Well holy hot camel sh** trendsetters, another year has slipped by !!! I hope everyone has managed to get some decent rides in here and there throughout the year. Yes .. I still have the pony, and yes .. I'm still very, very happy with her. She's got just on 16000 klms on her now ( about 10000 miles ), and hasn't missed a beat since that early issue that I mentioned way, way back that got fixed under warranty at her 1000 klm service, and when she spat the chain slider that time. Other than that, no other problems what so ever ... and yep ... you guessed it ... she's still taking me where the bigger bikes are going !! All I've done, is put a decent set of tyres on her, done regular oil changes .. every six to eight months or so, changed the air filter once so far, done the valve clearances once, changed the coolant once, and run good petrol in her .. 98 octane .. No bloody ethanol ! We're pretty lucky here I guess as far as fuel goes .. you can get E10, which is 91 octane with 10% ethanol .. which I wouldn't even put in my lawn mower let alone anything else !! , standard unleaded - 91 octane , unleaded 95 octane , and unleaded 98 octane - which is what I've always given the pony to drink. I am totally convinced that most of the the carby issues that you guys in the U.S. especially , have experienced is because they force that ethanol laced crap on you. I read a very interesting article a while back in the July issue of Motorcyclist magazine , the U.S. publication , about ethanol blended fuel .. well worth a read if you can get hold of a copy .. take special note of the word " hydrophilic " if you do happen to read it , and you'll get a gist of my theory. Apparently, even Ducati, when they released the Multistrada in the U.S. had heaps of dramas because they couldn't get it set up properly because of the ethanol based fuel !! But I guess if that's what you have to deal with, there's not much you can do about it hey. Anyway groovers, that's my little rave for now .
Wishing you all a happy and safe Christmas, and all the very best for the coming year.
And remember ... If the road looks slippery, it most probably is !
Ride safe gang.
Best regards
Hairy Bob