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faffi

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Everything posted by faffi

  1. I can only link to the teaser, but I am a paying member and have watched the full video. But how much importance does the profile shape, carcass construction, height and width of a tire matter in your experience? Because a 120/70-17 tire can vary greatly in size, profile and construction between models, would/do you adjust your bike to accommodate every time you fit different tires?
  2. If I understand you correctly, Gianco, you must continue to countersteer all around every corner, otherwise the bike will want to straighten up. Is that correct? My NT650V was like that with a Bridgestone BT30F on the front, demanding a very noticeable constant push on the inside handlebar grip. When I replaced it with a Maxxis M6029 Supermaxx, the bike actually went in the other direction, now demanding a miniscule pressure on the other end of the handlebar, otherwise the bike would slowly tighten its line. I have had similar, although not quite as dramatic, differences on other bikes with other tires as well. As Hotfoot said, tires definitely have an impact on this matter.
  3. The REAL meaning of the Haynes instructions Haynes: Rotate anticlockwise. Translation: Clamp with molegrips then beat repeatedly with hammer anticlockwise. You do know which way is anticlockwise, don't you? Haynes: Should remove easily. Translation: Will be corroded into place ... clamp with adjustable spanner then beat repeatedly with a hammer. Haynes: This is a snug fit. Translation: You will skin your knuckles! ... Clamp with adjustable spanner then beat repeatedly with hammer. Haynes: This is a tight fit. Translation: Not a hope in hell matey! ... Clamp with adjustable spanner then beat repeatedly with hammer. Haynes: As described in Chapter 7... Translation: That'll teach you not to read through before you start, now you are looking at scary photos of the inside of a gearbox. Haynes: Pry... Translation: Hammer a screwdriver into... Haynes: Undo... Translation: Go buy a tin of WD40 (industrial size). Haynes: Ease ... Translation: Apply superhuman strength to ... Haynes: Retain tiny spring... Translation: "Crikey what was that, it nearly had my eye out"! Haynes: Press and rotate to remove bulb... Translation: OK - that's the glass bit off, now fetch some good pliers to dig out the bayonet part and remaining glass shards. Haynes: Lightly... Translation: Start off lightly and build up till the veins on your forehead are throbbing then re-check the manual because what you are doing now cannot be considered "lightly". Haynes: Weekly checks... Translation: If it isn't broken don't fix it! Haynes: Routine maintenance... Translation: If it isn't broken... it's about to be! Haynes: One spanner rating (simple). Translation: Your Mum could do this... so how did you manage to botch it up? Haynes: Two spanner rating. Translation: Now you may think that you can do this because two is a low, tiny, ikkle number... but you also thought that the wiring diagram was a map of the Tokyo underground (in fact that would have been more use to you). Haynes: Three spanner rating (intermediate). Translation: Make sure you won't need your car for a couple of days and that your AA cover includes Home Start. Haynes: Four spanner rating. Translation: You are seriously considering this aren't you, you pleb! Haynes: Five spanner rating (expert). Translation: OK - but don't expect us to ride it afterwards!!! Translation #2: Don't ever carry your loved ones in it again and don't mention it to your insurance company. Haynes: If not, you can fabricate your own special tool like this... Translation: Hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha!!!! Haynes: Compress... Translation: Squeeze with all your might, jump up and down on, swear at, throw at the garage wall, then search for it in the dark corner of the garage whilst muttering "******" repeatedly under your breath. Haynes: Inspect... Translation: Squint at really hard and pretend you know what you are looking at, then declare in a loud knowing voice to your wife "Yep, as I thought, it's going to need a new one"! Haynes: Carefully... Translation: You are about to cut yourself! Haynes: Retaining nut... Translation: Yes, that's it, that big spherical blob of rust. Haynes: Get an assistant... Translation: Prepare to humiliate yourself