Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Hi all.
Just a quick post to say that Mrs JT and I are back on two wheels after our big off in Aug 2023.
We are both 95% healed and to be fair the other 5% I guess we will have live with. We were able to venture back out on the bike late on in the summer as here in the UK the summer weather was extremely poor until later in the year around late July/early August. So between other chores we were able to try out riding once again during what was left of the weather and so far so good.

Don't think we will be setting off to do any Iron Butt rides any time soon but we have been trying out our favourite routes and will probably build up to longer rides next year. The gamble of keeping the bikes has proved a good move as being too hasty and selling up would have now be seen as being a massive mistake.

Whilst we were out on our last ride back in August I noticed one of those pro-photographers at a hairpin on one of the more famous passes in the North of England (Hartside Pass). Didn't think much about it until I found my snaps on-line and ordered up a couple to be framed. I'll attach the pics here for your critique.




Stay safe folks!!

JT

To get outside on what is likely to be one of the last decently warm days of the 2024 calendar year, I decided to throw my gear on the back of my Twin and take a trip across the Utah portion of the Historic Pony Express Trail. As one of the most desolate places left in the US, I felt like I had the entire desert to myself. I would love to do this again but leave first thing in the morning since it took a lot longer than I anticipated. The end of the trip was in the dark so I think I missed some of the last monuments, not that I would have been able to capture a decent picture of them anyway.

I used a one week trial of Relive.cc to map the trip and take some pictures and videos. If you hit the space bar, you can pause in order to read some of the plaques. Enjoy! I sure did!

https://www.relive.cc/view/vDqgx5Rj7Gv

I'm dedicating this trip and photos to forum member Gonein60 and Mrs. Gonein60 ...it should have been them doing this trip.

I don't even know the year of the bike, but left Portland area last Thursday morning on a BMWF750GS to deliver it to the Long Beach, CA area.

Wanted to get as far south as possible the first day as my goal was to leave plenty of time to ride hiway 395 as much as possible. I-5 south to Redding...


Mt. Shasta looming in the distance late afternoon, some forest fire smoke still lingers


Got I-5 fatigue and made time for a little loop on hiway 263 in northern California near Hawkinsville


This late in the year Shasta has lost its snow cover


Shasta Lake sunset


Felt very nice to swim all alone in the cool waters of the hotel pool after a day of riding

Friday...today was to be the main riding of interest on 395 south of Reno, a hiway I had wanted to ride for some time now. The goal was to get to Bishop, CA and either stay at a hostel I had reserved or look for a hammock-camping spot.


Started by heading east out of Redding through the chilly forests towards Susanville--heated grips and 5 or 6 layers upper body, 3 for legs kept the chill at bay. Then past Reno and towards Lake Tahoe.

The F750GS is easy to ride, passes vehicles easily enough with plenty to spare to really get up and go when necessary.

Just after lunch took hiway 50 west to briefly visit Lake Tahoe. It was the spot of one of my very first long distance mc trips back in 2004, so 20 years later, it was good to see it again. Very fun twisty, winding road up and down.









...
...There was a gorgeous view right before Mono Lake, but alas, truck traffic was thick right at the lookout point where I wanted to pull over. Had to settle with enjoying the long descent down with friendly, gentle curves to take at 85-90mph...very enjoyable. The view below closer to the lake wasn't bad.


Most of the day the elevation was at 7000' plus, and if the hammock was going to be a bed time option, I needed the elevation to drop...I was happy when it began to some time before Bishop.


I rode into Bishop around 6pm and the light was starting to fade. I went past the hostel where I had a bed--along with 9 others in the same room--and I didn't care for the vibe even though it had great on-line reviews. The temps had risen as the elevation dropped and the evening was still at 70f. I had seen a few established campgrounds 5 miles prior so I rode back and didn't like either one--too many skeeters at one site and too many people and $$$ at another. But...I found a baseball field with a concessions stand near the second camp site...it had a lovely row of mature oak trees, picnic tables, and a nice spot to hide the bike from view of anyone overly curious. So I set up the hammock and waited for drowsiness to kick in...



I'm glad I waited...some texts with Gone and a few phone calls to others, some star gazing...and soon it was 9pm and I thought it was time to try out the hammock, fully mc clothed. Right as I was about to get in the Gilligan-bed, the sprinkler system came on...and the sprinkler heads were heavy duty, max water pressure and dousing everything in their path. I sprang to action and removed the hammock.



