Pbassred

The road have been very quiet in terms of bike lately. I think I saw 2 on my way to work this morning. During the summer you couldn't move for bikes on the North Circ. How else do they commute? I'm most surprised that the Scooters have disappeared. What are those huge, square boxes for if not deliveries?

Well, I COULD go to my local bike shop by they tend to make a meal of these things. Plus I didn't buy the tyre from them ( they made a mess of that last time too.) My local car place won't touch bikes. Are they all like that? I can take the wheel off myself. Where could I take it other than another bike mechanic? I didn't think it was going to be an issue!

Have you told the Aviation industry? they need to know! Seriously - you cannot damage a thread using the correct torque settings if you use the wrench correctly. Most wrenches these days are break-back. Once they click, that's it. Torque setting are calculated my the manufacturer to standards depending on thread size and material. There is usually loads of leeway too. Where I work we have a 10% tolerance. If it strips its because it was cross threaded, dirty going in, or corroded. I bought a small one for my bicycle that goes up to 25Nm with a 1/4 drive and I have just bought a 3/8 on that is 8 - 110NM. My rear wheel nut is 80NM so its all covered. With a 10% tolerance it doesn't need to be super accurate either. You just need to resist the temptation to give it a little more "for luck"

Vanilla version it is then.

well that adds some (more) confusion. I have a Pilot Road 4 on the rear and was going to by a Pilot road 5 on the front. Then I found out that they dropped the "pilot" from the title. Then I found out that the have just added a GT version for "heavy touring bikes". What does that even mean? Bikes that weigh a lot or bikes that tour heavily? Is there a downside? I have a CBR500R. Not particularly heavy or powerful but I'm commuting just over 1000 miles a month. So "GT" or plain?

On the biker down course they showed us a great shot of 2 Police bikes in blue/yellow checkered scheme. They say that the purpose of camouflage is to break up the outline That's exactly what that did. I think the thing about yellow is that its everywhere and everyone wears it so people tune it out, so it just blends in. Also the space between 2 cars is bright so no change really. Pink on the other hand ......

I'm been looking at old posts than mention Autoglym leather cleaner and treatment. Does it stand the test of time? The trouble is those old posts never update. I could bump them but I doubt is those contributors are still active. Does anyone have experience of long term use? What about Nickwax?

O really don't care what you don't what to wear. That wasn't the question.

I'm not really interested in track days, but I might do a couple if its going to teach me something. Neither can I see my self hacking around the roads In full leathers, so I'm not inclined to spend a huge amount of money on a set. I thought about used. Is that too ickey?

Velcro fastening won't last beyond 40MPH. I realy meant a bikers vest. I suppose I could buy a heavy zip and DIY.

A few weeks ago I went on a bikerdown course. One of the titbits that came out was that since every on and his dog is wearing yellow hi-viz now its become urban camouflage. The most effective colour is actually pink - except that no one sells it in men's sizes. The assumed logic is that no man would wear it. Well I'm a bad mutha, hell has no fear for me, and I'm confident in my sexuality and I reckon I could rock pink. Does anyone know where I could pick up a reasonably priced pink Hi vis in a non boob fit?

I just got PM'ed from someone who said that they want to send me their product for free so that I can review it. It sounds suspicious, but I can't see what the angle is. Stranger things have happened.

I was talking to a guy about his Honda CB500 ( not a big bike). He had 80,000 miles on it until a car wrote it off for him. He reckoned it was still perfect. My own CBR500R has 9K on it now. I've been plotting the MPG since it was at 600 miles . Its still increasing, so its actually getting better. I think it will be properly run in at 15K.

my advice is always to bide a bicycle for a while first. You will develop balance positioning skills and (6th) road sense.

I thought I'd pointlessly bump this post since my Russian neighbor just brought us back some nice biscuits from his holiday in Italy. Anyway Brexit hasn't happened yet. but we voted to leave because life outside the EU would be more profitable, democratic, and restore our sovereignty. There is no Irony AT ALL regarding the suspension of democracy to push through a no deal exit while we go cap in hand to the Americans again. I'll just wait here. Biscotti anyone?

125, industrial estate, tennis balls cut in half, many hours, the more Look where you want to be. Be one with the bike. It will go where you tell it. Also, you can do it. You have done it. Lay off the special fuel and ride the bike like you know you can. There is a saying among musicians:- " An amateur practices until they get it right. A professional practices until they can't get it wrong."

Ah. That was either the autosmell, or I typed it at the manufacturing Engineering office. If I pedal I prefer a 65mm crank.

