MT-01 Fixed, Rockin. GSR Fixed. Crap.
Hi all,
Bit of a hoo ha really, but the long and short of it is that the MT has been fixed, wheel is true (unchecked as of writing) and although scuffed in a few bits, the wheel isn’t too badly mangled.
I have been commuting on the MT for the past 6 days and I am absolutely in love with my bike. It’s just the best. The comfort, the power, the dials (the smartest I have ever seen), the riding position, the sound, the vibration (with earplugs in the bike makes your brain vibrate out your ears), the feeling of utter joy as other bikers double take left right and centre.
A lot of bikers who normally fly past me in town or motorway will now sit behind me. It’s almost a respect thing, but I suspect it’s something more to do with the sound and looks of it.
When I picked up my MT from Sandy Bloys I dropped my GSR off as the head bearings have been shot for the past 6 months if not longer. I asked how much roughly and was told £100 – £120.
Go for it.
Got a call today to say the bike is ready. No price attached.
How much is it?
£185.
!!!
Again the long and short is that the GSR is apparantly a total bitch to get in to the head bearings. You have to take the ignition barrel off and everything and the mechanics at the garage said they never seen any bike as complicated as this.
I don’t know whether to believe them or not but it seems awfully expensive.
Nothing I can do now but I am a bit disappointed really.
GSR will go straight in to my Dad’s garage in preparation for it’s first oil change in over a year. Joys.
I’ll keep you updated as to whats going on but I’ve got to get my main website up and running after the powersoft fiasco.
Thanks all for reading,
Gordon
Yamaha MT-01. I beg your pardon?
Artworks are consuming my every moment of living…that and putting up blinds in the house. When I am not painting or drilling, I am either eating, sleeping or riding my bike. Anyway, just so you know, I feel guilty. But thinking about it this instant, guilty for what?
My GSR is running it’s bland life fine at the minute. My back tyre is squaring and the head bearings are clicking. My headlight was turning off whenever I turned the steering to full lock left, but I soon found out that the connector had worked itself loose after me prodding it every time. A quick click back on sorted that out.
I’ve had the GSR for over 2 years now, and after a fatal mistake by Em of looking at other bikes, we have been thrown in to discussion.
Discussion about the future of my biking life. Don’t worry, I am not giving up. The issue revolves around the GSR and winter. You see, Winter in Scotland is a very unwelcoming place to be. It’s usually cold, usually wet and always miserable. This is true for everyone, pedestrians, car drivers, hillwalkers. For motorcyclists it’s a freakin nightmare.
I spoke a while back regarding the new VFR1200F as my main motorcycle and the response was mixed. Some agreed with my points regarding the output of the bike/lack of fairing protection. Other’s took their chance to call me a sissy and offer me a moped. The question in point was getting a bike that would give me year round satisfaction, with the benefit of not falling to bits.
It seems that my thinking was going down the wrong path. You see, I was going down the path of a one bike outfit, something bullet proof that would ease my woes. But after big discussion with Blair, Em and anyone else who would listen, having a second bike seems like the way to go. The reasons are thus:
One bike = High price, high mileage, high wear & tear, quick boredom. A one bike house would mean running a bike throughout the year including winter and thus exposing it to the same bike rotting salt.
Two bikes = Lower price, low mileage, low wear & tear, less quick boredom. A two bike house allows use of one bike for summer/dry days, another for winter/salty days.
It may seem excessive to many, but the argument is sound. Why sell the GSR and buy a new bike, only to inflict the same torture to it, road salt, sitting outside in the rain rotting. It would be the same situation all over again and it seems totally pointless to continue buying new bikes only for them to fall apart because I ride them at a time that these bikes aren’t designed to be ridden.
If I have a bike for summer/dry riding, I have the excitement of a fresh bike. I have the reduced mileage on both the new bike and the GSR. Once it gets wetter/colder, I switch to the GSR. I would be able to look forward to summer again, because at the minute, I am still riding the same bike in summer, winter and every other time.
I’ve paid off the GSR now, so it’s mine. It wouldn’t matter if I wanted to sell it anyway, because after speaking to a few garages, no-one would even entertain the thought of trying to resell a 2-year-old GSR with 30,000 miles on the clock, a bit rusty here and there and generally a hack. So no-one wants it. And I aint giving it away.
The added bonus to strengthen the argument is insurance. Insurance companies seem to go on the assumption that more miles = more chance of crashing. This means that the premium goes up massively. Take my old Buell for example. I put 18,000 miles annually on the insurance form and it returned a premium of £1,600. Put in a mileage of 5,000 and it’s £300. I couldn’t afford to run it based on that kind of money, so I sold it.
