Stew

24 minutes ago, betoney said:

Lemmy and Eddie... 😎🤘  Well done!

Just now, HGP61 said:

My comiserations, it was a cold day to be hanging around. never ran out of petrol on the bike but did spent a couple of hours one day standing in the rain in the Samy Ling budist car park waiting for the breakdown truck when the stator burned out on my CBF1000.

Aye, it was lovely, but my toes got it bad, just starting to warm up now

Completely my fault for assuming.

Strange thing was that the farmer that helped me out rides trackdays No Limits Racing, so we had  great chat about how it works with them etc.
Then , I stopped off in Castle Douglas for an Americano to warm up, at my friend's wee cafe. Where he has redone the window display....

What did I do?
Went to go for a long ride, gopro on, mic in helmet, and away we go.

Fuel light flashing, not a problem , there's a good 30 miles left.

8 miles later , I had a couple of hours sit around until a farmer took pity on my weeping sobbing body and gave me some petrol to get home.

I knew I was giving the bike a load of throttle yesterday, but man, I just burned through a LOT of petrol in very little time.

Lesson learned, if it is flashing, go to the petrol station!
DOH!

50 minutes ago, betoney said:

I'm not sure about the Tracer but the original FJ had to be "unrestricted" through an ECU flash to get over 115mph.

Mne isn't flashed, and it hits the rev limiter at 113/114 in 3rd, haven't hit it yet in 4th, I had to change my underwear. But I have seen 'significantly' higher.

(And obviously I am exaggerating, talking about kph not mph, and it was done on a private island or a closed airport runway or something like that)
 

3 hours ago, Alisia said:

I'm thinking that the Blaze pannier system I bought for the Fazer8 may well fit the MT09...IF I could undo the bloody nut things holding the pillion peg on. The allen keys just start to bend. Ive put a screwdriver through the top of the alan key to give me more to work with, but short of hitting the alun key with a hammer..which I'm reluctant to do...I've no idea how to get it to shift. Any tips would be appreciated and a prize emoji for finding the right allan 😆

I have some that are sockets, so if you have a socket set maybe there is an allen key socket that you could get from halfords or somewhere like that.

Polish? What, like Mister Sheen?

I bought bike shampoo and used it yesterday, Monkey something or other. The bike was stinking after using it, I was affronted

It is banana scented, I mean really, who wants a bike that smells of banana.

Oh, and the bike is filthy again. I knew washing it was a total waste of time and energy.

8 minutes ago, HGP61 said:

The wee map worked, love that A702 Dalveen pass road. Seemingly the air all over Scotland today came from the Caribbean that's why it was lovely and warm. (well warm for November here) Love the pics and am only a wee bit jealous.

Cool, I'm glad it worked. I have it on this rever app , all tracked, but I cant be bothered to figure out how to something something the somethings gpx something

Anyway, it was a cracking day to be out on the bike, although I've a wee touch of cold seepage now, you know that way that when you stop you start to feel it
 

I was going to go via wanlockhead, but I only had my dark visor with me, and time was getting on, and it's a bit of a police magnet at night

Google Maps

I've tried to include a wee map with directions, but it may not work.
Some lovely roads today, very quiet. On the ride from St Johns Dalry to Moniave I saw 2 cars.
Weather was absolutely perfect to be out on a bike, warm 50f , dry and with clear blue skies. The roads themselves were a mix of fully dry, damp and wet, with lots of leaves and tractor mud to add to the fun. B mode was used quite a bit.

Some photographs, but they don't do it justice. It's impossible to take a photograph of fresh air and warmth.

 

Where does the queue start?

Oooooft, that sounds wild.  Glad you slept through the MRA and all.

off to start a fireside chat on crashes

Take it easy, you'll be out riding like a hooligan again soon

Can't stand those things.  I don't care how practical or safe or anything, so no need to any attempts to draw me to that dark place.
Yuck

Sounds like you are just about there, grab a bunch of penny washers, and see how much you can angle the screen using those. I bet a couple under the screen on the 2 top fitting bolts (behind the screen obviously, to tweak the angle) and try that.
gl with it.

3 minutes ago, Duder said:

@Stew i just received my puig touring an am still having issues with the wind hitting my helmet, any suggestions? and yes it is at its highest setting. it is alot better then the stock windshield.

No idea. Mibbe try adjusting the angle with some penny washers.
I just rode home in the rain and pitch black , with a dark visor on my helmet, so visor open. And I was very aware of the fact that my eyes weren't even watering or anything, and I was going a fair old speed Zero wind blast or even raindrops.

