Christmas present to self

[exportman]

Hi
Got myself a new bike for Christmas ( Well just after)
I thought I would post a few pictures here, Just to gloat you understand Lets start with the out going Machine it was a 2016 1200LE, triple black I had to wait for it to come from Germany and first registered at the end of October

Old Bike

old bike.jpg (1.27 MiB) Viewed 500 times

Well used, not often cleaned, up until Covid this was my transport if I was going to the local office around 10 miles each way across Manchester plus IAM Observing, Bikesafe Observing and recreational riding. Nothing wrong with it other than the usual issues with poor finish on the swingarm and wheels causing bubbling of the paint, and the Batteries on the TPMS were failing. But it also needed new tyres
So the new kid on the block Racing Blue with just about everything added. Radio, Active cruise control spot lights etc,
On receipt it looked like this.

new bike day 1.jpg (821.9 KiB) Viewed 500 times

Over the last few weeks I have added

bike 5.jpg (625.06 KiB) Viewed 500 times

Wunderlich engine bars,
Innovv K3 Camera
Engine Brest plate protector
TomTom Sat Nag
Shrink wrap on the bar grips
TFT Security protector.
Hex Cam


Still to do. Sort the spot lights not happy with the OEM mount bars will look to mount on the engine bars.
Top box and City lids to be painted to match.

Very pleased with the bike it is smoother than the earlier bike, Quick shifter and Neutral to 1st all silky smooth, not yet able to use the full rev range as less than 200 miles ridden so far, but so far it seems to be a great upgrade.

[Skub]

That's a big old girl for sure.

Your health to enjoy.

[KungFooBob]

Nice, but what's the shrink wrap on the grips all about?

[exportman]

Hi,

Grips wear so the wrap protects them when it gets worn you can replace that and the grips underneath are pristine

[Rockburner]

Hi,

Grips wear so the wrap protects them when it gets worn you can replace that and the grips underneath are pristine

If your grips are wearing that fast then you must have a deathgrip on the bars!

That's not great because it will also affect the handling and make you uncomfortable on the bike (tense).

Ideally your hands should be just resting on the bars.

[exportman]

No a light grip also can wear the grips especially the left hand one. But even on the right and one with moving you hand/fingers for brake cover etc it will wear the grip not now not in 6K but by the time you get to 20K it will be noticeable and then get worse quicker as the surface is softer

[tricol]

That's a big bus! Nice colour. Would love to try one of these types of bikes, just for the comfort.

[Rockburner]

No a light grip also can wear the grips especially the left hand one. But even on the right and one with moving you hand/fingers for brake cover etc it will wear the grip not now not in 6K but by the time you get to 20K it will be noticeable and then get worse quicker as the surface is softer

I did about 120,000 miles on Rockster 3 (bought it 2nd hand with 1200 miles on the clock. ), there was barely any wear on the grips when I finally blew the thing up. Do you wear particularly abrasive gloves?


BTW - not trying to start an argument. I've just never heard of that trick and I can't see the benefits at all. Assuming (as it appears) you swap bikes relatively regularly, I don't think it's something that would cause any issues.

Actually - thinking about it : does it give a better feel? It would increase the diameter of the grip, and possibly increase the friction between grip and glove? (depending on the outer surface of the shrinkwrap).

[exportman]

The 1200 was a late 2016 so kept it 6 years. The stuff I used was for fishing rods so reasonably grippy but not thick enough to make any difference to the diameter. Used this first time on the previous BM as the grips had worn. previous to that bike I had a Sprint GT that covered similar milage with no discernible wear. Maybe just the stuff the grips were made from, but anyway the stuff is on and I can take if off if I don't like it