Thursday 24 November 2011

Things I plan to do.

Bits - going to have to wait a bit until all the different outfits start making some of this stuff - but here is what I plan to do at this stage:

Pipe - I don’t know if they often make that much difference to power - but you feel more powerful... mainly I like making a bit more noise so people know I’m there when splitting lanes. Plus you can shave a few k’s off with a lighter pipe. Mainly though I reckon I bit more noise is a safety feature.

Tyres - big fan of Michelin Anakees when the stock ones run out - but will try some low-profile knobbies as well when I get the chance for an adventure somewhere.

ABS - figure out some way of turning it off when I want to - and yeah I’ve seen the video that proves that in a flat braking scenario the ABS stops you quicker in dirt - but that’s not the reason I want to be able to turn it off when off road: I like being able to lock up the rear to control the bike, help steer, and I have gone down hills where the concept of not being able to lock up untenable (walking speed descents while hoping not to fall off cliff and plummet screaming to death etc).

Engine bars - fairing is nice, but turns a piddling 20k’s an hour drop into a 400 dollar plastic welding drama, as happened to me on the Tenere on time. More importantly, now that I have actually got the bike – all those hoses hanging off the right side worry me.

Bash plate - the location of the oil filter on the bike has got to be about the stupidest thing I have ever seen - and the exposed case bothers me. There is apparently one available more or less now at some site - but I don’t like the way it is attached - they claim the bolts holding it to the engine are attached to soft metal brackets, and they are engineers and so are probably right, but it worries me - can’t imagine they would cover it if the bash plate ripped open your engine in the middle of nowhere. Will give it a few months and see if someone comes up with another option.

Heated grips - never had them. Always wanted them. Was on a trip in NZ where I was on an XT600 with three guys on BMW’s. We got caught in a snow-storm going over some pass. After a couple of hours we found a cafe place that had an open fire and we pulled over. At this point I could no longer feel my hands or use the clutch. I stood in front of the fire trying to melt my fingers and prevent frostbite while the other guys stood around and talked about how hot their heated grips had been - too hot, uncomfortable, the grips started to melt, they had to turn them down, they had to put their hands in their pockets to cool them down a bit. Hilarious.

Luggage - some hard luggage for camping gear.

Hand guards - maybe the full alloy bark-buster option, but at the very least some plastic wind protection.

Power socket.  

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