Is motorcycling allowed?

[RocknRolla]

I Loved my 650rotax. Put 120k kms on till I sold it on. That motor had such lekker low down torque. 
The 800 twin is a sweet motor, but I still miss the thumper.

[Hairy]

It has taken me a while to get into the side head greeting and I still find myself occasionally using the left hand slight raise with a peace sign greeting

 

 

 

[Andrew_Smith]

Playing in the sand - quite a experience.

[sawystertrance]

Ha. The GS in normal sand pose. Just kidding. That sand looks very tricky for any bike and kudos to you guys for attempting it. Good fun and very good practice.

[Steven Knoetze (sk27)]

5 hours ago, sawystertrance said:

Ha. The GS in normal sand pose. Just kidding. That sand looks very tricky for any bike and kudos to you guys for attempting it. Good fun and very good practice.

Like a zebra, when it see's the sand it wants to roll......

[Andymann]

7 hours ago, Andrew_Smith said:

Playing in the sand - quite a experience.

Stand up, look up, open up........

Gray Dick taught me that early on at Yamaha

[mazambaan]

16 hours ago, Andymann said:

Stand up, look up, open up........

Gray Dick taught me that early on at Yamaha

and if it doesn't work at least you get the crash over with quickly ????. What worked for Gray Dick may not have worked for all of us mere mortals.

[Spokey]

On 10/21/2021 at 1:34 PM, Andrew_Smith said:

Very true, every second bike you see here on the road is a GS but I think it is for good reason - it is just fantastic bikes and they clearly have the market.

I have seen a few riders stating that they tried other alternative options but they keep coming back to the GS.

Since there is a lot on the road, parts should also not be a problem at all.

Garden Route is GS territory by a long shot. The very reason I bought the Katoom! Seriously though, I had my eye on a Yammie Super Ten in fine fettle and at a good price. Was keen on the Yam due to reliability. I so nearly laid down the Randellas and then bought the Katoom on what can only be described as an impulse buy. I have done around 20 000kms in the 19 months I have owned the bike and that is with about 7 months away at work. (Been home a lot due to Covid) The bike has proved to be very reliable. I would really like to try a Yam T7 for the more tech stuff but they are still really pricy 2nd hand. I would likely chose that over a Katoom 7/890 due to the simplicity of the bike.

Anyone on here own a T7? let is know your feelings of the bike!

[Andrew_Smith]

 

[sawystertrance]

Spokey, Are you over in Kuwait now? If so, why don't you hire one for a day or so to give yourself a feel for it. 

[Hairy]

Stopped at Down Town yesterday during Load Shedding.

What an awesome place, with really helpful staff and owner!

You really need to stop by them if you are in CT into Harley's 

Going back there on the way back from site tomorrow to pick up a quick release rack from their "make us an offer parts mezzanine" that is costing next to nothing.

https://www.downtownsa.co.za/

My motivation for going there is that I suspected they worked on the bike before. When I arrived they recognised the bike immediately and they set my mind at ease noting that the previous owner did service the bike regularly and that when it was last with them it was in tip top mechanical shape.

The aesthetic items I noted in my essay before was not with them doing the work. 

[Hairy]

On 10/18/2021 at 4:00 PM, Hairy said:

So a bit of a venting session here.

Following getting my bike I have had a few issues, of which most could easily be resolved I think.

