YamYam’s Top 10 Posts Ever.
So whilst I await the melting of the Fife Ice Caps, I shall collate some data…Geek Style.
I am always amazed at how sparse reviews are for products, or how biased a lot of reviews seem to be. Motostrano Blog said it excellently:
“I rarely read product reviews these days. They are all advertisements and we know it- pure fantasy. On the other hand, there’s the ‘discussion forums’ where you can read countless essays written by lonely males holed up in their mancaves about the products they’ve purchased, sharing with others the ins and outs of why the product they invested in is so great. Of course it’s great, you bought it and you’re actually wasting life hours writing about it. We beat our chests about the little gizmos and gadgets we’ve been able to scrounge up on our hunting and gathering missions out in the shopping wilderness. Heading back to camp with our gear speared on a stick- which is really a lonely little desk away from the kids or wife – we review the goods, inspect it, try it on, pose in action shots in front of the mirror, perhaps in our underwear, perhaps dressed up in our leathers in the garage. Then, as if to map out a terrain that no other fellow savage has explored, we set up to transpose our inner most thoughts on digital paper about whatever it is we just bought, signaling to other tribe members where to go and what to see along the adventure.”
So it’s with great satisfaction and indeed pride, that I have been complimented on my reviewing technique and detail. This is probably why (and you will see soon enough) my reviews are the most popular out of my posts. Naebody cares about me seeing a plane almost hitting the Forth Road Bridge. They want to know why I think the Puma Desmo’s were the best boot ever made.
Anyway, lets move along. I give you the top 10 favourite posts on YamYam ever (in descending order):
#10: Review: Respro “Foggy” Anti-fog Mask
#9: Review: Puma Brutale Gore-Tex Boots
#8: Update: AGV GP-Tech Helmet
#6: Review: Shark RSI “Eden” Helmet
#5: Yamaha MT-03
#4: Review: Puma Desmo 800 Boots
#3: Tutorial #1: How to change grips and handlebars
#2: Kawasaki ER6n
The most popular post on YamYam ever is, surprise surprise:
#1: Review: AGV GP-Tech Helmet
So there you have it. I think the reason is I got the GP-Tech really early, as in first batch. This allowed me to get a head-start and offer the viewing public a chance to see what this new helmet was like before going out to purchase it themselves.
It’s a good indication of what people are after when looking around the interweb for motorcycle type stuff.
I hope you enjoyed reading the top 10 posts, but also have a wee look around the archives at the non-review stuff. You might be pleasantly surprised…or endlessly bored.
All the best
Gordon
2009-06-22 – Thoughts
My mood is pretty low at the minute. Maybe substitute mood for morale.
It seems to be getting windier every day and although today was the first dry commute this week, it was still not very pleasant.
The bike is still playing up, cutting out, indicators flashing fast or not working at all. The Bridgestones (BT021) are working a treat though, Stuart was right; I wasn’t on the right tyre for my needs. The rear still has similar grip levels but are not wearing half as much as my old 16′s. I’ve had them for over 2 months now and there is no apparent squaring.
Riding through Tillicoultry the other day I saw a boy on the back of a bike wearing a t-shirt. I instantly wanted to slap the helmet off his head…would’ve been easy as it probably wasn’t fastened. Why bother?
On Sunday for the first time in A G E S me and Em went out on the bike and I cruised. No red liners or the need to go fast. I bumbled along and I felt really relaxed, allowing time to take in what was whizzing past instead of looking for the next point to ATTACK!
We headed over to Stirling via Crook of Devon, Alloa etc and it was great having no agenda, we were just out for a Sunday totter. There was a load of bikers out, all shapes and sizes, sportsbikes, harleys, tourers, trailies.
Em got a new dark visor for her Shark RSi Eden helmet and it looks smart as feck. I’ll post up a picture later.
Saw a Kawasaki 800 Drifter at the weekend and couldn’t help but imagine myself cruising about on one. Sounded beefy and looked like a lazy boy. I don’t know if I’m starting to gravitate towards a more relaxed bike, MT-01 perhaps…can you call the MT-01 relaxed in any shape or form? Maybe not.
