dwb

Try http://www.sportsbikeshop.co.uk.

Appears to be dozens of size 36/38 leather jackets.

Dave

Cat and fiddle - Its local and famous(ish)

Ponderosa - North Wales is stunning

Tan Hill - Highest pub in England with great roads

Seaways at Fridaythorpe.

Any cafe in Hawes

Hartside near Penrith

Squires, Newthorpe, Sherburn in Elmete

Coastriders Cafe, Wimbourne, Cropper Road, Blackpool, Lancs. FY4 5LB

LONDON ROAD INC, 63-65 London Road South, Lowestoft, Suffolk, NR330AS

The Green Welly, Tyndrum, Perthshire FK20 8RY

The Pit Stop Diner, The Pier, Arrochar, G83 7AB

Carbeth Inn, Stockiemuir Road, Blanefield nr Glasgow G63 9AY

willingham woods just outside market rasen

Ace Cafe, London - crap roads but fantastic atmosphere and food

Oasis cafe, Abergavenney bus station. Popular stop any weekend.

petrolheads bagilt north wales

The Buccleuch Arms Hotel, High Street, Moffat, Owned by bikers, fantastic food and drink.

The Glen Cafe, A708, St Marys Loch, Beautiful location amongst some of the regions best roads.

The Green Tea House, Moniaive, DG3 4EJ, Eclectic food and drink, good roads nearby.

The Burnside Tea Room, Glasgow Road, Sanquhar, DG4 6BZ. Close to good roads

The Drovers Inn, A82, Inverarnan, G83 7DX, Historic hostelry, lots of character, good food

The Seaforth Pub at the Pier, Ullapool, best fish i ever had, the A835 is one of the best roads ever.

The Super Sausage. The cafe is situated on the A5 in Potterspury, Northamptonshire,

Jacks Hill Cafe just up the road.

Loomies Cafe - A32/A272 south of Alton Hampshire

H Cafe - Dorchester on Thames nr Abingdon (OX10 7LY) - also next to a bike accessories shop

Got back from a long ride last week and was shocked to find that my rear tyre was completely shot - the rubber had worn right through and you could see the metal band around at least half of the tyre. I thought it wasn't as grippy...

Anyway, too risky to ride to get a new tyre, so googled for a mobile tyre service in the Thames valley and stumbled across GS Motorcycle Tyres in Wokingham.

Found a couple of stellar on-line reviews and booked them for first thing this morning. Gary (the owner) was very friendly and knowledgeable, turned up on time, replaced the tyre in less than 30 minutes, competitive price and overall agreat service. Would definitely recommend to anyone along the M4 corridor - looks like he covers this sort of area:

I've got the Zumo 550 - good piece of kit. Not used Tom Tom's Rider to compare it with, but most reviews seem to favour the Garmin.

Doesn't look like you'll get much change out of £400 (e.g handtec.co.uk, but out of stock). satnaveasy.co.uk is selling the Zumo 660 for about £380 ('remanufactured' whatever that means) with 12 months warranty.

Or take a gamble on a used unit on ebay I suppose.

Dave

I live in Bracknell (someone has to), so if you fancy a spin just PM me.

Cheers dwb, Sounds like an offer I cant refuse.

Just out of interest what do you ride?

Triumph Speed Triple - am around weekend after next if you're free. PM me if you are.

Rgds

Dave

I live in Bracknell (someone has to), so if you fancy a spin just PM me.

The geometry of the rear suspension varies with different bikes. As the rear compresses most will tighten the chain. If you over tighten the chain you will not only put strain on moving parts but you may lock up the rear suspension giving you a hard tail.

 

and to add to this some swing arms flex when you loosen the rear wheel nut making the chain loose and they tighten the chain when torqed back up always remember to double check once you have tightened everything up suzuki's are known for this

That's much clearer. My advice is don't forget to flunge the trailing thrupple, ensuring that the grimble-load sprocket is turned counter-clockwise to avoid any undue pressure on the cocknut-splines.

Two cannibals are eating a clown. One says to the other:

"Does this taste funny to you?"

Triboseat - got one, bloody brilliant. Best £12 I've spent on the bike. You stick like glue.

Come on Triumph owners, where are you?

