- Tue Dec 01, 2015 11:47 am
#52903
Roadside first aid kits really need a mobile phone and large field dressings not assorted finger plasters, I've found; generally for some unfortunate not yourself. Didn't know you could get spanners in Aldi (I get this weird image of riding the bike down the food aisle). Don't tell your wife these bikes attract nearly as many women as well as they do blokes. If I park on a street the bike gets a queue of gawpers. My 23mm combination spanner is so not going to fit in any of the biscuit tins. There is a tool compartment in the electrics box, the slot at the bottom. I'm still trying to figure out why they didn't use the oval as an air filter (as it used to be), the one in the triangle is big enough for a car. The reflector may be intended for the bottom of the numberplate except our yellow shingle covers it over. I didn't get any touch up paint, the black frame is difficult to match and the silver is not a standard car colour (does anyone have the paint codes as H cannot post them now?). I didn't get the suspension C-spanner, it is needed, I had to ask for one (which they gave me for free). If you carry spare bulbs and fuses, you won't need them but the opposite is true. If the low-fuel bulb blows, you will run out of petrol in the middle of nowhere.
If you have the PCv it has two maps, there is a switch for about £50 or you can spend a few shillings in Maplins for a single pole on/off and some wire. I'm waiting for the Autotune to arrive today, not for more power but so I can fine tune the bottom end for smoother pick up, riding in traffic can be a bit lurchy without using the clutch all the time. Looking at the map number, the bottom end is bog standard (do nothing) and the top end could use a bit more at full throttle (the map tapers off). A Dyno set up will generally tune for 'race' power not easy riding.
I got a pair of the leather panniers with the bike but had a real two and eight getting them to hang nicely. The Electra 'only' frames do with with a bit of simple cutting and bashing to the seat flange. It's a shame my arthritic fingers won't let me do a better job with the planishing hammer now. The pannier frames look right and the panniers hang perfectly.