Any Motörbike riders here?

Dominic

Got caught (ill prepared ) in a solid downpour yesterday ........drenched
Although often not sunny the numerous dry days and nights of the last few months made me forget how bloody miserable it can be on two wheels when you're wet,cold and getting spray from the vehicles in front

thebreeze

Had a character building ride yesterday.  7.5 hours in the saddle.  I had a meeting near London and set off expecting a bit of rain which was duly delivered almost as soon as I set off.  The ride there was okay though as the sun did come out.  It was the ride back that was challenging.  At about 3pm I got to Chippenham and thought I’d head for the M4 and cross the Severn Bridge into Wales.  As the storm hit that seemed like a massive mistake but I didn’t really have much choice.  It was very, very intense - everything went dark, winds blowing all over the place, torrential cold rain.  Crossing the bridge was frightening if I’m honest and I did a 45-50mph just hang on, keep her upright and hope for the best.  Spray, lorries, heavy traffic.  I got home and could barely move.  The hot water bottle didn’t leave my hands for the whole of last night!

AK99

Dominic said:

Got caught (ill prepared ) in a solid downpour yesterday ........drenched
Although often not sunny the numerous dry days and nights of the last few months made me forget how bloody miserable it can be on two wheels when you're wet,cold and getting spray from the vehicles in front

I don't mind the wet so much, not a big fan of the cold - but really get jarred off with that dirt permanently over your visor thing from the first time you come anywhere near a lorry.

Reason I was out in the wet was I had to take the old rhino over to the Harley mech who gave the bike the once-over a while back, and get him to sort some long-standing niggling stuff. Glad to report It now has a carb with no air-leaks, a working rear-brake cylinder, stiffer fork-springs and fluid, and is wearing a fresh set of tyres both of which are (I believe) firmly from the current millennium.

Got soaked to the bolox on the 1 hour ride over, and similarly drenched on the way back. Just need a bit of a dry day to go out for a proper spin and see if it feels much/any different.

JEM

I took the bike for a spin over to Coalville (exotic!) to see my mum yesterday. Thankfully it stayed dry but it was flippin' cold. Time to dig out the thermal liners.

Edit to add: My pinlock wasn't working very well either. Not sure it it's just not sealing properly or if it's knackered.

Dominic

I'll do about 100 miles tomorrow but I suspect it will be one of the last 'pleasure'rides before next March although I'll still commute into central  London (14 miles ) unless it's icy

cruxiform

Anybody got touring plans for this year? I have a ferry booked to Spain for the third week in May. Plan is a few days in the Picos, then a couple of days riding across to Barcelona for the Catalunya MotoGP. After that, over the Pyrenees and from there no plan really, just follow the weather and return via Calais.  Got 15 days. 

Can't flippin' wait. Had a 'mare of a year. Going on the mighty K again. 

Haych

Got a tour booked in the Pyrenees in June with Chicken Strips. Looking forward to it. 

That said it’s touch and go whether I can realistically go but keeping everything crossed!

cruxiform

Sounds good, I love the Pyrenees and in June you should see the high passes open. Fingers crossed you can go! I like the French side, I’ll be crashing at a mates place for a day or two who lives near Limoux. 

12 weeks today I’ll be riding to Plymouth for the ferry. Not that I’m counting the days or anything  

Haych

cruxiform said:

Sounds good, I love the Pyrenees and in June you should see the high passes open. Fingers crossed you can go! I like the French side, I’ll be crashing at a mates place for a day or two who lives near Limoux. 

12 weeks today I’ll be riding to Plymouth for the ferry. Not that I’m counting the days or anything  

Daft question, but sounds like you have more experience of that part of the world; what’s temperatures/weather like in the Pyrenees in June?

cruxiform

Haych said:

cruxiform said:

Sounds good, I love the Pyrenees and in June you should see the high passes open. Fingers crossed you can go! I like the French side, I’ll be crashing at a mates place for a day or two who lives near Limoux. 

12 weeks today I’ll be riding to Plymouth for the ferry. Not that I’m counting the days or anything  

Daft question, but sounds like you have more experience of that part of the world; what’s temperatures/weather like in the Pyrenees in June?

June is nice. Usually around 25c in the day but if you're in the mountains it can get as low as 5c. Night times will be nippy too. That said, the last couple of years have been very hot due to the hotter summers we seem to be getting now. I wouldn't normally go in May but I'm hedging my bets it will be warm enough although up on the passes there is likely to be snow. Just keep an eye on the weather and dress accordingly. I've got a set of Alpinestars Drystar textiles with removal thermal liners which covers most secenarios.

I'll try to remember to post some pictures when I go as it'll only be a couple of weeks before you are there and it would probably give you an idea of what to expect.

cruxiform

Also, it's not just about the mountain passes, some of the roads at ground level in the Pyrenees are sublime, on the Spanish side the N260 is legendary. I've ridden it from Jaca all the way to Ripoll many times.

Dominic

cruxiform said:

Also, it's not just about the mountain passes, some of the roads at ground level in the Pyrenees are sublime, on the Spanish side the N260 is legendary. I've ridden it from Jaca all the way to Ripoll many times.

So Have I ........great road

Dominic

cruxiform said:

Anybody got touring plans for this year? I have a ferry booked to Spain for the third week in May. Plan is a few days in the Picos, then a couple of days riding across to Barcelona for the Catalunya MotoGP. After that, over the Pyrenees and from there no plan really, just follow the weather and return via Calais.  Got 15 days. 

Can't flippin' wait. Had a 'mare of a year. Going on the mighty K again. 

