Don't get me started and woohoo!

So had a call from NR again today. Thanks to their dedicated work the problem with my bike is now known; a sticky valve due to its shim(?) being too tight. I'll admit my knowledge on the components of engines is limited! Anyhow, the bike has been a pain in the proverbial as to gain access to the valve the engine needed to come out. The exhaust bolts are fused to the engine and would need to be drilled out, so to save money they have removed the engine with exhaust attached. Next while gaining access to the innards of the engine one of the engine bolts was badly corroded and snapped, again this will need to be drilled out by the looks of it.

Aside from that problems with corroded and snapping bolts at least the problem is now known and should be fixable. Although not given a time, I am hopeful I will be able to pick the bike up this Friday.

Engine update

Had a call from NR yesterday and it seems there is no compression in cylinder two when cold. The current thought is that it is the exhaust valve so hopefully it is a "simple" as a valve replacment and I am back on the road again.

Fingers crossed and touching wood!!

Broken again

It seems I have nothing but bad luck with this bike. It has gone back in to have its engine checked out as it is only starting on one cylinder, yet when warm runs on both. So far the guys at Nick Robinsons haven't found the cause of it. Here is hoping that when they do find out what it is, it is a cheap fix, though I have a funny feeling it won't be. Just my luck really. If anyone who may read this has any ideas let me know.

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.

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!

Ice stops play

This was the first day in months where I haven't used my bike. All due to the snow that fell last night and the freezing temperatures. Combined they turned the road I live at into an ice rink. Annoyingly none of the roads (major or minor) have been gritted so I didn't want to risk riding down to work. Also last year when a similar thing happened, work didn't grit the carpark and it would have been stupidly slippery to get down to where I normally park up.

Hopefully tomorrow is another day and a slightly warmer day, well at least not freezing!

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.

Valve Cover Gasket

1 week in and it seems that the leak fro the valve cover gasket has been stopped. So far I can find no indication of the leak coming back so fingers crossed that is solved. One little thing is to make sure that you have the bike on very level ground before checking your oil level. I thought the road just outside of my house was reasonably level, however I check last time by bringing it into the garage (defiantly level) and it showed that I had a sump full of oil. Outside on the road it was saying I was getting a little low.

ER-6F Movie

Kawasaki have updated their website pages to account for the new 2009 bikes. The ER-6F has had an overhaul on its pages an I found this video to advertise it. Anyone know where this is, I'd love to ride round there!!

There is also a PDF download for a factheet available too.