Fitting the two racks was an absolute breeze and
thinking about it I’ve no idea why they have been sat on the bench since coming
back from the Horizons Unlimited meeting held in Belper back at the beginning of
July. Still there fitted now and look quite the part with the red straps I
bought on eBay.
Water anyone?
and no more "pushing" Mr T
Water bottles & 2 Litre Fuel Can & Racks
cutesy of Stahlkoffer
Next it was time to take the off-side front panels off
so I could wire in the iPhone charger. Finding somewhere to mount the case
itself proved a little difficult due to beginning to get a little “busy” up
front. However after offering the case up to various places there was only one
place worth considering, the off-side wind deflector.
Cutting the fuse off and wiring the charger directly
into the Fuzeblock saves so much time. The voltage control box has an on-off
switch which I had to test to see if it remained on when the ignition was
switched on and off. Luckily for me it stays on and so I just put the 2 amp
fuse into put the “switched” side. Job done! Now when I switch on the ignition
the charger is live and goes off when I switch the ignition off. This also meant
that I could mount the switch box way down at in the tool storage area where
the Zumo 660 wiring lives.
The amazing Fuzeblock
On-off Switched stowed away neatly
Hard Wired iPhone Charger
(no more silent rides for me hey Jeannie)
That done it was time to remove both seats and the
rear seat tray which is a pain as it means removing the handrail/pannier bolts.
Now let me say right now, “I am not electrically minded at all and when I saw
the three way water proof connectors I was not impressed”!
Three down one to go.... bliss, Not!
Still if a job is worth doing it’s worth doing right
and with that in mind I set about drilling the panniers yet again. That’s 4 holes for the racks two holes for the
lights and one hole for the wiring. Having used “dowty” washers for the racks
and sealing the back of the lights with a little washer I’m happy they will not
leak unless submerged, by which time wet pannier contents will be the least of
my worries.
Under the rear seat tray the wiring is pretty self-explanatory
with the indicator lights being black and yellow. Finding the right brake light
wire was a matter of cutting off some of the shrink wrap and exposing three
wires black, blue and yellow. If your planning on doing the same mod you need
the yellow wire not the blue! “Don’t ask”.
How fiddly?
Very, springs to mind
Still worth doing right though
Don't you think?
Having splice into the yellow wires using the
correct clips I then connected all four earth wires and connected them to the
earth connector I had just cut off the iPhone charger wiring loom. All the
lights worked a dream so I set about mounting them all into the panniers but
one at a time as I had to cut the cable, earth lead disconnected and ignition
off first of cause.
Fitting the fiddly little connectors was an absolute
pain for yours truly and I’m not going to drag this write up out with all the
ins and outs. To give you an idea, I started the wiring at 3.00pm and finally
started to reassemble Mr T at 6.35pm. Electrics is not my favourite job but I’m
pleased to say everything worked OK and here’s a short video Ben & I made
last night.
Yamaha Super Tenere XT1200Z
Mr T gets a few more goodies
Waking up to yet more torrential rain this morning
did not impress me one jot as I was due at Kais over in Atherton for 9.00am.
The ride over was interesting to say the least as
the M62/M60 was at a standstill that was after I’d already passed a three car prang
on the slip road out of Rochdale leading to the M62.
The M61 was a little better but one thing I did
notice the “exhaust sniffers” as I lovingly call tailgaters soon backed off
when I touched the brakes. So the one question I had been asking myself, “was
it worth 3 hours’ work fitting the additional lights” was well and truly answered
with a resounding “Yes”!
Arriving at Kais at 8.45am I had a few minute wait
so made a short video for Bruce’s TeaPotOne promo video. By the time the lads arrived I
was ready for a coffee which was on the counter within minutes. I removed my
panniers and put them in the shop front and George took Mr T into the workshop
to and got to work.
All the very best Bruce
Have a fantastic journey
After a good look at all the signed photo’s on the
wall you are left with no doubt Kais know their stuff when it comes to
suspension. With so many well know racers both on the track and in the motocross
world thanking them for all the help and support it’s reassuring to know when it comes to suspension,
especially Ohlins, they have all bases well and truly covered.
How sexy is the contents of this cabinet?
Mmmmmm....very !!!
I first came across Kais when I was looking to have
Trinity’s Ohlins rear shock absorber refurbished. Nick did an absolutely
brilliant job so much so that I took the front forks in to have them refurbished
too, only for him to discover they were bent. Just as well I had a second set
sat in the garage. I’ve not stopped singing their praises since so when it came
to getting Mr T fitted out there was only one number I needed, Kais. As it
happens it was still in my phone, now that’s customer loyalty if ever I heard
it.
Out with the "not-so" old shocker
One word........ Ohlins!
In with the new..... bring on the good times!
Still no drama’s like that today. It was out with
the old and in with the new and by 11.00 am I was suited and booted and putting the panniers back onto Mr T. That
was after watching the whole of the 2011 Isle of Man TT race on DVD. I thanked
George for doing a great job and after a quick demo of the new lights, which he
was impressed with by the way, I said good bye and headed off into the rain
once more. I was tempted to pop down the M6 and grab a couple of Gold Post
Boxes photo’s until I realised how bad the rain was decided against it.
Riding home in the yet more of the wet stuff was certainly not the best conditions in which to see if Mr T’s new Ohlins unit was any different but I could tell straight away. It is! The cornering felt more controlled, bumps in the road just vanished and maybe it is just wishful thinking but I feel safer and at the end of the day that is my most singularly important priority. Oh and did I mention It looks simply amazing too .........
Riding home in the yet more of the wet stuff was certainly not the best conditions in which to see if Mr T’s new Ohlins unit was any different but I could tell straight away. It is! The cornering felt more controlled, bumps in the road just vanished and maybe it is just wishful thinking but I feel safer and at the end of the day that is my most singularly important priority. Oh and did I mention It looks simply amazing too .........
Once again can I just pass on a
Massive Thank You to All the Guys at
TEL: +44 (0)1942 896366
No comments:
Post a Comment