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RE: It Lives

stephan — Thu, 05 Jan 2012 03:29:48 GMT

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RE: It Lives

Black Dog — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 19:54:56 GMT

I agree, you will not be surprised to hear.

The only car I have ever had that was genuinely fun to drive was a 2.8i Capri, which was lively in the dry and absolutely effing lethal in the wet. It was similar to a bike, in that everything could go awfully wrong at any moment, and it was only the driver's skill that kept it shiny side up. I loved it. All cars have been 'less' since then. That's why, if I ever win the lottery and just buy a car for fun, it will be a Westfield or a Caterham. Mental.

RE: It Lives

endemoniada_88 — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 01:49:53 GMT

Sadly, a lifesaver in a VW Polo with headrests shows one very little other than a door pillar.

It's an odd thing, being in a car - I actually feel far more vulnerable and less in control than I ever do on a bike. I hate the lack of all-round vision, the deadening of outside sounds, the feeble and slow response to control inputs, the need to follow in line and the sheer lack of interest generated by the whole experience. Every time I do it, I take a certain amount of sympathy away with me, and a resolve to be more understanding of other road users. Often, it's not that they're deliberately impeding my two-wheeled progress, it's that - with the best will in the world - they can't get much more out of their vehicle and, no doubt in many cases, have ceased to even bother trying.

Partly, I suspect, it's because I've never owned a good car, so wouldn't have a clue whether there's more enjoyment to be had; mainly it's that, for road-going purposes, the limitless speed, acceleration and power of a bike spoils one rather. Maybe if I was confined to a cage for any length of time, I could recalibrate my brain to work slower and hence find it all less frustrating...but I reckon I'd still hate it!

RE: It Lives

Black Dog — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 18:51:49 GMT

I do lifesavers all the time in the car - sheer force of habit. It's saved my bacon once or twice, too.

For the last three or so years, I ve been using the bike every day, and the car a couple times a month. Mrs Dog has noticed that I am far more 'optimistic' about my overtaking in the car these days

RE: It Lives

endemoniada_88 — Sun, 08 Nov 2009 22:57:50 GMT

Oh, if that's all...I already have to do that! I was just wondering how much more humility would be involved...

Should be okay, except that she's forbidden to drive for the duration. That means I may even have to take the wheel of her car and do chauffering - a very trusting move, since on the couple of times a year I do drive, I have occasionally been known to overlook that cars are actually wider than my elbows. And I can't use the driving mirror: wing mirrors only. It's quite disturbing to try a lifesaver, too!

Since my finances are shot anyway, and I'm still not vastly mobile, I spent the weekend cheering myself up by diligently searching the internet for some bargain bin specials to finally plug some holes in my CD collection. Amazing to think that you can buy a disk made in Britain, then shipped to America and back for something like $4 with free p&p. Or you could cough up £15 for the same disk in HMV. No wonder the high streets are crippled and the environment is, allegedly, broken. Anyway, selfishly non-green of me or not, a nice shiny stack of Iron Butterfly, Mountain and Colosseum albums should be dropping through the front door soon. Nothing to do with motorcycles per se, obviously, although I believe all of them numbered bikers amongst their membership. And I love IB's "Easy Rider". Nearly as good as Saracen's "Ride Shotgun With The Wind" as a motorcycle hymn - 'And as your machine turns air and fuel into motion/Remember: the earth may not be flat, but you can still find the edge!' Lovely.

RE: It Lives

Black Dog — Sun, 08 Nov 2009 10:30:29 GMT

Just become a worker bee, or drone, for a week or two. She's the queen, and you are there to serve. It's not too bad, once you manage to eliminate your own sense of self and identity.

Good luck with it!

RE: It Lives

endemoniada_88 — Sun, 08 Nov 2009 01:51:43 GMT

I bet one of the things she especially appreciates about you is that droll sense of humour ! Probably.

Good to hear that the cardiology's sorted, let's hope that they can do something helpful with the osteo side of things.

