Subaru unimpressions

Hired an 08 plate Subaru Legacy Estate petrol auto for a West Country business trip this week. Entry to the car is backwards then sling your legs in as it is very low slung. Raising the seat and lowering the steering wheel height makes the indicator warning lights invisible to the driver. Fitting a twin socket into the 12v outlet is only possible with the auto stick in neutral - it fouls in the P position. The heater controls are tucked away low by the same lever so are not in the drivers line of sight or colour coded for hot/cold and the hazards are scattered away over on the passenger side. So much for lousy driver ergonomics. Almost. If you get in the car and do not start it straightaway the immobiliser prevents it starting until you blip the key off and on. Just as well I had asked if there were any pointlessly goofy design ideas I should know about and was duly tipped off. Off we go at last. The engine is a revver. Kick it down flat and it wangs round to the red as it changes up, the all wheel drive makes roundabouts fun. Floor it from standstill, wang round to the exit with the throttle flat and ping out of the exit with the car flat to the road and stable. There is no surplus of power but it holds 80 on cruise control up hill and down dale. Whilst driving the poor ergonomics again let it down. A great big handbrake lever juts out above your left leg, the flower pot sized twin drinks holders are placed behind your left elbow where you cannot reach and the mirror controls are lurking in a dark and gloomy door recess. The centre console is very groovy in brushed alloy but has fiddly little cd controls.
This car is what happens when a non driving fashion nerd designer is let loose on a nice piece of engineering.
Sent from my BlackBerry® wireless device

But Ks grab the attention

Of all the bikes parked up at the test day it was the 3 Ks that drew plenty of attention. A stunning maroon K1100LT outshone both Ethel and an e bay K100RT 500 quidder !
I'm no longer surprised when owners of gleaming new Beemers come up to say " I had one of those - smoothest bike I ever rode "

Sent from my BlackBerry® wireless device

Another Balderstons test ride day

Today was another Balderstons test ride day so I took the chance of another go on the K1300GT. This time I trundled round playing with all the toys. Top goodie is the heated seat, just the right level of heat which combined with the 2 stage heated grips keeps you warm and alert. The heated grips seem to be thermostat controlled but the result is that you end up with cold grips - I'd rather control them myself. Electric screen let's you have more or less noise and windblast. The adjustable suspension switch makes the bike feel firmer on sport setting compared to the plush standard setting. A stunning super rocketship of a bike.
Next I rode the new naked 800R. Wow ! BMW have built a Buell. At last an 800 I like - no fuelling glitches and no twitchy handling ( 800ST and 650 thingy respectfully ). The motor rips around the dial, the exhaust snarls and the induction growls. Free of shaft drive you can smack down the gears, chuck the bike into a bend and wallop the power hard on with no dramas - just a huge grin ! Big wide bars , low seat and low flickable weight would make this a stoating town bike.
Now, how can I get a go on a Triumph Street Triple as the 800 is vibey through the bars ?
Sent from my BlackBerry® wireless device

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.
Sent from my BlackBerry® wireless device

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.
Sent from my BlackBerry® wireless device

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 !
Sent from my BlackBerry® wireless device