What did you do to your bike today?

[S-Westerly]

On 21st October I ordered a gel seat pad from Motea in Germany. It went " missing" and between Motea and UPS I kind of lost the  will to live or at least to go on endless circular arguments about why I hadn't received my goods. Turned up on the doorstep today and seems to be what I was looking for. I'll test it on my next northerly trip on Thursday. 

[Stu]

Refitted the drive shaft all greased up and sealed all the rubber boots with the stupidly expensive grease BMW use  

[Bianco2564]

Fitted a new gel battery to the Honda, not quite oem but its out of sight.

Need to devise an insulator for the positive terminal, bit too close to the frame for my liking.

Not run it since September last year and it started 3rd kick.

Pic of its hidey hole under my bench.

 

 

Edited February 8, 2022 by Bianco2564

[onesea]

14 hours ago, Bianco2564 said:

Fitted a new gel battery to the Honda, not quite oem but its out of sight.

Need to devise an insulator for the positive terminal, bit too close to the frame for my liking.

Not run it since September last year and it started 3rd kick.

Pic of its hidey hole under my bench.

 

 

For an insulator can you get some over sized rubber or silicone hose that you slide up the battery wire connect battery then slip back down over nut? And terminal.

[S-Westerly]

1 hour ago, onesea said:

For an insulator can you get some over sized rubber or silicone hose that you slide up the battery wire connect battery then slip back down over nut? And terminal.

When I was boat building I used heat shrink sheathing which worked pretty well. Alternatively just a generous wrapping of insulation tape should do the job.

Edited February 9, 2022 by S-Westerly

[S-Westerly]

Replaced my headlights with H11 Osram Nightbreaker Laser bulbs. In daylight they look much brighter. Have to see how they perform on Friday night. Have a shorter predicted life span but given the few hours I am actually using full beam lighting I don't really see this as an issue.

[Mississippi Bullfrog]

I came across a guy selling the genuine Triumph clock and temperature gauge which they seem to have stopped supplying a while ago. Turns out he's only about 20 miles down the road from me so I can pick the up personally. They'll look nice on the Bobber. 

 

It has a clock in the digital display but it's a faff scrolling through the options just to check the time.

 

 

[DR1]

It was another sunny day so I went an parked it in front of a few old stones. 

[DR1]

[Bianco2564]

9 hours ago, onesea said:

For an insulator can you get some over sized rubber or silicone hose that you slide up the battery wire connect battery then slip back down over nut? And terminal.

 

7 hours ago, S-Westerly said:

When I was boat building I used heat shrink sheathing which worked pretty well. Alternatively just a generous wrapping of insulation tape should do the job.

 

Cheers guys, yes was thinking along the same lines.

We have allsorts of plastic and rubber sealing caps at work, sure I can find something that works.

[linuxrob]

Bit of a dry spell so gave the GS125 it's February clean early. Only 2 weeks since the last good cleanup and re-ACF50 but it was looking a disgrace.

Off came the chain for a good looking at so i could go to town with the cleaner. This is it's 6th winter with me and 15000 miles older.

A few before shots

Detail rear view.

To get all that chain lub (gear oil) off I use a toothbrush and a surprisingly small amount of Diesel. Then sprayed the whole bike with Bilt Hamber Auto Foam with my pump sprayer, worked degreaser into the rear wheel and tyre while the cleaner soaked in. A further spray from the pump sprayer, rubbed in with a soft detailing brush. Finally a rinse with the power washer set to a wide low pressure jet.

After a quick cup of tea a good going over with my noodle wash mit and wash and wax then dried with airline / drying towel.

Got the polish out and did the paintwork, then plastic with a silicone polish (Mr Sheene). Autosoled the exhaust and popped the chain back on.

After lunch went round with AFC50 on a cloth and small brush, inspecting things as I go.

I know it will look yuk soon and that back wheel will be caked in lub in a few miles but it put a smile on my face today.

Here's how it looks now.

[S-Westerly]

I fear your definition of a disgrace is a tad stricter than mine! Looks very smart afterwards.

[S-Westerly]

Had a decent ride north today with better weather than expected.  Bloody windy once north of Doncaster.  Had a decent ride cross country on the Fosse Way to Leicester then motorway to Wetherby. From there A and B roads to Barney. Nice and sunny but supposed to be bloody cold tonight. Might be a cautious ride tomorrow morning to Morpeth.  Probably stick to main A roads as could be ice about. Not a million miles from here I've written off 2 cars on black ice.

