A full review of that Nautilus Stebel horn can be found here.
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Ushering in 2015
And there we have it, another new year and a year older, possibly a little wiser too. The tail end of 2014 was insanely hectic for me with my day job sending me out to Gothenburg and Boston, followed by a mad Christmas break visiting all our family in Shropshire and North Wales. It has been good to be back in London and back on the bike. It’s funny how some time away from two wheels leaves you hankering and longing, but once riding again at first you feel awkward, slightly nervous and rusty. It’s taken a couple of days to relax and get reacclimatised, but it’s good to be back.
I suppose I should have some New Year resolutions and plans, so here we go:
- Do my IAM. My lovely wife treated me to their Skills For Life course (starting Sunday), which I’m looking forward to and hope to complete this year.
- Update my YouTube channel. Life has been so busy lately, I’ve done little video editing, however I have some plans for a new video series in the pipeline.
- Bike maintenance wise, I hope to give the Fazer’s forks a good service and swap on some braided brake lines. I also have some yellow wrap for the headlights which I’d like to try out for the dark nights.
- Fingers crossed, I’d like to resolve my incident from September 2013, which is due to go to court at some point.
- Lastly, it would be great to get my wife another bike. Hopefully she’ll complete her PhD and get a job, so finances can resolve this.
Happy New Year to you all – ride safe!
If like me, you have a Rukka jacket with a back armour insert that’s worse for wear, then you’ll be interested in this replacement from Forcefield. Well known for their quality armour products, Forcefield has a range of armour inserts in many different shapes for all manner of jackets. For Rukka back protector owners you need the 009 model, which as you can see above is a like-for-like replacement. Well, not completely, the 009 insert is slightly thicker than the original Rukka RVP insert and is CE Level 2 certified to afford greater protection.
If you’re not lucky enough to have a warm dry garage, then you have a choice of leaving your bike to face the elements or you use a cover like this. I managed to blag this Oxford Aquatex cover in a recent competition from Helmet City, but it’s readily available for about £20.
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Ace Cafe Toy Run December 2014
It’s Christmas! – screamed Slade. For bikers up and down the country that means Toy Runs. Not just any old excuse for a ride out, but a chance to dress up, decorate the bike and most importantly take some toys to kids stuck in hospital this Christmas. On Sunday I joined the Ace Cafe Toy Run, which visited the children’s wing of St. Mary’s in Paddington, Royal Brompton in Chelsea and the Evelina Children’s Hospital in Westminster.
I took my 8 year old daughter along with me, who was super excited and had wrapped our presents days in advance. The weather held out well, just a spot chilly in the morning and we finished off with bacon sarnies and complementary drinks back at the Ace. Here’s some snaps from the day, most taken by my daughter!
As summer comes to a close and winter approaches, the prospect of wet riding days looms with a damp inevitability. I was fed up with my waterproof over-trousers that were no longer waterproof, and a hassle to put on, as well as causing me to slip around on the seat and more importantly, look pretty naff. Definitely time for some new textile gear. Being a cheapskate, I hit eBay and found these Alpinestars P1 Sport Touring Drystar trousers brand new for £100. They’re not current, but the Drystar range is still going strong and well regarded.
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IAM Taster Session
This weekend I attended a taster session with the IAM (Institute of Advanced Motorists) and a freebie too! I’ve been toying with the idea of doing their Skills For Life course for a while, to try and learn a bit more. So when the offer of a free taster session popped up, I jumped at the chance.
I was put in touch with a Observer from the local IAM group (ELAM), with whom I arranged a short ride out. After a quick natter on what I wanted to get from the session, we hit the road, with my observer following and keeping his beady eye on me. We had a couple of stops on route to natter more, before a final debrief at the end.
All in all, I found it really useful with a number of key things highlighted that I need to work on. Some bad habits and some from inexperience. Either way, it was pretty clear I’ve got a lot to work on and that’s the crux of it is, we should never stop learning.
I shall definitely be signing up for the full course in the near future. Especially as there’s a discounted rate for the time being.
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ACF50 Time
This week has seen the weather turn frosty and salt grit trucks have hit the roads. Salt and the winter weather is the huge nemesis to bikes, rotting frames and corroding all manner of parts. This is where ACF50 comes in. A great Anti-Corrosion Formula, that can be sprayed on and leaves a protective film that halts any existing corrosion and prevents new.
The application should follow a good clean and can be either with a spray can or with a refillable spray gun. The former can lay it on a bit thick, but the spray gun approach obviously needs additional tools. So, don’t hang about, give your bike the ACF50 treatment before winter eats it alive!
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Fitting a Fender Extender
With the wet and miserable weather we’ve been having and the promise of more to come this winter, I decided to fit a fender extender onto my Fazer. That’s a front mudguard extension for you UK lot. The plan is to stop a whole pile of crud, muck and wet getting sprayed up into the radiators, downpipes and headers, which are already showing a bit of weather damage.
I picked this Fender Extender up from M&P and it’s made by Pyramid Plastics. Looks-wise, it’s not a lot to write home about, just a basic matt black piece of plastic, but fitting against the mudguard was decent enough. It was supplied with some self-tapping screws and some sticky back tape to hold it in place whilst drilling holes for screws.
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10% off at MotorcycleHouse
The top chaps at Motorcycle House have teamed up and we can offer you a 10% discount code to use at their store. Motorcycle House specialise in a huge selection of luggage bags by Viking Bags for cruiser bikes. They also have luggage for other bikes and a selection of clothing too.
Just enter the code BBIKER10 at the check out to get a discount.