May 21st 2015

 

 

                                  To be honest, the bike is ready, the equipment is complete,  so no (testing) or trials needed now.... most info is on the latest news page & will be transferred here in due course.

                                 As I travel, I will keep notes on how everything is performing (or not lol) so as to give an idea to anyone else trying something like this on a miniscule budget, having to make do and mend as you go.

                                 Basically, a couple of days before leaving, the bike will be checked over and at the same time a couple of brand new tyres will be fitted to give me the maximum distances possible before needing to source fresh rubber :)

 

   

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

  January 4th 2015

 

                                         Before starting the current strip down of the bike, to prepare it for the long journey ahead, it has had a couple of distance runs to finally check the fuel figures........ and... fully loaded, ridden on minor roads for a fair distance up hill and down dale, I have arrived at an average fuel consumption of 74mpg (at very steady speeds of around 50/55 mph. At some points though..hitting 78+mpg... but an average of 74mpg makes me very happy :)

 

                                        So, work to be done during it's strip down are, obviously a good clean for it's birthday :) new consumables...ie. chain sprockets oils water plugs filters etc. etc.  plus new tyres.  One other thing that needs addressing is the electrical cut out problem when it rains hard :(   two ways to cure this... 1- don't ride in the rain ;)  and 2- take all electric connections apart... clean well and then seal them all with silicone & protect with covers where possible. Nothing else really, except I have now decided to carry spare tyres with me, so need to arrange somwhere to put them on the bike :(         I will take pics of the strip and rebuild and post them on here over due course.

 

 

Aug 13th 2014

 

Took the bike for a thorough shake down test run....  a few days through France, down to the Med, and back up through the Alps, to test the carbs etc. at altitude (up to 12,000 ft) 

 

  I took advantage of this test, to take my eldest granddaughter Chloe, aged 11, on her first big bike ride. I had promised to take her out sometime, to show her some real mountains, so this seemed like a good chance to keep that promise. Now, I already know that the wire basket panniers work fine, so no problem removing them, so as to make room for Chloe. Now that some of the gear has been left behind, the weight has been made up with the passenger, and extra provisions, so no difference to the total load carried.

 

  We rode the entire length of France (there & back), without using a single piece of motorway (so as to replicate my planned routes), it was an enjoyable ride, taking about three days to reach the Med. Apart from cutting out again, in torrential rain on the A2 :(..   (going to have to strip all electrics again and re-seal, I think it's the power to the coils?) the bike ran perfect in the dry (or light rain), and returned a very welcome 70mpg average, at an approx average cruising speed of 60/63mph where possible. So, when on the trip proper.... I really hope to hit 80mpg :)  seeing as i'll only be doing around 50/55mph on decent roads.

 

  After camping for a couple of days, we set out for the Alps..... taking numerous high cols (passes), using all the gears on a regular basis, as the climbs were so steep, but the Honda did us proud, not missing a beat the entire time.

 

  We got back to England, taking our time, a few days later, and I am very happy overall with the bike, the set up, and most of the equipment (just a couple of small things to deal with) the tent leaked after a night of continuous rain, so waterproofing is in order. I found that the very lightweight sleeping bags I had, were just not up to the cold.... so I will be using a better one (but more bulky) so a small price to pay for comfort.

 

  The new (Suzuki Bandit) headlight was excellent, so that problem is sorted now. 

 

  When we climbed up above 10,000ft, the bike ran fine, the carbs didn't miss a beat, so not too worried about carburation (well, not till i have to climb a bit higher at some anyway)

 

  All in all, very happy with almost everything about the bike.....      (some pics from the trip in the photo section)

 

 

18th March 2014

 

The bike seems to be running ok now (120 mile round trip, in the dry though!) so I will keep on top of it week by week.

On close inspection, I did notice that both the plug drainage holes in the side of each cylinder head, were blocked with what looked like mud? so used a poky thing to clean them out - this might have been the intermittent electrical cutting out that I had a few weeks ago in the wet as the moisture would have built up inside the spark plug hole until the heat burnt it off and was able to go again...till it built up yet again. Suppose I'll find out when it's ridden in a good downpour again.

 

The bike and equipment will be thoroughly tested with a long trip (about 12 days) maybe around early August.  Then, on return, everything that can be stripped off will be, cleaned checked and refitted, after fitting brand new tyres (on wheels with new bearings), new chain and sprockets, brake pads, new plugs, oil change and filter, balance carbs, new head bearings and anything else that's needed. (And breathe!)

 

When the bike & equipment are ready, the bike will only have short trips as necessary, so as to save it for the big OFF, just a few weeks later...... late September 2014 which, as things are going, will be here in no time!

 

 

2nd February 2014

 

Took off the tank and the light unit, cleaned all electrical connections then reconnected them all.  Then sprayed them all with an ignition sealer, which dries and leaves a lacquer which should help seal against any moisture ingression.  All other connections around the bike got the same treatment.  Whilst the tank was off, I also took out the plugs and cleaned/reset them, replaced the leads etc. and sprayed around them too... so, hopefully, that should cure the electric cut out I experienced on its last wet trip :).

 

Trouble is, to know for sure, I have to take it out in torrential rain again :) .... i'll let you know.... ;)

 

 

 

12th January 2014

 

Went out on the bike in a bit of a storm the other day.  Got to my destination about 15 miles away no problem, but took a different route back, down the M5 and the bike just spluttered to a halt.