1. There were electrical errors that came up on the dash, and bike did not want to start at one point. Pinned it down to the battery connections that were loose following the bike shop fitting the light on the license plate at time of purchase. He was to arrange a meetup with his "Harley Tech" to put the bike on the computer to check ... still waiting, as it is always some or other issue.
2. The oil levels were stupidly low when I checked them shortly after purchase ... you know, just out of curiosity as it was said all was good on the bike. Topped it up and the level has not dropped since over the last 3000km.
3. License plate light stopped working. Took it back to get sorted. Elec. Mech. guy fiddles and struggles to find the fault. I get him to make a dummy light and test the system. We find that they had routed the cable to the light over the subframe and UNDER the seat pan causing the cable to wear through at the bottom. He starts routing the cable back the same way till I remind him about the last time this happened and also noted that they cut the cable too short last time and this also caused a pinch at the point where the cable enter the back of the LED light.
4. I keep hearing a rattling from the front brake lever. Turns out that the circlip meant to keep the pivot/pin in place is missing and you can pop the pin out and remove the lever with your finger .... WTF. Some ductape over the top of the pin keeps it in place till when the bike shop can finally sort this out.
5. 19th of June I sent him pics of where the seams on the leather gloves were coming un done on the finger. I bought the gloves in the beginning of June. I have sent messages, emails, etc but never get any feedback from him till I go to the store to ask him. Then he says he is still waiting on the distributors as they do not have stock. There were a few other glove options I could swap out to, but they are half the price of what I paid, and these gloves fit me well, so I will wait. Just tried calling him now after my WhatsApps are not read and he does not answer the call again.
6. I intermittently have the cruise control light come one ... and I do not have cruise control. He said he is still waiting for his HD tech feedback.
7. There is a crease to the bottom of the speedo bezel. I was always amazed at how easily water would get in there after a wash and you went over the dial with only a wet cloth, no hosing. Turns out that you can actually pull the glass down and then be left with a gap between the glass and bezel. There are traces of clear silicone that also pop up. My gut feeling is that the previous owner broke the glass in a fall and did a DIY replacement of sorts on the glass. I will get back to my suspicion of a fall.
8. The weekend before I did my K53 test, the guy doing my training goes over my bike with me (a) the belt guard is missing, you can see where part of the bolt remains in the frame and where it was cut off (b) the brake light does not go off when using the front brake...we fiddle a bit, but the damned thing does not return to the fully "open" position to release the brake light sensor. I think the brake light is a newer issue, but the belt guard was from the sale and I do not know how they got it through Road Worthy like this. 
9. BRAKE LIGHT: Go straight through to the shop to sort the issues out so my bike is safe and roadworthy for the Monday K53 test. They take forever to sort out the brake and I am told that they do not even have to road test it as it is working now ... even after I ask why it is so sharp / short on throw. Leaving there and not more than 3km away the front brakes lock up. Fortunately at slow speed at traffic lights. Guy comes through to see what is going on, looks like the spring in the lever has collapsed. Back to the shop with another long wait for them to sort it out.
10. BELT GUARD: He looks amazed at it not being there and I then show him the rusty bolt where it was cut off ... ok, he can't get one now for me to be able to do the test on the Monday, but will sort it out for me on Monday. The test was on the 26th of last month and I can not get any feedback from the bike shop. With them not being able to sort out the guard before the test, it meant I had to rent a bike for the test at R400.00
11. LICENSE PLATE: When I bought the bike I asked for the smallest legal plate ... they fitted one that would also not pass muster at the K53. So I bought one for R200.00 to use on the day of the test. So with the guard I am down R600.00 that I should not have had to spend to start with.

My suspicion that the bike took a bit of a drag or fall.

1. The mirrors look a little second hand RE the condition of the glass. The bolts used to fit the mirrors to the lever body do not match each other in design. This you do not readily see as they are at the underside of the levers.
2. There is a nice bit of alum scraped away to the underside of the primary case.
3. I suspect the grips were replaced by the previous owner and not a dealership as when washing the bike last I noticed that the collar on the accelerator grip was fitted the wrong way round. Thought being the old grips were damaged.
4. Left rear indicator housing scratched
5. Left front indicator cover was scratched .... the awesome Craig from Big Bike Centre (Tracmac premises in P/Island) looked at this and found a replacement in his box of spares, swapped it out and only charged a handshake.
6. Bit of a scrape to the left side of the rear rim and belt drive cover
7. I think that the clutch lever was replaced. The left front indicator housing that bolts to the clutch lever body does not sit flush and properly into the rebate that is meant to receive it.
8. The bike was re-sprayed.
9. My speedo comment from above (No. 07)
10. Primary cover is not stock. Just a flat black cover.
11. The hooter "horn" was cut off at the mount. This is visible when you look under the tank and you can see the rust where it was cut. This is also on the left side of the bike. The hooter is currently just the hooter without the horn, fitted to the front of the bike on the frame.
12. Rubber boot on that goes over the clutch cable adjuster is torn and the torn part has been turned to face the engine so that you do not see it. This is also on the left hand side.

I am sure there is more, but I need to cut this essay short now.

Still hitting a brick wall with this guy ... he does not reply to my emails, Whatsapps or phone calls 

[Steven Knoetze (sk27)]

1 hour ago, Hairy said:

Still hitting a brick wall with this guy ... he does not reply to my emails, Whatsapps or phone calls 

That is an answer in itself I would say......

[Hairy]

1 hour ago, Steven Knoetze (sk27) said:

That is an answer in itself I would say......

Just got a hold of him now ... apparently been man down for the last few days and some of his staff too.

Noted he believes the gloves are en-route to SA, he will follow up on the belt guard and will arrange for me to go to his HD tech to pop the bike on the comp.

[Hairy]

My youngest really loves my bike ... pushed the bike out the garage so I could do a few things and the little chop was wanting to sit on the bike ... not long till he was making bbbbroooommmmm bbbbbbrroroooommmm noises and "leaning into the wind"

[IceCreamMan]

Has the ethos down pat. Shades and cool expression.