Must be the season for it - nothing like as serious, but my good lady is booked in for a shoulder op on Friday, which only leaves me a few days to practise both sympathy and helpfulness. I say "practise" in the sense of "learn, and quickly" for she hath a ferocious temper when roused...luckily her left hook's nowhere near as good as her right! I jest, well, a little anyway - and it's bad timing that she'll be confined at home in a one-armed fashion while I'll be out all week running a theatre and hence not able to give quite the expected levels of care and attention. I'm guessing I may have to be particularly useful when I am home, and refrain from poking too much fun on the subject!

RE: It Lives

Black Dog — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 10:48:10 GMT

Glad to hear things are improving on the mobility and pain fronts.

As for Mrs BD, it's a bit of a mixed bag. She has been signed off by the cardiologist, so the heart thing seems to have been successful. The other complications (DVTs etc) seem to be under control, and are not getting any worse. Unfortunately, she has recently had a scan of the whole spine, and her collapsing vertebrae are continuing to collapse. She has lost about 3" in height, and I keep calling her 'Titch' and asking her to stand up, but the joke is wearing thin. She may well have to have an operation to stabilise it all. She's not very happy about that, but I keep telling her that she has been lucky so far (no damage to the spinal cord, hence no real disability) and we should take all steps to keep it that way.

The good thing is that over the last few weeks she has really brightened up and sounds like her old self again. It's been like having my proper wife back, only shorter

RE: It Lives

endemoniada_88 — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 23:57:20 GMT

To be fair, I didn't cartwheel or dig in, but my old gloves - comfortable as they might have been - did wear all the way through on the palm. As did some of my skin. So I'm not averse to the added protection, and it doesn't really get in the way of working the controls, either. I was tickled by the "tick", "cross" bit on the diagrams, though - surely it should be "wrong", "more wrong"...!

More progress today - enough movement in my knee to ride the Suzuki. Or, more accurately, sit on it a bit like a sack of spuds. Not entirely without discomfort, as it happens, but that's a whole lot better than just a couple of days ago.

On the subject of recovery, how's Mrs BD these days? Hopefully fighting fit by now?

RE: It Lives

Black Dog — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 22:25:25 GMT

I'll knock Furygan from my wishlist, then. I am more or less the polar opposite of your build I like the glove diagrams. It makes a kind of sense - if your hand can slide, you are less likely to get into an undignified cartwheel as you go one way and the bike goes the other. In fact, I have seen some good shots of crashing racers who slide across the track on an @rse and a hand, a bit like they were sitting watching telly. But the heel of the hand will take some horrible friction, and anything that makes the glove better there has to be a good thing.

RE: It Lives

endemoniada_88 — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 02:30:55 GMT

Thanks for the good wishes. I'm fairly well mended now: stairs are still a bit of an issue, but most of the bruises are fading away!

I really rate Furygan leathers: they're solidly made, reassuringly expensive and pretty stylish without being gaudy. And, a huge bonus, they fit my awkward (ver' thin but with proportionally long limbs) build in a way that most bike gear doesn't.

I'm even growing quite used to the gloves, which boast - of all things - an SPS (Scaphoid Protection System). It's a hard bit on the palm, basically, but seems to be endowed with miraculous powers according to the quite optimistic user guide:

I don't think I'll carry out any proof of concept work on it, although I would say my last gloves didn't have SPS and I certainly didn't do the "Without" acrobatics!

New pipe on the Versys might be doing its bit to melt the polar ice caps, by the way: down to 49.2mpg on the last tankful!

RE: It Lives

Black Dog — Fri, 30 Oct 2009 23:05:23 GMT

All we can do is commiserate. Nothing else to say. On the bright side, I wish you joy with the jacket. If I ever get around to affording some new leathers (with proper armour), then that is what I would go for. Boyd used to wear his Furygan 2-piece to work, often, and I thought it looked good. Mind you, he has more of the racing snake physique than I do, so perhaps the good looks don't transfer too well. Even so, his creaking leathers in an office full of suits were a joy to behold. The gloves sound quite cool, as well. Hope the credit card recovers soon (oh, and you too).

RE: It Lives

endemoniada_88 — Fri, 30 Oct 2009 00:18:35 GMT

Today was an expensive one, in that I went down and paid my dues at the friendly local dealer, something that made my credit card feel a lot more poorly than it had been.

Still, it's done and settled now, which makes me feel better about things. I had a much closer look at the bike, too, and I have to be honest and say that - despite the extensive list of replacement parts - it stood up to a 50mph decking very well indeed. Much of the damage is not just cosmetic, but quite minor cosmetic at that: scratches and scuffs, mainly. If it was your bike, and you were on a budget, you could literally get by with replacing the two brake levers, a bar end weight and the front fairing panel, and a bit of straightening work on the bracketry. It wouldn't be pretty, but it would work. Since one of my own bikes is essentially the same (with added crash protectors) I find that quite reassuring.

Not that I plan to put it to the test.

Also, since it was a bit of a financial doomsday anyway, I visited the clothing department and came away with a replacement jacket (another Furygan Brutale, but crucially one with intact leather), some new boots (Prexports, as the ruined TCX ones are no longer available - hope they're as comfortable, though) and the gaudiest pair of Weisse gloves in the shop (lots of burnished metal and white/beige/black leather - luckily, they'll probably go a grimy grey colour quite quickly - but they seemed to be a perfect and comfortable fit, so never mind the aesthetics).

All I need now is my knee to stop twinging and grow some new skin, and it'll be almost as if the accident never happened...

Except from the bank's point of view.

RE: It Lives

endemoniada_88 — Mon, 26 Oct 2009 22:33:12 GMT

Yep - still sore enough that I felt obliged to stay at home today. Until my swollen knee goes down a little, and becomes more cooperative on the consistent movement front, I'm not very good on level ground and hopeless at stairs! It's a bit too much of a chore to actually mount a bike at the moment, not to mention bending enough to fit in with the footpegs, so that's rather that. It is improving, though, so perhaps I'll be back to work tomorrow. Wouldn't much fancy it if we were to have a fire alarm, though...!

Still waiting for the final bill on the bike, but it's over 30 separate replacement pieces. That, in part, is down to Kawasaki's unusual approach to itemising: if you buy a replacement clutch cover, you have to buy every other part separately. Even the oil-sight window (as if it'd be much of a cover without one of those fitted...), and the oil-sight window sealing-ring (ditto).

Basically: both footpegs, both brake levers, headlamp, front and rear fairings, handlebars and bar end, rear grab-rail ("tandem grip" in Kawasaki-speak), mirror, clutch cover, front fork outer, exhaust. Oh, and an indicator. Put that way, and bearing in mind that I'm paying for mechanic time to fit it all, it's not bad value for money. Just a shame I don't get to reap the benefit of it...!

RE: It Lives

Black Dog — Sat, 24 Oct 2009 20:42:07 GMT

A fall like that will jar every bone and joint in your body, so I imagine you will be feeling less than sunny for a few days yet. I think your analysis of the events is about right. A combination of a lot of factors, which all conspired against you at the same moment. You are right to try and find a cause, however remote or unlikely. Like you, if I ever had an accident which I couldn't explain in terms of something I could have done differently (and therefore wouldn't do again), than I would give it up.

Glad you're back on your horse with no permanent ill-effects, though. Not sure about the colour thing, I know that green Kwaks are the fastest. Perhaps orange ones have Russian Roulette tyres - alternating bands of rubber and Bakelite, and which is underneath you when you brake is a matter of luck.

Chin up, old chap!

RE: It Lives

endemoniada_88 — Sat, 24 Oct 2009 18:58:10 GMT

Cheers, BD. Much appreciated!

Gotta say, I'm feeling it today, even in some places I didn't think had bounced off the tarmac. Still, considering the possible alternatives, there's not too much to be ungrateful about. Safety gear did the job it was supposed to do - and I will be seriously considering another Furygan leather jacket when funds permit. Until then, I've got spares of everything else and a decent Alpinestars textile jacket, so that's not a catastrophe either.

