Arwen

Here is an off-the-wall suggestion.

Don't speed, and you won't get fined.

It is that simple.

Speed cameras are only income generators because so many folk are in such a rush to get places that they go as fast as they dare/can everywhere.

The front wheel on the F700 is currently a 19", the rear is 17. I'm finding a lot of posts online about changing them to the spoked wheels of the F800gs, but not finding anything about smaller wheels Still, that may be an option...

[mention]fullscreenaging[/mention] - Big scooter? No thanks... Yes they are really useful, they are simply not for me though.

[mention]Tango[/mention] I do like them... I seem to like a lot of triumphs to be fair! I may pay a visit to a triumph dealer at some point and see what they have.

[mention]Hoggs[/mention] Just checked... seat height is giant on that!

[mention]Joeman[/mention] I'd totally have one of those. I'm not sure if I am ready to take one on a test ride though. Both for fear of dropping it on the cylinder heads, and for having to spend all that money when I realise I need one

This link is totally not helping me rationalise this option...

[mention]Fozzie[/mention] Nice bike, but too much plastic for me.

Wonder if you could fit smaller wheels??

Gearing and Speedo would need attention but might be an option especially for winter you could have winter tyres and summer tyres.

Hmm... That's not a bad idea. Might have a good Google of that !

Could you look at getting the seat remoulded to make it lower? I’m sure there will be someone near you that you could go and talk to.

You could then look on eBay for a used original seat and offer both when/if you sell in the sell future.

The seat is already pretty thin on the padding...

Edit: Picture... you can see that there is only about 1"of padding at the front of the seat currently

[mention]Mr Fro[/mention] and [mention]Grumpy Old Git[/mention] thanks for the offer/sugestion guys. Already got my wee 125 though. And it is going no where!

Although I could be tempted with this one....

[mention]Fozzie[/mention] Yea it is indeed the detuned 800. It's plenty powerful enough for me. I don't enjoy going quick, bimbling around the countryside is way more my style. Which is why I think I would consider going down to a lower powered bike.

It is light as far as adventure bikes go, however I have stupidly short legs... (27"ish inseem) which is why I'm struggling with it I think. If I am standing beside it, if I full lock the bars I can't really reach the grip that is opposite/further from me. Which means I can't really operate the clutch, or the front brake when moving it turning it while walking with it (depending which side I am on). So I move it as much as possible when riding. My slow control when on the bike is pretty good (excellent if I was to big myself up more ) which helps, however if I am on a cambered road I then come across the issue of stopping where I'd like to be, but being unable to reach the ground... and then I drop it :-/ I guess this is more about learning too judge the distant to the road better!

[mention]Topper[/mention] [mention]JRH[/mention] Nice image I can barely walk in heels like that never mind ride a bike though!

KTM... I really like them. The biggest put off for me is the local dealer is... questionable at the best of times. Not making an allegation here, but lets just say a number of nice KTM's seem to go missing after they have been in for work there.

I'm actually rather interesting in the Honda Neo Sport range. I may take the little 300 out for a spin and see what I think. I don't really need a powerful bike, I never ride two up and rarely carry more than a rucksack worth of stuff.

however, back to my current bike. I've been reading up on suspension settings... would making the rear suspension very soft make much of a difference to the handling?

MT-07 was on my list before I bought the BMW. Sitting on it in the shops I felt it was "top heavy" due to the fuel tank being rather high. Think I may go try it again though... They are nice bikes!

Right... first off, I'm not completely sold on the idea of changing bikes, but I'm open to trying some others to see if I "should". I'm basically looking for advice/opinions/ideas on what to do next.

I've had the BMW for a year now, it is the factory lowered version, with the lowered seat as well. Even then, I can only get the ball of one foot on the ground at a time (or both big toes...). This is fine on roads I know, and so long as there is not a long wait at junctions in strong winds.

However more and more I am finding I am struggling with the weight of it when there is a decent cross wind when waiting at lights. Or if there is even a slight incline/decline/odd camber. I've dropped it twice now, once in my own garage, and the other when parking on a cobbled street.

I find I am making more and more excuses to take the MSX out rather than the BMW these days, purely cause it is so much easier for me to manually move around if need be. Which seems a shame as I do really enjoy riding the BMW, but the thought of having to stop on "problem" surfaces for me is putting me off big time.

I've got a few days off work at the end of September, when I'm hoping the weather will still be fine. My plan is to take the BMW out and basically practise horrible roads to see if I've just got a mental block with them that I can get over quickly.

Does anyone have any other suggestions?

I've came to the conclusion that I'd rather swap the bike than be put off riding it any more, so if I can't get used to problem surfaces with the bmw, anyone got any suggestions for other bikes to try? Open to pretty much any style apart from sporty plastic clad bikes. I like them naked

Thanks for making it to the end of my ramble...

Outlast is magic. I've got it in my gloves just now and it keeps my hands at a nice temperature throughout the year.

My next jacket and trousers will definitely have it.

Not actually heard of those before. Will keep an eye out / check online. Thats a pretty good recomendation.

If a local shop to you does not stock them, then motolegends.com are pretty helpful. And stock pretty much halvarssons whole range.

I highly rate anything by halvarssons, jofama, lindstrands. I wear my textiles all year round with no real issues.