in front of someone you know. Haynes: Refitting is the reverse sequence to removal. Translation: But you swear in different places. Haynes: Prise away plastic locating pegs... Translation: Snap off... Haynes: Using a suitable drift or pin-punch... Translation: The biggest nail in your tool box isn't a suitable drift! Haynes: Everyday toolkit Translation: Ensure you have an RAC Card & Mobile Phone Haynes: Apply moderate heat... Translation: Placing your mouth near it and huffing isn't moderate heat. Translation #2: Heat up until glowing red, if it still doesn't come undone use a hacksaw. Haynes: Apply moderate heat... Translation: Unless you have a blast furnace, don't bother. Clamp with adjustable spanner then beat repeatedly with hammer. Haynes: Index Translation: List of all the things in the book bar the thing you want to do! Haynes: Remove oil filter using an oil filter chain spanner or length of bicycle chain. Translation: Stick a screwdriver through it and beat handle repeatedly with a hammer. Haynes: Replace old gasket with a new one. Translation: I know I've got a tube of Krazy Glue around here somewhere. Haynes: Grease well before refitting. Translation: Spend an hour searching for your tub of grease before chancing upon a bottle of washing-up liquid. Wipe some congealed washing up liquid from the dispenser nozzle and use that since it's got a similar texture and will probably get you to Halfords to buy some Castrol grease. Haynes: See illustration for details Translation: None of the illustrations notes will match the pictured exploded, numbered parts. The unit illustrated is from a previous or variant model. HAYNES GUIDE TO TOOLS OF THE TRADE HAMMER: Originally employed as a weapon of war, the hammer is nowadays used as a kind of divining rod to locate expensive parts not far from the object we are trying to hit. ELECTRIC HAND DRILL: Normally used for spinning steel Pop rivets in their holes until you die of old age, but it also works great for drilling mounting holes just above the brake line that goes to the rear wheel. PLIERS: Used to round off bolt heads. HACKSAW: One of a family of cutting tools built on the Ouija board principle. It transforms human energy into a crooked, unpredictable motion, and the more you attempt to influence its course, the more dismal your future becomes. MOLE-GRIPS/ADJUSTABLE spanner: Used to round off bolt heads. If nothing else is available, they can also be used to transfer intense welding heat to the palm of your hand. OXYACETELENE TORCH: Used almost entirely for lighting various flammable objects in your garage on fire. Also handy for igniting the grease inside a brake-drum you're trying to get the bearing race out of. WHITWORTH SOCKETS: Once used for working on older cars and motorcycles, they are now used mainly for impersonating that 9/16 or 1/2 socket you've been searching for for the last 15 minutes. DRILL PRESS: A tall upright machine useful for suddenly snatching flat metal bar stock out of your hands so that it smacks you in the chest and flings your beer across the room, splattering it against that freshly painted part you were drying. WIRE WHEEL: Cleans rust off old bolts and then throws them somewhere under the workbench with the speed of light. Also removes fingerprint whorls in about the time it takes you to say, "F...." HYDRAULIC FLOOR JACK: Used for lowering car to the ground after you have installed your new front disk brake setup, trapping the jack handle firmly under the front wing. EIGHT-FOOT LONG DOUGLAS FIR 2X4: Used for levering a car upward off a hydraulic jack. TWEEZERS: A tool for removing wood splinters. PHONE: Tool for calling your neighbour to see if he has another hydraulic floor jack. SNAP-ON GASKET SCRAPER: Theoretically useful as a sandwich tool for spreading mayonnaise; used mainly for getting dog-doo off your boot. BOLT AND STUD EXTRACTOR: A tool that snaps off in bolt holes and is ten times harder than any known drill bit. TIMING LIGHT: A stroboscopic instrument for illuminating grease buildup. TWO-TON HYDRAULIC ENGINE HOIST: A handy tool for testing the tensile strength of ground straps and brake lines you may have forgotten to disconnect. CRAFTSMAN 1/2 x 16-INCH SCREWDRIVER: A large motor mount prying tool that inexplicably has an accurately machined screwdriver tip on the end without the handle. AVIATION METAL SNIPS: See hacksaw. INSPECTION LIGHT: The mechanic's own tanning