It's all Volvo's Fault. Gratuitous Born Again Biker action.
Discussion
Hi, I thought this would be serve as an inadequate introduction, as well as an ongoing tale of fettling and bloggy thing of someone getting back on a bike after around 20 years of cars through idleness and necessity.
Early Bike History is
CBT
Honda XL125
Test
RD200
6 Month Driving ban (oops - car related)
Couldn't afford to insure a car
Zephyr 550 - I wintered it too... It' didn't look great after that. and broke my collar bone in a high side accident.*
Then I got in to fast cars as insurance came down.
I also started doing boring stuff like refurbishing houses and working away (lots of driving) and the bike was left in the garage, eventually being straight swapped for a sheddy K Reg Orion 1.4 to use for working at quarries and the like. The last time I got on the road with it, we were moving house and I rode it on to the tail lift of the hired Luton Transit and lifted it in to the and sat on it as my gf of the time drove the van to the new house. That was err...odd.
So that was it. Had a few interesting cars in the meantime - Impreza Turbo, Corolla T Sport,Z4 MCoupe, S4, the other half currently has an C63
Flash forward to 2019 and my S4 Lease went back and I decided that a Volvo S90 was an adequate replacement.
Bottom line is that it really isn't and I need to start enjoying being on the road again.
Rather than continuing to refurbish houses and giving plasterers and plumbers all our money, I set about spending money more wisely getting back on a couple of wheels.
I didn't want to buy a race rep as I'm 6'4" and wanted to enjoy riding again without having to unfold myself afterwards and I don't like the look of adventure tourer bikes, and don't want to go off road.
So I thought a Sports tourer would be the way to go. Had a sit on a few bikes and the VFR800 ticked a lot of boxes - Not so large to be intimidating when I'm getting on a bike again for the first time since 2001 but fast enough not to be boring after 10 minutes.
My research showed that ideally, post 2006 for the recalibrated VTEC and ABS would be a good idea. Wanted one with low mileage to avoid having to replace wear items like the rear shock and .
A couple of local bikes for sale had a few holes in the service history, without the usual price lowering, but there was a nice white one in Honda Castleford ( It's still for sale)
Then my mate with a bike or two who has been my bike purchase sage found one on Gumtree, an hour and a half away, a test ride then a deal was done and for a decent deal, I am now the proud owner of the Bike Formerly known as Edward (Yes, the previous owner named all his bikes - unusually you may suggest - after men)
Full history, 2008, 18k miles, a few scratches and rub marks, look like garage scratches rather than it going down the road. Heated grips andfull Honda Matching Luggage, fork seals done and £20 of fuel in the tank.
Insurance sorted for a couple of hundred and a full set of riding gear was hastily purchased ( cheers J&S Birmingham) and the bike was collected last Sunday ( yes, the first dry day after a week of continuous rain
)
Early Bike History is
CBT
Honda XL125
Test
RD200
6 Month Driving ban (oops - car related)
Couldn't afford to insure a car
Zephyr 550 - I wintered it too... It' didn't look great after that. and broke my collar bone in a high side accident.*
Then I got in to fast cars as insurance came down.
I also started doing boring stuff like refurbishing houses and working away (lots of driving) and the bike was left in the garage, eventually being straight swapped for a sheddy K Reg Orion 1.4 to use for working at quarries and the like. The last time I got on the road with it, we were moving house and I rode it on to the tail lift of the hired Luton Transit and lifted it in to the and sat on it as my gf of the time drove the van to the new house. That was err...odd.
So that was it. Had a few interesting cars in the meantime - Impreza Turbo, Corolla T Sport,Z4 MCoupe, S4, the other half currently has an C63
Flash forward to 2019 and my S4 Lease went back and I decided that a Volvo S90 was an adequate replacement.
Bottom line is that it really isn't and I need to start enjoying being on the road again.
Rather than continuing to refurbish houses and giving plasterers and plumbers all our money, I set about spending money more wisely getting back on a couple of wheels.
I didn't want to buy a race rep as I'm 6'4" and wanted to enjoy riding again without having to unfold myself afterwards and I don't like the look of adventure tourer bikes, and don't want to go off road.
