BMW Coverall one piece suit - what a letdown.

Having got a wet crutch in a London downpour the other day and wanting
to be able to wear business clothes under bike kit I set off this
lunchtime to try out a BMW Coverall suit at Wollaston BMW in
Northampton. Sure enough, hanging right there, were 2 of the suits.
"OK to try these on ? " says I to seated bloke at a telephone
listening on the speakerphone to his missed calls " Help yourself " he
said, not bothering to get up or offer any other advice than " We call
'em Babygrows ".
Immediately upon lifting the hangar from the rack I was struck by the
lack if substance of the suit. Looking at it reminded me of a water
ski dry suit - that is the loose fitting job not the neoprene wet suit
number that makes the ladies look mmmmm, mmmmmm - it is unlined and
does not have the ankle to neck zips I thought it would have. Instead
it zips open from ankle to waist on both sides, the zips stop there,
and then the top has a waist to neck zip. The net result was that I
could not get both arms in because it does not open wide enough !
For our footy club we have one piece sub suits which unzip straight
down from neck to ankle one both sides, you stick your feet through
the elasticated holes at the bottom of each leg, stand up and zip the
whole thing up all the way on both sides.
I even took a business suit along to see if I could step into the
Coverall with it on. You would have to step into the suit as you would
ordinary bike trouser, unfurl the suit legs and then zip up the sides.
If I could net get in with a T Shirt on I dunno how you cope wearing a
suit jacket.
Aerostich of America have covered all these aspects ,so I understand
from their website and will make the suit to measure. Too bad their
suit is almost double the BMW item price but then if it is as good as
all the reviews say then its got to be worth it.
Better start saving..........................

Llangollen 13th Sept 09

Motor Cycle News has been running stories on harrassment of riders by Welsh police and asked riders to turn up en masse today. Vast numbers did arrive including Ethel. We went A5 all the way up and blasted home all motorway - 280 miles, set off at 0900 and home by 1600. We saw a police car and bike at one roundabout, another car in a junction and a white van camera above us on a bridge. That was it - we did not see anyone pulled over. The problem facing the police there is massive traffic volume on inadequate roads. Everything imaginable is winding along them nose to tail. Cars, bikes,vans,lorries, caravans, Euro motorhomes towing cars, bicycles, horses,pedestrians - the lot. To make things even worse long sections of road are wide enough for 3 cars with grisly results as witnessed today. Shocked motorists were sitting in the kerb near an ambulance showing little sign of activity. 200 metres along the road a bike was lying on its side.200 metres the other way a car with a big pear shaped dent in the drivers door and front wing was off the side of the road.
The only way to make the place safer is to reduce all types of traffic. A scheme such as those used in cities like Athens whereby only certain licence plate numbers can drive on certain days across all vehicles would do it.
Anyway I'm not going back in a hurry - I've seen sheep and hills before, they're no big deal.
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Ethel self serviced at last

Having decided to carry out the 60k miles service work myself I invested in a torque wrench, hex and socket set with extension and wobble bar and Haynes manual to complement the original BMW handbook. I was astonished by just how simple it was to replace bevel box,gearbox and engine oil with filter. The air filter was also easy once it dawned on me that the whole filter pulls clean out, I thought it must be fixed but it simply is held in place by a shallow perimeter gully and then the cover snaps back on. Treated Ethel to stainless filler and drain plugs, brake caliper bolts too. Next up will be footrest hanger bolts and disc rotor bolts. Put in a xenon filled headlamp bulb too. Put on a set of Conti tyres, the Dunlop rear squared off at 11k miles, and chunks of the front centre tread had gone awol. This has transformed the handling. No more top heavy feel at low speed, the handling now feels planted and the orrible understeering is gone. Now Ethel goes where you look and the ride is so much more relaxed. Next jobs are to replace the in tank fuel filter and fork oil and to fit LED running lights.
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Self service