I’m going to Tenerrife in November. This may seem like no big deal, but the whole scenario takes on a different meaning when you realise how quickly I burn. I won’t even be off the plane and I’ll be in need of some medical attention. It looks not to hot though in Nov which is a good thing. The place we are going looks fantastic and behind it sits an active volcano, something which I will be heading up. This holiday can’t come soon enough.
British Superbikes come to Knockhill in a week or so, really looking forward to that. Hopefully the weather will remain somewhat dry and we can get some good racing. Last year was quite wet which spoiled a lot of it, but I’ll not forget the demonstration by the rescue helicopter right above us. Amazing.
Anyway,
Thanks to all that have left comments and check out my various links to Flickr and whatnot.
Gordon
p.s. check out the new sticker for my helmet:
4 years worth in 6 months…
Hello all,
Hope you are all well and enjoying the current weather. It’s great! I think this will be the first of a long list of updates, product reviews and other stuff, so hold on to your hats.
Sunday was the 2nd day out of 14 that I had off, so I took full advantage of it. I had a good lie in and was heading over to the garage with Blair to get his bar end weight looked at. He said that he was riding along, and Kirsty suddenly went “I think a bird just hit me!” So they stopped and couldn’t see anything, and continued on home.
Then B realised that he had a mega numb right hand, and finally noticed the lack of bar end weight on his grip. Hmm.
Very odd. Although B does sit with his hand over the bar end weight…
So he wanted to head out to the garage to get a new one under warranty. It was a really nice day and whilst I was waiting for blair to arrive I sat on the front grass and listened to the birds and trees… Blair arrived and grabbed a quick cig before we headed out. It was a cracking day!
Once we arrived we checked out the metal sitting out the front, including the GSX1400 which was nice, and the boat, also known as a B-King.
May not look like much, but sounds amazing and goes like stink…
So after looking at the nice bikes we headed inside and B started his story up, which resulted in the guy saying (without surprise I may add) that B would have to come back in tomorrow to see the guy that deals with that particular type of request….
It’s really annoying that when someone asks if their bar end weight that fell off can be replaced under warranty, that they all can’t go, “yes” or “no.”
Whilst there, and remembering that my 7500 mile service was on Thursday, I asked if I could have a rear tyre changed at the same time as…well….look at it:
This was a week ago so it’s even more bald than this.
He said “Aye no problem” and I thought I’d better ask how much it will be.
“Well it’s £220 for the service and another £140 for the tyre”
“………well forget the tyre then.”
Bloody hell!!! Upon me asking why it was so expensive, he said “Well you get the spark plugs changed, and they cost £31, and then there’s the added labour of lifting the tank and removing the airbox.”
“Ok.”
I have lifted my tank 5-6 times now and I can now go from bike fully assembled to tank up and airbox off in 15 minutes. Now if you go on the price of the 4k service, which included the oil & filter change etc etc, that was £140. So it’s costing £31 for the spark plugs, leaving £50 for lifting the tank and removing the airbox.
My garage thus charges £200 p/hour labour. Brilliant.
So after I stopped crying, we went out to the bikes and Blair had a smoke and we talked about their complete lack of help…but that you already know about.
We then thought, whilst its such a nice day, that we would go for a quick blast up to East Lomond and then home again, which we did and it was ace.
There was a few police bikers out, but they were on one of those police training day things, where the police man takes you out and teaches you how to ride fast and safe. Both Blair and I went past them at a brisk pace, then thought, “I just went past a police man at more than the speed limit and he didn’t chase me.”
The thing with these courses is though (bearing in mind I haven’t been on one, I have just read about it) is that they don’t worry about you speeding. They actually encourage you to so that they can show you how to safely do it. It must be weird for you to be followed by a police man, doing more than the speed limit but he’s not pulling you over.
Anyway, after we got to the top of East Lomond, we stopped and had a chat about bikes and stuff. We then started talking about the service again and how I have actually done just under 9000 miles (and I’m just getting my 7500 mile service…oops. But I had my 4k late anyway) and wondered how many miles B had done.