SOOOOOOO
What am I saying then? Well I will be looking for a Used bike to ride during summer/dry days, and I will be keeping the GSR for a winter hack. It makes complete sense.
Now those of you who have been here from the start (Thanks Rossy Boy) will know I had a Yamaha MT-03 as my first bike. The seat melted due to faulty exhausts, Yamaha didn’t give a shit. I got a Buell and so the nightmare unfolded.
I swore I would never return to Yamaha. I lied.
Now that I have the opportunity to basically get any bike I like (within a £5k budget), and having spent the past 4 years knowing that someday I would own a Yamaha MT-01 I thought, this is my chance.
And so it is.
Now a lot of people in reviews and in person lament the MT due to the lack of jail baiting top speed. They see 1700cc and get disappointed that they don’t fly at the speed of sound. They get upset that the bike has R1 derived brakes and chassis, but when you try to get your knee down the headers threaten grounding.
I think that they don’t understand it. Whereas I do.
The MT is a bike that gives you the unbelievable thrill of torque, without getting you in to trouble before you know it. It’s a bike to fart along the back roads on knowing that at the twist of a throttle you will instantly be rocketed forward. None of this IL4 surging at 9ooorpm (a-la GSR).
A lot of reviewers say it’s bland because the power is so linear (in other words when you open the taps, the power doesn’t waiver or surge in, it’s just “flat” all the way to peak RPM).
I think the MT is perfect. I would have a V-twin over any other engine until the day I die. I love them. I want a bike I can get on and just enjoy. I don’t want to look down and see I’m cruising at 100mph and not realising it. I want to go down the street and small children fall to the ground from the vibrations…maybe not.
I think what I keep remembering is when I went to France on the Buell. I was going down the street and a gang of youngsters on mopeds/125′s were all gathered down the road. I saw them, and they heard me. As I drifted past them with the beat of the 1200cc V-twin beneath me, I knew that I was on something special as they all stood open mouthed. Then I noticed the collection of skinheads standing up from a cafe, perhaps expecting some kind of chopper or harley, to see this small bug eyed gold wheeled machine. It made my year. It made me love biking.
It won’t quite be the same with the MT, for a start its huge. But its also deeper, louder comfier.
So.
I am going to have a wee test ride on one to see if all the reviews are correct. From there it’s either buying one, or looking elsewhere, but something tells me I will be rumbling home once more.
Updates (hopefully) as things start to unfold.
Winter Hack
What what what.
My last post to have the blue banner of information said that I was in a so-so mood, had done 24486.3 miles on my GSR and…go to yamyambiker.com.
Since then, as you can see with my new blue banner of information, I have increased in mood by 3 bars, I have covered 2619 more miles on my GSR and you’ve still to go to yamyambiker.com.
So what’s the chat? What have I been doing that’s so damn interesting to keep me from my YamYam duties. Well as you know, I sometimes go for ages and then end up writing a long assed post, so perhaps this might be one of those moments. I’ll start from where I left it…that is I had just reviewed my current jacket (Wolf Titanium if you ask), I had been told I would be better suited to a scooter because I couldn’t handle my Kwak ER-6n and I was off to Tenerife. Not before emailing West Coast Harley about their current Buell stock, a small yamyam probe to see what the deal was (deal…get it?)
Well I got back from a spectacular 2 weeks of sunshine, sleeping, eating (a lot) and bobbing in an extremely cold pool. Like a true Scotsman, I sucked it up and I was in there pretty much every day, floating like a fleshy coloured iceberg, whilst others sat shivering on their sunbeds. I didn’t care. I wasn’t thinking about work, I wasn’t thinking about the thousands of troubled thoughts that plagued my mind on a daily basis. For 2 weeks (well, 1.3 really) I was awol from my mind, from my life back in Scotland and all that was really to do was decide what to eat (crisps or bread), what to wear (usually just shorts…easy ladies, and a t-shirt) and what to do; float or read…or watch a film…or go for a walk.
We arrived back in Scotland to an extremely cold, windy, wet Saturday morning, having had our plane delayed a wee bit. I sat on my couch at 6am deliberating whether or not to go to bed or just ride it out and see how far I made it. I went to bed.
It was great being back really. I love Scotland and no matter how many Hunters Chicken I ate (a delicious meal prepared by someone other than me in a restaurant filled with alcohol and sunshine), it’s still no match for the stiff, crisp Scottish air. Refreshing some might say.
