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Pulled a short video together now that I'm back from my work travels. I tried to throw some music over the top (by a Welsh band, naturally) but after upload to YouTube the audio quality became distorted - so you may wish to mute. UPDATE: I've now sorted the music quality, and it'll default to 1080p if viewed via YouTube, rather than the embed below. In truth I had actually managed to film probably about 70-80% of the entire ride out on both days, so this video barely scratches the surface! Tommy is lucky, on the ride home I had put the cameras away so didn't get to capture my leaving him for dust on that beautiful, flowing road I'll see what photos I took on my phone and share any worthy ones later. But for now, sit back and waste 5 minutes of your life...

I had a bloody great weekend, loved every minute. 100 per cent agree on a second meet every year. End of August ?? Blackhat you choose? Great ride out,,,, lots of miles, loads to see, great roads, perfect speeds (fast X slow), really like riding with you lot as we now know eachother's riding style's over the years. Your a great bunch of lads. Thanks Merve for the route and leading the way. No crashes is good as it doesn't spoil the day. I had good fun at the back, kicking up a sand storm on poor Tommy,,,, I know you were swearing at me, I can lip read,,,,, + out sneaky pint was so funny at the time. Really good weekend,,, my boots were full of water when I left Merve but the rest of me was dry. I took A40 home in the end,,,, was busy, had to do a lot of 50mph filtering. My back tyre is dead, I'll be lucky to get the week out of it. Yellow mellow,,,, pitty you didn't make it after all your time trying. Thanks all,,,,, chat soon,,,,,,, ps I didn't take any pictures, sorry Pat

Sorry haven't commented on this earlier. I've been looking at trying to get a good way of automating posts from here to Facebook, currently I haven't really found a nice way of doing it without spamming everyone. There's a new version launching int he next few weeks which should make this possible. You're right it's Facebook, our traffic significantly dropped once shortly after they launched their groups functionality. Compared to a forum it's pretty useless in regards to searching and usability etc. However it's there immediately in your hand where most people are checking all the time. We'll have an app coming out soon with alerting functionality, hopefully it's going to help!

Pulled the trigger on a vmax this evening. Practically stole the damn thing. She is lightly modded to exactly how I would tweak a max. Motorcycle bucket list complete. So if anybody wants a tdr......

Yesterday a van turned up bringing a pressy to myself Younger version of the one I got with only 16.5K miles on the clock. FJ-1200 3XW That also means that the 3CV is on the market.

Oh Slice... owned twice in one thread! [emoji1787]

