All Quiet...

I've not actually been up to much recently, hence why it's been quiet here.

Granted, I think I have a couple of extra videos - I'll shove them below - but other than that, I've not done anything bikey related.
I've been a mix of at a music festival, at work, and being ill.

For the music festival, I was doing photography: Have a gander, if you want
Illness has just been manflu.

So, yeah. Boring.

Went to the Manchester Bike Show

So, being a Manchester bod, it'd be odd to not go to the bike show that's on this weekend.
Here are a few pictures...

 What looked like a large scooter... until later

 The ER-6N

 The Vulcan. It was rather comfortable

 a gorgeous V-Max

 The MT125 looks so cute.

 VSX950, I believe. It too was very comfortable

 And then there was this scooter. The Housemate lying down for scale

 Suzuki Intruder. Again, I really find these cruisers comfy.

 Custom trikes

 The Housemate with her boyfriend

 A Street Triple. They've changed the look a bit since I last saw them

 A Ducati of some kind...

Music While Riding

Something that seems to polarise a large portion of bikers is whether he should or should not listen to music while riding.

The major argument for riding without any music is that it prevents you from hearing the engine of your bike and traffic around you. In counter to this, I hear others say "But cagers get to listen to music without anyone complaining!"
To me, the reason not to listen has more clout than the counter. Largely because drivers don't need to be as aware of their surrounds as us.
[Please note: I say need to be, not that they shouldn't be. In an ideal world, a driver would be as aware of everything around them as bikers need to be.]

Next, you hear about how much music can affect your mood. For instance, putting on some really fast metal music can get the adrenaline going a bit, and cause you to ride faster or take more risks. There's no real counter to that one, apart from "I know, and I accept that."
For me, the choice goes down to what music you should listen to then.

So, where do I actually stand on this?
I listen to music.

My counter to the first point is that I don't have the music at any level that is over-powering. I can hear my engine, and I can hear the traffic, and as I go faster, these get louder than the music.
But when I'm going slowly, or stopped at lights, it gives something to take the edge off the boredom.
Then, my music of choice is currently psytrance. It has a consistent beat range, and isn't the most energetic of music. It's sort of soothing...

What about you all? Where do you stand?

Is Maintenance For Me?

I wonder if bike maintenance is something I should even attempt on my own again...

My YBR's chain has been scarily slack, and when I measured it yesterday, it was at about 2 inches! Given the recommended is at most 20mm, it's at a scary level.

"Right," says I. "Let's sort this bad boy out."
With tools in hand, and the Haynes manual open at my side, I went to work.

After I got the slack right, tightened all the bits back up and... found the back brake was now seized.
And I can't find what I've done wrong.

*sigh*

I should also point out that the first time I tried to adjust the headlight angle on my bike, I somehow caused the bulb to blow, even though I went nowhere near the thing.

I am a numpty

So, with a new bike comes new interesting features.
One of the things that I got with the XJ6 was Oxford Hotgrips - brilliant for the colder days. Unfortunately, they're wired straight to the battery, with no auto-off.

Can you see where this is going?
Well, ha! You're wrong.

Although, probably very close.
Instead it was another feature of the XJ6 that caused me to completely drain my battery dry.
That feature is...

the parking light.

What insane person throught that the parking light rotation on the key should be the one further along than the steering lock? I mean, seriously!

You put the steering lock on, and you're going to be away from your bike for some period of time, most likely.

What numpty thought it was a good idea?

Anyway.

I came back to my bike, after ~9 hours and the battery was deader than a really dead thing. Instrument panel showed no life whatsoever.

This meant I had to get the AA out to come and give me a jump start. [No, not alcoholics anonymous...]. Had the engine running for about 40 minutes in total, hoping that would be enough to charge it; and my initial check at the end of the day seemed to indicate it was.

Except it wasn't.

While the instrument panel came to life this time, there just wasn't enough juice to start the engine.

Today's morning commute to work was brought to you by my YBR125.

It showed to me just how much snappier the XJ6 is in comparison, in almost every way. More responsive brakes, clutch, gears, everything!

I'm going to see if I have the ability to bump start the bike when I get home.

Taking odds that I dump the clutch and drop it?

Video: My First Ride of the XJ6

First little birl round

So, I got my XJ6 this morning, and have taken it for a bit of a spin round town.
Nothing twisty, but just getting a feel for its handling

So far, so good. I occasionally find neutral from first, but that's it.
The acceleration, compared to what I'm used to, is amazing.

Can't wait to give it a proper shot.