What did you do to your bike today?

[Trooper74]

28 minutes ago, Mississippi Bullfrog said:

What did I do to the bikes today?

 

As Fr Jack would say - Feck all.  

No K in Fec .....

[Bianco2564]

Put a deposit down on this

Kawasaki 250R

2014, 10700 miles.

Pick it up next week .

Decided to retire the scooter, needs a new back wheel, once I got the disc off, the rim is so badly corroded there isn't a decent surface left. Rest of it is getting a bit tired so decided to treat myself.

 

 

Edited January 7, 2023 by Bianco2564

[John Metcalfe]

Decided to take the K11 for a ride out since the weather was a balmy 22C. After a "healthy" breakfast we set off to the CWGC cemetery at Medjez el Bab which is a steady 2hr ride from our house. My wifes granddad served with the Desert Rats at El Alemein and then into Tunisia followed by the Italian campaign, he was one of the lucky ones and managed to return home to his family.

As a veteran myself visiting these cemeteries gets rather emotional for me having lost friends in recent conflicts, along with family members having served in both WW1 & WW2.

[MikeHorton]

1 hour ago, John Metcalfe said:

Decided to take the K11 for a ride out since the weather was a balmy 22C. After a "healthy" breakfast we set off to the CWGC cemetery at Medjez el Bab which is a steady 2hr ride from our house. My wifes granddad served with the Desert Rats at El Alemein and then into Tunisia followed by the Italian campaign, he was one of the lucky ones and managed to return home to his family.

As a veteran myself visiting these cemeteries gets rather emotional for me having lost friends in recent conflicts, along with family members having served in both WW1 & WW2.

Looks like a great ride out. My Uncle was a desert rat with the Staffords and was in Africa and Messina, he lost a lot of his friends in Italy the only thing he really ever mentioned. Hope they all have some peace in rest now

[John Metcalfe]

The wife's granddad was in the Royal Artillery and after the war ended he stayed in Italy as he refused to fly home saying that he had seen enough planes fall out the sky, he eventually came home by ship. He suffered later in life with what he said was Parkinsons, but we think it was what is now known as PTSD. he also said he couldn't drive but his records had him down as a driver, we think that it wasn't that he couldn't drive but that he didn't want to drive after what he had been through.

Now that we've retired and have some "spare time" we are planning to follow the "route" he took through Tunisia and into Italy. We are also looking at a trip to France to also follow where my Great Uncle was in 1918 when he was KIA and his body was never found meaning he is mentioned on the memorial in Soissons along with over 4000 British soldiers who also have no known grave.

 

[Bianco2564]

Insurance?? They must make it up.

My multi bike policy with Carole Nash is due for renewal in 10 days, renewal was £312 which was fully comp on the R1,RGV, 380 & SS125, not too bad, gone up £25 from last year. My plan was to stop riding the R1, the riding position is just too much for me now, so rang CN up to change the R1 to the Kwaker. So going from a 150hp bike to 33hp, I assumed it would be a bit cheaper, despite it being newer and upping the mileage from 3000 to 8000.

No, none of it, £120 more.

[MikeHorton]

52 minutes ago, John Metcalfe said:

The wife's granddad was in the Royal Artillery and after the war ended he stayed in Italy as he refused to fly home saying that he had seen enough planes fall out the sky, he eventually came home by ship. He suffered later in life with what he said was Parkinsons, but we think it was what is now known as PTSD. he also said he couldn't drive but his records had him down as a driver, we think that it wasn't that he couldn't drive but that he didn't want to drive after what he had been through.

Now that we've retired and have some "spare time" we are planning to follow the "route" he took through Tunisia and into Italy. We are also looking at a trip to France to also follow where my Great Uncle was in 1918 when he was KIA and his body was never found meaning he is mentioned on the memorial in Soissons along with over 4000 British soldiers who also have no known grave.

 

Great plans to follow in the footsteps of some great people, not many left now to learn from. Can't even begin to imagine what they must have seen and how they dealt with it on times where these issues were not recognised. If I got chance to see any particular war graves/sites I'd love to see Gallipoli 

[dynax]

Just a general question, I have ruled out the stator on Xena, but I can't get to the reg/rec  just yet as I need to empty the tank to be able to take it off, but in the meantime are the reg/rec universal in which case I could buy a new one they're cheap enough, so I have it ready when I can get around to doing it, cheers.

[Bender]

28 minutes ago, dynax said:

Just a general question, I have ruled out the stator on Xena, but I can't get to the reg/rec  just yet as I need to empty the tank to be able to take it off, but in the meantime are the reg/rec universal in which case I could buy a new one they're cheap enough, so I have it ready when I can get around to doing it, cheers.

Plenty universal ones. 

[Tinkicker]

Got the DT175 out into the back yard and started it up.

 

Got it warm, looked around at the grey, dismal, damp surroundings, switched off the fuel and ran it till the carb ran dry.

 

Put it away again.

 

That is quite enough winter biking for me ta very much.

[oldgrump]

15 hours ago, Bianco2564 said:

Insurance?? They must make it up.

