Repairs, New Boots and a Rant!

Well as you may have read recently I have been looking for a new collector box and down pipes for my ST1100 as it had been starting to sound a bit louder than normal, not unpleasant but the noise was indication of problems.

I had checked many web sites for a set of replacements and found prices ranging from about £400 to £209, also add to these prices the cost of fitting and it adds up. Because I rely on my bike for my work I always get major work done by the guys at A1 Honda in Stamford, maybe that’s why I have never experienced a breakdown.

However on this occasion I decided to have a closer inspection of the problem before I took the plunge and ordered the new items. I started the bike and then got underneath it to feel where the blowing was coming from by using my fingers to fee the exhaust gasses, once the blowing was located I gave the collector box a good clean off with a wire brush and found one small hole and a small spilt, about 2cm long, both in the same area near a weld. The rest of the collector box was sound although covered in a layer of rust.

Back to the interweb again to do some searching for a way to repair these holes and I came across this product:

Quiksteel Thermosteel Exhaust Repair kit

Which can be ordered here?

http://www.repairproducts.co.uk/page41.htm

I chose this because it stands very high temperatures and is sold for manifold repairs, it also comes with a small piece of fibreglass matting which is ideal for covering the split I had found. Fitting this repair was easy and once I was happy with it out came the hot air blower (Shalini’s hair dryer) to help the repair to start to set. Then I left it for a couple of hours and then went and started the bike because this stuff hardens with heat. I was happy to discover I had a very quiet bike again.

This repair will get a good test this weekend as I have some 720 miles to cover between Sunday and Monday.

I have decided to get some very high temperature paint from Halfords next week and then I will give the whole collector box a good clean off with the wire brush and then give it a couple of coats of paint, will also use this on the silencers as well after cleaning off the winter corrosion. As I always say” prevention is better than cure” and it also can save you a lot of money!

On a different subject, after 9 years a heaven knows how many miles in everything the British weather can throw at a motorcyclist my Frank Thomas boots finally gave up and started leaking, not nice when you are in Calais and still have 170 miles to go to get home. So off I went to Hein Gericke in Peterborough, I knew what I wanted, they had to be Gortex to allow for all year round use and I was pleasantly surprised to find a great pair, right size and all the features I was looking for, on offer at £99.00, reduced from £159.00, how lucky was that! Of course I snapped them up.

Finally I have new back tyre going on next week as it's almost worn out, will be fitting a Bridgestone BT021 again, brilliant all weather tyre which has given me just over 10,000 miles. So it will be of to A1 Honda to have this fitted by the guys, mustn't forget the doughnuts!

Now I am going to get on my soap box and I am not going to apologise for it, with the better weather arriving again a lot of bikes are coming out of hibernation as the fair weather riders hit the streets again. Now I have no problem with this at all, if you choose only to ride in good weather that’s fine, it’s your right. What I do have a problem with is the idiot’s who choose to use the roads in the built up areas as drag strips, I hear them screaming up and down Edinburgh road here in Stamford, why god only knows as they are only about a mile away from the A1. If you are one of these “screamers” reading this, tell me one thing:

If you are travelling at 50mph plus and a child, OAP, dog, cat or whatever decides to step out in front of you what are you going to do – most likely injure them or even kill them, the speed limit is 30mph for a reason, stay below it and save your speed for either a track or major road!

Nuff said

Ride safe

Dave