We (me and the cup) attended a bikesafe course https://bikesafe.co.uk/ at Defford, Worcestershire. If you wish to learn more roadcraft, can get your head around why youd want to have a bike cop follow you to observe your roadcraft id suggest signing up. I learnt so much and found them all to be just as much enthusiats as us, but with a uniform and knowldege/skills they wanted to pass on. Id throughly recommend it if you are interested to learn from these folks, the feedback was not condersending it was contructive and was given as part of the debriefs during and after the rides. It was a great day, throughly reccommned,
Started to clean speedy properly after my trip to Spain. Top tip to remove burnt on soot from the exhaust - oven cleaner!
Mounted upper crash bars on my Tiger 1200 (the placement of the radiators on the sides of the tank had me a bit nervous), and then spent the day taking the new MSF Adventure Bike Rider Course. It's new enough that it was only the third group that the instructor had run through the new course. It was quite useful as a primer for riding a big bike in the dirt, and included lots of drills around locking the rear brake in low traction conditions, and how to use that state for steering, etc. There were a whole bunch of drills involving the differences in turning between street and dirt, and about the different ways to weight and steer the bike in low traction, at varying degrees of turn tightness. There were drills about breaking the rear loose with the throttle, and why you'd want to do that, and how to use it. There were drills about navigating obstacles like roots and ruts, etc. There was a drill about balance that involved riding the bike along a raised board without falling off, and a few more that involved riding the bike as slowly as possible without putting a foot down, on grass, dirt and sand. There was a drill about how to perform an in-motion u-turn on a hill in low traction (that one was fun). Overall, it was a good day's worth of training, and I'd highly recommend it as a basic skills primer for riding a big bike in the dirt for anyone who just got their first adventure bike and wants to gain a little skill and confidence in a controlled environment before taking that bike out into the rough for the first time. Or even for an already skilled rider who just wants a refresher, or to have an objective observer to critique their bike handling and offer suggestions. There were six riders who participated in the class, and we had a good mix of bikes and rider experience: three BMW 850GS's, a Tenere 700, a Harley Pan America, and my Tiger 1200.
Sounds like a great class and great learning opportunity, Aaron! I have a buddy with a Pan america and two buddies with BMW 1250 GS's--I'll have to let them know that there's now an MSF ADV class.
I gave my Speed Triple RS some lovin' yesterday. I'm having routine maintenance done on an annual basis rather than by mileage since I use Speedy as an around town (and up and down Mt. Lemmon!) bike and don't rack up miles. So off I went to my local dealership--AZ--KKT (Arizona Kawasaki-KTM-Triumph) to have my maintenance done. And...much more exciting...I got new tires! Thanks to all of you who reviewed and recommended Michelin Road 5's and that's exactly what I got. I also sprung for a new battery since I was still using the original stock battery which was nearly four years old. I hadn't been having any issues with my bike at all other than something weird that happened recently. I got home from a ride a couple of weeks ago and noticed that my rear fender "hugger" was literally laying on my rear tire! Upon closer inspection I saw that three of the four screws holding it in place were completely gone and the 4th was on it's way to vibrating out. Fortunately the hugger had no damage--and it didn't wind up in a ditch someplace! After dropping my bike off back by the service area, I walked around to the front door only to see obvious signs of vandalism. Bruce, my salesman buddy at AZ-KKT, said that someone broke the glass in the door and two of the windows the night before. And our local Cycle Gear store was also hit and a bunch of helmets and jackets were stolen. To add insult to injury, Cycle Gear had just moved into a much nicer and larger building. From security camera footage, it sounded like it was the same thief and there was footage of someone on a white Ninja. Hopefully they'll catch the culprits. I hadn't been to the dealership for a few months--maybe a new record for me--so it was great to see the guys and the bikes. They were a bit down on Triumph stock but had tons of KTM's and a hefty assortment of Kawasakis. I thought this ad board was an interesting bit of marketing. When I was parking my bike by the service door, one of the mechanics rode around and into the service garage from the front on a white Speed Triple RS just like mine! I think it's the first time I've seen another bike just like mine anywhere in Tucson. I met the owner who had also brought his bike in for routine maintenance. We chatted briefly and he is just as happy with his bike as I am with mine. He switched to his Speed Triple RS from a Moto Guzzi adventure bike. My bike, waiting for me and all happy with a new battery, new shoes, and a clean bill of health! We're ready for another year of fun in the sun. On my ride home I looked at my screen and noticed the temperature reading said 33º! I immediately realized two things--my settings had been changed to Celsius during my service and that I really didn't know what the conversion was. At any rate, I was riding home from the dealership at about 2:30pm and it was hot!
33 Celsius is hot - as Steve and I experienced in Spain! You're going to love those road 5's... and they're durable - after 7.500 miles my front tyre is nearly done, rear still fine.
Thanks for the thumbs up on the Road 5's, Wim. I rode my Speed Triple today on our Sunday ride and loved them! They feel significantly different (and better) to me than did the stock Pirelli's. Glad to know they'll last me awhile, too! I did a quick check on the temperature conversation. Looks like I was riding home in temps just over 90ºF. After riding in temperatures well over 100ºF this past summer, 90ºF didn't seem too terribly bad. I guess it's all relative. Plus my ride home was only 5 miles. That certainly helps!
My rear tyre after 7500 miles - markers still well within specs, and ridden, well, not conservatively...
That was my experience in Cheshire as well. Highly recommended. An absolute bargain. I’m still thinking things through and improving with every ride as result of that course.
Thanks @Sandi T, my Dad is in hospital, but on the mend now, so it was nice to have some fun with that worry
I’m glad to read that your dad is on the mend, @Dartplayer. It seems that so many of my friends have elderly parents with health issues these days. I hope and pray he keeps improving!
Not done anything with bike today, but been doing clothing maintenance for the change of season. I replaced a broken press stud on leather jacket and cleaned it up before hanging it up inside house together with jeans, won’t been needing them again until next spring. For winter I wear waxed cotton gear and the trousers still had a worn in mud colour despite earlier cleaning, so I resorted to to drastic measures, namely scrubbing with washing up liquid, then putting them in the washing machine. They still had a brown hue after that, so I repeated the process, and now after a fresh wax they’re looking black again. Until after tomorrow’s ride that is…
I did mine at Defford on Easter weekend this year, I agree that it was a great day with the observed ride on some lovely roads .
Booked my 2021 Street Triple R in for its first annual 6000m service at Bulldog Triumph not used them before but bike was bought there with its original owner.Seemed ok on phone didn't realise how busy or short staffed they are? as the earliest i could get in was the 19th November.I do have Destination Triumph slightly closer but not entirely happy when visiting them in the past.
Commute for me today, nice ride there and back - just about made it back whilst it was still light this evening.....makes it feel like summer is truly gone .
I had the same feeling this afternoon Mrs V, after a ride out on the SS. I had Summer gloves on and my fingers were just approaching the numb threshold on the way home. The temps are set to plummet on Friday apparently. Oh joy. Short days, sh*te weather, soaring energy/fuel prices, financial turmoil, nuclear armageddon, hosepipe ban, climate change, just give me some rope................. ..................................but then I've always got the bikes!
