Wow, so long since the last update and so much has happened.
I think the last update was July 2021 and here we are already in February 2022. Where do I start?
On a personal level, having taken redundancy at the end of June 2021, a lot of time initially was taken up with enjoying not having to go to work, at least while the sun shone & it was warm outside.
Looking back at my last post, I mentioned I'd bought a new pair of gloves, a pair of paddock boots and that Tabitha Trophy was awaiting her MOT. So, I'm going to follow a similar format. Since the last post:
- I've got to use both my Richa gloves and paddock boots fairly regularly
- I've bought myself a pair of Bull-It armoured Cargo style jeans
- My Richa Waterproof boots turned out to be far from waterproof
- Tabitha Trophy passed her MOT
- Tallulah Tiger has seen some use towards the end of the year when she helped me to pass my IAM advanced motorcycle test.
Richa gear
The Richa Rock gloves turned out to be just the thing for warm weather riding and I've even used them in the rain. To be fair, they weren't bad in wet weather, although being wrist length, water did run down the sleeve of my jacket and in to the glove. Couldn't be helped so whenever the forecast is a little dodgy, I now carry a spare set of gloves, just in case.
The Paddock boots are also good and have been used extensively on both the Tiger and Trophy over the summer months of 2021, only swapping back to the Richa Waterproof boots when the weather turned in October, and here's where I encountered a problem.
It turns out the first time I wore my Richa Waterproof boots, it rained wuirte heavily. I was on a VRUK run, so didn't really have the option to head for home when the heavens opened. By the time I got home, my feet were cold & wet, not what you'd expect from any waterproof boot. A quick call to sportsbikeshop.co.uk and they were retuurned, a new pair turning up in the post a short while later. A big thumbs up to SportsbikeShop and Richa as the replacement boots did exactly what it said on the tin.
Bull-It jeans
I bought these, again for the summer, not necessarily to use with the Tiger, but more with the Trophy. Turns out I've ridden both bikes wearing them. They're comfy, warm when the temperature dropped and a little cooler in hot weather than my Alpinestars kit. They're even showerproof, as I found out on the odd occasion I believe the weather forecasters when they say it'll be cloudy but no rain. Much less cumbersome to wal around in than the Alpinestars stuff as well, especially when wearing paddock boots. I have an Alpinestars leather jacket to complete the summer 'Trophy' look.
Tabitha Trophy
Scabby bits
MOT
A lot has happened with Tabitha since her MOT. The last update mentioned a couple of issues to deal with. I was never happy with the carb balancing although I managed to get them pretty close. I wasn't sure that the fuel light worked and the footrest hangers were a little rough to say the least.
But first the MOT. It was all booked in for the day after the insurance started (couldn't get her in on the day), but as I'd never ridden her I took the risk & rode her around the village. It was a nice dry, sunny day but I didn't want to risk taking her out on the main road. All seemed good, the brakes worked, the gear change from 1st to 3rd worked well and once warmed up seemed to be running fine.
MOT day came and it was pouring with rain, so heavy you couldn't see much more than 30m in front of you. Undeterred, I set out the 5 miles to the MOT station, dutifully followed by Mrs L in her car, just in case anything went wrong. After all, I was riding an unfamiliar bike, with new tyres, new brake pads and essentially an intested engine/gearbox. Not only did I make it to the MOT centre, she passed with just one advisory, a slight fluctuation of the rear brake. Now this could be down to a slight warping of the disc or the disc bolts not being tightened up correctly, or rust as she hadn't turned a wheel for so long.
Whichever it was, in the 730 miles since then, I can't feel any fluctuation in the rear brake. I did check the bolts & they were all torqued up as per the book, so I suspect it was just down to not being used. We'll see if the same advisory comes up next MOT.
Carbs
While riding Tabitha, I noticed the revs were hanging when I shut the throttle, It seemed to take a while for the revs to return to tickover. So, I had had another crack at balancing the carbs, but still couldn't get it right. It was time to call in the experts. Off to my local Triumph expert & Tabitha was booked in to have her carbs balanced by someone who knew their business rather than me, an enthusiastic amateur.
It made quite a difference and certainly felt a lot more responsive but there was still a flat spot around 3000rpm.
I decided to bite the bullet & take it to a local Dyno company for them to have a crack. BSD Engineering near Peterborough had it for a few hours on their dyno & it came out a new machine, no flatspot and smooth acceleration through to the redline.
The results were 92.3 BHP at the rear wheen and 75.2 Max. torque. Not too bad for an old girl.
Exhausts
You may have seen me mention that the original exhausts were letting the side down, so I purchased a set of new Delkevic cans. I actually fitted them before my trip to BSD, so the BHP & torque figures above are with the Delkevics. Sound rather sweet if you ask me.
Other running issues
I've now riden Tabitha around 730 miles and a couple of issues have been thrown up. Firstly, the neutral light seems to have a mind of its own. Sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn't. There's no pattern to it and I've replaced the bulb, but she still likes me to guess if I'm in gear or not sometimes.
The other issue was the length of time she took to get warm. I traced this to a seized thermostat. Once replaced, no more issues.
By the way' the fuel light does work. I was unsure before MOT as I'd never seen it go out but that was down to not having enough fuel in the tank. I filler her up on the way to the MOT station and since then have averaged 38mpg (imperial), so I'm quite happy with that - especially given the cost of fuel at the moment. I filled Tallulah Tiger up yestersay & paid £1.48 a litre.
Tabitha is currently hibernating in the garage, having filled her tank to brimming with Super Unleaded. aded some fuel stabiliser and removed the battery. I fired her up a couple of weeks ago & ran her up to temperature but once she'd cooled off, removed the battery again and covered her over. I'll Tax her from 1 March but for the moment, she's sleeping.
Nite nite Tabitha.
Tallulah Tiger
Tallulah has been out and about throughout the winter and if I'm honest, has been rather neglected. Aside from a quick clean of the lights, checking the tyres and oiling the chain, I've only once given her a good wash & brush up, and that was in December.
I've ben out on her a couple of times with the local branch of the IAM, PECAM and done a few solo rides.
One thing I have done recently is change the coolant. I noticed that even in cold weather, dropping to 30mph for more than a couple of minutes saw the temperature rise & the fan come on. I realised that Iathough I've changed both the engine and fork oil, I hadn't changed the coolant. A couple of hours work, involving removing the nose cone, front indicators and battery box so I could then remove the fuel tank, drain the old coolant, flush, then replacing with fresh stuff. I also removed the expansion tank. I was amazed at the amount of crap that came out of it when I flushed it. If the stuff in the engine was half as bad, no wonder it was begining to overheat.
I've just ordered some new tyres as the old Metzeler Tourance tyres are getting close to the wear bars, especially the front. Can't really complain, they've done 7,800 miles.
I've gone fro something a bit diferent this time and opted for Michelin Road 5 Trails, a more road orientated tyre. I figured that aside from maybe 1 of those 7,800 being on gravel, I might as well go for 100% road biased tyres.
I'll post up how I get on with them in March.
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