He said that if we take off the Scotland Trip, he has done 2500 miles in nearly a year. I said that he was the UK national average biker and when we sat there thinking about it, we worked out that I have actually done 4 years worth of riding (on my GSR, which I got at the end of January, 08 ) in 6 months. All in all, I have done around 12 years of UK national average biking in a year and a half. That’s pretty scary.
He then quipped, “at least it’s cheaper. I’ve not even had my 4k service yet.”
Great.
East Lomond. Where brain’s get fried.
We then headed home and as we approached the road to my house, a Kawasaki naked old thing pulled in in front of us and it sounded amazing! We all then stormed along the road and it was a great finish to a nice ride out.
I fancy a 1 piece textile suit. For the reasons that: there’s no 360 zip to let water in, there’s only 1 entry zip that is super re-inforced, there’s more insulation thus warmer winter riding and finally, it’s smart.
I guess I’ll have to see what happens after we move in to our new house in August.
More updates soon!
Thanks for looking all,
Cheers
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
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…
Repair Bills and Suzuki
Goodevening all.
This weekend was a mixture of good and bad. But lets be positive and start off on the good.
Got the ER6 back on Friday, one of the windiest days so far this year. It was looking ace in the dark, really shiny and it was cleaned quite well. Got all my still dirty gear on and headed home from the Garage. It was a weird feeling riding for the first time after the accident. But moreover it wasn’t a secure feeling on the ER6. Really twitchy.
The repair bill was quite reasonable. The parts list was as follows:
-
Gear Lever £25.98
-
Generator Cover and Gasket £52.62
-
L/H Front Indicator £23.67
-
Front Brake Lever £25.45
-
Rear Brake Lever £20.30
-
R/H Footpeg and bank sensor £46.62
-
Clutch Lever £7.67
So there you go.
On Saturday I went to the Suzuki garage and started arranging the GSR. I chatted away with the guy about it all and gave some details, £200 holding fee which they refund me in a weeks time….silly, and some details about the ER6, at which point he asked what the condition was of it. I said that it was good condition and that it was a test ride bike so has marks on the footpeg hangers. There is also a crack on the fairing. At this point he took interest and asked what sort of crack etc. And eventually he said well we need to do a workshop check before agreeing on the price for the ER6. He wants it in showroom condition so may need to order some parts in. Ok I said and off we went, agreeing that Saturday was the time to do it all.
When I arrived home i went out to the ER6 and took the front fairing off to inspect in in the kitchen and it was scraped to buggery. If he sees this he’s going to know that it was dropped etc so I need to replace it.
So I will call the Garage tomorrow and get one ordered as I dont really want to go in Saturday and they say “ooo it’ll cost you £200 for a new one so we’ll take that off the part exchange price..” when it actually would have cost me £50. At least it gives me proof of them trying to pull my pants over my head. But it’s all depending on what the boys at Suzuki deem to be “Showroom Condition.”
We’ll just have to wait and see. Me and Em went out for a 2 hour ride today and I put the helmet cam on her this time. Which shows a really smart angle. I’ll convert it tomorrow and post it up to let you see. However the lens gets dirty again. I am starting to think that this camera will only be really good in the complete dry weather. But it was a good ride out and already my confidence has came back.
I also got my quote through from Express Insurance, with £395 as the official quote.
So yeah, I’ll keep you posted on what happens with Suzuki.
Thanks for looking folks,
Gordon
Suzuki GSR600 deal for YamYam…not the best he says
Hello all.
The topic of this post will be….the Suzuki GSR600…..
Here’s a video! #4
I called Cupar Suzuki today and they gave me a price for my ER6. £1900.
So after I picked my jaw off the ground, I asked about the details. In a nutshell, for £4295-£1900….£2395! I am getting
A brand new 2007 Suzuki GSR600 in Silver (Great, another silver bike) and I also get:
-
12 Months Road Tax
-
12 Months AA cover
-
Alpha Dot
-
Full tank of gaseroo
-
Free first service
-
Courtesy Bike
-
And I wangled some free Crash Mushrooms in as well (lesson learned eh…)
All of this with the 0% finance over 30 months deal, costing me roughly £79.83 a month. Not bad.
