Discussion
Another decent run today. We did the reccy for the Triumph factory tour.
It was an early start for a Saturday — 7.15am at Shell Virginia Water — the route was borrowed from a fellow club member who lives near there, hence the convenience of running with his unmodified route.
The first half of the route was fairly tiring! Lots of little roads and natty surfaces — I was leading part of the way and my beeline caught me out a couple of times, too. Good news, a new one ‘Moto 2’ is being released soon which’ll have representations of the junctions, which’ll help a lot.
At this point, I thought we should check out Bicester Heritage as a potential coffee stop for up to forty riders — spacious and on theme. To get there, we took the beautiful A4421 from Newton Purcell — ruined by a 50mph limit and vehicles processional in their funereal journeys.
Upon arrival, everything is shut! Contrary to their website which says the bar is open from 10am on Saturdays
Still, the lack of folk meant opportunity for a snap
Due to an onsite trials taking place, however, there was a coffee truck open and they offered a wonderful hot chocolate. Yum.
Next try was the cafe at the Stowe Gardens National Trust cafe.
As I’m sure that you’ll agree, a fabulous place but alas, only open from 10am on Saturdays… slackers.
From here, however, the route improved markedly as the roads opened up and started to flow cross country, with the highlight being the stretch from Preston Capes through Priors Marston on Charwelton and Hellidon Road.
On these, the VFR was in its element — the recent refreshed suspenders from MCT really showing off their capabilities — stable, composed and predictable, ably complemented by the excellent Michelin Pilot Road 6
Once in Hinckley, we check out the Leonardo Hotel, which has a Triumph bar!
and the 1902 Cafe at the factory, which has a cool feature on the far wall — all of their production engines (under Bloor) until 2017. I zoned in on the Rocket engines.
Their soup and cornish pasties are great — I had two of the pasties. Nomnom.
The journey back, retracing our steps was even better as the roads were emptier.
We checked out the garden centre cafe — Buckingham Nurseries, which seems like a suitable venue for a stop
From there, we decided that the swift route home was in order. Thankfully, that meant the rapid M40 and easy M25.
A good day, new saddle is comfortable, bike is behaving very well indeed and controllability is excellent at both low and high speeds. Fuel consumption is continually ten miles per litre. I’d be interested to know what some of you are getting from yours.
It was an early start for a Saturday — 7.15am at Shell Virginia Water — the route was borrowed from a fellow club member who lives near there, hence the convenience of running with his unmodified route.
The first half of the route was fairly tiring! Lots of little roads and natty surfaces — I was leading part of the way and my beeline caught me out a couple of times, too. Good news, a new one ‘Moto 2’ is being released soon which’ll have representations of the junctions, which’ll help a lot.
At this point, I thought we should check out Bicester Heritage as a potential coffee stop for up to forty riders — spacious and on theme. To get there, we took the beautiful A4421 from Newton Purcell — ruined by a 50mph limit and vehicles processional in their funereal journeys.
Upon arrival, everything is shut! Contrary to their website which says the bar is open from 10am on Saturdays
Still, the lack of folk meant opportunity for a snap
Due to an onsite trials taking place, however, there was a coffee truck open and they offered a wonderful hot chocolate. Yum.
Next try was the cafe at the Stowe Gardens National Trust cafe.
As I’m sure that you’ll agree, a fabulous place but alas, only open from 10am on Saturdays… slackers.
From here, however, the route improved markedly as the roads opened up and started to flow cross country, with the highlight being the stretch from Preston Capes through Priors Marston on Charwelton and Hellidon Road.
On these, the VFR was in its element — the recent refreshed suspenders from MCT really showing off their capabilities — stable, composed and predictable, ably complemented by the excellent Michelin Pilot Road 6
Once in Hinckley, we check out the Leonardo Hotel, which has a Triumph bar!
and the 1902 Cafe at the factory, which has a cool feature on the far wall — all of their production engines (under Bloor) until 2017. I zoned in on the Rocket engines.
Their soup and cornish pasties are great — I had two of the pasties. Nomnom.
The journey back, retracing our steps was even better as the roads were emptier.
We checked out the garden centre cafe — Buckingham Nurseries, which seems like a suitable venue for a stop
From there, we decided that the swift route home was in order. Thankfully, that meant the rapid M40 and easy M25.
