Gerontious

Working. If you can call it that. Look at the time. 3:45am

later this morning into town for my spring Covid booster. Deep joy at that. I’ll be rolling up my sleeve at 11am. So I expect Sunday I’ll feel a tad off all day and then right as rain again by Monday morning. Then back with the rampaging schizophrenics on Monday night. And that’s my weekend.

Just so you know…

when dealerships accept bikes as trade-ins, unless the bike was sold by them, is the same brand and new enough with a high value. It’s often the case the dealership won’t keep the bike to sell. Usually they don’t have the space to display it, or it’s not worth enough. Maybe its history is incomplete. There are a whole load of reasons. So.. to get rid, it goes to auction. And super bike factory is the type of business that will buy, if they think they can sell and make some money. They have the space and they don’t really care about the bikes history. Condition and MOT is all they care about.

So buying from them is always a case of “eyes wide open” and it’s definitely best if you have the experience as well as the knowledge to ask the right questions and get the right answers. The only reason a newbie should go there is to window shop. You have a huge number of bikes and the chance to at least sit on them and that can help with your choices going forward. But don’t be tempted. Ignore the salesmen. Act interested yes. But don’t go any further than that. Walk in and then walk out.

nowadays the only reason to get a 125 is because of money. Or age. It’s always best to go the direct route if you can. But, if you must get a 125 do not be tempted by Chinese brand bikes. Or Chinese bikes with UK branding. Go for Honda/Yamaha etc. anything else can lead to nothing but tears. You might as well set fire to your cash.

Start with a CBT and take it from there. Pop along to a local school and talk through the options. And think carefully what your next step might be.

Get the Haynes. Better to have it as a hard copy than trying to see it on a phone. Quick google and there it is. Not exactly expensive either.

Prevention is always better than a cure. So first - bike to be serviced in advance. At least a couple of weeks before the off - and get a few miles in before you go, that way you have a greater chance of identifying any potential problems that might arise from the service itself. Think about weak points. If your bike uses cables - check them. Clutch cable for instance.

When I go away I tend to concentrate on two things. Tyres and the chain. So I have the ability to repair a puncture and re inflate fully. Plus lubricate and adjust the chain if that becomes necessary. If the bike uses standard bulbs then at the minimum a spare headlamp. Indicator and brake light bulb - plus the tools needed to do the swap. If the bike has a known “weakness” then the appropriate spare plus the tools required for that job too. In my case I have a spare lithium battery that’s tiny. Weighs next to nothing and is kept at the bottom of my panniers. Just in case.

Aside from that. Trust your bike. Help is never far away, regardless of where you go within Europe. People will always help out. Like this time when my mates bike had a problem near D’Oulx and a random biker stopped and helped @smallfrowne diagnose the problem with his VFR. And jerryrig a fix so we were in our way again and got a proper fix at the next big town. Besancon.

3 minutes ago, Simon Davey said:

Ah right, feck me, now I know what a bagger is

 To me… they’re bikes for the vertically challenged. With more money than sense. Who only ride in the summer. And think they’re a rebel when in reality they’re a dentist with a house in the country and a small yacht.

It’s easy to jury rig luggage including makeshift panniers. - but - you will need to ensure that the pannier or bag hanging on the exhaust side does not touch the exhaust. That might mean some form of frame - or something - to keep them apart. Otherwise it’s almost certain to melt if it’s any kind of plastic. Once you have panniers of some sort then a large bag. Perhaps one of your duffel bags across the entire width will carry a whole load of gear. I use a 59 litre and that contains all my camping gear.

Just a quick follow up, we’re now up to my self imposed limit of 8. So if you’ve been prevaricating, sitting on the fence. Times up.

maybe try again next year.

40 minutes ago, Simon Davey said:

A what? 

Tinternet search is as clueless as I am. 

 

At a guess.. spellchecker couldn't cope with the word Gilera. Its a 125 from the early 2000s.