Out of idle curiosity what is the most popular/common make of bike amongst the forum members?

You can select up to 4 makes if you are lucky enough to own more than 1.

1. Triboseat (pillion)

2. Oxford battery Maximiser/Optimiser

3. Keis heated inner-gloves

Yep, all in fee. They even provide leathers, helmet, boots, gloves if you need them (or don't want to risk your own). Only extra cost (optional) is official photos (£20).

Dave

Sounds interesting mate. How much was it??

Stu

£279

I did an every-man-for-themselves track day at Brands Hatch a couple of years ago and hated it - not enough riding experience to exploit the track, worried about trashing my own bike (which I couldn't insure for the day) and too many tosspots in a "my c*ck is bigger than yours" competition (5 of which totalled their bikes - smart move lads,). I gave up after 3 of 5 available sessions and vowed not to do another track day.

True to my word, today I went on a Premier track day at Ron Haslam's Race School at Silverstone. What a fantastic day!

Brilliant organisation, the bikes are phenomenal (Honda CBR600RR), 1 instructor to 2 riders, the instructor was focused on improving your skills, and my cornering has improved 10-fold (hanging off the bike despite the picture below!) - building cornering confidence was the main reason for going on the course.

I would recommend this to anyone considering their first track day, or like me, someone who lost their nerve the first time. A bit expensive, but I will definitely do this again. Do it, do it, do it!

Anyone else been on the course recently?

http://img130.imageshack.us/img130/4599/jen2111.jpg

would you say i could use them inner gloves as winter ones (not connected when worm) connected during chilly mornings and nights

and put something over the top during the colder months?

You've lost me there! Couldn't use them on their own - def inner gloves.

Dave

My winter gloves were big enough but I'd say they add about the same bulk as a pair of regular woollen gloves. I've added some other comments on this post:

http://www.themotorbikeforum.co.uk/viewtopic.php?f=32&t=35163&p=619117&hilit=keis#p619117

Had dealer-fitted heated grips on my previous bike - warm palms but freezing fingers!

Didn't bother on the new bike, so tried Keis heated inner gloves - bloody brilliant. Easy to connect to battery.

Yes, if the MP3 device and headset support Bluetooth A2DP technology, you're in business.

I was shocked when my Nokia streamed music through my headset!

From what I can see the Galaxy is A2DP compatible, but according to the Cardo site the Scala Q2 isn't (but the Q2 Pro is). Presume you don't have the Pro?

Dave

I also use a Kriega - takes all the strain through a chest harness (not just a strap). Waterproof etc. Bomb-proof (that's not meant to be a sick-joke) but not the cheapest.

http://www.infinitymotorcycles.com/images/products/medium/3_Kriega_R25_Harness.jpg

I wasn't impressed by their winter motorcycle gloves

http://img839.imageshack.us/img839/5641/fingerlessgloves001.jpg

Other than acting as a deterrent/stopping your bike being nicked (which is pretty damn important), don't assume you'll save much money on your insurance premium. When I insured my new bike, I asked how much I'd save if I had a Thatcham approved alarm fitted by the dealer. The answer, "nothing!".

Still worth spending a few quid for peace of mind.

I just leave mine in the front garden and do my best to disguise it.

http://img801.imageshack.us/img801/9383/imgp0159i.jpg

All the time (on the bike) - Have got Hein Gericke leathers with TFL Cool system - together with the vents I do not overheat at all in the summer. Use a waterproof over-suit when really wet.

I'm also a fan of Joe Rocket mesh jackets - infinity motorcycles sell them

e.g. http://www.infinitymotorcycles.com/product/joe-rocket-cleo-ladies-mesh-jacket/580

I've got a Garmin Zumo 550 - Covers UK and Europe. Designed for bikes and easy to use with gloves. Various mounting options. Decent battery life but got it wired in to the electrics so not an issue any more.

Nice extra is that it comes with a PC app called Mapsource that allows you to create routes and download to the sat nav. This is really useful if you want to plot a route that isn't the shortest or fastest!

Speed-cameras and other POI can be downloaded from various web-sites.

Had it bluetoothed to a Scala headset but gets irritating pretty quickly, so I don't bother with audio.