A good day, new saddle is comfortable, bike is behaving very well indeed and controllability is excellent at both low and high speeds. Fuel consumption is continually ten miles per litre. I’d be interested to know what some of you are getting from yours.
Edited by bolidemichael on Tuesday 12th March 22:44
Very impressive Rideout and I admire your commitment in the current weather and road conditions.
I wish I could say I was doing the same with mine but I took it for an MOT this week and the miserable bloke at the MOT station failed it for a slightly leaking exhaust. A quick message on the Facebook group identified it was likely to be the common problem with the exhaust gaskets at the rear where the header pipes join the collecting box. And sure enough that proved to be the case. They are a PITA to get to but one of them is leaking.
It's quite cheap to buy the gaskets but sadly you can only get them into the pipes by dropping the entire exhaust system which is a nightmare. The sequence seems to be removal of the fairings, brake calipers, front wheel, mudguard, drain the water, remove the radiator and then you can get access to the front exhaust header studs.
I wouldn't feel quite so bad if I hadn't recently stripped the whole of the front of the bike down to remove the forks and get the suspension refreshed and then reassembled the whole lot again ready to take it for its MOT.
I wish I could say I was doing the same with mine but I took it for an MOT this week and the miserable bloke at the MOT station failed it for a slightly leaking exhaust. A quick message on the Facebook group identified it was likely to be the common problem with the exhaust gaskets at the rear where the header pipes join the collecting box. And sure enough that proved to be the case. They are a PITA to get to but one of them is leaking.
It's quite cheap to buy the gaskets but sadly you can only get them into the pipes by dropping the entire exhaust system which is a nightmare. The sequence seems to be removal of the fairings, brake calipers, front wheel, mudguard, drain the water, remove the radiator and then you can get access to the front exhaust header studs.
I wouldn't feel quite so bad if I hadn't recently stripped the whole of the front of the bike down to remove the forks and get the suspension refreshed and then reassembled the whole lot again ready to take it for its MOT.
bolidemichael said:
Perhaps it'll be a good idea to douse it all in ACF-50 before re-assembling?
Absolutely, I'm currently cleaning everything up whilst awaiting my new exhaust gaskets from DPD. Amazing how much crud accumulates in hard to access areas. Even had to cut 2 fasteners off with an angle grinder as they were rusted solid so I can replace with new shiny ones.If you don't have a radiator guard I'd recommend one. My radiator has a small dent in it that is definitely from a flying stone. If I hadn't had the guard installed it would probably have got punctured and I've read that replacements start from £750 fitted, with used ones almost impossible to source.
Apparently used spares for this bike are generally rare because "they are ridden by mature gentlemen that hardly ever crash them" - according to the internet so it must be true!
Edited by A993LAD on Friday 15th March 13:42
Edited by A993LAD on Friday 15th March 17:19
Edited by A993LAD on Friday 15th March 17:22
I've unfortunately just found the same sodding leak!
Very, very small tbh but I'm not sure if I should get it sorted now or after Europe. Half tempted to smear it with gun gum and some exhaust bandage followed by a new clip.
Desperately ringing round to see if someone can fit me in to get it done before next Friday otherwise may be forced to take the CBF500.
Very, very small tbh but I'm not sure if I should get it sorted now or after Europe. Half tempted to smear it with gun gum and some exhaust bandage followed by a new clip.
Desperately ringing round to see if someone can fit me in to get it done before next Friday otherwise may be forced to take the CBF500.
It's a very common place to get a leak apparently the gaskets degrade over time and mileage. One guy on the Facebook group that pointed me in the right direction has already changed his twice.
Anyway I finally got the exhaust system off and I'm cleaning it up whilst waiting the arrival of the new gaskets.
One of the worst things was getting the two sensors out of the exhaust because you can't drop it down unless you remove them. A bit like some of the other fittings I've encountered they seemed like they had been welded in I had to heat one of them up to get it out.
New gaskets arrived
![](https://thumbsnap.com/sc/m3FWVy5o.jpg[/img]</a> <a href="https://thumbsnap.com/iqZQa61d" Target="_blank" rel="nofollow">[img]https://thumbsnap.com/sc/iqZQa61d.jpg)
Anyway I finally got the exhaust system off and I'm cleaning it up whilst waiting the arrival of the new gaskets.
