38 minutes ago, fluffmeister said:

I'm heading back up on Sunday night on the K1600, got a Config Manager Upgrade to do at the University so may bump into you (not in the literal sense ) I'm up all week and heading back home on Friday morning, then pack the bike up Saturday and off to Normandy for a week with my lad as pillion and a couple of friends.

 

I hope not the literal sense . 

 

I'll make a special effort to wave to k1600's on the off chance . 

 

Proper bike for the job though the K16 isnt it. Cant think of a better bike for munching mile like that! 

37 minutes ago, fluffmeister said:

PS, the weather will be fine, it's just the wrong clothes that may catch you out

 

One of my best rides ever was in pouring rain and wind coming back through Glenshee. No other traffic and everything was just stringing together perfectly, I was in that magical zone where it was just rolling bends, rolling the throttle and not a care in the world, even though it was ****ing rain

 

true! And **** tires though! The oem Dunlops on the Tracer are good in the dry but shocking in the wet. Sliding about everywhere, which then leaves me with little confidence in them. 

2 hours ago, fabiamk2SE said:

 

true! And **** tires though! The oem Dunlops on the Tracer are good in the dry but shocking in the wet. Sliding about everywhere, which then leaves me with little confidence in them. 

 

A pair of Michelin PR4 will sort that out. Almost as much grip in the wet as dry and very confidence inspiring.

27 minutes ago, CFB said:

 

A pair of Michelin PR4 will sort that out. Almost as much grip in the wet as dry and very confidence inspiring.

 

Yeah ive had those before, they are good. Found the 3's slightly better actually but theyre both very good. 

 

Im thinking of going for the Metzeler Roadtec 01's this time, but i might aswel wear these down abit first

I had PS3's on the previous KTM SM990 and they're a fantastic tyre. Current bike came with Metzeler Tourance, which is a dual sport, not brilliant off road but feels every bit as good as the PS3's on the road. First experience of Metzeler and do far impressed especially as they seem to be a far bit cheaper. This might be because of the traction control stopping me getting into trouble. 

Edited 16 May, 20179 yr by CWARD

Did the Herts Air Ambulance charity ride from Welwyn, round the houses, to North Weald airfield, then 180 odd miles to Stockport for a funeral tomorrow morning.

Tomorrow, after that, will be spent riding the snake and other nice roads before a butty, a brew and high tailing it home.

Took the CX500 over to my mothers just for a run out. Pushed it a bit further than it was comfortable with and got a lesson in 40 years of bike development. No harm done other than my pride. 

I sold mine.

Sad day but hopefully not for long

Cward the irony is that I will use the £500 to help to sort out my sick Octavia!

 

Life eh?

Shame but if it was serves your needs most then so it has to be. 

9 hours ago, CFB said:

Did the Herts Air Ambulance charity ride from Welwyn, round the houses, to North Weald airfield, then 180 odd miles to Stockport for a funeral tomorrow morning.

Tomorrow, after that, will be spent riding the snake and other nice roads before a butty, a brew and high tailing it home.

 

Good fun. Enjoy. Apart from the funeral obv. 

 

 

Day 3. In ullapool this morning. Up to Tongue via more coast roads, then down to Perth for tonights stay. 

 

Some epic views yesterday. Did Applecross and the coast roads around there. Stunning views. It even brightened up n got sunny around 4pm! 

Finally got round to setting up the pedal positions on the R3 to suit my size, 6'1" and realized how this is oft overlooked ie we buy a bike and just adapt to its pedal position rather than play with the warwick screws to get the rear brake lever and gear position in just the right position for optimum operation when a 10 10ths ie down Fish Hill trying to trail brake with it not in optimum position.

 

Have now backed off the rear preload to minimum position which sounds completely wrong for someone a few biscuits over 100 kgs, but actually feels right will rarely take pillions (they would have to be less than 60 kgs as bike has a 160 kg added weight limit. Rear shock is a bit tin pot with 7 preloads which are very close together, it is one of the things to change as recognised in the World SSP 300 rules, as long as you do not pay more than 750 Euros appraently.  Exhaust would be the other thing.

https://gallery.mailchimp.com/828d05dc5f4c88573aeb98365/files/2017_Part_2.7_WorldSSP_300_provisional_technical_rules.pdf 

 

Now I have 500 miles on it I reprogrammed the dash for the rev level flashing and the absolute red line, which I do not understand as it would would rev past it and wonder if it was just adding a bit of a dampener on the performance rather than a pit lane limiter type of ignition disrupter,  bad for business having customers killed by bike cutting out when overtaken I guess.

