Winter stinks

It's too cold, and too slippery. I want to go out to play. To think I was complaining about the heat in the summer.

Happy Christmas to one and all.

Pan miles so far... More than the last time I looked.

Horns

The horn hasn't got a lot of presence on the Pan, partly due to being stuck in the deepest, darkest part of the fairing. The solution? One par of Motrax horns later, and the Pan has a bit more of a honk and less of a tweet. The horns themselves (round bit in the pic)are attached to the bracket that holds the mirrors on, and located in the space behind the dashboard where the stereo speakers go.

It's simple enough to get into to extend the wiring from the orginal horn, but a pain getting the plastic off to get access. From what other people have told me, there's enough room in there to fit some serious horns, but there may be a need to fit a relay, to prevent the wires getting fried.

Got to admit, they do look a bit sad when you start stripping the plastic off.

Pan miles so far... Loads.

For the newbies

I wrote this for another forum a wee while back as advice for new bikers.

Here's my hot tips for new riders from someone who learnt the hard way!

Got a £10 head, get a £10 helmet. (saw this on an advert once) Never buy a second hand helmet, as you don't know whether it has been dropped. Not all damage is visible, so can you really trust the seller? And helmets have a date stamp inside. If it is more than 5 years from date of manufacture then you should get a replacement.

The same goes for safety clothing. Tarmac hurts, and everyone falls off at some time. Your clothing will dictate whether you swear, limp and hobble away from an accident or get carried away in an ambulance. You needn't spend a fortune, but make sure you have a jacket, trousers, boots and gloves, as well as a good helmet. And even though it is a lovely day, don't even think of going out without your safety gear. Denim offers no protection in an accident.

If you don't know where to go for bike advice, most motorcycle magazines contain advice for new riders, and the web has loads of information. But why not ask a biker? Try visiting your local motorcycle club, or if there is a motorbike show near to you, go along, and seek out the stands that belong to the motorbike clubs. For most bikers it doen't take a lot of effort to get them to start talking bike - in fact the hardest part can be getting them to stop! Ask them what got them into biking, what gear they advise, what bikes are best for a novice, and what dealerships near to you are the most trustworthy.

You will need to complete some sort of basic training. In the UK this is called your Compulsory Basic Training (CBT) and you will need a CBT certificate before going out on the road with "L" (learner) plates. The motorbike school will supply the bike and protective gear, and you will start off riding around traffic cones while getting to grips with the basics of using a motorcycle. The school will also be able to provide lessons to get you ready for sitting your full bike test. Whether or not you can already drive a car, I would advise you to take some lessons.

If you are going to buy a bike, I would advise against buying a brand new bike while you learn. If you buy a bike that is not too old, someone else has already paid the depreciation. If the bike school that you did your CBT with gave you use of one particular brand of bike, and you were comfortable with it, then you would do a lot worse than looking at that particular model. Take along a biking friend (perhaps one of your new bike club buddies!) to give you advice, and when it comes to the point that you actually purchase, please remember that half the fun is in the haggling. If you can't get the seller to move on the price, at least make sure that they fill it up with petrol, and if it is a main dealer, see if they will chuck in free servicing. But remember that you should always have money left ofer for your safety gear.

Invest in the Haynes or similar servicing manual for your bike. You really need to know how to adjust and lubricate your chain, but for the more technically competent, the basic servicing such as oil changes can be done by the home mechanic. However if your bike makes nasty clunking, grinding or coughing noises, then you really need to speak to a real mechanic.

Never answer a call of nature at the roadside. While you are attempting to do what comes naturally behind the bushes, thirty passing bikers will assumme that your bike has broken down and offer to pass spanners, go for a gallon of petrol, or make sympathetic noises about your broken bike. Just smile, wave, and be grateful that they thought to stop to help!

You will get wet. Very wet. You will go out when the sun is out, but the rain will come on when you are at distance D. D= the nearest point to your destination that still ensures that you get absolutely saturated. Some form of waterproof outer layer or a well waterproofed bike jacket will prevent most of the water getting in. If you are riding to work, and carrying a change of clothes in your backpack, make sure that your clothes are wrapped in a plastic bag, and always carry a spare set of socks. (Hitchhikers Guide fans will know about not forgetting your towel.)

