August 2014

A parcel arrived the other day …

By |2014-08-01T19:59:55+02:00August 1st, 2014|BMW F800S|

I was never really happy with the standard Showa fork.
Basically, it’s strong enough for the bike (42mm inner tubes), but it’s obviously build to a budget and the damping is really poor. When you brake hard to turn into a corner it will wallow slightly, and you have no real feeling of what the front is doing.
I thought of finding a better fork, but then I would need to fix brakes, ABS, triple clamps with ignition key, steering lock etc. – so that was a poor solution.
The decision was made to purchase a set of custom made AK-20 cartridge dampers from Traxxion Dynamics in USA (well known in superbike racing).
The cartridges and springs are set up for my weight and riding style and I can now adjust spring preload, compression and rebound damping 🙂
And the kit is installed in the original fork, replacing the poor stock internals.

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June 2014

Pebble smartwatch Motorcycle mount ….

By |2014-06-02T20:17:46+02:00June 2nd, 2014|BMW F800S|

Since I got the brilliant Pebble smartwatch, I’ve been wearing my thinking hat to figure out how to install it on the bike.

Why ? Because it let’s you run GPS, Compass, and other watch apps, and to be able to see incoming Calls, E-Mails, and text messages (SMS) while riding.

As always I was aiming for a nice and clean install, and I also wanted to leave the strap on the watch so I could still wear it on my wrist when I’m not riding.

This is what I came up with, and I’m actually a bit proud of the result 🙂

 

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April 2014

GoPro bracket …

By |2014-04-26T14:13:12+02:00April 26th, 2014|BMW F800S|

I did a few tests with the GoPro camera on a RAM mount arm, but there was a lot of vibrations and poor picture quality.
So I decided to make a proper bracket for the GoPro. Now the pictures are excellent 🙂

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Original BMW tool …

By |2014-04-08T10:18:47+02:00April 8th, 2014|BMW F800S|

To measure final drive belt tension.
I’ve used different self invented methods in the past, but I was never 100 % sure if I got the tension right.
I’we wanted this tool for years – now it’s in the workshop 🙂

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January 2014

New rear drive belt …

By |2014-01-05T13:40:36+01:00January 5th, 2014|BMW F800S|

Exchanged at 38.000 km.
The manual says 40.000 km, but I have had a small hole in the belt (from a sharp rock) for the last 25.000 km, so I decided to play it safe. Another thing is that now I don’t have to work on the belt exchange when spring arrives with dry roads and decent temperatures.
The exchange was done in a couple of hours, and the hardest part is actually to reattach the center stand spring 🙂
Tension was set to 13mm deflection at 10 lbs. pressure (midway between the belt wheels), using my USD 10 Harley Davidson belt tension measurement tool.

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December 2013

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