Leaderboard

At this point I checked the crank runout, Dark Horse recommend a maximum of .008 of an inch, although that is with the original chain tensioner, mine is .006 so all good either way. I also had the check alignment in case any shims were needed, alignment was perfect without shims. So I put it back together. Ain't it pretty? I will put the case back on in the morning.

So here we go. The original setup. Despite what Marcel le manchild says, 60k is good going for the original compensator on this model year, the compensator is the cog on the left. Pre 2006 compensators last a lot longer as do post 2013although the standard self racheting primary chain adjuster can be a problem, as you may see i fitted a Hayden M6 tensioner many moons ago which may be why mine has lasted so well. On inspection there was not a lot of wear on the compensator except for the peaks but the belville spring basket was pretty well shot, this is why it was noisy and i was getting vibration.

I think the French were the last remaining EU country to not have an mot equivalent. Not because they were any stronger willed or more resistant than te others but cos they couldn't organise a gang bang in a brothel. they only managed the olympics by shutting down the whole fucking country and having no gouvernement in place while it went on.

I just got back from having my first ever motorcycle MOT in 30 years. talk about fucking money for nothing. 50€ ( that's two full tanks of fuel) for 15 minutes, during which tme, apart from the pollution control, the bloke chaecked exactly what I check every time before I ride, tyre pressures, lights, indicators, brake function, chain lube and tension, + visul check of genreal state. he could obviously fine nothing wrong with any of it, but couldn't resist the comment, tyre pressures were down by 100g (that' about 0.001bar) and that he found the chain a bit tight. I managed to refrain from punching him in the face and telling him to fuck off, and suggested that as i had last checked the tyre pressures yesterday afternoon when the ambient temp was 38° and that it was curently only 14° that that was perfectly normal, not to mention any discrepency between manometers... The chain tension IS a little over tight because the machine runs better that way when not loaded and that I prefer it like that and have always done so. I have never yet found an mot controller who did not find it neccessary to try and justify their fee by making spurious comments on details that have no bearing on the result of the test. Still, next one in 3 years, by which time I expect they will have changed the rules to include a rolling road test for horse power, a sonometer test, and probably reflectivity of number plate or some other crackpot scheme that will have absolutely no impact other than financial ( cos they'l be able to justify the price increase by the cost of the equippement) on any law abiding rider and even less on the criminal element who didn't obey the previous rules and wil simply ignore any new one s and not pay for an mot. Wankers.

Only about a month away till some camping will commence here....

I watched Marty tripes race one of these in Trans-AMA races when I was in high school. We thought it was an exotic bike back then.

All new compensators require a new stator as the basket for the belville spring is welded to the old one. This being the weakness all newer types use a different system. I went for a Dark Horse motorsprocket as they are regarded as the best plus they will survive performance upgrades which I will do in the future. The inner primary case has a cast lip on the inside which prevents removal of the stator without removing the inner primary, I decided to grind this lip off as many others have done as it makes ongoing servicing of the alternator a lot easier. Here we are with the original stator removed. With the new one fitted.

Eric didn't mention the fancy hotel was dog friendly. Americans spoil their dogs? Says who? By the middle of the trip I was a little nervous my tires weren't going to make it, especially the rear one. But I got home with a few hundred miles to spare on it. Well, sort of. Technically it wasn't to the wear bars but I replaced it anyway. There were signs. Before I left the bike had 2100 miles on it. Internet reports said these tires were good for 6500 miles and up. Well there were a couple reports of more like 3500 but some guys just can't have nice things. I figured I'd be at 4500 miles when I got home so no worries. This is at just under 4500 miles, I would have replaced them sooner had I been home. No, I could not recreate this photo with the new tire installed.

It's bliss until you have to live here - then it fuckin' sucks!

But I made it home about 11-1/2 hours later with just over 5,300 miles added to the clocks. It's good to be home.

After two days at the Artisian, we slough off to Scranton, Pennsylvania. PA gets a bad rap but the riding was decent - better than anything in Vermont, New Hampshire or New York. Good view from our hotel ...