Most importantly, get out there, enjoy riding, be safe.

Google

On the side of this blog there is a meter that lets me know how many people have looked in on the blog. (and for those reading this, hi, thanks for dropping in.) It's similar to the counter on Ebay pages, but gives you details of the Google search keywords that were used to find me. For most visitors I'm usually found by a search on Pan Clan, or a variation of Honda ST1300 Pan European. For one unfortunate soul, they needed advice from Google on "how to pick up a dropped pan european bike." Hope it didn't cause too much damage to yourself or the bike.

For those who have never tried to recover from a horizontal parking situation I'd advise the following:

1. Use a few bad words.
2. Make sure you're not hurt.
3. remove unwanted baggage (tank bag, top box, pillion) but leave both panniers on. You won't be able to remove the pannier on the lower side, and you want it balanced when you pick it up.
4. Undo the steering lock, and remove any security devices (if applicable)
5. Assuming it has fallen on the left side, turn your back to the bike, bend with the knees and grab the handle bar with your right hand, and the rear grab rail with your left.
6. In one smoth movement, stand up, lifting the bike to its normal position. Allow the steering to turn towards you as it comes up. Don't let go of your right hand until you have got the bike on an even keel. Oh and make sure you don't go pushing it on to the other side.
7. Ensure your side/centre stand is still intact before you use them.

At this point you can work out how much the damage wil cost you...

Is there a problem here..?

Put them away.

I think I'm showing my age, but at least I'm not dated, unlike a certain portion of the motorcycle marketplace. Why is it that a number of bike accessory shops still insist on draping scantily clad ladies all over their webpage? There I am, surfing the web in work, trying to find new tyres, etc, when up pops the dealership from the seventies, and their "mechanics wives" section. So I've got to explain to the boss why some bare ar$£d bird has appeared on my screen. "Honest, I was only looking for tyres..." Yeah right!

This weekend, my other half bought her first bike, from a dealership that still has the token brolly-dolly on their webpage. Now we've both seen it all before, but it's a shame that the dealership still thinks that sex sells bikes. For once it wasn't me buying the bikes, so the dealer in this instance was targeting the wrong sector of the market.

I'm no prude, and ladies, I don't mind how much or little you're wearing. Sometimes, the less the better, but if I'm at a bike show, I'm only interested in talking to you if you have half a clue about the products you're hired to sell. If not, please put some clothes on and go get the me the hairy ar$£d bloke that can tell the difference betreen a crank shaft and a drive shaft.

Motorcycling - stuck in the seventies and proud of it!

Transformers

Just seen the new Transformers movie. Pretty good, and not disappointing if you are a child of the eighties.

One fatal flaw that every movie with a car theme seems to repeat is the process of hotwiring a car. The hero reaches under the dashboard, pulls out two wires, usually red and blue, and as if by magic, the car starts. They drive off in a plume of blue smoke, and after saving the day, Roy Rogers drives off into the sunset with Grace Kelly. Or was that Gary Cooper..?

What really happens is any or all of the following.

A. Nothing,
B. A fuse blows
C. The airbag fires.
D. Your favourite "Top Gear Anthems" CD is replaced with a pan pipe compilation.
E. All of the above
F. None of the above.
G. Who cares anyway.

Ok, so I'm reading too much into this. I'm off to lie down.

Pan miles so far - Forgot to look...

Starcom Intercom fitting

So now that I have the unit in place I thought I'd share how the unit was fitted. The unit itself, a Starcom Advance Kit B, is located under the rear seat in the space normally reserved for the Honda toolkit. There is room for the unit plus the toolkit, but I keep my tools elsewhere so the space was free. It's held down by Velcro. The headset cables are fed forward to point C on the picture, passed inboard of the helmet hanger and through between the fairing and the seat. There's enough clearance at this point so the wires don't get pinched, and they emerge on the left side of the bike just behind the driver. For storage they are curled up under the seat. I may in the future fit sockets into the fairing, but I'm happy at the moment.

I've used two methods to power the unit.

