What Have You Being Doing With Your Non-triumph Today?

Flippin' eck Mrs V, I'm in shock! Honda may have made some "boring" machines (Fireblade excluded of course) but they're (nearly) all known for being boringly reliable.
I had 3 Blades backin the 90's, RRP, RRS and RRV and never even changed a light bulb in any of them.
I'll be very surprised if it turns out to be anything remotely serious.

I had a very small coolant leak from new on my first R1 in 1998 which I could smell but didn't find until I took the fairings off. It looked like a leak from the head gasket but on further investigation by the dealer it turned out to be a flaw in the head casting requiring a complete new cylinder head which really peed me off somewhat but fair play to the dealer who did a top job of replacing the head and putting it all back together. That wasn't a Honda of course!

 

Good times at Glasgow Bike Night yesterday - plenty of chat and the punk rock band were ripping it up! I wish the crowd had shown their appreciation a bit more.....

By a funny coincidence, I was parked right in front of the West Coast's Triumph stand...... on my new Honda!

Back again next month - 31st July 6-8pm.

 

Another fairly local ride out on the Kove yesterday. Thoughtfully, the highways even painted the stripes to match my bike



And obviously a bit of unmade road thrown in

 

Went by car to the local Ducati day, whilst I am not really a scooter fan there was a very nice selection of machines, I do appreciate the customisation on some, and the amount of work and money they spend getting them to this standard, and they are 2 strokes so that is a positive. My other outing was another local event, a hill climb at Barbon, set in wonderful countryside, with a plethora of different machines, although only a few sidecars, what I really like about these events is the ability to obtain a day licence, and run what you turn up on.

 

As you @Iceman I'm not a scooter fan but can appreciate the engineering, paintwork and general attention to detail some of the owners go to.

Here is someone I knows scooter with a ktm 300 exc motor in it, needless to say it goes like stink but rather him than me.



And here it is being dyno tuned (still photo taken out of a video).
As he would say "it sounds mint!"
Which I have to fully agree, it does indeed

Note kliktronic gear shifter.

 

I started on a Lambretta back in the 60's so I'm a bit of a fan.

A mate gave me a pile of Scootering magazines recently and I'm surprised how much of the scooter scene is centred around the late 70's/80's scooter revival with murals and glittery paint rather than the original 60's mod treatment of two-tone designs and chromework.

An age thing I suppose.

 

Helmut and I went to the ABR on Friday at Ragley Hall with some friends, returning today on our Ducatis. All seven of us managed to get our tents in the same place, with a gazebo in the middle which was a nice "base camp" area for us.

It was an absolutely cracking weekend - gorgeous hot, dry weather, great atmosphere and bands, lots of stalls and lots of things to see and do. I did an on road test ride of the new Honda Hornet SP - it's a fantastic machine, sounds great, handles so well and is effortless to ride. There is absolutely nothing to not like about it and as we came back in from the ride I was thinking that I'd like to stay out on it all day....keeping a clean driving license would be a challenge with that bike though, it eggs you on. It's a huge amount of bike for the money and I like the looks. My Striple still trumps it for character and handling in my book...the Hornet is almost TOO faultless to ride....but it would be a strong contender should I ever be without a Street Triple (zero plans for that to be the case!).

The highlight was today - my very first trail ride on a RE Himalayan....well I LOVED it once I had totally relaxed and got used to the bike moving around underneath me, what a blast!! I even overtook some slower folk . I think off road riding definitely warrants some further exploration by me .

 

A very nice engineered machine, I don't think I would have the nerve to ride that full on though.

 

Out with my mate on his new BMW R12nineT.
What a cracking looking bike..... I'm almost jealous!

 

Has there been a diagnosis yet for the Fireblades leaks?

 

No, not yet. I am going to tomorrow afternoon to have new tyres fitted on the Ducati, so shall ask then.

 

I have ridden all three of my bikes today, so have put it in the "non Triumph" section, seeing as two of them are!

Firstly, I did 110 miles on my Street Triple and visited two new cafes for Bike and Brew Passport stamps. I am enjoying discovering new places:

First stop was Talybont Stores:

Second was the barge at Pontymoile Basin:

I would visit both again.

I then took my Hyperstrada a few minutes down the road for some new boots. I am trying Michelin Road 6s for the first time, I will not be sorry to not have the Metzelers on any more - I loved them in the dry but hated them in the wet!

When I went to get my tyres fitted, my beautiful Blade was waiting outside - it had had a leaking rocker cover gasket, which is now replaced and hopefully all in full working order again. One of the owners is a friend of ours, so she came to collect me in the car after I took the Ducati home to be able to return and fetch the Blade. It was lovely to ride it even the very short distance home for a few minutes via a friend's place and put it back into its rightful place in the garage (even if all three of my bikes need a good clean!) .

 

You can't beat two strokes for keeping you occupied don't buy one if you're not an enthusiast!

This piston has had it's ar5e thrashed for just under 4000 miles from new.

Yamaha TZR 70 piston and barrel.

It looks like the top ring locating pin has been lost. The top ring has then spun until the exhaust port has guillotined it, crushing part of it into the second ring groove.

New barrel and piston required.

 

Wow that is well and truly fcuked.

 

Just received My order of oil and filter for the old firestorm which I think is well overdue for a service seeing how it hasn't seen the light of day since we moved to this property in 2020 so just waiting for the spark plugs and air filter to arrive get the front wheel off and get a new front tyre on which has been in the garage next to the bike almost as long as the bike it's for has been parked up for then it's fairing off and full clean before booking in for the MOT I mentioned the tyre as for the last three mot's it had I got an advisory for low tread depth on the said front boot I know about the date on the side wall of tyres now and I know it's more than 5 years old but less than 10 so as it has been in a dark garage with no weight or pressure on it I think it will be adequate for the occasional run out on a dry Sunday afternoon it's just now I've bought the Tiger it has given me a new inspired wish to get out and rideable more plus I have to prove my brother wrong by riding the bikes after him saying why have you bought a new bike when you don't ride the one you got also if I want the firestorm to be a future investment it needs to be run, serviced and an occasional good clean oh and a yearly MOT besides it only costs me an extra £70 pound to insure on the multi policy

 

I got reacquainted with my beautiful Blade today, having not ridden it since April as it was off the road.
First stop was the Fast Trak Diner, Shrewsbury for a stamp in my Bike and Brew Passport - very friendly place indeed.

I then went on to the Old Stores Motorbike Cafe, which I have been to a few times before and always enjoy.
From there it was the Rhug Estate for another stamp, I have been there before as well. The coffee is decent and there's motorcycle parking.

I then did the road from Lake Bala to Lake Vrnwy which is one of my favourites *

Lastly, I stopped at Dafarn Newydd Village Stores for my last passport stamp of the day and then came home.

* There are far more suitable bikes for the single track, hilly, gravelly road on a very hot day than a golden oldie Fireblade that likes to run very hot - but it has never let me down .

 

Looks like another great day out.

 

Making the most of my days off from work!!

 

All that mileage and not a gel seat in sight

 

220 miles today, I seem to choose bikes with plank - like seats, but had forgotten quite what a plank the Blade has . I don't mind them at all to be honest, doesn't bother me. I did have an extra layer of foam put into the Street Triple seat last year though, before I rode to Jerez, which was nice, but it is still very much on the plank - like side .