Topic: The 2021 "Run what you brung" ride thread. What bike are you riding today?

[Terry in Australia]

Thanks guys, it was a great ride, but would have been even better if it wasn't so hot. I did think about riding the K0, (the F2 isn't road legal yet, and the K2 bitsa's engine is a POS) but with only 394 miles on the odometer since I built it, there would likely have been an issue with it that would have made the trip less enjoyable, plus I don't have any bags for it, nor do I want them, I kind of like it as is. My Triumph Rocket III might have been a better choice as it doesn't have a big fairing around the engine that directs the heat towards the rider, but the tyres are shot, and I won't be replacing them for a couple of weeks (especially after buying the RT3 yesterday) so the big blue Yamaha was the most logical choice.

The big Yam has now done 237,321 Km (148,325 miles) after my 400 mile weekend ride, and I realised yesterday a couple of things, one being that that I've done 10,000 Km (6000 miles) since I bought it in 2016 and the new tyres I had to put on it (Pirelli Angels) to pass a roadworthy inspection for the transfer of registration have held up really well. The previous owner (a little guy who probably weighed 140 pounds wringing wet) was getting 25000 Km (15,625 miles) from each set of tyres, but I doubt I'll be getting that mileage out of mine, and I'm thinking strongly that the next set will be Michelin Pilot Road 4's, a couple of guys I rode with in Canberra had them on their FJR's and said they were brilliant. I have them on my VFR750 and love them, especially in the wet, so if they're OK for a heavy (560 pound) bike like my FJR, I'll pop for a set.

I also realised that although I have owned the bike for 5 years in March, it's only actually been on the road for less than a year. I bought it in March 2016, and the annual registration was due in June. My brother dropped dead on June 1st, and I somehow filed the registration renewal with my income tax return receipts. I kept riding the bike until October 31st when I did my tax, so when I pulled out all my tax docs, I discovered to my horror that my registration renewal was 4 months overdue. Here in Victoria, if you pay it within 3 months you're good to go, so I jumped online hoping to pay it, but no, the registration was cancelled. I had it in storage and only got it re-registered in November, so I've done 6000 miles in less than a year. 

FJR1300 weekend 9-10 Jan 2021 9b by Terry Prendergast, on Flickr


Thank God I didn't have to ride back today though, it's already 93 degrees (at 11am) and is gonna be a "no-ride" day today. No biggie, I'll have a play with the RT3.

I haven't ridden my old (but not my oldest) Harley Sportster since the lockdown either, so it might get a run tomorrow, so I can run some fresh fuel through it. It's only gonna be in the 70's tomorrow, so will be a great day for a ride, maybe back to Heathcote for one of their magnificent pies? 

I'm thinking of selling my "Effing" F2. It's a great bike, but now that I have the K0, the K2 and a K1 that I want to build next, the F2 is surplus to requirements, and I need some cash as I'm thinking of buying a set of Yamiya's "Lotus Root" exhausts for the K0. As I'm now thinking of putting the Lesters on my K1, I'll use the delkevic that's on the K0 now. I love the Delkevic pipe, but those Yamiya pipes look nice too. We'll see.    

[scottly]

im not having any surgery that gives me a beard and makes me wear glasses !

That's not really much of a beard that Terry's sporting.

[Terry in Australia]

That's right, there's only a beard at all because I can't be bothered shaving, especially while I've been "working from home". We all know that "Beardies are weirdies", I'm just too lazy to shave every day. I am wondering if lasik surgery will allow me to throw my glasses away, I'm blind without the, but welding is a nightmare now with my multifocals. The VA will pay for the surgery, so I'll check it out, it'd be nice not to need them.

Was a stinker today, so worked on the RT360. Not sure if it's an RT2 or 3, but no biggie, it's a 360, so will be a rocket once it's a goer. My friend Harry said it "Had compression and spark, but wouldn't run" but when I checked this morning, there was no spark. I took the magneto cover off, and water ran out? Wow, a water cooled magneto, how advanced was Yamaha in the early 70's?

RT2 11 Jan 2021 3 by Terry Prendergast, on Flickr

I think it was a design flaw though, because the magneto flywheel was pretty corroded.