So I thought a Sports tourer would be the way to go. Had a sit on a few bikes and the VFR800 ticked a lot of boxes - Not so large to be intimidating when I'm getting on a bike again for the first time since 2001 but fast enough not to be boring after 10 minutes.
My research showed that ideally, post 2006 for the recalibrated VTEC and ABS would be a good idea. Wanted one with low mileage to avoid having to replace wear items like the rear shock and .
A couple of local bikes for sale had a few holes in the service history, without the usual price lowering, but there was a nice white one in Honda Castleford ( It's still for sale)
Then my mate with a bike or two who has been my bike purchase sage found one on Gumtree, an hour and a half away, a test ride then a deal was done and for a decent deal, I am now the proud owner of the Bike Formerly known as Edward (Yes, the previous owner named all his bikes - unusually you may suggest - after men)
Full history, 2008, 18k miles, a few scratches and rub marks, look like garage scratches rather than it going down the road. Heated grips andfull Honda Matching Luggage, fork seals done and £20 of fuel in the tank.
Insurance sorted for a couple of hundred and a full set of riding gear was hastily purchased ( cheers J&S Birmingham) and the bike was collected last Sunday ( yes, the first dry day after a week of continuous rain
) The ride home was horrible.
The roads near the guy I bought it off have been designed by the bloke who makes Sine Waves for a living., so the bike was bouncing around all over the place, plusthe wind noise was terrible.
I realised I hadn't put my earplugs in. When I got back on after putting the earplugs in my hip felt sore. On getting back up to speed I soon realised the earplugs were crap.
I rode home in rubbish traffic up the A1 - when the traffic got faster, the wind noise was unbearable.
When it was slower,I was s
tting myself passing lorries in case I got squished on my first ride in 18 years and I wondered if I had monumentally fked up with a stupid mid-life-crisis idea.
When I left the A1 and got on some decent A roads again my decision started to make a bit more sense, but the noise was still too much and I wondered if I'd bought the right helmet.
To be fair this was a huge step forward from wondering if I'd just blown the price of recarpetting the next house project on a garage ornament.
Finally I got home and the bike had the biggest test of all. And it passed! The OH liked the colour.....
So having a closer look around the bike there are a few scuffs, which I knew about - of course they're spread across all the panels. The fork bodies are lightly pitted. It'll get an oil and filter, air filter, Discs and pads look OK and it has the original exhaust system.
The centre stand, side stand and the bracketry for the luggage are all looking a bit rusty, so I'll be splashing out on a can of black plastidip and a roll of emery cloth and they'll be getting sprayed over the winter.
Next year the plan is to ride it around locally for fun and maybe one or two longer trips, plus trying to persuade the OH that her hair coming out of a helmet does not mean that she then has to find a hairdressers to put it right again do we can both go out on it.
The roads near the guy I bought it off have been designed by the bloke who makes Sine Waves for a living., so the bike was bouncing around all over the place, plusthe wind noise was terrible.
I realised I hadn't put my earplugs in. When I got back on after putting the earplugs in my hip felt sore. On getting back up to speed I soon realised the earplugs were crap.
I rode home in rubbish traffic up the A1 - when the traffic got faster, the wind noise was unbearable.
When it was slower,I was s
tting myself passing lorries in case I got squished on my first ride in 18 years and I wondered if I had monumentally fked up with a stupid mid-life-crisis idea.When I left the A1 and got on some decent A roads again my decision started to make a bit more sense, but the noise was still too much and I wondered if I'd bought the right helmet.
To be fair this was a huge step forward from wondering if I'd just blown the price of recarpetting the next house project on a garage ornament.
Finally I got home and the bike had the biggest test of all. And it passed! The OH liked the colour.....
So having a closer look around the bike there are a few scuffs, which I knew about - of course they're spread across all the panels. The fork bodies are lightly pitted. It'll get an oil and filter, air filter, Discs and pads look OK and it has the original exhaust system.
The centre stand, side stand and the bracketry for the luggage are all looking a bit rusty, so I'll be splashing out on a can of black plastidip and a roll of emery cloth and they'll be getting sprayed over the winter.
Next year the plan is to ride it around locally for fun and maybe one or two longer trips, plus trying to persuade the OH that her hair coming out of a helmet does not mean that she then has to find a hairdressers to put it right again do we can both go out on it.
