Hey,
Sorry to dig this up from the past but I just wanted to give you a few updates on where I am at...
Well Thursday I have my theory test and then next Mon/Tue/Wed I am sitting all the tests at Mallory park, CBT/Mod1/Mod2 and then I should be fully sorted, I will be a fully fledged biker.
In the meantime I have to try and sort the bike out, at present the clutch is playing up, I have ordered new plates, the gasket, as well as some Silkolene oil and an OEM oil filter, so it looks like Sat I will be spending the afternoon pulling off the fairing and trying to fix this sh!tty clutch.
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Well, I have been travelling all over the shop in the last 24hrs. I sat my theory test in Peterborough, jumped in the car and headed over to Swansea, where I collected all my bike gear, my clutch plates, gaskets, oil and oil filter.
This morning I had my eyes tested in Swansea, then popped in the car, over to Cardiff Ikea to collect some shelving and trays and then to Hereford. Drained off the oil, pulled the filter, off with the fairing, cover for the clutch is off and cleaned up. The new clutch is in and soaking. I am waiting for next door to come home and nick his circlip pliers and then its off with the plate, crack off the 30mm nut with the impact gun and strip and clean it all up ready for refit tomorrow.
Whilst there I have fitted the optimiser battery charger lead to the battery and run it under the solo seat cowl. I now have the damper to fit, just popped online to make sure I was fitting it correctly..Will keep you updated when I fit it all back together tomorrow.
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Got up this morning, went and picked up some instant gasket, some more latex gloves and a circlip tool cos next door didn't have one. Got back from town and cracked on with it. it really is as simple as cover off, circlip off,undo big nut, 3 screws undone, strip down plates, rebuild as per the order they came off. 3 screws in, torque up nut, re-assemble. Then set up the clutch as per the method highlighted above. test ride. Winner!! (obviously theres an oil change in there too)
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Well today was my first day back on a bike, jumped straight on a Suzuki Bandit and was off practicing counter steering around Mallory Park. Started off with both hands and then 1 hand, to get used to the knack of push and pull and the difference the two make.
After here we did some basic road manouver's such as emergancy stops and junction work before looking at the MOD1 test track, the swerve test, the u-turn and the cone weeving and fig 8. Really enjoyed myself. Then headed onto the road for a few hours to get my riding time in for the CBT.
Tomorrow is my MOD1 exam. I am pretty confident at the moment, but one foot down when completing an manouvre and I fail.. So no complacency here!
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Well today was fun, took out the SV650 and gave it a bit of a hammering around the track, practicing counter steering and then they taught us how to emergency brake in a corner. I cannot believe how well it works and how stable the bike feels doing it.
Then we hit the road and hit some lovely twisties, trying different techniques before I headed to the test centre to complete my Mod1. THe Mod1 was a piece of piss, went in and spoke to the instructor, got into the test arena and had a quick ride about to familiarise myself and parked up. Completed all the slow manouvers and took a ride back.
When we got back we had a nice run around the track again and the instructors said we could have a bit of fun, so they had us popping the clutch whilst rolling the throttle out to get the wheel up slightly, then the guy who I am learning with said he was scared to slam on incase he low-sides the bike. So the instructor asked me to try and do a stoppie if I had the confidence. He talked me through it and after the second attempt had the back end up in the air, was really funny as I think the instructor saw the fear in my face and it dropped back down.
The guy learning with me was then explained that aslong as he doesn't snatch and progressively builds up the braking pressure on the lever he will stop dead. I am loving how much they are teaching us...