My lindstrands jacket I am especially impressed with. It's £130 of awesomeness in my eyes. 3 years and it's still not leaking, even though it has vents right down the sides of it.

Could be completely irrelevant but.....

My little honda's relay is directly behind the clocks. It's a two pin relay. With the standard rely, if you swap your bulbs for LED's they flash too quickly. It's like a mad rave. Buy another 2 pin rely (mine was the grand sum of £1 from ebay) for LED's and you don;t need to worry about resistors and maths. Simply plug it in, put your LED's in and it works. Mine even has a little dial on the bottom to slow or quicken the flashes.

However, a dodge earth can also cause lights to do weird things I have found. If the bike is meant to have a 2 pin rely but actually has a 3 pin one, the indicators simply stay on .

So my guess, either the rely is needing replaced or there is an earth fault somewhere.

If you want to get used to riding slow, I highly recommend playing "the floor is lava" game. I play this when I'm commuting, trying to get to and from work without putting a foot on the ground.

It not only improves you slow control as you crawl along so you don't put a foot down. It also helps with forward planning.

Wow that does sounds like a tough day! Drumming will certainly help I reckon, enjoy!

We have autoclaves at my work... They do seem to like blowing their tops off. We went through a spat of them blowing up and setting roof tiles on fire. Eventually there was procedures put in place that means there are only a limited number of people allowed to use them, and they undergo almost weekly maintenance checks.

Hey... just wondering if anyone on here wears "hybrid" contact lenses at all?

Currently I have RGP lenses for general day-to day use and soft lenses for when I'm playing Airsoft. However I find I end up not wearing my RGP lenses when I take the bike to work, due to the fact they get stuck in the corner of my eyes all the time when doing shoulder checks

I simply do not get on with soft lenses at work, I find anything I am reading has "fuzz" around it which ends up giving me a sore head.

I've spoken to my optician who says he could get me hybrid lenses (RGP centre with a soft outer "skirt"). They are however a lot more expensive...

So, does anyone here use them? How do you find them, how long to they last?

Congrats! I'll second the test ride as many as you can advice.

Congratulations, enjoy !!

Simply ask why they want to know. If you were caught speeding they need to inform you of the alleged offence within 30 days as far as I am aware.

Well done! If you can't get an instructor to take you out on your own bike, find one who is good at teaching people with shorter legs

There are loads of tips and tricks to get around not being able to put both feet on the ground, but most of all you need the confidence to practice them. An good instructor will help a lot with that!

@Arwen thanks for the link I was thinking the more compact the gear the better but then there’s usually a trade off on robustness so I’ll give the DofE stuff a whirl. Did you do DofE?

 

No, but my partner was a DofE leader and used to teach(?)it.

Personally, I have always rated Vango tents highly. They are usually simple to put up, very well made and after care/support and availability of replacement parts if need is ace.

Not sure of the model name, but these have seen very little use. I bought them when I was only a pillion on my partners bike, back when I was slimmer Probably been used for about 25hrs tops.

Trousers are marked as a 16, but they are more like a 14. Jacket is marked as a 14 and is pretty accurate, however I have included real measurements. If you want me to measure any other parts, let me know!

There is a slight "pull" in the textile material on the left leg. This is only the top layer of fabric, and is barely noticeable.

Come with elbow, shoulder and knee armour.

Bust = 52cm from arm pit to arm pit when flat - equals around a 40" bust.

Waist = 42cm when laid flat (stretched to max) - equals around a 32-33" waist

Inseam = 29"

Looking for around £60 for them.

Collection available from Dundee or Perth. I can post, but as they are bulky and heavy it will be around £10 via dpd/parcel force/whoever I would imagine. I can get costs and arrange if required.

I love camping

Genreally if you look for stuff with the Duke of Edinburgh logo you are getting good quality products that will last, at a decent price.

https://www.dofeshopping.org/expedition-kit/tents/

They provide lots of info on that site. Bare in mind they are geared towards walkers, so light weight equipment is a main focus for them. Weight is less import if you are using a bike or car, but physical size of packed tents can become and issues for bikes. However you can just buy waterproof stuff sacks and spilt the tents up!

Hip inserts do restrict movement... It is just the way of them. Regardless of sizing up or not.

I've just ordered a pair of knox micro lock hip inserts to replace my semi-ridgid ones. The micro lock ones seem to be ultra flexible, so I'll let you know they work out. Should arrived next week at some point.

They are thicker than normal leggings, but still super comfy

Checked my hengerik stuff. It's marked as a 16 but I'd say it's a small 14 realistically. (I'm a 16 now and it barely fitted me when I was a 12-14 years ago) probably too big for you regardless!

If it comes to it and you need to buy new, I really rate the jofama/linstrands/halvarssons kit. I buy it because of the sheer number of different sizes they come in. So no matter your shape, they tend to have a size that will fit. They have also proved to be excellent value for money. I spent £200 on textile jacket and trousers and neither of them have let in rain or had zips fail in the nearly 3 years I have had them

Oxford leggings are my new favourite biker thing. They are just soooooooo comfortable Currently on offer too!

I'll have a look through what I've got, I have a heingerick 2-peice leather/textile mix set. I think they are maybe a size 14 though so probably too big.

I've still got these gloves for sale too if you are interested. (Open to offers)