Then I called the insurance folk and after saying I got a quote for £375 he put me on hold for ages and came back with a £395 fully comp. So that’s £38 a month for that. So all in £117 extra a month to own a GSR, the last bike I will own for 3 solid years.
I got in Saturday to sort out the paperwork and the bike will be ready a week Sat.
The ER6 is still in the garage, should be fixed by Saturday with fresh parts.
Anyway, I’m off to surf the interweb. I got some new chain cleaner/chain lube today in the post, so I’ll post pics up tomorrow maybe.
Thanks for looking folks!
Gordon
Post Crash Video – Snow blues
Hello everyone.
I took my helmet cam to my very first day back at work, which also happened to be the icy/snowiest day. Instead of being sensible and getting the bus in, I decided to be an idiot and go on the bike..but I got there in the end. Shame the very next day I would be flying through the air…
Here it is:
Pretty cool except the rain getting on the lense of the camera. But it did show some cool effects as I got to the bridge! Psychadelic…if that’s how you spell it…
I will hopefully be heading to Suzuki this weekend to trade in the ER6 for a silver GSR600, brand spanking and the final bike I will own for a while.
I am still to confirm some stuff, but it looks like I will only get £1900 trade in for the ER6, because the garage “doesn’t sell many” which I think is crap. But there you go.
I will get the 0% finance dealio, as well as the Alpha Dot, 12 months road tax, 12 months AA cover, first service free, courtesy bike when in for a service and I have asked for a deal on crash mushrooms….hahaha
So aye, I am looking forward to it for sure!
I’ll update you before the weekend to let you know if I will have my first new bike of 2008! HAHAHA.
Thanks for stopping folks,
Gordon
p.s. The music in the video is Biffy Clyro, Wave Upon Wave from the Infinity Land album…it was on at the time so that is why i used it. Plus the microphone that I got with the camera was crap, so all you heard was a really distorted voice and wind noise. Sorry bout that. The intercom that I am looking at will hopefully have an OUT socket for connecting up an audio feed. More on that later.
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
Tutorial #1: How to change grips and handlebars
Hello y’all and thanks for stopping by.
Tonight I had a blinding headache. So instead of sitting playing my Xbox or watching a film, I decided to sort out my handlebar situation once and for all. I was going to get Renthals, but after dropping my bike…it was actually a blessing in disguise.
Picture 1: As you can see the throttle grip and assembly has been shoved to the right, making the handlebar visible. I rode my bike to work like this today and it felt strange, a bit…more comfy! It may have been a placebo effect but I was unhappy with the way it was so wide so I would change it anyway.
SO
I set about setting both grips closer to the middle of the bike.
NOTE!: Please take what I am about to show you as just guidelines. Every bike will be different in some way and may not be like this. I only know how to do this from getting the tools out and going for it. I was extremely cautious doing this the first time and you should be too. I didn’t know what to expect, i.e. things popping out or springs flying out all over the place! But it is remarkably easy once you know how.
Step 1:
It has been advised that you always start with the throttle side. So I didn’t break this tradition. Locate your throttle assembly and see how to remove it. In my case it was 2 screws. 1 screw above the master lever and 1 screw below it.
IMPORTANT BIT
You may find that the screws are different lengths. Take note of what one goes where to save confusion later. My method is to arrange the various parts on a surface as I take them off.
Step 2:
Be very very careful when removing the throttle assembly. If you go in guns blazing, you may not have time to memorise what bits go where and then spend the next 3 hours trying to work out how it all fits back in. By removing the throttle assembly I could see that there are 2 cables immediately visible. These are the throttle cables.
As I removed both halves of the throttle assembly case, I checked out the damage from the drop. Obviously something had broken or the throttle wouldn’t have been pushed up the bar. It turns out it was the small locator boss which stops the assembly from rotating round the bar….great, this was a really important bit.
