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it’s a proper thunderstorm that’s for sure but all of that only happens after I pass them.
I like to think I’m a pretty aware driver but on the autobahn you sometimes can get surprised how fast a fast car / motorbike is moving especially when you’re pushing your regular car to the limit at about 215km per hour haha.
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Tinted visor finally arrived:
Will get some better images later, it was getting dark already.
Funny side note, the logo of Isle of Man is very similar to the one of Sicily. All the Italians think I'm Sicilian, maybe that'll help keep their distance a bit. :D
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So, a particular Italian small business owner, who has had some connections for decades in the food and wine industry, had a Cagiva Elefant. I even saw a photo of it in immaculate condition.
The story goes that he worked at the cafe/bar at some location or other in Italy. Because the bus was only once per day he was arriving late so the owner offered to buy him a bike. His mum had warned him not to work there but he went anyway, so she begged him to be careful.
They went to the motorbike shop and he pointed to the cheapest Vespa, “C’mon that’ll do” he told his boss. Boss was having none of it, “No, what bike would you buy if you had the money” so he pointed to the Cagiva.
Apparently it would leave anything else in the dust, and riding down and along the beach, and so on. But what he remembers most is constant visits to the petrol station. Apparently a thirsty bike, but he admitted maybe because of the way he was riding it.
When he told the boss he must return to London, the boss was very upset. The boss had tried to convince him to return to Sicily with him and he would be given a villa and a business to run, because the boss liked him so much.
Anyway, he said, the guy later died in prison. He was relatively high up in the Sicilian mafia it turned out.
As a result, the Cagiva has stood in storage for decades just in case someone from the family comes knocking on the door. It doesn’t matter that the boss explicitly stated it belonged to him, he is afraid the boss’s son might one day knock on the door.
The small business owner some years ago attempted to give the bike to his son to ride, but as soon as the son heard of the mafia connection he refuses to touch it or even entertain the idea. So instead, once every few months, a friend goes to the storage and gets the engine running, to keep it working, and puts it away again.
CSB.
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Why do bikes hate me?
MOT booked for Monday, thought I'd do a quick check over after its extensive rebuild.
Yup, rear master cylinder leaking, can probably mask it through MOT by filling its rubber boot up with marine grade thick sticky grease. But was a new genuine Brembo job fitted late 2018, and split and leaking internally (they have this plastic liner inside the alloy casting, leak is between the plastic and the casting, not the piston). SO it doesn't affect braking at all, but eventually enough fluid will leak/can leak that it'll be empty.
New one ordered, no point rebuilding them, it'll have been corrosion between the bare alloy casting and the plastic liner (like Avid Elixir brakes used to do). Bit shit for <3 years since new, 18 months of that in dry storage. -
It can be such a pig of a job can't it. Fingers crossed when you have the correct seal it'll all be worth it. Look forward to the jubilant ride review when everything's plumbed in and the sun is shining. Can't recommend speed bleeders enough after using them for the first time recently.
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Pig indeed!
The company sent the wrong size for the DR350 back when I did them, but that bike actually have a dozen variations.
This time the in/out diameter is correct but the thickness/depth is many tenths of a mm too thick. Even with absolute soaking in Dot4 and wedging with the ball end of my smallest hex key, no dice.
I rebuilt with the three correct ones and one original, since the original seals were actually fine - only the pistons needed love.
One of those cheapo vacuum bleeder kits has been a gamechanger for brake bleeds. Might even put a one-way-valve on the line to go full shed-mechanic.
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Oft that sucks, my last few rebuilds have been fine but once had it on a suzuki with a 4 pot front caliper, one set of pistons were smaller, but the seals and new pistons in the kit were like halfway between the two sizes in the caliper. Was the bikes fault, it had scrappy calipers fitted to it from a different year bike, i didn't know that though!
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Well I fitted the rear after getting back from greenlaning, and those seals fit.
