Finally got around to installing my TEC 2-2 tracker pipes on the T100. Fellas, that was quite simply the hardest job I've ever done on the bike. An 11h job. Nearly half of that was to get the old studs and nuts out. I left them soaking in penetrating oil overnight, but they just laughed at my pitiful attempt to make it an easy job. They were a bound pile of rust. It took about three goes with a sprocket for them to round off. Great! Hours of sweat, tears and elbow grease. In the end, what worked fantastically well was the heat and wax method: use a blow torch to really heat up the nut/sprocket, then let a chunk of candle wax melt over it - wax doesn't evaporate/burn like oil, so it really penetrates (saw a guy doing it in YouTube - using a blow torch under your petrol tank, and then get candle wax all over your engine - what can possibly go wrong!). Used a knipex for some serious grip, and they grungily squeaked out. Once the old nuts and studs were out, the rest of the job was relatively easy. Damn pipes are a really tight fit, they clashed with my Triumph crash bars (had to remove them - who needs crash bars anyway?...), and even had to realign the radiator hose. Not to mention the ridiculously tight access to the whole area. Maps were another issue. I installed the Arrows map as suggested everywhere, but I feel it runs too rich (consumption has increased substantially). I wanted to keep the baffles, but it was actually chocking. Once the baffles were out though, it runs beautifully, a noted improvement over the standard setup. And it ROARS. A bit too loud, me reckons! Great fun for me, neighbours might not be that impressed. I basically transformed a civilised ride into a little brat. Time to have some serious fun.
As I left home Tuesday morning I knew that there was a chance of snow... I also knew that the place I was going to had a bike shed... I didn't know that the person who designed & built it put it up facing an open expanse of open field... Hence when I returned my poor old tiger had become more crystal white than when I'd left her....
Tbf, we don't often get persistent storm winds from this direction. Is it still there, or did you ride it home? Braver man than I am if you did. Cancelled my trip to Romford Triumph (service) just on the grounds of the forecast
Well despite me leaving Hornchurch in dry weather & my destination Stanford le hope starting OK a blizzard hit within a few hours of me arriving. When I come to go home the snow hadn't iced up so was still soft so I took her home & washed off what I could & she's been in the garage ever since .. Thankfully
Do you live in Hornchurch then? Used to teach at the Albany School (previously Harrow Lodge Boys/ Maylands Girls). Have some good friends in the area, so frequent the area quite often. Fancy a ride out sometime when weather improves? PM me if interested
I got married in Hornchurch at the lovely Registry Office (assuming its the same place and grounds). The Summer of '76 in the middle of the drought, something of a complete contrast to today.
Yes, still has well kept gardens. I got married in 1983 at St Andrews .. Still married to the same lovely lady
Got my paddock stand in, works quite well. Also fit my pannier bars, which will have some hard cases installed when on a multi day trip. Figured I’d be removing them when not being used but they really aren’t that noticeable, and give me a handhold when setting the bike on and off the stand. May just leave them on.