Hey guys - long post alert, but for those not interested in reading it, there's a link at the end to some photos. So I’m finally getting around to posting up about my Europe trip. A rough plan for the trip was conceived before I had the Tiger 1200, but I won’t lie at being relieved with the prospect of doing it on a far more comfortable bike! Anyway, the core principles were to be on the move pretty much every day, to camp every night, and to be as self-sufficient as possible. In total I was away for 16 days and clocked up 4,000 miles. For the first couple of days I actually chaperoning a friend who wanted to go to Europe on her bike, but was a little tentative about crossing the pond and being there without the prospect of any support. Because of this, we spent 3 days getting to the Black Forest, which for me wasn’t ideal (as it was boring). If I had travelled on my own I would have reached the Black Forest in 1 day, but never mind. Anyway, I left home at 5am for a rush hour commute to the EuroTunnel. The panniers on the Tiger give it a very wide profile, and whilst I have previously filtered fully loaded, I was hoping for a trouble-free journey down the M1. Thankfully all ran smoothly - and the weather was crisp and clear. I arrived at 11.30am at our agreed rendezvous (a Shell petrol station one junction before the EuroTunnel). I filled up and then pushed my bike to a parking space to wait for my friend. Pushed the bike forwards (and even backwards!) into this parking bay so all I had to do was ride it out. Fully loaded, I was quite impressed. And then… for some reason when I went to put the side stand down, I physically pushed the bike away from me ?! I have no idea what I was thinking! It was a literal shove with both my hands? I’ve never done anything like that before. So naturally my bike fell onto it’s right side. A 90 degree drop, fully loaded, and pushed with quite some force! A couple of bikers were fuelling up having just returned from Europe so I enlisted their help in lifting it. The damage - well nothing which prevented me from continuing my journey thankfully: Smashed front right indicator so that wasn’t working A minor scuff on the right hand guard (but this had saved my mirror and brake lever) I had added some fork protectors and they’d done their job - no damage to the forks, front brake, etc. Just a very minor chip on said fork protector A little bit of coolant had leaked out, causing the bike temperature to sit just a little higher until I topped it up later in Italy My poor right pannier had taken the bulk of drop - but saved literally everything else on the bike (including the engine guard). The inside of the pannier compressed from the pressure applied to it from the pannier frame and weight of the bike / luggage pressing on it. The pannier stayed on for the rest of the trip (didn’t want to risk removing it), but I did leave it secured with ratchet straps as a back up. So that’s it! I need a new pannier and a new indicator, but everything else survived unscathed, which is a relief. Bike up-righted and friend now in toe, we headed for the EuroTunnel and had plain sailing over to France. It was then a dull jaunt over to the first campsite which was literally just a rest stop for us. The final couple of miles to this campsite were down a forest track. I was tired (having been riding since 5am) and mentally drained trying to navigate and lead my friend smoothly. This is only my third time riding in another country so every sense was heightened. Whilst trying to work out where our next right turn was I had stopped paying attention to the awful road conditions. The physical weight of the Tiger helped as I then spent the next few hundred miles literally storming through a series of rather aggressive potholes! I kicked up so much dust behind me, that when I did eventually see my friend in my mirror, she was so far back! I had a blast - the suspension on the Tiger was just soaking up these potholes. I had a massive grin on my face at the end! Day two - well nothing really exciting to report on this one. It was just another jaunt over to our second French campsite. Both these campsites were really close to the borders of Belgium and Luxembourg, so we spend our time snaking between these 3 countries. Upon arrival to the campsite I pulled down a road which was actually the exit for the campsite. Full gated security - no way of us getting through. So we had to turn the bikes around. This is where the physical size of the Tiger and my inexperience let me down. This road was narrow and on a very steep hill. My friend (on a tiny BMW 650) was able to shuffle hers round. I was over thinking and starting to panic. Assessing the situation whilst she parked at the top of the road, I thought it was best for me to utilise a patch of grass to help with the turn. So when ready to go, I aimed for this grass to complete a wide turn, rather than being restricted to a narrow road. I completed the turn successfully, but what I didn’t foresee was quite how rutted this grass was going to be! I wish I had it on film - a quarter tonne bike, with luggage and an idiotic woman at the helm basically didn’t make for a dignified scene! Much cursing and much bouncing up and down. In situations like that I usually go for speed and power (because I’m clueless and want to get out the situation as quickly as possible). Well that’s great in principle, but it was like riding over tiny trenches so my back wheel was only able to get traction on raised parts. Much wheel spinning and a scream of relieve when I was back on the road and climbing up the hill! Day 3 and we diverted to Strasbourg before arriving in the Black Forest. I’m not keen on city riding anyway (I used to get zero joy from my central London bike commutes for work). This is also where the Tiger isn’t in it’s element. It’s massive with full luggage, so I couldn’t filter through the heavy traffic, and I was struggling to locate a parking spot for both bikes - particularly one of my size. Anyway, success eventually and it was a spot literally in the centre! Perfect. A bite to eat in a restaurant clad with retro bike memorabilia, and a wander around, we were