Bloody weather

Took the bike out for it's first run of the year yesterday in
preparation for using it to get to a conference / piss-up in London on
Thursday [1] - a bit chilly, but the sun was out and I really enjoyed
it.

Just checked the weather for Thursday - sleet in Wales, heavy rain
through Wiltshire / Berkshire.

I think I'll be after some muffs and bar warmers this week, then.

[1] Good job I didn't just drag it out and expect it to work on Thusday
- the battery was dead and wouldn't hold a charge. Had to ride down to
South Wales Superbikes with a booster pack in the top-box so I could
re-start it after filling the tank.

 

(SteveH) wrote in :

Won't your company pay for a train? You could always take the Megabus for
£15 return...

 

I could claim a rail journey, but it's a hassle - get a train from YM to
Cardiff, get train to London, get tube across London to the conference.

It would take me the best part of double the time to get there on a
train.

I could do with some muffs and heated grips, though and I'm in Bristol
on Monday, so I'll spend the 45 quid or so at J&S.

 

In uk.rec.motorcycles, SteveH belched forth and ejected the following:

Across London? Where exactly will you be?

For another fiver you could have heated gloves.

 

Conference is somewhere near Euston, train from Wales gets in to
Paddington.

I'll have a look when I'm there - heated gloves + muffs would be ideal.

 

In uk.rec.motorcycles, SteveH belched forth and ejected the following:

Oh right ;-)

Paddington's not far from here and neither's Euston.

<Thinks>

Is that Euston like, *near* Euston or is it /near/ Euston? Thing is I
need to plan a route if I'm going to drive and drink.

Or old oil drums

 

So in total two changes - hardly a hassle. I've got that number of
changes every day to get to work. You've got a direct tube (Circle Line)
or a direct bus (205), both of which are frequent, from Paddington to
the Euston area.

I know what I would do if faced with dreadful weather, a conference and
that sort of distance and it wouldn't involve 2 wheels. Yes I'd stay at
home! ;-)

 

In uk.rec.motorcycles, Paul Corfield belched forth and ejected the
following:

You lazy bastard.

 

Russell Square.

Here's the insurance claim for you 'I had to swerve several times before
I eventually hit him'.

'Beware WC, he drunk and danger on road' ;-)

I did look at bodging some MX 'brush guards' on today, but muffs are the
best solution to riding in shite weather.

 

Well, it's a hassle for someone who hates public transport and really
doesn't like London.

Heh, I did consider this as an option, but I never turn down free beer.

 

(SteveH) wrote in :

drink lots of their free beer before catching the train home

 

SteveH says...

You could probably do with some wrap around brush guards inside bar
muffs anyway, to stop wind pressure pushing on the levers.

These are the kind I had on the Bindit, they fitted really easily with
the aid of a heat gun to give clearance here and there where needed:

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Hand-Guards-universal-for-quads-or-
motorcycles_W0QQitemZ120079678130QQihZ002QQcategoryZ25632QQrdZ1QQcmdZVie
wItem?hash=item120079678130

 

Aye, I have had issues with muffs doing that in the past.

To be honest, if I get heated gloves, I don't *really* need muffs.

 

SteveH says...

I fitted Daytona brand heated grips to the Bindit this winter.

These ones are cheaper than I paid trade for mine:

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/HEATED-MOTORCYCLE-GRIPES-MOTORBIKE-ALL-
SEASON_W0QQitemZ110088177540QQihZ001QQcategoryZ25626QQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem
?hash=item110088177540

Daytona are the best ones I've seen in terms of build quality of the
grips, switch and connectors and I've had them on three bikes now and
never had a problem, whereas the Oxford ones I had on the CB250RS fell
apart. When I fitted them I did fit a 7.5A inline fuse/holder as they
didn't supply one. I didn't want them fused at 10A via the bike's
fusebox as I deemed that a bit high given the claimed current draw, at
least if they **** up they won't take out the whole electrical system.

I use HG Pathans and have at times switched the grips off because my
hands were getting too warm. I don't have the hand guards on any more,
since I smashed one when I threw the bike up the road.

 

40 gallon drums, cut in half barbecue-style? Excellent. And a boon when
filtering, I would imagine: CLANG CLANG BANG CLANG BANG BANG SCRAPE BONG
BANG CLANG RATTLE TINKLE CLANG CLANG BANG etc...

--
platypus

"Merely corroborative detail, intended to
give artistic verisimilitude to an otherwise
bald and unconvincing narrative."

 

I was actually thinking of the removable hot-hands things if I can't get
heated gloves in time.

The question is how my battery will stand up to GPS, heated grips and
MP3 player all at the same time.

 

SteveH says...

I can't get on with them, they make the grips too fat despite my
unfeasibly big hands. Tori has them on her Bindit and I tried but failed
to like them. WUN seemed to be happy with them on his old ZZR11 though.

You can find out how much output you have and how much current draw your
accessories demand, from there on it's simple maths.

 

Lozzo says...

Bad form.

I forgot to add that Tori's Hot-Hands packed up after a few weeks, in
typical Oxford grips fashion. They really aren't that good.

 

(SteveH) wrote in message

Really? I've found the train's the swiftest way for me to get to central
london. Well, either that or drive to heathrow, use the short term
parking and then the Heathrow express (which is a fantastic service.)

This *easily* beats getting stuck in London traffic on a bike if I've
got to go to my usual haunts of The Strand or High Holborn. Plus I get
to buy donuts at the Krispy Kreme shop in Paddington which is a bonus.

 

(SteveH) wrote in message

Hmm. I think you might in heavy rain; you might not notice the fact
your gloves are wet if they're hot whilst you're riding however once you
stop, take the gloves off and come back to them hours later you'll end
up putting on wet gloves. Yuck.

If you can get bar muffs to fit then IME bar muffs, heated grips and
good quality (summer) gloves are the ideal combination for winter
riding.

I've never had heated gloves but would worry that they'd be too thick
and would not have the feel I like plus the money might be spent on the
heating rather than on the quality/fit etc.