It's just unfortunate that the bike repairs are going to be so much, but it's going to take a lot of new parts to get it looking nice again. As I said, if it was mine, I wouldn't worry about most of them - but I suspect that if it was mine, there wouldn't have been an accident. Can't be certain, but...

At times like this it's always a good idea to take a long, hard look at one's riding, and how avoidable that particular incident was. As far as the former is concerned, I would normally consider myself a sensible rider, aiming to stick within my own and the machine's limits. There are moments of exuberance, of course, but in general I spend enough time on the roads to be aware of why you don't want to be living in the upper quartile of either. As for the latter, well, that's a bit harder to quantify. It's a typical bit of Sussex main road (high traffic density and cheap outsourcing for maintenance), so the surface isn't great, there's plenty of overbanding and residual road markings and of course a lot of vehicular deposits. It's certainly wide enough to be filtering, as we have a lot of wider-than-true-single carriageways. Couldn't tell if there was anything excessively slippery down on the road, but it's been raining on and off since yesterday. Having looked at the impact marks, it looks as if the front might just have been kissing on of the many broken white lines haphazardly spread around - in which case I probably should have been just a few inches to the left - but it's difficult to be certain.

Can't really blame any of that too much, though: it's par for the course in autumn. So I'm going with machine unfamiliarity in somewhat treacherous conditions and the assumption that it was pilot error with just too much front brake. Not by much, to be fair - I certainly wasn't jamming the anchors on - and might even be willing to use that old racing cliche that the punishment doesn't really fit the crime.

Anyway, I had no trouble with remounting the bike, riding another ER or getting back on my Versys (no trouble except physically getting on it with a very stiff leg, that is) yesterday. Good sign that there's no subconscious discomfort going on, which I suspect is a good sign that the analysis above is correct. If I thought I was liable to inexplicably fall off at any moment, or that I had no idea how to manage a bike in the real world, I wouldn't be able to face riding, let alone riding at less than 100% fitness.

The only other possible explanation is that orange Kawasakis are just cr*p. The white one I had later didn't fall down, after all!

RE: It Lives

Black Dog — Sat, 24 Oct 2009 10:12:46 GMT

Oh, you poor unlucky b*gger. Commiserations, mate, and hope the bits stick together soon. The bike's only metal (and fixing it is 'only' money). Bad enough, but you are in one piece, which is what matters. I, for one, am glad you are OK.

RE: It Lives

endemoniada_88 — Sat, 24 Oct 2009 03:14:49 GMT

Well, I do believe this is going to qualify for a) the most expensive service ever, b) one of the more annoying days of my life and c) a warning not to tempt fate...

It started off well enough, right up to the point where I checked the Versys in and took a loan ER-6 for the day. You can see where this is going already, can't you?

Of all the things to choose to throw up the road, someone else's brand-new bike with a £2000 excess on the loan insurance wouldn't have been my first choice - but we don't always get to choose these things. I wasn't doing anything very wrong: it was damp and greasy and it wasn't my bike - just pottering along at a legal 50, filtering along in a sort of lane-and-a-quarter width bit of single carriageway. Saw someone pulling out ahead, ready to move into the outside lane where it becomes proper dual carriageway, knew I couldn't get past them before that happened...so I braked, just a little. And that was that. The front tucked under and down we went. Could have been the greasy conditions, could have been me being just a bit hard on unfamiliar brakes, could have been a bit of both. Stopped really caring about "why" at that point.