Mainly concerned when I looked at the front because there was fluid dripping from the calliper. I was sure that I had wiped it clean, but I may have left some on there. Possibly after all the effort there’s a busted seal in the new kit.
I pumped it over and over and didn’t get a bigger drip, but it wasn’t dry. Will find out this morning if there’s another drip waiting for me hanging from the bottom of the pad.
Update: no big drip, but the space between pad and calliper still has that film of liquid you see when pumping the brake. No time to fully disassemble. Just gonna ride it today for a couple urban errand and see if they fail.
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If you've cleaned it thoroughly should stay dry in there. I find that static loading (putting a zip tie around the bar overnight) doesn't do the same as it being ridden, lots of heat and other forces going on = will show up any weaknesses.
You could have nicked a seal, done it before, gutted with myself.
Also find that some calipers begin to rot in that recess where the seal sits, the corrosion takes up valuable space causing the seal to bind on the piston, I always scrape them out with a dental pick until smooth, then use wire tool and a bent screwdriver to smooth them down, then use dot proof grease before putting seals in. Gives them the best chance of not rotting again soon. -
Yep for sure. There was a lot of crud. I removed the old seals and cleaned them, just in case new seals were fubar. Then, scraped out as much crud as possible - there was a lot! Used some brake fluid as lubricant on the seals, as I didn’t have any grease to hand. Had a little pot from the DR’s MC rebuild kit but it went walkies.
Pouring with rain on the way to my sister’s, so I couldn’t really risk practicing full braking. They stop the wheel and feel ‘ok’. But currently they don’t feel right.
Not spongey, just not right.
There’s a chance the discs need scrubbing, the brakes need rebleeding, a seal got nicked, etc etc.
I’ll ride them for a couple miles in town traffic to be sure - I spent the past week riding the DR and mtb, so there’s a chance it’s me.
Probably rebleed them today or tomorrow regardless, just to be on the safe side.
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Brakes work, but don’t feel what I expected, not as keen as I would think. Re-bleed done yesterday. Might just do it a few times and be sure I flush everything properly. Possibly I didn’t clean all the crud out or there’s pesky air bubbles.
Seal kit guys got back to my mechanics. They stand by it being the right seal, that it’s always user error; on the XJ you MUST MUST MUST clean every last bit of crap out of the cavities because the seal is a fraction (“microns”) larger than OEM and really squeeze it into place.
Of course, that’s what I did for over an hour just for the one seal. So they are sending out another kit just to be sure. Back off the bike goes the calliper.
In other news, this bmx-cum-pitbike thing really gets me.
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Holy shit, guess I forgot how tight a new suit is. Gear came in today, boots are ace. Gloves are tight but will break in as will the suit. Power ranger time!
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My previous was a 2 piece and this is a single. It’ll work out fine I reckon, race tuck is comfortable which is the position it was designed for anyway. Standing up feels like wearing an aero skinsuit. 🤓
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Once you go once piece, it's just not the same. Two piece just doesn't have that same feel once you're 'in' the bike. I faffed around for ages before going once piece and feeling like a muppet walking around immediately dissipates once you turn the bike on.
Fabrics and once piece in the wardrobe. -
We’re cyclists, we’re used to be walking around like muppets no?
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MOT (not even the "loud exhaust" advisory this time!) and new rubber on the 'blade this week, just need some sustained sunshine to get out on it.... Makes a world of difference having round profile tyres again though haha
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Wheelie machine: activate.
TM33-8012 arrived. Long story short, bastard shit ebay company in America sent it without any protective packing, so I had to check internals, and bend back the cable bracket.
Fitted, then a quick 2 minute test in the car park and it now lifts the front wheel in first without any clutch....!
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Motorcycle and Scooter appreciation
Posted by
@coppiThat
Cheers mate!
I want to get the front light sorted for sure as it’s pretty shite as is and I’m planning to return to NL in July. I don’t care about the output per se, I just want other people to see me coming.
I’ll leave the rear light as is for now and just replace them indicators as they’re ugly AF haha!