RT2 11 Jan 2021 5 by Terry Prendergast, on Flickr

On top of that, it looked pretty rusty behind the flywheel? It took me several hours of trying various flywheel pullers, heat and WD40 penetrant before I got that sucker off, what a PITA! When I eventually got it off, it was full of rust.

RT2 11 Jan 2021 9b by Terry Prendergast, on Flickr

RT2 11 Jan 2021 9a by Terry Prendergast, on Flickr

So I spent another hour cleaning the end of the crankshaft, the points, and the inside of the flywheel with 280 grade wet and dry paper, and degreaser. I loosely reassembled the magneto and kicked it over a few times, and I had spark again. Excellent. As wonderful as water cooled magnetos might be, i think I'll leave it dry this time.

Tomorrow it'll be a lot cooler, so I'll trade the spanners for my Sporty, and go for a ride instead. I'll strip and clean the carb and see if I can get the decompressor working, as I already have a very bruised foot, bugger it. More to follow.

[Terry in Australia]

Great trip
I picked up a RT3 a couple of weeks ago and am going to restore it

Nice! What are the numbers mate, I'm trying to decide if mine's an RT2 or RT3?

[CaseyH]

Mine is a RT3 
That is the correct designation for it.
I had the same issue re spark
Pulled the fly wheel and cleaned it up and got a new spark plug and have spark.
Waiting for a new petcock to start it
This is a fun project.
My daughter lives on a 150 acre farm and i am going to have some fun once it done.
12 dollar Amazon flywheel puller  Priceless

[Terry in Australia]

Thanks Casey, is it 27mm left hand thread? I had 2 27mm right hand thread pullers, but the wouldn’t thread in, so I had to use a 2 leg puller, which worked once the rusted on flywheel finally let go.

[CaseyH]

https://www.amazon.ca/gp/product/B07RHVFT1P/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o04_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1
This is the link

[Terry in Australia]

https://www.amazon.ca/gp/product/B07RHVFT1P/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o04_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1
This is the link

Thanks mate, yep, as suspected, it's 27mm left hand thread. The seller doesn't ship to Oz, but I was able to find one for the same dough with free shipping on Ebay Oz.

[Terry in Australia]

So I've been a bit busy today with doctors consultations, physiotherapy, chemists etc. But yesterday, I rode. First though, I made myself a delicious egg, bacon and cheese roll for breakfast, with my morning coffee.

Harley Tuesday 12 Jan 2021 1 by Terry Prendergast, on Flickr

The only bike I have that's currently rideable that I haven't ridden since the lockdown is my 1994 Harley Sportster. I love this bike, it's 27 years old in 3 months time, but has only now done 11000 Km (6500 miles?) since new. The story is, a middle aged guy here bought it through Harley Oz, but picked it up from the factory in Milwaukie, rode route 66, imported it to Oz a month later, and pretty much didn't ride it after that. From memory, it had around 6000 Km (4000 miles) on the odo when I bought it in 2015.

Of course it was dripping with chrome accessories, had been lowered in the rear, and even with the Screaming Chicken exhaust and a jetting change, it was gutless, and horrible to ride. The previous owner was a tiny man, but I'm well over 6 feet tall, so with the lowered shocks and standard mid controls, I felt like my knees were up around my ears.

Terry's Sporty 2015 by Terry Prendergast, on Flickr

I spent some money, and bought taller Ikon gas rear shocks, an 18 inch rear wheel, Mikuni HSR42 flat slide carb, Bassani 2 into 1 exhaust, Mustang solo seat, forward controls, and wide OEM Honda (model unknown) handlebars. I also removed as much of the chrome crap as I could, especially the chrome pegs and handgrips. This transformed the bike, it now had plenty of cornering clearance, a much nicer note, and better acceleration and top end power. The 3 main jets supplied with the carb were all too small (US EPA issues?) so I kept drilling them out until the bike would happily do 120 MPH at 6000 RPM. 

Terry's Sportster Oct 2016 by Terry Prendergast, on Flickr

Of course those sorts of speeds are highly illegal here Yesterday I did a ride to the Heathcote bakery and back (140 miles) for a pie for lunch.

Harley Tuesday 12 Jan 2021 4 by Terry Prendergast, on Flickr

As the back roads that I prefer are pretty quiet during the week, I cruised on 120 KPH (75 MPH) @ 3500 RPM. It was another beautiful day, not too hot, just nice. I stopped for a piss on the side of the road, and took a pic of the bike.