then back on the bikes and heading to the Black Forest. Finally, this is where the roads started to get interesting. We had our first introduction into hairpins - the first of MANY on this trip. We stayed at the campsite for 2 nights. On Day 4 we both did our own thing because our riding style is just different. I left early and did about 350km, my friend left later and did 50km. So I was glad to be out on my own, and was enjoying the roads. I actually chose to stay away from the more popular roads (such as the B500) - they felt quite similar to roads we have here in the UK, but the single track back roads were full of hairpins and steep drops - much more exciting. If I had travelled on my own, I would have spent 3 nights in the Black Forest. Day 5 and we were aiming for a German campsite near the Austrian border. It had been bucketing it down from 9pm the night before so our tents etc. were saturated. This made for a slow ride as I spent most of the time worrying about my friend who feels the cold, doesn’t have adequate bike clothing for rain, has no weather protection on her bike, and feels the cold. In comparison, I don’t feel the cold, have a Rukka suit which kept me bone dry (they are amazing) and was well protected behind my screen and fairing. I felt we had to keep stopping so that she could warm up, etc. About 20km from the campsite, her clutch failed, but luckily it was an easy fix at the roadside. It was at this point we agreed to split from day 6 onwards. I wanted to stay in Austria for longer and she wanted to aim for the warmth and sun of Italy. It was always our intention to ride our own ride, but the night before the EuroTunnel she lost her wallet, so I was having to buy her petrol and food, etc., meaning she was unfortunately tied to me. We withdrew a stack of cash from my account so that we could split. So day 6, and I was so happy to be able to ride how I wanted / for how long I wanted / and where I wanted without worrying about anyone else. So to Austria I went! I stayed for a couple of days at a campsite near Italy, so I was overlooked by the beautiful Dolomites. I loved Austria, and wish I could have spent more time there. I had a list of roads I wanted to ride, but physically didn’t have the time. However the standout ones were the Felbertauern Tunnel (I love a good tunnel) and of course, Grossglockner. The day I rode Grossglockner the weather was less than ideal. The toll person was in shock when I pulled up - warning me not to ride it as it was horrid up there. But I went ahead and ended up riding it twice (because I needed to get back to the campsite at the end of the day!). I get what he was saying…. I saw only a handful of bikes in total. The first time I rode it the temperature at the top was around 2 degrees and there was black ice. My back wheel was squirming around for traction on the hairpins, but thankfully I didn’t have an issue with the front wheel, otherwise I think I may have regretted my decision rapidly! For the ride back it was a little warmer at the top (3.5 degrees…!) and the torrential rain I’d been in all day had since made it to the summit, but was still just falling as rain. The black ice had gone on my return leg too (thankfully!). Overall visibility was terrible. I was able to see the glacier, but the higher I climbed, the worse it became. For those that know the road, you’ll be aware there is a ‘bikers point’. Checking out the map after I paid the toll I thought, perfect - I’ll head there. Well the fog was so intense that It was literally only when I pulled onto the access road, that I could see it was fully cobbled. I was doing this in the morning where I’d been encountering black ice, the fog was just crazy, from what I could see of the access road, it was incredibly narrow and my sat nav showed a tonne of hairpins! FFS… I was on it now, no choice other than to get to the bikers point to turn around. Because it was generally quiet, and bikers were in the minority, I was encountering cars on this road (I assumed they weren’t allowed). Really not ideal. I shat myself the entire way up because I was worried the cobbles would be slippery. Anyway, made it - but it was pointless because I couldn’t admire the views! Never mind, at least going downhill was easier… Days 8 and 9 were spent in Italy. I rode countless mountain passes in the Dolomites, but don’t have a list of the ones taken. They were great though, but I’ll admit to noticing a difference in local driving quality (when compared with Germany and Austria!). The Italian’s are a little mental and car drivers won’t hesitate to overtake another car whilst on a bend. Sometimes road conditions weren’t as great either, and I noticed that their hairpinned main roads were normally narrower than the hairpin roads in Germany and Austria. So overall I kept my wits about me the entire time I was in Italy. I was getting Italian bikers pulling up next to me in my lane and riding with me whilst they were checking me out. They’d do it for a while, give a thumbs up, and then carry on riding like lunatics. I couldn’t work out whether it was them seeing a UK biker, a biker on their own, a big 1200 (it’s all mopeds there), a woman biker, or that fact I was in full bike gear when it was hot?! No idea why I was attracting such attention from every other Italian geared bike…. It was making me chuckle anyway. It was at the Italy campsite that I’d agreed to meet up with my friend again so that I could top up her funds and so we could share our adventures to date. On day 9 (I think) I took a break from mountains and hairpins for a more leisurely ride around Lake Garda. I have visited Lake Garda when I was younger and loved how clear it was. So it was great to re-visit, and great to just stop and enjoy a nice coffee and ice cream by the lake. On this day I also pulled into a Triumph garage I was riding past. They were so kind and took the initiative to check the bike over. Everything was fine other than the coolant (from my drop, which I knew about). So whilst they were checking everything over (free of charge) I wandered around admiring a little slice of British motoring they had - classic Mini’s (I used to own one) and