Method 1.
I've got an Optimate battery charger/conditioner which has a lead permanently attached to the bike. This socket is visible as the white block at point A. A Tamiya battery charger plug, obtainable from most radio control model shops, was fitted to the Starcom lead which allows the Starcom unit to be powered directly from the battery. The advantage with this method was that I didn't have to try to trace a pair of wires to connect to, and I didn't have multiple wires attached to the battery terminals. The disadvantage is that power would be permanently supplied to the Starcom unit, and I'm not sure if it draws any power when it's switched off.

Method 2.
On the other side of the bike, at point B there is an identical socket which was used to power the Oxford heated grips which are fitted to the rear grab rail. This socket is spliced into the Honda quartet accessory wiring harness. On the white plug of quartet harness, the red/black wire is live, the green wire is ground. These wires are only live when the ignition is switched on. The Starcom unit is now being powered from this plug, - I'll do something else with the heated grips.

Hope that makes sense. I'm not a bike mechanic, so if you follow these instructions and end up hurting you, your bike or anyone else then I'm afraid you've only yourself to blame.

Glencoe

A good run was had by all yesterday. The Pan Clan organised a run starting from Kinross then on towards Fort William. Through Glencoe towards Tyndrum, down through Glen Ogle to Lochearnhead. It was a roasting hot day and it felt good to get the breeze. Only problem came after leaving Tyndrum when the group got split up, and didn’t regroup until near Gleneagles. Three of us were left scratching our heads trying to remember where we should go after Crieff.

On the subject of technology, the intercom is working great now, though it took a couple of stops to get the volume and microphone sensitivities set up right.

Off topic now, but it’s my blog... At one of the main beauty spots in Glencoe, and there’s loads to choose, someone had installed a statue and a memorial plaque. Now this sort of thing gets on my nerves. I’ve came out here to enjoy the scenery and someone has tried to claim our landscape with a memorial to an unknown person.

When my metabolic processes are history, I'm off the twig, have kicked the bucket, shuffled off my mortal coil, run down the curtain and joined the choir invisibile I don’t want you to pollute the landscape in my memory with the sort of tasteless sculpture that gets sold off in the rejects section of a budget garden centre. And no, I don’t want a bench either - round here it would be used as somewhere to land when the Buckfast hits hard. These people are littering the hills. No it’s worse than littering, litter is thoughtless. Someone had to think up this rubbish. It’s pollution.

I can’t believe that anyone who loves the countryside would want to be remembered in this way. Whatever happened to “take only memories, leave only footprints” or is that optional? Is it OK for me to spray paint my name on the rocks? No. So it’s not all right for you to concrete, drill and chisel your memorial into a place of natural beauty. I think the right approach has been set in place with regard to Ben Nevis. See http://www.nevispartnership.co.uk/memorials.asp


I have no objection to memorials, but to spoil the landscape is taking it too far.




















And on that note, the landscape can have the final word.


Pan miles so far 003047

Intercom

First of all, it's good to see Alan Johnston is free. Hope the whole experience hasn't messed with his head and he is given the space to get things together.

The intercom for the bike has turned into a bit of a saga. Starcom seemed like the best solution, as so far we hadn't heard a bad word about it. When initially fitted, the sound was very clear, and it didn't take too long to get the levels set. We took a run to Glasgow and it was OK, with good clarity at legal speeds.

The next day saw us on a Pan Clan run, which was going quite well when we had an enormous feedback sound through the headsets. This was painful, and it was an effort to keep the bike upright long enough to get to the side of the road and to shut the unit off.

So off to Starcom went the unit, it was replaced and thus far we have not had a repetition. I'm still a bit iffy about using it, as that hurt. We'll see what happens over the next few runs.

In other news, some muppet pulled out in front of the car, so for the next few days/weeks we will be commuting on the bike until the insurance companies get their act together. How he didn't see me when there wasn't a cloud in the sky, on a dry clear road. I'm looking forward to the blizzard of paperwork that this will cause. I've decided not to use bad words on this blog, but I've used a few this weekend.

Pan miles so far 002574

Free Alan

Not a bike update this time. Please sign the Alan Johnston petition calling for his safe return.

Awol

No updates recently as I’ve been changing PC’s, with all the associated trouble that goes with moving between window versions.

