Archive for Equipment
Getting Serious!
Posted by: | CommentsGot down to Metal Mule today and had these beauties fitted. It’s two 38l side panniers and a 45l topbox. To get the balanced set-up the standard exhaust was replaced with a slimmer Scorpion exhaust. It is no noisier than standard but sounds quite different – better I think.
Changed the SatNav
Posted by: | CommentsI got fed up with not being able to sync the Tomtom Rider 1 with my Scala Rider bluetooth headset and also with the somewhat flaky track recording that depends on a third party app that I installed to the Tomtom. So after swearing to avoid doing business with Touratech if I could avoid it, I went back to them for a bracket and cradle for the Garmin 2820 that normally lives on the Goldwing. Initially. following the TT instructions I found that the 2820 competely obscured the speedo and the rev counter from view. However, after reversing the handlebar brackets I am now able to see the speed and the top half of the rev counter which is acceptable.
Now all I need to do is to get a pair of specs that will enable me to see the thing clearly. After some experimentation using reading glasses I am going to get a pair of bifocals with a smallish area devoted to the near focal length – large enough to cover the instruments and nothng else basically and have booked a sight test for tomorrow.
Metal Mules and a Movie Cam
Posted by: | CommentsI ordered some of these for the GS quite a while ago – in late April if memory serves – at which time they were awaiting delivery of the new Scorpion exhausts which are needed if one wants a balanced pannier set up with no exhaust cut-out, as I do. As I was going off to Italy, I reckoned I could happily wait for the exhaust and on my return I had fixed up to go down to Hassocks last week but then Paul at MM phoned to tell me he is still waiting for the exhaust. OK, I rearranged the date for tomorrow but then this afternoon another conversation with Paul took place – déjà vu all over again as they say..still no delivery date on the Scorpion.
I shall go for a ride in any case. I got myself a little Action Cam today and have fitted it to the bike, so I hope to have fun tomorrow recording some nice lanes
It came with a mount designed to fit something like a bike’s handlebars plus a couple of straps to fix it around a helmet or one’s arm. I couldn’t use the handlebar mount as it was so made up a fixture to sit in my RAM mount (good job I had a bit of ally rod and plate as well as a lathe handy!)
Another neat thing I have come across is a plugin for my Tomtom Rider – I did not even know it could use plugins! This one is called Event Logger and amongst other things, it can record a track log on the Rider. The program is free and on a short test seems to work as advertised. I shall try a longer test on my ride tomorrow.
Getting Ready!
Posted by: | CommentsFor some greenlaning tomorrow that is. Recalling my last outing, a few precautions have been taken, such as to have had a bashplate fitted and I have removed one mirror from the bike – the other will come off before we hit the dirty stuff. One problem is deciding where to put stuff like an essential toolkit and the mirror. The F800GS’s toolkit is like a poor joke and there is no room under the seat for much extra although I have managed to secrete a tupperware box of torx keys there. The mirror and a ratchet spanner for the torx bits will have to live in a tool roll strapped on the back seat.
The problem with stuff on the back seat, as I found out last time, is that in my riding suit and motocross boots, I can’t easily lift my leg high enough to clear the extra height – I am not Darcey Bussell! – still I think I can just about manage to clear the tool roll. This problem is of course much amplified when one can’t stand on a piece of level ground or is up to the knees in mud. Both these situations also preclude use of the sidestand and then the problem is compounded by having to keep the bike upright and by the time this becomes necessary, the bike weighs a ton because one is absolutely knackered. At least, I am knackered. This is partially due to my advancing years but mainly because I am out of condition and haven’t yet been back to the gym since my Italian trip – or if I am honest since Patagonia, apart from a few forays that didn’t translate into peak condition… Only those who have ridden off-road know how much hard work motorcycling can be!
Trailer Time
Posted by: | CommentsYesterday I went off to North Walsham to pick up my new trailer at Freewheel and also got a trailer towbar fitted at the same time. The weather going up was horrid – a grey murk that resembled a London smog in many ways, except for the foul smell that used to accompany those. It took longer than expected to fit the towbar but when I left, everything seemed fine until about halfway through the journey home when I noticed that my Garmin 2820 stopped working. Being suspicious of this and feeling that it must have a cause related to the recent fiddling with the bike’s electrics, I pulled into a lay-by and discovered that my trailer lights had also stopped working. I called Alan Young at Freewheel who made some helpful suggestions including an offer to put me up for the night if I wanted to return to Norfolk. However, being closer to home, I decided to get home, using hand signals in place of my trailer lights and sort the problem out there.
