Autocom update

Have finished getting the parts to complete my Autocom unit. Purchased the Midland G7 off of eBay. Most places seem to be selling the radio for about £50 per unit. Going onto eBay, got two units with base station for £48. Bargain! So having got the radios I had to get the lead for the Autocom to connect it. Ordered from BikeBitz in Yatley online. Really quick service, ordered 3pm Monday, received Tuesday morning, very impressed. Opened up the parcel and noted that the lead I ordered for the radio was the wrong one. A quick phone call later and I had organised to pop into their store (was passing that way) and get a replacement. Wednesday afternoon went into the store and got the replacement. Really quick and really professional 10/10 for those guys.
Using the radio requires a change in the way that you speak. As anyone who has used PMR radios before know they are 'half-duplex' or can only receive or transmit. Where as a mobile phone is 'full-duplex' so you can speak at the same time as the caller. There is also a delay in the time between speaking, the transmitter sending and the receiver picking up. Autocom's manual suggests that you have a key-word that you start what you want to say with. So for example if you said "Turn left at the roundabout" the receiver would get "left at the roundabout". The suggestion is to start with "OK", thus you would say "OK... Turn left at the roundabout". With the use of radios there is a certain etiquette and when you finish a sentence to end with "over". Although the G7 radios have a tone they play once transmission has finished.

The range of the G7's is reasonably normal for PMR, however don't expect them to work over longer distances if you are in a concrete canyon. I would say, in a builtup area out of line-of-sight, about 200-300 meters is it.

For thier intended use as communication between riders though it works very well, with the speech through the Autocom being very clear. As long as you don't get too far away when entering a built up area they are great to be able to give instructions; or just chat on those longer trips.

Have it back!

Been down and picked up the bike this eve. Have to say that it is looking really good to. Felt like I did when l first went to pick the bike up, getting all excited. Aside from having the repairs done, I have also had a couple of crash bobbins installed. They aren't cheap but hopefully will reduce the extent of damage should I be the victim of another RTI.

On the way home I decided to take the A33. Turned out that was a big mistake as the road was closed just after Hartley Whitley, I assume from an accident given the amount of Police presence.

So, thought to myself, I remember a back route home on an old B road, I'll take that home. Bad idea. Forgot which side turning I wanted and ended up at the wrong end of the A30. What should have been a 20 minute trip home now was going to take at least twice that. In the end it was about 45 minutes to get home. I suppose that it did mean I could get reacquainted with my bike again!

In-helmet headphones

Some time ago I brought the SHS-300 helmet headset by Midland. These are Velcro backed speakers that sit inside your helmet just about where you ears go. Aside from the obvious function of pumping music into your ears while you ride, they also allow you to still your earplugs to block out potentially damaging wind noise. As said the speakers Velcro to the inside of your helmet, and you can run the cable out to the socket under the padding. If you have removable padding then the wire can be routed around to where ever you want the socket. Should you not have removable padding, like me, then you should be able to tuck it into the folds of the foam or carefully pull the padding up to push it behind. The socket that connects to the lead to your MP3 player isn't a standard connector, or rather, isn't your usual 3.5mm jack. Instead it uses a 6 pin "mini-din" plug/socket. I assume this is because it is the same connector used in Midland's full headset/microphones for PMR radios and the like.

The problem has been that since the cable sticks out of the helmet it gets caught by the wind and over time cause the cable to break inside at the plug. If Midland had used a normal 3.5mm jack then there wouldn't have been a problem, as I can go to many stores and get a 3.5mm jack to jack lead for a few quid. As it stands I got my soldering iron out, popped down to Maplin's to get a 3.5mm plug and socket and replaced the mini-din on the headset and lead. One of the other advantages is that the mini-din could only be inserted one way, there are arrows to show you. However if you already had the helmet on and then went to plug it in, you soon found out what a pain it was trying to figure out which way it goes! With my DIY botch job with the jacks I can now insert the plug into the socket without worrying about its orientation.

The sound quality is medium to high. There is enough clarity to be able to hear the music over the road noises and with earplugs in, while still being a good full sound to it. Despite their small size and thinness there is a fair amount of bass and voices come across very well. Of course you don't have to use these just for music, I have used them with my phones SatNav so I can hear the instructions being passed too me, rather then trying to see the screen in broad daylight.

Overall I would definitely recommend these, even with the problems with the cable. If you are happy wielding a soldering iron or know someone who is, I would certainly suggest replacing the mini-din connectors with normal jacks.

