Stripped the paint from my lads front wheel knocked the old bearing out ready to etch, prime and paint tomorrow.
Having washed my bike off we went for a ride to the New Forest, Downton to Brockenhurst via the ornamental drive, Beaulieu, Lepe, filled up at Blackfield very close to Farley refinery, Beaulieu, Lymington, Burley, Ringwood and back on the A338. It got quite chilly towards the end. Three or maybe four knobs on sport bikes showing us just how fast they could ride between Brockenhurst and Hatchet Pond.
Didn’t want to have to stroll too far from the kettle … did spend the day expecting a lighting bolt up my arse though !!
modified and then fitted one of those cheapie sidestand adapter plates (it was secondhand!) because the standard footprint on this Monster is a bit precario.
Blown the cobwebs of the tuono along the military road along the roman Wall, bacon butty at the Nook at Alston then back past high force. Some front tyre wear may have been saved at various points. No-one can tell your age when the visor is down.....
Saturday was a day of samaritan work..... Took the z1000 for its first proper rideout of the year...its my daily driver so its only lot in life over the winter is 2 miles to work.... Made friends with a lad on the z1000 forum who wasnt too clued up on upgrades and what not....so over the year ive been over a few times to fit wheels, bleed brakes etc etc and saturday was an upgrade to the rear brake.....get rid of the oem shitter and put on a new hanger for a brembo/hel p2 rear caliper....(did the hel master a few months back) so hes a happy chappie now.... While leaving Newport - as i live in Bristol and the welsh filth are effectively a bunch of cunts i clocked one on a bike on the other side of the carriageway as i was getting to the M4 junction....gave me a long stare, looked in my mirror as i saw a puff of smoke from his pipe (so im guessing at that point he was planning on having a chat with me) - amber gambled 3 sets of lights...hit the m4 and nailed it all the way home dukes of hazzard stylee running for the boarder... Back to Bristol to stop at my other mates house who clumisly dropped "a couple of bolts" between the airbox/petrol tank and that weird cast/panel frame thing on his monkey bike.....so after an hour or so of picking it up balancing on the front wheel vertical and then on the back wheel (vertical) - we ended up with 4 bolts and 2 washers. Another hour of reassembly and it was all back together and then home... Todays job is not bike related but car....smax self levelling lights have developed a mind of their own and apparently the main culprit is the clocks....back in 2013 ford thought it would be "green" to change the type of solder to something that doesnt agree with english weather so theyve gotta come out and be retinned/flowed whatever....so there we go...
Not the fastest thing in the world but it does 155 on the clock on the flat (over the mountain course), and its never ever failed me in 7 years of ownership. Nitron R3 on the rear and pro cartridges on the front so it does go round corners as well...
Lovely bikes, I broke mine out of hibernation yesterday, got to love some old school. Bike has sat untouched since sept 2022 with nothing other the carbs and tank drained. Threw in 15liters of fuel, left fuel tap on oriole for 30 seconds, full choke and it fired up after about 5 rotations of the crank. Battery was still at 12.6v and not on a tender the whole time. Bugger all to drain them on the old bikes so always a bonus to sit for months and fire straight up. Took her out for a 100 mile mooch around Kent , still have the goon the cones out in me even when on the old bikes, soon reel that in when I here my lovely pipes give a little love tap on the tar
Wow - beautiful condition! - mines a 64plate gen4. Its the best bike ive ever owned...period....ticks all the boxes...reliable, cheap spares, cheap performance spares, map-able, easy to work on, small (so it fits me perfectly) 5"9" but i prefer smaller bikes. No plans to sell it 7 years on, Hel rear master on order....and some rearsets in the near future...
Packed for my trip - but you all know it wasn't that simple, right Despite still deliberating between panniers and bag, decided if I could get everything I needed in the rear bag, that was the choice, which I did. Now unpacked for a fresh wash only to be packed again. It's still three weeks before I go
Couldn’t you convince one of the other riders to carry your luggage or just post it out to each stop as you go along and post it back? My Daughter has done similar, packed 10 days ago for a holiday in Greece that doesn’t start until next week.
We do that when we go to the NW200, but all over the place on this one. I’m just a fanny. All is now sorted
Rode the bike over to Alpha Suspension near Leeds for the Superleggera forks and new TTX spring setting up. All good!
