Normal service resumes on Monday...#TheSoviet #YelenaKalashnikova #HondaCB1000F #RingOfKerry #Mercenary #MercenaryGarage
Friday, 29 November 2013
Mercenary is Traveling
Normal service resumes on Monday...#TheSoviet #YelenaKalashnikova #HondaCB1000F #RingOfKerry #Mercenary #MercenaryGarage
Urban Motocross City Mayhem Russia
Scary biscuits!!
#UrbanMotoXSaintPetersburg #Mercenary #MercenaryGarage
#UrbanMotoXSaintPetersburg #Mercenary #MercenaryGarage
Wednesday, 27 November 2013
Mercenary Throttle-Cable Tool
If you've ever struggled to fit a throttle cable into your carburetors while they're still sitting between the motor and the airbox, you might consider making one of these...
It only takes a minute to make. You need about 20cm of 5mm aluminium tubing and a length of old throttle cable. It works just like those things snake wranglers use.
The job will now only take a couple of minutes, not the rest of your life...
#ThrottleCableTool #ToolTip #Mercenary #MercenaryGarage
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| The Mercenary Throttle-Cable Tool. |
It only takes a minute to make. You need about 20cm of 5mm aluminium tubing and a length of old throttle cable. It works just like those things snake wranglers use.
The job will now only take a couple of minutes, not the rest of your life...
#ThrottleCableTool #ToolTip #Mercenary #MercenaryGarage
CBR1000F Handlebar Conversion (Part 2)
So, welding the risers onto the top-yoke and fitting the handlebars was relatively easy.
Extending the control cables was much more convoluted. Firstly, the windscreen, nose fairing, side-panels and fuel-tank had to be removed.
Fortunately, I was able to reuse the choke cable by simply re-routing it. However, the throttle cable was already at a stretch when I fitted the VFR750 clip-ons and so I had to make up a new throttle cable, using the hardware off the old one. This is a relatively easy process. See...
The hydraulic clutch and brake lines were also at maximum stretch before the conversion and so I needed to make up new ones. And due to the convoluted nature of the Dual Combined Braking System, I also had to make a third line to connect the left and right front brakes.
Luckily, Honda seemed to have considered the possibility that users might want to make this conversion - the wiring from the handlebar controls had additional length built in. Extending the length of these wire by wire was something I wasn't looking forward to...
On balance, this isn't a particularly easy or cheap conversion. The cost, including the aluminium welding, the Fat Bars and Clamps and the cost of the brake and clutch lines was in the region of €250 and there was at least a day's labour involved.
Was it worth it? Time will tell, but based on the short journey I made last night, I'd say so. The new riding position can best be described as... Stately.
Part 1 of this article is... Here
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| New candy-red stainless steel brake-line and My-Little-Pony throttle cable. |
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| New brake and clutch lines. |
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| The clearance between the windscreen at full lock is tight, but with a bit of adjustment, nothing touches. |
#CBR1000F #Mercenary #MercenaryGarage
Tuesday, 26 November 2013
Streetfighterz Ride of the Century 2013
I've mentioned before that I think the streetride videos coming from Europe and from the States have a different flavour.
The stuff from Europe (and particularly, France) is generally, sort of lighthearted, celebratory and essentially positive (See Here for example)
But there's something grim about this video of the 2013 Ride of the Century. The video itself is excellent, exciting and very well put together - it's the message that's grim.
It's very confrontational. The video begins and ends with interaction between the riders and the police. One of the prominently featured riders is wearing a tee shirt with the slogan 'I Don't Stop for Cops' and much of the riding is provocative.
But it's also nihilistic. A lot of the riding is blatantly unsafe - and I'm not talking about the fundamental question of stunt riding on open roads. What I mean is that the riders don't appear to have a lot of regard for each other - they cut each other up and they're so caught up in doing there own thing that they don't give space to other riders doing their thing. They don't appear to have much regard for personal safety either- they mostly wear just tee-shirts and shorts.
And I get the sense that what you're actually seeing here is a political documentary. On the one hand, you have (another) generation of disenfranchised American youth who are very clearly demonstrating just how disenfranchised they are, whether they realise this or not.
And on the other hand, you have a civil authority who seem confused by this behaviour. At the end of the movie, there's a cop impounding bikes because they have warm engines. He seems like a reasonable guy, he knows this is completely fascist, and I get the sense that he doesn't agree with it at all (there's every possibility he feels a little disenfranchised himself). But he still goes and does it after absolving himself by saying he's under orders.
It's grim. And that's why it's worth watching...
#RideOfTheCentury #Mercenary #MercenaryGarage
The stuff from Europe (and particularly, France) is generally, sort of lighthearted, celebratory and essentially positive (See Here for example)
But there's something grim about this video of the 2013 Ride of the Century. The video itself is excellent, exciting and very well put together - it's the message that's grim.
It's very confrontational. The video begins and ends with interaction between the riders and the police. One of the prominently featured riders is wearing a tee shirt with the slogan 'I Don't Stop for Cops' and much of the riding is provocative.
But it's also nihilistic. A lot of the riding is blatantly unsafe - and I'm not talking about the fundamental question of stunt riding on open roads. What I mean is that the riders don't appear to have a lot of regard for each other - they cut each other up and they're so caught up in doing there own thing that they don't give space to other riders doing their thing. They don't appear to have much regard for personal safety either- they mostly wear just tee-shirts and shorts.
And I get the sense that what you're actually seeing here is a political documentary. On the one hand, you have (another) generation of disenfranchised American youth who are very clearly demonstrating just how disenfranchised they are, whether they realise this or not.