Before heading away on holiday I had realigned my broadband duties from Virgin to O2, because I found Virgin’s internet to be slow in the evenings, slow enough that I had to buffer some films from Sky Player a few times.
What a mistake that was. From the get-go O2 were dismal, utterly dismal. Think along the lines of trying to open a YouTube video, only to have someone actually come out of your screen and scream “Who do you think you are!?” at you for even trying. I couldn’t load any videos, surfing was a task and I was totally fed up. However I had a 30 day “Happiness Guaranteed” period where I could opt out and nothing would be said of it. I gave it a little while as I was promised that the service would start to pick up shortly because of some maintenance they were doing to the lines or something.
Well guess who got their math wrong? ME. I got back from Tenerife thinking I had a good week left of my 30 days, only to find that I was actually, from Saturday of my arrival onward, 1 day in to my contract. The service was no better by the way, still as crap as always. I should have been getting 8mg. I was getting 0.3mg.
So with no time to lose, I called them up and got my MAC code, then requested my account be cancelled to be told that I am now “within contract period and it’ll cost £160 to get out of it.” After much argumenting and deliberating from O2 I got out of my shockingly bad contract and luckily I was able to go to a more safe bet, BT. Now that I have, my internet is ace, I can watch films, watch YouTube and I’ve even updated www.gordon-fraser.com to celebrate.
But all this has taken it’s toll on my time available to post here, that and just getting on with riding my bike every day with pretty much no incident.
Since getting back the weather has steadily decreased to the point of no-feely-handies. So I decided that it was time to forget looking swish, and buy some hand guards for my Gisser. I did buy them (£38) and fitted them with Dad with a little trademark Fraser persuasion.
What a difference, my hands are now wind free and really a lot warmer. Then the weather got to the point that in the morning my bars would be iced up, so really even though my hand guards were preventing wind and rain from chilling my fingers, I was still holding on to a frozen piece of metal, so my hands still got numb. The ride home however is a different story and I am ever so thankful I took the plunge and fitted them. I also re-fitted my screen unit and it’s keeping a lot of the rain and draught off me so that’s ace. The only problem is the increase in ease of speeding. I am always so used to having the drag on my body that the position I sit at naturally on the throttle is causing me to cruise faster with the aerodynamic advantage of the fairing. It has been a few times I have glanced down to see that I am not sticking to the speed limit without knowing it. ANYWAY.
Hand guards were from a V-Strom 650, for all you like minded GSR riders, and can be picked up from your local Suzuki dealership.
I mentioned the email to Buell Glasgow.
Well I sent a wee informal “Now that Buell is going south, what deals you got?” email to them and I’m not exaggerating here, 8-9 calls later they are still trying to get me in to have a chat. I’ve decided to forget going for a new Buell because I spoke to Stuart @ Jacksons Bikes about it and he said that because of the miles I do, I could quickly find myself in a position that I need a part and they can’t supply it. Say if the engine management computer packed in, and I couldn’t get a replacement, that’s my bike written off, even if the rest is in mint condition. So aye, even though I LOVE LOVE LOVE Buells, I just can’t justify it really. I’ll stick with the pain in the arse and rusty boy until it packs in (it’s been a while so touch wood nothing will happen…)
So that’s really where we are at. It’s a week until christmas, Blair is soon to be a Daddy (it could hit off anytime now) and work is busy as feck.
In a week there could be a small, brand new Fraser in this world. After a year of utter SHITE, I am desperately holding on to the hope that it’ll end well. I am hoping.
2010 is a new year. It’s a fresh start. One things for sure, it really couldn’t get any worse than what 2009 was. If it does, there’ll be bigger problems than my hands getting cold, or BT internet. 2010 could be the greatest year of everyones lives, purely for the fact that we had one of the worst years just before it. I hope for all our sakes it will be.
AHHHHHHHHH
It’s definitely time to draw a line under this post. Word count is 1308 as of this word HERE.
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Go check out my home website WWW.GORDON-FRASER.COM and feedback me.
All the best for the remaining 2009. I will speak before the bells.
Thanks for visiting all,
GORDON!
Review: Bridgestone BT021 – Sports Touring Tyre
I have run BT014′s and BT016′s on my GSR since new. Up until recently I was just replacing them every time they either got bald or I was guilted in to it by my lass. Anyway, whilst in Jacksons the other month there, Stuart said “why have you got these on?” and I said “cause that’s what I was given.”
