Any motorcyclists on here as well?

[DSK]

SlimFast shakes

Seriously all the best of luck for a smooth operation and a slick recovery!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Jimbo1959]

Finally got a decent picture of me and my girls, the GSX 650 F and the FJR 1300. Oops, mustn't forget m'Scirocco in the background too, courtesy of my neighbours daughter in law, thanks love!
I'm really pleased with the bikes, Suzook for back roads action, and the Yam for total comfort, distance work and general cruising. Plus it's a wee bit rapid for a cruiser.

My Blue Phase.

 

[Jimbo1959]

Had a nice ride out to Seaways Cafe yesterday with local IAM

View attachment 86469

Absolutely filthy roads so bike came back not looking its best…

View attachment 86470

Washed it yesterday, then gave it a proper clean today… followed by lots of ACF50 as it’s going away for the winter

View attachment 86471

All away, on charge and ready for when I’m mobile again - I’m going in for heel surgery on Friday… cut down the back of the heel, remove Achilles tendon… grind off the calcium build up… then stick the Achilles tendon back on (no doubt with generic pritt stick…) then 6 weeks in a cast and I have to keep my heel higher than my shoulder for 22 out of 24 hours… (no idea how I’m going to accomplish that living on my own and occasionally wanting to eat…)

View attachment 86472

I hope that your Op goes to plan with no problems Russell, take care with that compulsory diet, lol.

 

[Jimbo1959]

Had a bit of drama with the Suzook, went to Ayr to have a look around North Harbour M/C's not realising that the Ayr Air Show was on the same weekend.

I got caught up in the traffic, which was walking pace for several miles and despite filtering and the fan coming on, the radiator gave up the ghost and spat all the coolant out.

I managed to nurse her home, stopping at eight garages on the way to let it cool and top up the coolant with water, a long torturous trip that was let me tell you.

When I stripped off the fairing to get to the rad I discovered that there had been significant bodge repairs to the fairing, radiator and the indicators. It turned what should have been a straight forward job into, one of those do a job, to do a job, to do a job efforts.

While I had it stripped I decided to clean the front of the engine and frame which I also repainted due to the easier access available with the fairings and radiator off.



The leaks quite easy to spot.



As reported the front of the engine and frame hasn't been cleaned in some time by the looks of things.



The rad has been in a hard one at one point in it's life as well.



I had to fibreglass the mounting pin back in position, it just snapped off despite me being very careful at disassembly.



Frame and engine cleaned, rad repaired and remounted.



Ta Da! and finally reassembled and also given a clean.

 

[Botus]

anyone owned both of these different engines ? (if so which make the nicer powercurve)

 

[RTs4me]

anyone owned both of these different engines ? (if so which make the nicer powercurve)

View attachment 87307

I've had the 'hexhead' and 'twincam' motors, but in RTs, rather than GS's. The twincam is better, IMO. A bit more torquey and responsive. I found the fuelling on my early hexhead to be a bit lumpy and fluffy on slight throttle openings. Twincam was better and gave a more linear power delivery, with no midrange stumbling on small throttle openings. I found that fuel quality had a noticeable effect - I always use 98-octane super unleaded E5. In Germany, 104 octane Aral fuel is great fun!

 

[Botus]

thanks for your thoughts... yes the TC is meant to use super unleaded 98 or > , the older one is only 95. I have both - I was after people's thoughts... the GS (especially with road tyres) can be ridden like a hooligan and I find the older one better and much more suitable for road use

however I have had lots of fun with fueling and they don't like 95 10% ethanol fuel either... indeed I've been battling my hex head's running ever since I tried to make it better....

mine is the earlier looking bike than that pic (as per the original 2003 GS actually one of the last R1200GS 307s) - it was flashed at point of sale with the then current i-level in Jan 2008 (in line with BMW sales standards). In 2009 when I had a service, I said this runs so badly it must have a later map ? adding triumph flash their bikes all day long with later better maps? To which he said, 'we don't do that sir ! '

It took me 7 years before I discovered that was an outright LIE and indeed there was a later map released in an i-level update available from Sept 2008 that the bike never had.... It had three updated elements to the engine - alongside a number of other glitches in the alarm, the side stand logic and the trip computer

1) improve cold start
2) improve idle stability
3) reduce engine knock after complaints by owners

It wasn't till about now in 2018 my hex head bike got this update - and its run like a pig ever since
after a lot of fighting with incompetent dealer practices, and either them swapping parts, or coincidental parts failure !!! its taken eons to get things right

a) cold start was a chugging mess from hell
b) idle stability was worse
c) it was much, much slower
d) I now had a mid-range gutless hole from hell that ruined the bike

Whilst I always realised I would need to re set up my power commander PC3 to suit any changes the new map had - nothing seemed to make sense - I could get it a little better in a few places, but I couldn't get shot of that mid range hole from hell...