Since the last post I’ve been keeping busy. I’ve been on my first Pan Clan outing – a short tour round the battlefields of East Lothian. All those exciting places where we fought off the old enemy. Occasionally we won.

I’ve even commuted through Edinburgh, and despite the size, it’s not too bad at fitting through the gaps in the traffic. It’s not as nippy as my old CB500, and it gives of a tremendous heat, but I got to and from work a lot faster than taking the car.

And I’ve even had my first damage. During the high wind the other week, the cover acted as a sail and toppled the Pan over, scratching the left pannier when it landed. To say I was spitting bullets was an understatement. The cover was only on to prevent damage from the elements. And to make matters worse, I had to spend ten minutes getting the cover off before I could attempt to pick the Pan up. The only plus was that I was needing fuel, so the upper tank (lower one too) was empty, so I wasn’t having to lift 30ish kg of fuel at the same time. Bend the knees, brace yourself and make sure when it is eventually up, you don’t go and push it over on the other side.

More rambling nonsense follows shortly.

Pan miles so far 001577

Update

This is a short post just to keep the blog ticking over. Recently I've been off round in the Stirling direction, and on other occasions went for a short blast round Fife, interspersed with the odd local short runs. Rear heated grips and the lighter socket have been fitted, and instructions will follow soon.

Right now I'm in the process of moving over to a newer computer, so the photos that I'd like to upload are currently elsewhere. Watch this space.

For the newbies

I’ve had a couple of occasions since buying the Pan when people have came over and asked for an opinion on this bike. Now any excuse to talk bike is OK by me. We went to Glasgow this weekend, with the convenience of bike parking for free right in the middle of the city (north side of the City Chambers) and were chatting with a couple who were contemplating a new bike. If you are that couple, in answer to your question, now I’ve tried driving it in town, it isn’t too bad, though the heat from the engine can build up and leave you with roasting knees if the traffic snarls up. (Even on a bike there’s no escaping the Forth Bridge roadworks.) The low centre of gravity is a bonus which makes urban driving all the easier, though a further progress report will follow when I’ve driven it to work during the Edinburgh rush hour.

I’m curious to know if people will still be interested in talking when it is covered in dead flies, road grime and the fairing is held together with gaffer tape from falling off the stand. Right now it is still shiny

Two things a new Pan owner should know.

1. You release the driving seat by unlocking the left hand luggage catch and pressing the lever that’s inside the grab rail. Honda includes this instruction in the users manual, and then locks this handy booklet under the seat…
2. Don’t leave chocolate bars in the fairing pockets, unless you like drinking chocolate.

Had a small bit of maintenance today. The Pan was mostly Datatagged, on the weekend I brought it home, however the blue marking compound had burst and solidified in the tube. Datatag sent a replacement stencil set and marking compounds, so now the bike is that little bit more secure. I’m not sure if the bike was Smartwatered at purchase, as there’s no label on the bike, and I couldn’t find out from Smartwater themselves.

Forthcoming events on the maintenance front includes the fitting of heated grips for the rear grab rails, and a 12v socket. Photos of the process will be included. No photos of the Datatagging are included here as I don’t want everyone knowing where I stashed the chips and microdots.

Pan miles so far 000682

Loch Lomond

So the run that was supposed to take place last week went ahead today. From Fife, over the Kincardine Bridge and onwards to Drymen. It was one of those odd east coast days where the haar refused to lift until well inland, though once out of the fog, the weather was glorious. One of those days where you get moving quickly, just for the cooling breeze. A minor detour in the Blair Drummond direction saw us down a farm track giving the suspension a workout, but we soon rejoined the main road, pulling into Drymen around noon. Lunch was at the Drymen Pottery Café, which was very nice, if a wee bit on the steep side. Good selection of cakes gives a spanner rating of 3.5 out of five, let down by the fact that you only score above 4 if you sell fair trade teas. (It’s my spanners and I make the rules!)

From here it was off along the west of Loch Lomond, with a few layby stops. Should have packed a water bottle, as it was roasting. A short stop in Crianlarich sorted out the liquid situation before returning via Killin, Aberfeldy and the A9.

Only real problem was that my lid, which was the largest that Shoei made at the time is a bit tight, and my head was thumping by half way round. I have discovered that Shoei have gone one size larger, so Forth Gear may be getting some extra custom in the near future.