 

Loving riding experiencing on this rebirth of this category ie sports 350s, taking me back to my GT250, 380, Kwacker H1 days, except for the better handling and lack of tailpipe emissions making the world disappear in a cloud of two stroke smoke.    

53 minutes ago, fabiamk2SE said:

Day 3. In ullapool this morning. Up to Tongue via more coast roads, then down to Perth for tonights stay. 

 

Some epic views yesterday. Did Applecross and the coast roads around there. Stunning views. It even brightened up n got sunny around 4pm! 

 

Thats a bit of a trot, but you'll definitely enjoy the ride to Tongue, if the weather is good. 

4 minutes ago, CFB said:

 

Thats a bit of a trot, but you'll definitely enjoy the ride to Tongue, if the weather is good. 

 

It is really. Could of done with another day really but nevermind. 

 

Difficult to get the balance between stopping and taking in the scenery and gettin where we need to go today i think. 

On 2017-3-20 at 11:21, fluffmeister said:

 

Weather suppose to be hotting up big time with 30 degrees towards end of week is WSB at Donni!

Edited 22 May, 20179 yr by lol-lol

1 hour ago, fabiamk2SE said:

Day 3. In ullapool this morning. Up to Tongue via more coast roads, then down to Perth for tonights stay. 

 

Some epic views yesterday. Did Applecross and the coast roads around there. Stunning views. It even brightened up n got sunny around 4pm! 

 

Enjoy the roads. The journey is part of the enjoyment so don't rush it. 

 

We are off next week for half term and going to get some miles in on the KTM, the CX500 would be a bit asthmatic  It will be the first time out this year with the good lady on the back so need to get her comfortable and relaxed again so I'm not fighting her and the bike going into bends. Shame I can't hide the speedo from her view then I could stop the "I can see how fast you're going!" coming over the intercom. 

 

1 hour ago, lol-lol said:

Have now backed off the rear preload to minimum position which sounds completely wrong for someone a few biscuits over 100 kgs, but actually feels right will rarely take pillions (they would have to be less than 60 kgs as bike has a 160 kg added weight limit. Rear shock is a bit tin pot with 7 preloads which are very close together,

 

Sounds very wrong. At 100kg you're probably over the standard spring rating.  Too much preload on too light a spring and it will be harsh and you'll have no unladen sag minimising the shocks ability as the rebound will be overworked. The 160kg weight limit normal refers to the chassis strength as the subframes are just a light weight structure to support the rider and pillion. 

 

The static sag will be way out and no doubt you've recreated the crap suspension of the 80's as it will be constantly bogged down with your weight.  Get it set up right and it will transform the bike allowing later braking, less pitching and better control over uneven roads. If you can't do it yourself take it to a specialist and for a couple of £hundred it will make you faster than any slip on exhaust.

11 hours ago, CWARD said:

 

Sounds very wrong. At 100kg you're probably over the standard spring rating.  Too much preload on too light a spring and it will be harsh and you'll have no unladen sag minimising the shocks ability as the rebound will be overworked. The 160kg weight limit normal refers to the chassis strength as the subframes are just a light weight structure to support the rider and pillion. 

 

The static sag will be way out and no doubt you've recreated the crap suspension of the 80's as it will be constantly bogged down with your weight.  Get it set up right and it will transform the bike allowing later braking, less pitching and better control over uneven roads. If you can't do it yourself take it to a specialist and for a couple of £hundred it will make you faster than any slip on exhaust.

 

Thanks for your comment.  It does sound counter intuitive and I am only trying it at the moment.  The feeling i get with the R3 is that it is set up so that it is for novices and made so they cannot alter it that much.  The rear shock gives 130 mm of travel and the pre-load I have taken off literally only seems to have dropped the bike a few millimeters on it mid float position and still seems to have more downward travel than upward.

