20 November 2008

New chain and sprocket

How long has it been since I posted last?! Well to be honest there hasn't been much to write about this month. Had a tooth fall apart which facilitated a visit to the dentist, on about the wettest day of the year. However I was kept totally dry by my Frank Thomas jacket and Richa trousers (textiles rule!).

Biggest thing this month was getting the chain and sprocket set changed on the bike. Now I probably should have done this myself however it is too cold to work on the bike much this time of the year, and such a fiddly job, I left it with Just Motorcycles. Not only were they able to fit me in the very next day after I called, but it was finished in a single afternoon. I wonder if that speed is simply because there may be less work this time of year? In any case, if you have a major bit of work to be done to a bike, now would be a good time of year to have it looked at!

Since the new set has been replaced, the bike pulls so much better and a lot smoother. Well worth keeping up on maintaining a chain and ensuring the is is lubed and tightened to its specs. That is why mine was replaced, if I had looked after it better I could have kept the old one.

The only other thing to have happened, actually on my way home from picking the bike up from above, was the glue failing on the heated grips. I opened up the old girl accelerated away, then suddenly lost power as the throttle closed slightly. Thankfully I wasn't far from home and gently got her back and applied loads more glue. Hopefully it won't happen again.

01 November 2008

How safety films should be made

Over on MCN I spotted a video from Devon County Council for riding safety during winter. Really well done and a good spoof, but contains some useful advice!