some old school Jags hidden out the back of their workshop. On the last day in Italy I headed to Stelvio Pass as I made my way to Switzerland. I knew the road had a tonne of hairpins, but I’ll be honest with you - I hate hairpins. I know the theory of how to get a bike round a hairpin, but I’ll often then overthink it and mess them up. However, I don’t like my own irrational fears to get in the way of why I ride. So I aimed for Stelvio with a clear idea of what to expect. Mind you, the first few hairpins really caught me off guard. The main thing I struggled with was the serious lack of visibility - I had not idea whether there was a vehicle coming down. So I was going into these hairpins blind, with a fully loaded bike that is overwhelming if I needed to physically stop it on a camber. I think it was that playing on my mind and making me feel tense. Anyway, once I cleared a few of the more tree-lined hairpins, the scenery opened up and I began to enjoy myself more. Don’t get me wrong, I was still taking some of the hairpins in a way which would make experienced riders wince, but I was enjoying myself, recognising my mistakes, and grinning like an idiot when I completely smashed one. I felt liberated by the time I made it to the top. I sat and watched bikers and high-end cars for an hour and a half at the summit, enjoying a bratwurst, of course! The ride down the other side was just as beautiful. I stayed in a campsite which was probably the worst overall - whilst it was in Switzerland, it was close to the Italian border, and still very much felt Italian - drivers were mental and I didn’t hear anyone speaking French or German…. The campsite itself was dated, the ground was like sand (so difficult to get my bike secure on its side-stand) and the campsite was also bizarrely a destination for locals to visit for their evening meal?! Italians gathered in groups are not quiet!! Never mind - it just encouraged me to get out and stay out the next day! It was from there that I headed to the campsite I was looking forward to the most. A campsite in Switzerland which was at the foot of a glacier. It was basically close to Mont Blanc (as the crow flies). I stayed there a total of 3 days and chilling at the campsite of an evening was just so serene. Over these 3 days I soaked up roads in the Swiss Alps, dipped into the French Alps and enjoyed seeing Mont Blanc up close. Overall the weather was great, resulting in fabulous views. One night I experienced a first for me, a silent thunderstorm. The mountains surrounding me were blocking out the noise, and the lightening was momentarily silhouetting the mountains which was so cool. I took a tarp with me so that I could comfortably sit outside my tent and cook, etc. So it was nice just sitting there listening to the rain fall. On my final night at the campsite, there was some light rain when I went to bed, then clearly a cold snap hit during the night so all these rain drops which had been sitting on my tent and tarp fabric has frozen solid. My entire tent was frozen, the glacier had a fresh layer of snow on it, and the ground was slippery. It was so cold that anything I then placed outside the tent as I was packing up was freezing! What I have also experienced is how painful it is trying to open frozen aluminium panniers with bare hands…! Likewise, my tent has one of the poles exposed, so I was having to melt the seams with my breath so I could collapse that down. All good fun! Getting my bike off this hilly campsite on icy ground - well that was less fun, but I did it. This is the very campsite where the day before I thought I’d ride towards the glacier and see how close I could get (big mistake as I ended up on a dirt track with large loose stones - and then suddenly a narrow dead end out of nowhere! Turning my bike around then (with no ice) wasn’t fun, so I was glad this time I didn’t encounter any problems. I’ll also take the time at this point to say just how amazing the heated seats and heated grips are on this bike. At this point in the trip, my friend has been taking 4 days slowly riding back through France to the EuroTunnel. I didn’t want to do that, so stuck in Switzerland for as long as I could. I then rode all day on the motorway to make it to the campsite we’d stayed at on day 1. This was then a great starting point for my final trek back to the EuroTunnel. Even though it was a boring day riding through Switzerland and France, it was a compromise I was happy to make. Along with Austria, the French and Swiss Alps are certainly a place I want to go back to. After I’d packed up at the final campsite back in France, I had a 250km jaunt back to the EuroTunnel where I met my friend again. She was a little worn out from her slow trek back through France, something she didn’t enjoy doing. But we were both safe and sound and ready for the delightful over-populated UK roads. After arriving back in the UK we went our separate ways (my friend back to London and me back up North). Terrible planning - the train had got us back into the UK on a Friday during rush hour…. So it was slow going for me, but I arrived back home with no dramas! It was a full on adventure, moving every day, but I loved it. I enjoyed camping every night - the longest consecutive period of time I’ve spent camping. The bike was mainly a pleasure to ride, long distances and cold weather are easy to tackle aboard this bike. Really it was only awkward slow speed manoeuvring I struggled with (more because I’m on tip-toes), and then the consistent 27 degree heat in Italy ,as I get no air flow behind the huge screen, hand guards and countless wind deflectors dotted around the fairing. It wasn’t uncommon to see me standing on the bike as I travelled around Italy…! The next time I head to Europe for a biking holiday, I’ll cover less distance. I want to spend a long weekend in the Black Forest (I think that would be enough for me). I also would love to do a week-long holiday specifically in Austria, and another week-long holiday specifically around the Swiss and French Alps. So it’s certainly given me a flavour of what those locations are like. Here’s to the next adventure! https://imgur.com/a/56Lomzz