After yet another dumbfounded look, Stuart then said that what I need was the Bt021′s because for the riding I do, the 14′s and 16′s are totally wrong. He puts 14′s on his trackday bike. Anyway, I got a 21 on the rear first and last weekend I got a 21 on the front, after my 2nd ever front tyre was totally done (a BT014).
Well I have to say, the BT021′s last I would guestimate around 3-4 times longer than the BT016′s. The rear, although starting to square, has been on since the beginning of 2009 and is still going strong. The front is 6 days old, but I have to say the wet weather grip is good and it seems like having matching front and back makes leaning easier. The deep tread on the BT021′s will shift a lot of water away from the suface and give you a longer tyre life.
The BT021′s aren’t any dearer than the 16′s so I have to wonder why my garage didn’t suggest these to me earlier considering that they knew how many miles I do and also the fact that I was in there every other month for problems…they had ample time to mention that there was a more suitable tyre for my riding.
ANYWAY
If you do a lot of miles but still want a really good grippy leany tyre, then look no further than the BT021. I love Bridgestones, and after having Pirellis, Dunlops and Michelins, I know how essential it is to find a tyre that you are comfortable riding with. I am just glad I suit the Bridgestones.
Go buy some.
Cheers
Gordon
Feeling flat.
Well October has arrived and further to my previous post, winter is even closer.
I got my 11k service on Saturday last, and I also got my first ever replacement front tyre for the GSR. That’s 11600 miles on 1 tyre. It was feeling slightly iffy (a bit) but it was still trucking!
So you can imagine my dismay when, Tuesday night, I can’t ride my bike home from work because the rear tyre is flat. I immediately knew something was up when I tried to roll it back. It brought back memories of my MT-03 flat, the day after I passed my test!
I rolled the bike back until it was in full show, a nail head. Damn. So I then had to get the bus home. 
Wednesday I called the AA at 9:30am. The woman on the phone asked what my reg was, where I was situated and then said, “it’s 9:30 now….so…..a guy will be with you between now and 10:30.”
WOW. And he was. It was excellent to have that service, something which I got free with my bike for the first year. The guy arrived, we chatted for a bit and then he plugged the hole with a temp mushroom thing. We then chatted a bit more, watched a fire warden training session in progress and then he shot off to the next call out.
So I had to go and get a new back tyre now! I called the garage and they said the BT014′s were now superceded with the BT016…but I had just had a BT014 front put on Saturday there? Oh well. It’ll also be dearer they said. Great.
The BT016 is a 5 layer jobbie, with 3 compounds of rubber. It’s a MotoGP esk thingy with harder compound middle, softer shoulder and really soft edge. It’ll be interesting to see how the tyre wears down, and if it’ll beat the 4,000ish miles a BT014 single compound managed.
Instantly however, the bike feels planted in the extreme wet. It’s confidence inspiring stuff you know. And it’s not a placebo effect as my rear tyre wasn’t that old.
So yeah, I’m chuffed with my new tyre.
It’s been an expensive 2 weeks though, with the service and front tyre costing £300 and then a rear at £130…that’s a lot of doh. Hopefully there’ll be no more problems with my bike for the remaining months of 2008. I can’t say the same for my lovely girlfriends VW Lupo, which is now flashing warning lights up…could be a bad financial month for us!
I have been vacant the past few weeks due to some bad news in my extended family, lifting railway sleepers and playing around with my new camera. So I should be back again for a while with feedback on my rear “Hypersport” rubber and general faffings of a commuter.
Thanks for reading all, I truly appreciate it.
All the best
Gordon
February 2008
Hello
2008…………
I find myself struggling to think, not just what to say here, but just in general…
Hmmm….
Ah. I’ll start with the latest. My left wrist was really sore, I thought it was just because I played my guitar a bit much, but I stopped playing it 2 weeks ago and my wrist is getting worse. So I went to the doctors and she said I have tendonitis, where the tendons in the back of my hand are inflamed and thus I have a sore wrist. I got a tubey support and lots of pain meds and told to refrain from doing anything which caused it i.e. at work where I use my computer all day or playing guitar etc…So instead of resting like she said I was back to work the day after…I had a deadline and couldn’t take any rest, but for some reason it seemed to focus me and I have spent the past 2 days working flat out in a complete zoned in state of mind. It’s been great for ploughing through my work, but it hasn’t really left much thought power for when I return home.
What has happened in February then. Well I started my second month of 2008 on a new bike. It has been brilliant being able to actually believe I will have this bike for the next 3 years. I have finally (i hope) settled on a bike that I like to ride, like to look at and like to hear. I guess I am just glad to be away from the nightmare that was the ER6.
The o2 Eliminator mod was a joy and after a few brain freezing moments I managed to install it myself which I think is the best way to do things. I have saved so much money doing things myself instead of getting charged labour for someone else to do it for me. It’s also allowed me to tinker, which is always good.
It was mega windy a few weeks back, so I had to go over the Kincardine bridge. It was wierd because it was almost exactly the same scenario as the accident…really windy, wet, cold. I thought to myself about the crash and what the cause was. I was interested to see if it actually was how I remembered it, and not just an adrenaline fuelled recap of something similar to what happened. So I reached Kincardine and instead of going the long way round I took the right turn, headed out towards the crash site. As I reached the road I flipped my visor up so I could see better.
I crested the hill and yes, there was a bright light ahead. Very bright in fact. But I also noticed that the road actually curved to the right. The roundabout where the bright light is, was straight ahead, but the road curved off to the right and back to reach the roundabout. Also directly in front was the lay-by.
It was completely reasonable that I would head in to the lay-by thinking it was the road. I also saw the dual signage that almost killed me.
As I safely navigated past the site, I felt a wee bit happy. Not for the fact that I crashed, then got a new bike and I am happy with it…but because I felt that the crash was due to a confusing split second and not because I had wandered off in my mind. Even if I was going 20mph, I would have still headed in to the lay-by. For this reason I was happy.
Anyway,
So far the GSR is great. It is a bike that I am happy with and feel that it suits my needs better than all the bikes I have had. I still miss the Buell though.
I have a hankering for a new bike jacket, but I really can’t afford it at the minute. I still have to buy panniers and an intercomm for our trip around Scotland. My holidays are booked at work, we have sorted the route out and all the accomodation is booked. All we need now is a beautiful weeks worth of weather and some dry roads. I am starting to get excited.
Camera at the ready, because beautiful scenery is going to be a plenty.
Thanks for visiting folks, lots of visits=happy YamYam,
Take care
Gordon
One serviced GSR
Evening all,
Saturday saw my baby go for it’s first service. 9 a.m sharp at the Garage.
My brother’s GSR was also due for a service and we were both booked in at garage, however I was 9, brother was 12.30. Blair was told that if he came early with me his bike could possibly get sneaked in as well. So I was up 8am and ready to go by 20 past.
Blair arrived and announced that he had forgot his service history booklet…so had to go for that first. I said I coulnd’t as I needed to be there 9 sharp, so I would just meet him there.
9:35 he turned up, but I didn’t care because I was sat outside staring at the garages B-King, with a new set of 2 bros exhausts. Beefcake.
This is Blair arriving for a 9am service at 9:35…
After we booked the 2 GSR’s in, we were both given courtesy bikes, which went something like this:
2 pretty old SV650′s, which is funny because Blair was set on getting on of those as his first bike. I really didn’t like them but B was insistent that it was a good deal because it looked cool and was cheap.
He changed his mind when he had the hire bike. Hate isn’t strong enough a word. But I was enjoying the twin again, even after a short time away from the ER-6. However I also thought for the first time since October last year, I can’t wait to get back on my bike.
The sound was good, the power was nice but the whole experience reminded me of the ER6, and I think I have got to the stem of the problem I had with the Kawasaki.
The SV had a 160 rear section, with the same brand and model of tyres I had on the ER, and I felt totally unstable. B felt the exact same way, affraid to lean it over because it felt so vague. Perhaps had I attempted another brand or even model of tyre, I would have had some confidence in the ER6. But then I remember the wierd steering and thin-ness of the Er6 and I am still totally solid in my decision to get rid of it. I am much happier now.
So there you go, another weekend away! It has felt a long weekend, I have been up early both days, today I was up early again to clean my bike tip to toe. It was quite dirty but I got it back to spankers again. The paddock stand forks I got for the stand last week are great, but they marked my swingarm…so I’ve taped the stand forks up with insulating tape which will hopefully stop them ripping the paint off the swingarm.
I’m off,
Thanks for reading folks!
Gordon
We have clearance Clarence
Hello all.
First things first, you will notice that to the left is a wee picture. This is a new feature with my blog, patented and copyrighted by me, so don’t even think of copying it.
For every new post I make, I will include said picture which should give an accurate representation of what my mileage is with my new bike. So there you go! I am quite excited to track just how many miles go on to the GSR and this gives an easy way of doing it.
Anyway, on to the post: NEW STUFF.
