That was a bit different..

I've finally got the outfit in just about good enough order to road
test it so I couldn't resist.

The first time out it was pissing with rain and the thing was an
absolute **** to ride. I toughed it out for a run around the block
(about 2 miles), came home, smashed the gate and fence and parked up.
My natural skills in sorting out handling instantly identified that
10psi wasn't really enough in the chair tyre.

Once I'd inflated the tyre to a more sensible 28psi it was out for
another go on my favourite test road - the B660 from Bedford to
Kimbolton. Loads of bumps, a good variety of bends and a couple of
half decent straights usually sort things out a bit.

The good news is that it goes in a straight line and I can turn it off
the throttle so the geometry is about right. The leading link forks
make it all a bit bouncy at the front end but I'm sure I'll get used
to them and if not then I'll change back to the standard BMW forks.

Right handers are easy because though the steering's a bit heavy you
can power it through and just about keep on the right side of the
road. Left handers are a bit of a different matter because the chair
keeps lifting its wheel off the road and it all gets a bit difficult
once that happens. Slowing down appeared to help but was a bit boring.

70mph is easy with no effort needed to keep it in a straight line so
ripping up the autobahns will be ok, 100mph or over will probably need
dual carriageway because gusts of wind make it hard to keep in one
lane. I took it up to an indicated 80mph without shitting myself so
the rest is just down to practice and better conditions.

Now all I need to do is get the front brakes to work again (I've
changed the hoses and can't get them right yet), check the mounts are
all tight and then tidy up the electrics.

Will I keep it after the next Elefantentreffen? I'm not sure yet. I've
got other plans for seeing how far I can persuade idiots to go before
they cry off but this might not be easy.

 

With somebody in it?

 

Bwahaha.

Who the **** would be stupid enough to do that when I've never ridden
an outfit before?

 

This doesn't bode well for a 1000-mile trip in midwinter.

Still, well done.

 

Dodger.

 

What are you running in the front tyre? Any wobblyness around 30?

Get used to it. Can you adjust the bounciness by pre-load or a spring
change?

Sack of bricks required.

Steering damper? Old VW beetle ones are the best apparently.

The old Mille GT and Squire was happy well in to the autobahn zone, but
that had been set up by Squire themselves.


--
+----------------------------------------------------------------+
| Pete Fisher at Home: |
| Voxan Roadster Gilera Nordwest * 2 Yamaha WR250Z |
| Gilera GFR * 2 Moto Morini 2C/375 Morini 350 "Forgotten Error" |
+----------------------------------------------------------------+

 

I was trying to imagine who would, but mostly I was trying to imagine their
face as the wheel lifted off.

 

There you go, Andy.

I bet he really would too.

 

we discussed bribery. neither of would give in when it came down to
whether the ride or the bribery happened first.

 

Nah - one of those big camping waterbags. When you need to jettison
ballast (say when taking a passenger) you just pour out the water and
fold up the bag. Refill as necessary.

 

Sandbag in the chair - YKIMS.

 

The front's as it was when the wheel was in the standard forks so ****
knows what the psi is. I only check pressures when they tyre's flat or
when I change a tyre.

It doesn't wobble or weave at any speed unless I hit a bump so I
probably need to just crank up a few more miles on the bike and see
what I think after that.

There's no adjustment but the shocks are old ones and the bike they
came off was written off in a front end smash that broke the wheel.
The forks are almost certainly a bit bent because when I'm going in
straight line the bars are pointing slightly left but I've ridden
enough bikes with twisted forks not to really care about that.

Yeah, or a sack of cement.

I've just fitted a brand new Boge damper that makes the front
difficult to turn when I put a trolley jack under the subframe and
lift the front up.

I needed the challenge of doing it myself. Actually I didn't see the
point in humiliating myself by taking it to someone and asking them to
polish a turd.

 

There'll be additional weight in it when I take it to Germany but I
reckon the waterbag is a good idea. It feels as if I'll need several
bags but cases of beer will do the job just as well.

I'll probably get a few chunks of steel from work this weeks and use a
few of them to ballast it initially just to see what happens.

It's going to be a bit of a steep learning curve but I'll sort the
fucker.

 

Excellent. The Mille outfit was very sensitive to front tyre pressure
(18 inch Avon SM). Too high and it would weave like a bastard. About 25
psi seemed about right. Just a tiny wobble hands off at 30 but the plus
side was really light steering at higher speeds.

I still have a pair of Konis knocking about if they are any use if the
length is right. Doubt if the springs on them would be strong enough
though.

Sounds about right. The crude Sebac ones that Mille GTs came with didn't
last long, but if screwed up tight gave a bit of useful damping.

All good experience. We set up our old AJS/Watsonian trails oufit
ourselves, and I also bolted the Monza on to my 31 CSR myself, but the
speeds obtainable were somewhat more modest.

The CSR/Monza was pretty horrible with standard 'Teledraulics'. Well
worth persevering with the leading links I reckon.

--
+----------------------------------------------------------------+
| Pete Fisher at Home: |
| Voxan Roadster Gilera Nordwest * 2 Yamaha WR250Z |
| Gilera GFR * 2 Moto Morini 2C/375 Morini 350 "Forgotten Error" |
+----------------------------------------------------------------+

 

Ihave this vision of it turning into a giant block of ice.

 

Put some salt in there too

 

They don't last long on a solo Guzzi.

 

I had a couple of heavy breeze blocks provide by platy.

 

My daughter has shown no inclination to go on a motorbike, own a
motorbike or have anything to do with my motorbiking tendencies.

Even when it was "so important" for her to be somewhere - "the car is
dead - I can take you [to the party you must go to because the wonderful
xxx is there] on the bike"

"It's alright, there's a bus"

She's shown no inclination for a bike - now she's getting on for 18 her
own vehicle just isn't on the radar.

There was the incident when I had a bright orange BSA and I saw her (age
9 or so) with her Mum walking down the road so I honked the horn and
waved - "Don't look at him Mummy". It may have scarred her.

 

I think Jennifer was scarred by going on the back of my old 9R to a
Platyfest and me nearly losing her off the back at well over 100mph on
the M4.

She's said she wants to go in the chair but seems reluctant to let me
take Sophia for a spin in it. I don't see the problem because my
parents were carting me around in an outfit until I was about 3 years
old and it didn't have a lasting effect on me.