Sat on the very wet hard shoulder, trying the starter - the motor turned over ok, but didn't fire up.  Checked fuel etc., all ok and guessed it was electrical? - this was re-enforced a few minutes later, when it fired up again and seemed to run fine.... jumped on board and started back down the motorway, fingers crossed! No such luck. Only a few more wet miles and it stopped again, just past a services slip road. So off the bike and a heavy push up the gradient into the services to check it out. A hot coffee and Mars bar later.... tried it again before stripping parts off and it fired up again. I realised then that it must be water getting into some electrics, causing it to cut out totally, but when standing, the heat must be drying it out again, letting it spark as normal? The rain had eased quite a bit now, so decided to risk the few miles to the next junction to exit the motorway and a few more miles back to base. Made it ok so now, when I have the time, I think it's a strip of all electrics, clean everything, then seal all as best I can in various ways, to see if that does the trick? (assuming it's not something obvious when looking deeper).

 

 

 

Took a short trip up to Matlock Bath today (Sunday), to test the new gearing (1 tooth up on front sprocket 16T).

 

The loaded bike performed fine once I got used to it, without putting any strain on the clutch, it was actually better at gently pulling away, with none of the lurching you normally get going from 1st to 2nd gear.  The revs have decreased by around 450rpm, so with careful throttle control, the fuel consumption should be better (going on a good long loaded test trip soon so will post MPG on here).

Had a good response and lots of interest during the few hours I was there, talking to keen bikers and enthusiastic travellers alike. Many thanks again to all who donated to the petrol fund.
 
June 2013

 

As most of the machine is now almost completed, I decided to take a break and test what I have with regards to not only the machine, but riding gear and all other equipment too.

So, although the RTW trip will be made solo, I made room on this test trip for a pillion, good friend Lynne Drury, and we took off on a very low budget, 8 day trip, down to the South of France, taking in some Gorges and mountains on the return leg.

The following, are some the problems that I realised would need sorting, before any big RTW attempt is made:

 

1 - If I need to get a move on, then the one tooth up front sprocket prevents the fully loaded bike from getting anywhere near top speed (90 at best and it struggled at that, against a head wind).  I'm not too concerned about this (can always drop to 4th?), as I have no intention at all of pushing along at any high speed during the trip, (economy will always be a priority) but at least I know now.  Having said that, cruising along at a steady nearly 65+ (4000rpm), returned 65mpg which pleased me.  I still have to test it at 50/55ish, which will be my open road cruising speed anyway on the RTW and hope to return over 75mpg loaded up.

2 - On the forthcoming RTW trip, I intended to take much fewer spares, to cut down on carrying extra weight & guess what?  The bike ran fine all the way from Derby to Dover.  I filled up the fuel tank at the top of the hill, just before the descent to the port, pressed the starter......nothing!  Dead!  Zilch.  Removed the seat, got the tools etc out, touched the battery and ouch!  Red hot!  Too hot to hold.......so I guessed FRIED!  (reg rec).

 

Now it just so happened that one of the very few spares I decided to take was a spare one.  Lucky me - so quickly changed it.  By now the battery had cooled down a little, so I prised out the rubber bungs/seal (sealed battery) and found it was totally dry.  I carry spare drinking water, so used this to top up to normal levels and replaced it, along with the tools etc.

Packed away, seat on and with assistance from Lynne and a guy from the garage pumps, gave it a good push - it started first time, so we took a gamble and shot off to make the ferry.  Damn!  Missed it by 5 minutes!  Not being helped by being pulled over by customs, for a check.  Anyway, got a later ferry and never had any more trouble with it.  But now am contemplating taking all the spares as before!

Ps. anyone got another good spare reg rec?

3 - When unloaded, the strengthened rear shocks are solid and I thought they were already on the hardest setting of three, so it wasn't until we had reached the South of France that I checked as to why they were bottoming out and realised my mistake.  Doh!  They were on softest setting, so I reset them on to hardest (being no.3) and the bike and ride were transformed.

4 - When filling my Coleman petrol stove from the bike tank, through a plastic tube, I found that Sans Plomb 95, tastes FOUL! and am now working on another way to transfer small amounts of fuel.

5 - Although we were very lucky with the storms, we did get caught once or twice and I found that my £10 car boot jacket (in vgc) is only slightly waterproof and also very uncomfortable when it gets hot!  So a change of gear maybe?  I was thinking of a thin leather jacket/jeans + a small packed w/p oversuit.

6 - Although not a concern really as I'm going solo on my trip, we found that when pushing the miles, both seats/bums became very uncomfortable.  This may be of use to other Cb500 riders contemplating a long trip though.  Solo, it will be no problem as more room to move around and as I said before, this time not pushing so hard, so more stop/rest time I think!

7 – Luggage.  Not happy with the soft luggage.  It’s not been used much but a couple of zips separated (they went back to normal but now it’s in the back of my mind!), so I think a compromise - a couple of wire baskets on the sides, with the panniers loosely sitting inside them and held by straps of some kind, to take the loaded strain off them by just sitting in the baskets.  This will also clear the seat of the straps across it etc. holding the two panniers together.  Also, the home built back rack slowly moved partially down as it settled under load.  It’s ok but again, needs to be sorted somehow.

One thing that did concern me was carburation and was it going to play up at altitude?  No problem!  Even over 8000ft up, not a beat was missed, so I am very happy with that.

Equipment wise, all tried and tested and all pretty good. although I think I need to work on more comfort for my old bones etc. due to the amount of time I will be living on the road (or by the side of it!).

The screen was good, handling was good (especially now I have the Hagon Progressive BMW K100 springs in the front forks).  All in all though, I am happy with most of it and as soon as the bits mentioned here are sorted, I will test again (short run though)

Just a few pics taken on the trip if you are interested......