It was re-flashed and they said there was nothing wrong - I eventually discovered a PUMA technical complaint process and they did nothing and wouldn't put the older map back on

I then found a dealer that said put it back to standard and see where you are - I did and it wasn't right - but the way he said it - getting a GS911 diagnostic tool and two experts on a GS forum started a journey of understanding I never had....

-) if you ever load a later map on an engine you MUST wipe the adaptions so it rebuilds a set for the later map - but no dealer does this !!!
*) the TPS on a boxer wears out and becomes random around 30k miles
^) I had a magic CAT sensor that randomly functioned - and BMs of this era don't bother to mention this in its limited diagnostics
+) it ONLY changes adaptions in stock set up - disconnecting the CAT sensors so the PC3 can operate, cuts all development of the bikes adaptions
/) dipetane and BP 97 makes for a fuel that behaves like the old 95 did before ethanol came about

so I only wiped its wrong adaptions in 2021 but then the CAT sensor was on and off and working oddly - the TPS made low speed running horrible, the later map is so far wrong you need to really go crazy with the PC3 setup - and it only likes to play ball when its a leap year, you won the lottery and found a five leaf clover

literally it was only 2 weeks ago I made a level of progress that got the hex head bike back to how it was before that 2018 map update !!!
and I'm only playing as I'm so disappointed with the mint 9k old GS TC I bought this summer - for chucking a bike around and focusing on where to miss the cars, the crazy cyclists without a care about rules of the road, or the potholes, the far more flexible and lower rev power curve of the older engine means I can make far better progress whilst having far more fun on the older engine'd bike...

 

[English_Bowman]

New to the forum, but not to biking, started riding 30 years ago, and always had a bike since.
The current stable is a Triumph TT600 that I've had since new in 2001, and a Triumph Sprint GT 1050. I also have a Bonneville America on long term loan from a friend who doesn't ride anymore but can't bear to sell his bike.

 

[Alastairp]

1962 Dominator 650SS

 

[English_Bowman]

Here are the two Triumphs I own, a little more modern than the beautiful Norton above.

 

[Jimbo1959]

Here are the two Triumphs I own, a little more modern than the beautiful Norton above.

View attachment 88166 View attachment 88167

Your yellow period I take it?

 

[English_Bowman]

Your yellow period I take it?

Years ago I bought a Yamma Gamma, it was the fastest bike I could afford, but it was yellow. I hated the colour, but it was the fastest bike I could afford, so I bought it. My mates took the **** out of it so I doubled down and bought a matching lid. I noticed something, I was getting carved up less, people weren't pulling out in front of me, and people were moving over to get out of my way. When I borrowed my mate's black bike things went back to normal.
I've owned yellow bikes ever since. (Here's the CBR600 I had before the TT)

 

[English_Bowman]

After a while I got to like the colour, and even had a yellow car for a while

 

[Blobcat]

After a while I got to like the colour, and even had a yellow car for a while

View attachment 88173 View attachment 88174

I had a Yellow 996 SPS - that was much faster than the usual red ones

 

[Alastairp]

.... I doubled down and bought a matching lid.

Emulating the late great Joey Dunlop then?

 

[English_Bowman]

.... I doubled down and bought a matching lid.

Emulating the late great Joey Dunlop then?

At the time, no I couldn't afford an Arai, it was an FM yellow/carbon finish, but the most recent lid I bought is an Arai Joey replica, so I got there in the end.

 

[Blobcat]

At the time, no I couldn't afford an Arai, it was an FM yellow/carbon finish, but the most recent lid I bought is an Arai Joey replica, so I got there in the end.

I’ve used Arais for years, just switching to a Schuberth recently - apart from the convenience I still prefer Arai

 

[English_Bowman]

I’ve used Arais for years, just switching to a Schuberth recently - apart from the convenience I still prefer Arai

I always thought that Arais were over-priced, but when it was time to replace the FM I managed to get an entry level Arai in a sale, and I was a convert, had Arais ever since.

 

[Blobcat]

I always thought that Arais were over-priced, but when it was time to replace the FM I managed to get an entry level Arai in a sale, and I was a convert, had Arais ever since.

I decided they were cheap compared to the price of a new head...

 

[Alastairp]

I watched that yellow helmet flash past six times at the top end of the Cronk-Y-Voddy straight during the 2000 IoM Formula 1 race with the great man on the VTR-SP1 to win by one minute after nearly 2 hours racing.

He won the 125 & 250 Lightweight races that same week and many people thought his days of manhandling the big bikes were over.