The new battery arrived today, to replace the naked one on the ZX-9R. Kawasaki wanted £72 for the battery but I managed to get it off Ebay delivered for £29.99.
It is a genuine Yuasa YTX9-BS battery, but I did have to put the acid in myself. Which was something I have never had to do before. Just put it on charge in the garage before I put it on the bike tomorrow.
After snowing on Wednesday last week the weather has really picked up over the last couple of days. With the roads having dried off and the weather forecast looking sunny all day, we decided to head on on a short run to Hawes to blow off the cobwebs.
We left home and then filled up with fuel at the local garage as we were both on reserve. We headed over to Clitheroe services to have a quick toilet stop, our morning coffee has always gone through us by then. I tried to start my bike at Clitheroe but it failed first time and then the battery didn’t have enough power to start it. So Helen had to push me and on the third attempt it started and stayed running. The battery is obviously no good, so i will have to order one shortly.
We left Clitheroe and followed our usual route to Settle via the minor backs roads of Sawley and Wigglesworth. We passed by Settle and joined the B6479 and passed through Horton in Ribblesdale, we noticed that the nice tearoom was open but decided to stop there on the way back. So we continued on and headed for Ribblehead Viaduct, where we turned right on to the stunning B6255 to Hawes. We arrived in 
Hawes in no time but the B6255 has suffered a bit over winter as a few potholes had appeared. It was only resurfaced the other year so they obviously didn’t do a good job on it. We didn’t stop in Hawes and immediately turned around and head back to Horton in Ribblesdale and stopped at the tearoom for lunch.
We left Horton in Ribblesdale and retraced our route back home. By the time we got to the M66 it was starting to get a bit colder now, but we managed to get home bother it really started to affect us. Due to the salt that was about on all the roads we decided it would be best to wash the bikes. Looks like the water board has really backed the pressure off on the mains water over winter.
Turned the ZX-9R and K1300S over yesterday as it has seemed ages since they were last out.
The ZX-9R thought about it for a while but started after about 3 seconds of holding the start button down. I then went for a quick run around the block to check it was running well. Didn’t seem to have any issues although the brakes could have been better. I plan on stripping them down and replacing the seals this year at some point. Forgot I hadn’t put the bracket back on that holds the rider’s seat on, and manage to loose the bolt that fastens it down. Sourced one from Kawasaki for about £1.50, don’t think I will forget to do that again.
The BMW started first time with no issues, I couldn’t go out on it though as it doesn’t currently have an MOT. Unless the weather improves it also looks like I may have to make it SORN as well, tax runs out end of month. Which will be the first time for me. Really itching now to get out on one of the bikes for a decent run, but it not worth risking it in this current climate.