I made it back home safely too. I had a thoroughly enjoyable time, can't believe 2016 would have been my last time out on one of these...! Anyway, thanks Merv for the planning (it was a fun ride) and supplying us with a BBQ. Thanks to Tommy for catching my bike (!! - I'm an idiot). Also thanks to Tommy and Drewps for the chaperoning home (hope you didn't mind me wizzing past you on those twisties, Tommy?) It was great seeing familiar faces again (Andrew, Jason, Tommy, Paul) and wonderful meeting new faces (Merv, Martin, Pat). I'd be up for meeting more regularly too. I'm away with work now, but will check through my footage and see if I captured anything good.

Before I say anything else "Thank you" to pilninggas for yesterday, just brilliant mate tho some of those roads were terrifying! but the views at the end were worth the terror. The "stop and wait" system worked great with just the one glitch, soon sorted out. It was fun to see you all again and I'm just sorry I could only make it for the Saturday, I really needed to end the day with a pint or three with you all. got home around 7PM so just under 2 hours from when I left you all on the mountain top. I have a good lot of videos from the ride out and will stitch something together in the next few days and upload it when I can, hope you all made it home safe and sound and see you next year wherever that might be? Oh and I have some of Pat trying to climb the mountain on his fazer! yep I'm still laughing.

Well I’m back home now, safe and sound - after 16 nights camping, I’m looking forward to a proper bed (and decent shower...!) I’ll sort through some photos / footage over the next week or so and share a general update with you all.

I’m in the Black Forest now, Drewps [emoji846] heading off the the Alps tomorrow. Camping the whole way.

So as I asked a few weeks ago "was the ABBA superbike lift any good?" Well to cut a long story short SWMBO has bought it for me for my birthday (YAY) it turned up in several boxes, well what's a birthday without something to open! and she had got me the whole kit and caboodle, I mean the lift the trolly widget and the extension arms for front and rear wheel removal. So I can now take the wheels off and still move the bugger around the garage. It was expensive tho just under 3 hundred quid. Anyway the point of this missive is to say that the thing is just brilliant, after you have attached the bobbins to the bike it's a simple matter to just hoike it into the air with one hand which brings it into the same height as if you were using the centre stand, for which up till now I have to use a lump of wood under the rear wheel to get it to the height where this old sod can then just about get it over the hump onto the stand and that's using both hands and still struggling with 350Kgs of dead weight. So I'm just saying, if you have no centre stand or struggle to use the one on your bike then this thing is the dog's danglies when it comes to ease of use. This is what she got for me. Plus I can now take off the centre stand and suspension and the swing arm to grease them whereas before it took 3 different set ups to do these jobs!

Well I sort of got this video uploaded and hope you all enjoy it, it's only a flavour of the day but it was fun out there never the less. I'm sorry about the language on the video if you show it to your kids or partners please turn the volume down! Well here goes nothing. Also it seems I have had my camera set on 480p not the 1080p it should have been so the quality is well to be honest crap, I will see if I can upload an better version later. https://youtu.be/wLROAaQliVo

Ok, so HOW many times do we hear the pub championship winning [email protected] say he has saved 3grammes from fitting a different headlight bulb. They say losing a bit of weight makes all the difference, well after that diabetic business I had/have/er? anyway. From October I am now a trim 75kg, (around 12st). That's over 4 stone down. Now this year my bike has felt a lot quicker, initially I had to change the suspension preload by quite a lot and it certainly goes a damn sight better. I thought my cock up fitting those wheels with a 40 instead of a 44 tooth sprocket would be on my to do list. Not a bit of it, pulls it fine now I have got rid of the flab. That got me wondering, 130kg for the bike 105 (ahem) for me as a starting point at my worst. 235 on (lets be honest) 45hp. That's .19hp/kg Now 130kg for the bike, 75 for me and 45hp. 205 = .21hp/kg Or, in real terms, its worth around 11%, so not eating all the pies got me a right result. Lot of waffle if you ride a cruiser or a superbike bit on a sensitive little bugger like mine its made a hell of a difference. And yes I am bragging about losing a shit load of weight.