Harley Tuesday 12 Jan 2021 2 by Terry Prendergast, on Flickr

I refuelled it when I got back to Melbourne, and was impressed that even at the speeds I like, it's averaging 65 MPG. I came back, parked the little Hogley under my new canopy to cool down before I put it away.

Harley Tuesday 12 Jan 2021 by Terry Prendergast, on Flickr

Last time I parked it while it was still hot, (while wearing shorts) and gave myself a second degree burn, and an infection, so now regardless of what I'm wearing, I'll let it cool down first. If the weather's nice tomorrow, I might have to take the K0 out for a scoot.

Thursday VFR750 ride 31 Dec 2020 by Terry Prendergast, on Flickr   



 

[PeWe]

Must be nice with summer!
There are many ways to hurt yourself when combining motorcycles with shorts, sandals, Nikes, T-shirt, no helmet, no gloves nor boots, 

[Terry in Australia]

Thanks Per, I wear all the gear when I’m riding, but like to change into cooler clothing when I get home. The amount of idiots I see on sports bikes wearing shorts and singlets, flip-flops etc, is amazing. Once you’ve slid down the road once, you know what you need to be wearing. ;

[PeWe]

Your leg look really painful, Terry.
A few sec of thinking about other things or body memory of using another bike like a CB750 can end up that way.
It's just a matter of time on a bike with that kind of exhaust.

Heat shield is one way. Some bikes look good with wrapping, some not.

My garage is too small for another bike. Now 2 running CB750 + 1 CB750 K2 in parts.

I get ideas about a new Indian Scout now and then. I think that bike also should mark my right leg to inform other bikes that I'm taken.

[Terry in Australia]

Ha ha, yeah, well it's interesting, I burned my leg on the Yoshi pipes on my VTR1000F in 2016 and the same thing happened, it got infected. The doctor I went to in Canberra said she'd fix it, but was interested as to why it became infected, so sent me off for a barrage of tests, including an MRI, CT scan, ECG and full bloods.

It turned out that I was (then) borderline diabetic type 2, had really high blood pressure, was morbidly obese (no surprise there) and I'd suffered a heart attack a few years prior. (which I suspected, but didn't call an ambulance, and luckily, survived) That spurred me on to having the gastric bypass, which was a bit fcuked up, because I couldn't eat any solids for 4 months, but I did lose over a third of my weight, and now there are no issues with blood pressure, diabetes, etc. I did have 4 major and 8 minor surgeries in two years as a result, and do still need liver surgery, but I'm way healthier than I was back then, all because I burned m leg on my exhaust in 2016. Kind of ironic........

[754]

 :#$%*ing scummy thieves ... don't even have to works night's anymore.. and THAT PISSES Me off.....

[Terry in Australia]

But I digress. Today was full on. My youngest (35 year old) son asked me to ride his Royal Enfield "Continental GT" 650 over to the bike shop for a service.

VFR Wednesday 14 Jan 2021 9c by Terry Prendergast, on Flickr

He's done 2500 KM (1562 mile) since buying it in May 2019, but having 2 jobs (filming TV shows and working in a Cafe) he's done well. It has a weird electrical fault, in that the ignition switch seems to be faulty, and (as I found out in "peak hour" traffic today) if you hit the left blinker, the engine cuts out, just like on my 1978 CB750F2. (WTF?)  This wasn't just annoying, it was a death trap, and I told the lady at the service desk at the dealership where we bouught it, I don't want it back until it's been sorted, or else I'll name her personally, and the dealership, at my son's death inquest. Fcuk them. Don't get  me wrong, it's a great bike, but there is a fault that needs to be sorted, my  son doesn't have my 52 years of experience, and I don't want to see him injured due to a design/manufacturing fault. It was also bloody cold at 8am, and I wish I'd worn a jumper under my jacket.

