What have you done with your bike/s today?

[Worty]

G'day Fellas.
I needed some DOT5 brake fluid for the HD rear brake job. 3 local car parts and 1 bike shop didn't have any or even know of the stuff. It was a 3 hour drive (there & back) to Penrith Motorcycle Supermarket to get the only bottle they had at a cost of $65 for 350ml  . Seems the only shops that stock it are HD shops. I thought most modern cars/bikes used the DOT5, am I mistaken 
Cheers

DOT5 is only for vehicles that already use DOT5 and isn't interchangeable with DOT3/4 (DOT5.1 is though).  I would have thought that DOT4 in a totally dry system should be ok, and is cheap as chips.

[Worty]

heeeee----- haaarrr , went out on betsy and when she was warm , she said give it me so i did full chat up the bypass , playing a sound better than sex --------- maybe.  then split some logs ready for the cold . thankyou for listening have a nice day i am can you tell?  sshhhhhh

Went out for a 111m spin around York and environs.  Lovely ride only spoiled by the presence of two road Nazis in mobile camera ambush vans.   The first on a quiet, straight back road - if it was a 60mph zone I should be fine, if it was 40 I could be screwed (think it was 60 though).   Interestingly, I passed a couple of bikers stopped around 50mtrs short of the b*****ds looking at their number plates???   The other t**t van was trying to catch vehicles coming out of a 30mph who may be a bit impatient waiting for the derestriction signs.   I was following a 4x4 doing about 25mph and was just pulling out  to blast past him when I clocked the danger and pulled back in.   Fortunately, I  ride the Beeza a bit slower than the Kwaka, and I think the speedo overreads a bit, so here's hoping no 3 points and £100 (not been done for speed in 43 years of motoring).

Bike was fab again, no complaints, always good to open her up with all the sound and fury that brings.

[muskrat]

G'day Fellas.
I needed some DOT5 brake fluid for the HD rear brake job. 3 local car parts and 1 bike shop didn't have any or even know of the stuff. It was a 3 hour drive (there & back) to Penrith Motorcycle Supermarket to get the only bottle they had at a cost of $65 for 350ml  . Seems the only shops that stock it are HD shops. I thought most modern cars/bikes used the DOT5, am I mistaken 
Cheers

DOT5 is only for vehicles that already use DOT5 and isn't interchangeable with DOT3/4 (DOT5.1 is though).  I would have thought that DOT4 in a totally dry system should be ok, and is cheap as chips.

G'day Worty.
DOT 3,4&5.1 are compatible but DOT5 is silicon based and can't be mixed with any other fluid. DOT5 has a much higher boiling point and doesn't absorb water like the others. I think most HD's up to 2015 used it. I remember years ago I put DOT4 in a HD and the rubbers only lasted a year at most.
Cheers

[Sav]

Oil change and a short hop to Dover Transport Museum Classic Bike Day on the A10SR today.

[groily]

DOT 3,4&5.1 are compatible but DOT5 is silicon based and can't be mixed with any other fluid. DOT5 has a much higher boiling point and doesn't absorb water like the others. I think most HD's up to 2015 used it. I remember years ago I put DOT4 in a HD and the rubbers only lasted a year at most.
Cheers

'They' (quite sensible-seeming 'theys') say that DOT 5 has to be avoided with ABS owing to its different characteristics, which I'd have thought must have reduced its use in modern vehicles, for brakes anyway. For all that, it seems to be easily available in auto-shops at not silly cost hereabouts, along with the glycol-based 4 and 5.1.
Dunno if the seals need to be of a different spec for silicon-based - probably, from what you say Musky!
'They' also say that glycol-based oil has to be carefully stored and has a very finite shelf-life owing to its absorption of moisture. But I have been using the same well-sealed half-litre container of DOT 4 for a few years for the brakes and clutch of my Yamahaha without any obvious hassles.

[Colsbeeza]

Sav, I have a 1963 125cc Benly C92 for when I cannot handle the BSA any more - and a 1957 Royal Enfield Ensign 2, and --
Col

[Worty]

I do think there's a lot of scaremongering and paranoia about when it comes to brake fluid.  As Bill says, I also use a well sealed bottle of DOT4, and never had any problems with it.  The fluid in the Octy and Citigo are around 10 years' old, and the brakes are absolutely fine, passing MoTs every year with no deterioration in brake performance.

