At the moment, as a result of fitting heated grips to the Hornet, I don't have bar ends. This doesn't affect the handling, but looks odd. My OH thought bar ends from a Pan would fit, as they are designed to have heated grips. He removed one from his bike and they fitted well. In particular, the throttle didn't foul.
I found a used set on ebay. The seller stated they were undamaged, so I bidded and won them. Bar ends are keyed on the inside, so they wont turn as a result of the vibration from the bike. When the set I bought via ebay arrived, 1 of them had obviously been cut at this key point with a hacksaw. I contacted the seller who, in effect, stated "you got them cheap, tough".
I'll just have to chalk that one down to experience. I've bought and sold on ebay a reasonable bit and haven't had any issues that the seller wasn't willing to help solve, so it won't put me off. I did leave them negative feedback, though!
I did find aftermarket bar ends for the Pan at Busters, so I shall be ordering a set from there. The question now - what colour?
Tuesday 30 September 2008
Monday 29 September 2008
Driving like an angel
The Hornet doesn't have a very big tank. 12 litres before reserve on the original bike (the latest model has a couple of litres extra). Consequently, it's not a high mileage between fill-ups.
Having had a look around various forums discussing the tank range of the Hornet, I must drive like an angel. Many people are stating they get about 100 miles before reserve (around 40 mpg). I have now discovered I'll get around 135 miles before reserve (about 51 mpg).
I must be driving like an angel! At least at my rate of fuel consumption, taking my bike, when on my own is more efficient than taking the car, which gives around 42 mpg. In these times of £1.12ish per litre petrol, every little helps!
Having had a look around various forums discussing the tank range of the Hornet, I must drive like an angel. Many people are stating they get about 100 miles before reserve (around 40 mpg). I have now discovered I'll get around 135 miles before reserve (about 51 mpg).
I must be driving like an angel! At least at my rate of fuel consumption, taking my bike, when on my own is more efficient than taking the car, which gives around 42 mpg. In these times of £1.12ish per litre petrol, every little helps!
Saturday 27 September 2008
Coffee Morning update
Today's coffee morning went really well. In total, we made about £200; not bad for a couple of hours work.
Back in June the Young church sent off a cheque to Riders for a sum equivalent to the cost of providing a motorbike to a health care worker. Given the original target for the project was to raise that sum in a year, the project has gone really well. Now, the additional money is forming the "spanner fund". With this we hope to fund a tool kit which contains all the tools a mechanic will need to keep the motorbikes running well. I think this is about £800 worth of kit, which also covers some of the costs of training the mechanic. As the mechanics are local, Riders is also providing local jobs and security.
As a result of the queue going off to Riders, the young church received a lovely letter from Riders. This had the stories from a health care worker and a mechanic. It's really amazing how these fairly simple things are making such a great difference.
The health care worker is the sole health service for an area around the size of Fife, where the roads are dirt tracks. Before the motorbike, she was barely able to visit 2 villages per month and could never get to a person at the outskirts of her district quickly if they needed urgent medical attention. Now she can visit her whole district in a month and can do more than treat the current needs, but also give health care advice, prevention being better than cure. All this because the motorbike gives her a reliable mode of transport.
The mechanic was locally trained by Riders and is now training other locals to be mechanics. She also trains the health care workers in the routine maintenance of the motorbikes, increasing their reliability. So, not only is Riders helping people get access to health care, it's also providing jobs and training to local people.
It's a bit like that saying. Teach a man to fish, feed him for a day. Give a man the means to catch the fish, feed him for life. That seems exactly what Riders is doing and it's great.
Back in June the Young church sent off a cheque to Riders for a sum equivalent to the cost of providing a motorbike to a health care worker. Given the original target for the project was to raise that sum in a year, the project has gone really well. Now, the additional money is forming the "spanner fund". With this we hope to fund a tool kit which contains all the tools a mechanic will need to keep the motorbikes running well. I think this is about £800 worth of kit, which also covers some of the costs of training the mechanic. As the mechanics are local, Riders is also providing local jobs and security.
As a result of the queue going off to Riders, the young church received a lovely letter from Riders. This had the stories from a health care worker and a mechanic. It's really amazing how these fairly simple things are making such a great difference.
The health care worker is the sole health service for an area around the size of Fife, where the roads are dirt tracks. Before the motorbike, she was barely able to visit 2 villages per month and could never get to a person at the outskirts of her district quickly if they needed urgent medical attention. Now she can visit her whole district in a month and can do more than treat the current needs, but also give health care advice, prevention being better than cure. All this because the motorbike gives her a reliable mode of transport.