Edited by talksthetorque on Thursday 31st October 17:34
The first pair of plugs were freebies from a hotel I stayed in ( opposite Rock city in Nottingham) and did nothing. I have since been out on a few ‘practice’ rides in the afternoon and have used some from a customer’s factory and they work much better, I can hear the world going quiet as they expand, and along with pulling my neck tube thingy over the top of my head I can now hear that lovely engine again. Much better, noise is about the level I’d expect it to be.
The first job I’ve had to do is replace one of the headlights which had blown. Looking online they recommend having small hands! Being 6’4 generally means you have hands like shovels but this didn’t prove obstructive.
What did prove obstructive was trying to get the connector off the back.
Squeeze the sides they said. Which I did, left handed, right handed, turn my back and reach backwards so my hands are the other way up. So I look on at 3 or 4 videos online and they all say just squeeze the sides and pull. I can see the bulb moving in the lamp and I’m not going to pull it any harder. Then after about an hour I look online again and see a picture of the connector exactly 90 degrees out from where mine is. So i squeeze the top and bottom and ‘pop’ off it comes
For reference here’s where you pinch
Had some spare uprated bulbs off a golf GTI so popped those in and bingo. Double headlights again.
The first job I’ve had to do is replace one of the headlights which had blown. Looking online they recommend having small hands! Being 6’4 generally means you have hands like shovels but this didn’t prove obstructive.
What did prove obstructive was trying to get the connector off the back.
Squeeze the sides they said. Which I did, left handed, right handed, turn my back and reach backwards so my hands are the other way up. So I look on at 3 or 4 videos online and they all say just squeeze the sides and pull. I can see the bulb moving in the lamp and I’m not going to pull it any harder. Then after about an hour I look online again and see a picture of the connector exactly 90 degrees out from where mine is. So i squeeze the top and bottom and ‘pop’ off it comes
For reference here’s where you pinch
Had some spare uprated bulbs off a golf GTI so popped those in and bingo. Double headlights again.
To add a helpful comment, VFR 750's are better 
On a more serious note, it looks pretty decent, just take it out when you have no time pressures and start getting some miles under your belt, it will all start to click back into place, just don't put pressure on yourself.
Road 5's are a very good all season, all weather tyre for the VFR.
On a more serious note, it looks pretty decent, just take it out when you have no time pressures and start getting some miles under your belt, it will all start to click back into place, just don't put pressure on yourself.
Road 5's are a very good all season, all weather tyre for the VFR.
Welcome back to the fold 
Love the VF, looks bloody marvellous.
When I was searching for earplugs I bought this selection pack from Amazon: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Vendor-Disposable-Variety...
£3.50 and you get a bag full of different ones, I settled on Howard Leight Max Lite and bought a box of 200 pairs for about £20. Job jobbed! They last a few rides and are extremely comfortable, and a good balance of protection and actually being able to hear something.
Love the VF, looks bloody marvellous.When I was searching for earplugs I bought this selection pack from Amazon: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Vendor-Disposable-Variety...
£3.50 and you get a bag full of different ones, I settled on Howard Leight Max Lite and bought a box of 200 pairs for about £20. Job jobbed! They last a few rides and are extremely comfortable, and a good balance of protection and actually being able to hear something.
Out today for a quick spin, as I have every day this week, taking the opportunity the good weather and a week off work to use holidays up presented me. I also had my first near drop.
I managed to stall it exitting an uphill T junction with some lock on.
Saved it OK, only got to about 25 degrees..... Nobody to see either so here is the only recording for posterity
Looking at the weather this might be the last spin out for a while, so tonight will be spent ordering consumables and browsing youtube for "how to"s so I don't take more than necessary off the bike when doing the service
For the bulb, I had to undo the screw that holds the spring clip to get it off, but I have a spring hook and magnetic screwdriver, so nothing fell in the headlamp housing thank god. It's keyhole surgery really.
Thanks for the tip on the tyres. the White one I tested in Castleford had these on, but as I'm still wobbling about I don't think I'm at the tyre test professional stage yet
The Road2s on this have loads of tread left but are 2015 vintage, I'll probably change them at the end of next year.
However I also have a good book I'm halfway through and would be gutted if I crashed and burned before I finished it.Rock and Roll
I'll be trying to "source" earplugs from the factories I visit, so yes, I also adhere to the cheapskate life choice.