Someone sent me that last week , bloody great sense of humour

A couple of months ago I put new fork seals on the WR but after a couple of rides the O/S fork started leaking again. I got Garry who does my MOT's to have a look and he pointed out vertical scoring on the leg , that wasn't allowing the seal to do it's job. Parts for this bike are fairly rare in UK , I wondered if the forks from a WR250F (enduro) would fit but they need work to do the job and it was more than I wanted to do so I bit the bullet and ordered a new fork tube, along with bushes and a fork seal. So up on the ramp again and the fork was removed.......... Once you get the cap off you need two spanners to remove the leg .................. and then I drained the oil overnight .................. Once the parts arrived (nearly three weeks ) , I took the fork leg into work as we would need to fabricate a tool to remove the damper rod . My boss is a wizz at making suitable tools ............ I cleaned up the damper rod and valve and then fitted those parts to the leg, new on the left , old on the right .......... Back home this morning I set about fitting the new bushes and seal, the Motion Pro seal driver was employed for the job.......... the air gap was measured with my trusty steel rule and then everything was button up ........ and now I have another freebie Japanese mechanic key ring from CMSNL

No Diet Dew on the Turnpike service areas so I had to switch up brands at lunch. This shit is foul ..

That night landed us in Akron, Ohio. What a dump. I should have known better than to stay there, but was the only place I could get a hotel discount. Ate dinner sat the hotel bar - forgettable burgers and beers. The next day Craig and I split up; he headed north to Michigan and I west towards Chicago. Rode on the fabulous Ohio Turnpike for hours of tedium ...

More shots from Route 6 across PA...

We dined at nothing but the finest fuel stations. I think I actually got the "Sheetz" from eating here...

Roads were mostly empty as we cruised along across northern PA ....

We ate at the hotels Tuscan market - kind of an open air market that also had a bar and some table service. Good food - had pizza the first night and pasta the second night. The hotel's restaurants were a little pricey for us and had weird food - Pedro style . The open air beer garden was too packed for us to get a seat...

After having 2 of my bikes ripped off right outta my driveway before....I couldn't agree more! DEATH to all bike thieves

We still don’t, at least until next year. They’ve been delaying it yearly for the last few years.

They've got there own water supply. This is something the misses always does.

About 6 hours later and I stop for another pee break - STILL in Kansas. That fuckin' state is w-i-d-e as fuck ....

Almost sunrise and I stopped for a pee break in Kansas near a DOT garage...

Stopped in Kansas City at 0400 for fuel. Weird being in a empty place that is usually packed with cars and people....

After Indy, I hit Columbia, Missouri to stay at Todd's house. Got there kinda late and had to leave at 0200 the following morning to make it home. I was trying to beat the heat by leaving early but the temp was already around 80F / 27C...

Following day was spent at my friend Clint's house hanging out at the pool drinking beers. Good day off the bike....

Bid my Chicago friend's goodbye and headed to Indianapolis for a couple of days and some Mexican food at a friend's restaurant. Think the roasted pepper platter (habaneros and jalapenos) was a bit over done, but still tasted good...

Then off to a local Italian joint for dinner ...

Met up with some of my old buddies from Chicago at our former meet up place - MA's Pizza ...

Spent my first day there at my bud's house, changing my oil in his shop. And stopped by Chicago's finest restaurant for lunch. Had the whole place to myself ...

Wheels down in Chicago amid 97F / 37C temps and 90%+ humidity. Felt great to get into the a/c in my room...

Craig / DesmoDog moved in fast ....

Made it to the hotel that my wife;s firm owns. Good thing I got the "I'm married to the boss" discount or else I couldn't afford to stay here on a bike trip. Salem, New Hampshire. ...

if you own a Harley your safe...

I was cross rutted there so had to drag the back end inline with the front and found out my new boots are 100% waterproof but only until the shit went over the top of them

and the bike was stolen so the 2 guys who died on the bike were of the bike robbing scumbag types so while its sad they had an accident on one hand on the other good riddance to two thieving scumbag cunts!

Definitely on the Destination BucketList....

easier way is highlight your acle straight and right click to take you straight to a news page about it

Well you need to please your EU overlords.

never needed one till this year.

I can get my bike mot done on the phone.

Cracker

Medic!