This morning, the cause of my lights failure turned out to be a simple fuse. The extra lights (in addition to those installed in the panniers, plus satnav plus CB radio were just too much for the 5 amp fuse safeguarding the accessory terminal. After debating with myself the wisdom of installing a 10 amp fuse in place of the original 5 amp, I decided in the end to power the trailer relay directly from the battery using an in-line fuse for the trailer. This seems to be fine, at least for the moment although I may have to check battery condition more regularly.
I am pleased with the trailer. It looks good and the Bordeaux red gel coat, whilst not a perfect match for the Cabernet red of my bike, is reasonably close and I certainly have no urge to get it sprayed to match exactly. The trailer is well shaped with plenty of storage for all the stuff I can imagine wanting on a camping trip plus a lot more besides. I am really looking forward to using it for the first time.
Before my return journey, I was a bit nervous about towing the trailer, never having done this on a bike before. I am happy to say that I really didn’t notice it was there unless I looked in my mirrors for it. I actually did this quite a bit at first to check the turning circle as I went around corners. Cornering presented no problems, I didn’t have to take them especially wide at all.
YEE HA!
Posted by: | CommentsI had a fantastic day on Saturday, taking the GS properly off-road for the first time. The weather was rather mixed, starting out nice but with some rain and hail later. It didn’t stop five of us having a ball in the mud though. The new tyres were perfect for the job even if the rider wasn’t! I fell off enough to test various aspects of my set-up – most things survived OK apart from the Satnav bracket which broke, the mirrors kept being knocked loose but stayed in one piece and the gear lever which was bent double on one occasion and merely 90 degrees on another survived the bending back to its original position.
First we got the bikes muddy, then we cleaned them:-
More Stuff!
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Well here are the results of my Yorkshire trip. I have pannier lights, lower front fog lights, Garmin 2820 GPS and a CB installed! Ian did a fantastic job and it’s obvious he is a careful workman who knows what he is doing. Everything seems to work OK although there is a bit of alternator whine on the intercom circuit. Ian thinks it is probably the CB that is doing it but we haven’t yet bottomed it out. The noise is not very loud and with any music playing, it is drowned out.
The Garmin 2820 is quite capable unit although I miss some of the features I am used to on the TomToms like quick alternative route selection. The Garmin does allow one’s own routes to be loaded onto it and it will also record a track log which are the reasons why I wanted this unit.
Motorcycling is an expensive business!
Posted by: | CommentsI booked my flight to Chile today for the End of the World Tour. I also splashed out for another larger tent for camping – I’ll give the other one to one of the grandkids. Used just once, it will be fine for the sort of camping they are likely to do in the next few years. The one I bought for motorcycling is the Khyam Freelander which, having checked out the tents in use at the Thames Valley Wingding, seems to be a good size (I can stand up in it) and easily erected whilst packing into a small enough size to take on the bike.
At the Wingding, I bought a couple of shiny bits – a set of Turndown exhaust tips and a couple of chromed air intake accents.I need to give the bike a good wash before I try to stick these on, I am told too that I need to be very accurate in lining the things up as the glue is very strong and you only get one shot at it. Sounds as if I need to do it before I drink too much coffee!
Mirrors Working!
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A soldering iron, some solder, heatshrink tubing and a half hour were all it took – oh I forgot the multimeter I used to confirm which wire was the ground wire in the bike”s system – it was indeed the green wire.
The turn flashers are brighter than they appear here when viewed from the side but I used flash for this photo and it makes the flasher seem less bright than it is. Viewed from the riders position, they are bright enough to remind me that the turn signal is working but not at all distracting.
Muth Mirrors
Posted by: | CommentsThe special amber Muth mirrors I ordered arrived yesterday and as the fitting instructions looked pretty easy I rushed to fit them. Unfortunately, as I discovered, the supplied harness is designed for a USA spec bike with three wires to the mirror housing – one of which I found out after emailing Muth, is for a running light – which my UK spec bike does not have. This is yet another bone I have to pick with Honda or the British government or more likely the egregious EC inasmuch they supply what I regard as a distinctly inferior specced bike to the UK compared to the USA – not to speak of the cost.
The connectors on the left are the Muth connectors and on the right, the connector on my bike. My bike connector plainly won”t fit the white female socket on the left of the first photo and as can be seen in the other two photos, my bike is only equipped with two wires.
After advice gleaned from various parties (thanks to Dave, Riders Rally – actually Dave again(!) Chris Wedge at Muth and PricedRight) it seems the simplest thing is to splice the Muth supplied jumper lead that fits the mirror, into my bike’s harness. I will do this in the mirror housing as there is plenty of room and it will save me from digging around under the mirror boot. Apparently it is important to get the correct leads connected to one another so I shall use a multimeter to check which of the wires in the bike supplies the turn signal and which is ground.
I had planned to do this today but intermittent downpours have prevented me doing the work outside and my garage is too dark to see what I am doing so the job will have to wait. This has allowed me to get up to some very significant mischief!