Does anyone commute into central london

[mitzy]

These Polite vests seem to be on the increase.

And whats with people wearing their Go Pro's on top the helmet , they look like tits.

And to the GS ride this morning trying to hussle past me in a space that was not there - back off you knob


And breathe.....

Edited by mitzy on Friday 29th April 08:36

[Reardy Mister]

And who is the lady on the kawasaki with the loud pipe and ponytail?

[creampuff]

High beam is irritating to everybody. Use it for its purpose - lighting up the road at night when there isn't any other traffic around!!

[bayleaf]

Reardy Mister said:

And who is the lady on the kawasaki with the loud pipe and ponytail?

Red hair? Used to see her daily.

[Reardy Mister]

bayleaf said:

Reardy Mister said:

And who is the lady on the kawasaki with the loud pipe and ponytail?

Red hair? Used to see her daily.

Dyed red.

She rides well. Wears a well-fitting textile jacket and jeans.

[bayleaf]

Reardy Mister said:

bayleaf said:

Reardy Mister said:

And who is the lady on the kawasaki with the loud pipe and ponytail?

Red hair? Used to see her daily.

Dyed red.

She rides well. Wears a well-fitting textile jacket and jeans.

Yup, she almost keeps up with the guys whenever I've seen her and is a lot better than the summer riders.

I've always wondered if she's attractive - in my mind she's hot and admires my riding style and panache in overtaking her. Probably a bag of spanners.

[xjay1337]

Here she is after a wash and polish next to the car.

20160430_134054-01 by Fat Bear Photography, on Flickr

Had to do a few bits with a dremel to get my £15 paddock stand to work. It's not perfect but it does the job for now until I can justify a more pricey one.

20160430_124639-01 by Fat Bear Photography, on Flickr

Took it to Tonbridge at the weekend and then my mate and I went to the big Hastings gathering - great time.
Even in the shoddy weather. The Pilot Road 3s are great
Put about 400 miles on the old girl.

The front brakes are very...um...crap?? Tried bleeding them but no avail.. they need a pressure bleed really...
But I have bought new EBC HH front pads, and a complete rebuild kit for both calipers so will be fitting new pads, stripping the calipers and rebuilding them as I understand these Tociko 6 pots can be..umm.....fiddly.. once it's done I'll take it to my local bike shop for a pressure bleed.

[Fleegle]

xjay1337 said:

The front brakes are very...um...crap?? Tried bleeding them but no avail.. they need a pressure bleed really...
But I have bought new EBC HH front pads, and a complete rebuild kit for both calipers so will be fitting new pads, stripping the calipers and rebuilding them as I understand these Tociko 6 pots can be..umm.....fiddly.. once it's done I'll take it to my local bike shop for a pressure bleed.

Try loosening the reservoir cap and cable tying the brake lever to the bar overnight. It might help

[xjay1337]

Did that. Doesn't work. :-(
I didn't loosen the reservior cap because that would surely just introduce moisture to the system?
The brakes were good for about 2 minutes after being cable tied over night.. went back to being st...

I suspect the calipers need a rebuild because one flushes through with plenty of fluid, the other doesn't, and what does come out often has little bits of floating gunk in it.

If we can't get them working I'll whack some Bandit 1200 4 pistons on there instead.

[Reardy Mister]

bayleaf said:

Reardy Mister said:

bayleaf said:

Reardy Mister said:

And who is the lady on the kawasaki with the loud pipe and ponytail?

Red hair? Used to see her daily.

Dyed red.

She rides well. Wears a well-fitting textile jacket and jeans.

Yup, she almost keeps up with the guys whenever I've seen her and is a lot better than the summer riders.

I've always wondered if she's attractive - in my mind she's hot and admires my riding style and panache in overtaking her. Probably a bag of spanners.

I have no such misconceptions about her admiration for me, as I waft by on a bmw tourer sporting a top-box that she could actually sleep in.

Edited by Reardy Mister on Wednesday 4th May 14:14

[fergus]

SuddsyMcFoam said:

Don't be a dick - everyone else is entitled to their own few square feet of Tarmac

Agreed, but if you can filter faster than them, and can get through what ever gap they seem to be pondering over, then I'd just go for it. I treat bikes and cars as one. If someone is slower, or obstructing you, then get round them. Simple.

If someone cares to not bother to use their mirrors, then it's easy to dip inside a few cars/bikes and pop out in front of them or use another lane. Sitting behind them revving your engine, or on high beam is just silly, as you could have made your move by then and be on your way....

[xjay1337]

had the um, "fun".... of rebuilding the front brakes.

20160509_161556_001 by Fat Bear Photography, on Flickr

20160509_194819 by Fat Bear Photography, on Flickr

All rebuilt now with fresh new seals, and cleaned as much gunk/corrosion from the inside of the calipers as possible.
Hopefully they aren't awful when they go back together!

[xjay1337]

Just to update.
First day in my new job.
Left at just got 7.45 and arrived at 9.31 (10am start)

Lots of traffic on the m4 I think on a good run we can get this down to 1h30.


Commuting in London was ummmm exciting? Parked on Lomax street lots of spacers there - thanks to whoever pointed that out, think it was someone who worked in the building.

Now just the joy of the ride home come 6.
Altho I did get a banging chicken and bacon panini.

[Fleegle]

My first day back on the bike for the commute after a 2 week lay off while it was having some much needed tlc.


So good to be back running the gauntlet

[lindrup119]

Also back on the bike after a short break here. North Circular west bound was the most fked I've ever seen it this morning. Probably because half term is over again, but definitely because of the fking roadworks at the Wembley junction where it's down to 1 lane.

[kiethton]

Well this morning was a little warmer than usual but there was no traffic = Grove Park - Moorgate in <20 minutes

[Dr Jekyll]

Is the sign on the A40 at Gypsy corner telling how long it will take to get to Regent's park always so ludicrously optimistic? Most times I go that way in the morning rush hour it says 10 minutes, this morning it said 8 minutes. With no traffic I might just manage it in 10, but even on the bike it takes much more than that in the rush hour.

[xjay1337]

supercommuter said:

Takes me 2 to 2.25 hours from Bristol to Central London (Bishopsgate), yesterday was a lovely ride in and did it in 2 hours. Used to take me much longer when I first started but you get to know where the gaps are and can make much quicker progress. Unless you get blocked by some tool on a GS with a Polite vest on wobbling down the traffic.

That's very good! You must be going a fair old pelt :-)

Also, unexpected thunder storms... yay! Lol

[happyWanderer]

xjay1337 said:

Also, unexpected thunder storms... yay! Lol

yeah, I was optimistic and came in kevlar jeans today...

Hopefully will clear up by 6ish.

[sjtscott]

Full on heavy rain and thunderstorm here in SE1.. actually call it central london
Of course always being prepared I have my full goretex kit (closing vent zips) and brought my goretex gloves with v wipe as a spare pair today ready for the expected wet commute home
Of course I suspect a number of the fair weather summer brigade will be caught out with little or no rain protection if it continues into home commuting time.