What have you done with your bike/s today?

[groily]

I'm in the market for heated gloves, the only bit that froze were my fingers.
Cheers

My expensive heated gloves burnt a 2" hole in the back of my right hand the other day. Surprising how much power there is in a small lithium battery dead-shorted through the on/off low/med/hi switch. Very painful, and very fast acting. It can't have taken me more than half a minute to stop and rip the darn thing off, but the burn was well-advanced. So, so much for very expensive battery-powered ones, not going there again.
Therefore, back to my universal fail-safe dry & warmish system  . . . which is easier than fitting muffs to different bikes with different cables and 'bars etc  . . .A big laccy band can help if wind lifts the flap to expose the back of the fingers  . . .
My mates laugh . . . but I  can operate a clutch and brake while they're frost-bitten practically on wet winter days.

[Greybeard]

What I did with my bike today was wheel it out of the garage at our new place so I could make a start on painting the walls and floor. This is important because we need to empty the storage unit we've been renting for all my garage equipment. Once the garage has all my stuff in it I will not be able to do the painting.

[CheeserBeezer]

Gave it a good wash. We went to a Grasstrack meeting yesterday and my bike looked like it had been taking part!

[limeyrob]

Groily - I like that solution, if there were a forum prize for "Red-neck Engineering" you'd be a strong contender.
Re lithium - I recently had one explode while on charge, left it on a  "smart" charger but went to to make a cuppa. SWMBO said "there's a lot of smoke in your shed!!"  Hell there was, and a fire.  Went up in seconds.

[muskrat]

G'day Fellas.
re-heated gloves. I've done a little research and a riding buddy has endorsed my choice. He's been using https://www.zarkie.com.au/product/alt-battery-heated-gloves/?v=3a1ed7090bfa for 5 years and loves them. They won't be hard wired to the bike/s but I'll wire in a usb to charge them while I stop for a beer or three.
I must be getting soft in my older age!
Cheers

[Joolstacho]

Lithium batteries can be deadly. Ive seen a small one shorted out, and it was unstoppable.

[groily]

Good luck Musky - they look pretty decent. Mine are RST 'Paragon' (and are still quite decent gloves when not switched on!)
https://www.rst-moto.com/men/gloves?page=1 (and £200 GBP)
Had them about 4 years, mostly not 'on'. 200 battery charge/discharge cycle life they say - probably used 'on' fewer than 50 times. Failure in switch or adjacent wiring on back of hand rather than battery itself  . . .
Was impressed initially, but less so now! Suppose I ought to send them back with a whinge letter, but probably farting against thunder given their age.

[Black Sheep]

Got it pretty much sussed for winter. Fit the badger nose screen which is remarkably effective and that, together with the heated handlebar grips keeps me snug and cosy. The dynamo is 12 volt and the lights are LED so plenty of wiggly amps to keep my fingers warm.

[limeyrob]

when I used to commute in all weathers I fitted a Badger nose, someone was chucking it out. I had always laughed at them but my hands were getting so cold I thought "why not?".  As you say, they really work.

[limeyrob]

Wheel alignment, quite pleased with how it went.  Used an ally 8ft straight edge propped up to touch the tyres and a couple of clamps to hold it to the rear tyre.  Slight correction for tyre width difference and done.

[muskrat]

G'day Rob.
Something that should be done every time we adjust our chains.
I use string lines usually but can do a quick check by eye.
There was a thread years back about using lasers https://www.a7a10.net/forum/index.php?topic=8025.msg56428#msg56428 and https://www.a7a10.net/forum/index.php?topic=1636.msg31422#msg31422
Cheers

[limeyrob]

Yes, and I now always do up the wheel spindle then tighten the adjusters up to the spindle one last bit so there's a bit of pre-load against the chain.  Not an issue on the drive side but I have had spindles pull forward on the drive side when the adjuster is not quite tight.

[Worty]

Yes, and I now always do up the wheel spindle then tighten the adjusters up to the spindle one last bit so there's a bit of pre-load against the chain.  Not an issue on the drive side but I have had spindles pull forward on the drive side when the adjuster is not quite tight.

Issues on 'timing side'??  I do the same!

[RichardL]

Well, not today, but this weekend. Finished top-end inspection reassembly after a partial seize-up on the highway. Nothing serious, thank goodness. Got back from three-mile test ride early Saturday evening and discovered my right leg covered in oil and my oil cap missing. Living in a suburban neighborhood, all the streets are curbed. Suggested to my wife that we take a Sunday morning walk with the casual intension to find the cap. We both decided this would be a nice way to start-off our 40th anniversary (also yesterday). Anyway, after tracking gutters on the righr-hand side of the street for about a mile, there it was, peacefully lying in the gutter. We both had a sense of accomplishment and amazement that this was a success. Also, it was a kind and inexpensive reminder to check oil flow after every startup, or, at least, the first startup of every day.

One more thing about this, not so straightforward if you drive on the left side of the street.

[Worty]

Congratulations on your 40th anniversary (and finding the cap!!).  Got mine coming up soon (a bit behind at 26).  Thought it'd be game over a few years back when Sue had her 'midlife', but I must have convinced her that it was worth staying  

If anyone can explain women to me, and how to reach 40 years of married life, I'm all ears

On the bikes, plenty of miles on the Kwaka recently (about 500), Beeza will be out soon enjoying a day without rain   Finished fabricating my Kwaka exhaust, just need to test fit and paint matt black.  It's not perfect, but neither me nor the bike is either.

New rear tyres for both bikes to be fitted soon.  GF's AM26 did about 6000m, the Kwaka Battlax, about 7-8000m-ish.