Just home from another long jaunt across the middle of England, from London to Shrewsbury, and back. Catching up with family for the weekend up in Shrewsbury, Welshpool and surrounding areas. I took a slightly different route from last time, running a little further North.
I’ve had trouble with my clutch slipping lately, it’s really noticeable when trying to press on or accelerate on an overtake. I’ll give it a twist, the engine rev’s like mad for a couple of seconds, before the clutch finally catches and I shoot off like a rocket!
Of course I’ve been tweaking the clutch cable adjusters, in case it simply wasn’t engaging enough. Both at the lever and down at the sprocket cover. Next up was this new clutch cable, to eradicate any issues from stretched or sticking wire. It was a quick and simple swap and the Haynes manual was actually rather good for this job. The old cable certainly had a lot of resistance in it, plus a little kinked near the lever.
If this doesn’t resolve it, I’ll be ordering a set of new clutch plates and springs shortly, before heading down to OMC again…
Over the weekend I rode up to Shrewsbury on the bike to see family. Heading North I took boring motorways, but on my return South I took a far more enjoyable and scenic route:
I’ve finally done it, I’ve passed my IAM Skill For Life Course, I’m now officially an ‘advanced rider’.
I started the course back in January, when I signed up with the East London Advanced Motorcyclists (ELAM) group. The course is based upon the Motorcycle roadcraft police rider’s handbook, but is presented through a slightly more digestible ‘How to be a better rider’ book (included with the course). The ELAM group begin the course in a fairly structured manner; starting with a machine control day on an airfield to practice slow manoeuvres, emergency stops and slalom. This is followed by 5 observed ride outs roughly every fortnight, each concentrating on particular areas, e.g. overtaking, bends, motorways, town riding etc. There were also 3 theory night sessions around these rides which covered the ‘system’ – an underlying principle to apply to your riding, various best practices and many legal points.
That time of year again, MOT due. You know the bike should be fine, you know you’ve serviced it well and checked it over thoroughly yourself. But still, there’s that little niggle of doubt over whether it will fail the MOT on something. Thankfully my trusty Fazer passed without a hitch with no advisories at all. Sorted.
Checking out past MOT passes, it seems I’ve put on 7200 miles in the last 12 months. Not too shabby at all really. A little more than previous years, but I have been doing a lot more riding for my IAM course.
On a side note, a thumbs up to London Scooters for turning the MOT round super quick in my lunch break. They’re just around the corner from my workplace, so super handy for me.
Edit: I took my wife’s CBF500 to London Scooters in May 2016 and received less than satisfactory customer service. Please see this video here.
Most of the time when on a motorcycle in London you are immune to commuting delays, as you can filter past pretty much anything. However, on this day, my commute was delayed by a cruise ship. Bummer.
Here we are at Tower Bridge, waiting for this large Cruise ship to undock from HMS Belfast and make its way down the Thames. No matter how hard I tried I couldn’t quite filter past this one. Still, it was a nice day to take stock of the fact I ride past some great icons of British architecture every day.
What iconic landmarks do you commute past on your way to/from work?
I recently ordered this Givi rack off ebay for my Fazer (after bending the old one slightly in my last off). I thought the postage quote was a little high, but I wasn’t expecting a parcel like this…
Quite why the seller didn’t consider undoing the two bolts to separate the two arms from the plate, I will never know. Postman takes the mick every time I see him now!
A new rubber day. Back tyre was looking a little elderly and rapidly running out of legal tread (possibly a contributing factor to my last off). That said, I’ve had just shy of 2 years and around 13,000 miles out of it, so not too shabby. That was a Metzeler Z6. I’ve always been happy with the grip it has provided, so decided to try a newer Z8 Interact on the back. I already have a Z8 on the front which is just over a year old, so it certainly made sense to match it.
The top chaps down at FWR fitted the new Z8 in super quick time during my lunch break and offered a competitive price too. So, thumbs up there. Just going to take it a easy now until it’s nicely scrubbed in.
Metzeler are doing a deal to blag a £50 quid Dainese voucher if you buy a pair. But, my front still has plenty of tread and I don’t see myself buying (or affording) anything new from Dainese, voucher or not.
When I last threw my bike down the road I managed to bend my stock Yamaha handlebars slightly. To replace them I thought I’d try the Renthal 758 Ultra Low bars, which have been a popular choice for many on the Fazer. I was tempted by the Renthal’s due to the quality of the brand and the fact they’re cheaper than OEM Yamaha replacements, coming in at around £30.
On my last visit to Oval Motorcycle Centre, I ran into a photographer from Practical Sportsbikes magazine and ended up as an impromptu model for some shots. Well, they only put my ugly mug in print…
Here I am in a fetching red boiler suit (OMC supplied) being shown by onsite guru Matt how to sort out my forks.
Read the full article in the May edition of Practical Sportsbikes, or just pop down OMC and check your bike out.