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Managed to successfully remove the wheels ready for having new tyres fitted today and I get a call from the centre to say the rear Pirelli won't be in until August. Will now try and find me some Metzeler 02SE this week instead.

I am replacing my tyres in the week and to keep costs down I intend to take the loose wheels in for the changeover. I have never removed the front before of a bike with disc brakes so can someone please confirm if the process is as follows? Loosen clamp bolt at bottom of fork Loosen axle bolt Chock up front Remove brake callipers x 2 Undo and drive out axle Remove wheel Is there any requirement to force back the pistons before refitting the brake discs?

I popped into the butchers today to get some offcuts for my ferrets and I asked the guy if he had a pigs head. He said "no mate, it's just the way I comb my hair"

I only use the bike (Tracer 7GT) for the occasional tour. Getting to Scotland and then touring all around it twice this year with a heavily laden bike might be the reason for the rear wearing. I often get overtaken by the 125 rider when on anything other than a motorway.

I was going to go full hog and replace both with Metzeler roadtech Se but it seems such a waste to chuck away a really good front. Thanks gents.

My bike came new with Michelin Pilot 4's and I now have slight squaring off on the rear but the front is fine. Is it ok to replace the rear with let's say a pilot 6, will it upset the handling?

That is good and indeed rare customer service. Not long ago I bought a pair of Swarovski binoculars from a UK dealer and on getting home I found the focus ring would not lock in place. The dealer registered the issue with Swarovski as he didn't have an identical pair to replace them with. Swarovski Austria sent a replacement pair to my home in three days without me having yet returned the faulty ones to the dealer. I mentioned on here also that Vantrue (front & rear motorcycle camera) sent me a complete rear unit f-o-c from China as I cut the rear cable fitting my top box rack. There are many instances of very good customer service out there.

It helped that I have gone to the west of Scotland for the last 30 years as a birdwatcher alone. The family are accustomed to me spending time in isolation and two years ago I returned to motorcycles. I have done the NC500 three times since March 2023 and will be there again in August. Throughout the year we have lots of small breaks together and always a holiday abroad which keeps things level. Having an understanding wife really helps me enjoy the hobbies that make life good. Those days away from her cooking are precious.

I pointed my bike toward the gate that takes us to the open roads in the morning. It's taken nearly a week for my new drive to be completed and I couldn't get her over the rubble and new tarmac until tomorrow. Roll on the morning sun.

I have been using the 30l for some time (over 7k miles) and it's been brilliant. No water ingress and everything remains tight fastener wise. I inserted a washing up bowl which I just slide out, makes getting at stuff so easy.

Packed the tent for four days in the lakes. A beautiful morning for the start of the journey.

Indian Motorcycles are having a demo day at Midwest Moto in Stourport. I have a 9 AM appointment with an FTR

With a driving style like that who knows; it might have took him over the threshold for a ban.

About 10 days ago a Range Rover sport driver was acting the big bollox and weaving through traffic at speed in a 30. He forced me to the side in his impatient attempt to beat the lights. I had it on my dashcam so I decided to upload it to the West Mids Police scheme and thought noting of it. I got a call from an Officer today who viewed the footage and confirmed the "nob" has now been sent a NIP for both going through two sets of red lights and having an illegal number plate. They then backed it up with an email saying he will have three points and £200 fine. Karma eh!

Took a ride out in beautiful sunshine and realised that my Tracer 7GT is all I need in a bike and chopping it in for an MT09 is a bit daft when most of my riding is touring.

I have the Vantrue F1 front/rear setup. 4k front, 1080 rear. App on phone and you're good to go. Integrates with google maps so you can see your travels in the map. Easy to setup and just recently I trapped the rear camera cable when I fitted my rear rack. Vantrue support sent me a brand new unit from China in less than three weeks, no questions asked even though I offered to pay. Brilliant aftersales service.

Took the bike in today (23 plate Tracer 7GT, 4079 miles) for an evaluation against a new MT-09. I was after £7k and the dealer offered £6.5. I'll give it the weekend to think about it but yes, your advice to take the bike to them was spot on.

Two weeks ago I sent out requests to four dealers who might consider a part exchange for a new bike. I have a 23 plate Tracer 7GT with less than 4k miles and lots of factory additions and my interest is a Tracer 9 GT. So far, not a single response. Is the used market so saturated that my bike has no value unless a private sale? My local Honda dealer, yet again, appear to have no interest in responding yet their website has a smorgasboard of used bikes that are of interest to me. I continually have Arnold Clark asking me to consider selling my Renault Megane so I don't get why bike dealers are sitting on their hands.

Happy St Georges day!

Classic motorcycle show in Stafford

My run of equipment failures continues and this time it's a second Keis Ultraflex jacket which gave up on me last week when I was touring the highlands. Left glove stopped working mid-ride. Plugged the left glove into the right hand socket and all fine so had to be the jacket. Contacted Keis support who said take it back to the retailer. Went into Sportsbikeshop Birmingham where the manager said it would have to go back under warranty. When he saw that it was my second Keis jacket failure since December he just got another one from stock as an advanced replacement and he would worry about the warranty. Superb service from SBS. I do have a concern about heated clothing and in two years I had 2 x pairs of Gerbing gloves fail just outside warranty and my first Keis jacker failed out of the box. Let's hope this one doesn't present any problems.

My issue is the little finger is hanging between the throttle and the lever. It wouldn't assist in applying pressure anyway but having it in the way could see it severed off in the event of a fall. Yes, during my mod-1/2 I was advised that all four fingers must be on the levers during operation.

Yes, a wheel with 1-5 but it's still a bit to far the get a full grip

I am struggling to reach a full four finger grip on my Tracer 7GT. The lever bends away at the bobble so much so I can only get three fingers over the handle. Are there aftermarket levers available that are less swept which might help? I bust my little finger a few years ago so it's not dextrous enough to lift over the lever easily so it sits between the lever and the throttle.

It beat me. The weather that is. I returned home today quite deflated but alive. The rain, although persistent wasn't the problem; it was the excessively high winds that tried their hardest to have me off the single track roads too many times. Even returning on the motorways had me crunching my torso battling to keep the bike in a straight line. You can't enjoy the views when it's like that so will have another go later in the year.