Motorcycle Maintenance

Today was the last day of our motorcycle maintenance course at Hackney Community College. I built an aluminium protection for the rear brake cylinder. Tools needed: a small bit of 3mm aluminium sheet + hammer, workbench, drill, hacksaw and file. Then we sent Hussain, our workshop hero, off on his holiday with a little present from all of us.

If you happen to read this post & you're from East London and into motorcycles: drop me a line & I can put you in touch with a few people from the workshop course. They're thinking about setting up a club and get some funding for workshop space and tools.

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Boots

As far as I'm concerned, there are two options for space-saving motorcycle travelling: Motocross boots & flip-flops, or normal bike boots that are comfortable enough for some walking/hiking. (There simply isn't enough space to accomodate for 2 pairs of shoes/boots).

In the end, I went for the later option and got myself some waterproof "Altberg Hogg" boots. They've got a good reputation and are sturdy enough around the ankle areas. Altberg also improved the design, so shifting gears doesn't wear out the laces anymore (my mate Charles had problems with the old design). The only real downside of the Hogg boots is: they don't offer any shin protection, but I'll find a way around that. Maybe some MX-shin protectors?

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Brake disc, Tyre change & Cables

In today's bike maintenance class, I put the spare clutch and throttle cables into place (running them right next to the existing cables, so to save valuable space & be able to swap them over very quickly in case of a breadown). Clutch cable was easy, throttle cable meant taking off the fairing and briefly removing the exisiting cable from the fuel injection.
Then I wanted to run the Loobman chain oiler down the swingarm but had forgotten a few bits at home.... d'oh!

Next: Brake disc. The old one was below it's legal minimum anyway, so I got a cast metal one. Cast metal is cheaper (half price), performs equally (or better when it's wet) and it's more lightweight (hence reduces unsprung weight). That's how I like it!

Last but not least: practicing a tyre change. To cut a long story short: I know I should get used to the thought, but I am NOT looking forward to doing this on the road – no matter how enthusiastic I might feel on the day.
To start with, it seems I'm simply too lightweight to break the tyre bead. I'll try again soon, using the side stand to break to bead (or using the swingarm as a leverage point whilst the wheel is still on the bike).

Finally, using tyre levers to put the tyre back on might pinch the tube. Hussain (our workshop hero) showed me a neat little trick of 'walking the tyre in' without using the levers. But again: I'm probably too lightweight to do so. I might try again once I've got some more sturdy boots.

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Uzbekistan Visa

Finally got my Uzbekistan visa in London today. What should have taken 5 days took over 2 weeks after all. I even had to supply an additional letter from my employer, stating that I'm going for "non-professional purposes".

After some further questioning at the embassy (with no sense of humour whatsoever), I finally managed to put a smile on the embassy official's face the moment I mentioned motorcycling: "By motorcycle? Are you part of the Mongol Rallye?" - "Only two of you? Wow!" - "Which motorcycle? Which route?"...

What used to be a dry and bureaucratic government official, became a very friendly and enthusiastic chap – and I'm now looking forward to visiting his country.

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Panniers back on - time for some pictures for the website

Spent a good hour or so trying to get the pannier frames back onto the bike, so I could take some photographs for the 'bike' section of this website. I had taken them off the last 5-6 months to make commuting & filtering through London traffic a bit easier. Putting them back on really should have been a 20 minute job – but because the whole pannier frame is a pretty tight fit, one of the subframe bolts was difficult to get into the thread.

However, something good came out of it as I got to know one of my neighbors, Zel, a little better. I had seen him now & then, but never spoke to him. Whilst helping me out a little, we ended up chatting for a bit - very nice chap. Turns out he's muslim, from London but with family roots in India. When I told him I'd be travelling through some muslim countries, he said he'd give me a good book about Islam and the Koran, which I'm looking forward to read.

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Jealous?

As departure is getting closer, I get the odd comment from friends & colleagues – from being jealous to "I wish I could do this". (Just do it – like in the advert!)To put things a little into perspective, one of my mates forwarded me this interesting little video, filmed at an intersection in India.

I hope I'll somehow learn that "Indian Right Turn" before I get there (as well as the "Cambodian Crossing")

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Progressive Fork Springs

I gave the front suspension a little treat today and put in progressive fork springs and new fork oil. The F650 Dakar front suspension is renowned to be a little too soft – the progressive springs will improve bike handling, particularly in off-road situations.

If anyone's in the marked for some new suspension: try Hagon Shocks, http://www.hagon-shocks.co.uk

Hagon have been going since 1958 and have a world class reputation. Besides that, the springs come as a complete kit including the fork oil, and they were by far the cheapest I could find.

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