The Scotland trip is coming up in May. We are heading out on Friday 23rd, early doors and head for Inverness. Anyway, Blair and I wanted an intercomm system because we were fed up shouting stuff to each other and if we are on the move, which we will be 99% of the time on the trip, we need an efficient way of saying, “I need petrol” or “look at that 15ft Hawk about to eat your head off…”
So we looked at intercomms, and there were some good, some obviously bad, cheap, expensive and odd. Some names to mention were AutoComm, StarComm and IntaRide. I was really up for IntaRide, we used them when on the DAS course with ProScot. They were really clear and although we had the duff, bare plastic edged logistical earpiece on, the sound was excellent at all speeds, including the faster, country road sections. However, the IntaRide stuff starts at £130. Now, I was up for paying that because I want a system that works when I want it, every single time. I understood that you get what you pay for and that was that. But Blair being Blair, he wasnt up for the out of pocket expense, and fair enough, £130 is a lot of money, and this trip is going to cost a bit anyway.
So we looked to other methods. How about getting them all seperate then? Ok, well what radios should we get? We looked at Motorolas, Alans, Midland and Philips. The Alan G7′s got a really lengthy consideration, but then I stumbled across the Alan 777′s. These were really smart, very compact and would be perfect for what we wanted, a small radio which could be on the person, thus not too big and heavy. The 777 also had new tech in it, like a mobile phone lith-ion battery thingy and a host of features that sounded good…like 38 CTCSS…who knows, but it sounded good.
We found them here, which worked out as £60 for 2, £30 each for radios, instead of £100. So far so good. What about headsets? well again, here for £19.99 each! So for £50 we were getting a full rig! Plastic money was produced and virtual money exchanged virtual hands. CUT to today, when I opened them up and seen what it was all about:
This is the Alan 777. It is tiny, has a small inverted LCD display and a nice cherry red paint finish
Click below to see the rest of this post and tonnes of pictures…
O2 Eliminator Mod
Hello folks.
Having ridden a week with my new GSR600 I was already getting fed up with the snatchy throttle. It was the reason I didn’t get the GSR in the first place and I was getting frustrated. However I ordered something called an o2 eliminator before I even had the bike itself. The o2 eliminator is a small plug which you put in place of the cable that runs to the exhaust sensor. I am not entirely sure what it does, but assume it loops the circuit in some way to fool the engine in to thinking that it needs to run rich. Because the snatchy throttle was caused by the engine running lean, the o2 eliminator would remove this problem, or so I hoped anyway.
So on Thursday last week my stuff arrived, forks for my rear paddock stand and the o2 plug. I had ordered bobbins but they were suspiciously not in the parcel.
This is the o2 eliminator, and even though it says “Honda” on the packet, it’s designed for many makes and models of bikes.
So there it is!
I had spoken to my mechanic about getting him to fit it and he said it was easy, but shouldn’t be any more than £30.
Click below to see the installation and tonnes of pictures…
New bike, New rules.
Hello
Saturday 26th January was the day I would or wouldn’t get a new bike. It was a mix of emotions. On the one hand I was really excited about a new bike, I was glad to be away from the ER6 and I was excited because I liked the GSR. I wasn’t so excited about the radiator problem, the Suzuki workshop check on the ER6 and the possible snatchy GSR throttle issue.
I headed out to my mechanics shop to have him look at the radiator, which had a problem of steaming a lot. When I was on my way to work the other day it was chucking it down with rain and when I stopped at a set of lights, the whole front of the bike was like a kettle. I was worried that it was a burst radiator having just forked out £300 for new parts. Fortunately when I got to the shop and Stuart had a wee look, he said there doesn’t seem to be anything wrong. One worry was off my mind, but now the real worry was ahead.
I was worried that because I had said there was a crack in the fairing, they wanted a “full workshop check.” What is a full workshop check? Do they go over the bike with a fine toothed comb? Do they just run some checks? It was this unknown that made me most worried.
I met my brother on the way to the garage and we tootled along, arriving 30 minutes late. We headed inside and spoke with Roger who said that he would take the bike in to the garage and had I seen the silver GSR out front. I noticed it on the way in and it looked pretty smart, and I knew that it was my GSR. Bro and I headed round and he was amused that I had managed to get so many add ons for less money than he paid 3 months ago.
We hung around for 20-30 minutes, went back inside and Roger called me over. I signed many bits of paper and everything was checked and okayed. I then noticed that under the part exchange price there was £1950, which meant I was good to go! We headed out to the bike and Roger went over a few bits with me. Then I was all set to go!