I love my CBR500R. It corners well, its sporty without being aggressive, its fun on the twisties, It will cruise all day at 70 and its comfortable. I have a barbeque rack on it and I just bought a pannier rack, I've only had it for 8 months so I'm not finished wringing the joy out of it yet, but ....... There is a point when I get away from the twisties or out of the city and onto the boring highway and up to about 85mm when I don't want to be working quite that hard. I'd like the same bike just a little more power please. 70BHP? I'm not sue I want to go to the CBR600RR. An aggressive 4 in line where you need to rev hard to get anywhere. The VFR is a wonderful engine but the bike is just ....fat. Ideally Honda San would take the parallel twin and make it a bit bigger or stick another cylinder on the side and make the same bike as a triple (mostly the same parts). What should my new bike be?

There is something to be said for that. It depends how much you are able to combine the lesson with thinking for yourself. If the money went into quality practice I wouldn't complain.

You can't practice until you get through the CBT. I'm with Bender on the bicycle idea. Its not a question of months. It could be days. Any old sh1t bike will do. Just get on it and ride. Not even fast. Balance is most important at LOW speeds. its moving off and stopping that causes most people difficulty. Also looking from side to side. You need that for your shoulder checks (lifesavers). When you can ride a bicycle in a figure of 8, stop and put your foot down you are a good way into riding something with an engine. Good luck.

Note: to Moderators If there is a better place for this please shift it. This course is promoted by Bennets insurance who give a discount to their customer and run at various locations by the California Superbike School. I think it cost about £120. Event joining instructions were clear and well presented. They didn’t mention lunch. There wasn’t one but some people expected one. Not for that kinda dough buddy! Additionally there were a couple of people who expected there to be some on-track riding. I don’t know why they thought that. It was fairly apparent to me. By the way, you won’t find Youtube videos of these events. Social media is strictly banned. One safety grounds, they don’t like helmet cams either. The material taught was pretty much straight out of “twist of the wrist”. The fundamentals of 2 wheeled engine driven machines haven’t changed so it’s still relevant. To be honest this was a basic version of it. If you are the sort of rider who spent hours watching Youtube videos from the likes of MC rider, Motojitsu, Life at lean etc. you know this stuff. What you can’t do on the open road is practice it in a progressive way (do, fail, learn, repeat – plot the alert curve”). You also don’t get feedback from the open road except in the expensive way. There were about 6 instructors and safety was paramount. During the practical they were on hand to “yellow flag” riders to give them coaching tips. Many different bike types represented. Sports, cruisers, adventure, street. Also, different skill / commitment levels represented, from very experienced to riders who recently passed their test. The course was also open to CBT riders but none attended that day. I think that this is possibly their Achilles heel. Riders were grouped before we arrived, without this information. A learner on a cruiser behaves very differently to an experienced rider on a sports bike. Obviously these are opposite ends of the spectrum but given that there were 20 people of mixed ability in a group on a course the size of a small skid pan and the whole thing starts to resemble a pizza delivery contest on the North Circular road! Too crowed to achieve the flowing control that they are teaching. Sure, I can filter with the best but that’s not what the course is about. What do you do to create space? Back everyone up behind you and then take a run at it, or pullover and wait for a gap, or overtake until you get in front of the slow guy (takes time and put him under pressure. None of those are a substitute for space. Some people left before the end. A lot were talking about it. What they could have done was to book less people on the course or divide the groups by similar bike type. You might get similar speeds. It really did bring home to me the differences between bikes and the kinds of people who ride them. What else … They specify that you come with a full tank of gas. I rode 23 miles on the day. Would I recommend it? To some people yes. Certainly new riders, since they don’t teach this stuff on the test. Cruisers who have never been concerned with getting a knee down also need this. Heavy bike need heavy skilz. For quicker riders? I think that there is a missing course to be run for people who already learned the theory:- “Advanced cornering for street bikes”. Less people, a slightly higher price tag to allow for that, and a longer circuit. Maybe Ron Haslam should pick that up.

I'm not actually doing a track day but going a training event at a track - a CSS cornering course. They say arrive with a full tank. That gives me 300 miles. Could I possible burn more than that?

Really? Its 2019 guys. We trying to encourage women onto bikes not objectify them. Could we please remember which century we are in?

I struggled to nail the MOD1 stuff. Actually the thing that got me was the long turn on the run-up it seamed stupid fast. . All I can recommend is to find an industrial site when its quiet and practice on the 125. Its just repetition. I used split tennis balls for the markers. good luck.

If you think this is bad, wait until Brexit either happenes or doesn't. Either way, the natives will be revolting.