Pocket Hand Chainsaw

While I'm not sure how long one of these Pocket Chainsaws will stay sharp, for under $40 it'll get you out of a pinch...







Music Tags

Here are todays tags...



Had to strip the paint off the bathroom ceiling last night, caught the last ever Super Request on
Triple J.



5am start at work this morning with @Rage_ABC on the TV. Saturday morning Rage is mostly teeny-bopper crap before 9am, but there are usually a couple of ok clips.























Music Tags

I'm hopeless... that is to say my memory sucks big time. No matter how much I love something, I often forget about plans. That's been happening a lot with music, stuff I want to buy, artists I want to learn more about. Enter Shazam... I've been tagging music simply as a way to quickly create a record of music I like.





I figured it might be time to start sharing those tags...


















Gear...

Vitesse Hunt boots:







These boots look like a nice alternative to the black boy-racer come power ranger boots I normally wear. Lace up style should end up with a better fit, and all my non-riding boots are brown anyway.



I have a pretty wide foot, and the Vitesse site says:



Inspired by traditional work boots, The Hunt employs laces to offer a snug and variable fit. Its upper is entirely made out of premium American saddle leather, for durability and comfort. It will take wax to a shine and patina beautifully through years of loyal use.

Its fit is regular in width, but offers the highest forefoot of all 3 models, so that your toes have a bit of extra room.

Available in full size 39–47. Price starts at 175 Euros.
So I wonder just how much room there will be. Typically, I end up buying a size too large to accomodate my flipper-feet. 

Gear...

This week I'm loving the Fuel Bespoke Motorcycles t-shirt line.







Daydreaming...

Motorcycle Ergonomics - Pictorially

Cycle-ergo is a really nice, interactive ergonomics simulator... I'm not sure who made the webpage, or why they made it, but it's a really nice tool.



You can input more than one machine, and use the mouse scroll wheel to fade between bikes to see the real differences.



I set up three bikes, a stock 2010 R1, my 2010 R1 with 7cm up and 1cm back bars, and the old 2006 FZ1 to get a real idea of where my new bike puts me... and it really is a good compromise between the two.



BOTT XR-1, work in progress

The guys over a Bottpower are making progress... this thing is looking amazing.







Check out the renders...






LSL Clipons - Detail Pics

Sadly, I'm still using the phone as a camera and it's really starting to bug me. Anyway, here are some more photos of the clipons installed.



Clutch side cable routing


Horn cable routing


Brake side throttle cable routing


Red/White 2008 with standard clipons Vs.
Blue/White 2010 with LSL Tourmatch clipons


Brake line and cable routing


Brake line routing


I installed the master cylinder resevour different to the instructions;
they had it right in front of the speedo


09 R1 Streetfighter

This one comes from over at the customfighters.com forum...











From the Townsville 400 Today

This is the best photo I took all day...




I didn't take many photo's since I was just using my phone and they generally turn out crap. Besides that, the action on track is almost impossible to capture through the safety fences, I wasted a lot of time last year trying...


We had a fantastic day, though I am knackered now.

Removing the OEM R1 Clipons

This isn't going to be a detailed tutorial, you'll need to support the front end of the bike, which means a specialist stand. If you have one, chances are you've done work like this before.



1. Support the rear of the bike on a paddock stand, support the front on a steering stem paddock stand.

2. Remove the clutch-side grip. Here's a tip for dealing with the OEM grip glue:



Use a wire coat hanger, bend it like this


Trim one end like this


Keeping the long edge of the sharp tip against the bar, insert it between the grip and bar.
Don't worry if you can get it all the way in, just use the crank handle and wind it around.
It might take a couple of laps, but eventually you'll have split the glue and can slide the grip off.


3. Loosen everything off; clipons, brake/clutch levers, brake reservoir, etc.

4. Loosen fork clamps; bottom first, steering damper mount required loosening also, then the top ones.

5. Drag the forks down far enough to remove clipons.

6. Slide the clipons out of the switch gear.



Now you're ready to install the new clipons.

Today's Mail

Evotech Performance Fender Eliminator


LSL Tourmatch Clipons


Comparison between Yamaha's OEM R1 and LSL Tourmatch clipons.
Quite a difference!


To change the clipons you need to drop the forks out, which I managed to get done this afternoon, inserted the new clipons and buttoned the triple clamps back up, the bike is back on the ground. On the weekend I'll strip off the OEM rubber brake lines and punch the holes for the switch gear... it's going to be a fiddly job to line everything up, but I can't wait to ride it!

Husqvarna Nuda 900cc Promo Video

900cc parallel twin motard. Unlike the KTM, Aprillia and Ducati offerings, the parallel twin engine keeps the layout closer to the traditional thumper single cylinder motards.


Based on the BMW 800cc powerplant, the 900cc Husky is the first bike in a while I've really boon looking forward to it's release date.