It was a brilliant feeling riding out on a bike that had 0 miles on it. (It actually had 4, for checking the bike and a fuel run in) Off we went, two GSR’s in harmony. It was funny as whenever we pulled up to lights or stopped, we would be side by side and the engines would run at the same idle speed, creating this deep rumble.
I had a smile on my face all the way to the Shell garage where Blair needed to fill his bike up with petrol.
So there we go! A new bike! Hurrah!
I have done 300 miles on it so far, but I haven’t been able to ride it the past 2 days due to the horrific weather hitting the west of Scotland.
The snatchy throttle is starting to annoy me, but I have ordered the O2 Eliminator and some bobbins so that this weekend I can hopefully get it nice and clean and working how it should.
Here’s a few pictures of my new GSR600s, and here’s to a bike that I will have for the next 3 years…..hopefully!
Click below to see the rest of the pics…
Last Chance Cafe & Crash update
Hello all,
Firstly the quote for damage to my bike has came in.
After I dropped my bike off etc I gave Stuart a call back the next day and we chatted about what to do. The options were that he orders some of the parts and he plastic welds and paints the fairings, or just orders all the parts except the fairings and tries to make them look as un-broken as possible.
So the option two was better because 1: it was £200 cheaper and 2: Stuart is a wizard and I’m sure he can make it look presentable.
The parts list was a new front brake lever, a new right hand peg, a new engine casing, new rear brake lever and a new gear shifter. This all comes to £212, with labour etc totalling it at £284.
I was a bit surprised as I got a quote for the peg and lever at Edinburgh Kawasaki and it was £60 for the peg and £30 for the lever. Which means that for £122 I am getting the engine casing, rear brake lever and gear shifter…I got a new rear brake lever for the MT-03 and it cost me £15, so say another £15-£20 for the gear shifter and it leaves £92 for the engine casing. It is a cast lump but £92 for f*ck sake. OEM parts eh…
So yeah it’s all good on that front, I was expecting at least £400 of work, but I suppose the fairing would cost a bit anyway.
Bike should be ready to go this week some time. I can’t wait because it means I will be moving on for the final time. And this time I have to get the right bike.
I was looking at the Z750 before and I was totally dead set. I had read the reviews online and they all pointed to a nice bike. But then I read my BIKE magazine, which I respect 100% and they said the Z was completely crap, bottom of the table in a shootout with a Street Triple, Hornet, Fazer and a GSR600.
They said the forks were crap, the power was pretty gutless, the handling was good but the whole experience was disconcerting and very uncomfortable. I was really disappointed. Then I read the reviews for the other bikes and although the Street Triple didn’t really come out top in anything tables wise, it was their pick of the bunch. Fair enough, but they forgot to mention the ludicrous pillion pegs. This was a one person bike from the off, which was also disappointing.
The I looked at the Fazer, which had a pretty duff write up as well. But it was closely matched to the GSR600. Which my brother has.
Upon reading the review the GSR was left in pretty good light, with great power, great handling and great looks, but fell on tank size and snatchy throttle issue.
It left me thinking…What do I want from a bike?
I want:
• Comfortable
• Fast
• Stability
• 180 rear section
• Comfy 2 up riding
• Good dials
• Good lights
• Nice posture
• Quality build.
The GSR has pretty much all of those, with exception to the tank range, which tops at 140 miles by BIKE standards, which is what I am getting with the ER6 at the minute so no change there.
I would have had a GSR off the bat had the throttle issue not been there. Basically when going from no throttle to introducing the throttle there is a lurch. Going from Positive throttle to rolling off the throttle, there is a negative lurch. This not only is annoying but it unsettles the bike mid-corner and can be quite dangerous should you forget about it.
However upon reading the GSR forum for a bit, I came across the o2 sensor eliminator fix, which you buy for £18 and it fixes the snatchy throttle. It does this because as a standard bike the GSR runs lean, to pass fuel emission regulations. This means that at low throttle openings the bike lurches about. This o2 eliminator tricks the bikes ECU in to running rich, which removes the lurchyness.
If this works, then I think the GSR would be a great bike.
But with all this said, I have to remember one thing: This will be the very last chance to get it right. I have had 3 bikes in a year and I can’t go on like this. So I think I will go for the GSR, which will make me have the same bike as my brother but I like the looks, it sounds amazing and has everything going for it. But should this O2 Eliminator not work, I could have to put up with it for at least 3 years. Anyway, I am just glad the ER6 is going, because it’s unsafe.
Sorry for the long post folks!
Thanks for looking again,
Gordon
On the bike hunt – Part 2 – Suzuki
My brother passed his test on Wednesday 17th. I am absolutely delighted for him and ultra excited to get out there and finally ride with more than just me!