Had to wait another hour for two sprinkler zones to turn-off, and then...off to bed. If interested, check the Bearbutt hammock system. It works great and is quite comfortable...but, my RLS knees began acting up and sleep evaded me...that and there was an animal trapped in the metal trashcan nearby scratching and clawing. Thought I'd let it out after an hour...but one quick lift of the lid and I realized it was not a racoon, but a ...skunk. Slammed that shut licketysplit. I'm sorry mr. skunk...you deserved to get out, but I was not about to risk getting sprayed. Perhaps you would have innocently scurried away. But perhaps you would have perfumed the area, my bike, my riding gear.

Riding at 50 plus in the dark in the UK with our awful roads, looking for some ideas to improve the headlight with some supplementary lights. Don’t want to go to replace headlight with LED
Have already replaced stock bulb with a night breaker equivalent which has helped but looking for a bit more

Looking for some ideas for front and rear cameras?

Anyone have any fitted can we see what you did?

Thanks

I am looking for the opinion of that guy with a lot of expertise gained in a motorcycle shop.
The repair manual calls for quite a few bolts to be ditched after one time use,
example: mounting bolts on the front brake calipers.
a) what's the rational behind this ?
b) have you done it in your shop, and if you didn't, did this ever cause problems ?

Well, the $114 Firebrand battery that my local dealer sold me as a good replacement for my Yuasa lasted 19 months. Of course it has a 12-month replacement warranty.

Started right up at home off the battery tender jr. Rode about 40 miles and stopped to take a pic for the Photo Challenge and it wouldn't restart. Tried bump starting the bike myself but my 74-year old legs couldn't build up enough steam. After the 4th try 2 good Samaritans pulled over and asked if I could use some help. Godsend. With them pushing it started on the first bump and I thanked them a bunch, put my helmet jacket and gloves back on, and headed straight home. Made it without further issue.

Pulled the battery and now I need to replace it. Also been thinking about one of those battery jump starter things since our other 2 bikes are automatics and can't be bump started.

Another Yuasa? Batteries Plus? Walmart? Definitely not another Firebrand!

Any recommendations on a jump started pack?

I was just reminded about patience. Ok, not a direct motorcycle reference, and yeah, bicycles again, but the principle is the same.

I've been rotating bicycle and motorcycle commuting for the past few months. Recently, I restored an old bike, and I'm really happy about how it came out. It moves fast with rather low effort, so this morning I decided to take it out for the 12.5 mile commute to the office and leave the "new" bike in the garage.

Most of the way in, I got a flat front tire. Bummer. But, I was on a river trail heavily used by serious cyclists, and it wasn't long before I was able to flag down another rider who was carrying a pump. I didn't see anything sticking out of the tire, so I pumped it up and made a mad dash for the office before it went completely flat again. I was curious, as the tube and tire are new as part of my restoration.

While I don't ride with a pump and patch kit, I keep a pump, spare tubes and tools at the office in case they're needed, and glad I had them today.

Taking the tire and tube off of the rim for inspection, I quickly figured out what happened. A sharp plastic clip had gotten inside the tire and sandwiched between the tire and tube, it had worn a hole in the tube. Where did the clip come from and why was it in there?

Thinking back, I had finished the last details of this bike at 3 am in the garage. There was no need to work late into the night. I was tired, bleary-eyed, swigged down a cup of coffee, and kept at it. I thought "I want to see this thing sitting on its own wheels before I go to bed!" That meant cleaning and repacking bearings and reassembling gears before I could get to the tires and tubes to put it all back together.

The clip held the reflector on the wheel. I pulled it off because reflectors are lame, and the reflector was in the way of polishing the spokes. I heard the clip plink around the garage but didn't pay much attention to where it went.

Finally, one of the last steps was to put the tube in the tire, mount them to the wheel and pump it up. Did I notice that the clip had probably stuck to the fresh rubber of the tube? Or inspect the inside of the tire? Nope. Just stay awake and finish the job.

When I staggered to bed, yup, it was on its wheels. I just didn't know that in my tired carelessness, it would need to be back off of a wheel before I knew it.

Get your sleep, people!

Thinking about fitting the Oxygen lambda o2 sensor eliminator kit

Has anyone done it? What benefits were gained?

Thanks