Broke down with a misfire. Caused by that old chestnut, HT lead on frame. EVEN tho' they're wrapped in s.a tape and insulated from frame with rubber. And it weren't even raining!! Got back on the road ok and had a blinding day out with no further problem, but I think an inspection of leads, ccoils and associated wiring is due to commence. First "let down" in 16 years....
Lock onto my co-ordinates and beam me up !!
04 900 - 92 mk 1 - r 1150 rs - Z550 A1 - 2x bonnies - plastic slug -XL185 - ...not in that order !! (and one or two i don't want / dare to own up to !!)
Front end refitted to the bike with shiny re-chromed stations.
While waiting for the stantions to come back I had previously fitted a new air filter, plugs and clutch cable so finished off the service items with new oil and filter.
Bike now tucked away for winter and ready for a fast start after I get back from my ski season work.
Two wrongs dont make a right but three rights make a left.
Pulled all the airbox flap junk off (disabled the vacuum months ago, to great effect), and insulated the base of the airbox with some of that silver insulation you use behind your household radiators. Finished off with aluminium tape around the edges.
Went on a run into the Borders, Eskdale area, after finding the road to St Mary's Loch was closed. I thought it would be a fun diversion to take the road to the south of the reservoir and I was soon lost, without GPS, absolutely great
Rode past the Samye Ling Buddhist monastery, which I'ld only ever heard about before....so at least I found it ! After a few more miles I found the Old School and mill coffee shop. Soup and scone for lunch, and then the return trip, this time without the sun in my eyes...
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I've been tweaking the Ohlins backwards and forwards and found a sweet spot. This is the MT-09 (YA535) Ohlins, with an uprated spring, and the shimming works well enough on the TDM. But i haven't got anything else to compare it to, and found an Ohlins YA506, a genuine TDM900 Ohlins version, on ebay for £150. That arrived yesterday so I've taken the spring off to check the resistance of movement and control of reciprocating motion using the rebound adjuster and there's tons of life left in it, so I'll fit that one soon and see if there's much difference.
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I might take theis latest one to Dunfermline motorcycles for a quick rebuild anyway before he finally closes as a bike shop. He's in talks to sell it to someone who will make it a diver's shop, and with that all his years of experience rebuilding shocks will be gone.
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Haven't been on here much, due to a particularly stressful Christmas/New Year, but things are going better now, so Happy New Year to all
Well worth a stop and walk round got a good cafe etc its grown a lot since I first visited it and the roads too and around it aint bad either. :good: :good: :good:
Well worth a stop and walk round got a good cafe etc its grown a lot since I first visited it and the roads too and around it aint bad either. :good: :good: :good:
I used to know someone who was in the Scottish Buddhist community, he said it was a good place to go too.
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Anyhoo, I couldn't wait for the TDM900 Ohlins (YA 506) to be serviced and decided to fit it and test it out anyway
It has very similar characteristics to the MT-09 version I already had, except it's a bit smoother than the MT-09 on level roads with gentle undulations, so the shims at low pressure must be slightly different, but I'm also putting that difference down to the fact the MT-09 one also had the uprated spring, and the TDM900 uses the Ohlins recommended 'standard' one.
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Next question - I got the shock from Poland, secondhand 'for parts or repair', and was still charged customs duty. I used to believe customs duty was applicable only to new goods. I know you can apply for refund of duty if you have a case for it, does anyone know if secondhand goods are exempt from it or not ?
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From recent research I know the duty doesn't kick in until the value is over £135, so it might be worth remembering to ask any seller to declare a price below that if they can, to save on paperwork