While I was there, I spoke to the parts manager about new tyres for my  Triumph Rocket III. The tyres on the worlds largest  mass produced motorcycles (not including those "Boss Hoss" 350 Chev powered things, they're not "mass produced") are fcuking expensive, and it reminds me of Steveo's "BOAT" comment, "Break Out Another  Thousand". By the time I get these new tyres fitted, it'll cost me close enough to $1000 Aud. ($750 USD?) Oh well, the first set have lasted 14000 Km (9000 miles) since we bought it new in 2007, so if they last me another 14000 and 13 years, I'll be 74, so probably won't care about another set then. (but I hope I do)

Anyhoo, the parts manager  wanted the tyre sizes, so I drove over to the storage place so I could read them off the tyres on the bike. Looks like I'll take the Triumph over tomorrow, when I go to collect the Royal Enfield. As much as I would have liked to ride my K0, I haven't ridden my VFR750 this year, so I jumped on it and took off on another new route to Heathcote Bakery, for yet another pie. I like this pic, I've only had the new storage "Garage a couple of months, I moved my bikes across from a horrible old 20 foot shipping container at the height of the 4 month(?) lockdown, and I think today I noticed for the first time that directly behind my bike (in the distance) is the whole city-scape of Melbourne. Cool.

VFR Wednesday 14 Jan 2021 3 by Terry Prendergast, on Flickr

I checked the oil and coolant today, maybe for the first time since I bought the bike 5 years ago? Ooops........ I was surprised at how clean the oil was, but in reality I've probably only done maybe a couple of thousand miles since I bought it. This bike is in immaculate condition, I bought it from a 71 year old man who bought it when it was 2 years old, and kept it for 16 years. Ironically, we were both 56 years old when we bought it. I hope I'm still riding it when I'm 71. I better order some oil and a filter.........

I don't know about you guys, but some bikes (maybe all of them) bring out the worst in me. The VFR750 is, I believe, one of the greatest bikes that Honda ever made. They fcuked up big time with the VF750, and instead of just taking a hit and walking away, their engineers came back with a much better mousetrap. Nothing that I own (and I own a lot of different bikes) sounds better at full noise than the gear driven 4 cam V4 @ 11000 RPM. (redline at 11500) A couple of times today I saw 11000 RPM (not in 6th gear, that'd be close to 150 MPH) when entering a main road and needing to ensure I wasn't anally assaulted by a Kenworth at warp speed.

I did take another break to get off and stretch, as even my liver was hurting, (surgery to follow) so I took the opportunity to take another pic.

VFR Wednesday 14 Jan 2021 4 by Terry Prendergast, on Flickr

After a couple of minutes I jumped back on and rode on to the Heathcote Bakery for another delicious pie, and some anti-inflammatories. I'm not supposed to take them anymore after my gut surgery, and a few years previously when I took a couple too many and spent 3 days in hospital, but I find (so far at least) that I can't ride for more than 60 or 70 miles without some chemical assistance.

VFR Wednesday 14 Jan 2021 7 by Terry Prendergast, on Flickr

Anyway, speaking of drugs, I had to be back in Melbourne before the chemist closed, so I could pick up some more Tramadol, Diazepam and Phenergen 25's. I took the quickest way home, at a very quick speed, dropped the bike back at the storage place, and drove to the chemist then home. I didn't feel like doing a lot of bike work, but I did strip the horrid black paint off the RT360 carb.

VFR Wednesday 14 Jan 2021 8 by Terry Prendergast, on Flickr

VFR Wednesday 14 Jan 2021 9 by Terry Prendergast, on Flickr

I gave it a good wash, dried it with compressed air, and hit it up with WD40. Apart from taking the Triumph across to get new tyres tomorrow (and hopefully picking up Tim's Royal Enfield, with no more electrical issues....) I'm not riding anywhere, I'm gonna swap the left side switch assembly on the F2 to see if that's why it blows 2 fuses (lights and main) every time I turn the indicators on. I'll also reassemble the RT360 carb and see if I can fix the (stretched) decompressor cable, and get  that b1tch to run! Wish me luck, I think I'll need it........

VFR Wednesday 14 Jan 2021 9a by Terry Prendergast, on Flickr

         

[Terry in Australia]

:#$%*ing scummy thieves ... don't even have to works night's anymore.. and THAT PISSES Me off.....

Er, to quote a "wannabe famous" Oz politician, Please explain?

[PeWe]

Insulation of a bulletplug connection falled off and contact with ground?
My K6 had a bad insulation on the brake pedal sensor connections, bike suffenly died completely.
I did not think about using brake that is an auto reflex.
 After 2nd time I started to think when and how.... more separate fuses to avoid a bike to die complety. I ordered some fuses after that. They are not common nowadays.

