Don't waste too much time with this, unless you're into videos of motorbike crashes. Just go straight to 8.08m
Well, I suppose it was bound to happen, but some idiot just hit me on the bike - stationary traffic, I was filtering down the middle (no more than 10-15mph) and he decided to suddenly turn right as I passed him. His excuse? He was “hedging”, not turning - hmmm, maybe he needs to think about why he was at right angles to the rest of the traffic, then
Anyway, it all happened pretty quickly so I couldn’t stop, although I did manage to steer the bike to the right as we made contact. No damage at all save for a sore hand, although he completely lost his mirror. Thank god I kept the bike up!
Looks like there's a new Daytona 765 on the way
I'm planning to get Arai's dark smoke visor for my Axces 3 helmet, as it'll give me more choice in respect of (prescription) glasses when it's bright/sunny. I also think dark visors look quite cool.
I note that it's not road legal, so I'm wondering if the police ever bother stopping anyone for wearing dark visors given that I see them pretty much everywhere these days. Whats the attitude to this particular risk amongst the TZ biking brotherhood?
Well, I've been meaning to sort out a helmet cam for a while, and I now have all the bits I need... Ion Air Pro 3 camera, memory card, external (Drift HD Ghost) external microphone and an accessory mount kit which is needed for the right-angled mount to go on the side of the helmet. I bought the camera from an Amazon Marketplace seller for £99 (a superb price, and he has another one listed), and in total I've spent a tad under £150 for the whole lot.
I'm just charging the camera, and will then get it and the mic fitted to my helmet before taking it out over the weekend for a test. I've never done anything like this before, as aside from general recording for safety reasons I'm also going to have a stab at starting a YouTube channel.
I don't know how many of you are subscribed to Ryan/FortNine's YouTube channel, but to my mind it's one of the very best (motorbike related, of course). This is a fascinating review of the Husqvarna Vitpilen 701, worth watching until the very end.
Well, yesterday was a day of drama (as those in the WhatsApp group will already know) but I thought I'd share what happened here, as I know I'm not unique in having done this and it may serve as both a warning and a reminder.
I had an appointment in the morning for which I'd parked my bike outside and - given that there have been some thefts in the area (Barnet) I thought I'd better take some precautions; so the steering lock was activated and I put a disc lock on my front wheel and a padlock on my rear sprocket. I came back out after an hour or so, and thought I'd have a quick vape and check my email before I set off again. Anyway, while I was doing so a car proceeded to park immediately adjacent to my bike. He initially backed in, pulled forward and the reversed again; however, he didn't seem very happy and so carried on manoeuvring, getting ever closer to the bike in the process.
I was watching him with increasing concern, and decided that the safest course of action was to just get away before an accident could occur. I therefore popped my helmet and gloves on and - spotting a break in the traffic - gave the bike a bit of throttle. Unfortunately - and I guess because I wasn't following my normal thought process - I neglected to take the locks off the bike. The front wheel was fine as the lock didn't have time to reach the calliper, but the rear sprocket... well, not so much.
Not good, and what made it worse was that this happened two days before the TZ ride-out that I've spent ages organising. I was bloody mortified.
I called Hertfordshire Triumph to see if they had a chain and sprocket kit in stock, but they didn't and couldn't get hold of one before next week. I explained that I HAD to be on the road for Sunday, and they suggested that I try Woburn Pure Triumph to see if the could help. Lo and behold, they had the kit in stock, and told me that if I could get there for 3pm (it was now mid-day) they would get be back on the road the same day. I couldn't believe my luck, and immediately called the RAC for a recovery vehicle to take me up to MK. They confirmed that they could help, but as they considered the incident to be my own fault they weren't prepared to regard it as a "breakdown" and would charge me £232 to get me and the bike to where we needed to be. I was absolutely livid - I've been an RAC member for 18 years and rarely make a claim - but my hands were tied; I therefore told them to proceed, and I'm now taking the issue up with them. If I don't get a full refund I'll be taking my business elsewhere at the end of the current term for sure.
The driver arrived after about an hour and a half. Despite me stressing no less than thee times (to different people at the RAC end) that they would need to make sure they sent someone who could relay a motorbike, his first words were "Oh - it's a bike". I could have cried, but luckily the guy knew what he was doing and after a bit of head scratching we managed to load it up, tie it down and get on our way.
We arrived at the dealership at 3.02, so an absolute result given the uncertainty. The guys there were brilliant (one of whom I knew from The Triumph Forum), and sure enough it wasn't long before I had two new sprockets and a nice shiny chain fitted to the bike.
Well, by now I'd incurred a fair amount of cost, pretty much doubling the initial recovery charges and feeling a bit sick as a consequence. However, as I was leaving the showroom to go for a walk while the repairs were carried out, something shiny on the wall caught my eye. It was something that I'd wanted for as long as I've owned the bike, and I decided to ease the pain of the unexpected expenditure by, errr, spending a bit more. For this.
Yes, I've ditched the horrible stock exhaust, and had a Yoshimura Alpha T fitted instead. They left the baffle out and it sounds INCREDIBLE... so much so that I may be forced to put the baffle back in... we'll see about that one. In the meantime, I have a few more horses, a bike that sounds divine and a weight gain (or loss) of about 4kg in the process. I also managed to turn a horrendous day into something a bit more positive, and I doubt the grin I had on my face as I rode home will be leaving any time soon when I'm on the bike.