Iphone earbuds fall out of my ears, so I guess I'm abnormal, but I'm in screwfix a bit for work so may be able to stick a box on expenses without anyone noticing....
Nice Bike!
Cheers for the pointer to the variety box.
From the picture of these the ones that I am using are the moldex ones of some flavour or other.
Thanks for all the kind words of encouragement
I managed to stall it exitting an uphill T junction with some lock on.
Saved it OK, only got to about 25 degrees..... Nobody to see either so here is the only recording for posterity
Looking at the weather this might be the last spin out for a while, so tonight will be spent ordering consumables and browsing youtube for "how to"s so I don't take more than necessary off the bike when doing the service
Prof Prolapse said:
I know my CBR of that era is a nightmare for fitting bulbs. The spring clip requires a level of dexterity I've never seen, and I'd actually argue it's faster to remove the front fairing.
I think I may get a VFR when I chuck my Uganda Twin back in next year.
Love a V4.
I can thoroughly recommend the v4 thrum, I think it reminds me of my old impreza a bit.I think I may get a VFR when I chuck my Uganda Twin back in next year.
Love a V4.
For the bulb, I had to undo the screw that holds the spring clip to get it off, but I have a spring hook and magnetic screwdriver, so nothing fell in the headlamp housing thank god. It's keyhole surgery really.
Dakkon said:
To add a helpful comment, VFR 750's are better
I remember liking them first time round but never got that far up the ladder due to insurance and youth.Dakkon said:
On a more serious note, it looks pretty decent, just take it out when you have no time pressures and start getting some miles under your belt, it will all start to click back into place, just don't put pressure on yourself.
Road 5's are a very good all season, all weather tyre for the VFR.
Yup, this is going to be a pleasure only bike, so not bothered about wet weather riding ( Yes I do realise which country I live in :P )Road 5's are a very good all season, all weather tyre for the VFR.
Thanks for the tip on the tyres. the White one I tested in Castleford had these on, but as I'm still wobbling about I don't think I'm at the tyre test professional stage yet
The Road2s on this have loads of tread left but are 2015 vintage, I'll probably change them at the end of next year.
black-k1 said:
I like those VFR800s. Good choice and it looks like a decent bike.
Ride safe and enjoy.
That's the plan, although at 46 I'm smack in the middle of the midlife crisis Born Again Biker instant donor demographic.Ride safe and enjoy.
However I also have a good book I'm halfway through and would be gutted if I crashed and burned before I finished it.Rock and Roll
stu67 said:
I do like those VFR's, they are a good looking bike. Re ear plugs go down to Screwfix, a big box of the foam 3M ones are cheap and I find them perfectly adequate, but I am a cheap git.
Love the look of the bike as well. Especially head on, with the faired in indicators which are degingered on the 08.I'll be trying to "source" earplugs from the factories I visit, so yes, I also adhere to the cheapskate life choice.
Iphone earbuds fall out of my ears, so I guess I'm abnormal, but I'm in screwfix a bit for work so may be able to stick a box on expenses without anyone noticing....
NorthernSky said:
I had a candy red with the triple luggage, just like yours there!
GLORIOUS sound with Delkevic exhaust!
Tried one with some sort of aftermarket exhaust, and it is louder, but I'm not that bothered about exhaust noise ( I prefer induction noise, just a personal preference) and I am also the youngest person on our close by about 30 years, so don't want to upset the neighbours. Besides we've got a C63 for exhaust noise should we wish.......GLORIOUS sound with Delkevic exhaust!
Nice Bike!
Krikkit said:
Welcome back to the fold Love the VF, looks bloody marvellous.
When I was searching for earplugs I bought this selection pack from Amazon: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Vendor-Disposable-Variety...
£3.50 and you get a bag full of different ones, I settled on Howard Leight Max Lite and bought a box of 200 pairs for about £20. Job jobbed! They last a few rides and are extremely comfortable, and a good balance of protection and actually being able to hear something.
Thanks for the welcome. After a few rides out now it is definitely the correct decision to get back on two wheels again. Love the VF, looks bloody marvellous.When I was searching for earplugs I bought this selection pack from Amazon: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Vendor-Disposable-Variety...