 This was in the evening too, after sunset.

[Terry in Australia]

Thanks Per, I pulled every wire in the F2 headlight bucket a couple of days ago because a PO had routed the main wiring harness incorrectly, and being color blind, asked my son who was helping me to double check that I hadn't incorrectly connected a green (earth) wire to a black (power) wire, (which I did once before with a similar result) and all was good, and there were no obvious bare wires that could have caused the issue.

When the bike is running, as soon as I hit the indicator switch the engine "stumbles" but continues to run, but not when on the road, so I'm thinking the extra load from me operating the brake pedal to slow down for a turn is enough to blow the fuse. I just took the fuse box cover off and use standard car glass fuses, and carry a "multi pack" of fuses in my jacket, but I'm not happy with the situation.

Spotty was kind enough to take the left side handlebar switch off my K7 that's parked over at his place, so I'm hoping that swapping in the "new" one will solve the problem, but I won't know until then.

I was lucky to score a very nice speedo and tacho off a guy on Gumtree for $150, only think I didn't like was the bezels had been (poorly) painted a fetching shade of gun metal grey metallic.

K0 F2 Friday 8 Jan 2021 3 by Terry Prendergast, on Flickr

I loved that the painter hadn't even removed the making tape before he replaced them into their chrome cups. I didn't feel like painting them, so I ratted thru my bins of new parts, and found a pair of aftermarket chrome bezel covers.

K0 F2 Friday 8 Jan 2021 4 by Terry Prendergast, on Flickr

They were meant for K1-K6, so no hole in the side for the trip meter knob. No biggie, I measured twice and cut once (unusually for me) and managed to punch a nice clean 15mm hole in exactly the right spot. I was actually pretty stoked with the result.

K0 F2 Friday 8 Jan 2021 5 by Terry Prendergast, on Flickr

This bike was always just gonna be a "patina bike" as a daily rider, but with every job I do, it looks so much nicer.

K0 F2 Friday 8 Jan 2021 7 by Terry Prendergast, on Flickr

I took it for a short ride remembering not to use the blinkers, and was happy that both gauges actually work, which is a bonus. Hopefully the switchblock will sort out the fuse-blowing, as it's more than an inconvenience, it could be deadly if my engine dies mid turn in heavy traffic.      

[Terry in Australia]

OK, so I was surprised today that the weather was actually nice after the last couple of days of sh1t weather. My old Acer laptop sh1t the bed, and as I need it to continue to "work from the home salt mine" I had to drive around to my local "Officeworks" store and buy a new laptop. The salesman said "How can I help you sir?" and I replied, "Sell me the cheapest laptop you have in stock".

I bought a new Lenovo, took it home, dumped it in my comfy chair, then walked out to the garage, dragged out the magnificent red K0, and fired it up. It starts so much better now with the top gaskets that the d1ckhead carb "Expert" on Ebay didn't bother to install, and it warmed up quickly enough that I didn't have to make a tool of myself blipping the throttle at the lights. Once it was warmed up, it just ran like a stabbed rat, the upright sitting position isn't much fun over 80 MPH, so I stayed at 80, and it just went so well. Unlike most of my modern bikes, at speeds up to 80 MPH, the upright sitting position is really comfy, and on a nice warm sunny Sunday, it was just a pleasure.

K0 Sunday 17 Jan 2021 2 by Terry Prendergast, on Flickr

K0 Sunday 17 Jan 2021 1 by Terry Prendergast, on Flickr

Anyway, i rode on to Heathcote to the bakery, for a beef and Chiraz pie, and some anti-inflammatories to ease the pain in my back, neck, and liver. Their food is cheap (like me....) and their rest rooms are clean, so for an almost 61 year old, the Bakery ticks all the boxes. I refilled the tank at 109 miles, and it used exactly 10.9 litres, which makes the fuel economy 45.4 miles per gallon, if my math is correct. The bike has now done over 500 miles and I'd planned to drop the oil and filter at the 500 mile mark, but it still looks nice and clean, so I'm gonna stretch it out to 1000 miles I've decided, it's just going so well, I'm gonna leave it alone.