That's the fastest I've ever crashed at: everything else has been rather embarrassing sub-30 spills. I'm not, in all honesty, going to recommend it. It's painful, in many different ways. My right leg, which took most of the impact, is quite excessively poorly right now that it's had a chance to stiffen up. Nothing broken, I don't think, but some big bruising and swelling, plus a few assorted skin-free areas. My leather jacket's pretty much f*cked, although not quite as badly as my gloves, one of which wore through on the palm. Leather trousers are probably salvageable, but I'm undecided about the boots: rather suspect they'll not be watertight any more. My helmet, at least, stayed resolutely off the ground. Small consolation, considering that the bike was very cosmetically secondhand. Had it been mine, I'd have probably spent a couple of hundred quid replacing the bits that really needed it. As it is, it's going to be the thick end of £1500 to return it to concourse condition (and that's with the dealer, bless 'em, being very reasonable about it all). Could have done without that, in all honesty. Plus replacing my gear, plus the service and assorted bits - well, let's just say it's been an expensive and rather unrewarding day.

I did get to meet some nice people, who helped pick me off the road, though. And I didn't suffer any permanent injury (probably), which was quite a neat trick considering how much sliding about in traffic was involved.

Of all things, by the way, I was headed up to the Post Office to pick up a parcel at the time. Not exactly a heroic mission or anything. Anyway, cosmetically challenged or not, the ER still rode OK. No back brake lever, and the front lever was bent, but everything else still worked. It seemed logical at the time, though it probably wasn't, to carry on the half-mile or so - never occurred to me that the postal strike might have been an issue. Fortunately, it wasn't. Had I been thinking very, very clearly I might not even have returned the ER, borrowed their other loan bike and gone to work almost as normal...well, I've got a pretty high pain threshold and a good deal of focus for whatever task is hand. My opinion: to be fair, there were others expressed, most of which cast some rude aspersions at my sanity. And involved words like "hospital".

Actually, I was doing okay toughing it out and hobbling around like a veritable septuagenarian, until the warmth of the office got all the various swellings really going big-time. And to be honest, going back to to collect the Versys was about as much as I could tolerate for one day, even with gritted teeth and the best will in the world.

I'm not particularly sure I'll enjoy trying to get up in the morning, either.

All in all, I would love to have been able to use that expression "almost crashed" again, but sometimes them's the breaks!

RE: It Lives

endemoniada_88 — Mon, 19 Oct 2009 00:24:30 GMT

Hurrah - nearly payday. So I celebrated by booking in the Versys for its maiden service. A little over-mileage, but never mind. Free apart from consumables, my hugger and mudguard extender will be fitted but I also signed on for braided hoses front and rear. The stock rubber lines are - and I may have said this before - both massive and unsightly, plus the front has that hideous piggyback affair with the calipers operating in series. No, thank you: we like two-line front kits, in bulge-free stainless!

RE: It Lives

endemoniada_88 — Sun, 11 Oct 2009 23:54:28 GMT

A search of the more salubrious parts of the internet leads me to believe that many bike systems of the past decade have been open-loop, relying on a throttle position and some engine temperature sensors. Euro3/4 emissions look like forcing them into closed-loop: no bad thing if it is actually the most efficient.

I haven't been through Kawasaki's entire catalogue but if they're fitting those to the cheaper end of their range, I can't believe they wouldn't be doing so across the board. It looks like some of the other big flagship bikes like the 'blade now sport them, as do Buells and Harleys - although there still seems to be a fair number of aftermarket closed systems on offer as well - so I'd guess you're right that bikes'll all be headed that way.

RE: It Lives

Black Dog — Sat, 10 Oct 2009 21:50:45 GMT

[quote]endemoniada_88 (10/10/2009)

Aha. Never seen one on a bike before. The TDM was FI, and I replaced the entire exhaust on that - there wasn't any kind of sensor involved. Never did any more than end cans with my other FI bikes, so possibly they were fitted with them deeper into the pipework. Perhaps it's a more recent innovation for bikes - I'm sure the earlier ones pretty much only used throttle position for EFI control? May have to read up on that, it's always good to live and learn!