One of the worst things was getting the two sensors out of the exhaust because you can't drop it down unless you remove them. A bit like some of the other fittings I've encountered they seemed like they had been welded in I had to heat one of them up to get it out.
New gaskets arrived
Edited by A993LAD on Friday 15th March 17:23
A993LAD said:
It's a very common place to get a leak apparently the gaskets degrade over time and mileage. One guy on the Facebook group that pointed me in the right direction has already changed his twice.
Anyway I finally got the exhaust system off and I'm cleaning it up whilst waiting the arrival of the new gaskets.
One of the worst things was getting the two sensors out of the exhaust because you can't drop it down unless you remove them. A bit like some of the other fittings I've encountered they seemed like they had been welded in I had to heat one of them up to get it out.
New gaskets arrived
Lambda sensors can be a right pain in the arse if they've never been out, I know it's a bit late now but it's worth spending a tenner on the specific socket and adapters as it makes things a lot easierAnyway I finally got the exhaust system off and I'm cleaning it up whilst waiting the arrival of the new gaskets.
One of the worst things was getting the two sensors out of the exhaust because you can't drop it down unless you remove them. A bit like some of the other fittings I've encountered they seemed like they had been welded in I had to heat one of them up to get it out.
New gaskets arrived
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/386724495811
Krikkit said:
Lambda sensors can be a right pain in the arse if they've never been out, I know it's a bit late now but it's worth spending a tenner on the specific socket and adapters as it makes things a lot easier
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/386724495811
Cheers that's a clever piece of kit that I didn't know existed. Wish I had one earlier today. I'll definitely buy one next time. https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/386724495811
I'm hoping I haven't ruined the sensor by heating up the pipe around it as it all got pretty hot but hopefully it will be okay given that it is designed to be in a hot environment most of the time anyway.
Edited by A993LAD on Friday 15th March 21:25
I popped into my mechanic on Saturday and asked him about this issue and he did say that whilst mine didn’t show any issues, it is a concern. I added a reminder to my calendar for November’s service to check the studs and other items that might suffer with hardening or fatigue, over time.
Today, however, I washed the bike properly for the first time in months, having only given it a once over with a cleaning snow foam, Bilt Hamber Touchless.
A couple of passes with that, then some wheel cleaner, followed by some tar remover and only then did I apply a wash mitt to the bike. It wasn’t a 100% job but it was thorough and the bike looks great again.
Cleaning it gave me the opportunity to see that I probably need to form up the glue on the windshield extender, which has cracked due to the stress from having an over tightened allen bolt and also, the lug to retain the rear hugger has completely detached itself, which may require a replacement unit. Any suggestions for which one may fit without a bodge?
Today, however, I washed the bike properly for the first time in months, having only given it a once over with a cleaning snow foam, Bilt Hamber Touchless.
A couple of passes with that, then some wheel cleaner, followed by some tar remover and only then did I apply a wash mitt to the bike. It wasn’t a 100% job but it was thorough and the bike looks great again.
Cleaning it gave me the opportunity to see that I probably need to form up the glue on the windshield extender, which has cracked due to the stress from having an over tightened allen bolt and also, the lug to retain the rear hugger has completely detached itself, which may require a replacement unit. Any suggestions for which one may fit without a bodge?
A993LAD said:
Krikkit said:
Lambda sensors can be a right pain in the arse if they've never been out, I know it's a bit late now but it's worth spending a tenner on the specific socket and adapters as it makes things a lot easier
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/386724495811
Cheers that's a clever piece of kit that I didn't know existed. Wish I had one earlier today. I'll definitely buy one next time. https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/386724495811
I'm hoping I haven't ruined the sensor by heating up the pipe around it as it all got pretty hot but hopefully it will be okay given that it is designed to be in a hot environment most of the time anyway.
bolidemichael said:
XCP (which product?) isn’t so good if it attracts dirt, clearly!
Where are you off to?
I forgot to upload a before photo
Bit of a mix of the clearcoat stuff and the standard Rust Blocker. It's an absolute swine to remove come spring but works very well.Where are you off to?
