Month: April 2024

Bye-Bye Gilles Rearsets

Well it had to happen eventually!

Way back in the mists of time, I used to organise and instruct on trackdays for the Motorcycle Folly.

Initially, I just had the ZRX, so I’d use that but to make it less unsuitable, I fitted a set of Gilles rearsets to push my feet backwards and upwards (with a consequential increase in the extent to which my knees would have to bend):

Blue Rex side-on

Blue Rex side-on

Note also that in that photo there are no grabrails or pillion pegs fitted.  That was fine when I was doing almost 100% solo riding, but since remarrying someone who loves being on the bikes with me, I’ve refitted the pegs and grabrail.  That always led to some clash of feet, no matter how much we tried to be careful.

Fast-forward to buying the BMW R 1250 RT LE and getting off that and on to the ZRX and it’s a case of “have my footpads fallen off?”  So couple those two issues with the degree of necrosis in my knee and with a heavy heart, the Gilles rearsets were removed last weekend and the standard footpads refitted.

End of an era.

Bahnstormer Motorrad Alton to Whiteways Cafe Ride Out

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After a week or so’s seemingly incessant rain, the forecast for last weekend looked fairly good and coincided with a rideout arranged by Bahnstormer Motorrad from their Alton branch to Whiteways Cafe outside Arundel.

So we swapped over our rest days from the Sunday to the Saturday – I’m trying to get fitter and Alison’s in training for a PCA bikini class bodybuilding competition – and got up a little earlier to breakfast and head on down to Bahnstormer for a coffee and to join the other riders. In total, there were 29 of us! Take a look at Bahnstormer’s video of us leaving Alton:

Here’s my little highlights video too:

Oh and there’s a longer version with some added expletives here:

When we bypassed Goodwood because they were having a members’ meeting and our route was blocked, we ended up on a flooded road with bonus mud from the fields, so the RT got absolutely filthy.

Once home, I got the pressure washer out and cleaned it up, but noticed I could see the rear suspension from the left … because the small side cover was missing.  A couple of phone calls and a visit today and they’ve sorted me out without any fuss. I truly cannot recommend them any more strongly than I do and of course they’ll get my order for this RT’s replacement when and if.

I just must stop myself from impulse-buying an M 1000 XR by mistake in the meantime…

 

New Boots and Panties

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I mentioned a while back that I’d bought some new Klim riding gear for Alison and me. I’d held off from buying the matching Klim Latitude Jeans for me and Klim Altitude Jeans for Alison as we both already had waterproof trousers, but Alison’s didn’t really fit and my Alpinestars ones were waaaaay too big and the Triumph Taloc leather jeans too big (but not massively so).

I’d been using a pair of Alpinestars J-6 boots for general riding – as seen in this photo – but as I found out after a long walk in Gran Canaria to collect a bike from CanaryRide, they caused the odd blister after a while.  Now I could use my crashed-in but waterproof Alpinestars SMX Plus boots but they’re a bit heavy for walking around off the bike, so I decided to get another pair of boots that are waterproof, will go better with the light grey trousers, and should be comfortable off the bike. So I bought myself some Alpinestars Fastback 2 Drystar boots and at the same time bought Alison some Alpinestars Women’s J-6 boots, both of which are waterproof and should be good to wear off the bike.

These were all ordered – again – from SPORTSBIKESHOP but on their ‘try before you buy’ option using their Reading store. This was because the Klim sizing can be a little strange, apparently, although I’ve not had any problems.  We set off to Reading on Bank Holiday Monday to try the gear on.

We had followed the sizing guidance and had ordered my trousers in a 34″ waist on the basis that the feedback was they were a little smaller than that. They weren’t. Even with the thankfully adjustable waist cinched up small, they looked like a schoolboy’s first set of school trousers that you’d grow into eventually.  So I tried on some 32″ Klim Badlands Pro trousers and they seemed much better, so we ordered the Latitude trousers in a 32″ waist.  They arrived today – yes, the day after ordering late on a Bank Holiday! – and are fine; I can even cinch the waist up some more if I feel the need to before walking around. It looks like all my exercise might be paying off.

Oh and that noise you can hear? That’s my wallet crying…

 

Spring Has Sprung (and been replaced)

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With the RT collected after its initial ‘running-in’ service and with the suspension replaced under warranty, it was time for a ride to check everything out with a bonus test of the super-trick “adaptive headlights” which apparently move from side to side when cornering (like they do on my Abarth 124 Spider).

And yes, they’re good and bright and work well:

Then my wife headed off for a family baby shower, leaving me unsupervised for a weekend, so I headed off to the Cotswolds to do some filming: