Selling the 350...

...as I've put down a deposit on a Royal Enfield Classic Despatch :-)

Selling the YBR

The time has come to sell the YBR to make some space for the next bike. New pair of Michelin City Pro tyres fitted (excellent service from Jon at Trusted Tyres mobile service - done at my house cheaper than local companies wanted for a ride-in) :-

https://www.trustedtyres.co.uk/

The Enfield will probably be not that far behind.

She knows...

I give her a wash and how does she repay me? Flat rear tyre. She knows I'm prepping to sell...

Yak Shaving.

I only intended to replace the speedo drive unit, ended up doing the front indicators. For those who don't know what Yak Shaving is, have a quick read here.

A Yak, earlier today.

Anyhoo, whilst I was feeding the new speedo cable up, I nudged a connector for the front brake light switch, which subsequently disintegrated. In order to put a new connector on, the headlamp had to come off, so whilst I was at it I tidied up some of the wiring and put the new indicators on that have been sitting around for weeks. And swapped the toolbox locks for a set I have that only needs one key.

Disturbingly, when swapping the speedo drive, I noticed a crack in one of the axle caps - looks like a gorilla has tightened this up at some point. Good job I found it now, and not at 60mph - time to do more shopping, methinks.

Not good. Shaggy is displeased.

YBR MOT...

...passed, no advisories :-)

Pleased.

So, a nice dry weekend meant there was time to sort a couple of bits. The YBR got a new chain, ready for the MOT this week, and the Enfield had shakedown run part deux, this time NOT leaving me stranded by the side of the A508 for 5 hours. This pleases me.

Once the bike was warmed up nicely, I decided to check the air/fuel mixture with my Colortune. A bit fiddly, but simple enough to use. The default 1.5 turns out on the screw that I'd previously set it to seemed spot on - there was a nice blue burn. This pleases me too. I could have fiddled, but since it was running nicely on the outing, I figured I'd leave it alone for the time being. A plug chop session is on the cards sometime, or maybe throw some money on a dyno like I did with the Electra. We'll see.

The speedo is getting worse, and examination finds some grindy crunchy noises coming from the speedo sender unit. I'd bought a bicycle speedo some time ago, so decided now was the time to fit it.

Surprisingly accurate, an indicated 53 was 54 on the GPS. Susceptible to interference or vibration though methinks, because when stationary it jumps around. Pull off, and it settles down OK happily. This also pleases me.


I'd picked up a folding mirror at an REOC autojumble for three quid, since the existing ones have decided to act more like wind vanes. I now no longer have to do Linda Blair impressions when joining dual carriageways, and it gives me a few more precious inches width in the garage. As with all of my previous Enfields, the vibes mean that you can't tell what type of car is behind you, but you can tell whether there is one or not, and how quickly it is approaching. Enough for my needs.

This pleases me muchly.

Time..

... for a new chain on the YBR. I'd not updated my calendar with the YBR's MOT date (I saw it on the calendar, but it was for the stolen one - not this one) so it ran out at the end of February. Oops. 

Gave it a check prior to booking it in this week, and finally the chain has reached the point of no return. Sprockets still have life in them, so I'll just splash out £14 for a new chain, then do the whole set next time around.