As some of you will know, I have been trail riding for over 40 years and enjoyed it immensely. Trouble is (and by obvious implication) I am getting old and I’m both shorter and less supple than I used to be, and, because of a bad knee, not as active as I was, as I should be. So, I’m finding my recent long term trail bike, my KTM 250/350EXC just too tall, hard to get on and off, harder to manage in tricky situation and (as always) very firm on both suspension and seat. It’s been brilliant in very hard, aggressive riding situations – well, it is aimed at competition use so this is what it was designed to handle. Bottom line is that it’s not really a trail bike, so perhaps now is the time to be Mr Sensible and find a ‘real’ trail bike.

The KTM in action with my old KDX.

One that has had high commendation is the Yamaha XT225, also known as the Serow (a type of mountain goat). I rode one a few years back and really enjoyed it – small, light, fantastically manoeuvrable and a soft seat! A friend of mine had one for sale, so I took the plunge and bought it! Here are my thoughts about this bike and about the whole area of ‘real’ trail bikes in general.

The Yamaha Serow.

So what do I think of it now after a few months of ownership? Interesting question. Well, it has enough oomph (can’t realistically call it grunt) to make progress on and off tarmac, it has delightfully precise steering and the suspension is adequate when not taken too fast off-road. It is light and it starts easily. And does about 70mpg. BUT the overall size impacts the ergonomics when sitting and it does feel just that bit too small for my 5′ 10″. Ok-ish when standing, but you can’t do that all day.

So, to keep or not? I’ll give it a bit longer. I may even be able to do some mods to help (change handle bars, raise seat?). More later….

Well, I was selling the Serow until it came to MoT it. I fell back in love with it on the way back from the test, so withdrew it from sale.  I’ve now put the KDX up for sale and should go this weekend.  The KTM I’ve already sold.  Getting more space in the garage month by month!

Now, I wonder if I can make the seat a little higher?  A second-hand seat perhaps?  We’ll see…

I was thinking about the universe and the anomaly of the spins.  Like, why should there be spinning solar systems, spinning galaxies, spinning planets and so on?  Imagine our standard image of the Big Bang; it’s one of a virtually instantaneous creation of matter, rapidly expanding.  If this is a uniform creation scenario (and why could it be anything else if created from a point instant?) then matter should only be being expelled outwards in a uniform manner, like an expanding fog of matter.  And I thought “why spin?”.  There was nothing to induce a spin, nothing to impart angular momentum, and yet here we are with most things we can see spinning.  Why?  It isn’t a rational behaviour.  So, the only implication I could work out was that the spin must have been there at the start, and yet a singular point start couldn’t/shouldn’t have spin as there was nothing to impart a spin – although simplistic, a spin in one direction ought to have equal spins in the other direction, and recent investigations have revealed an imbalance in left/right spins in the universe, thus even more showing an inherent universe with spin.  My conclusion is that the universe was created from two (or more, possibly) proto-universe items colliding at an angle (not directly head on), imparting spin on the now unstable situation that initiated the Big Bang.  Thus the universe was created with inherent spin and the associated vortexes and another spin anomalies.  Well, that’ll do for an initial theory – now for the mathematicians to work out the numbers and either confirm, deny or modify this proposal 🙂

1/11/2015

Ian

My first new motorbike!

I bought this from Pride and Clarke (in Stockwell Road, Brixton, IIRC) for about £600 on HP (that my parents kindly signed guarantor for, me being a young student ‘n all). I thought it was (and still is) a beautiful bike in black with gold striping. It was a three cylinder two-stroke motorbike with auto-lube (no messy pre-mix like my previous bike) and a disc brake!! Compared with the old drum brakes this was brilliant. But lethal in the wet until the wet film was wiped away; this meant that in the rain the first pull on the brake had no effect – so you pulled a bit harder – then a lot harder – then it suddenly dried out and – WHAM – brakes full on, on a wet road with Japanese ‘no grip’ tyres. You can guess the rest… 🙁

Anyway, it was a very smooth bike, very reliable (once the ‘auto short out in the damp’ spark plug covers were removed), and took me and Anne around the UK very nicely, thank you. Once, after we fitted a top box and were well loaded with a double sleeping bag on top as well, Anne surprised me buy nearly literally dropping off! It was so smooth…

Plus points – good looks, smooth, brakes (mostly), comfortable, fast enough, gear position indicator, cool flip up fuel cap, very little servicing required. Minus points – brakes in the wet, rubbish original tyres.