Having accumulated the parts and tools in time to have a go at servicing Ethel as the miles to 60k built up today turned out to be the day. With Haynes and the owners manual laid out there was no turning back. I had replaced the spark plugs the other day so today the engine oil and filter, gearbox and final drive fluids were replaced and all the relevant drain and filler plugs replaced with stainless items - did the front brake caliper bolts too whilst I was at it. Armed with all the data + torque wrench, sockets for both Allen keys and bolts it was ridiculousy easy to do. Great ! Next jobs will be the fork oil, LED running lights and headlight xenon bulb + plastic headlight lens cover - Bank Holiday looks good !
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New boots

Having ridden to Birmingham in pouring rain for a meeting the other day I was surprised to find I had got wet feet. The soles on both boots were coming away from the uppers on my el cheapo e bay Axo boots after 16k miles. Nothing for it then but new boots. Having read all the glowing reports I splashed out £249.99 less HOC 5% discount - thanks Honda !- on a pair of Daytona GTX leather and Goretex uberboots handmade in Germany. What with Schuberth C3 helmet and now German boots all that is left now is the riding suit and that will probably be upgraded to a BMW Coverall one piece. Anyway I was initially disapointed with the Daytonas. The tops seem made for people with big fat calves and wellied about, the heel rubbed and the thick instep made gearchanges clumsy. It also transmits hitherto unknown vibration through the footrests. Buyers remorse set in until I adjusted the rear velcro fitting straps, inserted insoles and put on white sports socks. Aha ! Great fit and super comfy. Also repositioned the gear lever and away we went. So far so good.
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Satnav woes getting better

Coming home from Donington all I had to do was reverse the nice swoopy cross country route up. Trouble was that due to stacked traffic I came over all London Biker anf plunged through to such great effect that all of a sudden, and for no particular reason, Ethel and I turned up in Nottingham. Enter the latest Satnav goody - the Givi S850 satnav pouch. This is a bumbag with a plastic window + a rain cover with a window all of which velcros together and on to the bars. It even has a diddy zip for the power lead and a holder for a pointer pen thingy. In to this went the lovely Jane, MK1 Tom Tom ever, and off we went into a sudden downpour. Aha, just as with the Great Ziploc Bag experiment any additional film in front of the screen cuts visibility, 2 of them cuts it even more. Next I will try it in night mode and see if that gives better contrast. Good bits, it works as a holder and is totally waterproof. Iffy bits, as the pouch is expensive at £46 you may as well take the whole thing off when leaving the bike which is more velcro scrrching than I can really be bothered with. Also any drops of water that get in whilst scrrching it all together turn a funny milky colour and obccure the screen.
Either way I reckon it is a must have item for GS owners as it has Givi written on it in big chrome letters.
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MotoGP at Donington Park Friday 24th July 09 - last time, hooray !

Could not resist the temptation to hear MotoGP unsilenced bikes live so am here at Donington as I write. The MotoGP bikes sound great with the Ducati the noisest thing on wheels, outside a top fuel drag bike, yet. It rained for the first 20 minutes or so and Melandri on the 2 year old rebadged Kwacker was going round quick and neat.As soon as it dried out the pitch of the engines rose and it was time to put the earplugs in. The Yamahas flat drone makes it hard to tell if they are quick or not, the Ducatis are all blood and thunder and look a real handful, the Hondas are very neat and trim which makes you wonder why they are not doing better than they are and the Suzukis trundle round and round doing ok but looking just a bit off the pace.
Donington continues to be a shambles. Once again all the bikes are parked on shale, the car park attendants had no idea if Coppice was open to spectators. At the gate I was told to walk half a mile to another gate as his scanner was broken. Breaking it gently to him that the MotoGP bikes I had paid to see were imminently due out he turned a blind eye and I was in. Even the relentlessly partisan circuit commentator Fred Clarke seems to have had enough of the Donington fiasco announcing with exasperation that Radio Donington is not working on normal radio sets - you have to buy a Circuit Radio for a fiver. On this open practice Friday there is a fair crowd yet the goodie shops are mostly shut.
Good luck with Formula 1 Donington - bet you do not make the first race.

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