I just saw this video, and it has a section in the middle describing his 'ride round the block' test - brought back memories!
Got to say, that was brilliant to watch. Had a Suzuki GT 250 back in the day. I always loved the RD, they say bikes today have character, I'm not so sure. The sound of the 2 stroke and the smell with Castrol R coming out the back. I wish some company made an aftershave of that smell. Brilliant memories indeed. Nice find AJ
You’re right, nothing beats that 2-stroke sound and the Castrol R aroma. Imagine if they bottled that as aftershave, it’d be a hit for sure Definitely brings back some legendary bike memories.
A set of these for the dirt bike. Reusable, spoke mounted balance weights. The bike rims are quite narrow and of a profile that doesn't lend itself very well for the stick on weights. The front tyre I've just fitted had no red spot or other mark I could see to aid wheel balance when fitting and the wheel ended up some way out of balance. Not as big a deal as on a 150mph road machine of course but still noticeable. These clamp onto the nipple with a grub screw and seem a neat and relatively cheap solution. Just some brass rod, drilled and tapped of course but worth it IMO.
Anyone who rides in Winter will know the score. You head out, on a nice clean, shiny machine on DRY roads and it comes back covered in salt dust so I thought I'd try one of these "dust magnets". It works a treat on dry dust, something to do with the "natural static charge" of the nylon fibres and is ideal for a quick "dust off" before another ride. No substitute for dried on wet crud off course but better than using a dusting cloth IMO. https://www.sainsburys.co.uk/gol-ui/product/flash-duster-dust-magnet-starter-kit-handle-refills-x4
You don't. You Throw the head away when it's clogged and fit a refill. It comes with comprehensive instructions.
Hopefully this will enable me to get some use out of my rear brake, worked with my GS,.if find the pedal too small. View attachment 174062
This is a terrific idea, @Pegscraper! I don't have to worry about salt dust since we've no winter to speak of. But living in the Sonoran Desert in Arizona plus a drought on top of that, everything is dusty all the time. I can wash my black car and by the time I've finished the entire car, the area where I started is already dusty. I use a California Car Duster on my car but that's not great for the motorcycles. So I'll give a "dust magnet" a go! Thanks....... https://www.calcarduster.com/product-page/the-original-california-car-duster-62442
A pair of new ear defenders. I have used these for a number of years and this is the third set for me. Do you wear ear defenders?
Yes to the ear defenders, when I worked at Gatwick Airport a company called Guymark used to use this company, apparently they were the best you could get, and they weren't cheap either. Still got them today and they still work perfectly too. As to the next question here's what I bought the other day. https://www.thetriumphforum.com/threads/garmin-zumo-security-lock.43520/
Pardon? . I wear these: https://www.alpinehearingprotection.co.uk/products/motosafe-tour Edited to add that I have just seen that they have added "for calm motorcycle rides under 62mph", that doesn't describe exactly my motorcycle rides......but parts of the rides are under 62mph...... I actually have some of the "race" ones on order for noisier occasions....
I only ever use them when out on the ZZR, especially on long rides. I just use some disposable foam plugs which I find adequate. Even the helmets with the quietest rating are still noisy enough to be an issue at high speed. The dirt bike and the Triumph twin have appealing engine notes and neither are used at/capable of the speeds where noise becomes a problem.
I don't coz I'm half deaf anyway, 40% down in both ears due to working in the printing industry for almost 40 years. I need all the hearing I can get when riding.
A new battery for the dirt bike after it almost let me down while out on a ride on Sunday. The bike is charging OK but after a 30 min coffee break it just managed to fire up. I did notice it didn't turn over with it's normal vigour before heading out despite being garage charged before hand. The bike has quite a basic wiring loom and not much room for add on accessories so I wired the heated grips direct to the battery for simplicity so you can probably guess what has happened in the past, twice. I'm going to wire in an extra bright LED so there's no forgetting they're on. Now £80 lighter.
Bizarrely, I bought the same around the same time although in 40 years or so of previous motorcycling, I've never felt the need to balance an offroad front wheel before. @Pegscraper