Never mind, I had some ideas how to fix it anyway.
Step 3:
Make sure you note the throttle cables in some way. In my case, the 2 throttle cables are different colours. The greeny grey cable you see is the cable that stretches around the back, so the left knob if you are looking towards the bike. The black cable is the one that goes directly to the throttle tube, so the right knob if you are looking towardsthe bike.
Once you have noted all the positions and colours, remove the other half of the assembly case to free up the throttle tube.
Step 4:
Remove the throttle tube and what I do now is put the throttle cables back on the throttle tube. This is a wee reminder for me which cables go where. The throttle tube is the light grey bit in the pictures below
You are now free to begin the next step and what you should have on your bike now is this:
Step 5:
When I dropped my bike on the drive, the bar ends acted as an apple corer and cored 2 inches of gravel in to the bar. This needs to be removed so I can fit the bar ends when they arrive.
I used a screwdriver and a pair of scissors to remove the dried dirt from inside the bar:
Step 6:
The small boss that broke off when I dropped my bike locates in to a hole in the handlebar. Again, this is to stop the throttle assembly rotating around the bar and makes it more secure.
NOTE: Aftermarket handlebars do not come pre drilled, So get yourself a powerdrill and metal bit before hand.
Drilling a round bar is really quite difficult. Not only do you need to get the hole bang on as to get the position of the indicators etc right, but you need to get it started first. The techique I use is to get some masking tape and a pen. Then mark the middle of the bar where you like the position of the buttons. So dry fit the assembly and note the boss position. Then mark the tape. Then get one half of the assembly case, the half with the boss, and mark where the boss looking down on it. (i.e. how far along the bar it is) you then have a cross hair to drill on.
Now I don’t know if you ever saw the “Nuts!” magazine advert, where the woman is drilling a hole in the wall. She starts the drill up and the drill drives itself up the wall. Then the “Women, don’t expect any help on a…” slogan starts.
Well this is exactly what drilling on a round bar is like. Once you put the drill bit to the metal and start the drill going, the bit slides all over the place. If you have a punch, then make a ruddy big mark so that you can at least get the hole started. In the end I resorted to using a phillips head and a ratchet to hammer a dent in the surface of the bar. Then I used brute force to start the hole.
I then ended up with
Step 7:
After I did the hole, I thought about how I was going to stop the assembly from rotating around the bar, since the boss had sheared off…
Dad suggested tape, but I didn’t have any “Duck” tape so I used electrical tape. This was pretty duff and it also impeded the throttle action. So the tape came off.
BUT!
I fired the brain in to action and came up with this:
I used a brass wood screw, with the head hacksawed off and screwed in to the boss. It worked a treat!!
Step 8:
Then its time to fit everything back together again. Remember the throttle cable positions and placement inside the assembly case.
Once you have fitted everything back together again, check for throttle action and if you can rotate the throttle, let it go and it springs back to the start, then good job sonny, you’ve made it. If not, then reverse the steps to see if you have got a throttle cable snagged or caught up somewhere. In my throttle assembly case, there is a small channel for the cable to go in to, this means the cables are away from any joint etc.
Step 9:
You aint out the woods yet boyo. You’ve still got the other side to do! But fear not, it’s easier on the other side as you don’t have a master cylinder or throttle cables to deal with. It’s just a drill a hole and fit back together again job.
And that is it!!!
A few key points to remember here:
So there you have it.
And the result!?
My bike feels like a different bike. You may not think that 2 inches closer to the clocks would make any difference at all, but oh my, how good it is. It actually reminds me of my Yamaha MT-03, great position, easy to chuck about and very confidence inspiring!
I am glad I didn’t order the Renthals!
Thanks for looking folks and I hope I helped to take away some of the fear of tinkering with your bike.
Next week I show you how to knit your very own rug…
Gordon
Expensive mistake
Hello all.
Today’s ride in to work was interesting. The peg, although halved in real estate was still useable. My ankle/calf was quite sore due to the dodgy angle it was at. The brake lever, as predicted was fine, and in fact I actually thought the braking power was increased…but I dont know why.
