Biker's Cafe Chatroom

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Snowing here atm, im too old to be riding in this weather anymore. Looking forward to getting out a bit in the summer though. Ive done a few cold/wet trackdays and it was certainly bum twitching fun.
 
Diddums said:
That's what annoys me the most. It was absolutely glorious when I left the house, after about 5 miles mother nature just went "LOL BIKE MAN WET" and started absolutely caning it down.

So sick of this weather, does summer even exist anymore?
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I remember getting about 10 miles into my 50 mile commute a couple of years ago, started off damp but not too cold and then suddenly there was just snow everywhere. No point in turning around so off I went down the NSL DC cradling my clutch and hoping I didn't get runover if I went down :o
 
Managed to get out for a ride this morning after it dried and before the rain kicked in again. Was good to try out the motorway for the first time (did not enjoy the sidewind gusts!) but also have a little play in some twistys and some town/traffic conditions on my own.

Slowly learning the bike, compared to the triple of the trident I am finding the twin parallel lumpy low down or slow speeds so need to practice slipping the clutch more I think to smooth that out. Was testing the waters with counter steering a little too, the ninja has a very strong counter steer with barely any input needed to get it to start the lean and turn much quicker than if I just lean normally.

After about 1hr30 riding was still grinning at the end and congratulating myself on not dying.

First "mod" of adjusting the windshield up to its highest position to see if there is any hope of a little break from the wind on my tall ass.

Any recommendations on comms/headset? I had my ear pods in which were "ok" though a fiddle to get the helmet on without knocking them loose but certainly cut some of the wind noise out (did not have noise cancellation on, that didn't feel like a good idea). I have a nolan lid which has their own system available which looks similar ish price to others though not sure how compatibility would be should I go on a group ride at some point.
 
Cardo/Sena really. Assuming the helmet has speaker cut outs..i wouldn't do a propriety handset tbh as your basically paying to get locked into that brand of helmet.

What type you get depends on how often your group riding etc.
 
Cheers. Cardo look good review wise so may go for a spirt hd or the freecom x2 as they only about £20 more than the spirit atm.

No idea really if I will do much/any group riding and from what I gather “in theory” I could connect to one rider if they have mesh to link us in.
 
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I've just picked up the freecom 2 last week. I think I dropped a pic in one of the bike chats. It's been great so far, the only annoyance is I sometimes hit the volume wheel with my left shoulder so I need to look at a better position for the unit itself. Install and set up was fairly easy. Sounds pretty good too.
 
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I cante recommend.one either way. But I saw the other day that Sena has a Bluetooth handlebar control for some of its comms systems. So that could be quite useful. As others have said though, best to check with other riders in your group and get one compatible with theirs.
 
Just had my renewal through from Bennetts.

Comprehensive Yes
Years of no claims 9
Protected no claims Yes
Carrying a pillion Yes
Replacement lock & keys Yes
Fixed accessories cover Yes
Riding other bikes Yes
90 days EU cover Yes
Uninsured driver promise Yes
Compulsory excess £300
Voluntary excess £0
Also Mrs insured to ride it

£174 :eek: £50 more than last year
 
After totally forgetting my MOT was March and not May I checked a few weeks ago and had to book it in. Got nearest date of tomorrow (didn't bother looking around) and just looked at the weather which is due to be lashing down :( lovely. Still at least get out and about a bit but not looking forward to waiting like a drowned rat in the bike shop.
 
MOT booked for next week - just in time for temps to drop it seems lol, hoping it's dry, as I gave her a bloody good clean t'other day.... mind you, any excuse
 
iamdjdz said:
After totally forgetting my MOT was March and not May I checked a few weeks ago and had to book it in. Got nearest date of tomorrow (didn't bother looking around) and just looked at the weather which is due to be lashing down :( lovely. Still at least get out and about a bit but not looking forward to waiting like a drowned rat in the bike shop.
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Passed thankfully but got an advisory for front brake binding a bit, not noticed anything myself but that's a caliper strip down and clean I'll have to book in. Also one for chain slack but I'm 90% sure that's because you're supposed to check on side stand and they did on a lift, will check tomorrow.

Got bloody drenched going though and then they delayed it enough it was drying up when I went home so not as bad as it could have been.
 
Blood bikes starting to get on my nerves...

The manual choke has started to stick open so i need to poke it closed with a kebab skewer...hopefully this can be solved with a can of WD40 and not require a carb strip down and rebuild.

Aaaaaand (i believe) the starter motor relay is on the way out (as the starter motor doesn't engage as soon as i hit the ignition) sometimes it takes about 5 seconds to start turning the bike over.

I have thought about taking the relay out and giving it the old 'technical tap' to loosen it off but if the coil is going and not closing the Normally Open contacts I may as well replace it with a new item.
 
iamdjdz said:
Passed thankfully but got an advisory for front brake binding a bit, not noticed anything myself but that's a caliper strip down and clean I'll have to book in. Also one for chain slack but I'm 90% sure that's because you're supposed to check on side stand and they did on a lift, will check tomorrow.

Got bloody drenched going though and then they delayed it enough it was drying up when I went home so not as bad as it could have been.
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It's really not hard unless you got some really awkward bike.

If it's got ABS just don't let the brake fluid drain out. I did once and fortunately was able to fix it, but try and avoid that.

Up to you, you could save yourself a good couple of hundred quid for not much effort really.
 
BUDFORCE said:
It's really not hard unless you got some really awkward bike.

If it's got ABS just don't let the brake fluid drain out. I did once and fortunately was able to fix it, but try and avoid that.

Up to you, you could save yourself a good couple of hundred quid for not much effort really.
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I've never been confident with brakes, did a kawasaki er5 front caliper replacement years ago with no issues but never really since. And yeah this one (Africa Twin) has ABS so would have to be a bit careful.

Normally do my own fluids and filters though so it's probably more of a mental thing but I don't want to mess up the brakes.
 
Made the mistake of looking on autotrader, and now I'm (once again) eyeing up the KTM 890R :D

Just got a valuation of £7300 for mine, against an 890 for a grand more - not sure I'd get Wife approval to nick a grand from savings, but as luck would have it, found one quite local for around 7 grand.... just waiting to hear back; would be great if they either offer a straight swap, or mine and a couple of hundred back (yeah right).

Tempted to whack it on autotrader to see what it will fetch, but the prices for lower milage examples, are aroud (or slightly less than) I'd list it for - was thinking of either 8 or 8.5k (allowing for wiggle room); fingers crossed anyone serious will see the forged wheels as justifying a higher price..... but I anticipate not, so it begs the question, if it's even worth a private sale for only a few hundred quid more...

Damn temptation!

Edit: I'm probably sounding like a broken record about the 890R lol
 
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