Big Meet - Masham

Helen and I went out yesterday with Nukb for the first big meet of 2010 at Masham. Helen went on a ride over some goats tracks with Deb, while I went on a red run led by Muddy.

I met Muddy and Dan at Clitheroe services and we then took the A59 to Skipton. We turned left in Gisburn and took the A682 to Long Preston. In Long Preston we turned left and joined the A65 to Settle. We didn’t stop in Settle and continued on to Hawes via the Ribblehead Viaduct on the B6479 and B6255. We soon arrived in Hawes and stopped for a quick brew.

NUKB Masham Big Meet April 2010 from Cavturbo on Vimeo

We left Hawes on minor roads and went over Buttertubs Pass to Muker. At Muker we joined the B6270 and took that all the way to Reeth. We continued on through Reeth and Grinton on the B6270 and the turned left onto the A6108 to Richmond. In Richmond we joined the B6271 to Scorton where we continued on the B6271 to Northallerton. Just before Northallerton we turned left in Yafford and cut across to the A684. We took this road all the way to Bedale and then joined the B6268 to Masham. We arrived in Masham at about 12:30pm, several groups had already arrived, including Helen’s group.

Grinton to Masham via Richmond & Northallerton from Cavturbo on Vimeo

We spent a decent amount of time chatting with the other regions at Masham before setting off for home. Helen’s wrists had started hurting so we both broke off our previous rides and headed back with CJ and the main Lancs group. We left Masham on the A6108 heading for Middleham. Just after Middleham we turned left and cut across to the A684 to miss out going through Leyburn. We continued on the A684 all the way to Hawes passing through Aysgarth and Bainbridge. The rest of the group stopped in Hawes, but Helen and I continued back to Settle via the Ribblehead Viaduct. We stopped in Hawes for a cream tea at the Ye Olde Naked Man Cafe. While we where there the rest of the Lancs group turned up and also the Yorkshire red run.

Helen and I said farewell to everyone and proceeded home on our own via Rathmell and Sawley. Then onto the A59 past Clitheroe on our way back to Heywood via the M66.

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Ice Creams in Reeth

Helen and I went on a rideout with NUKB last Sunday. It was a ride over to Reeth for some ice creams, the ride was organised and led by DocB.

We met up at Clitheroe Services for 9:30am and headed out up the A59 to Skipton. We turned off at Sawley as usual and headed via Rathmell to Settle. We passed through Settle and then turned right onto the B6479 and then turned right onto minor roads at Langcliffe. We took some lovely goat tracks via Malham Tarn and Arncliffe. We then turned left onto the B6160 and headed into Kettlewell, where we stopped for a short while to have a brew at the Cottage Tea Room.

We left Kettlewell and headed towards Braidley we negotiated Park Rash and passed alongside Hunters Stone Bank. We then passed through Horsehouse and Gammersgill before arriving in Carlton. We then continued through Melmerby and Agglethorpe before joining the A684 at Wensley. We continued down the A684 into Leyburn where we took a left and headed over Preston Moor Towards Reeth. We then went over Ellerton Moor before dropping down into Grinton. At Grinton we joined the B6270 and headed into Reeth for lunch.

After lunch we continued down the B6270 heading for Muker. We passed through Healaugh, Feetham and Gunnerside on the way to Muker. Just after Muker we turned left and headed over Buttertubs Pass to Hawes. We then took the B6255 to Ribblehead Viaduct and then turned left onto the B6479 and headed back into Settle. We then continued home via Rathmell, Sawley and then over Slaidburn back to the M66.

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Modifications to Helen’s VFR

Helen decided even before she bought the VFR that she wanted a set of Variobars fitting to the VFR, so she didn’t have to lean heavily on her wrists. She bought the set of Gilles Variobars and bar riser kit in silver at the same time as she bought the bike from Hunts.

I unpacked the bars and was very impressed by the quality of the bars and components. The instructions I wasn’t so impressed with, they were in bad translated English and the extra instructions and kit of parts for a VFR were useless. The picture and instructions I believe refer to the previous VFR model as in 1 of the pictures a pipe is missing in the picture which gets in the way of their intended clutch routing path. So I completely disregarded the instructions and went about installing the bars as I thought best.

I started with the left bar first and it became quickly evident that the clutch would need re-routing or it wouldn’t reach the fluid reservoir. So I drained and disconnected the pipe and re-routed it over the top of all of the brake pipes and cabling on the left side, then reconnected it and filled and bled it back up. I also re-routed all the cables to the left bar switches, they were originally on the inside of the fork, but had to be routed on the outside of the fork. Although the bars have many adjustment positions, due to the location of the screen pillars and tank I was limited to only a few of them. Next I started on the right hand bar, fortunately the brake pipe to the reservoir just about fitted and so I didn’t need to adjust it at all. I did find that the throttle cable and wiring to the switches wasn’t going to work in there original positions. I had to loosen the throttle cables at the engine to enable me to disconnect them at the throttle grip. Once they were disconnected I found that they were best routed on the inside of the fork, rather than the outside. I also had to re-route the cabling to the switches on the outside of the fork instead of the inside. Once everything was connected back up and I turned the bars from lock to lock, everything just about reached and the bars don’t hit the screen or tank.

With the bars installed I then put the new Oxford heated grips on, they went on pretty easy and the installation is very simple. It is suggested they are connected direct to the battery, but other people have noticed that they do drain some power even when they aren’t switched on. So I decided to connect them to the battery via a relay that was switched in by the rear tail light circuit. At the same time I also connected in the old Autocom unit that was installed on her previous BMW F800ST.

Helen is very happy with the position of the bars on the bike and feels the riding position is now very similar to her previous bike. Lets just hope that when MOT time comes round next year that the bars pass with flying colours, as I am not too sure what the criteria for bar movement is.

While I was in the garage I also fitted some invisible film to both sides of the tank, as Helen like me has a habit of gripping the tank with her knees and potentially wearing the paint away on both sides of the tank.

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MOT and Brakes on ZX-9R

I had the bike MOT’d in Rochdale at Pems Garage last week. The bike passed easily, but he advised me to have a look at the front brake callipers as they were binding slightly.

So I got some new HH sintered pads and went about fitting them to the bike. I disconnected the left hand side calliper first and gave it a good clean up with brake cleaner. I discovered that 2 of the six pistons where well stuck in. With the help of Helen and some carefully placed screwdrivers I managed to get them pushed all the way out and then gave them a good cleaning. I then put the new pads in and greased up the callipers and refitted them. I then went and did then same thing to the right hand side calliper. I found the same 2 pistons on this calliper sticking as well. So I carried out the same procedure to unbind them on this calliper and then fitted the pads and greased it up and refitted it. I then lifted the front wheel off the ground while Helen spun the front wheel, very much improved with little or no binding now. I do however think at the end of the year that I will strip down the callipers and eject all the pistons and clean and grease them up.

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