Category: Hardware

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Gear Reviews Hardware

RoadHawk RIDE Video Camera Review

Roadhawk Ride crash camera-2It seems every biker wants to be a video blogger these days, strapping a camera to their helmet/bike and recording their rides for all and sundry to watch on YouTube. And why not, decent HD camera are now very affordable and the evidence they gather can be invaluable if some idiot pulls out on you. Which, as we all know, happens far too often these days.

So back last autumn, I spotted this Roadhawk Ride camera on special offer in Halfords and decided to join the vblogging band wagon. With the insurance claim from my incident in September turning sour as the third party falsified a witness, I only wish I had purchased a camera sooner. You will probably have seen some of the footage from this camera on my YouTube channel already, but after a few months of use, here is my proper write up. The Roadhawk RIDE is a dinky little cylindrical camera, just 80mm long and 25mm in diameter, that comes with a plethora of brackets for mounting it pretty much anywhere you like. The rear of the camera unscrews to reveal the memory card and USB socket.

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Hardware Maintenance

Fitting Motad Venom Stainless Steel Downpipes & Exhaust to Fazer 600

Motad Venom Stainless Steel DownpipesRecently I splashed out on a new Motad Venom complete exhaust system for my Fazer. Comprising of stainless steel downpipes, a nice oval end can and all the trinkets for fitting. Motad has their factory located in the heart of the black country up in Walsall, which is nice to know as supporting local trade is always preferable. Motad sells their products directly through their eBay shop or their website, and in either case, you can get a better price than going through a reseller. I ordered their full exhaust system; downpipes, gaskets, link pipe, the end can and necessary clamps/brackets. Motad offered me a good price in exchange for a write-up on this blog. The whole lot arrived quickly in a lot smaller box than I was expecting, but dismantled the system is not as large as you first perceive. Upon opening, I had a box full of shiny goodies. All packed well, everything needed for installation included and a short set of instructions for fitting.

Update 2017: Sadly Motad has shut shop and ceased trading. It’s a real shame to see such a good British brand no longer in business.

This is the first time I’ve tackled the fitting of downpipes, but after consulting my Haynes manual, and some guides on the Fazer Owners Club forums and various other websites, it didn’t seem too difficult. Here are the steps I followed.

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Hardware

Shiny New Pipes

imageTreated myself to a set of nice new stainless steel downpipes and can from Motad. My current stock pipes have turned into a complete rust bucket and full of holes at the bottom by the 4-into-1. Not bad considering they’re over 10 years old now.

Will fit downpipes one upcoming weekend when weather permits. But might stick can on sooner, can’t wait to see how it sounds.

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Hardware

Replaced Givi Rack on Fazer

imageManaged to grab an hour at the weekend to replace the Givi rack on the Fazer. The arms on the old one were thoroughly bent from the last crash, which snapped the top box off.

Tried as I could they wouldn’t bend back. To be honest I also doubted how strong they would be after if I did get them back into shape.

The new went on a treat, dead easy. Interestingly this one came with black painted bolt, rather than plain aluminium. Can’t decide which I prefer, might go for a combo to blend in with black arms and aluminium pillion peg brackets.

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Clothing/Protection Hardware

Heads Up: Cheap Bike Cover and Base Layers at Lidl

Lidl-Motorcycle-CoverQuick heads up: Lidl are doing cheap motorcycle rain covers from the 3rd October this week. They look quite basic, but are dirt cheap at just £9. At a fifth of the price of an Oxford one and with a 3 year warranty, I’m sure you’ll get your moneys worth. I’ll certainly be grabbing a couple, so watch this space for a review.

Also this week, Lidl are doing base layers and cheap hi-vis waistcoats. Previous base layers from Lidl proved very effective last winter, so I can definitely recommend them. At just £2 for the hi-vis, I’m dubious as to how they will stand up to high speed riding. Still worth a quick look though.

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Hardware

New Rubber For The ZZR

imageStuck a new tyre in Mary’s ZZR400 yesterday. Nice Michelin PilotRoad, to match the rear. Big thumbs up to the guys down at FWR Kennington for sorting it out double quick during my lunch break. Definitely recommended if you in the city and need new rubber in a hurry.

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Gear Reviews Hardware

Pragmasis Chain & Squire Lock Review

Pragmasis-Chain-Squire-LockAfter getting Mary her own motorbike, getting an extra security chain was a top priority. Being so pleased with the Pragmasis Protector chain I’ve been using, they were the obvious choice. I had considered an Almax chain, which is generally regarded as being on par with the Pragmasis chains. Both brands cost the same and are supplied with the same Squire padlock, however, Pragmasis offer free next day postage – can’t argue with that.

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Hardware

Fitting R&G Crash Bobbins to Kawasaki ZZR 400 (or 600)

ZZR-Crash-Bobbins-Frame-Sliders-1Over the weekend I fitted some R&G Crash Bobbins to Mary’s ZZR400. Sometimes more affectionately known as frame sliders, these lumps of hard plastic stick out from the side of the bike with the intention of stopping your precious fairing from getting scuffed or cracked should you drop your bike. Since Mary is a little on the short side and the ZZR400 is quite heavy (as it’s just a sleeved-down version of the ZZR600), we figured crash bobbins would be a prudent move.

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Hardware Maintenance

Fixed Broken Meta M357T V2 Alarm Immobiliser

Meta-M357TV2-replacement-1Last week the Meta M357TV2 alarm and immobiliser on my Fazer started playing up. It refused to make any sound when arming and disarming, just silent flashes of indicators. When deliberately triggering the alarm it remained silent and I just got hazard lights flashing. The immobiliser did however continue to work. Then later in the week, it started to make a noise again, just extremely quietly. Very odd. Obviously I kept my lack of alarm hush hush until I had remedied the situation.

Reading up, it seems that after around 10 years the internal battery on these alarms starts to give up the ghost and causes these kinds of issues. I also came across accounts from those who left it and it deteriorated further to the extent they couldn’t disable the immobiliser – eeek!

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Categories
Hardware Maintenance Riding

Another Fricking Puncture

Rear tyre puncture holeThere I am trying to make a quick getaway from work with an afternoon off to watch my daughter on her sports day. But something is wrong, bike is all wobbly as hell. Back tyre totally flat. 🙁

A lot of crap stuck in the tyre, but crucially a big hole with lump of glass in it. Tried to pull it out, with a view to repairing it, but I can’t get it with the pliers, just ends up crumbling. The hole also seems bit big for emergency repair. Breakdown recovery it is. At least I’ve got some this time.

Well that’s my afternoon off work scuppered.

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