more miles

I went out for another run yesterday as the weather had taken a turn for the better. A holiday Monday as it should be.
Did about forty miles and enjoyed almost every one!
The road back was marred a little by an accident involving a biker and a car. Was only a mile or two from the Carbeth Inn. Looked like another biker racing but you never know, he could have been behaving and it was the driver at fault.
Haven't heard anything today about it so hopefully it was minor.

typical holiday weekend

The weather is rotten and the traffic is worse!

Well actually the weather wasn't that bad. It was just not as warm and sunny as it has been this past week. (when I was at work!!) The Easter traffic, on the other hand, is just as you would expect for the first long weekend of the year. Lots of Sunday drivers out for a dawdle.
I headed off up Loch Lomond side to Crianlarich then turned right and came back via Callander. It was a good 120 mile round trip which I did without stopping. A good few bikes on the road including some Harleys. They all seem to ride in groups. Especially the ones with the HOG patches on their backs. Though, to be fair, the ones I saw round Balloch would have been at the Easter Egg Run to the Children's Hospice. Got overtaken by the usual rice burners round Loch Venacher in the Trossachs. I can't be bothered going to the trouble of passing cars on a windy road only to get held up by the ubiquitous caravan or tour bus a mile or two further on.
I was beginning to feel just a little stiff at the end but nothing too bad so I should be able to manage a trip up to Gairloch in June. That would be about 235 miles. So about double the distance and do-able in a day.

I was writing about buying luggage the other day.
I'm definitely not going to buy the tour bag I was looking at. What I will get though, is a luggage roll. That will bungee on to my rack. It will be useful for day trips like today, to carry waterproofs and camera but will also give me an alternative when doing overnight camping trips.
Something I am going to buy is a face mask. I was using my buff neck scarf today but if just wouldn't stay in place. There are a few different types on the market both leather and neoprene. The ones with the skull or horror face look "interesting" but no doubt I'll go for a plain black one.

problems solved

The weather was a bit overcast and not too warm this morning when I went out to the garage to make a start on the rear indicators.
That made me feel a bit better about not getting out and riding.
I started by removing the screen from the front fairing and sprayed the inside with a satin black paint. I wanted to get away from the opaque look that it had and try for a solid colour. My thinking was that if I sprayed the inside it would be protected from scratches and leave the finish matching the rest of the fairing.
Hopefully it will work but I won't really know until tomorrow when the paint is dry and I can refit it.
In between coats I made a start on relocating the indicators.
All went well - at first.
I removed the indicators then realised that it wasn't going to be quite as straightforward as I had hoped. The hollow mounting bolt wasn't threaded all the way to the head. That meant I would have to cut a new thread on the portion that went through the mudguard. So, I cut the heads off the bolts, got out my tap and die set then ran into the next problem. I haven't got a work bench in my garage therefore don't have a vice to hold the bolt steady while I made the thread.
This gave me a worrying time as I got on with deciding what die to use for the nuts I've got available. The front mounting bolts are 8mm but with two different pitched threads on the ends that go to the indicator body and into the fork bracket. As I've only got an imperial die set, I couldn't do them to match the front or even have both threads metric. (not that it matters as they can't be seen).
With the problem of holding the bolt while I made the thread still going through my mind I carried on and drilled holes in the mudguard. I was committed to finishing the job because cutting the bolt heads off at the start meant I couldn't put things back the way they were. So, a solution had to be found.
Eventually I had a light bulb moment! I held the bolt in the chuck of my power drill. Holding that between my knees gave me the purchase to start off the die.
The rest went fairly smoothly.
Tomorrow is for eating burgers at WCHD and riding!

As an aside, I had been thinking about buying a Nelson Rigg luggage pack for when I go camping this summer (I WILL get to at least one rally this summer) but have decided that it's an extravagance. Any bag will bungee on and I've ordered some more waterproof bag liners, so it wont even matter if it's a weatherproof one. I may put the money I would have spent on that towards a new leather jacket. The one I bought from e-bay last year is great quality but is not getting any more comfortable as I wear it. Maybe it has done its fitting to the previous owner!

needs must

I was out at my bike and noticed that the rear indicator that I had tightened at the weekend has worked loose again.
If it's going to work loose after a short run of less than a couple of miles then I had better do it properly before I attempt to ride any distance.
So, as it's a holiday weekend coming up, I'll get it done on Friday. That will still give me three days to get out and run up the miles as well as nipping down to West Coast HD for their Easter Barbecue.