The mechanic was locally trained by Riders and is now training other locals to be mechanics. She also trains the health care workers in the routine maintenance of the motorbikes, increasing their reliability. So, not only is Riders helping people get access to health care, it's also providing jobs and training to local people.
It's a bit like that saying. Teach a man to fish, feed him for a day. Give a man the means to catch the fish, feed him for life. That seems exactly what Riders is doing and it's great.
Friday 19 September 2008
More Fundraising for Riders
The young church is having a coffee morning on Saturday 27th September as part of their fundraising for Riders for Health. There will be cake and candy aplenty.
Pop in if your in the area. It's at Linktown Church, Nicol Street, Kirkcaldy.
See you there.
Pop in if your in the area. It's at Linktown Church, Nicol Street, Kirkcaldy.
See you there.
Wednesday 17 September 2008
Fitting Heated Grips
I'm not a dry warm weather only biker. Given this summers weather, that is probably a good thing. Last year, with the EN, although I would have like heated grips, the bike did not have enough extra capacity in the alternator for them to run. As the Hornet has a larger alternator (with it being a larger bike), there is enough power, so this morning I (with a little assistance from my OH) finished fitted heated grips to the Hornet.
Heated grips do exactly what they say on the tin. They are replacement grips (the black rubber bits on the handle bars) with a heating element which warm the fingers. A temperature controller gets fitted to the handlebars, allowing control over the amount of heat that's generated. The advantages of heated grips is I can wait later in the year until I need to wear my thicker gloves (thicker gloves make it harder for feel the controls) and I can ride my bike more comfortably in colder weather.
The grips I was recommended to buy were made by a company called Oxford. My OH had fitted then to other bikes he had owned (the Pan came with heated grips fitted). Also, Oxford make a lot of aftermarket motorbike accessories and have a good reputation. During my research (to ensure their quality was still as high as it had been and to get the best price), I came across a brand caller Roxter. Their heated grips seemed identical to the Oxford Hot grips, but about half the price. I searched various advice forums and talked to my brother-in-law (who is also a biker) and they looked identical as they are identical. Roxter are made by Oxford. As you can imagine, for 50% of the cost for the same thing, I bought the cheaper version.
To start, I removed the bar ends, cut off the original grips and polished up the bar to remove the excess glue. I then test fitted the new grips to get them in a position I could reach all my controls and they aren't fouling anything (i.e. brake and clutch levers). The best positions I found were as shown in the following pictures:
It's clearer on the photo of the offside (right hand) bar. The bit that sticks up at the end of the grips is the wiring. With it in this position on the offside bar, it would not foul on the front brake and the throttle would also operate correctly (motorbikes' throttles are operated by twisting the offside grip. The nearside grip was fitted with the wiring under the bar. On top wouldn't allow me to operate my full-beam switch properly.
To secure the grips, the instructions stated to use grip glue and some was supplied. My OH had not used this in the past, as it dries very quickly (or can) and them final positioning of the grips would not be possible. He had used Impact adhesive in the past, as he has friends who used to race bikes and apparently this is the best thing. Usually when using impact adhesive, the glue is applied to both surfaces and allowed to dry before both surfaces are impacted on one-another. With the grips, about 2/3rds of the bar was glued and the grips slid straight on, without waiting on it to dry. We were particularly careful when fitting the offside grip as if glue had got into the throttle mechanism, I would have issues!
At this point, before the wiring was inaccessible, we plugged the grips into the controller (there are, quite literally little plugs). There's also a wire that goes directly onto the battery to supply the power. This was attached to the battery via the optimate cable I've fitted to the bike (and another one of those plugs). We plugged the power supply into the controller unit, started the bike and...
nothing
no, absolutely nothing happened.
There's LEDs on the controller and these light up to show the grips are on and to indicate how high the temperate is, They weren't lighting up. We checked the instructions. No, we didn't appear to be missing anything. We checked the power supply, battery and alternator using a volt meter to ensure the bike was delivering sufficient power. It was. We checked the grips for resistance. This was fine. Blast, the controller is goosed. So we e-mailed the supplier to ask for another controller.
He replied very quickly and said try pressing the on switch of the controller for around 5 seconds. That sounds dubious, but it worked. Wouldn't it be nice if they said that in the instructions. It's a useful safety measure, as the switch can't be knocked to accidentally switch the grips on
.