booth. Sometimes called a drop light, it is a good source of vitamin D, "the sunshine vitamin," which is not otherwise found under cars at night. Health benefits aside, its main purpose is to consume 40-watt light bulbs at about the same rate as 105-mm howitzer shells during the Battle of the Bulge. More often dark than light, its name is somewhat misleading. PHILLIPS SCREWDRIVER: Normally used to stab the lids of old-style paper- and-tin oil cans and splash oil on your shirt; can also be used, as the name implies, to round off Phillips screw heads. AIR COMPRESSOR: A machine that takes energy produced in a fossil-fuel burning power plant 200 miles away and transforms it into compressed air that travels by hose to a pneumatic impact spanner that grips rusty bolts last tightened 30 years ago by someone in Dagenham, and rounds them off. PRY (CROW) BAR: A tool used to crumple the metal surrounding that clip or bracket you needed to remove in order to replace a 50 pence part. HOSE CUTTER: A tool used to cut hoses 1/2 inch too short. Engineering Terms * A NUMBER OF DIFFERENT APPROACHES ARE BEING TRIED We are still pissing in the wind. * EXTENSIVE REPORT IS BEING PREPARED ON A FRESH APPROACH TO THE PROBLEM We just hired three kids fresh out of college. * CLOSE PROJECT COORDINATION We know who to blame. * MAJOR TECHNOLOGICAL BREAKTHROUGH It works OK, but looks very hitech. * CUSTOMER SATISFACTION IS DELIVERED ASSURED We are so far behind schedule the customer is happy to get it delivered. * PRELIMINARY OPERATIONAL TESTS WERE INCONCLUSIVE The darn thing blew up when we threw the switch * TEST RESULTS WERE EXTREMELY GRATIFYING We are so surprised that the stupid thing works. * THE ENTIRE CONCEPT WILL HAVE TO BE ABANDONED The only person who understood the thing quit. * ALL NEW Parts not interchangeable with the previous design. * RUGGED Too damn heavy to lift! * LIGHTWEIGHT Lighter than RUGGED. * YEARS OF DEVELOPMENT One finally worked. * LOW MAINTENANCE Impossible to fix if broken
  4. I don't know, it was all a blur to me 😄
  5. I guess people in India are used to close encounters from daily traffic. Amateur racing between people without India experience
  6. I think you are correct that he didn't care. Not just with racing. A superior talent with a very troubled nature. Still troubled, not so sure about the amount of talent remaining.
  7. Sometimes, it is best to hurry slowly in order to reach the destination the quickest. Take care of your body and let it heal at its own rate, pushing it towards, but never beyond the limits it sets 😉 Hope you get back to full health!
  8. This is perhaps the nicest motorcycle road in the world, I don't think it could be designed any better. I'd love to see a hill-climb race being held there 👍
  9. You probably should watch the video 😉 On braking, he mentioned that some riders will lean the bike a bit when braking in order to get more deformation of the tire and hence more grip for retardation.
  10. I have no clue if this is spot on or not, but I presume the instructors know
  11. Superb observation - it's been staring us all in the face, but only you noticed it 👌
  12. I am no expert in any way on this, but I presume it is about awareness (where are you placed) and confidence (rely on your knowledge about where you are). Some are better at knowing where in space they are situated than others. Personally, I am hopeless, which is why I constantly bump into things. So I need some margins, likely more than you, to feel somewhat in control. Here are some pictures for inspiration about using all the available space, and then some, showing what is possible:
  13. This video show partly what I feel is happening with my old 650 (I have just bought a CBF1000, though I have not picked it up yet) - there appears to be too much lean for the speed, although not as dramatic as I - and my observing son - feel it is on my Deauville 650.
  14. faffi

    KTM

    Been a very nice season so far for those with no particular hero, with more riders and brands winning or entering the podium than usual. It has also proven that nobody can currently match the speed of MM. It would be cool if a Suzuki take the title, it would be cool if a non-factory bike take the title, it would be cool if a French took the title, and it would be cool if Dovi finally got the title. In other words, l would be happy with either of the currently top six ending up as champion.
