50,500th Mile

Where We Are Today

Shadowfax and I celebrated his 50,000th mile last week just exiting Fareham on a crisp morning through choked arteries from Gosport. He's now just past the 50,500th mile. That's 5,000 miles that WE have shared together. How they pass; so quickly!

I can't grumble. Shadowfax is a sprightly beast and is looking after me well, which is something I wish to reciprocate over time. "Bomb-proof to 200,000 miles". I hope so, even if they're not all under my seat.

What would I change?

What of servicing schedules? Most motorcycles only have 4,000 miles between lugs of oil or changes of filter. Some tyres, we know, are only worth 3,500 miles: what's that all about? That's only 2-months commuting! Meanwhile I'm picking up on other issues of cost that should be accounted such as wheel balancing. Taking a wheal off, I grant, is far more complicated from an ST1300 than an Alpha, so I guess additional cost is expected, but when you add by the hour this soon becomes astronomical - yes, £40 is quite so, it's double the cost of 4 wheels off the Alpha! I do need to balance them though: I think sticking the reflective stickers around the rims made that inevitable?

So, what else? The seat. Most reviews point to the seat being too soft and therefore uncomfortable after an hour's ride. Sure, today I got home in 50-mins as Ka was poorly and I needed to make pick-up from school, but normally the ride takes at least an hour and 10 mins - more if there's a lot of traffic at the usual choke points. It gets squirmingly uncomfortable, I can confirm that for free. Do I fork out £400 for a Corbin? No. I squirm.

Lighting has been improved a little after adjusting the lights the other week (and loosing the screwdriver and my knuckles in the process of retrieving it) but these H4 HID products with 300% additional light look a good investment. There's a warning they need to be positioned with the arc at the EXACT point the normal halogen filament sits, and I'm confused over which HID bulbs need shims, or not. That aside, these are surely a must? Driving lights, too: I would like some rear fog lamps, of course, but a front set would be useful, too. I just don't want them permanently fitted - if that's possible? Bike's seem to have the drag coefficient of kites already and I have no wish to add more handles for the air to grab onto.

Coming soon will be handlebar risers and I must do SOMETHING to the screen. Firstly, it's difficult to see through since I botched it cleaning it with polish (yeah, I know...) and secondly it's a temple of doom in the buffeting stakes. Again though, the cost is not to be sniffed at; anything up to £160 for something you can't check the effect of until its fitted. Stupid way of marketing anything, if you ask me. Anyway, before that will be the knee pads - something to grip securely under braking and, maybe a tank bag as the £280 needed for a top-box is pretty bloody steep (Honda!). What's it made of, and how much exactly does that piece of carpet cost?

Finally, the gear shift - I am fed up with my poorly timed clutch handling making gears slip under race acceleration, but most of all the damage to my boots from the gear lever rubber (despite having boots with all the usual pads - it's a bio mechanical thing, I guess). These are available at around £2 from David Silver Spares.

Best Spends so Far

These Michelin RoadPilot 2 tyres are a peach. I "run-them" at 42psi (as the BT020s were designed to do) in absence of any other advice. I've noticed the front looses about 2psi per week though, so I don't know if that's quite acceptable, or not. I actually sense when the air needs topping up - it's a subtle change in confidence and a slight loss of security in the front wheel: difficult to explain but unnerving enough to force me into digging out the pump from the 'Rover and to make the effort to check each week, or so. Not that I have much to measure their performance against but today - a dry and clear day - I have really put in some angle and loved the secure feel they have and roundness that only amplifies the ST1300's phenomenal roll rate.

Oh, and although I didn't actually fit them - those heated grips are excellent value, too!

Right, back to the Recession.