K0 Sunday 17 Jan 2021 4 by Terry Prendergast, on Flickr

[Terry in Australia]

OK, so I was surprised today that the weather was actually nice after the last couple of days of sh1t weather. My old Acer laptop sh1t the bed, and as I need it to continue to "work from the home salt mine" I had to drive around to my local "Officeworks" store and buy a new laptop. The salesman said "How can I help you sir?" and I replied, "Sell me the cheapest laptop you have in stock".

I bought a new Lenovo, took it home, dumped it in my comfy chair, then walked out to the garage, dragged out the magnificent red K0, and fired it up. It starts so much better now with the top gaskets that the d1ckhead carb "Expert" on Ebay didn't bother to install, and it warmed up quickly enough that I didn't have to make a tool of myself blipping the throttle at the lights. Once it was warmed up, it just ran like a stabbed rat, the upright sitting position isn't much fun over 80 MPH, so I stayed at 80, and it just went so well. Unlike most of my modern bikes, at speeds up to 80 MPH, the upright sitting position is really comfy, and on a nice warm sunny Sunday, it was just a pleasure.

K0 Sunday 17 Jan 2021 2 by Terry Prendergast, on Flickr

K0 Sunday 17 Jan 2021 1 by Terry Prendergast, on Flickr

Anyway, i rode on to Heathcote to the bakery, for a beef and Chiraz pie, and some anti-inflammatories to ease the pain in my back, neck, and liver. Their food is cheap (like me....) and their rest rooms are clean, so for an almost 61 year old, the Bakery ticks all the boxes. I refilled the tank at 109 miles, and it used exactly 10.9 litres, which makes the fuel economy 45.4 miles per gallon, if my math is correct. The bike has now done over 500 miles and I'd planned to drop the oil and filter at the 500 mile mark, but it still looks nice and clean, so I'm gonna stretch it out to 1000 miles I've decided, it's just going so well, I'm gonna leave it alone.

K0 Sunday 17 Jan 2021 4 by Terry Prendergast, on Flickr

[Terry in Australia]

I had another great ride today. This was my first week back in the "Virtual Saltmine" (working from home) after a nice long break over Christmas, and was super-frustrating, due to some errors made by other folks in the defence supply line causing me some headaches that I didn't need. I've found that the older I get, the more difficulty I have accepting incompetence, so there were several occasions where I just wanted to get on one of my bikes and get some air in my face. I'd been thinking how much I'd rather be eating a pie at the Heathcote Bakery than watching what I say in various meetings and phone conversations too, so I'd decided that today, being one of the cooler days in our 4 day "Australia Day" long weekend would be a nice day to punt the old red beast on some of my favourite roads.

I had fun chasing that guy on his pretend Harley and overtaking lots of cars who were sitting on the speed limit, when I felt like I wanted to go a little bit faster. Luckily the cops were busy somewhere else, because I was a bit naughty at times. I did of course, take time out to take some pics of the old beast when I stopped to stretch my poor old back after a couple of big ruts in the road took their toll on my 60 year old bod. I might have the brain of a 21 year old, but my poor old broken body is paying the toll. Luckily for me, the K0 is a much more comfortable bike to ride than my more modern bikes. 

K0 Saturday 23 Jan 2021 1 by Terry Prendergast, on Flickr

Regardless, when I got to the bakery I conducted the now mandatory procedure, I bought my pie (steak and black pepper today, mnnnn!) and orange juice, and dropped a couple of anti-inflammatories before I ate my pie. The lady behind the counter laughed when I told her I'd been hanging out all week for a ride to the bakery, but was genuinely happy to think someone would ride 130 miles for one of their pies.

K0 Saturday 23 Jan 2021 7 by Terry Prendergast, on Flickr

I stopped for a pic in front of a place where I had a nice lunch pre-Covid-19, obviously the business was yet another casualty of the virus and the various lockdowns, it was quite sad to think that the poor folks who lost their business and their livelihood just walked away. It was quite eerie, tables and chairs still outside, but grass growing up thru the cracks in the concrete and signs falling down, I hope that they didn't lose everything.

