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Showing posts from December, 2012

Hein Gericke Heated Grips

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Finished installing the grips today.  I used Bostik 'Serious Glue' rather than the provided super glue as it doesn't set immediately, so I could fine tune the position.  The grips were a bit longer than the originals too, so I had to use some washers to space out the bar-ends. It turns out they're not actually the same as Oxford ones, as they only have a high or low setting.  Low was fine below about 50mph (air temp was 7C), above that high was required.  I like them a lot, it should mean I can wear my summer gloves most of the time now (my winter ones are like oven mitts).

Optimate

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I discovered the Triumph battery was dead today; that'll be because of the poxy alarm and the fact it's not been used for some weeks.  It was time to bite the bullet and get a charger, so I bought an Optimate 3: It does all kinds of clever stuff, like de-sulphate neglected batteries - which will be useful for the MX5, which  was very dead indeed when I had to move it for the first time in months.  Plus you can leave it plugged in permanently. I also bought some heated grips from Hein Gericke for the VFR, a bargain at £30 as they appear to be re-branded Oxford ones (priced at £70).  Getting the old grips off wasn't difficult, but getting the left grip on was, it seemed to be about 2mm to narrow.  A couple of minutes submerged in very hot water expanded it enough to go on, but I hope I don't have to remove it ever again.  Throttle grip seems a better fit, just need to get some epoxy glue to fix it in place (it came with super glue but that's rather too permane

Hometime

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Now that I'm fully adjusted to the time difference, and even getting used to the weather, it's time to go home.  And I've not bought anybody a present as you can get everything in the UK for less money; I won't be popular. As it's way too hot for any civilised person, I've been using cabs to get about, even for short distances.  Only yesterday did I finally hit the jackpot with a ride in one of these ancient Toyota Crowns.  It was big, noisy and bumpy with a sea of black vinyl inside, just as you'd expect it, and with a driver who seemed to have less knowledge than me about local geography, it was TOTAL MEGASHITE!

Still not having fun

Been in Singapore a week now, FED UP.  New office is close to completion, so I should be able to leave as scheduled and get some proper winter weather; it's better than this heat and humidity, at least with the cold you can put more clothes on. Stuff is expensive here - a new Subaru Imprezza is the equivalent of £56K, for instance!