I really like this bike.
Pan miles so far 000469

Forth Gear

I’ve had a lot of problems getting kit to fit. Huge head, large feet and a beer belly means that I need the upper end of the scale when it comes to buying clothing. And I have tried on nearly every helmet on the market before finally squeezing my head into an XXL Shoei Raid lid. Part of the reason that I had a problem finding a helmet is that where a manufacturer actually made a helmet in something approaching my size, the retailers refused to order them in for fear that they might be stuck with a large helmet on their shelves. One major dealership who will remain nameless, (I don’t like their cars either…) told me that they would order me the biggest lid they make, but I was expected to pay for it whether it fitted or not!!!

So I’m glad that a place like http://www.forthgear.co.uk/ exists. It’s a compact but very well stocked shop in South Queensferry and they keep a very broad range of sizes of kit, from kids up to someone considerably larger than myself. And here’s a tip for the shops that refuse to stock big kit – they can’t keep the largest of the helmets on their shelves. I only dropped in for a pair of gloves and a cover for the Pan, but they very nearly sold me a new helmet. If it hadn’t been for the purchase of the bike this month, I would have been tempted. To use the rating system from the Haynes manuals, they give a five spanner level of service – where one spanner is amateur and anyone can do it, and five spanners is for experts and the highly skilled only. Forth Gear rocks!

Not many extra Pan miles this week, but the Loch Lomond trip from last week looks like going ahead on Saturday. Weather, and battery permitting.

Pan miles so far 000264

Short run

Just a short run to Kirkcaldy and back today. Parked up outside the church, and had a couple of the more senior members of the congregation commenting that they would love a shot. It does make a bit of a statement, as it's not the sort of transport normally found in a Church of Scotland car park.

Saw the local Easter egg run today at the Victoria Hospital. Well done to all involved, and I hope to be involved in future runs.

Then it was back home. Would have went further but the wind was picking up, and I'm not sure of this bike as yet to run it in a cross wind with a pillion.

Miles so far 000224

Not happy

In hindsight I should have realised that the clock reseting itself twice was a bad sign...

After parking up on Friday night I gave the bike a good look over, including setting the clock. Saturday morning, while preparing for a run to a very nice cafe near Loch Lomond I was trying to work out how the various dashboard displays worked when I thought I reset the clock - in hindsight I think it was a cry for help from a dying battery, as, after filling up with petrol, the display went a little odd, the trip counters reset and, worst of all, the starter motor wouldn't turn.

OK, so now I'm annoyed. This is the bike that has been in my ownership for less than eighteen hours. I managed to get the bke going after coasting it down a short slope, dropped Mrs Gerbil off at the house and then carried on up to Perth for a new battery. But bang goes the trip round the bonnie bonnnie banks. We stil managed a trip to Callendar which was quite pleasant, and the bike was flawless all the way. I had to filter a bit through the bank holiday traffic and I was surprised how nimble it was. For a big bike it is still quite narrow. Stil think the electric screen is a bit of a gimmick.

Miles so far 000202

Got it.

The vacant slot in the driveway is now filled. The problem with the screen was down to faulty connections in the region of the screen motor. So the bike was collected this evening, and is running very nice in deed. It's been a few months since I drove anything as big as a Pan, but it all comes flooding back. I opted to take the twisty route home, and then spent the rest of the evening finding out how the luggage goes on. as far as accessories goes, I've added the Honda top box, more to act as a back rest for the pillion, although the Honda radio is priced a bit on the steep side. I'll hum instead.

When I was a very young kid I got my first pair of red wellies. I liked my red wellies so much that I wore them in to bed (or so the family legend goes). I'm not sure if the Pan is as nice as my red wellies, but either way, there's not a hope of getting it up the stairs... ;-)

Miles so far 000031

Wot, no bike?

For a variety of reasons, today wasn't the best of days for me.

Amongst other things, the bike that should have been mine as of this evening is in a number of bits as they try to work out why the screen isn't working. They thought it was a fuse, but it seems now that the whole windscreen motor assembly is on the blink. And there's a lot of plastic bits to remove before you can get to the motor.