£3.50 and you get a bag full of different ones, I settled on Howard Leight Max Lite and bought a box of 200 pairs for about £20. Job jobbed! They last a few rides and are extremely comfortable, and a good balance of protection and actually being able to hear something.
Cheers for the pointer to the variety box.
From the picture of these the ones that I am using are the moldex ones of some flavour or other.
Thanks for all the kind words of encouragement
miconone said:
I’ve enjoyed your story so far OP. When approaching a t junction for a right turn, I tend to angle the bike in the direction of the turn as I prepare to stop. It does make the maneuver easier. There is a reason I use this technique ??.
It’s a good idea. Is this a good time to admit I was turning left
Some of you may have spotted an asterisk in my OP. So now is the time to come clean about the “highside” and broken collar bone.
I was late for work and had jumped on my bike and slung my chain across my shoulder. There were temporary traffic lights on the “normal route” so I decided to do the country lane route instead. Similar time but less of a gamble of being held up. The last right hander before turning in to work had been freshly surface dressed the week before which was news to me as I approached the bend at my usual pace. The gravel ‘ Brazilian’ that was in the middle of My side of the road took me by surprise as I felt the bike start sliding. I turned the bars in to the skid to try and right the bike and bar a massive lack of skill and luck it would have worked.
Hence I found myself upside down in a hawthorn bush and identified my bike about five yards further down the ditch facing toward me and therefore the way it wasn’t travelling.
I heard a crack and all of a sudden the bush was releasing its hold on me and handing positional duties over to our old friend gravity.
I fell out of the bush in to the ditch and as I landed a searing pain visited and indeed decided to take up residence in my left shoulder.
So despite the heroic broken collarbone from a highside claims, I actually broke my collarbone falling out of a bush because I had been a tt and put my bike chain lock over my shoulder!
Someone kindly called me an ambulance and I was carted off to a & e where I was assessed by a nurse and a student nurse who followed her everywhere.
Some Clothing was removed or cut off for examination and the verdict form the nurse was
“ some bruising to torso and limbs, fractured clavicle- how fast were you going when you came off your motor bike?”
About 40 I replied.
Then the eager student nurse asked
“So with the broken clavicle and the bruising- are these this a typical motorbike injuries and that’s why you asked?”
And the deadpan reply was
“ No, he’s still got his Sidi boots on”
I was late for work and had jumped on my bike and slung my chain across my shoulder. There were temporary traffic lights on the “normal route” so I decided to do the country lane route instead. Similar time but less of a gamble of being held up. The last right hander before turning in to work had been freshly surface dressed the week before which was news to me as I approached the bend at my usual pace. The gravel ‘ Brazilian’ that was in the middle of My side of the road took me by surprise as I felt the bike start sliding. I turned the bars in to the skid to try and right the bike and bar a massive lack of skill and luck it would have worked.
Hence I found myself upside down in a hawthorn bush and identified my bike about five yards further down the ditch facing toward me and therefore the way it wasn’t travelling.
I heard a crack and all of a sudden the bush was releasing its hold on me and handing positional duties over to our old friend gravity.
I fell out of the bush in to the ditch and as I landed a searing pain visited and indeed decided to take up residence in my left shoulder.
So despite the heroic broken collarbone from a highside claims, I actually broke my collarbone falling out of a bush because I had been a t
t and put my bike chain lock over my shoulder!Someone kindly called me an ambulance and I was carted off to a & e where I was assessed by a nurse and a student nurse who followed her everywhere.
Some Clothing was removed or cut off for examination and the verdict form the nurse was
“ some bruising to torso and limbs, fractured clavicle- how fast were you going when you came off your motor bike?”
About 40 I replied.
Then the eager student nurse asked
“So with the broken clavicle and the bruising- are these this a typical motorbike injuries and that’s why you asked?”
And the deadpan reply was
“ No, he’s still got his Sidi boots on”
Edited by talksthetorque on Thursday 31st October 23:33
It was the only reason i read it tbf
We have all had that ‘oh st there is something in the road!’ moment, i think you got unlucky in that it was a lot of st..
i did very similar once on a cbr600rr, gravel from flooding, and just shuffled right about a metre, leaning like Rossi. None of this utilised any talent i didnt have and lady luck helped me clean my underwear later
Love Hondas, looks ace
We have all had that ‘oh s
t there is something in the road!’ moment, i think you got unlucky in that it was a lot of st.. i did very similar once on a cbr600rr, gravel from flooding, and just shuffled right about a metre, leaning like Rossi. None of this utilised any talent i didnt have
and lady luck helped me clean my underwear later Love Hondas, looks ace
The forecast had said that it was meant to be raining all weekend, so I had set aside some garage time to get started on doing some bits and bobs.