 

I think they diliberately make the bike so you cannot adjust it out of the range that even with max weight on it you would still have a reasonably suspension travel even on the lowest preload.  Gearing seems to be for as much for two person than solo.

 

No problems with the shock getting overworked so far and I think it would only get a hard time two up.  Loads of parts for the R3 from the race parts bins but I would rather go for a good high quality shock with lots of adjustment of compression damping, preload rather than some brutal race unit.  Maybe change the oil to a bit of a thicker one and slightly stronger/stiffer springs up front and leave the back for a while. 

 

Same for the exhaust, a quality lighter until but not too loud.   Have not ridden it since tweaking the movable rev limiter from the 8k to 11k revs setting so need to test that.    See how it goes. 

 

 

     

Buying high quality shockers is pointless unless you get the basics right. Always start with static sag, that is the measurement the suspension compresses with you sat on it in your riding position with all your gear on. On a road bike it should be around 15-20% (no more than 26mm on 130mm of travel) of your available travel used up by just sitting on it. Front suspension setup to the same percentage, it will have less travel. This will have the bike balanced and allow the forks and shockers to work in their optimum range. If you can't obtain the correct sag even with the preload at maximum you need stronger springs. 

Get this right and even the most basic suspension works a lot better. 

I'm no suspension set up genius.. i never have been and tbh i havent set the time aside to try and learn to be.. however.. i'd still say a few things. 

 

The R3, and dont be offended by this, at the price point isnt going to be the best suspension ever known to man... infact its probably quite basic. That doesnt mean you need to spend stupid money on ohlins, but it does mean that set up is more important to get it the best it can be for you.. in my experience. 

 

I'd set aside £50 or whatever and take it to a suspension specialist near you. They will talk through it all with you and set it up to your requirements... it will never be spot on and its personal taste, but i think you'll find it well worth the money as it'll put you in the ball park. 

 

You could upgrade it if you wished, but that depends on your feelings towards it. If you've done the above and its still lacking, you cant get improvement etc, its time for a higher quality set up. 

 

Finding the limits of the suspension is usually fun though. 

Back home anyway. Rode back from Perth this morning and spent the afternoon trying to clean up the Tracer after 1000 miles in thunder rain and... oh we got about 200-300 dry miles in too! 

 

Stunning place though. Defo going back. 

 

The MT10 did run out of fuel mind . I personally think the Tracer was ideal for it... the GSA was a little bit big for the single track roads imo. 

8 minutes ago, fabiamk2SE said:

200-300 dry miles in too

 

Has Scotland had a heat wave?

 

The roads and scenery are great and quite empty once outside the towns it's just a matter of not enough time to do them justice. 

Forget to ask were you camping or hotels?  I've fancied doing the bothies option at some time in the future.

 

GSA's are a bit wide for dual carriageways 

1 minute ago, CWARD said:

 

Has Scotland had a heat wave?

 

The roads and scenery are great and quite empty once outside the towns it's just a matter of not enough time to do them justice. 

Forget to ask were you camping or hotels?  I've fancied doing the bothies option at some time in the future.

 

GSA's are a bit wide for dual carriageways 

 

Not quite haha. It's got one this week, but i was a week too early which was a bugger! 

 

Awesome place. The biggest A road in the north is basically a single track lane with passing places! 

 

We did hotels. Used to camp, but for what it is, £40-£50 a night, we just do hotels now. So much easier and nicer. 

 

GSA's are feckin big, nicknamed the Super Tanker on our trip... but with abit of hose pipe and all bull**** aside, its 350 mile range could get the MT10 out of the **** too if needed. Fortunately he'd already packed a jerry can. It was only a mini trip for them anyway. 

 

I dont think it was helped by the rider tbh. I was leading and quite happy at 50mph just tryna take in the views and everything.. when a Multistrada and a Fireblade came past at mach 3.. no mither... 2 minutes later the MT10 came past at full bore playing catch up.. caught up with em in no time (he's a bloody good rider..) overtook them all one by one... then 20 miles later had to stop LOL.