The weather was great for biking this evening, and it looks like it is supposed to be nice all weekend. So I'm not a happy bunny.

Pan miles so far. 000000

Test drive

Ok, so it's not the first drive as owner of the bike, but it was my first time in the saddle.

Last Saturday saw me take the bike out for a short run to make sure the engine didn't have any odd clunking sounds. First impressions were very good. A short drive in town showed the bike to be very stable, managing the tight roundabouts in Perth with ease. The mass of the bike is very low down, so it's not an effort to throw around and feels a lot more sporty than a first glance suggests. The sun was behind me on the way up the A9, so the LCD part of the display wasn't the clearest, but I could make it out. Fuel consumption wasn't too bad either, giving 65-70mpg according to the display. I pulled over in a car park to give the bike a serious examination. There don't appear to be any major issues, though the electric windscreen wouldn't work once on the road - the dealership is looking into it. Storage is good for two full face helmets in the panniers, plus associated other rubbish in the fairing pockets. The Honda heated grips worked pretty well too, although they were not on for long due to the unseasonally warm day. Somehow I don't see me buying the official Honda radio and speakers - I think I'll just hum instead.

So I was convinced enough to buy the bike and have been like a kid waiting for Santa all week!

Photos of the bike will appear when it lands in the driveway.

First Post

The purpose of this blog is to keep track of my experiences as an owner of a Honda ST1300Pan European. I'm planning on listing all the ups and downs, good routes followed and cafes frequented, and maintenance undertaken on the bike. For the first time in around 8 years, there isn't a bike in the driveway, as the last Pan (an 1100) was sold on Friday.

So a bit about me and the bikes that have been under me. I wasn't brought up around bikes, however in 1998 I changed jobs and realised that it was cheaper buying, taxing, insuring, maintaining and fuelling a motorbike than to pay for a rail pass to get to Edinburgh every day. And at least you could be guaranteed a seat on a motorbike. So the end of January 1999 saw me do my direct access before going out and buying a used Kawasaki KDX125. Ok I know I could have bought a bigger machine having just done direct access, but I wanted to find my feet (or wheels) first. That ran OK for about three months then it coughed up one of the exhaust valves on the way to work one morning. One complete engine strip later and it coughed up a piston ring. I decided to cut my losses at this point.

May 1999 saw me purchase a new Honda CB500s. I had learned on the CB500, but I thought that the extra bit of fairing on the S model finished the bike off nicely. Also it kept the wind down a bit as well. I had a set of hard luggage fitted as well which was great for touring, and Oxford heated grips which made cold winter commuting all the more pleasant. As well as the daily commute, this bike was my transport to Ireland, and all over Scotland and the north of England. I would recommend this bike to anyone, and can see why a lot of driving schools use them for direct access.

After adding nearly 40,000 miles to the CB500, I traded it for a 600cc Suzuki Bandit. Again a great bike, although some aspects of the build quality could have been better, and having to check valve clearances every 4000 miles was a pain. This bike survived the daily commute until I got a...

Wife!!!

Now she is not the sort of person that would say it's either her or the bike, quite the opposite, and she was very keen to go for a spin on the Bandit. (she must be an understanding soul- one of our early conversations was a brief talk on my favourite jet engine... ) However the pillion on a Bandit can be a pain in the proverbials, so we decided that we should look for a Pan European, for our mutual comfort. Besides, I'm more of a cruising, touring sort of person - one trip on an R6 was enough to scare me witless - and I've always liked the look of the ST1100.

So we found an L registration used Pan which we knew was a bit tired, but the engine was sound. We didn't really get the time to use it that much in the year that we owned it, as holidays in New Zealand and a charity trip round Europe in an old banger got in the way of summer motoring. We had a few good runs, but the knowledge that the 1100 needed a good tidy up set our minds that we really wanted a newer reliable bike. So with this in mind we have recently been Pan shopping.

Tomorrow we pick up a Honda ST1300. Used, but in very good condition. So from now on I'm planning on logging details of my thoughts on the machine, whatever maintenance I'm doing, favourite routes, and awards to cafes that are bike friendly and that serve fairly traded tea. Oh, and buns. Must have buns. Consider me as being a leather clad Cookie Monster. Now there's an image...