Motorcycle and Scooter appreciation

Insurance company have been notified and are sending a recovery vehicle to assess it.

Next is the insurance adjusters report to see if they'll pay out or not...

what a nightmare. glad to hear its getting sorted. hope this doesn't put you off motorcycling.

Shit sorry to hear that the bike was stolen, but glad it has been found.

Guess the best you can hope for is they parked it up somewhere nice and discrete not too far away too se if it was tracked, and was picked up in that time.

Is there someone in London who puts patches onto bike leathers?
I'm a member of the British Legion Riders Branch, and have been amassing a collection of various badges, which I want to stick onto an old Chicago Police Department jacket I've had for ages. If I try and do it myself I'll end up ruining it.
Any ideas?

Stan the leather man?

+1 for Stan. His workshop is on Hackney Road

Lowered by Scrambler at the weekend, so the ride height is closer to the Bonnie. It feels a million times better for my height and also a bit more relaxed to ride for some reason - it's made me start looking for different bars.

The tecbikeparts rear shocks have a 30mm spacer at the bottom that can be removed (see pic), which made it pretty simple (other than a load of locktight in the threads and no second 19mm spanner #shouldhaveboughtthebiggertoolkit)

Unfortunately I never considered the effect on the centre stand, and I can now only get the bike on it's stand with a decent slope or camber - even then I don't think you'd describe it as an easy process!

It also means there's no point in posting a photo, as on the centre stand it looks the same, but will get some up once a side stand is on. I think the exhaust looks a bit chunky now though with the lower height.

A 2nd hand bonneville side stand on the way which will hopefully fit, and I reckon should be able to install while on the centre stand.

One problem I'm having is finding a spring, which I find insane, given that there seem to be springs for every other bike from random Piaggios to Kawas.

Am I just being thick? For eg could I use this one?

I've got one on back order from Fowlers, but ideally I'd like one now.

Also does the forum think it's safe to install a centre stand using just the side stand and some supports? I'll need to put a shorter stand on, and obviously don't want to pay someone.

Or does anyone have a bike lift and a spare evening?

Had a minor issue this morning with my bike not starting.
Rolled it out of the garage, press the starter button and it sounded like it caught and I let go of the button and silence. Figured I'd just let the button go too soon so hit it again and it just made the starter noise, the engine didn't fire up.
Turned the key off, went and got my lid and gloves, came back and tried again, just starter noise. A couple of lights on the dash were flashing (oil pressure, ABS and the HISS Honda immobiliser) but they might always be flashing on start up/ before you get going, I know the ABS light goes once moving.
I moved it onto level ground and tried again, this time with a fist full of throttle to encourage it and it eventually fired up (after maybe 5-10 seconds of turning over) as I let the throttle go it dropped to below its normal idling level and I caught it before it stalled, a couple of seconds lightly revving and it was idling fine.

Rode it to work and it was fine, happily sat in neutral at lights and felt fine bombing along the M25.
I'm almost dreading home time, in case it happens again.

I use it mon-fri for commuting (35+ miles daily) not so much at weekends.
I did move it Saturday as I was clearing the garage out, but only out of the way and back into the garage.

Tl;dr - bike had trouble starting, not battery related, what could have caused it?

Main stealer had over tightened clutch lever when they replaced it hence getting clutch slipping when rolling throttle on

When I spoke to sales guy he said just pop by and see a technician who would look it at, but I had to book it in as service said they were too busy - picked it up same day and they charged me £20 to sort their mistake - despite threatening going to Triumph they said their hands were tied - couldn't do it as goodwill as booking had come through service - but that was the only way I could have booked it, because they wouldn't just have a quick look!

F-ing bunch of monkies

oi , thats an insult to monkies!

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Tl;dr - bike had trouble starting, not battery related, what could have caused it?

What bike and does it have carbs or EFI?

Ah yeah, would help.
Its a 2011 Honda Transalp, EFI.
It had about 1/3 tank of petrol in it, so not running on fumes or gunk from the bottom.
I'm 20mins away from firing it up again so will see if it was a one off this morning or if I have an on going issue.

It started easy enough, but i only rode 5 mins to 5 a side, hopefully with was a morning blip.

Went for a nice long ride this weekend. This bike is a hoot and leaving the confines of the M25 really puts things into perspective.
Now I'm realising I've shrunk too much so my leathers are way too big. Any suggestions on a decent 2 piece. I don't mind spending on quality, but nothing excessive.

eBay.

What size and what are your current leathers?

I still haven't found any trousers I like. I can't believe my demands are that niche!

I'd recommend taking a holiday to Wales, or wherever the sportsbikeshop main store is, and spend a day hunting. But then I'm totally disillusioned with Internet shopping for bike gear.

Not that I really know anything, but I thought the rule of thumb was if everything was properly plugged in/nothing snagging, then check the battery. If it's not the battery then it's something to do with the fuel delivery.

Dainese in Eu48. Yeah I know, I should order double of everything. @skinny so you see my dilemma...
That makes buying cycling clothing a breeze, but this leathers online shite is getting boring. Even infinity 'umm'd and ahh'd over my size.
Might have to do as you recommend and pay a visit to the great cut price overlords.

Can you get your existing leathers altered?
Taking leather away is a lot easier than adding it!

Sprag clutch on the starter having a bad day? Sometimes they just decide it's Monday, even when it's Wednesday.

Is it a press the button and the bike sorts out starting itself?

I've been thinking about new leather trousers for ages, ebay seems like a good option to save some money but if I bought used clothing I'd normally chuck it in the machine for a wash before wearing it, can't really do that with leathers...

Yeah, that's a fair point.
I'm sure you could do something though, at least you could clean the liner. Then antibacterial wipe the inside.
I'm sure there is a decent way to clean them.

After I was in europe and my leathers were dirty, sweat and bugs, I used baby wipes to clean them. Worked well. Using a damp cloth and a luke warm boal of some water and leather cleaner solution would work well, then let dry and put on some leather conditioner.

@BQ you still got your thruxton?