The RC46 story

A quick and dirty blog update. I wanted a Baglux/ Bagster cover. So I bought one. But being the cheap ass that I am of course it was second hand from ebay. The most interesting thing about this and the whole point in this blog update is that this is a VFR800 VTEC cover. As the VTEC model was built for longer, there are more covers for them in the second hand market and cheaper as a result. They fit the VFR800 FI just as well less the top back corners that are a touch to big where the VTEC's tank flares out more but you can't really notice. The main point is I got a colour matched £100 Baglux cover for £15 win! Also what you might have made out from the background of the image above is a seat cowl. Colour matched and picked up for a fiver. Always worth checking the auction section of ebay! Luckily for me the cowl was marked as scratched so I got it for the minimum bid. The scratch was no worse than I would have expected if nothing was mentioned at all. This ...

After that little rodent issue I was keen to have a good look around the VFR to see how everything was under there. Images of chewed wires and hoses were in my mind and as yet I hadn't found the culprit so was expecting to find a cooked mouse somewhere. All of the fasteners are hex driven stainless into steel captive nuts or rubberized plugs for the forward fairing. That means they were relatively corrosion free and came off easily bar one rubber plug that had become brittle and required replacing (always worth having a few of these in the draw as they regularly fail). As there was no hand rail the seat unit came off quickly with the light unit in place (just needs unplugging from the loom.The inner front fairing is held in by quarter turn plastic clips that you should remove first as they can be a pain if under strain. The top of this fairing clips into the nose fairing inner fairing so be careful not to snap this when removing it (it is pretty durable though). The fo...

Imagine making yourself a nice place to live. It's roomy, with a springy floor and you fill it with soft bedding to make it into the most comfy nest to get your head down after a long hard day working. One day you are woken by what feels like an earth quake as your room is jolted about. In the darkness you hear a distant jangle and click followed by a brief scream that emanates from below, stopping as fast as it starts. All goes quiet for a moment before your world is turned upside down. A brief rhythmic cranking noise is followed by a tremendous roar. Air rushes past you and apparently into the floor like breath.The roar builds and falls sucking bits of bedding into the creases of the floor. You jolt into action and run  for the entrance, feeling the wind tear at you as you flee. What was once a cold, neglected, man made maze is now rapidly heating into a furnace as you hop and jump your way to the floor only to see what was once your house, bellow off into the distance ap...

What do you do when you buy a house? Move in, maybe buy some furniture and get yourself settled? Well in November 2013 I was doing just that, but I had two rooms that lacked any furniture at all. I'd walk into these rooms that felt cold and empty and ponder how best I should make them feel like home. I knew other rooms needed finishing to. The spare bedroom had no bed, the living room just had a sofa in it and the study was filled with boxes of books. So some budgeting and prioritizing was in order. After some sole and internet searching the plan became clear. One of the garages was going to have to wait a bit longer than the other. After three years of caging I was buying another motorcycle,  but what to buy? As aforementioned I had been off of bikes for 3 years so I wasn't going to get anything to silly, but on the same hand my last two bikes were Fireblades so I was kind of used to a little power to play with. I was going to need something that was fun and goo...