Eunos Chump

I was all set to buy this beauty today - it's an itch I just have to scratch: However, when I rang my insurers for a quote it turns out my underwriter won't cover more than 2 bikes so I'd need another policy.  With the no-claims bonus already used on my main policy, this meant more than £140 extra, and I refuse to pay that much money for just 38 BHP.

Had a couple of days in Norfolk, and visited this motorcycle museum in North Walsham, Norfolk. It's essentially a big shed but it's full of interesting stuff and great value at £4.   It's not exactly  Sammy Millers , is it?  Rudge that set a world record on the Brooklands circuit - rear tyre is worn on the offside edge due to the banking. I like this Velocette Vogue, just 8 horsepower though and only 300-odd were built over 5 years. This was for sale, looks RUBBISH so naturally I was tempted.   VFR on it's lonesome in Hunstanton.  Norfolk is rather short of decent bike roads, but there's some sport to be had overtaking everything on the A-roads.  Honda is well suited to this, and was decently comfortable over the 498 miles I covered.

I LOVE Poole Bike Night, it signifies the beginning of Summer.  Lovely ride down there in the sun (filtering all the rush-hour traffic, courier-style), then eating chips and ice cream while watching the bikes come by, and finally riding home through the twilight, enveloped in the scent of the countryside after a warm day. All the while dodging the attention of coppers :) As usual, I was attracted to all the shonky rubbish, rather than the over-polished Harleys and over-modified sports bikes:  Kermit the Virago  Buell, guaranteed to be an absolute nightmare to maintain Monster!  Really coming around to these, it would satisfy my V-twin fetish.  Does this make me a hipster?  

Finally a post about MX5 repairs - which was the entire point of this blog in the first place! Symptoms: clutch bite point is very near the floor, or won't disengage at all; gears difficult to engage.  Diagnosis: the clutch slave cylinder is a known weak point on the NA-NB MX5, but this is quite easy to spot as it'll leak fluid - check the bellows if there isn't a pool underneath the car. However, on my car there was no fluid loss, just a general lack of action.  Replacing the fluid (which looked like black tea) helped for a day, but it was gone again the next morning.  This could only mean the master cylinder had failed. A complete new cylinder is about £65, but I went for a rebuild kit as I'm very tight with brass. These are about £15. Replacing the cylinder is pretty straightforward.  There are 2 nuts securing the cylinder to the bulkhead - 1 accessible in the engine bay and the other at the top of the clutch pedal (remove the panel beneath the steeri...

Just back from the  Gentlemen's Easter Trip to Snowdonia , which is fast becoming the season's most exclusive social event for the motorcyclist. Unfortunately, Mad Chris and Mad Danny can only be described as 'gentlemen' in the very loosest of terms.  Regular readers of this blog will know that I am of the most refined manners, so I was constantly exasperated by their uncouth and wildly inappropriate behaviour and language. However, at breakfast I discovered the root cause of their difficulties; a complete ignorance of how to make decent tea (tea being the fuel of social graces, as you'll be aware).   I did try to educate them with the necessary skills for it's correct preparation, but it was as hopeless as attempting to teach a monkey to play the violin. Elan Valley. We had a ride on this train, 'cos we're overgrown children.  More disgraceful behaviour ensued, of course.  It was a very good trip though and more ar...

I am struggling not to buy this Royal Enfield at the moment: That is some very serious novelty value going on there.  I have been considering something to pootle about on, this fits the bill and is just about fast enough to hold it's own on the M3.  It's quite a lot more cash than a MSX125 though, which might offer just as much fun.