First Ride Two-Up

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As the rev limit of 3500 means being stuck with a top speed of about 60mph, I decided that the motorway to Dover and the White Cliffs probably wasn't such as good idea. Being swamped by faster vehicles would be dangerous in the extreme.  So we went on the A259 and A20. Terrible mistake. Every clown was out on the road, it has been the UK's sunniest warmest weekend of the year, and we live 200 yards from the English Channel, and some of the local roads make downtown Helmand Province look well paved.

Claire fitted on the back okay but was a little wary, firstly of her foot and also due to there being no top box behind her.  I have ordered the fitting kit to mount my old Givi E45, although I expect that will eventually be replaced by something in keeping with the panniers, when they arrive!!

Compared to a 14 year old GS with saggy suspension Dora is an F1 car. Very stiff at the moment and on the worst road in the area, Seabrook Road, we felt every pothole and uneven surface.  Just like being in Claire's car!

I was concentrating on the revs and keeping to the 30mph limit to dodge too many of the holes!  On the GS I am more relaxed and miss all of them.  Another learning curve...

Also, the throttle is "fly by wire" which seems to mean no wires. It is very sensitive and I am used to pulling a couple of cables to open the fuel injection on the GS. Finesse needed.

We had our first off road experience at the White Cliffs, the gravel car park, also negotiating a "hairpin" turn from the access. Phew.  Traction Control might have helped. After a sit in the sun and a coffee, we headed home.  This time we avoided Clownville and used the M20, To keep to 3500 rpm I set the cruise control. Marvellous idea.

Other jobs that needed doing were to fit the RAM mount onto the bike and also sort out a DIN plug for the TomTom powered mount. Both achieved without too much swearing, even if the nylock nuts supplied by TomTom seem to be 11.5mm!   Too big for an 11mm spanner and a bit loose for a range of 12mm open and ring spanners.

The right-angled DIN plug I bought especially for the job was useless and I ended up with a straight one.  Sadly, my forward planning was so poor that I forgot cable ties. The TomTom lead is about a metre long, but the distance from the mount to the ideally located Triumph socket is maybe 25cms. I want to be able to remove the head and leave the bolted on RAM ball. Doing so, requires the wiring and head to detach cleanly. So far so good, but I don't want to cut the cable.  

Cable ties to wrap it into a nice little bundle would have been a good idea. DOH!



In the end the RAM mount I have used is the u-bolt from the original Garmin kit, the ball is from the TomTom kit as well as the strangely sized nylock nuts.  

Need to get 500 miles on the odometer before the 27th when I have the first service booked. Planning!!

Next weekend? It's the Kent County Show on Saturday and then the Battle of Britain Memorial Day at Capel le Ferne on Sunday.

A chance to add a few miles!!

Comments

Trobairitz said…
Nice, I am glad you guys were able to get out two up. Definitely different on the bigger bike I imagine for the both of you.
8 July 2013 at 15:44
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