Motors Motorcycle Mayhem

Just caught up on this thread! Not much good news, poor Edz hurting his foot and Byron getting shafted by some thieving little scrot.

 

Foots getting better, out of the cast & boot, but not enough strength in it yet to shift upwards (or, you know, support the bike on that side).

 

Aye, it's a bit of a ballache. Insurance is still rumbling on - primary insurer have just paid out, and I'm due to send a ton of documents off to the gap insurer in the next day or two, but in the mean time I got sick of being without transport. Even with the other half giving me a lift back & fore it was taking an extra hour or two out of our day; she wouldn't have been able to drop me off for the early shift, and that would have meant getting up at 0500 to get a bus at 0545 and hope & pray that it gets me there in time. The first time I tried that trip I was 15 minutes late to work; when it starts to affect my job (I was still on probation at that point) it's time to do something about it.

So I went out and bought a new one .



Exactly the same model, but this one was brand new instead of being pre-registered. In the long term I'll save money: I've gone from payments of £115 a month to £95 a month and from an APR of ~16% to an APR of 6.3%, all because the finance is now with Honda instead of Black Horse. F' Lloyds Bank, eh?

Been thinking about doing a bit of a tour of Wales: go around the coast from Cardiff up to Chester and follow the border down - avoiding motorways, 'cos where's the fun in staring at other cars for several days. Not sure how to broach the subject with the other half though: we haven't had a holiday in ages, so p!ssing off on my own without her might not go over well! I'm not insured for pillion passengers, so she'd either have to drive up to meet me somewhere or stay at home.

I wanted to go from South Wales up to Elgin in Scotland, right up on the North Sea coast (I used to live there), but doing the route I want would take aaaaages! .

 

Blimey, financing still has awful rates! Last time I looked at "what if I brought a brand new bike?" options, it worked out cheaper to buy it outright with a cash loan and pay the ~3% on that than financing from the dealer/manufacturer, and avoids the it's-not-actually-your-bike problem of Hire Purchase or PCP (though you lose the ability to part-exchange).

 

Great to hear! We should go for a bit tech ride out one Saturday morning when you're finally better. You're still London based right?

 

The whole "it's not actually your bike because the finance company owns it" thing - whether on PCP or outright finance - isn't really an issue TBH, it's no different than financing a car. For all practical purposes it is your vehicle: if it's in an accident then it's your responsibility to get it fixed (insurance liability notwithstanding), if it fails an MOT then it's your responsibility to get it roadworthy, it's your responsibility to tax it, if you want to fit accessories then go for it, etc. (although you do have to be a bit more careful with PCP, as there are cosmetic & maintenance guidelines you need to adhere to if you're going to part-ex or return the bike at the end of the agreement period). I'm still gonna get heated grips and hand guards fitted (although I'll keep the OEM parts, because PCP and all...) and treat it like "my" bike.

I know what you're saying about rates though, if your credit is good then yeah get a loan instead - it's a lot easier to shop around for better rates when you're going for a loan. I did that for my CBF125: bumped up my loan by £2,500 and bought the bike in cash from the dealer (well... debit card, not £2,500 in actual notes ). At the moment my credit rating is mediocre at best so frankly I'm amazed that the finance even went through, let alone that I got a lower rate than last time.

Make it a bit further west and you can add another participant

 

Nice day for it, got a good 175 miles under the belt: out to Camarthen on the M4/A48, then east on the A40 across the top of the Brecon Beacons, into Brecon itself, then down to Abergavenny, and back to the M4 via Cwmbran/Newport. Bit cold though, heated grips and hand guards may well be a worthwhile investment... Fingers went totally numb at several points up on the Beacons!

EDIT: Loads of R1200GS's up at Abergavenny today, forgot how massive those things are.

 

Got a bit of a trip planned next week:



Just realised that route totally bypasses Mount Snowdon, so I'll definitely fix that. Not planning to do all that in one day though: the other half is going to come and meet me in Aberystwyth on the first day and we'll stay there the night; I've got a hotel booked in Wrexham the next day. No point going just to belt round as fast as I can without actually seeing anything .

Glad I got heated grips installed, I forsee it being somewhat cold...

 

As long as you don't do it in winter......oh wait!

 

Yep, and we're getting a cold snap this week too .

 

Riding this beaut in a couple of days time

 

Oof, that's pretty special.

The hard life of a pro eh?

 

Yep, it's a very hard life indeed. Can't wait, should be a proper giggle. Riding the new 1050 Speed Triple RS at the same time (not actually at the same time, that'd be daft).

 

Very nice! Can't get on with the styling of the naked Triumphs, but I hear they're oozing with character.

 

Just the headlights, or...? I guess they are a bit marmite but pictures vs flesh is another thing altogether IMO, as with all bikes (and cars, etc). And yeah, the engines are probably some of the best ever made. Plenty of engines have character (as long as they aren't 4cyl ) but the triples are quite literally the perfect blend of torque and power which works so well on the road. Plus dat sound. In addition Triumph have the fuelling on the Triples absolutely nailed. It's just stupidly, ridiculously refined, and it has been the case since the 675 as well. No jerkiness, no snatchiness (sp?), it just does what you ask of it smoothly and predictably.

On that topic the new Speed Triple (RS) is an awesome bike, utterly transformed from the previous generation. I can't fault it, personally - it's so ridiculously capable at, well, everything (except hour long blasts on motorways or something, but that's not a fault with the bike itself, more the genre of bike...). The only thing that I find a bit weird is that the up-down quickshifter isn't fitted as standard on the RS. Given it is otherwise fully loaded with literally every trick in the book (an IMU, Ohlins front and back, arrow exhausts, rider modes, carbon fibre, yada yada yada) I can't work out why it didn't make the list. Maybe they were working to a price and it was the only thing they could possibly drop from the list without causing too much upset.

Regardless, what a machine it is. I had a particular dislike for the previous gen (mostly cos the motor was just too lazy, and even if it was fast, it wasn't particularly exciting in its delivery) but not any more, and anyone choosing between the Street and Speed now has a much more difficult decision to make - it'll come down to just money now, I think, where as before there was a bit more to take into consideration. The revised engine spins up eagerly like a 765 does and the extra 1k RPM before the red line makes it much easier to work with when you're throwing gears at it (peak torque is now 1k RPM lower, too!). Love it. A perfect antidote to the true nutcase bikes (Tuono V4, 1290 SDR, etc) which can be too much of a pain to actually live with day to day, and it'll give them a bloody good run for their money too

Some pics







Bikes ready to go in the morning:


Out in the mountains somewhere for a piss break



Tyres warming up pre track session


Settings Triumph were using road/track (plus leaderboard over the launch week!)



Supercorsa SPs were lasting about 6 sessions (50 laps? ish?) each, nice wear patterns from the ohlin ttx36 shock


Some chump on an out-lap


A **** portrait video, sorry -

 

so my rear brake is sticking decided to try and remove the calipher. one bolt tuned a bit, then got stock the hex socket has chewed up as in my stupidity i tryied to use an torque wrench to remove it now do i risk drilling the bolt out and possibly damaging the threads or find another way

 

Throw some pictures up.
Is there enough out for stillsons or mole grips to grip, maybe slot the head and pound on it with an impact driver, or beat it round with a cold chisel?

 

will do in the morning

 

Try a lock-on socket?

 

sorry i said hex bolt i meant allen key type bolt.

and love delboys garage vids

he has a fix