Edited February 10, 2022 by S-Westerly

[Bender]

52 minutes ago, S-Westerly said:

Had a decent ride north today with better weather than expected.  Bloody windy once north of Doncaster.  Had a decent ride cross country on the Fosse Way to Leicester then motorway to Wetherby. From there A and B roads to Barney. Nice and sunny but supposed to be bloody cold tonight. Might be a cautious ride tomorrow morning to Morpeth.  Probably stick to main A roads as could be ice about. Not a million miles from here I've written off 2 cars on black ice.

Roads were bad this morning, gritters have been out. 

[S-Westerly]

15 minutes ago, Bender said:

Roads were bad this morning, gritters have been out. 

They surely will be tonight. What joy. Then it's pissing down on Sunday. May postpone my southward journey until Monday. 

[Bianco2564]

Found just the thing for the Honda battery terminal in the garage, a silicone rubber sealing cap we use at work.

 

[S-Westerly]

This mornings ride north was not bad. Brass monkeys cold but the roads were dry so not bad. Coming home this pm the usual hideous mosh on the Western By-Pass had me bail out of the direct route and come back.by way.of the A68. Not a bad run at all and mostly in daylight.  The last few miles in the dark showed the Nightbreakers as a definite improvement.  

[Mississippi Bullfrog]

Went for a ride to collect the clock and temperature gauge for the Bobber.

 

There is a clock in the multi function display but I like something I can glance at without needing to cycle through all the options.

 

 

[geofferz]

Went for a blast in both of these today. Bloody cold though. 

[Breezin]

On 09/02/2022 at 12:20, S-Westerly said:

Replaced my headlights with H11 Osram Nightbreaker Laser bulbs. In daylight they look much brighter. Have to see how they perform on Friday night. Have a shorter predicted life span but given the few hours I am actually using full beam lighting I don't really see this as an issue.

Put one of those in mine about a year back. Found out when the bike was being serviced that it had blown (I hadn't been doing any night stuff) -- so I had been riding around with no light during daytime.

They replaced with standard, and tbh I don't really notice much difference, even in the dark over the winter.

[Mississippi Bullfrog]

17 minutes ago, Breezin said:

Put one of those in mine about a year back. Found out when the bike was being serviced that it had blown (I hadn't been doing any night stuff) -- so I had been riding around with no light during daytime.

They replaced with standard, and tbh I don't really notice much difference, even in the dark over the winter.

We moved to a rural location in March 2019 which was when I upgraded my headlight bulb with a Halfords 150% brighter bulb. It's still working fine and certainly makes a significant difference to night time riding on unlit rural lanes. 

 

I keep toying with trying a yellow bulb to make a more distinctive light in traffic.

[S-Westerly]

4 hours ago, Mississippi Bullfrog said:

We moved to a rural location in March 2019 which was when I upgraded my headlight bulb with a Halfords 150% brighter bulb. It's still working fine and certainly makes a significant difference to night time riding on unlit rural lanes. 

 

I keep toying with trying a yellow bulb to make a more distinctive light in traffic.

The original oem headlights were utterly useless. They were basic Osram bulbs. The replacements are Nightbreaker Laser and on unlit rural roads are a significant improvement. Hopefully they'll last as advertised and I do have 2 headlamps and 2 day notice lamps so single failure is not total blackout.  Also I check them when the bike is warming up and I carry a spare.

[S-Westerly]

The weather forecast lied. It pissed down with rain from Barnard Castle all the way to past Leicester.  Heavy rain combined with heavy traffic producing tidal waves of spray saw me bail out from motorways to smaller roads. To add insult to injury when the rain did stop I was heading unto the setting sun so couldn't see f**k all anyway. Tomorrow I get to ride to South London.  Can hardly wait.

Edited February 14, 2022 by S-Westerly

[S-Westerly]

More bloody rain. At times felt a snorkel would have been useful. Bike is filthy.

[Breezin]

23 hours ago, Mississippi Bullfrog said:

 

I keep toying with trying a yellow bulb to make a more distinctive light in traffic.

Was thinking of doing that myself... I saw one on a bike the other day, and it was the most noticeable object in the street.