Yes! Another successful MOT, not that I was worried but always nice to see. The bike has a flawless record, now its 17th MOT with still not one advisory. Shame its raining though as its filthy now, but will ride home happy.

I must do better with my mileage, only 3k since May last year which is poor for me. perhaps this summer will be better, only two months till the ABR festival so that will help add a few miles 

I have been thinking about your van conversion and to it's, almost completion. I have decided to make this offer , to complete the project the only thing left to do is to test it.

My generous offer is for me to take it on a long trip around Europe for you. I won't charge a penny, no, not one penny and when I get back I will tell you how it performed. Yes I know you are shocked but I am one of those salt of the earth type of blokes.

Please let me know where I can collect the van at a time suitable to you of course but as I will be away for three months so I suggest you make it soon as you will need to have a full service when I give it back and I know you will want to use it this summer.

A two word answer will suffice. You're welcome. 

 

Stick with me on this one…….

I keep my bikes a long time. My previous bike, a CBF1000FAB, I had for ten years.

With the above in mind, this bike would probably be my last. Therefore, I thought sod it….. all I want to do is clean it and ride it. I took out a three year Suzuki service plan. 600 miles, 12, 24, 36 months and first MOT… £31 for 36 months, totalling £1116 for four services and one MOT. No price increases either. The services are done as per Suzuki servicing schedules. Paying individually the 600 mile one alone is £189. If I continue with Suzuki servicing then the warranty is extended year on year up to year 7.

My first annual service was due to be done on 2nd May. However, on the 18th April, a kind person pulled out in front of me (all on Dashcam) and my pride and joy is now written off.

Hopefully I’ll have sourced an exact replacement for it tomorrow. The last unregistered 2022 1050 XT in the country.🤞

Sorry to hear that your accident and that your bike was written off. Hopefully your new bike will be as good, always exciting getting a new bike 

I don’t have a date for mine but hopefully no longer than 2 weeks!

On my way back from Dorset last week, I got a slight feeling that the clutch cable wasn't quite right. I couldn't say exactly what was amiss, but after 20,000 miles together you kind of get a gut feel. Also, the front brakes have had a very slight squeak to them for a while when moving the bike around in the garage.

So, yesterday I disconnected the clutch cable, in situ. The cable was moving OK without the telltale feel of broken strands. I cleaned up both exposed ends and put some lube in the top end of the cable and turned my attention to the level. This I removed completely and gave a really good clean. I greased the pivot bolt, and reinstalled the lever which now had a much slicker feel.

Cable reconnected and switch checked it all feel a lot nicer now.

Brakes, I just pulled the front calipers off. Plenty of meat on all the pads but a bit of a buildup of dust in the wear slot on one pad. Nothing on the disc to indicate why, so a good clean there too. I pushed both pistons back a little, both to make reinstallation easier but also to make sure there was no binding / sticking. Both calipers were then reinstalled and the brake lever pumped to get all the pads back in contact with the discs.

Hopefully I'll get a chance to check everythings OK with a ride this week, but the weather is not looking too hopeful.