Great bike for that kind of a ride/tour.......speed, power,comfort, easy to live with and handles nicely for a big bike

Haych

Thanks @cruxiform, I’ve not been to that part of the world before and want to enjoy the ride rather than worrying about the weather. 

I prefer to travel light and not take all the gear for every eventuality, but still - I don’t want to find out I’m caught short and find I’ve packed for 25C dry days and end up with 5C and sideways rain. 

cruxiform

Dominic said:

cruxiform said:

Anybody got touring plans for this year? I have a ferry booked to Spain for the third week in May. Plan is a few days in the Picos, then a couple of days riding across to Barcelona for the Catalunya MotoGP. After that, over the Pyrenees and from there no plan really, just follow the weather and return via Calais.  Got 15 days. 

Can't flippin' wait. Had a 'mare of a year. Going on the mighty K again. 

Great bike for that kind of a ride/tour.......speed, power,comfort, easy to live with and handles nicely for a big bike

Thanks, it's my third one, I love them. I wish BMW had kept making them as they are the perfect sports tourer in my opinion. I get it that they needed to concentrate on the K1600 and the S1000R but they just don't tick the boxes for me. I've tried other bikes but always come back to the big K. I can't see me selling this one to be honest. If I buy another bike, this will go into storage.

Devil#20

Just bought some new bike gloves. What's the best stuff to put on them to soften them up a bit and make them quicker to break in? 

Dominic

cruxiform said:

Dominic said:

cruxiform said:

Anybody got touring plans for this year? I have a ferry booked to Spain for the third week in May. Plan is a few days in the Picos, then a couple of days riding across to Barcelona for the Catalunya MotoGP. After that, over the Pyrenees and from there no plan really, just follow the weather and return via Calais.  Got 15 days. 

Can't flippin' wait. Had a 'mare of a year. Going on the mighty K again. 

Great bike for that kind of a ride/tour.......speed, power,comfort, easy to live with and handles nicely for a big bike

Thanks, it's my third one, I love them. I wish BMW had kept making them as they are the perfect sports tourer in my opinion. I get it that they needed to concentrate on the K1600 and the S1000R but they just don't tick the boxes for me. I've tried other bikes but always come back to the big K. I can't see me selling this one to be honest. If I buy another bike, this will go into storage.

I spent a bit of time with the M sport one about 5 years ago ...really enjoyed it but the awful lock to lock steering and turning circle got on my nerves around town....I have a sportbike but I'm toying with the K1600 Bagger for a nice touring scoot for the longer days /journeys

Haych

The weather has started to get a little bit better so have managed to get out on the bike for a couple of pleasure rides recently.

I did do some commuting mid February on the bike but the last ride home after work was a dark and very, very wet affair - the heavens emptied in biblical proportions and I got very wet on the way home (at least on the outside - the Gore Tex did a remarkable job), and could barely see anything!

Oh, and I picked up my first puncture at work, which I opted to repair myself since the tyres are well past their best (see below) and the £50 quoted to repair it is much better spend on new rubber.  I did a proper tyre off and combo patch/plug job so should be good until I replace it in a few weeks.

I did have the stupid notion of selling the bike and putting the money towards paying off the mortgage, for what little I'd get for it, but after the last ride out I have decided differently, I had such a great time and it reminded me what biking was all about.  Even for an old bike it's running so well and can do everything a much newer bike can I know I'd miss it badly if I did sell it (and probably end up replacing it with something identical).

I'm not a speed demon by any definition of the phrase, but I'm trying to push myself a bit more in the turns and it's becoming much more rewarding.  I usually record my rides with a GoPro and the playback is still pedestrian when I look at the speeds I'm doing though the bends, but I'm getting into a nice rhythm with things and hopefully warming up for a good few days in the Pyrenees in June.  The new suspension is helping in that regard too - the back end wasn't so bad but the front shock was well past it's best and it felt unpredictable a lot of the time, it's much more planted and feels much more in contact with the road now.

I've also started giving the bike some love - one of my biggest bugbears with the BMW is the selective use of stainless fasteners.  It's a good few years old now and the bolts that aren't stainless really show their age, so I've been buying a few S/S screws, bolts, washers and nuts every now and then and tarting the old thing up a bit, it's made the world of difference and has taken years off the bike for very little money.

If I can get some stainless bleed nipples and banjo bolts for the callipers it should just about finish it off!

Next job, I need some good tyres before I go to the Pyrenees.  Been using Metzeler Roadtec 01 SE for the last 6000 or so miles, they still have a good amount of tread left but would like some fresh rubber before hitting the Spanish mountains.

The Metzelers were ok and I have nothing really bad to say about them except they have cupped quite badly and they are quite noisy.

What's everyone's choice of tyres?

Michelin Road 6 seem to be very popular but thinking I might opt for Pirelli Angel GT IIs - in that sort of price range I don't think you can get a bad tyre and I'm unlikely to be pushing the limit of the bike but would welcome any recommendations and experiences all the same.

Kittyfrisk

Devil#20 said:

Just bought some new bike gloves. What's the best stuff to put on them to soften them up a bit and make them quicker to break in? 

Guitar forum answer is Monty's Montypresso wax...

Seriously, I'd be looking at Nikwax or Meindl 'Wetproof' waxes.

cruxiform

What's everyone's choice of tyres?

Michelin Road 6 seem to be very popular but thinking I might opt for Pirelli Angel GT IIs - in that sort of price range I don't think you can get a bad tyre and I'm unlikely to be pushing the limit of the bike but would welcome any recommendations and experiences all the same.

Mine are the Michelins, I’m a creature of habit and had them since the Pilot 4s. Good all rounders and especially good in the wet.