  15. Well, I am probably guilty of everything you pointed out, Jaybird 😄 However, when it comes to lowering and/or lengthening a vehicle for better stopping or acceleration, it is a result of the vehicle's ability to resist flopping over forwards or backwards. Although only if you already slowed or accelerated hard enough for that to be an issue, of course. This partly explains it https://www.physio-pedia.com/Centre_of_Gravity#:~:text=Stability and the Centre of Gravity,-The direction of&text=When the line of gravity,is said to be stable. Sorry if I just dug myself a bigger grave here ðŸĪŠ
  16. If you lower the CoG, less weight will be shifted forward and you can stop harder before you do a stoppie. Which is also why a long and low bike can stop (and accelerate) harder than a tall and short one. However, I am not certain that the fork will compress more doing a stoppie while sitting upright with stiff arms, than doing a stoppie laying low with the resulting lower CoG. Since you can now slow down harder, would not even more force be fed into the suspension? But for the same rate of retardation, you probably will end up with slightly less compression of the fork laying down. However, will - if the rider position is the same - the point of ancorage matter? If I imagine in my head a 200 lb steel pole being welded to the footpegs, and another identical pole being welded to the handlebars with imaginary weightless arms between the pole and said bars, my flawed logic would indicate that the pole welded to the pegs would carry a greater rotating force forward during braking than the pole supported at the handlebars. Put differently; if the riding position is the same, would supporting the weight on the arms make the fork compress any differently to supporting it fully with the knees, since bars and tank sit at similar levels on a sports bike?
  17. faffi

    Jorge vs Doohan

    Noticed Lorenzo was hopelessly slower than everybody else at the recent test, more than 3 seconds off the Aprilias. The explaination was that he is unfit and have not ridden since January. I remember Doohan in 1999 at PI. He could not walk properly and had to be lifted onto the bike, and his hand did not have the power to pull the clutch. The bike had a totally new powerband due to Criville wanting top end over driveability. Doohan dis not know the tires, the setup or anything else as the plan was to just wave to the crowd. As I remember it, he waved most of the first lap, found it fun, upped the pace for lap two and eased off again. On his semi-flying lap I believe he was 2.5 seconds off the new lap record set by Roberts jr. In comparison, I find Jorge to be underwhelming.
  18. Would that not depend on how much power is fed in and how much the bike is leaned over at the time of throttle application, plus how much more lean is needed? But it does seem like a recipe for loss of traction.
  19. Could be l used to be more abrupt, and l definitely was braking late on purpose, so that could well be the issue. On the Honda, l now brake less hard and ease off them, then going directly to rolling on the throttle. I am beginning to get to grips with setting the entry speed early, but with 40 years of braking deep it is what I know. At the age of 16, riding a CB100 limited to 50 mph, l would brake at the latest moment possible as often as l could, and l gave myself a maximum of one yard error - if l stopped sooner or, much worse, overshot, it wad considered a fail. I did this on all sorts of surfaces and conditions, and with time became pretty good at judging braking distances and "feeling" the available grip. That was also the only thing l learned well, though...
  20. No, meaning I explained myself poorly. All previous bikes I can recall having attempted early throttle application with would fight me and go wide, usually enough to make me get off the throttle again for a moment. That was the case with the NT650V until l replaced the tires recently. The XVS is a bike l rode gently home on 20 year old tires in November and have restored since. It is fitted with new diagonal Pirelli touring tires. It did not react well to my normal riding habits, which is how I subsequently ended up going in slower and exiting faster, and that the bike acted absolutely neutral to acceleration around corners.
  21. Something happened recently when I fitted new tires on my NT650V, when I suddenly found I could apply throttle very early in a corner - slow or fastish - without the bike wanting to noticeably widen its trajectory. And now I found the same thing with my other bike (although it does not belong in a sporty setting), an XVS650: I can roll on the throttle fully (it is, however, a slow bike) the instant I am at full lean and it will not deviate from its chosen line one inch, nor does it take any effort to retain the trajectory; I remain relaxed at the bars. Now I wonder if I have changed something that I am not aware of, or if by fluke I have ended up with two bikes that act this way. Any thoughts? Bakcground: I have always trail braked, purely based on instinct/what felt natural. Some may remember that I back in 2011/12 tried to unlearn this, and it was very frustrating, primarily because I most likely rode in panic mode and that reduced tire grip and deteriorated handling. In the end I got to a point where I could do it safely, but it never became comfortable to set the cornering speed early and get on the throttle early. I drive my cars the same way, BTW - fast in, slow out. However, on the XVS, which does not like to turn in on the brakes, within a short period of time it has become second nature to slow prior to turning in. Whenever I have tried to apply throttle early on my previous motorcycles, especially around hairpins, I have observed the bike wanting to get upright and head for the edge of the road. So I basically waited with throttle until I began steering the bike upright. As mentioned above, I now owns two bikes that does not have this trait.
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