What did you do to your bike today?

[Mickly]

2 hours ago, Joe85 said:

Dilemma - Titanium headers or not? 
 

The full system on my S1000R was obnoxiously loud on a cold start as the engine would overrun at high revs for 30 seconds (which the M1000R also does) before settling down to something more civil.

 

However, the Euro5 bread bin does a great job of making the bike sound like battery powered drill. That, and it looks absolutely hideous. 
 

Alternative (and for a similar price) is a aftermarket end can and a carbon bellypan to cover it up.
 

 

 

Do it Do it Do it

[RideWithStyles]

4 hours ago, veracocha said:

As standard, clean as a whistle and 23 plate. An inch will do it so will have to fork out for the Lust Racing kit. 

have you check it's actually at std? more often than not they aint off the factory floor.

so if you or nobodys knows :

 std fork pre will be 15mm from adjuster top to the cap(large nut below the rings) with the rebound 6.

shock is 4 with the rebound at 1+1/4 out.

 

now if the shaft is really clean, is the bumper kissed and smooth or has it leaving an noticeable imprint? if so id recommend you go up a notch on the preload and look at the front forks and see how much travel your using...

 

2 hours ago, Joe85 said:

Dilemma - Titanium headers or not? 
 

The full system on my S1000R was obnoxiously loud on a cold start as the engine would overrun at high revs for 30 seconds (which the M1000R also does) before settling down to something more civil.

 

However, the Euro5 bread bin does a great job of making the bike sound like battery powered drill. That, and it looks absolutely hideous. 
 

Alternative (and for a similar price) is a aftermarket end can and a carbon bellypan to cover it up.
 

 

 

you've only got the bike (and service unlocked) so i wouldn't rush to it if it was me.

personally i'd leave it as is due to the "bread bin" is doing nearly all the sound deadening and removing that even to a sports cat can really make it awkwardly antisocial and annoying for any decent trip but each to their own.

 

from the sounds of things you've already made you mind up and don't need the approval nor the poke of encouragement from us.

[Tinkicker]

Aspen fuel arrived and I drained the tanks of both DTs and the house standby generator.  The missus benefitted by three gallons of free petrol in her fiesta.

 

At £6 a litre, obviously you cannot run anything like a motor vehicle on it full time, it is prohibitively expensive, but I just put a litre in each and ran them for 10 minutes to get them hot and the fuel systems filled up with the new fuel.  If I do not touch them again for five years, the fuel will still be good to allow them to immediately fire up.

 

I can report excellent results, running wise.  Aspen is very clean burning.  The generator was only run a fortnight ago so started second pull, but after draining the tank and running the carb dry, it certainly sounded smoother and quieter with the new fuel in.  DTs were as crisp as before.

 

It is far better for your health too.  It has 100x less harmful components in it.  Oddly, it does not smell very much either and looks like water.

 

Draining your lawnmower, strimmer, chainsaw ect fuel tanks and carbs at the end of the summer and filling them with a litre of aspen fuel is cheap insurance for an easy start next springtime.  Carbs and fuel system gaskets do not dry out, so no leaks next year and aspen does not corrode carb bodies, block jets or dissolve plastics and rubbers.

 

Recommended.

Edited February 24, 2024 by Tinkicker

[S-Westerly]

7 hours ago, Joe85 said:

Dilemma - Titanium headers or not? 
 

The full system on my S1000R was obnoxiously loud on a cold start as the engine would overrun at high revs for 30 seconds (which the M1000R also does) before settling down to something more civil.

 

However, the Euro5 bread bin does a great job of making the bike sound like battery powered drill. That, and it looks absolutely hideous. 
 

Alternative (and for a similar price) is a aftermarket end can and a carbon bellypan to cover it up.
 

 

 

Go for it but will you still have a cat ? I ask because the Guzzi has a hideous cat box and there's a very sexy system without a cat at all but..... In Europe this could be a serious issue. Not interested in being loud just the looks. Otherwise there's a stainless cat cover which at least makes it look better.

[RideWithStyles]

the the cat is the sounder deadener naturally so if you minus that when the bike was designed for it to pass EU noise noise and emissions reg you are totally fooking that right up and making it an unbearable, embarrassing right from the off..and good luck getting that mot passable without putting it back to std every prior mot..just from experience from many transport variants. 

[S-Westerly]

What I thought. Bugger.

[John Metcalfe]

On 23/02/2024 at 23:36, RideWithStyles said:

and to relocate!

We moved to fully Tunisia in 2021 after having a villa since 2016. Best move we ever made, relaxed way of life, good riding weather all year round, and only just over 2 hours from that big sandy playground called the Sahara. Plus we're only a 10 hour ferry trip to Sicily which then gives us access to the rest of europe either by ferry or just simply ride across Sicily onto mainland Italy then access to just about anywhere our hearts takes us.

[S-Westerly]

Glad you are happy but North Africa isn't my cup of tea. I prefer more northern climes. 

[Trooper74]

On 10/02/2024 at 18:55, Simon Davey said:

 

Can you rest your feet up on them? 

Great moment arms to bend the frame there …… the more they stick out the more damage will occur at the mounting points.  Just my experience …. 

[Mississippi Bullfrog]

I like to support local retailers whenever I can so I didn't order fork oil online. After all, J&S is just round the corner.

 

But no, they don't stock 10W fork oil, only 5W. Why?

 

Halfrords it is then. But oh dear, they only have 1 500ml bottle in stock, enough for one fork. That's not much good. 

 

So it's back to ebay and a litre bottle is on the way. 

[Simon Davey]

15 minutes ago, Mississippi Bullfrog said:

I like to support local retailers whenever I can so I didn't order fork oil online. After all, J&S is just round the corner.