I forgot to upload a before photo
A battlefield tour really. I have some ancestors graves to visit who were killed in WW1 and wanted to go to Arnhem and Bastogne due to being Obsessed with A Bridge Too Far and The Battle of The Bulge as a kid (recently re read the book as well as Band of Brothers).
Friday - Tunnel - Poperinge - Ypres - Bruges (Potentially) - Sint Niklaas Hotel
Saturday - Nijmengen - Arnhem - Air B&B near Arnhem
Sunday - Overloon - Monschau - Nurburg - Addenau for the Hotel
Monday - Wirlitz - Pommerloch - Bastogne for the Hotel
Tuesday - Dinant - Cambrai - Arras for Air B&B
Wednesday - Home
Biker9090 said:
bolidemichael said:
XCP (which product?) isn’t so good if it attracts dirt, clearly!
Where are you off to?
I forgot to upload a before photo
Bit of a mix of the clearcoat stuff and the standard Rust Blocker. It's an absolute swine to remove come spring but works very well.Where are you off to?
I forgot to upload a before photo
A battlefield tour really. I have some ancestors graves to visit who were killed in WW1 and wanted to go to Arnhem and Bastogne due to being Obsessed with A Bridge Too Far and The Battle of The Bulge as a kid (recently re read the book as well as Band of Brothers).
Friday - Tunnel - Poperinge - Ypres - Bruges (Potentially) - Sint Niklaas Hotel
Saturday - Nijmengen - Arnhem - Air B&B near Arnhem
Sunday - Overloon - Monschau - Nurburg - Addenau for the Hotel
Monday - Wirlitz - Pommerloch - Bastogne for the Hotel
Tuesday - Dinant - Cambrai - Arras for Air B&B
Wednesday - Home
bolidemichael said:
Very nice... as it happens, I have a Battlefield Tour from a book on motorcycle tours of Western Europe, that I recently purchased.
Yeah, there is a huge amount to see around there. I've spent weeks organising every single leg of the journey, every fuel stop, food etc to make sure I make the most of it. All logged and numbered on Tom Tom Go! Will undoubtedly seem utterly, utterly anal to some but I always end up kicking myself when I miss something or chose an otherwise s
t road. I did have to adjust one to avoid those bloody restricted for motorcycles roads in Germany (I'll be there on the sunday). I must admit the fuel range of the VFR does annoy me on the longer trips so they're planned in with any food etc rather than fannying around trying to find somewhere.
bolidemichael said:
I popped into my mechanic on Saturday and asked him about this issue and he did say that whilst mine didn’t show any issues, it is a concern. I added a reminder to my calendar for November’s service to check the studs and other items that might suffer with hardening or fatigue, over time.
Wow your bike looks super clean and puts mine to shame tbh. Well done that man!Regarding the blowing exhaust I think the problem is largely the tubular exhaust gaskets they use to connect the downpipe to the main exhaust collector box which just deteriorate over time and inevitably will leak and need replacing. Having now changed mine I can see why they give up as they are nowhere near as robust as the circular copper gaskets they used to join the header pipes to the cylinder head.
I was a bit pissed off when the MOT guy failed mine for what was obviously a very minor leak but now I am glad he did. The failing gasket was only going to get worse and the other one in the adjoining pipe would have probably followed shortly after so it was only a matter of time before they both needed changing due to major leaks.
And I'm feeling much better about things having stripped the bike down, taken so many bits off, cleaned everything up and replaced any fittings that were corroded or difficult to remove.
My bike is now back together again and I have fired it up and warmed it up and I think the exhaust is all good so I've booked the MoT retest for Wednesday afternoon, fingers crossed. I have left the fairings off the bike until after the test so he can see I've done the job properly and if he finds anything else at least I won't have to take them off again to fix it.
Another surprise was how much crud had accumulated within the radiator. I don't mean on it, I mean completely clogged inside the radiator between the water channels and cooling fins. I'd always cleaned ( I thought) the radiator with hose/ gentle jet wash etc and it looked pretty clean to me. But taking it off the bike and holding it up to the light was a shocker as about 50% of it was too blocked up to let any light through. I cleaned it all out by drying it completely on the Aga (other heat sources are available) overnight and then blowing all the crud out with an air hose. Hopefully it will now be more effective.
Edited by A993LAD on Monday 18th March 19:01
Edited by A993LAD on Monday 18th March 20:08
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