Motorcycle and Scooter appreciation

I’ve been banned from doing it to the F3, which is a shame because I already feel the pain in the wrists that I never had on straight bars with the other bikes.

Lateral play or lack off looks good. My aftermarket SRAD rearsets probably have more side to side movement but shifting still feels bob on.

I have to agree straight bars on the F3 are banned. But then again it's your bike so do what you want!

My K5 thou that I threw away the fairing and put low gearing and Renthals on was one of the most mental bikes ever. And still far more practical for the commute than the faired version.

I was thinking the other day, that I sort of miss having a practical, everyday bike.

The latest Practical Sportsbikes mag has a lot of love for the K5 1000. If I ever wanted a faster bike quite tempted by a K5 750.

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Someone mentioned Advanced Rider Training recently and I've been ruminating on whether it is worth doing.

My local school offers it, DVSA flavoured iirc, £175 for a day with the certificate at the end (or discounted additional training if required)
They do seem to suggest it suited for "riders returning to bikes" or people perhaps lacking confidence.
I would say I was neither of those things, but would appreciate getting insurance premiums down a bit (Tranny was sub £100, but the trumpet is north of £250) and ART courses are always asked of when getting a quote.

TL;Dr: is advanced training worth it for insurance discounts?

Returning bikers sounds like the rusty courses, advance is for improving existing skills and getting out of bad habits. I have it pencilled in on my todo list, not just for insurance reasons but that’s a good offset when looking at the cost.

Officially it is: DVSA ENHANCED RIDER SCHEME

Their blurb seems to cover more than just rusty riders, once I read it fully.

Did a mock insurance quote and it was £50 cheaper with an Enhanced Rider Bonus applied, so just over 3 years to offset the cost, with the advantage of being a "better" rider.

I'll pop down and speak to them at some point and see what's what.

I makes you do this noise..

Teeheeheehee

In a deadly serious way

Not in my case. Very disappointing

Are your premiums already low? or too many naughty points on your licence?

Somehow I have managed to avoid* breaking the law, so have a clean licence.
(ahem, insert "caught")

I was shocked at the insurance quote on the 135bhp, 1215cc beast compared to the frankly agricultural 50bhp 700 i had before. (Not shocked really)
Just trying to drive down the premiums, especially as I will be commuting on it again in the near future (yes, I have commuting on the policy)

Guess any training will help iron out the bad habits I may have picked up, even if it doesn't knock the insurance costs down.

Only had to pay a cheque in, but took the F3. Phwoaaaaarrrrrr!!!! The slack out the shift linkage has made it silky smooth. I get what that ‘vague’ thing is now; the shifts are so slick you can’t be sure sometimes.

However, not a single false neutral or missed shift on the short jaunt across town. Lovely stuff.

Nice! Good work. Sunny days ahead?

Even dull days I'll be riding!

By the way, Alf's approval of the 725 grips was not misplaced. Noticeable reduction in vibrations through to the hands.

Only had to pay a cheque in

Often I end up on a 40 mile round trip when I pop to see my comic book guy (he is only 3 miles away)
any excuse to clean out the pipes

It's a good job I didn't need to go out for a pint of milk.

Also, fuck you cheesebolts. Carb work on the DR yet again. I hope now it will run right. Been chasing gremlins since last summer. To be honest some of them might be related to crashing it ¯_(ツ)_/¯

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JIS Screwdriver is need on japanese bikes. If that driver isn't used screws get chewed up.

These were super stuck. Even JIS wasn’t helping. All the same, not an issue now.

Only bought a manual impact driver last year, don't know how I lived without it. Halfords professional too, so every time I snap a bit they sort me out.

John Noakes really is a legend. Showing my age here but I remember races like these. I somewhat miss them. And it’s a long time before Health and Safety 😁😁😁

https://youtu.be/s9dFsKaf9uI

I missed a set going cheap a few months ago. Still need to grab one.

To get the stuck bolt, I gave it a few taps with a hammer, kinda the same principle.

Oh!!! I forgot to add. Poundland nail polish remover is Acetone / Aqua solution. No contaminants. Can confirm it will melt ABS. I added extra and smoothed out the lumpy exterior with it.

I find that once the chewed head has started then the screw is more likely to stick.

A few hours of lanes. Carb/idle/starting issues are more or less resolved now. Pleasure to ride the pig.

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No, side car racing is still like that.