Throttled

Happy birthday.

Fitted a sissy bar.

I saw a demo of the bootlifts at the Scottish motorcycle show. For them to work, as in stay securely on your shoes, you need a shoe with a solid sole, toe and heel. They need structure to clamp onto, and would crush a soft shoe. They would not work with Skechers sneakers, for example.

Rode it 101 miles, to scrub in the tyres;

The saga is over.

I prefer quieter bikes and think very loud exhaust, not just on bikes, are anti-social.

Could lighter be substituted with a lower centre of gravity? I find manoeuvrability is easier, the lower the centre of gravity. I also think I will eventually get a scooter, which is both light and has a low centre of gravity.

Problem with the heated grips snagging on the extra wide handlebars, so a version with a longer cable is being couriered, and that means another day's delay. Mine is quite possibly the first to be fitted with heated grips. The grips come from Ultimateaddons, who are apparently based in Ullapool of all places. At least they have a long cable version in stock.

It is in the workshop getting its PDI and accessories fitted and I get it after work. Then straight up Loch Lomond for a ride.

That is the part when I can fault the dealer. I had no idea it got so busy, but they will have, so they should have made space to prepare the bike as soon as I ordered it.

They were advertising for two mechanics last month. Their workshop has lost space, after they stopped being a dealer for Royal Enfield, Moto Guzzi and Aprilia. What was a workshop is now a showroom/office. Victor Devine Honda is the only bike dealer in the Glasgow area that has not changed premises and the make of bikes they sell, since I started biking in 2010.

A mechanic has phoned in sick, so no longer getting the bike today. Hopefully tomorrow, but I am not going to be the only person they have had to cancel. I had no idea dealers get so busy this time of year, or is it just the one I use?

Took the Benelli TRK702 loan bike I have out for a spin. It reminds me of the Kawaskai KLE500 I had, light, fun, eager, but not ideal for long distances.

Went in today to pay and there is still no workshop space, so it is a week today to get the bike. I was told about someone who recently bought a Vogue and did 600 miles in a week, phoned to arrange the first service and was given a date 5 weeks away! He was furious when he told he would invalidate the warranty if he kept on riding it before it could be serviced. I will book the first service for mine when I collect it and 5 weeks will be easily enough to do 600 miles.

No, I do not think that is unreasonable to complain about.

There are some motorcycle ergonomics sites so get an idea about riding position. This one has the Africa twin as; https://motonomics.com/simulator.php "Knee Angle:90° Hip Angle:118° Body Tilt:0° Calculated Seat Height:868 mm" and the Versys 1000 as; "Knee Angle:85° Hip Angle:115° Body Tilt:5° Calculated Seat Height:850 mm" That suggests the Africa twin has even more leg room. I have sat on one and it felt as spacious as the Versys 1000.

Do you mean it got rattly and things were literally coming loose?

I watched some review videos and it is not really a cruiser, as the foot pegs are below the rider.

The Versys is now with the dealers and I have a loan bike till I get the new one in two weeks time, unless a space frees up in their workshop. I have a Benelli TRK702 which is rather nice. It feels much more nimble and lighter than the big Versys, but obviously down on power and not as smooth. I see Benelli now do a larger engined version of the 502C cruiser, called the 752S. The Chinese owned brands are slowly getting bigger engines.

The only bike I have owned or ridden that I never felt the need to lower the pegs, is the Kawasaki Versys 1000. It is still possible to get fittings to lower the pegs.

What is a reefing handle?

I watched a YouTuber review, who said that shipments of the bikes are months apart and selling out on arrival. It maybe they are victims of their own success and cannot keep up. Bar some name changes, the exact same bike, down to the Metzeler tyres, is being sold in China, India and everywhere in between. It has only recently come to Europe. Maybe it has also been affected by the semi-conductor shortage that has affected so much manufacturing?

I always worked it to get my bikes service in November/December, when they drop their labour rates by 20% because the number of bikes needing servicing, work drops off a cliff. I have been there when the mechanics were sitting around with nothing to do. Come the motorbike show, then Easter and all the fair weather bikers coming out and demand goes through the roof. This would not have happened if the deal was done come the autumn as demand drops. If you booked your bike in for a service now, how long would it be before you could get a slot?

That is the part which is most annoying, that the dealer did not book the bike in to get the work done as soon as they knew it was being delivered, rather than waiting nearly a week for me to get back from holiday and ask when I could take it away. I know they are very busy, so they push work into the future and I also think it suits them to have it on display. They have also ended their Royal Enfield dealership status, so the size of the showroom has more than halved.

I just got a quote of £180. I am 58, live in a low risk area and it is for a new bike.