Finally my bike is back ....

[Garf]

At long last my bike is finally back from the repairers after my crash last October !! Been in the shop since mid Jan but parts (speed of) availability has been a nightmare. Grahams eventually came through with all that was needed.

Add to that the fact it was subsequently nicked from the guys shop along with 4 other bikes you begin to see why it has taken so long to sort i.e the theiving scrotes caused some additional damage for which additional parts needed ordering. Thankfully the bikes were recovered by some handy lads who basically kicked in doors and banged the heads of the local scum until one of them thought it might be a good idea to give them back. 'Good 'ol boys' I think you chaps over the other side of the pond might say !

During the course of the repair I also had some new Renthall bars fitted, KTM Duke master cylinder (adjustable span and lever looks same as clutch side) and a new braided hose to mate it to the Beringer 4 pot .....seems to work well but only pottered up and down the street so far. Got a new set of Maxis goldpeed put on as well.

The old girl just looks a bit tatty now the various new parts show up the rest !!

Like I say, only just tried riding up and down the street so far but I can manage a gear change OK despite still not being able to walk very well on my mashed ankle......happy days

Will sort out the insurance etc soon and go for a proper blast.

Garf

[Sue]

Sounds like a nightmare! So glad the bike is sorted now, hope you finish healing soon

Sue

[MSW]

Garf,

Glad you're back on the road! Your poor bike has definitely been through the ringer.

Please do let us know how that Duke M/C works out. I've decided that replacing the M/C-perch is the only way I'm going to be happy with my handguards (having been through several attempted solutions to the brake lever problem). KTM would be a fitting solution (no pun intended).

BTW, just wondering how you decided on the Duke M/C. While doing a little research into the matter (and by "research" I mean surfing the internet), I found very little wisdom on how to go about replacing your master cylinder. I did find this article:

http://www.vintagebrake.com/mastercylinder.htm

I guess, to go about employing this guy's theory, I need to find a M/C with a piston between 8.5mm and 9mm. I.e., the "optimal" ratio of M/C piston to caliper piston is between 23:1 and 27:1 (at least according to this guy). The Baggy's front caliper has two pistons, one 30mm and on 32mm (for a total piston surface area of approx. 1,511 square mm). The total surface area of an 8.5mm M/C piston is 56.74mm (for a 26.63:1 ratio), and the surface area of a 9mm M/C piston is 63.62mm (for a 23.75:1 ratio). So the question is what is the size of the Duke M/C piston, or is there another M/C out there with a piston in the 8.5mm to 9mm range?

I don't suppose you want to disassemble your Duke M/C and find out what the piston size is do you?

[Garf]

MSW, I am afraid that my selection of the Duke master cylinder was not based on any in depth understanding of hydraulics !! It came up cheap and unused on fleabay so I thought I would chance it.

There was some degree of logic ie the duke has a single disc front end and a four pot caliper. My Baggy was running the oem master and a Beringer 4 pot at the time and felt pretty good so I reckoned the duke master would be OK. Mainly I swapped it out because I dont like the GRIMreaper parts (always seem a bit cheap and nasty) and I wanted adjustable reach. The lever feels 'right' and is neither too hard or too soft.

The bike has just passed our MOT test (legal requirement in the UK for cars / bikes over 3 years old) part of which tests the braking force vs the weight of the bike so I can at least be confident that it meets the minimum requirement.

I will just build up trust in it slowly until I can use it to its maximum (for me, not like Max Biaggi would be able to !) and see if I am happy with what it gives.

Ideally I would have bought a 16mm Brembo radial master cylinder (listed for single disc applications .....which also lead me to think that perhaps many single disc setups are vary similar in terms of ratio otherwise the master cyclinder would be listed model specific) as these are widely held to be the best available but they are pretty costly over here.

I will let you know how I get on with it. Purely on an aesthetic basis it certainly looks a lot better

Cheers
Garf