Welcome To Bikes And Travels...
...It's about bikes...and travels...mostly on bikes!
Winter is coming, apparently. Do we wrap up warm and head out or stay home safe from the cold and Covid? Only time will tell.
What's New?
Are We Safe?
Ian Douglas shares his thoughts and jarring experiences of riding on the UK's poorly funded road network.
A £39 New Front Brake
Ren has been flashing the cash by splashing out on some braking bling for the 125. Here begins the El Cheapo Brake Adventure
Rust And Brakes
Winter is the enemy not only of motorcycle riders but also of motorcycles themselves. Sharon and Ren are doing battle.
Out On Me Ear
Our brave and heroic muppet has suffered a minor setback in his quest for world domination. If only he wasn't such a lazy halfwit.
A Victim Of Marketing
Naval gazing. The inevitable conclusion of too much lockdown and not enough motorcycling. Ren realises he's as dumb as he looks.
Smokey Startup CBF125
Like an old callous handed and broken backed builder Ren's 125 is coughing up unpleasantries when asked to get going. With that pleasant image in your mind, read on.
Suzuki DL 250 V Strom Valve Clearance Check
Nigel's guide to servicing the tappets on Suzuki's 250 Adventure model suggests it's not too much trouble for the home mechanic
A Bolton Christmas Anti-Extravaganza
Christmas, a time to ride. Alas Ren's not feeling it but he does manage to make a half assed effort at least. So, erm, what's up with his home town?
Ireland And The Sunny South East - Xmas 2020
Nigel is making the most of an all to brief respite in the Covid restrictions by getting out and about in Ireland. Despite the icy weather it's surprising what you can squeeze into a few days out.
Coffee Liqueur In The Airbox
Obviously Ren knows Honda's CBF125 better than its creator, Honda. Here he investigates the complex issues of crankcase breathers and offers some bad advice.
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Latest Posts
CBF 125 OE TVS Tyres...Yikes!
Marv said :-
Before new year, you could get the K66 in the correct 100/90/17 size. Unfortunately since B****t kicked it doesn't seem possible to get them in the UK currently.
So I plumped for 100/80/17 for just over £60. Can be seen on eBay for as low as £47, but only found that afterwards, bah!
The red dust is from the old non o-ring chain, where the pins were rusting in the chains rollers... Which is why I've gone for an o-ring chain this time...
The bike has covered just shy of 23k miles. It's in pretty good condition. Far from like new though, as the original owner kept it outside and also dropped it a few times.
I still enjoy owning it, and have been treating it as a little rolling restoration project and I've been progressively tidying things up as I go. Good practice for when I work on my other bikes too
I would have cleaned up that red dust, but was keen to take it out for a ride in the nice weather we've had this late Feb!
Here's a pic of it from Autumn last year:
26/02/2021 03:03:04 UTC
CBF 125 OE TVS Tyres...Yikes!
Ren - The Ed¹ said :-
I'm not seeing the standard 100/90 - 17 listed on Heidenau's website for the K66, so what size have you plumped for? And at what cost? I'd be interested to hear your experiences.
As a side not looking at your super-shiny new front sprocket I can see a dark orange on the frame. Is this some kind of lube or the thin end of some surface rust? They are prone to rusting in that area.
70,000 miles to catch up? So yours has about 20,000 miles on it? It looks very smart.
26/02/2021 01:02:21 UTC
CBF 125 OE TVS Tyres...Yikes!
Marv said :-
A Heidenau K66 is now fitted to the rear wheel off my bike! Was a pain getting the new tyre on. Not sure I'd attempt it again. I suspect the slightly narrower sidewall didn't help.
My tyre pump wasn't powerful enough to seat the bead either...garage charged me the princely sum of £0.00 for pumping it up with their air line.
Treated the CBF125 to a new o-ring chain and replaced both sprockets too.
All back together now and ready to cover the 70,000 miles to catch up with Ren's CBF 125! Heidenau's seem good, though I need to cover more miles to bed them in.
26/02/2021 11:51:31 UTC
Suzuki DL 250 V Strom Valve Clearance Check
Ren - The Ed¹ said :-
Then don't come unprepared to Horwich. Bring either a concise and informed knowledge of engines, or a taser.
25/02/2021 02:49:38 UTC
Suzuki DL 250 V Strom Valve Clearance Check
Upt'North said :-
The strangest thing about your reply Ed, is I believe every word of it. Every blummin one.
Upt'North.
25/02/2021 02:20:40 UTC
Bike Reviews
Ren - The Ed¹ said :-
Blimey! I'm reminded of Bob collecting SLR650s for a while. The XJ900 was just a darn good solid bike from what I know. Much like the Fazer FZS600 it was one of those machines that just worked. They didn't set the world on fire with crazy performance and race winning handling so they were overlooked but for real humans in the real world - spot on.
Obviously far too big and powerful for me, and not quite Honda enough either.
25/02/2021 11:03:39 UTC
Suzuki DL 250 V Strom Valve Clearance Check
Ren - The Ed¹ said :-
"Boltoldburnstone"? I live in Hor-of-the-wich-enstone doncha know.
I prowl the streets, not walk. Any unsuspecting victims I find I pounce out of the shadows wearing my cape and my mask, confronting the shocked and startled good folks with questions like "Prey tell fair maid, dost thou believe it is possible to achieve a seal of meritable quality betwixt and between the vanes and chambers of a rotary engine?" or "Squire! Squire! Canst thou offer your musings on reducing knock from high compression internal combustion chamber, particularly when combined with a turbo or supercharger?"
Most of my victims are rendered bewildered and befuddled, staggering in a state of confusion and not uncommonly, anger at my interruptions. I hear such words as a person dare not repeat, nor oft times understand.
