Himalayan – Storage

I tried my Givi topbox on the rack. It ends up too far forward for a comfortable ride for the pillion passenger and it looks far too high and, to be honest, a bit ridiculous. 
I won’t be doing long trips for a while so I do not need a vast amount of space.  Just something for a few extra tools, waterproof leggings (I only wear then when I need to), a flask, some sandwiches, camera, and odds and ends. Read more

Himalayan – Phone Mount and USB

 I decided to use the same type of USB unit I used on my other bikes.
The price had gone up!
The last ones cost me £3.20 for two, this one cost me £2, postage paid.
Damn the expense.
I wanted to fit it into the headlight, but there was not an easy way to get a USB lead into the headlight shell without drilling a big hole. In the end I simply picked up the power from the parking light, which is on all the time the ignition is on. Read more

Himalayan – Got it

On the 5th of March I drove the Bullet on it’s last ride with me to North Cornwall Motorcycles.  I started second kick, didn’t miss a beat, and performed faultlessly all the way to the dealers – about 30 miles. Much of the trip was in fine rain.  I could not wait as I had arranged my insurance to flip from the Bullet to the Himalayan at 2pm.  I arrived at NCM at 1:55pm so I was legal till the end.  I was really sorry to see it go. Read more

Himalayan – Heated Grips

Many years ago I had heated grips on my BMW.  They were very cosy. At the time money was very tight and commercial grips were out of the question. I put a 22Watt torpedo bulb inside each side of the handlebars, connected them to a switch wired through the ignition and Bob’s your uncle. It worked fine.
I’ve changed the handlebars on the bike now and have installed Oxford heated grips.  They work well but the connecting cable are bulky, and get in the way.  The controller has the same issues.
I’m not changing them, but I’d like something a bit neater on the Himalayan so I think I’ll go back to the original style. Read more

Microphone Phase switcher

Why a phase switcher?

We busk with two mics.  We are typically 3 feet apart and the mics are around 1 foot in front of each of us.
We use only on busking amp with a single speaker.
Feedback occurs when the sound from the speaker reaches the mics in sufficient volume to be recycled and amplified. Read more

Himalayan – Buying it

I had looked at a Himalayan before and decided it was more of an off road bike and not really my style. But then I started to read posts on various websites and blogs that were generally full of praise for it.
I looked more closely and decided it wasn’t too outrageous. I decided to go for a closer look (I had never seen one on the road) and possibly a test ride. Read more

Bullet – Sold

Year 2004 Capacity 500cc Mileage 7500 miles Gears 5 – gear lever on the left Start Electric or Kickstart Location North Cornwall U.K.                My Bullet is for sale due to needing the space in the garage.  It has performed with no issues since I bought it from the previous … Read more

Bullet – the competition

It was an impulse buy. I had started to restore my very rusted 1984 BMW R65LS and it was dawning on me that, with the time I could spend on it, this would be a 1-2 year project. During that time I had no bike. So I thought how about getting a little runaround
Hence the Bullet.
It is time to say goodbye to the Bullet. Read more

Bullet – 1 year in

The BMW is now insured, MOT’d and rideable.  So is the Bullet. Over the next six months or so I have to get some miles in to decide which of these I keep.
With the shield on the silencer, and my new heel toe gear lever, and summer in Cornwall,  I can now ride in shorts and flip flops.  Yea. Read more