Enjoying the sunshine and fresh rubber The nice weather has meant lots of seat time on both bikes recently, but even if you put a gun to my head I don't think I could choose one over the other.
I feel for you mate.Credit to your impeccable taste as you’ve got two of the best looking bikes mankind has been able to imagine and then make.Hope there’s plenty more sunny days for you this year to enjoy them.
One shiny new MOT on the R this morning. I've done a whole.... 1513 miles since the last one. That's pathetic. I'm hanging my head in biker shame and thinking that I really should use it more. That'll have to be when it's not too hot, too cold or when I can find my mojo from behind the sofa.
MOT also for me on the 675R today, still annoys me having to shell out £30 x2 for someone to tell me what I already know, the bikes are perfect. Straight home to remove the monstrosity of a number plate, and the Arrow baffle, sounds slightly dull in comparison with it fitted. Seat time on the Daytona has gone up again this year, in the 4 years since adding the Thruxton R its gone from 0 miles in 2019/20 when the TTR was new kid on the block, to 700 then 900 and this year 1600 miles, helped by having both in the garage for once. Still approx. double that on the Thruxton though. Even though old age is creeping up on me in other ways, riding the Daytona seems to have got easier this year, no doubt because of more regular use, with the added benefit of making the Thruxton feel relatively comfortable in comparison Hopefully going to stretch the season thru October this year, even if its only a few outings on each, packed them away at the end of Sept last year and it was a very long 6 month dry spell, as if winter isn't depressing enough, not good for my mental health
Went for a ride today to the east coast - weather held off this morning so a good ride - about 3 hours in the saddle on total with a break for breakfast: Breakfast was a cup of tea and a Cornish pasty
Mods V Rockers at the seaside today, although everybody's far too old and grey nowadays to re-create Quadrophenia Somebody admiring the nicest bike Although I must say well done to the massive group of scooters arriving as I left Southport, one rider blocked the roundabout to keep them all together, stranding a bus and blocking every exit, including mine. Must have been hundreds as they went on forever until one bloke had enough and left his van and had a quit word with the "road captain", whatever he said made him move. They must have done that at every set of lights and roundabout on route to stay together, pi**ing off hundreds of motorists who are now all probably bike haters. At least the unusually warm weather has justified my decision to keep the bikes out for an extra month.
Gave it a good clean ready to go away for the winter, this is my process, feel free to like or dislike Chain only recently cleaned so brushed a generous coating of oil to protect over the winter and from water ingress during washing. Cover the quickshifter and dash whenever I use the hose just as a precaution, don't use a pressure washer. Wheels, brake calipers and disks cleaned with Bilberry non-acidic wheel cleaner @ 5:1, only do this once a year to properly clean any brake dust residue. Rinsed off then Tardis tar remover sprayed on wheels and lower fairing panels, was very little to be fair. All the bike then cleaned with good old fairy liquid, again don't do this on a normal wash (on the bodywork anyway) as it can remove any wax or sealant but gets it properly clean, please nobody mention the disproven internet myth about salt and causing rust, its much safer than stuff like muc-off which can and will cause damage to painted or anodised finishes. Removed the hugger during washing as its a renowned dirt/water trap, didn't bother removing the fairings as its seen very little bad weather this year since i had them off for the service, Separate microfibre wash mitt for the bodywork to the rest of the bike, being especially careful on the screen, will probably re-polish this anyway over the winter to remove micro scratches. Rinsed with the hose, excess water blown off with a pet dryer and wiped down, engine run up to temperature to clear the water from the engine and radiator. Don't bother re-polishing the wheels & bodywork until after the worst of the weather in the spring, although I'll probably get bored and do it over the winter anyway, its stored in the house so no need for any ACF50 or similar protection. Brimmed the tank with Shell Vpower, don't believe in the need for fuel stabilisers, bikes have always started and ran fine after the winter. Still looking good at 25k miles and 10 years old, although credit to triumph for building such a quality bike.
The bike's looking gorgeous after all your work. I've just kicked mine under their covers and ignored them for the past couple of weeks. I'm excusing my bike abuse by telling myself that I might use them over winter, so there's no point cleaning them. Yeahhhhh, right....
Your bike does indeed look great,clearly well cared for.There is definitely pleasure to be found cleaning your bike but I don’t have your level of commitment and patience even though it obviously pays off so respect
Put mine away one year without cleaning off the insects and other "organic" matter thrown up off the road and it all turned into fuzzy mould over the winter in a damp garage. I will gladly swap my cleaning commitment for your superior riding skills The sad thing is I would class that as a quick wash and nowhere near a full detail. They are both sorned now but still got the Thruxton to clean and put away, which is a bit more time consuming mainly down to the spoked wheels and amount of bare ally.
A quick clean,blimey.Thanks for the compliment mate,don’t know if I deserve it but I’ll take it anyway. Did you get away with your shameful lack of TLC Janey or were you /are you repeatedly reminded of your sins everytime you see/saw the bike?Hope you were lucky.
Get my polishing fix with this one,rides like a tractor but I wouldn’t part with it.Should use it more really
Last ride of the year so washed it and tomorrow I will oil the chain and put it to bed until the spring.
Few from the last couple weeks. Been busy with work, birthday but did manage to get out, take some pictures myself and get my fellow photographer to take some pictures of me with the bike Sent from my Nokia X20 using Tapatalk
First ride this year, took the Thruxton as its nearest the door and its slightly less full on than the 675R, plus it has heated grips, although it wasn't that cold to be fair. Great to be on the bike again but annoying to find all the same potholes that you remember from last year are now accompanied by a new crop for this year, lots of those relatively small but really deep ones that they've made no attempt to even make a temporary repair, around here at least ALL the budget goes on cycle lanes, and modifying every road junction for the benefit of pedestrians and cyclists, most of who'm would never be seen dead on a cycle lane, while only metres away the road is like a ploughed field. Maybe I should have posted this in Rants & Raves, while on the subject the first biker I pass completely blanked me, guess what, a BMW GS rider, slipped up there as I promised myself last year I wouldn't even try to acknowledge them anymore, bunch of self important ignorant pricks. Just to balance out the endless pictures of my ultra clean bikes, this is the back wheel after the ride as I forget that I'd brushed oil on the chain for the winter storage, all those hours cleaning & polishing the spokes and rims in the winter now a distant memory, although it would stop the spokes rusting if I left it. Obviously I couldn't do that so while the wheel was a mess anyway did a full clean of the chain and lubed with my usual Wurth dry chain lube. No issues with the bike given it hasn't ran since Oct, just need to burn off the 5 month old petrol, service and maybe tyres at the end of the year, front Avon Storm xm has done 10k miles with a good few mill left so has done really well.