Power

Although I have never ridden a powerful bike as such, since taking off the restricter for my bike I can say the bike is much better for it. Firstly it is running much better and smoother, but more importantly it is pulling much better. Before sixth gear was only really for cruising at 70mp, if you opened the throttle in that gear you would only accelerate slowly. Now, although still best to drop a gear, it can actually pull the bike into a faster speed from 60mph. Despite only gaining around 13bhp, it feels like a totally different bike, making over taking much safer.

End of restriction!

Well my 2 years are over and now I can ride any bike I want :D

Given that it has taken time to have some nice(r) weather I have been able to get the bike out and remove the restrictor kit from it. Not only does the engine seem to be running better now, but the increase in power (albeit a small increase the GS500 isn't known for its power) from 33bhp to its native 47bhp. Not much but does enable a far better acceleration curve and is able to maintain its speed even with a strong headwind on the motorway.

Now to look at replacing it!

Yet more mirrors

Back in September I had to change the mirrors on the bike as the factory ones had stopped being able to hold its position. So I brought some (very) cheap mirrors from Busters. To be honest they are pants. The picture on the right shows what has happened to the arms, the chrome has died and allowed the metal underneath to rust out. This has left it looking rather, well rubbish. Mind you for only £12 they have done better then I really expected, although I wasn't expecting them to fail like this!

So looking at "intobikes" website I found some new ones by Motrax. A little under £15 each, however I was a little confused as to how to order them. The order from Busters to the old ones was simple, it included both mirrors. However intobikes have it listed as "left or right". As I wasn't sure is this meant that I had to specify a left or right mirror I emailed them. To be honest I wasn't impressed with the reply, it came across as slightly terse. As it turns out the mirrors are literally left or right and by spinning the mirror around on the arm, it can be swapped over.

A few days after ordering they turned up and I installed them very quickly and they look great. Much better then the round mirrors it came with as standard.

Mirror mirror on my bike...

Last September I installed some new mirrors as my old ones weren't staying in the correct positions. Well now the new ones, while operating fine, have started to rust and pit on the stalks! I have now ordered some new, and more expensive, ones from 'intobikes.co.uk' and hope that they will not go the same way. More when I have them!

Heated grips and new bar ends

Had the first chance to use my heated grips today and all I can say is that they are excellent! While I'll admit the ends of my fingers were still cold, the rest of my hand stayed nice and toasty and when I stopped the tips soon warmed up.

Due to the fitment of the new grips my old bar ends wouldn't fit as the grips are slightly longer. As such I asked my Father if he could make up some new ones for me with the exact fitting needed. He has and I have a nice set of aluminium ends for the bike. I just need to polish them up and clear coat them (stop the from tarnishing) and I can get them installed. Picture on the right.

Heated Handlebar Grips

After having had them in my possession for almost a year now, I have finally got my heated handlebar grips installed onto the bike. Not that they are working yet, as Maplin currently have the relay I need on back order, but they have been fitted and the throttle doesn't have any problems.

I toke so long as because they aren't official Suzuki grips they don't have the grooves and flange recesses that the original throttle has. As such a Dremel was needed to remove them. However I didn't want to risk wrecking my original and kept an eye (occasionally) on eBay for a cheap replacement. Finally one came up that I won and I set to work hacking it apart.

Once all the unnecessary bits were removed I installed them onto the bike, ran the cabling down into the headlamp and back down towards the battery. I could wire them direct to the battery, that is a risk though if I accidentally (or someone else) leaves them running and I come back to a flat battery! Hopefully I should have them wired up by next weekend. Just in time as the weather gets colder.

Tank Pack

In my last post I mentioned that my mother had brought me a tank pack from Lidl (of all places). I have to admit that I am very surprised at the overall feel and quality of it. For £13 it is has a map pocket; an expandable main compartment (with loads of little pockets for holding things it); three little compartments around the outside, one of which is removable and can be converted into a "bum bag"; and the magnetic base can be removed from the bag and left on the bike, which also has another map pocket if you don't wish to carry the full bag. Carrying wise, it fixes to the bike using magnets (so useless for anyone with an aluminium or plastic/carbon fibre tank) and has two straps to help hold the bag in the unlikely case of the magnets failing, can be held with a handle in the top, over the shoulder or as a backpack.

It has a good weight to it as the fabric seems of a good quality and feels very robust. Overall it is a good buy for what little money it costs.

Mods to the bike

OK so they aren't earth shattering changes. I can't see the point of doing that much to the bike as I am not planning on keeping it for too long, but here is the small list of what I have done to the bike:

Screen
Brake and Clutch levers
Mirrors
Alarm
Dash lamps changed to LEDs

As posted up a while ago I changed my helmet to an Aria Chaser. Here is a picture of it on the beach when I went down to the coast.