I call myself "Jack, the mechanistical questioneer", every one else calls me... "That #### with the motorbike".
25/02/2021 10:39:21 UTC
Bike Reviews
Upt'North said :-
Ah! I didn't realise you were a serial Divi hoarder.
A valuable asset to the site, indeed.
Upt'North.
25/02/2021 09:37:24 UTC
Bike Reviews
ian said :-
thanks upt, i had three of the smaller versions at one time, one was a donor and never actually used by me though as i got it cheap being an mot fail, i did use it for parts but not on the road.
25/02/2021 09:25:21 UTC
Suzuki DL 250 V Strom Valve Clearance Check
Upt'North said :-
So Ed me duck, let me get this straight......if only.
You walk around the streets of Boltoldburnstone entering into conversation with random strangers on the merits of the Wankel internal combustion spark ignition engine?!?
Strange in itself, some would think, but obviously there are no merits to the Wankel ICE because they all self destruct. Not a good feature for many.
Now get a job and pay some taxes, it'll make you feel better and give the locals a rest.
Upt'North.
25/02/2021 09:23:20 UTC
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Latest Chit-Chat
Go To Chit-Chat
Ren - The Ed¹ said :-
Grasscutting!! Did no-one tell you that you can't cut grass until at least April. My word man, next you'll be telling us you took your big coat off too.
Ian Soady - if houses don't come supplied with proper urinals for the, oh my, what's the politically correct term, errrr, people fitted with urinary tracts that extend outside of the main torso? Well then what are we supposed to do? We get in trouble for missing the regular toilet so the sink is the obvious solution, if not the shower or the bath.
I'm sure you know what a "P-Trap" is but for those that don't, it's the modern politically correct term for what was once the U-Bend.
https://www.screwfix.com/p/floplast-tubular-swivel-p-trap-white-32mm/17159...
26/02/2021 02:45:44 UTC
Ian Soady¹ said :-
"Been out to get an essential "P-Trap" for the bathroom sink "
Ooh, nasty - we civilised folk use the toilet for that sort of thing.
26/02/2021 02:27:44 UTC
nab301 said :-
I was grasscutting last weekend , South facing rear (suntrap) garden, 16 deg C. Lovely aroma!
Nigel
26/02/2021 01:52:37 UTC
Upt'North ¹ said :-
Thanks for that Ed.
I exaggerated slightly, but yes we have drifts at the side of the road at our level from the last lot and the tops are white over from about 1500 ft. Blummin lovely actually and also yes, it does feel a bit like spring, according to the weather guessers we had a feels like 5 c today, almost balmy.
Good frosts coming though so more salt, :-(.
Upt'North.
25/02/2021 05:57:09 UTC
Ren - The Ed¹ said :-
No you don't need to log out if you don't wanna.
You still got snow? Lufferly here. Been out to get an essential "P-Trap" for the bathroom sink and the sun is shining, the roads are dry and if you squint real hard it could almost be spring. This worries me, because I almost smiled and that will simply not do.
25/02/2021 04:58:15 UTC
Upt'North ¹ said :-
Tried it, liked it, no numbers required.
Do I need to log out?
Upt'North. In't snow.
25/02/2021 04:13:13 UTC
Ren - The Ed¹ said :-
I never would have realised the typing of 6 random numbers would cause you so much trauma Ian.
"Have you been traumatised by having to prove you're a real human being? Spent vast countless seconds having to type numbers or tick a box stating "I am a human"? You could be in line for AT LEAST 7 pence worth of compensation! Call 09081-My-Fingers-Hurt (Calls cost £4 per minute to listen to a recording about not being able to claim)".
25/02/2021 12:47:48 UTC
Ian Soady¹ said :-
" If you're logged in using your GMail account then the random number should already be filled in for you. "
Oooh, so it ios. That'#ll save me nanoseconds (and irritated expletives as I get it wrong).
25/02/2021 12:36:14 UTC
Ren - The Ed¹ said :-
GMail login now available at the bottom of the Nav Menu.
Why am I doing this?
From the Bikes And Travels point of view it's to allow people to edit their posts after they've posted them. BUT! But the edit facility will only be available (it's not been written yet) for posts created by logged in users and if the post is less than 15 minutes old.
The idea is that you can correct spelling mistakes, NOT go back to posts that are 2 days old and other people have commented on. It would be confusing if I commented "Nice bike Ian" and Ian said "Thanks Ren" then I changed my post later to "Your bike is poop Ian".
You will be able to see a list of your previous posts. This may be handy if you thought "I'm sure I've talked about that already" or "Which page was it I mentioned the turbo on?"
Why GMail?
My biggest, greatest fear is the notion of readers giving me personal information, particularly information that can be used to hack them or cause them distress. Google's "OAuth" system means that it's GOOGLE that holds your personal information including your password and so on. I will only store your display name (ie Ren - The Ed) and the comments you post on here which are already public domain.
The downside is that to log in you'll need a GMail account. If you already have one you can use that, if you don't trust me with that one create a new one and use that, if you don't already have one create one and use that. I'm aware that FaceBook and others can provide this login service and I may explore that one day. If you don't want to log in you don't have to! You can keep on posting just as you've always done.
This is also a bit of learning, training and practice for a couple of ideas I have. Hair-brained ideas for future projects that may or may not come to fruition.
Anyhow that's where I'm at with this so far.
25/02/2021 12:07:43 UTC
Ren - The Ed¹ said :-
Theoretically, I'm still testing... If you're logged in using your GMail account then the random number should already be filled in for you.
25/02/2021 11:44:22 UTC
Random Link - Epilogue - South Wales 2017