Of course this being PH you can't just buy a bike or a car, you have to buylots of frivalous purchases essential other stuff too. Much of Friday evening was spent on a South American river based website. So nice of them to ignore the instructions to deliver it to next door, or next door but one who I had cleared it with and both were in, they decided to do this with a £250 order - the largest box of which might as well have had "Bloody Useful/Easy To Sell On Down The Pub" scrawled across it in big letters.
And Thanks for the little note in the door, telling me where he had left the delivery....
We found the above after returning from looking at a Mini Cooper S which the OH didn't want to buy, mainly because it was just not refined enough but also - after an enthusiastic test drive - we were discussing the fact the guy at the garage had replaced the thermostat housing and the naughty MINI started steaming and then promptly shat all it's coolant over the floor.
Without breaking stride in the conversation he mentioned that perhaps he hadn't tightened the housing clamps up quite well enough and that he very much wasn't looking forward to telling his wife - who is also his business partner - what had happened.
The first job, started yesterday - as it was the easiest to dip in and out of - was to get all the paint off the brackets for the luggage There's some wear in places, and where it is worn through, there's also some surface rust.
I picked up the first one and saw that one of the fixing lugs on the end had been welded back on. Together with a few other marks I think that the bike has at some point been laid down/dropped at standstill....
Not too fussed as I knew there were marks on it and it rides straight.
An hour or so with the sanding pads and the emery cloth reveals that whatever paint is on there is the sort that instantly clogs the sanding pads and emery cloth.
Phone a friend who has a sandblasting cabinet and he kindly agreed to.....tell me where the local powder coating firm is
- and that they'll dip-strip it and then powder coat for a lot less than it's worth for me to put the effort and materials in to do it ...And while I'm at it can I take some tubes or other that he wants doing......Sigh. Ok then
This morning I pulled back the curtains and saw a lovely day! Once I'd accompanied the OH to look at an X3 she didn't want to buy because it didn't have a pano roof. or the facelift dash I was going to get out on the bike, and then give it a clean. After an hour long blast the confidence is getting there. Still the odd moments of
lean
lean
LEAN
LEEEAAAANN
Possibly going in too warm for my confidence in the corners, possibly starting to turn too late so choosing a poor line, possibly too high a gear, but probably just out of practice, and need to judge speed in better.
Seems to happen moreso on right handers, I think this might be something to do with sticking my head towards oncoming traffic :Yikes
Got back and a mate turned up to show me the BMW 330e he has on loan. Lovely car, small boot because of the batteries. Not much else to report. Told him to spend the 2.5k BIK saving on a new car for his missus. Didn't go down too well
My budget for the pressure washer was about £200, I had a Nilfisk already, whoich had toasted itself thanks to a dodgy flow sensor, so my choice was nice Nilfisk with not many bits, as I have loads of bits from the old one or go crazy and go Petrol. For the budget though it was either the cheapest Generic Chinese item from Ebay, or the one Aldi are selling, which looks like the same motor on a different frame.
As it's three times the most I have ever paid for a pressure washer, I neshed out on the Petrol one and got this for under £170.
As usual whenever I walk towards a pressure washer my OH pops up and says " Mine's filthy" ( which it is) so I ended up cleaning that first before starting on the bike.
I think it's fairly obvious from the picture that the bike was not going to get much attention, so a quick blast of the dirty bits with the jetwash from afar, and then a quick shampoo with a new mitt and the rest of the bucket. I think that the previous owner had waxed and polished and waxed and polished and waxed again, when the soapy mitt first hit the paintwork I nearly dislocated my shoulder it was that slippery!
Rinsed and dried off and looking shiny again ( under the security light).....
As for the rest of the stuff that was delivered, next weekend is looking a bit like this:
Of course this being PH you can't just buy a bike or a car, you have to buy
And Thanks for the little note in the door, telling me where he had left the delivery....