K0 Saturday 23 Jan 2021 8 by Terry Prendergast, on Flickr

K0 Saturday 23 Jan 2021 9a by Terry Prendergast, on Flickr

K0 Saturday 23 Jan 2021 9b by Terry Prendergast, on Flickr

Anyhoo, I had a great ride back, the only thing that pissed me off was that the day got hotter and hotter, and by the time it was in the 90's, even the ol' air cooled K0 was getting hot, and not appreciating the weather. It would have been much less comfortable on one of my modern water cooled bikes blowing hot air all over me like my ride to my old Ma's place a week or two ago, but I wasn't happy when we got stuck at a set of lights when a BMW car and a Ford Ranger came together, causing airbags to go off, but no injuries. All I wanted to do, once I'd checked that there were no injuries was to get the fcuk out of there and get some air over the fins on that 50 year old engine.

So another trouble free 134 miles on the K0, this is definitely my favourite CB750 now, it just gets better with every ride. I think I mentioned that I thought my tacho was faulty, but when I checked the cable routing I could see that the bracket that's supposed to hold it in place on the lower triple was making it too tight, so I "adjusted" it so the cable had a bit more slack, and the tach worked fine for the entire ride. I do have a better "guts" to put in it, but I think I'll carefully put that away until my tach dies, if ever.

K0 Saturday 23 Jan 2021 9g by Terry Prendergast, on Flickr

I finally got home, and the first order of business was to take the jacket, helmet, jeans and boots off, and to sit out in the shade under the canopy and celebrate my ride with a "Ginger Joe".

K0 Saturday 23 Jan 2021 9c by Terry Prendergast, on Flickr

[ekpent]

  I wonder how many little diners and dives that I will see belly up this spring riding around ? Our restaurants in Michigan are re-opening Feb 1st at 25% capacity. All together now, instead of more cowbell WE NEED MORE PIE !    Glad your K0 is purring like a little kitten Terry.

[PeWe]

Nice with good rides. Sad to see recently closed shops, restaurants.
I see many closed old shops, gas stations, post offices, banks etc in small villages I ride thru. That is the development since the 80's.
How the infrastructure dies on the country side.

All those small restaurants can hopefully soon start-up again after the virus is beaten.

Around here small closed restaurants often turned to Pizza and Kebab restaurants by immigrants from Middle East. Eat there or take-away.

You might have more immigrants from China down there?

[Terry in Australia]

Thanks guys, we're so lucky here in Oz that the virus has only taken a very small toll, and the second lockdown that went for months here in Victoria (caused by our incompetent state government fcuking up big time and killing 800 poor old buggers in nursing homes especially) as painful as it was, pretty much cleared it out. I feel so sorry for you guys in the US and Europe who, until everyone is vaccinated, will still be in danger for most of 2021.

Don't get me wrong, I'm not stupid enough to think there can't be another outbreak with more and more Australians returning to Oz from Europe and the US, Asia etc, and wherever I go I carry a bloody mask which pisses me off, but as long as I can keep riding, I'll be happy.

The K0 is just a pleasure to ride, and I've found that now the holiday season is over, more locals in Heathcote are coming up to me to compliment me on the K0. One guy around 50 who was walking his dog with his son, told me he had a poster of a red CB750 like mine on his wall since when he was a kid. I asked him if he'd ever owned one and he said that he'd never managed to get one, and I felt so sorry for him, I almost handed him the key.

Sometimes we don't realise how lucky we are until we meet someone who's never quite achieved their dream, especially when their dream is just something we take for granted. I rode off with mixed feelings, happy that he liked my bike, and a little sad that he hadn't quite achieved his goal.   Hopefully he'll get one eventually, and it'll live up to his expectations.        

[PeWe]

These old bikes are timemachines.
I'm often back into my 20's remember good things when riding on the same roads as back then, but with much better economy today!

Both I and wife work from home so it's OK. Only thing missing is travels to the sun. Last year at this time Canarian Island Tenerife with nice warm climate all year seldom too hot except for a month.

August/Sept usually 2 weeks in Crete, all inclusive hotel. More I eat and drink cheaper it will get. Drinks from 10 am. Have to wait 2 hours after breakfast. 
At least 2-3 GinTonic and similar plus 2-3 small beers  before lunch ensure holiday mode forgetting my job  
Usually min same after lunch before dinner.

May, a week in Spain like Benidorm or Alicante area.

Last summer 5 days tenting 350km north
BUT, I did a little bit over 10.000km on my K6! Most of it from end of March to June. Daily 220km rides.