Eunos Chump

Gave the SV a service today, including a thorough degreasing of the underside.  Just short of 27K now, zero problems but I'm still going to look at a F800ST at a BMW dealer tomorrow.  I'm not sure about the looks at all, but on paper it looks a perfect fit for my requirements.  Hopefully I'll hate it and have to buy that Super Blackbird after all.

I think I've mentioned before my admiration for the Suzuki Van Van.  Unfortunately they're only 125cc, and never, ever cheap... but rejoice, there's now a cheap'n'cheerful imposter from Korea! I saw some in my local dealer yesterday, they're extremely cute and about £2.5K on the road.  That's still too much for an occasional-use toy, but if I could get one for about £1K I'd be happy.  Being a Hyonsung, depreciation will be epic so the wait could be short.

I've been using the bike all week, even though it's sometimes been frosty.  I'm not sure why, perhaps to inject a little excitement into the daily commute?  Anyway, 'cos I'm going relatively slowly I'm getting 61 MPG and the new kit keeps me warm.  I don't think it would be so much fun if I had no other transport though, it's quite nice having the choice of 2 or 4 wheels.  I'm planning to replace the E39 with something more interesting next year though, and when I say 'interesting' I mean something that's a contender for the 2013 Autoshite calendar:

I bought some winter bike gear this week; Hein Gericke textile jacket and trousers, and the winter version of my Spada gloves (excitingly called 'Enforcers').  I've also put a Pinlock insert in my visor, using the DIY kit .  It's quite fiddly to fit, you have to place a clear vinyl template over the visor then drill holes where indicated, then push through the pins.  Although there's some adjustment on the pins (they're eccentric), if you get the position of the holes wrong by a couple of millimetres then it's never going to fit. I went for a ride of about 15 miles in the cold, and the pinlock is just amazing!  There was plenty of condensation around the edges of the visor, but the pinlock area remained completely clear, I didn't have to open the visor once.  Unfortunately my soft little hands got very cold, so I'll either have to get heated grips or man up a bit. Had a look at some bikes at George Whites in Swindon today, there's some good d