The lesson here, though? Well sadly it's an obvious one
On Thursday I went for a test ride on this mechanical marvel (2019 KTM 1290 Super Duke GT).
It's not to everyone's taste visually but it is an immensely capable bike.
On Monday week I'm testing the new Diavel 1260s
Last edited by Stanford; 24th March 2019 at 18:36.
Want to hear the exhaust?
Had an interesting day yesterday - nipped over to the Bike Shed quite early in the day with Ian, and then we rode across town to the Ace Cafe. Heavy traffic but the 9T handled it well with lots of filtering and some rapid nipping in and out of, and around the endless lines of cars. I did feel it a bit by the time I got home, although some of that will just be the inevitable tension of a first central London ride on a new bike.
Another quick phone shot from the end of the day...
Going to take Bea for a ride later today
BSB live on Quest now.
https://www.justgiving.com/fundraising/steven-bennett12
He’s got more gear than when I was Don R
Best of luck to him.
The best bike is the one that makes you take an extra 20 mile detour when you are nearly home just because you don’t want to stop riding it.
The one you get off and you can’t resist a glance back as you walk away.
The one one that you find any excuse to go and polish it,tinker with it or just ride down to the chip shop.
You can tour on anything but where’s the fun in doing it on a gold wing,yes you can go further but unless you judge it by distance it’s not the point.
If you like bikes you will love this.
Freddie Spencer at 18,an early go pro camera,the sound of those bikes and the corkscrew.
Best watched on YouTube.
Just about to take Bea out for a ride for the first time (I've already had both my son and my sister riding with me, so not a first in terms of taking a pillion). Ten miles out, brunch, and ten miles back... I'm not sure who's more nervous right now
Some hardcore trail riders on the Santander ferry yesterday they where no spring chickens either,wish I could do it.
Brittany ferries where again superb.
image storage
For anyone who hasn’t seen the other thread...
TZ bikers weekend
Anyone using one of these and if so, what’s the thoughts
Looking two get 2 units
Jim
Ignore me - somehow I posted in the wrong thread.
Last edited by dickbrowne; 26th January 2020 at 00:30.
Well, given that I postponed a trip into town today (it's going to be sunny on Monday, so...) I did a bit of tinkering with the bike instead (excuse the state of the bike, but it's being serviced tomorrow so I'll let the boys at Lind Motorrad do the cleaning!).
Firstly, off came the rear subframe, to be replaced with a low (aftermarket) exhaust hanger...
and then I replaced the stock plastic oil filler cap with a milled (BMW) alternative.
I’d go Speed Tripe R. Couple of mates have had them and swear by them.
I get my kick from a new Aprilia Tuono V4 Factory and in winter my KTM 450 Exc.
None are bad choices - enjoy.
Some nice fresh reasonably clean air over Kent, today.
Fresh service and MOT too:
Anyone know Bolt Motorcycles in Stoke Newington, or fancy popping down there for a gander one day?
Just ruminating whilst I await an update from Triumph, but just worked out that the Speed Twin is 4 stone (actually, 57 lbs) lighter than the R9T. That's a huge amount of weight saved, and no doubt why it felt so manageable, both in motion and at a standstill.
Well, just a little update on my next bike ponderings (albeit that I'm more than happy to keep my present steed, which has fitted the bill perfectly well for some 14 months now)...
I do fancy the Speed Twin very much, having spent a few hours on it a couple of weeks ago. However, Triumph seem unable to offer me a meaningful-enough financial incentive to make an impulse purchase, and if I'm going to be paying full whack on it I'd rather wait until times are a little more comfortable in terms of financial security. I have to admit that I'm surprised there isn't some tangible movement given that the world's been in lockdown for so long, but it seems that the Speed Twin is a bike that they can't get into the dealerships quickly enough as every man and his dog apparently wants one.
The other major temptation over the past week has been an almost new and completely mint CCM Flat Tracker... gorgeous bikes that defy convention and look like custom builds... also made in very limited numbers (in fact, our own @madeofcheese has one, and he's about to be joined by another TZer who's awaiting delivery of something very special). Buying this one would just mean that I'd need to sell the 9T privately but given how lovely a bike it is I don't imagine that would be a problem. However, I've reluctantly concluded that a CCM might not be the most practical of choices for an only bike that's ridden all year, and I don't fancy keeping it outdoors under a Ridehide rather than in a heated garage where it belongs (damn my ex-wife wives!).
It looks, then, like I'll be continuing my love affair with Tangerine Dream for the foreseeable future. I can't say I'm particularly disappointed either - it's a gorgeous bike that's been really nicely modded and is now almost one of a kind.
Can I ask for some thoughts on tyres, please? My current stock Metzeler Z8s are nearing end of life, and I've been thinking about what to replace them with. Initially I thought I'd just pop some Road 5s on, but then I started thinking about what I actually need. It seems to me that I don't need to worry about squeezing every bit of speed out of the bike, because it's not that kind of bike and I'm not that kind of rider. However, it would be nice to feel a bit more confident on less than perfect roads, light green lanes, gravel, etc as I do find myself in those environments reasonably regularly and when I am I'm never happy on pure road tyres.
Accordingly, I've been pondering over fitting some dual purpose tyres (70/30 or 80/20, so mainly road use), and have a shortlist that comprises the following:
- Continental TKC 70
- Pirelli MT60
- Bridgestone Battlax AX41S
- Dunlop New Mutant
Any thoughts on/experience with any of these, or the decision to go with dual purpose generally?
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