Of course, if you do get moisture in the fluid, why not loosen the cap and do some fast circuits somewhere to make it boil (and evaporate)

[Sav]

Sav, I have a 1963 125cc Benly C92 for when I cannot handle the BSA any more - and a 1957 Royal Enfield Ensign 2, and --
Col

My little one is a CD200T, a bit gutless but has been a revelation after the difficulties I now experience in getting the Beezers over the threshold of the shed, kickstarting etc. at the age of 77. Rode it all over Manxland last summer. The 'perfect' CL350 I bought for longer runs has been a bag of nails, but I hope to have it running properly shortly, after a year of trials and tribulations.

The Beezers are getting ridden less and less and the little Benly gets comments every where I ride it from the next generation down from me who know nothing about British bikes. 

[muskrat]

G'day Fellas.
Rode the rHonda around the block with a mate on his HD. Only 200Km (3 pubs) and performed quite well. Only trouble was a buzzing sound that varied with engine revs. I suspect the tacho cable and also noticed that 1/2 the needle has broken off! This run was to make sure she is ship shape for next w/ends Tourer ride in case the HD isn't finished. Looks like the Plunger may get a decent run.
Ordered a set of GPM T120 +40 rings for the Cafe.
Cheers

[berger]

took betsy out for another blast with my mate who sold me betsy many moons ago when we were teenagers , i put a drop of R in the petrol and he was following me on his modern trumpet triple loving the smell, he sold his 1200 bmw and bought the trumpet on saturday. he lost count of how many bikes he's owned at 75 bikes. he doesn't keep them long . tomorrow we change his air filter and then go for another blast. we talked about all the pubs we used to call in at in the late 70's and early eighties on our rides out and most of them have now gone . only one left out of a dozen on a 10 mile route we used to go on and went on again today.  but plenty of lets dig with traffic lights but no digging, the jobs f-----t .

[muskrat]

G'day Fellas.
BUGGA just got an ebay notification re the GPM rings. Vendor is out of stock and refunded the $$$. The hunt continues.
It's not just pattern parts for our BSA's that are a bit iffy  . Master cylinder kit arrived and installed last night. Just looking at it I could see differences but put it in anyway. It works but I can see it won't be long before it starts to leak. 
Cheers

[RogerSB]

Hi everyone,

My A10's nearside petrol tap has been seeping a little, only enough to stain a piece of rolled up kitchen tissue wedged under it and leaving it there, so I decided to bite the bullet and renew the cork. I used the split cork method by soaking the new cork in hot water for about 5 minutes to soften it and with a sharp scalpel cut the cork diagonally down its length.

Then came the tricky bit of opening up the split to fit it in place without destroying it. It was very tight to push in but I managed it in the end with a smear of water based lubricant . Then I dunked the whole tap in water, pushing the plunger in and out to remove any lubricant from the cork. Dried it in the sun and refitted the tap. Worked perfectly and happily with no leaks.

Rog.

[berger]

my mate Andy came round to change the air filter on his 1200 triple trumpet, well blow me down it took him 2 and a half hours to do this job. this reminded me of working on Christine the possessed , lots of things to move with secret fixings on the sides of the tank, i found out you have to take a screw out pull the pippit  thing out and then slide the part backwards , there was wire connectors and rubber pipes that didn't want to play nice because there isn't any room for big hands . the tank had to be drained and we ended up with a surprise flow of petrol from another pipe once the main pipe was pulled off, after this horrible job just for an air filter we went out on a 4 hour ride over the Derbyshire hills and stopped for fish &chips that he paid for at Ashbourne. i gave betsy a rest and went on urma the yonda . there was loads of bikers out and even a BSA bantong parked up at a pub where lots of bikers were. myself and Andy have known each other since we were 5 or 6 years old and always tried to keep in touch , sometimes we didn't see each other for 4 or 5 years. Yesterday he filled betsys tank up and today he filled urmas . i will drink to that there could be another ride out tomorrow 

[Angus]

ITS DONE IT AGAIN  . Prepping the A10 for the North of Spain and Colombres rallies, change the oil rode her around the block (Not Musky's block just 10 miles here in the UK) all fine. Today gave her a clean up and started her to dry her out. Oil all over the place out of the breather, 5th time this has happened in nine years of ownership. Never find a root cause. So drained sump 1.5 Litres in there, put it back into the tank. put sump plug back in started up waited for return soon came back and no more oil out of the breather. Did the block again, stopped and started her 4 times all seams fine. SHE IS BLOODY GOING 

[berger]

weather has been good to us so i went out on betsy again with andy on his trumpet, we had afternoon cup a tea at buxton and did another 4 hour ride, we don't count the miles we just turn off roads and find little old places out in the hills, but we did have one fast blast on an A road and it was brill , betsy loved it and andy loved betsys meggas on full chat and the over run laughing at him