The beast is no more

As you know I ride a rather old Suzuki GS500 which has served me very well over the last four years, until now. having just bought a new front disc, battery and rear tyre someone decided to reverse in to it while it was parked outside the house. Fortunately a neighbour saw them and managed to stop them and my Wife managed to get all the details, However, I still had to come home and sort out the insurance. Today the bike was picked up and a rather nice hire bike left in it's place. I now have to wait and see what I will get for the bike which of course will be less than the replacement cost. In the meantime I hope to enjoy the CB500F I have at present.

Just for fun

Had a rather pleasant day out on the bike with work colleagues. We have been talking about having a ride out for ages and given the weather it was decided to go today I have never been on a ride out and never been on the bike just for fun so I was just a little bit excited!  Anyway we started off at the works depot and headed out to Cheddar.  It is a  very long time since I have been here, but it was a great ride with some nice roads and spectacular sights as we went through the gorge. We took advantage of stooping off and enjoying an ice cream and enjoying the sunshine.We then set off for Weston-Super-Mare    another nice ride and very glad we were on bikes as the traffic into Weston was very heavy. Weston has a dedicated  bike park on the seafront and we parked up there. One of  our Polish colleagues had arranged a table at a Polish bar in town and we made our way up there. I wish I had known as the food was excellent, but a Sunday lunch was waiting at home! So an excellent day out and looking forward to the next. Below is a track of the ride.

 

Bike with an MOT

For once a holiday coincided with the bikes MOT expiring. I don't use that much as I am able to use the bus to get back and forth from work (for free). The front pads had an advisory last year so I set about replacing them. However, the pad pin was rusted in. I tried the usual easy way's, mole grips, oil etc but as I don't have a blow torch I decided to let the experts do it. So, I have just picked it up with it's no new MOT with no advisories. Just must get round to servicing it.

Bike

Over the last couple of weeks time and money spent on the bike. It passed the MOT with a couple of advisories for the chain, brake discs and the front wheel bearing. My bike does not have a centre stand which makes working on it a bit difficult. I have therefore bought a paddock stand which will enable me to do most jobs. I have had the chain and sprockets replaced and due to the age of the bike and it's lack of love I took to my local dealer who did the job for a very far price. Weather is improving and have had some rather pleasant rides to and from work.

New Tyre

The thread on the rear tyre of the bike has become a little low and I have been putting off it's replacement for a while but bit the bullet today and had a trip over to Frome Bike Breakers to have a nice new one fitted. I was a little surprised to see just how low the thread had become and it properly explains the tendency for the bike to follow the lines in the road. Need to run the tyre in but the ride back from Frome was a lot better than the ride there!! Now need to save some money to have the chain and sprockets replaced but that will properly be after Christmas.