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.

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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.
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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.

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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.

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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.

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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... ;-)

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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.

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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...