Motorcycle and Scooter appreciation

Rad workhorse

Yea £50 is a bargain for those boots.

I have a pair in black and a pair in brown. I was tempted to grab another pair for spares because they are actually damn comfortable off the bike.

As @hugo7 says, there’s practically zero protection compared to a road or enduro boot. Solid sole, ankle pads, stiff toe, basically enough to pass CE standard but not enough to keep your ankle from breaking.

Still better than squidlife though, and I’m quite happy with them as daily errand boots.

Also, that bike. Hottttt.

.

Cheers gang, went for some "proper" full size boots, as I have some cross country jaunts coming up, and think I'll stash a pair of Nike in the panniers

Fair choice. Don’t blame you. What did you buy?

Niceee

Well. That explains a lot.

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Leak or rebuild time....should be inflated with dry nitrogen ;)

As for boots do Daytona still rebuild boots?

Rebuild time… I guess it had been this low since I bought it two years ago, I was too green to know better. Should be 142 by the manual but people have gone up to 180psi according to online posts.

Dry nitrogen yes!! However, I’ve filled it with the little shock pump, to see if it will hold the air.

Hoping that it will hold the air okay, and I can maybe just ask somewhere with a dry nitrogen tank to refill it and avoid a rebuild for a few more months.

If I rebuild, I need to order the gold valve and other bling bits from USA - that means a delay of weeks at least.

Actually, it was definitely low since forever… it had been a super soft ride on this bike since buying it, and it’s taken til now to feel like my riding requires more feedback.

…by that I mean I’ve started pulling mono’s everywhere.

No idea about rebuild time but suspect it is diyable. Might be cheaper just to but a new shock.

Was told that moisure in the air can damage the shocks, so used to refill them at tyre places that filled car tyres with nitrogen, cheapest accessable source.

It is indeed DIY-able but not sure I want to, for the marginal cost of someone else taking the risks instead.

Yea I appreciate the moisture can damage it, but if it’s leaking anyway, it won’t make any odds.

If it’s not leaking, then I can let out all the air mix asap and refill with nitrogen. Maybe even cycle through a pump/eject a couple times. Bear in mind, someone else may have filled it with air previously and that’s why it dropped over time so much.

All the same, if it’s rebuild-time, any damage will soon become apparent.

Yeah, you have no idea what someone has done in the past.

It should have been much higher on the agenda to get sorted, or even just to get checked. I genuinely haven’t had the skill or confidence to feel the difference of a properly set suspension.

Now that my mate on his 990 is getting so damn fast, I’ve had to up my game quite a lot.

At ABR I was lagging behind on the enduro track and decided that maybe I could have benefited from a good suspension setup, and definitely from a bit of extra low down torque.

First ever crack at removing a tyre.

Didn't manage to get the other half off yet and the valve nut has got ceased and ripped from the tube. Ran out of time so will have another crack tomorrow. But overall pleased that I broke the bead and got one side off.

Hoping that if the tyres warm it'll be easier to finish the job.

Oh and fucking tonnes of goo.

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Tip I had when doing mine was take the brake rotor off as it gives you a bit more space for the levers. I think you normally need to get the inner tube out before you can get the tyre right off the rim but I'm not that experienced with motor bike tyres only having done a couple.

Be aware that you might need a compressor to get the new tyre to seat on the rim, as well as a lot of lube.

Shocks are diy-friendly aside from the filling with nitrogen, that said if they’re apart there’s a great deal of value in having some expert tweaks done to improve things over stock. I am 100% in favour of regular suspension servicing, it’s the best thing you can do for the handling of your bike after new tyres, maybe even more so on dirt bikes.

Not with a tube.

There is a knack of breaking the bead, I had a manual bead breaker but there are ways you can break the bead with a lever, personally I also used the side stand of another bike.

The nitrogen bit I found the easy bit.

Then I have had some shit rebuilds one even had vise grip marks on the rods and the shocks leaked all the oil out within 100 miles.

I used this video for breaking the bead:

https://youtu.be/ragtsxdh2Fc

And sort of this for the tyre removal:
https://youtu.be/dAKIuSjPXxA

(obvs haven't got very far and lack any of the tools for that ^ one)

Good shout on the brake rotor. Although I've gone in the other direction/side of the rim, so maybe I should remove the sprocket.

For the tubeless conversion I've gone for 3m tape and wicking loctite instead of the silicone route. I was just worried about not having a stand an messing around with a scraper. I'll post the exact ingredients when I come to do it.

As for the compressor / locking the bead back on. I think that's a garage job. I don't feel like petrol station ones give rapid enough pressure, and my shit tkmax tyre inflator is so shit I use a foot pump. That said there's a guy nearby who works on various cars off his drive, so I was wondering about knocking on his door one day to ask if he's got one.

Does sprocket not just pull off?

To remount, you might be able to do with a bicycle canister. But when I did mine there was a shop just around corner so I'd walk around and they let me use their compressor. Remeber to remove the valve core if trying. And use some soapy liquid or the mounting soap, helps a lot

Talking of suspension, finally investigated the leaking fork seal on the Sherco.

Oof. Okay. Maybe I should have cleaned under the wiper much sooner…!

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Does sprocket not just pull off?

I haven't even looked yet. I'll check my Haines.

I wondered about bike canisters, but it's a rear wheel so I wasn't sure if they'd be big enough. I think they're 16g, but I guess I could have a look to see if there are bigger ones.

A bit gutted it's so overcast today. I'm WFH and I had high hopes of leaving the wheel in the sun this morning and having a crack at lunch.