On the Versys it's screwed into a socket on the oem can (which, to be fair, is most of the exhaust!) itself: the aftermarket can is shorter so they've moved the socket to the link pipe instead.[/quote]

I'm no expert on bike FI systems (I'd prefer them without), but what you described was exactly what I have dealt with on numerous car systems, where closed-loop EFI is common. It's supposedly the most efficient, so I wouldn't be surprised if bike systems were heading that way. But I could, of course, be very wrong. It wouldn't be the first time

RE: It Lives

endemoniada_88 — Sat, 10 Oct 2009 01:51:35 GMT

On the Versys it's screwed into a socket on the oem can (which, to be fair, is most of the exhaust!) itself: the aftermarket can is shorter so they've moved the socket to the link pipe instead.

RE: It Lives

Black Dog — Thu, 08 Oct 2009 20:10:11 GMT

endemoniada_88 (08/10/2009)

There's some kind of sensor fitted in the link pipe (which the aftermarket one rather cleverly retains).

That would be a lambda sensor, which measures the oxygen in the exhaust gas and feeds back to the ECU to continually adjust the mixture on a closed-loop system. The aftermarket pipe should retain it (they are usually somewhere in the headers), as the engine will run like crap without it.

RE: It Lives

endemoniada_88 — Thu, 08 Oct 2009 02:05:35 GMT

There's some kind of sensor fitted in the link pipe (which the aftermarket one rather cleverly retains). I presume it feeds back to the EFI to adjust the mix on the fly, but my owner's handbook is a little reticent on the subject. I can't believe it's a vastly sophisticated unit, given the price of the bike, so I wouldn't expect it to cover an infinitely variable range, probably just a couple of steps either way from normal.

Anyway, if all my presumptions are correct, it certainly seems to work pretty well in ordinary daily usage.

My word, it rained tonight, but I have to say the bike performed faultlessly and it does a good job of staying planted on the tarmac. In fact, now the tyres have bedded in properly, the grip and feedback really have impressed me.

Must get it down to Alf's shortly and have the hugger fitted, though - if the rainy season's started for real, I'd like to keep the worst of it off the rear shock and - more particuarly - the reg/rec.

RE: It Lives

Black Dog — Wed, 07 Oct 2009 09:31:12 GMT

That's pretty good fuel consumption for an urban bike. In theory, a more free-flowing zorst should improve matters, but nothing would surprise me these days. If it's a clever EFI, it should compensate for the change in back-pressure, but if that means more fuel to go with more air, it could end up worse. Only time (and a load of petrol receipts) will tell.

RE: It Lives

endemoniada_88 — Wed, 07 Oct 2009 01:22:26 GMT

Took it out for some proper mileage today and it sounds alright with the baffle in: obviously louder than the original, but not offensively so. Aesthetically, there's just no comparison... As I filled up at the same time, I might be a little bit scientific on the subject and see what it does to the consumption at the same time.

Despite my best efforts so far - and it has now been ridden if not quite like it was stolen, at least as if it was somebody else's bike I just happened to be borrowing - it's still on a steady 51.8mpg. Which includes a fair proportion of urban mileage. I'm almost starting to believe it's a genuinely frugal EFI unit, which would be a bit of a blow to my preconceptions!

RE: It Lives

Black Dog — Mon, 05 Oct 2009 21:22:47 GMT

Nice! Hope it sounds as good as it looks. Or will do, when you get the baffles out.

RE: It Lives

endemoniada_88 — Sun, 04 Oct 2009 23:35:17 GMT

Not a five minute job.

I refer to the replacement of the ugly-as-sin Versys exhaust with an aftermarket equivalent.

Getting the old one out requires the removal of the right-hand frame shield and footrest hanger, as that conceals the can mounting bolt, which just happens to be as wide as the bike and attached to lugs behind (and concealed by)either footrest. It also requires removing the exhaust headers, as the can and link pipe doesn't have enough free play to clear the back tyre otherwise.

Fitting the newer, sleeker item should have been simpler but, in fact, wasn't. All the pipework and fastenings seem to be at slight angles, making it very difficult to line everything up. And with the can mounting in place, it puts stress on the link pipe, which just happens to be a fraction too big a bore for the existing header. Try as I might, I couldn't get a clean interference fit just using the clamps. I could get a fit that made it blow like a cheap tart from every orifice, though.

