Vagueness and the Aftermath - A sporadic diary

[RED-DOG]

Quiz question. (No googling)

Why are motorcycle side stands on the left of the bike, even in countries where they drive on the right?

Why the long faces?

You googled too eh?

[Karabiner]

Quiz question. (No googling)

Why are motorcycle side stands on the left of the bike, even in countries where they drive on the right?

Why the long faces?

You googled too eh?

No it's just logical.

[RED-DOG]

So when we left you,  it was 1967 and you were in Vancouver...

[Karabiner]

So when we left you,  it was 1967 and you were in Vancouver...

I'll get back to it shortly.

You were right about the q&a session, it was a little taxing.

[atdc21]

Hi Tom,
           How is the motor biking going?  You may have already put article up on thread about it(thought i have seen one recently somewhere) , but have you looked into 'counter balancing' much , a strange thing for a lot of people to get their heads around, some good clips on you tube etc to explain it tho.

[RED-DOG]

Hi Tom,
           How is the motor biking going?  You may have already put article up on thread about it(thought i have seen one recently somewhere) , but have you looked into 'counter balancing' much , a strange thing for a lot of people to get their heads around, some good clips on you tube etc to explain it tho.

Hi Ade, the motorbike is going great, touch wood.

On Sunday, I did a little repair job that I'm quite proud.

On my bike, the clamp part of the throttle assembly (See below) would rotate as I turned the throttle. I asked a bloke in a bike shop what the cause was and he said it was because a plastic retaining pin that fits into a hole in the handlebar had sheared off. He said the best fix was to cut a piece of old inner tube and trap it between the two halves of the clamp.

That didn't seem like a very elegant solution to me so I drilled the half of the clamp where the pis should be and screwed a self tapping screw so that it made threads in the plastic, then I removed the screw cut the head off, and ground away the threads that would protrude once it was screwed back in, and then I hack sawed a slot in the end so that I could turn it with a screwdriver now that the head was gone.

I screwed it back in to the now threaded hole and ta daa... the sheared off plastic pin was now replaced by a nice new metal one.






On Monday I had to go to Darley Dale nr Matlock. The weather forecast said it would be cold with a chance of rain. Well I've been wanting to do a test ride in less than ideal weather so I decided to go on the bike.

I planed a route that avoided motorways altogether and most main roads where I could. I went there via Nottingham, Ripley etc and came home via Swarkstone, Coalville etc. It was about 130 miles round trip, including a short sight-seeing detour around Wirksworth.

 I wrapped up really well. Jeans, boiler suit, waterproof over trousers, teeshirt, fleece & waterproof coat. I was as snug as a bug in a rug.

I haven't intentionally tried counter-balancing, but I have noticed that I instinctively counter-steer when leaning into bends.

I found something else out on my way home from Darley Dale. I was asked if I could take a box full of pamphlets home with me so that I can drop them off in London when I go (By train) on Friday. They weighed about 15kg. I put them in my top box and I really knew they were there. The bike was fine to ride, but I had to compensate for the weight all the time, especially when maneuvering slowly or braking.

Also, I wouldn't recommend taking both hands off the bars if you have a lot of weight in your top box.

Off to google counter-balancing.

[atdc21]

That's a proper job Tom !   Jobs like that are very rewarding, old school - repair not replace. engineering ingenuity !!

[Mohican]

Motorcycle Bio as requested-
I sat my bike license as part of my resettlement package from the RAF. Before I'd sat my test, this was purchased on 0% finance and was waiting for me after I passed my test(2 attempts)

Luckily at my new place  of work, there was 4 or 5 bikers and I flung myself into being a biker. Bikes shows at the NEC, Ace Cafe, Chelsea Bridge were all visited. Was also commuting on my bike at this point.
 A couple of years later, I purchased this (0% finance obvs)-

Click to see full-size image.

I was by now a fair weather rider but still managed to get to Boxhill, World and British Superbike races(Wife to be as pillion quite often). I also joined a Kawasaki owners forum and used to meet up for rideouts. Highlight being about 50+ riding from Chelsea bridge to Brighton on a Friday Night.
Got married in Vegas 2003 and hired a Harley in L.A. Very similar to this-

 Rode the P.C.H. North and went to here http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mazda_Raceway_Laguna_Seca to watch the World Superbikes. We sat at the corkscrew which is a blind entry, LH turn. Awesome to watch as the riders flip flop from one side to the other.



2008 saw me acquire this(0% was my friend again)-

Click to see full-size image.

In 2009, my friend and I rode our bikes to my parents house in mid west France. We covered a distance of 1000KM in one day. I've never ached so much on a bike. Needless to say, on the way back we took a slightly more direct route and stopped overnight in a little French town.
Since then, rugby injuries, 3 kids, work and a little bit of a loss of biking mojo has seen me only ride about a 1000-1500 miles every year.(although the last two years Wifey, 2 boys and I have been to the BSB at Snetterton) Over winter I often think about selling my bike, but every year without fail, I get on it for my first ride of the year and all those thoughts disappear. The bike's bought and paid for, insurance is cheap and it costs me about £250 a year(plus fuel) to have it on the road. It's a cheap toy to keep and when I do ride it, i have a lot of fun. All within the law, honest officer. (I can reach 70mph in first courtesy of a 16.5k redline).
 So as you can see Red, I've done a lot on my bike. The only thing i haven't done is a track day. It's on my list.
Will try to find some actual pics of the States and the ride in France if you're still interested.
Hope you found this informative. Any questions, fire away.

[RED-DOG]

Excellent Bio Mr Mo. Thank you.

Please do post the pics.

Questions.

How old were you when you joined the RAF?

What is a resettlement package?

What did you fail your first bike test on?

You seem like a bit of a speed freak, have you ever come off?

[Mohican]

Excellent Bio Mr Mo. Thank you.

Please do post the pics.

Questions.

How old were you when you joined the RAF?

What is a resettlement package?

What did you fail your first bike test on?

You seem like a bit of a speed freak, have you ever come off?

Joined the R.A.F. aged 17yrs as a Boy Entrant doing an apprenticeship at R.A.F. Halton.
Resettlement is meant to aid you as you turn into a civilian. So stuff like courses on job intervies, CV writing  are available and you get an allowance to spend on courses that are more specific to your needs. I had a job before i left so I sat my bike  test to help me commute from Fulham to Heathrow for work. That was my excuse anyway. I also sat a tachograph course because i already had the HGV licenses from the R.A.F.
Failed 1st bike on 'rear observation wobble'. Basically I over exaggerated my lifesaver checks which caused a small wobble(unnoticeable to me).
Speed freak, I dunno. I always had a sports bike and I like to ride them accordingly. That said, as I've got older and wiser, the amount of 'spirited' riding has decreased. As for coming off, I've bounced off the side of a car but stayed on. My current bike got laid down on a roundabout with 80 miles on the clock. A gentleman pulled out on me and I avoided him but had the bike at such a lean when it stopped, I couldn't hold it up so I had to lower it to the deck. Was a tad annoyed at that bloke.
 

[dreenie]

Hi Tom, nice bikes but be careful, don't want people thinking you are the cool cool rider

[RED-DOG]

I ordered this today. £26 from eBay. If Booder can have a screen on his bike then so can I.

I rang and asked if it came with fitting instructions, and they said "Yes, but they're in Chinese".

Where the Hell is Frankie when you need him, is it?

[Graham C]

Nice bike bio Mo, love that R6!

[RED-DOG]

Any chance of a bio from you Mr C?

[Karabiner]

I've had hiccups since Monday evening apart from an hour or two.

Know any ancient cures that I may not have tried?