It's been a while since I started a new post, so thought I'd share my new toy! Picked it up last week, I'm 30 this year so I thought balls to it and had a brand new bike. Gone for the new speed twin... Pics attached. All I'll say is that it's awesome, torque for days, nice and easy to ride - even at a spirited pace Sorry it's not a yam [emoji851] Sent from my SM-G973F using Tapatalk

When I have been that way in June. Yes. I would argue the toss in January. Esp with a good blow on. Christ on a stick the wind of the Clyde could cut glass this time of year.

Don't care where we go, after all the work I have done on the bike I just want to go! Give me a map reference and I will meet you there.

An eye-watering $1500 (and I'll also have the aforementioned tax...) but the 'bike is worth every penny. IF I come to sell it (I shan't - it'll be passed to my son) I could even make a couple of grand. But that's not what this is about - I'm livin' the dream !!

The purpose of the "wiggly ring" is to keep the lower ring central, taking up the free space (regardless of how much space you perceive there to be!) and keeps the ring central and equi-distant all around. Just because the original rings don't have them is no basis to leave them out. You may find that the original ring is a little wider in its cross section thereby not needing them, whereas the newer ring may be that little bit smaller to enable the 'wiggly ring to sit behind it!! Manufacturers don't include them for fun or as an 'optional extra' after all their R&D. When I did my engine , i put them in as supplied..... If l had left them out and for whatever reason I wasn't happy with the performance ....I wouldn't want to strip it ALL down again just to put them in!!

I've had a look at the facebook sites, Can't say I'm over impressed by them, posts tend to be 'look where I've been' photos and no obvious threads to follow about bike maintenance etc. I'll stick with the forum thanks even if the activity has died down.

I think you mean you're Hahahahahahahaha

Probably succumbed to some sort of stress related disease by now

It's different. It's the torque. Makes anything seem peaky. Any time, any gear, any rpm yank it's chain and it fucks off. It's not subtle like an in line 4 either. It's old school angry gsxr type shove. You got to respect it. Coming from peaky 600's and 10 years of 2 stroke quite honestly it's hard to get your head round. I feel like I'm 16years old again when I start it.

Yep pics coming when I remember how.... Mot'd her Saturday. Now christened Trigger as from what we can figure the only parts of the original bike are the loom and frame. Oh. I have ridden some quick stuff in my time, a 1260 bandit, an 08 blade, couple of gsxr 750's. It's not the same. Sweets mercy this thing (considering it's from 1985, mines a 98). Just re writes the word fast. It really is ridiculous. The way it accelerates takes your breath away. I'm in love.

Well. not quite its a 96 lol. Need to put pics up. It's de chromed apart from the tailpipes with flat black bodywork. Done nice and looks meaner than telling the wife her sister is a better shag.

Ok so finally got round to replacing the front wheel bearing on the bike, I have if I'm honest been thinking that the MOT bloke who did my bike way back in April was having a bit of a laugh when he said that the front and rear bearings were in need of doing. So finally got the time to slip the front wheel off, knocked out the first bearing and it was ok'ish a bit grumbly but not what you would call knackered 2nd bearing comes out and f**k me there is half the cage missing AND one of the balls is no where to be seen! I mean how can a ball bearing be missing? Counted those in the other bearing and sure enough I have one less in the off side ball race! I have been riding on this since April cos I thought I knew better, just goes to show no matter how many times you think the MOT guy is taking the piss they might actually be right. I am going to do the rear bearings tomorrow and can only wonder what horrors lay in wait. Oh and my new ABBA lift has been christened "STANNAH" in honour of your comments about my age and mobility, see I can take a joke tho I suspect some of you buggers weren't joking

Prepped my boys Virago in readiness for an MoT (booked for tomorrow,) He started a new job in April and has been on training so no time for bikes. His bike has sat in the shed since last year. Replaced front brake fluid and cleaned and adjusted rear drum brake. checked all lights work, checked spokes on wheels and fork seals. Didn't check steering head bearings as no centre stand and I was on my own but took it a wee run and they felt fine, so should be good to go tomorrow

Ok long story short. I was on the YOC weekend ride out but my phone died and I couldn’t get it to charge, the charger port has been faulty for a while so I’ve been using a wireless charger at home, but shit for brains here didn’t bring it with me. Anyway I was telling the guys & bipps in the pub and finners said oh yes that happens to me a lot, you need to make a small plastic hook and poke it in the port you’ll be amazed how much crap comes out. Well I never got round to it while I was away to be honest it was quite nice not have phone for the weekend. But gave it a go when I got home. Wow how much crap can fit there is amazing thanks Finnerz iPhone charges perfect again now.