51 minutes ago, Simon Davey said:

We should recognise though, that these battery optimisers cycle the batteries. 

Unlucky If you disconnect when it's just discharged the battery,ready for a recharge. 

Ive never come across a battery optimiser that discharges the battery as a part of its normal operation. what they do is charge the battery and then periodically check the battery as it normally discharges over time and add a bit of juice as and when necessary. They keep it fully charged over the months of winter.

What they do not do is load test. which in simple terms is measure the actual power of the battery. so a dying battery might show 12 volts or whatever it is but the amps. the oomph to drive the starter motor isn't there. Most bikes nowadays have ABS and that does measure the Amps as part of its initialisation test. so if you start getting ABS errors at start up even if the bike starts fairly normally its often a sign that the battery is on its way out. Normally all it takes is a short ride and then the ABS will set. This state of affairs slowly gets worse and eventually the bike will struggle to start. When I had the GS - ABS start up faults were always an early sign that the battery was beginning to die.

Optimisers are good at what they do - but they don't do everything.

Depends on where you're going and how much time you have. My usual strategy is to get to the best bits as quickly as possible. though having said that last year we did the exact opposite and heading first for the Somme - we used ordinary roads - no motorways from the tunnel  and basically wandered south east to our eventual first stop at a place called Sezanne. This then put us within easy reach for day two of the French Alps We were doing perhaps 200 miles per day give or take and camping so there was no need for pre-booking or having to stop early to find a room. just a matter of - when the time was right, looking for the nearest campsite and rolling up. So that meant the days could be fairly long and completely stress free. Better fuel milage as we didn't use motorways. no tolls to pay. easy. Once you get south of Paris.. or its line of latitude the landscape gets a lot more interesting. though I was not disappointed by the route we took from the Tunnel on day one. And our first campsite was only €7 and walking distance from the town centre for a meal.

I’m far too busy spending money on”expensive ornaments” to think about bike gear. But having said that I have some history with Oxford clothing. I don’t own anything made by them now and I wouldn’t list anything made by their clothing arm as an option for me. Nothing.

1 hour ago, smallfrowne said:

I think I'll put all the savings made straight into champagne right away

I will keep that in mind the next time we are wandering the streets of Eperney late at night. 

European breakdown - absolutely frabjous. Congratulations to all concerned. Reading all that I was in the edge of my seat, poised at a moments notice to rush out and buy some travel sickness meds. Huge sighs of relief and a lowered risk of palpitations. No alcohol was consumed. 10/10

your mother must be so proud.

I don’t have an immediate answer. Older bikes are often tricky. The devil hidden in the small print.

However, it can sometimes be best to go with a specialist - you might pay more, but when your bike is something of an outlier then this is mostly just part of the landscape you inhabit.

Carole Nash have always dealt with insuring older bikes. There are other insurers that do the same, for example Footman James. And their comprehensive policies normally include full rescue services. Both at home and in the EU. Not simply roadside. Or carriage to the nearest garage. But they will take you home and if necessary pick the bike up from your home and deliver it to your designated garage at a convenient time.

it might be that the ease of dealing with a specialist who covers all eventualities goes some way to offset the higher premium cost.

If they carry no branding then you’re stuck I’m afraid. They could easily be fake “made in Italy” from a website like aliexpress or temu.

soft panniers generally have loops on top, usually two of them for straps to go through and these straps lies across (or occasionally under) the pillion seat.

if they don’t have these attachment points then they might have been sold with the purpose of sitting on the lid of metal panniers as a little extra capacity. It’s difficult to tell without seeing them in the flesh - so to speak.

After almost 6 years, seems the best way to maintain the battery in my bike is to ignore it completely. Though I imagine the fact that it has nothing connected that might be drawing power has helped. Somewhat.

I often get mocked for saying this (on Facebook)but when I see people talking about the tool kit they got with their Africa Twin or other Japanese bike. And replacing it. Or improving it. I always say keep the screwdriver even if you replace everything else - keep the screwdriver as it will always be a JIS. And the right size for the few fixings that need it. The most important of which is probably the brake fluid reservoir lid.