All I can think is see if you can tweak the angle. (Oh , 1 other thing, I have r&G mirror extenders on mine. (On my vstrom 650 the wind blast was evil, until I fitted the mirror extenders, I know it sounds daft , but hey , I can only say what worked for me)

gl

 

Took the bike to a place with a jetwash today and gave it a good clean (well, got the worst of the mud off) , then rode round to the coast to get it nice and dirty again

Just now, HGP61 said:

Good luck in your hunt but don't go south of Gretna

Or outside of Dumfries and Galloway, apparently there are diseases! I could be doing with a wee trip to J & S at hamilton as well for a nosey. Bah humbug

Just now, HGP61 said:

Sorry but you'll have to do more than that Stew, That's a link to Greggs main site that will include there south of the border shops and dont show stuff you will only buy in Scotland.Open it up and look for a Bridie 🔍

Thank you. I now have today's ride plan sorted out.
'The hunt for the mysterious Bridie!'

And I was going to wash the bike as well, but hey, priorities. Thanks @HGP61

8 minutes ago, 2and3cylinders said:

funny, plz describe grub mentioned.

Born to ride, work to ride, ride to eat frozen custard..

I shall do better than that, feast your eyes on this....... The ultimate in great British cuisine

Click the link and you can see all the greasy, flaky pastry glorious food.

Greggs

---

From sandwiches to pasties, pick a great deal for breakfast and lunch at...

You should all have a look into fitting a Booster Plug.

10 minutes to fit , sorts out the low rev jerkiness brilliantly well. In all modes.

Some people pay good money for stuff like that (apparently)

I've had the catheter up into the bladder and pumped full of water torture , about 20 years ago, but the memory is as fresh as if it was yesterday. The instant they were done, I clambered off the table and scuttled off towards the bathroom with my bare butt hanging out the stupid gown, and water gushing uncontrollably from my poor abused genitals while the nurses tried not to snigger. But I could see their shoulders shaking!  It's hilarious now, but at the time I was mortified

3 minutes ago, BBB said:

I’m all for riding bikes quickly and enjoying them. I don’t use mine for commuting so my riding is heavily biased towards enjoyment. But, I also know that the times I’ve been too far in the flow, attack mode as you put it, I’ve ended up not leaving any margin for error, shite on the roads or eejits around me. It’s the closest I’ve come to total wipeout when I met a car on my side of the road and I had nowhere to go as I was riding too fast with no visibility of the road ahead. My error.

I’m not saying that your making the same error @Stew, I’ve not seen you ride. Enjoy your rides, but leave a bit of margin for the unknown. Personally I hate leaves on the road and much prefer clearer winter tarmac.

Aye, I appreciate that @BBB , I ride within my limits. What is insanely fast to me would probably be pedestrian to most other m/cyclists. There are tractors, mud, pheasants and cyclists so if I don't have the visibility on a bend, I assume there is a tractor with big sharp pointy bits just sitting around the corner.

One of the scariest things I ever experienced was , when young, going round a corner and a car coming towards me on my side of the road. I had a sheer drop on the left, or swerve to avoid them, which would put me on 'their' side of the road, where hopefully they were headed again.
I can't remember how it ended, other than that I parked up a few minutes later to smoke and to stop shaking

Just now, Salish900 said:

Awesome post @Stew. I did a ride last night that made me feel the same way. New Road 5's up front, new fork springs and oil, and all my other recent upgrades, and I was just a giddy little kid on a fast and comfortable bike zipping along on lovely rural roads here in great state of Washington. I can't get over how and why it feels so good to be on a great machine, but it does. Happy winter riding for all of you in the Northern Hemisphere. 

I had the front wheel off the ground at a 3 figure speed (closed road and kph ) and it felt amazing, I was proper shrieking with joy.  And I went round a few really tight wee bends today that I always kind of clumsied my way round, but thos afternoon , ooooft, I was in attack mode.

Bikes are brilliant eh  

See all this covid and elections and terrorism and asteroids and all the rest of the spoilsport things, they can all beat it, I've got fossil fuels to abuse!

Just now, kilo3 said:

Hey Stew, do you have "winter gas" over there?

In the northern states here they switch to a winter blend of gas which has some lower emissions stuff but also less mpg.

nah, 95 octane all the way. The price of a gallon (imperial) would make you weep

So, the bike feels great now, with the new suspension, and I am absolutely loving these Pilot Road 5's . It is around 40-50f here lately, and raining a lot, and gales have brought the leaves down big time (and the trees on some of the wee back roads)

With the feel from the bike now I was riding along today, squealing with pure joy, as I was going along my favourite twisty road, riding pretty hard, and getting the bike over quite a bit, considering I'm working on getting me over more and the bike less.

Then it hit me.

My fuel consumption has dropped. Cos I am able to use that delicious engine a lot more. In lovely summer bone dry warm weather, I was getting nearly 5mpg (imperial) more , hahahaha, who'da thunk it.
So, to sum up. If you are holding back on upgrading suspension, or putting up with tyres (tires) that don't feel good, why? You, and your bike, deserve it.

Sowwy Gweta (not sowwy)

Let us all know how it goes on Wednesday @2and3cylinders , I'm sure it will be silky smooth and you'll be out invoking climate change hard soon.