New Mirrors

I have always had problems with my right side mirror with it not holding its position. This didn't use to be a major problem, just and inconvenience of having to adjust it regularly. However recently it became harder and harder to get it to keep in place, and now refuses to give me any view other then the floor. Had it been the left side I wouldn't have worried so much, but as it was the right it makes overtaking much harder as I am unable to see what traffic is coming up behind me. So I brought some new ones from Busters. As the bike is merely to get me through my restricted period on my license I didn't want to have to spend a fortune replacing them. Hunting through Busters website turned up a pair for a mere £12. I was worried that they may be really poor quality but decided to give them a go.

As always with Busters the item was in my hands a short two days later (well with my neighbor two days later, I wasn't in when it was delivered!). Once I had them I got them installed on the bike. Unlike the ones that I have taken off, the new ones have a slight reduction in the reflected image. I guess, should they have been factory fitted, it would have the little sticker saying; "Warning, objects may appear smaller then they actually are!". This seems to be a good thing in reality as it shows less of my shoulder and more of the road around me. Have yet to take them out on a good old road trip but hopefully they will be as good, if not better, then the last pair!

New brake and clutch levers

Installed the new brake and clutch levers which were surprisingly easy to do. In all about 20 minutes to change both sides.

Damaged clutch lever

Finished product

Although the blue of the levers isn't quite to the same as the tank but hopefully they are far enough away to not be that noticeable.

Screen update

Just a little update. After having spent the weekend riding with my new screen, I had to re-adjust it after having moved my headlight up a bit. The adjustment means that the screen is a little more upright but provides a little more wind protection so I don't have to lean as far down to be fully protected.

Screens and Radios

The new screen has worked brilliantly. After joining the motorway I didn't notice that anything was different, until I realised that the buffeting that I was receiving was greatly reduced. On picking up speed I can now duck down behind it and not end up with my head bouncing around! For £30 it is a great buy and I am glad I have it.

I want to talk about PMR radios. I recently brought a couple of cheap radios for myself and the other half to use when we go out. £25 each from Lidl. To be honest they are worse then rubbish for motorbikes. Once you get above about 40mph you can't understand a word that comes through them, the mics just pick up the wind noise. Another little issue is the push-to-talk button is hard to position. I ended up putting it onto the clutch side handlebar, which was the only place to put it and still be able to use it, but it meant I couldn't hold the grip properly. Not only that, I had nowhere to put my right thumb and ended up hitting the horn too often. The radios themselves work well and they are quite clear without the headsets. For the price you also get all the sub-channels. So, good radios in their own right but no use for what they are sold for, on bikes. That said they were actually cheaper then models that only have the eight main channels.

Screen and Tyre

After having spent all week looking forward to the weekend when I am going for a nice ride to visit friends, I went to work on my bike yesterday and as I wheeled it out of the garage I saw a dreaded screw stuck in my rear tyre. Not what I want two days before I am due to do a 160mile trip! Thankfully the guys a Just Motorcycles have been able to fit me in to replace the rear tyre. I have also brought from them a cargo net costing a mear £1.50, bargin!

The screen turned up yesterday, considering that it was posted at 7:55pm it is impressive that it turned up this quickly, top marks for speed to Busters. Overall it was very easy to fit. Simply removing the bolts that secure the headlamp, fitting the two brackets supplied with the pack then connecting the screen to the brackets. Personally I think it finishes off the front of the bike, will find out tomorrow if it is actually any good. For £30 can't complain though!

Screen

The main problem with riding a naked bike is the amount of buffeting you get up to motorway speeds. So to try and reduce it to a hopefully lower level, I have brought a small screen from Busters Accessories for £30. Cheap yes, but we will wait and see if it is effective; hopefully! More when I have received it.

-UPDATE- Received the screen yesterday (8th) will try and fit tonight.

Oil change isn't fun

Having brought my bike back in September I have not been sure when it last had its oil changed. So as I am looking at going to a friends house next weekend who lives a fair distance, which seems like a good precaution to change the oil. Read up on the net using the GS500 Wiki for guidance as well as my Haynes manual. The process is quite simple really, remove sump plug, empty the oil, open up the oil filter and drain. Replace the sump plug with a new washer, replace oil filter and gasket (remember to grease it), fill with oil.

The whole process went smoothly, except the oil catch tray I brought from Halfords is rubbish! When the oil came out it poured faster then I thought, it hit the grooves on the tray and spurted over the road. It is a six litre black gerry-can style cost about £4.50, avoid!

Another thing that was accomplished today was changing the lamps on the console to LEDs. Here is a picture, unfortunately I couldn't time getting the indicators, but it is as bright as the neutral lamp.