When I stupidly decided to trade it in for my next new bike (DT400MX), the Pride and Clarke mechanic tried to tell me that it had knackered main bearings – rubbish! Just to get a better trade in for them. But, do you know, I can’t remember what happened next – did I sell it privately or not? Anyway, LYE759P may still exist somewhere in someone’s ‘best bike’ collection, and, you know, it was so good that I wouldn’t mind having it back again!

Update
Saw one from the same year in Mote Park yesterday – what a pleasant surprise!! I wanted to talk to the owner who was nearby, but he seemed to engaged in a deep conversation, and, being the polite person I am, I decided not to interrupt.

Me and my Polish mate, Irek, somewhere on an old roman road somewhere in Kent.

I’ve been trail riding on motorbikes for, let me see, ah, over 35 years, mostly in Kent, but also in Surrey, Sussex, Wiltshire, Devon, Derbyshire, Wales, France, Turkey and South Africa. My first wife, Anne, a very keen motorcyclist, first got a trail bike and encouraged me to have a go, first off in Cobham woods just off the A2.

Well, that was it, I was hooked! Then came a bit of messing around a quarry near Barham with the Eagles motorcycle club, organising a semi-formal club Enduro on my mate’s farm in Aylesford, and starting up the Kent TRF with my good mate, Steve Neville.

Trail bikes have been DT400MX, KDX175A, YZ125K, KDX200F and a KTM250EXC (really a 350!). Still have the last two.

Some old photos, 1970’s.

Bought this black and polished ally 1996 ZX7R off a friend for not a lot of money and it’s been great. It looks good, sounds good and goes good..

Just recently it’s been a pig to start, so checked the forums and the fuel pump is a weak spot. Seemed to fit the bill, so took it out today, and tested it. It pulsed once and stopped. Took it apart, cleaned it up, tweaked it a bit, added a spark suppressing capacitor, reassembled, replaced, and tested ok. Started ok (once the carbs had been filled), so that’s a ride tomorrow! 😉

Oh, following a car/bike close encounter that ripped the right front indicator off I checked that out and found that the power wires had been ripped off the LED PCB, so a bit of creative soldering had that working again. Reassembled that tonight as well, so I can now go and tell oncoming traffic where I’m going as well! It’s only getting better!!

Fuel pump contacts

Test ride Nr1. went very well today, I must say. Pity that there are so many awful drivers around though. Got so annoyed I even pipped my horn at one silly woman who thought that, even though the roundabout was empty it would be a good idea to stop for a while to double and triple check just in case even though everyone in front of her had just gone round without stopping. Nearly drove into her boot. 🙁

And then…. a carb flooded. Bought a carb repair kit (4 off), dismantled, replaced needle valves, checked float heights, cleaned with carb spray cleaner, reassembled. And no more flooding. Hooray!

And then…. I adjusted the cam chain because it was making a pulsing sound. Awkward, but seemed to go ok.

And then…. it wouldn’t start. And it wouldn’t start. Cough splitter, but no start. Checked all wiring. Checked fuel flow. Overhauled carbs again. Still not working. Refreshed the fuel. No change. Forum advice – check airscrew turns. Adjusted. No change. Blocked off a tube linking inner and outer sync holes in inlets. No change. Carbs off again. Checked again. All seemed ok. Forum advice – check pilot jets. YES – they were blocked! Cleaned out with bristle. Reassembled. Fired up and ran ok!! Phew, what a palaver. Seems modern fuels very keen on leaving deposits if allowed to evaporate.

All else checked and topped up, tyres pumped up and an MoT test passed. Great, now for a little riding before autumn hits home.