Luckily it was a nice enough day for a trip out to Halfords for some ally heat shield tape and a tube of Firegum - naturally enough, I didn't have any in the garage, having used all my stock up on the TDM Nexus a while ago. It diddn't take much to seal the link pipe, and with that solid, everything else slid into place much more easily. It's quite tight into the back wheel and swingarm, but there does actually seem to be more clearance in both places than the oem, so I presume it'll be all right. And it does look undeniably nicer. We'll keep a close eye on it for a bit, I think, make sure nothing bends, breaks or works loose, though.

...Original

...Comparison

...New.

Baffles are still in at this point in time. That may be a temporary thing!

RE: It Lives

Black Dog — Sat, 03 Oct 2009 11:01:01 GMT

Thanks for the sympathy! It's a quiet day in work, so I will try and get some stuff ordered. I'll report back in due course.

RE: It Lives

endemoniada_88 — Sat, 03 Oct 2009 00:44:27 GMT

Well, good news on the Pan at least - doubly fair considering it's just been on a lengthy voyage with all the associated wear and tear.

Less good on the XT front. Had similar issues replacing the headers on my TDM (Yamaha standard-issue cheese fasteners), but luckily the new header collets were way thinner than the old, so it didn't matter that a couple of the stud ends wound up mangled. After the first one, I found they did shift without too much further trauma with a liberal overnight application of PlusGas. There again, I've seen the pics on your blog and mine were in slightly better nick, plus they must have been freed up when the Motad exhaust was fitted sometime within the last few years. Might be worth a try, though, before having to take the head apart.

Exhaust gaskets sound like a reasonable second guess after pinholing, although it could be leaned through sucking air on the airbox/intake side. Still, as you're part way through the header replacement now (!) it seems sensible to finish that and either eliminate the problem or the exhaust-side possibilities. Can't help but agree with the "boIIocks" sentiment, though!!

RE: It Lives

Black Dog — Fri, 02 Oct 2009 22:18:34 GMT

Slightly changing the subject (but on topic, as this seems to be 'the thread' about bikes we own), the Pan passed its MoT today. I had a couple of advisories. The rear brake pads are down, but I knew that and had planned to replace them soon. And the left fork oil seal is blowing a bit. Again, I knew about that - in fact, it was an advisory on the last MoT as well. Apparently, the frame number was written wrong on the last MoT, so the tester has corrected it, and this may mean a visit from The Man From The Ministry to check it isn't a ringer. I'll deal with that when it happens.

On the downside, the XT has started backfiring rather spectacularly when I go down hill with a closed throttle. I'm suspecting the exhaust headers, as they are well rusty and likely to be pinholed. I tried wrapping them with exhaust bandage today, but it didn't help. Then I thought I would have a look at the gaskets. Wrong move. The first bolt I tackled came off in my hand - the stud had sheared just below the nut. Good points - probably enough meat on there to get it out with Mole grips if I can get the clamps out of the way. Bad points - the other three are probably just as bad. I'd planned on getting some nice new stanless headers anyway, so I might bring that forward and do it all together. The bike is still useable, but I'm leaving well alone until I have the bits to hand.

RE: It Lives

endemoniada_88 — Wed, 30 Sep 2009 23:52:15 GMT

Have to give a bit of a mention today, to a small firm by the name of MTC Exhausts, located somewhere in darkest Lancashire. Perhaps not surprisingly, there isn't a great deal of choice in the Versys exhaust aftermarket arena, but these chaps came up as one (on eBay, as it happens, where they do a lot of sales). Anyway, the 'zorst looked quite nice - certainly in comparison to the rather peculiarly-shaped oem item - so I did a little digging around on the 'net. Nothing specific about Verses, but several other satisfied owners had good things to say. So I phoned them up yesterday lunchtime, and spoke to a very helpful, knowledgeable chap. It turned out the oval shaped end-can was the only option, given the space it had to fit into, but they would do that in stainless, several different anodised colours, or titanium. Even the titanium can was significantly cheaper than the "official" Scorpion alternative, but I plumped for stainless in the end. £165 plus a tenner carriage for can, sling and link pipe with all fastenings.