The controller is attached to a small bracket with the 2 screws and the bracket is attached to the handlebar via the assembly that holds on the clutch lever (see photo). Supplied with the grips are 2 pairs of bolts to replace the bolts which hold the clutch assembly. I needed to use the longer pair. As you can see, to looks very neat.
The power supply cable was threaded under the tank, in the gap the other bike wiring is in. This was accessed by lifting the tank at the back of the tank (that is, the end of the tank furthest away from the front of the bike. To lift it, switch the fuel tank off (that's the middle position; before reserve). Remove the seat and the 2 grey side panels at the rider's knees position. Under the back of the tank is a bolt that holds the tank to the frame. Remove this and now the tank can be tilted. This is best done just before the tank needs filled!
I have a Haynes Manual, so it made working out where the wiring runs and how to lift the tank easier to work out. Probably the best £20 I've spent on the bike. It's already paid for itself and I've only had it for 4 months.
That's the grips fitted. I could do with a couple more cable ties to tidy everything up, but I used it today and everything seems fine. Only one small problem. I could get the nearside bar end back on, but not the offside one, as once it was on, the throttle wouldn't turn. Not a major problem, it just looks a little odd. The new grips are a little longer than the original ones. I'll just need to get a new set of bar ends. I had been thinking about it, as the ones I have are a little scuffed.
Now, I'm ready for winter.
Heated grips do exactly what they say on the tin. They are replacement grips (the black rubber bits on the handle bars) with a heating element which warm the fingers. A temperature controller gets fitted to the handlebars, allowing control over the amount of heat that's generated. The advantages of heated grips is I can wait later in the year until I need to wear my thicker gloves (thicker gloves make it harder for feel the controls) and I can ride my bike more comfortably in colder weather.
The grips I was recommended to buy were made by a company called Oxford. My OH had fitted then to other bikes he had owned (the Pan came with heated grips fitted). Also, Oxford make a lot of aftermarket motorbike accessories and have a good reputation. During my research (to ensure their quality was still as high as it had been and to get the best price), I came across a brand caller Roxter. Their heated grips seemed identical to the Oxford Hot grips, but about half the price. I searched various advice forums and talked to my brother-in-law (who is also a biker) and they looked identical as they are identical. Roxter are made by Oxford. As you can imagine, for 50% of the cost for the same thing, I bought the cheaper version.
To start, I removed the bar ends, cut off the original grips and polished up the bar to remove the excess glue. I then test fitted the new grips to get them in a position I could reach all my controls and they aren't fouling anything (i.e. brake and clutch levers). The best positions I found were as shown in the following pictures:
It's clearer on the photo of the offside (right hand) bar. The bit that sticks up at the end of the grips is the wiring. With it in this position on the offside bar, it would not foul on the front brake and the throttle would also operate correctly (motorbikes' throttles are operated by twisting the offside grip. The nearside grip was fitted with the wiring under the bar. On top wouldn't allow me to operate my full-beam switch properly.
To secure the grips, the instructions stated to use grip glue and some was supplied. My OH had not used this in the past, as it dries very quickly (or can) and them final positioning of the grips would not be possible. He had used Impact adhesive in the past, as he has friends who used to race bikes and apparently this is the best thing. Usually when using impact adhesive, the glue is applied to both surfaces and allowed to dry before both surfaces are impacted on one-another. With the grips, about 2/3rds of the bar was glued and the grips slid straight on, without waiting on it to dry. We were particularly careful when fitting the offside grip as if glue had got into the throttle mechanism, I would have issues!
At this point, before the wiring was inaccessible, we plugged the grips into the controller (there are, quite literally little plugs). There's also a wire that goes directly onto the battery to supply the power. This was attached to the battery via the optimate cable I've fitted to the bike (and another one of those plugs). We plugged the power supply into the controller unit, started the bike and...
nothing
no, absolutely nothing happened.
There's LEDs on the controller and these light up to show the grips are on and to indicate how high the temperate is, They weren't lighting up. We checked the instructions. No, we didn't appear to be missing anything. We checked the power supply, battery and alternator using a volt meter to ensure the bike was delivering sufficient power. It was. We checked the grips for resistance. This was fine. Blast, the controller is goosed. So we e-mailed the supplier to ask for another controller.
He replied very quickly and said try pressing the on switch of the controller for around 5 seconds. That sounds dubious, but it worked. Wouldn't it be nice if they said that in the instructions. It's a useful safety measure, as the switch can't be knocked to accidentally switch the grips on
.The controller is attached to a small bracket with the 2 screws and the bracket is attached to the handlebar via the assembly that holds on the clutch lever (see photo). Supplied with the grips are 2 pairs of bolts to replace the bolts which hold the clutch assembly. I needed to use the longer pair. As you can see, to looks very neat.