1 hour ago, Bungleaio said:

 

I will be in Germany with @Gerontious and possibly @bonio and @smallfrowne who I wouldn't have met if it wasn't for this forum. So although I can't support this event I am sort of on another  forum related event.

 

Yes. It’s an unfortunate clash of dates. I’ve been doing these trips since 2011 and every year it’s been the same week. (Aside from during Covid) The first full week after the August Bank holiday.

£300 isn’t bad for an aftermarket seat. My own, which is a Sargent would cost me £420 today. Got mine second hand just before brexit kicked in for £250 second hand from a guy in Finland. The high price is mostly related to the seat pan, each bike has a unique base so it costs. A wunderlich will have been made in Germany. I think they use Kahedo to manufacture them and I think it’s pretty certain they don’t pay their staff minimum wage, it’s all relative.

Kahedo make seats for German made BMWs as well as those sold by Touratech. And a few others. Good stuff. With some actual care going into the design of their non oem seats.

14 hours ago, Nick the wanderer said:

One of the things that I keep noticing on this forum is Honda motorcycles really suffer badly from rust.

my bike will be six years old in November and has spent its entire time from new living outside under a cover, which a recently augmented with a tarpaulin as the cover has begun to leak. It’s survived this remarkably well, with some discolouration only on a few of the fasteners. No rust that I can see. I’ve not used any preventative treatment on it. Tend to wash it and just allow it to dry naturally. The only rust I’ve seen thus far is on added parts. Most notably the exhaust hanger which came with them scorpion can. I don’t tend to ride it when the roads are being salted and usually wait for the inevitable rain to wash it away. The worst Honda I’ve ever seen for rust was a Brazilian bike. It was called a CB450DX this was back in the 90s and I was given that piece of crao as a courtesy bike. I felt insulted to have to ride such a wreck. Can’t say I’ve seen many more modern Hondas with corrosion problems. It’s usually the fasteners that people complain about. Or the chain which has suffered from neglect.

I had an IXS jacket quite a few years ago. It was ok. Very much at the budget end of the scale and on sale so seemed a bargain. But it was nothing special. As for their helmets. No idea. Though I would assume these are a generic, made by who knows? with the IXS sticker put on them. Will they be good? I can’t say. They will at least be adequate and meet the safety standards. I would rather go for a known brand. A specialist helmet brand I mean and there are so many of them to choose from.

1 minute ago, Fiddlesticks said:

I tend to find that if you leave it for six months it magically fixes itself

That offends my OCD.

That’s the cooker clock adjusted, now for the bike.

Insurance is, at the moment artificially high. I guess the multi-millionaires who underwrite the policies are feeling the cost of living pinch. Have you seen the price of a 1947 Petrus? Shocking.

jokes aside. Many people have seen their policies double over the past year or two. Obviously because every policy is unique to an individual some will not have seen these increases. But many have. £400 is not an extortionate amount for someone with zero ncb. Because as far as the insurers are concerned you are an unknown risk and will remain so until you prove yourself.

seems a false economy to me to pay however much for a bike and focus totally on the cost of insurance. As if that’s the most important factor of all. It isn’t.

A bike (above 250cc and less than 5 years old) is now a luxury item. There are scales of luxury and a tourer is fairly high on that scale. Insurance reflects that. If my insurance were to double again, would I pay it. Yes I would. With much cursing and a bit of dramatic foaming at the mouth. But what choice is there?

my thoughts. Forget about insurance for the first year. Get the bike you want and worry about insurance after you have made your choice. Use comparison sites to find the cheapest possible premium then phone them up and try to get it further reduced. And then. Don’t ride like a twit. And don’t ever leave the bike on display as it’s just a matter of time until the wrong person sees it. And if it’s nicked. Well you might think insurance is bad now…. It’s nothing compared to what comes after a theft.