My multi bike policy with Carole Nash is due for renewal in 10 days, renewal was £312 which was fully comp on the R1,RGV, 380 & SS125, not too bad, gone up £25 from last year. My plan was to stop riding the R1, the riding position is just too much for me now, so rang CN up to change the R1 to the Kwaker. So going from a 150hp bike to 33hp, I assumed it would be a bit cheaper, despite it being newer and upping the mileage from 3000 to 8000.

No, none of it, £120 more.

Hi @Bianco2564, ever thought you need to change your insurance company? I was with Carole Nash for about 15 years, until prices kept going up, try Peter James insurance, because everything you have is a classic, so I would have thought they would be well cheaper [depending on your age etc], but currently paying £130.82 for 2 x VFR800, 1997/2000, 1 X SV1000 2004, and the CBR400RR, 1988. 

Fully comp with European and UK breakdown cover, and no mileage restriction's.

And yes adding a newer bike can increase the premiums, because the R1 is classic so should be cheap cheap.

 

[Bianco2564]

@oldgrump yes I have moved companies before,Swinton and Carole Nash. Have tried various others who do multibike, inc Footman James before but they have been uncompetitive. Will give Peter James a go. Thanks.

Tried just doing a quote for the 250 on its own, fully comp, 8000m pa , best was £91

Just changed the bike to the R1, same conditions, £161

 

[oldgrump]

25 minutes ago, Bianco2564 said:

@oldgrump yes I have moved companies before,Swinton and Carole Nash. Have tried various others who do multibike, inc Footman James before but they have been uncompetitive. Will give Peter James a go. Thanks.

Tried just doing a quote for the 250 on its own, fully comp, 8000m pa , best was £91

Just changed the bike to the R1, same conditions, £161

 

HaHa did my first online quote last year for a laugh, £148.00 no breakdown cover and that was for 1 VFR800!!!!!, and my VFR's works out about £35 each with Peter James, been with them since he split from Footman James,

I know sometimes peoples quotes are miles different to what you think they should be, but give them a bell.

[Stu]

sorted some corrosion on a few parts 

 

 

 

 

 

Then checked the valve clearances and reset all the valve timing as it was slightly out 

 

Common for these to go out slightly as mileage increases 

 

Easily reset with the correct tools 

 

 

[Davidtav]

I rode it. Took it to call in at some friends for a cuppa. Around 50 miles round trip. Really made me feel much better

[JRH]

New front tyre fitted. Michelin PR5. Handles soooooo much better now. No dropping into corners.

[Ian Frog]

Arranged some gold Dymags for the Rex.

Can`t wait loved the lighter wheels when I had them on the Harris.

Cheers

Ian

[onesea]

Put one up for sale

 

Then got 10 phone calls enquiring about my recent accident (thank you Gumtree).

[Fiddlesticks]

Started stripping down the XJR for its winter service.

 

Going to have a go at shining up the aluminium hangars. First step, get stuff a bit cleaner.

Rear tyre off. Couldn't get the disc off despite 24hrs soaking in WD40.  Didn't want to break anything so cleaned it in place.

 

The new tyre looks a lot less square. Looking forward to riding it and not feeling like I'm constantly fighting it in the bends.

 

Had enough for now. No great hurry.

Edited January 10, 2023 by Fiddlesticks

[Mississippi Bullfrog]

Due to a series of family issues I haven't been near either bike since the beginning of October. I haven't had time.

 

But today I had to get to a meeting so I got my trusty old Honda CBF500 out. It fired first time and only needed a bit of air in the tyres and the chain oiler refilling.

 

It was good to be out on a bike again.

[Throttled]

Winter maintenance run. Half an hour, get the oil flowing, engine warm and battery topped up.

[Bianco2564]

Picked up the Kawasaki this afternoon, managed to dodge the torrential rain on the way back.

Ran fine for the 60 odd miles from St Neots to Rugby, will just have to recalibrate my riding, much like a two stroke with no bottom end go, need to keep the motor spinning. Sat on the A14 at 60-70mph, engine was doing 8-9000 rpm for 55 of those miles, did sounds rather alarming for a while.

It will be fine for the commute, might see 60mph on a good day between here and Banbury.

It's got a much bigger tank than the scooter, I have to refill that every two days, hopefully might last 3.5 - 4 days .

Will give it a good once over tomorrow. Checked the service history, looks like its been looked after at Chris Walker Kawasaki, several invoices for work done. 

My first Kawasaki, joins the Honda,Suzuki and Yamaha in the garage.

Only saw one other bike out, a Triumph Trophy? or something overtook me and gave a thumbs up.

 

[Joe85]

Bought some Paint Protection Film for the GS. Annoyingly the cut-outs appear to be a micron to big, particularly where it needs to fold over a corner.

 

It doesn’t help that I’m toilet at applying it, either.

[veracocha]

Stripped my seat down and shaved an inch of foam. Delighted that I can now flat foot it and it looks perfect to boot. 

[MikeHorton]

2 hours ago, Joe85 said:

Bought some Paint Protection Film for the GS. Annoyingly the cut-outs appear to be a micron to big, particularly where it needs to fold over a corner.

 

It doesn’t help that I’m toilet at applying it, either.

I had mine applied I didn't think I'd be up to the task that did a good job cost £200 though