The power supply cable was threaded under the tank, in the gap the other bike wiring is in. This was accessed by lifting the tank at the back of the tank (that is, the end of the tank furthest away from the front of the bike. To lift it, switch the fuel tank off (that's the middle position; before reserve). Remove the seat and the 2 grey side panels at the rider's knees position. Under the back of the tank is a bolt that holds the tank to the frame. Remove this and now the tank can be tilted. This is best done just before the tank needs filled!
I have a Haynes Manual, so it made working out where the wiring runs and how to lift the tank easier to work out. Probably the best £20 I've spent on the bike. It's already paid for itself and I've only had it for 4 months.
That's the grips fitted. I could do with a couple more cable ties to tidy everything up, but I used it today and everything seems fine. Only one small problem. I could get the nearside bar end back on, but not the offside one, as once it was on, the throttle wouldn't turn. Not a major problem, it just looks a little odd. The new grips are a little longer than the original ones. I'll just need to get a new set of bar ends. I had been thinking about it, as the ones I have are a little scuffed.
Now, I'm ready for winter.
Sunday 14 September 2008
Indicator issues
On Thursday, I was going to a meeting. While I was getting changed into my biking kit, my OH was getting my bike ready. He was just about to start her up when he noticed one of my indicators hanging off. Talk about me being all dressed-up with nowhere to go! I had to run back into the house and get changed again. I took the car.
There's a rubber bush that the stalk of the indicator goes into and this had perished. The bike's 6 years old and the indicator that was affected is under the exhaust, so gets quite hot. My OH fixed if with some modeling epoxy - that indicator isn't going anywhere now. It's great, as I'm back on the road.
There's a rubber bush that the stalk of the indicator goes into and this had perished. The bike's 6 years old and the indicator that was affected is under the exhaust, so gets quite hot. My OH fixed if with some modeling epoxy - that indicator isn't going anywhere now. It's great, as I'm back on the road.
Wednesday 10 September 2008
Broken Spring
Last week, my OH was doing someone in his office a favour by going to Mothercare to get gift vouchers for a colleague's new baby. On the way back, there was an awful rattle from the car as it coughed up part of the front nearside spring. This must have been the car's way of celebrating getting 100,000 miles on the clock.
Fortunately, it was only a small part of the spring, resulting in the car sagging at the front nearside corner by 5-6mm. There was a little difference in the handling, but nothing major. That said, we didn't want to use the car too much and the spring needed replaces.
So, this is the third day we've commuted to work on the Pan. The mechanic we take the car to didn't have any space until Tuesday (they're always very busy). We thought we might get the car back yesterday, but the spring wasn't going to arrive until today. No great shake, as we have the 2 bikes.
The commute has been not too bad, though I still wet myself when my OH is filtering is a relatively narrow gap. Though this morning, it was fairly windy and we have to cross an exposed bridge. That was quite hairy in parts and I wasn't even driving it!!!
The good news for the commute home tonight is the wind should have died down. The bad news is it should be raining. We both "prefer" rain. Wind is too destabilising.
Just hope the car's ready to be picked up tonight. Although neither of us mind commuting on the Pan, we'd rather be in the car. There's a radio, heating and shelter from the elements. Okay, you can't filter, but that's the choice we make.
Fortunately, it was only a small part of the spring, resulting in the car sagging at the front nearside corner by 5-6mm. There was a little difference in the handling, but nothing major. That said, we didn't want to use the car too much and the spring needed replaces.
So, this is the third day we've commuted to work on the Pan. The mechanic we take the car to didn't have any space until Tuesday (they're always very busy). We thought we might get the car back yesterday, but the spring wasn't going to arrive until today. No great shake, as we have the 2 bikes.
The commute has been not too bad, though I still wet myself when my OH is filtering is a relatively narrow gap. Though this morning, it was fairly windy and we have to cross an exposed bridge. That was quite hairy in parts and I wasn't even driving it!!!
The good news for the commute home tonight is the wind should have died down. The bad news is it should be raining. We both "prefer" rain. Wind is too destabilising.
Just hope the car's ready to be picked up tonight. Although neither of us mind commuting on the Pan, we'd rather be in the car. There's a radio, heating and shelter from the elements. Okay, you can't filter, but that's the choice we make.
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