the pain

I put my back out at work the other day.
The physical pain is one thing. I can just take a couple of pain-killers and grit my teeth against that, but not being able to ride my bike is the real downer. I'll keep my fingers crossed that a day of rest today will mean that it will be better enough to let me get out tomorrow.
Not that I haven't been out on the bike today! I did ride round the block (for a mile) before sitting on my stool in the garage and tinkering a while.
I swapped over the bracket for the clutch cable to the left down tube and moved the tax disc holder to it's previous position on the cross member. It's just less obvious there.
I've also been considering what to do about my rear indicators. One of them has loosened off a bit so when I was tightening it up I had a look to see if there could be a better solution.
I may mount them directly on to the fender. That way I will be able to shorten the brackets and set them closer in to the mudguard. Should be a neater look.
As that entails removing the fender and supports as well as re-wiring the indicators I will probably put it off for the winter list.

sweet

The sun shone today and spring is definitely in the air.

I headed off first thing this morning. I only rode a mile, filled up with petrol and then returned to my garage to adjust a couple of things.
The play in the clutch was just too much, a mirror was loose and one of the retaining bolts on the rack was rattling a bit. So, a couple of turns with spanners and I was off again.
Rode up to Aberfoyle and did about sixty miles round trip. I didn't want to push my luck too far on the first ride, since getting the bike back together.
At first, the response from the throttle was a bit sluggish but by the time I got home it had settled down. Perhaps the ECM had worked out that there were different pipes on. Whatever, it was running ever so sweetly when I got back.
I was pleasantly surprised at how much more comfortable the riding position is with the higher bars. They bring my hands a couple of inches closer to my body so there's no stretching which removes the strain I felt previously. I also get better use of the mirrors as they are not filled with reflections of my arms.
The screen also makes a bit of difference. There's still wind in my face but the pressure on my chest is definitely less. Should be more comfortable on longer runs.
Fingers crossed that the weather holds up for another day and I can get some more miles in tomorrow.

tomorrow will be here soon

But for now, I'm just heading out to the garage. The luggage rack I ordered a couple of weeks ago arrived today. As soon as I opened the box, it was so obvious that it's the right one. Amazing how your eyes can play tricks as I was also sure that the one I bought in West coast was right at the time. I've also got the road tax and will decide on where to mount it. The way I've set up the clutch cable means I can't put it on the frame cross-piece as I had it before. At the moment I've got it bolted on to the final drive belt guard. The down side of having it there is that all the crud off the road is going to score a direct hit! It will also be hidden by my saddle bags when I mount them and don't really want to attract any hassle. There is an alternative of drilling out a hole in the cross-piece I used previously and then mounting the disc holder vertically. That is parallel to the down tube. I'll try it out to see. Then I'll be ready to go riding tomorrow!

ready ...

.... but not steady or go yet.

I did everything needed to get running but as I've no road tax my first ride will need to wait until next weekend. Or maybe one evening this week.
'Till then here's the photos I promised. I've repositioned the mirrors so that they are under-slung on the bars but until I get out on the road I wont know if they are usable like that. So, they may be back to the way they are in the pics before long.

sorted (nearly)

I spent an hour or so this morning finishing wiring the front indicators. The Badlands unit was so easy to fit. It has two plugs on it which go between the male and female plugs already in the loom. Then it was just a case of using a cable tie to hold the unit in place behind the fuse box and it was all ready to go.
The bike started up and it's probably just as well that the front brake is still to be connected or I may have been tempted to go for a ride.
As I've no road tax yet, that probably wouldn't be a good idea!
I'm off to the football this afternoon so tomorrow Ill get the brakes bled. I'll also need to have a look at the horn as it's only working intermittently. Then all there is to do is check fasteners, headlamp alignment and a few other pre riding checks and I'm ready for the off.
Will also get some pics up too.

couldn't wait

I was filling up the car on my way home and as I had a petrol can in the boot I filled it up for the bike.
As soon as I got in, I headed round to the garage and filled the tank. Although the indicators are not yet properly wired in, I just couldn't resist firing her up. Started first time and although I didn't open it up I think I may get away with the pipes as they are.
They are loud but are they too loud?
We'll see once I start riding.