be only a temporary fix with a max speed rating but I once left one in for the remainder of the half worn tyres life and it never leaked.

 

I have reseated tubeless with lighter fuel ( Easi-Start actually) and a match ..... the owner quickly walked away just before this point, after listening to my solution, expecting a big

Certainly not H&S compliant but needs must

Actually worked well but may be best to suggest it as a last resort and to get you out of the

 

After getting an MOT advisory for warped brake discs I acquired a dial gauge set to check for runout. It became evident that it is only the right hand disc that has warped so I will be replacing just the one disc as the other is still well within it's service limits for both runout and thickness. Left hand disc runout measured only 0.05mm but right hand disc measured 0.25mm which is getting close to it's service limit of 0.3mm hence the advisory. New pads needed as well. Probably the right hand side brake has been binding so I will check and clean the pistons when I fit the new disc and pads.

 

The usual monthly start up,run it through the gears n waited for it to cool down. Chucked the cover back over it &went for a cuppa One day i might MOT it or sell it

 

A crime not to be riding that

 

Clocked up the first 1000m today with a run round the Peak District. We had a warm spell 2-3 weeks ago here when temps were approaching 20deg so I took the liner out of my jacket. Well I put the bugger back in today 'cos it's been feckin' freezin' the last few days. Heated gloves in late April FFS! This global WARMING is utter b*llocks IMO.

 

Had a run out into the White Peak this afternoon and decided to try the different (unnecessary?) modes that now seem to adorn every new bike. I have ROAD,RAIN, SPORT, OFF ROAD and RIDER TO CHOOSE FROM. It was in ROAD mode when I picked the bike up and I left it in that. SPORT is supposed to sharpen up throttle response and it does just that. RAIN goes the other way and really takes the edge off and OFF ROAD feels somewhere inbetween ROAD and SPORT. I don't think any of the modes change outright power but just employ different maps to alter power and torque delivery. It was purely the engine characteristics I wanted to compare but TC and ABS also change according to mode. RIDER mode is configurable, to a degree. My ZZR has 4 TC settings, 1-3 and off and full/low power modes where low limits the bike 75% power output or just over 150bhp. ABS cannot be changed.
My opinion on all this for road bikes is I can see the need for it and rider benefit on the ZZR (and bikes with similar performance) but on a relatively low powered Triumph classic twin, not really.
My Husaberg Enduro bike has two power modes, STANDARD and RACE, the latter being a bit ott for general off roading/green laning and certainly sharpens your wits with knobbly tyres on wet tarmac.

What's everyone else's opinions on all these "rider aids"?

 

Both my bikes (tiger 660 and Thruxton r) have ride modes and to be honest I rarely change them. I can see the benefit between road and rain for less experienced riders, but would think with more experience they would not be switching. Like you say on a performance machine and if you use the bike on the track I can see the benefit, but for normal daily riding can’t really see the need.