Hello from near Guildford, Surrey.

[fossie]

No black dosen't count as power ranger leathers , they are sensible ....however Blix you are close with a black bike!!!

[GSF34058]

Don't worry, no bling leathers for me. I am still using the gunmetal coloured Lewis Leathers jacket and Stein trousers (the ones with the armadillos on the knees) that I bought back in the 1980s. Ditto the Rukka waterproof jacket and leggings. Well patched up now after some tarmac testing, but still fully waterproof. Only the lid is new.

David.

p.s. I'm a bit of a computer luddite trying to reduce the wedding photo scan (to use as my Avatar) and crop it without a big white border around them. I'm using Microsoft Paint. Any suggestions of a better programme, or is it just me? Lots of other photos to follow once I have sussed it out.

[Lexdba]

No it's not just you! MSPaint sucks big time. According to this guide Windows 10 should have this feature baked into the photo's app. https://www.tenforums.com/tutorials/116 ... s-app.html

[GSF34058]

Lexdba.
Thanks for that. The problem is that I have either Windows 7 or Linux/Ubuntu. I will have to see if I can borrow my wife's Macintosh machine. Macs are supposed to be the one to use for pictures.
David.

[Lexdba]

Yeah the crop function is built in in preview, select the part with the selection tool and find ‘crop’ in the menu

[pookie]

Get down to Box Hill and Newlands Corner before summer runs out, I'm getting fed up with people calling my 250cc Kat a 750 and even an 1100!

[Uncle Bob]

Hello David and welcome and thanks for the intro which was a good read. Deeds - there's a name from the past!

KatanaCentral is my website though I have left it static for a long time now (as no time really to do anything with it).
Can you remember the "Teapot" who used to frequent the forum preying on unsuspecting GSX600F owners (normally from the US)... legend!

Rob

[GSF34058]

Hello David and welcome and thanks for the intro which was a good read. Deeds - there's a name from the past!

KatanaCentral is my website though I have left it static for a long time now (as no time really to do anything with it).
Can you remember the "Teapot" who used to frequent the forum preying on unsuspecting GSX600F owners (normally from the US)... legend!

Rob

Hello Rob.
Thanks for the welcome.
Yes!!! I do remember "Teapot", and the great web links from a photo of a 'does your bike look like this' that took you straight out of Katana Central to the GSX600F website, or to just a picture of an actual teapot! Great stuff.

My bike is now taxed and I will be off for a ride very soon.

David

[GSF34058]

Well, all is good in the world. The first run on the bike was ‘interesting’. I went out to run some errands, just taking it steady and getting used to the bike again. It steers a lot better than I thought it might, but obviously not as quickly as the Revere I used to have. But the brakes are really going to take some getting used to. I don’t know if the old pads are fossilised or if it is the feel of the anti-dive that is still fitted and working. My next move will be to try some of the EBC organic brake pads that I have seen recommended elsewhere in this forum. And then there was some crud in one or more carbs. It was running pretty roughly when trundling around, but that went away at bigger throttle openings. So the perfect excuse for some full-on red line workouts. After a blast around a bit of the M25, repeatedly speeding up at full throttle, and then shutting the throttle quickly many times it cleared the blockage.

So back home to collect my wife. Then down to Box Hill for a veggie burger at Ryka’s. It was delicious; far better than I remember from when I last went there. There was lots of modern stuff in the parking area, (and one Mark One Cortina) but as I was having a great day out with my wife, wallowing in nostalgia by remembering all our past trips on the bike I did not feel like chatting with other bikers. Although I did notice one or two taking a careful look at the bike whilst trying not to seem too interested in it!

Then on the way home via Newlands Corner I thought the carbs had blocked up again. The bike was down on power, running roughly with one or two cylinders cutting in and out. It only just made up the hill, and then conked out at the top! After a bit of head scratching I realised that it had run out of petrol! I only put a gallon or so into the tank when first getting it running, just in case I had to take the tank off again. So after a quick prime, then on to reserve we were off again, running smoothly. That’s the problem with riding a modern bike with a low level fuel light (1998 K100): I had forgotten about the old school reserve petrol tap. Lesson learnt.


One glitch to keep an eye on is that the rev counter won’t drop below 2,000rpm when the engine is running. If I park up and wait a bit it falls to zero. I suspect the grease in it is getting dried out, but I will see how it behaves in cooler weather before I tackle it. I need to replace one instrument cluster light bulb, but can I get at the works of the rev counter inside, without having to prise the bezel off? Any suggestions gratefully received.

Tomorrow’s weather forecast is good so I feel that a longer run is on the cards.

Enjoy your biking.

David

[GSF34058]

I have realised that my ramblings are straying rather off topic for the Introductions board, so if the moderators want to move it to the ED2 section please do.
David.