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Motorcycle advice


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  • 1 month later...

This is the nearest we have to a motorbike thread. No point in starting another one really.

Some of you will have picked up that I do a bit of racing. Obviously there's been none of that going on this year. I did get a couple of trackdays in at Cadwell in early March before it all went to shit. 

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Then after that. Nothing. 

Working 12 hour shifts three on, four off, all of a sudden I had a lot of spare time on my hands. Now you've got to do something haven't you. 

So I located my Dad's old SV650 out the back of the garage. Now Dad bought it new in 2003 from Cupar Motorcycles. He pottered around on it until mid 2011. He was diagnosed with dementia in 2012 and we lost him Christmas Eve 2015. 

It has since sat in the back of the garage at home. Then at mine. 

I finally got round to it a couple of weeks back. Dragged it out of the garage and threw a bucket of water over it. Spent a little time cleaning it up. It came up ok if I'm honest. 

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A new battery and some fuel and away it went. Pleasing :) 

Next was MOT, so off to my friend Paul's shop for it's MOT.

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It passed with an advisory for the (original :o ) tyres.

All cool, I'll be getting new ones very soon. So with it Insured (£68) and taxed for 6 months (£71) I took it for a spin.

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All tolled, it's now at 182 miles since re-commissioning :) 

Having a chat with Paul whilst MOT-ing it, I decided to go the whole hog and replace the essentials as the bike has been sitting dormant for a good few years. 

New brake pad's front and rear. New brake hoses. New brake fluid.

Oil filter, air filter, engine flush and oil.

Spark plugs.  

A complete new Lextech exhaust system. R&G tail tidy and bar ends (there was one missing). 

Chain and sprockets. 

I collected that all from him yesterday so it'll be a busy weekend I think. 

With all that done, I can run around on it until winter. Then I'll look at the suspension. The front will be stripped and serviced (new springs, oil and air gap) and I'll stick a new rear shock in there. Likely a YSS as Paul can do me a good deal and they've worked well on the CB500 race bike. 

I'm planning some heated grips for it too. If I'm going to be commuting on it, I want warm pinkies ;) 

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7 minutes ago, Alert Mongoose said:

busy restoring a bike that he was last on in the mid 90s

Wow!!! A Super Dream...??? I've not seen one of those in years.

Back in the day, a friend had a 400 Super Dream. I thought it was the fastest thing on earth :lol: 

Then I got a LC ;) 

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Just now, Trackdaybob said:

Wow!!! A Super Dream...??? I've not seen one of those in years.

Back in the day, a friend had a 400 Super Dream. I thought it was the fastest thing on earth :lol: 

Then I got a LC ;) 

Yeah. He got a bit of a shock when he finally got it on the road.  Having got used to his SV he was struggling to get the thing moving!

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3 minutes ago, Black Pennel said:

Wonder why nobody mentioned the SV when the chap was asking for suggestions ?

Did nobody mention it? You sure? 

I'm not looking through to check but if you're right, we've all missed a trick. They're great wee bikes. Surprisingly capable in the right hands. 

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On 18/06/2020 at 21:28, Alert Mongoose said:

My old man doesn’t take to well to sitting around so has been busy restoring a bike that he was last on in the mid 90s.

Missing getting a few runs this year. Hoping to get a couple in before the weather turns.

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The 125 version of this was my first bike.

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  • 1 month later...
  • 4 weeks later...

Been a busy couple of months. Went to Donington end of July to compete in the Thundersport GB 500 Seniors championship. 

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Good weekend all round despite the weathers best efforts. Quite pleased with how it went. I ran in the top 10 all weekend. Just :lol: 

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Then off to Croft for a couple of trackdays with James whitham Track Training.

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I do like Croft. It is a fantastic circuit and the section from Tower to Sunny Out is the most fantastic ribbon of track. Fast, technical and a right challenge. Love it. 

Again, early on, the weather did its best to put us off.

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No chance ;) 

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Few laps with Christian Iddon in close attendance. 

Then out on my own.

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Into August and off to Cadwell for a couple of trackdays. Better than working :) 

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Then in early September it was Mallory Park for another Thundersport GB round.

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It was another successful weekend with four 8th places. 

Now I've decided to miss the forthcoming round at Oulton Park and have elected to come home to Knockhill 3-4 October instead. Then the final Thundersport round end of October at Cadwell Park. 

In the meantime I have two trackdays at Cadwell next Wednesday and Thursday then on Friday it's off to Anglesey for more of the same. If they'll let me in. 

Trying to squeeze a lot of events into a short period of time is taking its toll though. I'm enjoying it none the less. It's just nice to be back out when a few months back the whole season was written off. I have to say the efforts by the circuits, race clubs and trackday organisers have been fantastic. They've gone to great lengths to ensure events can take place whilst maintaining Covid-19 measures as far as is practicable. 

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Away from the track I have been using the SV650 to commute to work. I also took the time to get the wheels out, get them powder coated, new bearings and tyres too. 

Looking much better.

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Have to say I'm impressed with the new tyres. Continental Sport Attack 4's. Really nice, solid feeling on the road and steer well. Not tried them on track yet but I will get a session or two done on them before the year is out.

I've also bought a TRX850. Always wanted one. Finally, I got one. From a really nice chap near Dunkeld. 

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It has also been used on the commute but is currently sat in the garage with the front end stripped out and off getting serviced and modified for a better set up. 

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I'm also considering getting the wheels done similar to the SV and new tyres which will either be the same Continental's or maybe Dunlop Sportmax TT's which I also use on the Honda. Then there's the front brakes to do. The previous owner has fitted the nice 'blue spot' calipers from a R1 but not the matching master cylinder. Fortunately I have a matching master cylinder lying around which will suit the calipers much better as currently, whilst the brakes work, they don't feel great. The R1 master cylinder will improve that no end. 

Busy times. Always something going on in the garage ;) 

 

 

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