And on the other hand, you have a civil authority who seem confused by this behaviour. At the end of the movie, there's a cop impounding bikes because they have warm engines. He seems like a reasonable guy, he knows this is completely fascist, and I get the sense that he doesn't agree with it at all (there's every possibility he feels a little disenfranchised himself). But he still goes and does it after absolving himself by saying he's under orders.
It's grim. And that's why it's worth watching...
#RideOfTheCentury #Mercenary #MercenaryGarage
QOTSA - If I Had a Tail
Why?
'Cos it's deadly, that's why...
Giuchie, Giuchie
Oh la la
Do run run
You wont get far
I'm machine
Obsolete
Land of the free
Lobotomy
I wanna suck, I wanna lick
I wanna cry and I wanna spit
Tears of pleasure
Tears of pain
They trickle down your face the same
It's how you look
Not how you feel
The city of glass
With no heart
If I had a tail
I'd own the place
If I had a tail
I'd swat the flies
Yeah, oh oh, oh oh, oh oh
Giuchie, Giuchie
Oh la la
Do run run
You won't get far
Animals in
The midnight zone
When you own the world
You're always home
Get your hands dirty
Roll up them sleeves
Brainwashed all true believers
Buy flash cars
Diamond rings
Expensive holes to bury things
I'm machine
I'm obsolete
The land of the free
Immortality
If I had a tail
I'd own the place
If I had a tail
I'd swat the flies
Yeah, oh oh, oh oh, oh oh
See me dancing on the scars
See me dance
#QOTSA #Mercenary #MercenaryGarage
'Cos it's deadly, that's why...
Giuchie, Giuchie
Oh la la
Do run run
You wont get far
I'm machine
Obsolete
Land of the free
Lobotomy
I wanna suck, I wanna lick
I wanna cry and I wanna spit
Tears of pleasure
Tears of pain
They trickle down your face the same
It's how you look
Not how you feel
The city of glass
With no heart
If I had a tail
I'd own the place
If I had a tail
I'd swat the flies
Yeah, oh oh, oh oh, oh oh
Giuchie, Giuchie
Oh la la
Do run run
You won't get far
Animals in
The midnight zone
When you own the world
You're always home
Get your hands dirty
Roll up them sleeves
Brainwashed all true believers
Buy flash cars
Diamond rings
Expensive holes to bury things
I'm machine
I'm obsolete
The land of the free
Immortality
If I had a tail
I'd own the place
If I had a tail
I'd swat the flies
Yeah, oh oh, oh oh, oh oh
See me dancing on the scars
See me dance
#QOTSA #Mercenary #MercenaryGarage
Monday, 25 November 2013
Eudezet Ghetto Ride
This is cool video of the EGR 2013
#EudezetGhettoRide #Mercenary #MercenaryGarage
#EudezetGhettoRide #Mercenary #MercenaryGarage
Sunday, 24 November 2013
CBR1000F Handlebar Conversion (Part 1)
Since I got the thing a little over a year ago, I've been tweaking the handlebars on the CBR1000F in search of more comfort. It's not that the bike is uncomfortable, it's not - even as standard it's the most comfortable bike I've ever owned. It's just that I can't help trying to optomise things...
The first adjustment was to raise the standard clip-ons to the top of the fork legs - this gave a rise of 8mm and didn't really make any difference.
Adjustment number two was to replace the standard clip-ons with clip-ons from a 1989 VFR750. This raised the bars about an inch and a half (35mm approx.) and brought them closer by an about an inch (25mm approx.). This made a noticeable difference and I expect most CBR1000F owners would be happy to leave it there. But I have an ongoing neck injury and it still pulled my neck and shoulders a bit...
The third iteration was a really complicated procedure that involved lowering the whole bike about 30mm while leaving the clip-on bars located at the top of the fork legs - In effect, this raised the bars another 30mm (relative to the seat) and brought them a tiny bit closer. This resulted in a riding position that was really pretty good. You can read about that operation - Here.
However, I just can't leave well enough alone...
Fairly early on in the handlebar modification process, I picked up a set of Factory Racing Fat-Bars and some matching Factory Racing clamps on Ebay. Because the fork legs come up through the top yoke on the CBR1000F, fitting these isn't a particularly straightforward operation. You need risers to raise the clamps so that the handlebars will clear the tops of the fork legs. And because this particular CBR1000F has been lowered, it needs very tall risers...
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The risers are very long and simply bolting them to the top-yoke gave an awful lot of flex. Welding them on gives a really solid, flex-free feel.
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Painted satin-black to match the bars and fitted with the Factory Racing clamps and new stainless steel bolts, the whole assembly looks pretty tasty.
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Factory Racing Fat-Bars in situ.
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The bars are really pretty high and wide now. It feels more like a full-on tourer than a sports-tourer.
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The new handlebar position compared to the VFR750 clip-ons.
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So, to get this far has taken a bit of work, but that's only half the battle. The riding position is radically different now and so all the handlebar controls need to be modified.
I'll need to make longer, custom choke and throttle cables. The electrical cables to the switchgear will also need to be extended. And I have to make up longer clutch and brake lines - and because this bike has front-rear linked brakes, that's a pretty complicated endeavour.
Watch this space...
Part 2 of this article is... Here
#CBR1000F #Mercenary #MercenaryGarage
Saturday, 23 November 2013
Reprobates
I was supposed to go stunting today with Noel and Evan. But there were complications this morning and I had to cry off.
I'm a bit bummed about that now...
All pics by Evan and Noel.
#Mercenary #MercenaryGarage
I'm a bit bummed about that now...
All pics by Evan and Noel.
#Mercenary #MercenaryGarage
Friday, 22 November 2013
EICMA 2013 - Random Images #6
#EICMA #EICMA2013 #TheSoviet #YelenaKalashnikova #Mercenary #MercenaryGarage
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