I called up C&J Wilson and asked how much it was to replace the parts I had broke.
£51.80 for the peg!! £29.90 for the lever!! Wow, that is a lot of dough for not a lot of metal.
He did however suggest a pair of aftermarket pegs, which would give me 1 spare and that came in at £40. So for a pair of pegs its cheaper than 1 OEM Kawasaki one.
That’s where they make their money then.
I’m heading in this Saturday to pick them up. I may just get the pegs and forget about the lever as it’s not a big problem. I never used the length of the brake lever anyway!
Thanks for looking folks and please continue to do so! I appreciate all of your great comments, big or small!
Cheers
Gordon
My new bike.
Here it is in all it’s washed glory. You could eat your dinner off it.
I’m still awaiting the arrival of the drag bar, but I am going to order all my accessories this Wed….OOOO
Thanks for looking
Gordon
New bike blues, loosing the front and the missing sticker…
Well it’s gone.
My brother said it perfectly;
“Most people, when they pass their test, they get a banger. Then they get a better banger. Then they get used, then new, then dream bike…You’ve went, test, new bike, dream bike. Of course you’ve got to come down.”
As I handed over the keys to my Buell I didn’t feel anything. No sadness, no regret. I was moving on. But then upon returning home from the garage, I hit rock bottom. The ER6 is a great bike. It’s fast enough, nice riding position and good handling. But it just sucked that I had a bike that wasn’t as nice as the Buell.
Not only that, but on the way home a few irritating things appeared. The mirror has a really loud vibrating noise at any RPM. The front tyre is crap in the wet (See further down) and the bars are hopeless. But I knew all these things when I made my decision, and all of them can be overcome with some thought and money.
As seen below, I have ordered some drag bars. These should come pretty soon, if not today and I’ll post some pics tonight. The mirrors will be sorted too.
The front tyre though, is a big problem. I arrived at Em’s house and picked her up. I was on my way down in the emotions department and just wanted to get home to sulk. So off we went and Em kept saying how great the pillion seat was. I headed up the hill beside the graveyard only for the front to go light and I lost both traction in the front and the rear. It was pretty scary, but controllable. Em was like “What was that?!” and I replied, “oh nothing, just the bike losing all grip on the road…”
We then got on the motorway and headed up 15miles to our turn off of the motorway. As I headed around the slip road we hit a shiny bit of road and again, the front lost grip. Very very unsettling and not good for either of our hearts. Arriving home I had a look at the tyres and found, to my amazement, that the rear was a Bridgestone and the front was a Dunlop…Now some may disagree here, but I have always been told, never ever mix and match tyres, especially not different brands. And here I had a BT020 rear and a D202 (I can’t remember the make so I made that up…) No wonder it felt weird.
So I added the anger to my downer and started picking holes in it.
Then we had to head off and get Blair’s new bike. His brand spanking, really smart GSR600 in red. Off we went and I was extra careful due to the tyre situation and the wet leaves on the road.
Eventually we got to Cupar Motos and headed inside. Blair had talked about some Alpinestars Gore-tex gloves on sale for £59.99. I told him to shut up. Gore-tex is dear. But there they were. I think they were called Jet Roads…but I tried them on and really nice fit. Comfy, warm and snug, and most importantly, Gore-tex lining. I have Alpinestars Gore-tex boots and not once have they leaked or let me down. So I shall be picking some of those up on Saturday.
We had to hang about for a while because the guy was talking to a couple who had just bought a GSXR-1000 race replica bike…he’s going to die then….
Eventually we got seen and B did all the paper work etc. In the meantime I looked around the showroom and saw the GSR600 demonstrator that had been offered to me at £300 plus the Buell. I was thinking “why didn’t I just buy it?”
We headed outside and the guy brought Blairs bike round from the back. It looked amazing! The red was so nice in the sunlight and it was pristine condition. I left Blair with the guy talking about how to start it and sat on the ER6. It’s not that bad I thought.