The pen hadn’t even touched the pass certificate and Blair was off to Suzuki to check out the SV650 Sport and the GSR600.
What I got back from him was that the GSR was the one to go for, but he’s heading up on Saturday to have a test ride and buy one.
So Saturday came and knowing that this could be the day that I manage to shift the Buell, I spent 2 hours cleaning it from tip to toe.
Top Tip:
If your bike hasn’t had a complete clean for a while and the bits that are hard to get to are black, leave them that way. I cleaned my bike in bits that I had never cleaned and once the dirt and grease was away, the blemishes that remained!! Oh my. Very annoying. The bike is clean but certain parts look crap. But they ain’t that obvious so I wasn’t too fussed.
The bike looked like new again!
Off we went then, with the reality of the whole situation firmly burried in the back of my mind, and I was hopeful we could get something worked out.
Having spent the past 3-4 months looking at reviews and seeing the bikes, I had read a lot about the GSR’s snatchy throttle. Going from no throttle to anything positive resulted in a fierce jerk as the power came in. The same in reverse, going from positive throttle to none resulted in an opposite jerk. I was really hoping that it wouldn’t be that obvious because I really like the GSR, it’s looks, it’s speed and the cool dials.
Once at Cuper Motorcycles we headed in and Blair got signed up for the test ride. I just had to ask, so I did, “DO YOU HAVE A B-KING!?” Why yes, there’s one just over there.
Two words: Kitchen Table.
This bike is huge. Everything is comically big. The tanks is so big you could quite easily sit on it cross legged. The exhausts are fecking massive and the whole bike feels like a boat. I sat on the one outside, in All Black colours and what a nice feeling bike! Everything seems to fall perfectly where you would want them, Handle bars not too far out, pegs perfect, seat nice and comfy. But all this doesn’t matter because under all this niceness, you know that there is 180bhp’s waiting to rip your head off and throw you in to a hedge.
The man offered me a test ride on it, with a £25 charge so that only the serious folk get a ride on it, but I said I didn’t trust myself enough and I was petrified of it.
Never mind.
So Blair got on the GSR and I followed on the Buell. It was really weird seeing him on a motorcycle. We have talked for years about both getting bikes and going to see places and now it was a reality.
I followed him around Cupar and it’s surrounding country roads and it was great. Blair was really stable and although he missed signalling and a few shoulder checks, he was good on the bike. We stopped half way round and I had a go up and down the road. Really fast, really loud and really comfy, but that throttle was just as the reviews said it would be.
Anyway he got back on it and we headed back.
When we got back I signed some paper and I went out for a ride on my own on it, to really assess it. Just as before, the throttle was snatchy, although once it was engaged it was ok. Really fast, above 7k revs or so it’s rocket ship territory. Really fast!!
Good handling and the added Renthal bars made it nicer than stock. I loved the dials, which had a needle tach, digital everything else, including speed, gear selection, fuel guage, temp and trip meter. Very informative and really nice.
On the way back to the garage I had the overwhelming dissapointment of the throttle issues. If this bike didn’t have this problem, I would have on in an instant.
Once back, me and Blair headed inside and commenced the bargaining! After a wee while of Blair trying to get stuff thrown in, all he had achieved was £50 off the price. So that was that, and then he said, what’s your situation?
So yet again I described how I wanted to part ex the Buell and told them about the £1800 insurance premium to pay blah blah blah.
After a while of the Roger and I talking he went away and spoke to his manager. He was such a nice guy and was one of those that said what he was thinking. For example when Blair was saying can we get a hugger thrown in, he said “no.” But also when talking about my situation he was saying that he is really frustrated for me and how I can’t get this Buell away.
He came back after looking at the bike and he said “it’s not good news unfortunately” and he said £3000 for it. Of course it is, it’s reality. For some reason I believed that he would offer me £4000 for it but no way. So we talked a little more and he said that he wanted me to go away and try and get more for my bike from somewhere else. He said if I came back and said “Roger, I got £3800 for my Buell” he would be genuinely pleased for me.
But the cards were left on the table and I could use the £3k Buell as a deposit for the GSR, leaving £40 a month on 0% finance to pay.
I was really bummed on the way home and knew that it’s coming to the point that I just need to accept that I wont get what I want for my bike and get it shifted.
Next up is the FZ6, which I have already test rode, but I am waiting for Alan Duffus to return my call to see what he can do for me.
Finger’s crossed..
Thanks for reading folks!
YamYam
