so much to reply to! nice flowery cushions... the thought of repairing them never entered my head! Although i like, and enjoy having fancy gear, i really dont want to spend £300 on a new pair, especially since mine now have 'character' and i like the look of them. I have the gbracing engine covers, and can vouch for their efficacy! Wouldnt be without now, same with crash bobbins I spend the afternoon washing the bike, and car, its boring washing the car, it looks nice when its clean, but i dont enjoy washing it like i used to. I cant be arsed replacing it this year, still narrowed it down to three choices though, each more ridiculous than the last! so, i spent some time working on the bike, bits disappoint me, but stand back a foot and it looks great. So: tiny nick on the seat chain has rust on the side paint on the calipers needs polishing (dont want to risk getting anything on the brakes) metal thingy under the frame needs polishing but i cant reach it wheel weight glue needs removing i dont like that you can see through the windscreen tail tidy is rusty need a new number plate I want to take it to a motor show in August too, but i dont think its a concourse event, thats this years target for me.
Agree that some small things can be so annoying - not that there's many 'small' things in my life. Motor show is a great target/goal and will provide the incentive to fix those little probs. Perhaps something I would consider also, but not sure I'd have the parience to talk crap with old codgers about their BSAs and Matchlesses et al.
oh, well, i have done car shows for years, in a club, so much about it irritates the absolute fuck out of me, the clique, the running of it etc etc etc Chesterfield motor show is basically a turn up and park in the market square sort of thing, no tickets, club rules etc. Since I know next to sod all about bikes, ill be doing lots of nodding politely. I had a guy rambling on about muscle bikes at work last week. I still don't know what one is, i thought it was a slutty bodybuilder initially when he was on about riding one at the weekend. for anyone vaguely local, its worth a visit, it was really good last year
Do they scoop the smackheads & white lightning lot up and send them to Skeggy out the way to make some space for the day then?
Got the SP out for a while today. Bloody hell, these things are a weapon. They're just so easy to make you feel invincible - I just went crazy, or crazier. Just reward for resisting the temptation yesterday as I've now avoided Mother's Day luncheon traffic; the hospital runs; and those who spontaneously decide: 'Let's go for a drive around the Cotswold's, honey,' and then they do, at bleedin' 40 mph.
Got out for a ride, was definitely chillier than they said it would be. Despite it being a weekday the Sunday drivers were out, especially ignorant today and didn't even acknowledge the fact that they had pulled out in front of me. Was a good boy though and didn't collect any wing mirrors though!
I thought I would see if my bike would start so wheeled it out on the drive. Key in,turn, sounded good, then pressed the button, it didn’t sound good at all but then it suddenly started. I got that ‘thank f@#k’ feeling. I taxed it yesterday for six months so I quickly donned my kit and went out. First time in months. Cheshire Cat smile, aches in my wrists, lower arms and hips but loved it. I am now on weather forecast watching duty for the next six months. These things just want to be ridden.
Went to Kidderminster (by car) to look at a 50th Anniversary R1. Was a classic case of seeing a glamour model in a photo and then in reality she turns out to be related to canines. A great polish and prepare job, but the secrets are behind the fairings, under the belly pan and into the motor behind the swing arm where leaks are often evident. (this is the bike, not the girl) Looked like a left over slick from the Exxon Valdez (young guys and gals look it up) so I hightailed it back home. Off to Mansfield Woodhouse tomorrow.
It really pisses me off when people do that, everyone sells a MINT bike don’t they? Just advertise it for what it is a save everyone a load of time and hassle.
Yep. Wheels and tail pipe covers were sprayed purple too. Didn't notice on the pics, although when I look carefully NOW I can see the diff. The other difficulty with these things is that they seem to attract a heavy premium simply because they're 50th Anniversary. A 'plain Jane' model's about two grand cheaper. If you look at Honda 50th Anniversary VFR800s, there's very little difference between it and a good equivalent 'std' model. But then again, the only good thing about the Anniversary VFR is the paint job! https://www.autotrader.co.uk/classi...code=b504gl&sort=price-asc&make=YAMAHA&page=7
Made me smile that @nigelrb - there’s a young fella lives across from me who goes offroading in his then daily driver, namely a knackered old Land Rover Discovery that dropped oil left right and centre. A total crock so come MOT time he scrapped it and upgraded to a later one that he’d spent months tinkering with. This ones just as bad, if not worse for leaks. It drops more fluids than a one armed epileptic waiter in a cocktail lounge. Anyway, I was cutting the lawn at the weekend and a neighbour stopped for a chat and yon mons pile of junk came up. He started chunering on about it being an eye sore etc etc, so I chipped in saying “It’s like he’s swapped the Amoco Cadiz for the Exxon Valdez”......... tumbleweed My neighbour looked at me like I had two heads and even after explaining you’d have thought I was talking Hebrew. You’d say it was an age thing but the guy must be about 5 or 6 years older than me.
Yeah, that was my thinking. I guess we're all the better for retaining proper news items other than what Kanye West is dishing out at awards ceremonies. And then of course, there's the learning experiences of this very forum: Spam Fritters, clunges, Krishna . . .
Sulk sulk sulk It's all my fault. I know. When I bought the bike it had a rather tatty tank sticker thing on it. Well it had most of one. I decided to change it so I waved the hot air gun at it and pealed it off then cleaned the surface. What to replace it with? Something cheap so I was ordering some stuff from Amazon. They had them from dirt cheap to eye-wateringly expensive. I clicked a cheap cheap one. Yes I know. It came and it was a bit stiff but I stuck it on. Within a week it was pealing up as it endeavoured to become straight again. "All fuel tanks are curved," I thought, "it will adjust," and pushed it down again. Repeat. Repeat. Repeat. Then it managed to stick to my jacket. You would think that something that was failing to stick to a smooth clean tank wouldn't grab onto a jacket very well. But when I got off the bike it came with me. So today it's masked up on the bench for a bit of wet-and-dry and then a coat or five of the right numbered can. Sulk sulk sulk Recommend me a tank pad manufacturer.
Oh no The old adage of pay cheap, pay twice springs to mind. Anyway, wont be long 'til your back to a lovely finish with that. Go for OEM Honda or PUIG, even R&G if you can stomach MORE of their branding.
If it's any help, I have had good results with RS paints: http://www.rsbikepaint.com/en-gb/colours.php?setlocale=true#makeid=50&modelid=1273&prodyear=2009 Also, you'll need clear as a top coat.