We found the above after returning from looking at a Mini Cooper S which the OH didn't want to buy, mainly because it was just not refined enough but also - after an enthusiastic test drive - we were discussing the fact the guy at the garage had replaced the thermostat housing and the naughty MINI started steaming and then promptly shat all it's coolant over the floor.
Without breaking stride in the conversation he mentioned that perhaps he hadn't tightened the housing clamps up quite well enough and that he very much wasn't looking forward to telling his wife - who is also his business partner - what had happened.
The first job, started yesterday - as it was the easiest to dip in and out of - was to get all the paint off the brackets for the luggage There's some wear in places, and where it is worn through, there's also some surface rust.
I picked up the first one and saw that one of the fixing lugs on the end had been welded back on. Together with a few other marks I think that the bike has at some point been laid down/dropped at standstill....
Not too fussed as I knew there were marks on it and it rides straight.
An hour or so with the sanding pads and the emery cloth reveals that whatever paint is on there is the sort that instantly clogs the sanding pads and emery cloth.
Phone a friend who has a sandblasting cabinet and he kindly agreed to.....tell me where the local powder coating firm is
- and that they'll dip-strip it and then powder coat for a lot less than it's worth for me to put the effort and materials in to do it ...And while I'm at it can I take some tubes or other that he wants doing......Sigh. Ok then This morning I pulled back the curtains and saw a lovely day! Once I'd accompanied the OH to look at an X3 she didn't want to buy because it didn't have a pano roof. or the facelift dash I was going to get out on the bike, and then give it a clean. After an hour long blast the confidence is getting there. Still the odd moments of
lean
lean
LEAN
LEEEAAAANN
Possibly going in too warm for my confidence in the corners, possibly starting to turn too late so choosing a poor line, possibly too high a gear, but probably just out of practice, and need to judge speed in better.
Seems to happen moreso on right handers, I think this might be something to do with sticking my head towards oncoming traffic :Yikes
Got back and a mate turned up to show me the BMW 330e he has on loan. Lovely car, small boot because of the batteries. Not much else to report. Told him to spend the 2.5k BIK saving on a new car for his missus. Didn't go down too well
My budget for the pressure washer was about £200, I had a Nilfisk already, whoich had toasted itself thanks to a dodgy flow sensor, so my choice was nice Nilfisk with not many bits, as I have loads of bits from the old one or go crazy and go Petrol. For the budget though it was either the cheapest Generic Chinese item from Ebay, or the one Aldi are selling, which looks like the same motor on a different frame.
As it's three times the most I have ever paid for a pressure washer, I neshed out on the Petrol one and got this for under £170.
As usual whenever I walk towards a pressure washer my OH pops up and says " Mine's filthy" ( which it is) so I ended up cleaning that first before starting on the bike.
I think it's fairly obvious from the picture that the bike was not going to get much attention, so a quick blast of the dirty bits with the jetwash from afar, and then a quick shampoo with a new mitt and the rest of the bucket. I think that the previous owner had waxed and polished and waxed and polished and waxed again, when the soapy mitt first hit the paintwork I nearly dislocated my shoulder it was that slippery!
Rinsed and dried off and looking shiny again ( under the security light).....
As for the rest of the stuff that was delivered, next weekend is looking a bit like this:
I thought that it would be a good idea to send the centre stand for powder coating, as it's under the bike I was expecting it to put up some resistance, so WD40 was applied and then I set about swearing at the springs for about 20 minutes before they actuallylistened and I got them off.
Another spray of WD and I set about it with the 14mm spanner. Nothing. Another 10 minutes of grunting and manoeuvering, tubing on the end of the spanner, still neither side is moving at all.
Now I'm not averse to rounding the odd nut off, of snapping the head off the odd bolt, so there's no way that "more welly" is an option. Don't have heat as an option.
So it looks like the centre stand is getting prepped and sprayed on the bike.
I'll probably have another go at it when I do the service, as the fairing has to come off for that as well.
As it's been such a lovely day today I thought I'd get it out for one last blast before tucking it away for the winter.
Just pottering about in the A road 50s that proliferate the area and then there's the bit uphill with two lanes and no average speed cameras.
Pin the throttle and start "making progress", try to change up and the lever is solid. And the revs are still rising. Brake on and the front pitches down, off again and it keeps accelerating on its own.