I have had that advice my whole life mate......"Don't stick that in there" has been the bane of my life

Thanks all for a great couple of days. Managed to get home just in time to avoid the rain and pick the Mrs up from the station so bonus points for me and good boyfriend points from her lol. Shout out to merve for arranging and sorting out a cracking route! I agree on 2 meets a year - happy to try and sort something for Derbyshire again if that's what people want Sent from my SM-G973F using Tapatalk

Im home now too. The usual post weekender ablutions and tidy up. Pretty wet on the way home [perfect as far as I am concerned]. Nice to meet old friends and new faces. We managed - bar a glitch - to stay together throughout - hopefully the pace was on-point. Always a win, when no one falls off or drops their steed. Getting up the Vale of Ewyas to Gospel without hindrance was spot on, i doth my cap to Slice doing on the FJR. We do need to try to do 2 a year if poss. I do like Derbyshire as a standard as it's central and those roads are ace. The NC returned 87mpg overall - i need to rag it harder.... I dont have any photos, thanks for putting yours up Drewps.

Back home in one piece. epic ride taking in most of mid and South Wales as that’s where satnav took us. great to meet everyone again and thanks to Mervin for organising it. now for my photos Me on set off Tommy and I at Lake Bala Yacht club. Special invitation only Dollgeau for chippy Penmaenpool toll bridge Llwyngwril over looking Barmouth on right Aberystwyth Cwmafan aqueduct Cracking ride up the Rhonda valley, just like Switzerland Our campsite Moon day after solstice Glyn Tarell Oasis cafe Pat’s hill climb Talybont-on-Usk Duke Nukem fixing his tdr Mine shaft at Capel Gwynfe brilliant time

Well, home showered and with a brew. Bloody good weekend. Fuelled up 7 times, 49litres in all, actually works out at 48 to the gallon over the 540miles I did. Refuelling at 75 miles seemed to be the best, Some great roads and some amazing places. God knows how stuff gets delivered to some of those people. Only pain for me was thinking I would kill the current chain with this trip, bad move, set up a high frequency vibe that lost me several nuts and bolts over the weekend. Had to remove the other heat shield before I got home I think my hands will be numb till august, where next? We should make it more than once a year too. Oh, and all the rain we were worried about over the weekend, I think I got it all from just past Broadway for 90% of the trip home it absolutely fct it down. Other times just heavy, lol.

High pressure coming in from BoB. TF.

Well peeps it seems that SWMBO has been booked in for her OP in just over a month from now! So pretty sure that I'm fubard for the weekend but just looking at the map I "might" be able to make it just for the day on the Saturday? It's only about an hour and a half from me so weather permitting and hoping I can get away for the day I hope to see you all then.

If you’re at home tomorrow afternoon I could nip over and have a look pm me your address and phone number

If you cba why would anybody else spend the time. This forum is for the benefit of every member. Not a free fixit for the lazy.

What you were dripping ugly fluids? Nice one Fizz, id like a change but my financial advisor has a long list of things that are really boring that I have to pay for. Nothing important, daughters uni, for example.