It turned up at 9.30 this morning.

I haven't had the chance to do more than look at it, but it looks like quality to me, light, shiny and with an excellent finish, road-legal stamp and removable baffle. Absolute bargain and in my front room in less than 24 hours. Now, that is service!

And once the baffle's out, it may well solve my high mpg problem!!!

RE: It Lives

Black Dog — Fri, 18 Sep 2009 11:02:48 GMT

Ride it like you stole it - single figures guaranteed!

RE: It Lives

endemoniada_88 — Fri, 18 Sep 2009 01:08:01 GMT

It's becoming a challenge now to see if I can get it to go lower- and if so, by how much!

RE: It Lives

Trick3003 — Wed, 16 Sep 2009 12:47:22 GMT

Thats pretty good going really, not much worse than my 125

RE: It Lives

endemoniada_88 — Tue, 15 Sep 2009 21:58:21 GMT

Second tankful on the Versys held pretty steady at 50.8mpg, by the way...

RE: It Lives

endemoniada_88 — Sun, 13 Sep 2009 00:14:29 GMT

After a couple of late-night excursions, I'm also happy to report that the Kwak is actually equipped with a pretty decent headlight, even if it is a slightly odd-shaped beaky affair. Not long until the first service is due now, so I consider it must be run in sufficiently. Actually, it's pretty frisky now, what with being more willing to wind it on a bit. Plus it's got a pretty amazing degree of lean angle for something not really designed as a sportsbike. Nice.

I've been watching the Vuelta (Spanish cycling tour) - and all their official support motorcycles are Versyss (Versi?). painted a particularly horrible blue, it must be said, but nonetheless. They've been doing a good job of handling difficult terrain and conditions, obviously a bit of an endorsement of the bike.

RE: It Lives

Black Dog — Wed, 02 Sep 2009 12:15:35 GMT

I wrote a long reply to this, but the site had logged me out by the time I came to click 'Post Reply', and I lost it all. Even I can't remember what I wrote, so it will remain a mystery.

RE: It Lives

endemoniada_88 — Mon, 31 Aug 2009 23:04:44 GMT

...I was thinking mid 40s, probably! Only because the engine doesn't have that much more to give, and doesn't really reward taking it to the redline. Opening the taps faster from a standing start has some distinct possibilities, but it's still going to be more of a local commuter than anything else. It'll be interesting to see how it goes, though, given my innate prejudice against FI.

Unlucky with the weather: it's been lovely here. But you probably don't want to hear that! Hope the Pan checks out OK this week...sure there must be a joke in there somewhere about Danish (bacon) and an ex-plod bike, but it does, in all honesty, elude me at the moment!

RE: It Lives

Black Dog — Mon, 31 Aug 2009 19:28:08 GMT

Nah, that's beginner's luck. The first couple of tankfuls on the Honda in my ownership worked out to 50mpg, or thereabouts, and I thought I was on a winner. Since then, I have got used to the bike and have, shall we say, exploited the performance a little more, and it's averaging 38. Give it a couple of weeks, you'll be in single figures!

I decided today was the day I was going to change the oil in the Pan, ready for the continental trip next week. I took it for a little spin to get it warmed up, and then left it to drain while I had some lunch. By the time I came to filling it again, it was raining steadily, and I got soaked. I got it finished, came indoors, and since then it has bucketed down in true November fashion - floods on the drive, workshop on its own little island, the lot. There goes my opportunity for a quick ride out to bed it all down, check for leaks and adjust the level. It'll have to wait. Changing the oil is one job I must finish and cannot be left until later, once it is started. I have a great fear that I will drain it out, pack away until another day, and then start the bike and ride off with no oil. No amount of notices left on the handlebars, keys next to the oil can, or any other tricks will reassure me.