I hit the kill switch thinking that the merging of two lanes at many leptons just before a sweeping right hander and roundabout is not the best scenario to be trying to fault find the issue.
Looks like the throttle twist mechanism sticks open if you wind the throttle on full with any vigour.
AlI it actually needed was snapping the throttle shut with a bit of a jerk. Fortunately there was a whole jerk sat on the bike, so it was fairly simple to sort.
I had the heated grips on a higher setting than I have previously so it could be something to do with that, also it wasn't possible to recreate the fault at standstill with the engine (and therefore the heated grips) off.
I thought that the internet would be a better place to find the answer to this conundrum.
The alternative - than trying different things riding the bike - having a serious possibility of me riding off in to the sunset at full pelt screaming in to my chinpiece, while thanking god I didn't waste any more time trying to get my centre stand off as it was going to be splattered with blood and engulfed in a ball of flames.
I decided to continue the ride as the rest of the throttle travel was fine, and even approaching full throttle gently meant it didn't stick.
I live at one end of a country lane between two main roads, and my ride finished by coming back the long way, the route has four 90 degree bends with bad visibility, and on the last one, a load of fking mud down the middle strip of my side of the lane.
Managed to stay shiny side up despite the bike jumping about a foot to the right, and losing all grip.
Definitely time to wash the st off and put it in the garage for the winter.......
So - anyone know the cause of the sticking throttle?
Another spray of WD and I set about it with the 14mm spanner. Nothing. Another 10 minutes of grunting and manoeuvering, tubing on the end of the spanner, still neither side is moving at all.
Now I'm not averse to rounding the odd nut off, of snapping the head off the odd bolt, so there's no way that "more welly" is an option. Don't have heat as an option.
So it looks like the centre stand is getting prepped and sprayed on the bike.
I'll probably have another go at it when I do the service, as the fairing has to come off for that as well.
As it's been such a lovely day today I thought I'd get it out for one last blast before tucking it away for the winter.
Just pottering about in the A road 50s that proliferate the area and then there's the bit uphill with two lanes and no average speed cameras.
Pin the throttle and start "making progress", try to change up and the lever is solid. And the revs are still rising. Brake on and the front pitches down, off again and it keeps accelerating on its own.
I hit the kill switch thinking that the merging of two lanes at many leptons just before a sweeping right hander and roundabout is not the best scenario to be trying to fault find the issue.
Looks like the throttle twist mechanism sticks open if you wind the throttle on full with any vigour.
AlI it actually needed was snapping the throttle shut with a bit of a jerk. Fortunately there was a whole jerk sat on the bike, so it was fairly simple to sort.
I had the heated grips on a higher setting than I have previously so it could be something to do with that, also it wasn't possible to recreate the fault at standstill with the engine (and therefore the heated grips) off.
I thought that the internet would be a better place to find the answer to this conundrum.
The alternative - than trying different things riding the bike - having a serious possibility of me riding off in to the sunset at full pelt screaming in to my chinpiece, while thanking god I didn't waste any more time trying to get my centre stand off as it was going to be splattered with blood and engulfed in a ball of flames.
I decided to continue the ride as the rest of the throttle travel was fine, and even approaching full throttle gently meant it didn't stick.
I live at one end of a country lane between two main roads, and my ride finished by coming back the long way, the route has four 90 degree bends with bad visibility, and on the last one, a load of f
king mud down the middle strip of my side of the lane.Managed to stay shiny side up despite the bike jumping about a foot to the right, and losing all grip.
Definitely time to wash the s
t off and put it in the garage for the winter.......So - anyone know the cause of the sticking throttle?
talksthetorque said:
I
So - anyone know the cause of the sticking throttle?
Without seeing the bike, we can only guess.... Starting with what I think is probably the simplest cause though, you mention heated grips and the effect of having them on full, fitting these would have involved removing the bar ends and then (usually) trimming the grip itself to fit on the bars. So - anyone know the cause of the sticking throttle?
If the grip was not sufficiently trimmed, or the bar end refitted correctly, you will find the grip will catch on the bar end. This will not allow the return cable to close the throttle. Check there is sufficient gap here.
After that I'd start looking at cables before I'd be looking at more advanced fault finding.
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