It started to pour down and Blair was on brand spanking new tyres, on a brand spanking bike, on a brand spanking Licence….not good. I made sure to say take it easy and he did. We got home and everyone came out and had a look at the two bikes…
Come Saturday night I had started to emerge from my depression and started thinking about what mods I could do to my bike…
Sunday was a recovery from the Saturday night, our housewarming party a year on since first moving in! It was a great night and a good time to think about something other than the day’s events. I got up early (9ish) and started work on my bike. I wanted it looking brand new.
2 and a half hours later it was cleaned. It was really mucky, so much for it being cleaned for me picking it up, but it looked brand spanking! I was really chuffed. I also rotated the gear selector round a bit so I wasn’t trying to touch my shin with my toes and it works perfectly now.
29th October 2007
So today I headed in to work on my new bike. It was remarkably easy. The gear shifter mod was great. Flicking through the slick box was no problem and holding a steady 70-90mph was no problem. But I needed to get the front tyre issue resolved, and my insurance as I was still only covered for the Buell.
When I got to work I called up the insurance folk and I am now covered for the Kwak and they are refunding me £344!! I don’t want to think about how much the Buell actually was to insure, but my policy runs out in January 2008…so with 3 months remaining, I am covered for the new bike but have nearly 350squids refunded…hmmm
So that was good. Then I emailed C&J Wilson, the place I got my bike from and told them about the tyre issue, and also that I had noticed that only 1 side of the bike had decals on it, the other side was plain…was this because it was dropped!? Who knows…
They emailed me back saying the tyre will be replaced free of charge and a new decal has been ordered! Result!! Not only will I have matching tyres and matching sides to the bike, but I’ll have £344 to spend on getting stuff for the ER6!!! Ahhh.
Ill post up a mods list in the next post and once I get home I’ll put up some of the pics of my new bike!!
Sorry for the extremely long post!
Thanks for reading folks, and keep checking back! I am now 9th when you do a google.com search for YamYam!!! OOO
Gordon
On the bike hunt – Part 3 – Yamaha
Hello all,
Yamaha. I had one, then it melted. But despite all that, I was desperate for a FZ6.
Fast as you like, smart as you like and exactly what I wanted.
However I really had to think long and hard last night, as things have started to get a little cloudy surrounding the whole bike thing.
So what came out of it was that most people are offering me £3k for my Buell. The difference to get any new bike is £1500-£2000 and that’s just too much financially. Thus, I spent a wee while phoning around various garages that I had visited for a test ride to see what they had to offer and the outcome was not great.
For most of them I still had to fork out some money. I don’t want to, I can’t afford it, I need a direct swap. This was not a possibility for most of the garages, even for the demonstrators which had only decreased as little as £300 from new…
So I finally remembered the ER6n I test road a few weekends ago, and I wrote about it in part 1. Yes the bars are stupid and it’s not the fastest or the best looking ( I am warming to it though) but it’s cheap, fast enough, a twin (I love twins), cheap insurance and comfy for 2 up. Great. So I called back the guy from Edi-Kwak and spoke with him about a direct swap for the demonstrator which looks like:
He said yes immediately. 4k on clocks, 2005 plate, great condition, Full service history (owned by Edi-Kwak since new) and taxed. 3 months parts and labour warranty too.
I still had some thinking to do so I said “I’ve still got some thinking to do” and would call him back later. The reason was I still had some deals on the table from other garages, Yamaha, Suzuki and Kawasaki Perth. You may wonder why I have left out the biggest Japanese manufacturer here and theres a good reason for it. Honda are just too bloody expensive. £5500 for a Hornet…no thanks.
So a few of the deals were Buell+£800 would get me a brand new Kawasaki ER6n. My Buell+£300 would get me the GSR600 demonstrator, complete with Renthal bars and nose fairing….a good deal I thought.
But no no no. No more money can be spent.
So it was back to the ER6n for me. To be absolutely honest, I am relieved to be going back to Japanese. I am relieved that it is a twin, and I am relieved that it’s different from anything else on the road. So I called up and set Saturday as change over day, the day that Blair is getting his brand spankers GSR600, in Red.