I’m currently sat under a tarp near Mont Blanc - I’m camping at the foot of a glacier in fact, and there’s a silent thunderstorm going on around me. So it feels like a suitable time to admit something to you guys... Not long after our Wales weekend I found myself on a rare mid-week rideout on a very hot day. I had always planned a Europe tour for this year (currently on it), and by all intents and purposes I was doing it on my F800GT. The mid-week ride was to focus my mind and think about what I’d need to comfortably execute my 16 day camp trip in a self-sufficient manner. So anyway, I wheel my bike out my lock-up and for only the 2nd time in my riding life I had a flat - a pesky nail in my rear wheel. I angrily plug it (this is a PR5 which only had about 2,000 miles to its name). I average 12,000 miles out of a set and PR5’s aren’t cheap so I was pissed! Anyway, plugged in sweltering heat and off I went on a ride. It was my first proper ride out since living back in the Peak District and I found myself naturally gravitating towards my old Triumph garage... I’m sure you get where I’m going...! But before I continue I should maybe explain why I had the F800GT in the first place. I regrettably sold my Street Triple to buy a second home (all of that went to shit) and I was left bikeless. When in the market again I found a second hand (fully specced and still under warranty) F800GT. It fitted the bill so I went for it. In the 3 years I owned it, it never let me down and did everything I asked of it. But unlike my Tiger 800 and Street Triple - it never inspired me. So back on track... as I found myself heading to the Triumph garage I was thinking of my dream bike. The one bike I would want to say that I’d owned when reminiscing as a granny...! That bike? A Tiger 1200.... Now that’s a big bike. Heavier than the huge BMW GSA’s (those 30 litre tank beasts...!). So heavy that unlike BMW, Triumph don’t advertise the fully fuelled wet weight... their claimed dry weight matches a fully fuelled GSA. So by all accounts a fully fuelled Tiger 1200 is in the 260-270kg bracket. And unlike the BMW’s - that weight is all up high. So at 5’8” (on a good day) and an admittedly weedy woman I thought “sod it” and dropped by for a test ride! Knowing full well that if I didn’t enjoy it, I’d revert back to a Tiger 800 (a bike I very much loved). Well that wasn’t a concern... The Tiger 1200 is such a blast! I test rode for a good few hours and couldn’t resist. I managed to pick up a new one before my Europe trip. I feel ashamed admitting it to you guys (being “purists”) but this bike is amazing. Yes it’s entirely electronic - to the point where even I question its longevity. But in reality after its warranty period I’ll likely just hand it back. I genuinely believe that’s how they are making vehicles these days. The engine will go on and on, but I’m not sold on everything around it...! Anyway, I always manage a fair few miles on my bikes (despite working from home) so I’m owning this bike with the mind set that it’ll go back after 3 years. I’m having my mid life crisis early...! Haha. Yes it’s as big and heavy as it feels (I tiptoe on it) but that’s the only negative. It’s comfortable, has things I never knew I wanted in my life (heated seat - I’m talking about you...!) and the engine is what I was missing in the F800GT. It pulls without thought in any gear / any speed. So by the time I get back home this Friday the bike will have over 7,000 miles under its belt and I’ve enjoyed all of them. It’s without doubt the largest bike I’ll ever own. I already know that my next bikes will be lighter (and therefore less CC), but that doesn’t matter. I’m as happy as a pig in .... right now. I’ve ridden this bike over Großglocknerstraße, Stelvio Pass, torrential rain and off-road to this glacial foot. And all of it fully loaded with camping gear. So I’m officially back in the Triumph world - and have fully embraced a modern technologically-advanced bike. And for that - I apologise to all of you...! [emoji23]

Yes but no one gave a fuk about you being a cripple.

Yeh Drewps " i seen that engine too, met him in a Mcdonalds carpark, And i got a ticket wen i picked it up in Aberdeen .[ bus lane] fkers, 8 am on a saturday, the road was empty, so i ran on thei nside lane, fkn cooncil bastards,,

Had a good day out at Donny Park a couple of weeks ago, Ive really been lucky with the weather the last 3 to 4 years. Put myself up into inters this year, reckon Im pretty close to the limit of this bike/rider combination. If I lean any more, the bottom of the fairing lifts the contact off the rear I reckon. The sliders I made to cover the hole I wore through last year need changing, but they did the job

Never mind, think of the kudos of doing it yourself? to take bearings out , weld a plate over inner bearing then hit from other side. The welding will heat the bearing too to dislodge any corrosion

Brilliant weekend, Thanks everyone I’ll put more tomorrow I’m fucked, off to bed now. Back to work tomorrow booo

For those interested, you can track me: https://www.polarsteps.com/ninabippo/1845840-rblr1000-2019

Well today is the day I’m heading off to Squires for my overnight camp. And surprise, surprise... it’s raining. I was hoping for a dry arrival at least so that I could start the day with dry kit, but that’s clearly not going to happen...! Checking the Saturday & Sunday forecast at each major city I’m passing by on the ride, and yep, you guessed it... rain!

Headlight bucket has been buffed outside and treated inside for rust. Shined up nicely. The throttle control assembly has been rebuilt and painted as well.

Mate.. 3k. You like the 650 looks. Lighter, sweeter handling and still not stuuuuupid money. A 350b would do it. Get a Propper good one for 3k. A better bike than the 400 if I had to say or be shot. Then it's a smokey and I'm biased.

Coming along. New rear bearings, sprocket and rubber. Polished the rear tail setup and the RH shock assembly. Shocks are in great shape. Going to start on the front tubes and wheel next. Engine has 4 new studs, needs 5 more before I can reassemble and paint the case.