Gambia on an airhead?

[Thunder]

Well the bikes finally been out on the road and its just something else.

WP front forks and yolks are superb, soak up the roughest of surfaces and handle the razor sharp breaking from the 320mm spondon disc and billet 6 pot caliper the way the stock forks could never do.

Custom made pannier frames and rack courtesy of Jaythro have been to the powder coaters and tested with a heavier load than they will ever carry with no issues.

Just did an oil change so took the opportunity to fit the oil cooler kit.

Few more things to do but basically will be riding her every day to get used to her and then a final check over before we hit the Road, can't wait!

 

[Kenny]

Even your path is well presented and your wheelie bins dead straight

 

[electric_monk]

Hey Roger

The bike looks superb, you do take a pride in your work....I hope you are emotionally prepared to deal with a dirty bike on the road..

 

[Thunder]

Hey Roger

The bike looks superb, you do take a pride in your work....I hope you are emotionally prepared to deal with a dirty bike on the road..

I've been having counselling and my GP has prescribed some extra strong tabs to keep me calm. Bonus is if I don't need them they sell for a tenner a tab in the local clubs

On the storage front postie arrived yesterday with a bespoke hand crafted tool box lovingly made by Vern

Tough as the toughest old boot and just the right size to take the tools and spares for the trip while leaving space to store documentation in the lid yet leaving enough clearence for me to throw my geriatric leg over!

 

[Kenny]

Top piece of kit ( I made the coffee whilst Vern welded )...all teamwork

HOPE THE DONATIONS ARE COMING IN FOR THIS EXCELLANT TRIP (and thread ) ?

 

[Thunder]

HOPE THE DONATIONS ARE COMING IN FOR THIS EXCELLANT TRIP (and thread ) ?

Ahh well donations are like Airheads, you can never have enough

If anyone can spare some of their hard earned just click the link below, goes straight to the charity for what I truly believe is a cause worth supporting, all costs for the trip are being met by those taking part, hence the reason I've been sorting out bits from the garage to post shortly on the For Sale section.

Well its either that or sell a kidney on Ebay

 

[Deleted account 211025001]

On the storage front postie arrived yesterday with a bespoke hand crafted tool box lovingly made by Vern

Bleedin' 'eck, you're taking a lot of tools Are you running as support for all the 1200's.................................

The bike's looking fantastic Roger and have to say, Vern does do some dam fine boxes

Andres

 

[Decster]

news from Guinea south of Gambia

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/8310221.stm

 

[Thunder]

news from Guinea south of Gambia

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/8310221.stm

Aye, it's a nasty old world we live in

 

[Thunder]

Well it's been a busy old week on the Storm Front, clocks ticking and pushing ahead with the finishing yoiches for the trip in between getting some road time on the bike, which has been bloody enjoyable.

Having found the rev counter was playing up (yes I know it's not necessary on an Airhead but the fluctuating needle after an hours riding was distracting) I opted to ditch the analogue instruments all together and fit an Acewell unit instead.

Had great support for Craig Owen who is the UK distributor for Acewell and supplied lots of advice on what unit to fit followed by technical support during fitting, highly recommended.

Went for an ACE-3972B which gives loads of read out options combined with LED idiot lights within the unit which has freed up dash space for additional switches which I'll come to later.

Bike now has an HPN rear brake lever relocation kit fitted, found it in the clearance section of TT UK's website at the beginning of last week, found the clearance section by mistake while browsing their site quite lucky really as they don't seem to publicise it's existence.

To help cleaning in dusty conditions and surprisingly help her breath more easily she now has a Boxxer Parts air filter kit.

New screen arrived this afternoon (so much for the postal strike ). made by Skidmark its an aftermarket flip version and from the brief ride I got this evening pretty effective at heeping your head and bdy in still air, time will tell though.

Final addition for the week has been a natty set of halogen fog lights to compliment the excellent Yamaha headlight, make quite a difference on a dark night and have been combined with an LED additional brake light which can be used as a fog light for those misty moisty mornings.

Bikes pretty much sorted on the electrical front, just a couple more touches and I'm off, can't wait.

 

[Kenny]

Bloody work of art !!

 

[Thunder]

Bloody work of art !!

You can sleep with me anytime

I'm guessing Sir has sobered up since posting that and some moderation has occured.

Work of art is out for testing, both bike and gear. Just stopped off in Newcastle for a fry. Gale force winds and driving rain, just the job!

 

[Kenny]

You must have added the 'sleeping bit'...I'm admitting to nothing ( scouser).
Just telephoned you..now I know why I got no answer

great looking bike...needs a HPN fairing though

I'm guessing Sir has sobered up since posting that and some moderation has occured.

Work of art is out for testing, both bike and gear. Just stopped off in Newcastle for a fry. Gale force winds and driving rain, just the job!

 

[Thunder]

You must have added the 'sleeping bit'...I'm admitting to nothing ( scouser).
Just telephoned you..now I know why I got no answer

great looking bike...needs a HPN fairing though

Aye and when she gets back she'll most likely have one, but for now the "original" fairing and screen type will stay in place, todays little bimble proved their effectiveness.

Left Cassa Thunder this morning to horizontal rain and severe weather warnings, just the thing to test the bike and she performed perfectly. Rock solid in high winds, loads of protection in the wet stuff and warm and toastie with the Tucano muffs and gaucho.

In Newcastle the rain started with a vengeance, was nice watching the locals heading for shelter.

Made it home relatively dry with a steaming crotch and well plesed with how things are progressing. The Acewell is brilliant, used the Zumo to confirm the calibration and after a couple of adjustments it's now spot on.

Happy days

 

[Thunder]

Another week, another load of miles some minor additions and an MOT completed on the bike on Friday. The MOT was interesting as I thought it was booked for Saturday and only the alarm going off on my phone an hour before the appointment made me aware of the situation.

Frantic run home (luckily I was not far away) on to the bike and straight up to the MOT centre saw me sitting in the lane with 5 minutes to spare. Bike sailed through the test no problem although the 3 line number plate situation needed clarification on it's legality.

Been playing with the Acewell display unit that's replaced the old clocks and I must admit I'm well impressed, not only does it have all the idiot lights you will ever require built in using long life LED's but it also provides the ability to switch between MPH and KPH, a volt meter, 2 trips, shift light, average speed, total ride time, clock, rev counter and oil temperature (well it will when I fit the correct sender unit).

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Given the time of year for the trip and the likely weather we will be riding through I decided to increase the bikes visibility from the rear especially in heavy rain by adding a neat little LED rear fog light underneath Vern's excellent toolbox.

Nothing worse than a Tosser up your chuff when it's wet, hopefully this will prevent just such an occurrence.

 

[Colt]

does the front brake work now

 

[sockpuppet]

Of course the LEDs are long life I shouldn't expect the speedos got into double digits yet has it? onyack

 

[Thunder]

does the front brake work now

Doh! Yes works fine, little package will be heading your way this week, apologies, I forgot to send it earlier.

 

[Colt]

thats ok roger
don't tell everyone,
they will all want a little package from you

 

[Thunder]

Of course the LEDs are long life I shouldn't expect the speedos got into double digits yet has it? onyack

Actually it's showing it's true mileage of just under 58000 miles and the bikes running like a Swiss watch after a change to conventional rocker arms from the high lift versions which she's been using up to now. Beauty of the Airhead, easy to fettle.