In actual fact, I am really looking forward to having a bike that I don’t worship. I absolutely love the Buell, it’s my dream bike, but I was always worried that it broke or I dropped it or how much it would cost to keep. Now that the Buell is going and I’m getting a cheaper one, I can see myself starting my customising stage of biking. I will most definitely need new bars, new grips and maybe new mirrors. Then it’s seat, exhaust, clocks…you get the picture. And I shall do my best to document it all on here!
Then, after I had made the decision to go with Kawasaki, I called up Yamaha and explained the decision I had made and he suggested I go for their demonstrator I used. 100ish miles on it…he came back with Buell+£1000…instant no.
So I’m set! I will be swapping my beloved Buell XB12Ss Lightning for a Kawasaki ER6n in Galaxy Silver and red.
Plus, it’ll be the first ride in my entire biking career that I will not be riding alone.
And I can’t wait.
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
On the bike hunt – Part 1 – Kawasaki
Hello all,
I went to test ride the Kawasaki ER-6n last Saturday at Edinburgh Kawasaki. I wanted my better half to come with, to sit on it and see it with me so we got geared up around 12 and headed out.
The bridge has roadworks going on at the weekend so the traffic was a nightmare. Coming down the hill before the bridge at Rosyth, I was filtering through the traffic at a slow 15mph. Tootling along this blue car in front decided to move from the right lane to the left, without signalling or checking mirrors. This meant that when she moved across, I had to slam on the brakes big licks to avoid being side swiped. I then hammered on my horn and instead of this idiot moving in to the left lane and stopping, she just slammed on the brakes in the middle of the lanes.
Evasive action was needed, but I just couldn’t physically move the bike, 2 up, enough to avoid her and Em’s knee struck the back of her car.
I can honestly say I have never been as angry as I was that day. More so because Em had been hurt, but because of the complete lack of any sort of driving knowledge displayed by that idiot woman. Thinking about it now I am starting to get angry! GRRR.
So we eventually got in to Edi-Kwak and spoke to a guy there who was a little less than vague. He didn’t deal with the sales side and he would have to see what he had to do to give me a test ride.
After a wee while I got everything set and off I went. The bike was quite quiet and even though it was a twin, wasn’t that vibe-y.
I headed out for around 30 minutes and in that time I checked the handling, speed, clocks etc. I was quite excited about this bike before test riding it and after I felt a little let down.
It felt cheap. Very skinny bike, crap clocks and the bars….oh dear. The handlebars are angled such that you feel like your elbows are about to touch. Very very uncomfortable, but changeable. The throttle was slick, as was the gearbox. A good pull from lower revs and came alive when you bridged the 6k-7k revs.
The seat was really comfy and Em’s one was too.
So after I got back I spoke a wee bit with the sales guy this time. OH BOY could this guy talk. He went on about mirrors having to be the width of the handlebars, the emmissions regulations and the weather…I only asked what price it was.
So he said £3995 for the 6n, and £4200 for the 6f, the fared model which I didn’t really take notice of until I saw it in the flesh.
A very very nice bike and very different to the N, even though it’s just some plastic on the outside. The clocks were both analogue, better than the digital one of the naked version. And it was fared, perfect for motorway miles.
Then I dropped the bomb, would you consider a Buell as a Part-ex?
Out we went and he hummed and hawed and said he personally likes them but he’s a business man blah blah.
So I left with his card and I was to phone him on the Monday.
Instead I emailed him and he said this:
Kawasaki ER6F rrp £4895.00 Our price £4700.00
Trade in price for Buell £3000.00
Balance to change £1700.00
Stop right there sonny jim. £4700 for the F?? But you said £4200 to me in the shop…and forget that!! £3000 for my exotic, £8000 bike?!
Taking the piss I thought. Not so.
As for the why is the value off the Buell as it is, it reflects best retail at the top of the selling season, versus worst trade at the bottom of the season
Very good….Goodbye.
So that was Kawasaki out the window. I am desperate for a FZ6.