 

But no, they don't stock 10W fork oil, only 5W. Why?

 

Halfrords it is then. But oh dear, they only have 1 500ml bottle in stock, enough for one fork. That's not much good. 

 

So it's back to ebay and a litre bottle is on the way. 

 

Isn't 5W "better" than 10W?

I thought it was to do with keeping viscosity under temperatures.

A 5W 30 will keep it's viscosity at lower temperatures longer than 10W.

I would be heading back to J&S

Edited February 25, 2024 by Simon Davey

[RideWithStyles]

nope....better why you ned to ask..

nope not quite, it varies.

thats the rough idea but depends on brand, quality and what is was designed for...

Edited February 25, 2024 by RideWithStyles

[S-Westerly]

I think fork oil is often bike / suspension specific.  According to Moto Guzzi and Ohlins my folks should be 7.5 W Castrol oil. As I'll never be the one dealing with it I don't worry too much.

[RideWithStyles]

thats the fluid they put into your bike from the factory...which one of their "grade" is another matter.

even if you took it a dealer including if its a multiple brand dealer so its no guarantee that they will use that oil again, as its not the most common or easier to source than say motul but others are available and not to say its crap but most of the bigger players have a cheapest option available for mass production -what goes in the factory is the cheapest. Now guzzi from my knowledge don't quite have the same buying power of volume so generally they go bigger buys in aftermarket versions which is very good.

so what does a dealer do, just  fill it with what they got there on the shelf thats the nearest to it...thats even if they bother to do it, as most ignore it because even the manual says no (when really the know they should do it or its just one of those who thinks fook it they wont notice... 

[RideWithStyles]

13 hours ago, Mississippi Bullfrog said:

I like to support local retailers whenever I can so I didn't order fork oil online. After all, J&S is just round the corner.

 

But no, they don't stock 10W fork oil, only 5W. Why?

 

Halfrords it is then. But oh dear, they only have 1 500ml bottle in stock, enough for one fork. That's not much good. 

 

So it's back to ebay and a litre bottle is on the way. 

j and s and sportsbike can just get it delivered to you or the shop it you ask for it, they are good at that.

halfords....yes well.

you could ask a dealer or garage near you, theyll happly sell shite over the counter....its still money for them.

[Mississippi Bullfrog]

I have tinkered with various grades of oil and found what works for me best in that bike. The thing about delivery is that you don't need a lot of it and it isn't expensive so you end up paying half as much again for delivery charges - hence I'd rather buy it over the counter. But if they don't keep it in stock then it's readily available on ebay. 

 

Then again, there seems to be inconsistency between what the numbers actually mean anyway. I've ordered some Smith & Allen which I've used before.

[RideWithStyles]

exactly which is why to assume they are all the same or what you put in is really ideal for what the user wants or needs.

[S-Westerly]

I went to Smith and Allen's place in Darlington when I had the Multistrada which was a bit of an oil burner.  I bought 10 litres for the cost of not much more than a litre of Shell equivalent.  They told me they blended lubes etc on the premises and labelled it for various brands except the oil majors such as Shell. As there is no chance whatsoever that I'll be playing with my suspension especially as its electronically adjusted I'll leave it to the guys who do it. I really don't care what brand goes in but I'd prefer the correct weight of oil as that is presumably what Ohlins designed the system to use.

[Pie man]

Applied some XCP yesterday and today rode it to work. I have decided to go back to using the bike for work, I hate being in the car, traffic on my commute is horrendous. Obviously as the days get longer and the weather starts to improve, my ride home naturally gets longer 

[RideWithStyles]

12 hours ago, S-Westerly said:

I went to Smith and Allen's place in Darlington when I had the Multistrada which was a bit of an oil burner.  I bought 10 litres for the cost of not much more than a litre of Shell equivalent.  They told me they blended lubes etc on the premises and labelled it for various brands except the oil majors such as Shell. As there is no chance whatsoever that I'll be playing with my suspension especially as its electronically adjusted I'll leave it to the guys who do it. I really don't care what brand goes in but I'd prefer the correct weight of oil as that is presumably what Ohlins designed the system to use.

some bikes are happy to burn abit, some brands of oils burn more than others, depending on how the engine was designed and which oils were selected at the OM spec. so for some it might not matter as long as its in spec of X ml to 1000miles.

you can blend them if you know what youve got (the characteristics of those oil) and what your end result your after...some might just see it a negative reason of re selling or something else.

 

Thats the point...they aint all the same.

so one garage goes meh close enough...

they have different characteristics which is great when you know what you want it do do for whats inside, if you dont thats why sometimes people think hey why does this feel so different/terrible now? its a good chance its sue to this..

some units and people are more sensitive to adjustments than others so its really down to the user to make what they want of anything.

 

if you go to use a ohlins cert service garage you have a very good change of them using an ohlins oil, reasonable so if the dealer/garage has a long history with the brand.

nothing scary inside those forks as just a plain cartridge system with a wire and a small solenoid to move the valve for you, not much different to a AMT / DCT gearbox system really or if your familiar with an automatic preload adjuster.

Now if its a magnetic system then it gets a bit more complicated and special oil...

 

Edited February 27, 2024 by RideWithStyles

[S-Westerly]

Still have zero interest in touching my bike's forks. 

[RideWithStyles]

[veracocha]

I fitted "rifle sight flip up covers" to my auxiliary lights. Simply flip the cover when I want white light and flip em down when I want yellow. 

[Joe85]

I went with an end can over te full system; i really cant be arsed with remapping and all that jazz.

[husoi]

MOT yesterday with a clean pass and road tax today.

 

Bit of advice. Do your MOT on a garage that doesn't do repairs on bikes.

They are more likely to just do the MOT without trying to stich you up with useless unnecessary repairs.