revtothelimit - motorbike forum

Took old pinky out early before it gets too hot.

Good day yesterday. Started by picking my brothers mate up in Hertford and taking him to pick his Blackbird up from Raceways in Stevenage. That was done with minimal faff so headed to Bike Stop round the corner for a coffee whilst waiting on Bro and his other mate. Once everyone arrived we got a pic from some random Italian woman who'd ridden for a coffee on a 125 Duke.

Quattro old herbert's


We then headed up through Hitchin and towards Silsoe before cutting off towards Woburn and then down to a pub near Leyton Buzzard for lunch. This was using the Sat Nav twisty roads so near 2 hr ride. Some stunning villages around those parts, could of stopped at a dozen picture perfect pubs.

Lunch stop. Should of got more of the classic Toyota next to us in, it was lovely


Leaving there we headed back to Stevenage as mateys Blackbird fuel gauge wasn't working (bike shop sorted the disconnected wire in 2 mins). I left them before the shop as it was very warm by then so back to home and some shorts and a cider.

All in all a very enjoyable 110 miles

Back out this morning for a lovely 90 miles up to Clare and back. Left at 7.45am and the weather was spot on. Back before 11am for shorts again

Still feel I'm adjusting to the extra weight of the GSX in corners, need to put more effort in as too used to the bike responding to the slightest of inputs.

Supermofo wrote: Sun Jul 17, 2022 11:42 am Still feel I'm adjusting to the extra weight of the GSX in corners, need to put more effort in as too used to the bike responding to the slightest of inputs.

I've come to the conclusion it isn't just the extra weight (though it may be a factor) but coming from the super light and responsive 10R to my Zed,the new one requires a completely different way of riding.

Using a right,then left set of bends as an example,if I shift my arse in the seat,or make any attempt to hang off,it unsettles the bike. What works for me is to keep my arse more or less central and shift my upper body off the side. The downside of not hanging off mean reduced ground clearance,but I can live with that,it's predictable.

There's also a different feel needed for pushing/pulling on the bars. I was getting some lively shapes at first when riding enthusiastically,just because I was putting too much input into the higher bars,which effectively are bigger levers.

I know some folk can just jump from one bike to another and make it work,but it has taken me quite a while to break old habits.

Skub wrote: Sun Jul 17, 2022 12:30 pm There's also a different feel needed for pushing/pulling on the bars. I was getting some lively shapes at first when riding enthusiastically,just because I was putting too much input into the higher bars,which effectively are bigger levers.

I had the exact same experience on my first few rides on the Duke 690 - wide bars, light bike, responsive steering - the combination made it feel really twitchy until I realised I was putting too much in the way of inputs to the bars. Once I'd adjusted to how little input it took to make the bike turn, it was fine.

Thursday afternoon - on the Strines road between the A57 just east of Ladybower and Midhopestones with one of my trainees on his Guzzi.

Skub wrote: Sun Jul 17, 2022 12:30 pm

Supermofo wrote: Sun Jul 17, 2022 11:42 am Still feel I'm adjusting to the extra weight of the GSX in corners, need to put more effort in as too used to the bike responding to the slightest of inputs.

Using a right,then left set of bends as an example,if I shift my arse in the seat,or make any attempt to hang off,it unsettles the bike. What works for me is to keep my arse more or less central and shift my upper body off the side. The downside of not hanging off mean reduced ground clearance,but I can live with that,it's predictable.

Yeah hips and upper body is what I'm finding, just needs more effort than the 690 which would dive into a corner as soon as you thought of it. Feels like I'm running wider than I'd like, not had any issues or problems, just not holding the line I want at times

I let the missus have a ride on the Husky.
She loved it, but way beyond her

Yorick wrote: Sun Jul 17, 2022 4:41 pm I let the missus have a ride on the Husky.
She loved it, but way beyond her

20220716_181720.jpg

Have you told her its usual to hold the bars? Might help master it.

The Spin Doctor wrote: Sun Jul 17, 2022 2:11 pm Thursday afternoon - on the Strines road between the A57 just east of Ladybower and Midhopestones with one of my trainees on his Guzzi.

Strines July 2022 with Kevin Gladstone.JPG

That's my door step.

Pretty much every ride I do includes Mortimer road at some point

KungFooBob wrote: Sun Jul 17, 2022 9:39 pm That's my door step.

Pretty much every ride I do includes Mortimer road at some point

Lucky you Shame it's the best part of 150 miles from here Still, was a nice ride!

Look at that blue sky. We've got Summer here for a day. I rode til I ached,which amounts to about four and a half hours.

Also this is the first day I've taken out the Winter lining in my jacket. I idly wonder if it'll be in again by next week!

Went up into the hills. Much cooler.

The last nice day for a week or so,according to the met wizards,so it would be rude not to.

Probably just as well since I must have blown close to £100 on fuel this last few days.

Your first pic... Correct me if I'm wrong - just N of Carnlough? IIRR, there used to be a significant bump in the road just before that R bend, which could throw you offline if you were cracking on and made the bridge a bit exciting. I also seem to remember 2 local riders, brothers, were killed there a few years ago. A family outing, mum and dad were following on another bike and came across the scene. Awful.

Wossname wrote: Sun Jul 24, 2022 10:33 pm Your first pic... Correct me if I'm wrong - just N of Carnlough? IIRR, there used to be a significant bump in the road just before that R bend, which could throw you offline if you were cracking on and made the bridge a bit exciting. I also seem to remember 2 local riders, brothers, were killed there a few years ago. A family outing, mum and dad were following on another bike and came across the scene. Awful.

Yeah it's not far away from the accident site. It was a horror. The mother hugged them as they died. That road has several places where people have died.
The bump is still there too.

The last few times I've been through there the bump seemed to have been levelled out a bit. Or else I'm a bit more circumspect about it now...

They were killed on a straight bit between two left handers before heading towards the bridge.
The bump lies on the entrance to the first left hander. If you hit it on a steady throttle or rolled off,it can get ugly. They found out the hard way.

I fitted a new shock to the Suzuki yesterday,as it was raining around here I left it until this evening to go for a test ride on the billiard table smooth back roads of West Lancs

The water tower reminds me of a Boston album cover,anyone else remember vinyl albumsl



The new YSS shock wass a big improvement compared to the clapped out 15000 mile old original

I really quite fancy a 'pointy' SV650. Dunno why, just do.

Bustaspoke wrote: Tue Jul 26, 2022 8:30 pm The water tower reminds me of a Boston album cover,anyone else remember vinyl albumsl

Is that Ormskirk by any chance?