Tony nitrous

Mrs just had her new car. Ford Territory Titanium Edition. 8 seater, based on thd Ford Falcon running gear. We have had a couple of the Territory's and like them. Haven got a pic but it looks like this, Has side steps, tow bar, tinted glass, reversing sensors and all the toys. (Petrol, Auto box) Example photo:

So who's getting 3rd on the podium? Cal ? Rossi ?

Probably more worried about his team mate running into him !

You've gone from a taller than stock tyre to a tyre of similar shape to stock but smaller in width and height. Not a huge amount and fine on a 6" rim still. You should notice a slight difference in straight line stability and its eagerness to turn into corners or maybe a lack of. The downside is most folk who change tyre sizes do it changing from old familiar worn out tyres to something that is new in both size and wear and maybe type so its hard to get a balanced opinion.... ..... if any of that makes sense ?

Thanks. I'm still stashing away anything big Suzuki related. Hopefully we'll move house in about 18 months, out of the city and onto acreage / barn, and it might become more than just a hobby. House / shed / "chicken pen" in Brisbane for Sale then if anyone fancies a change ?

I have several, most of my bikes sit on them 24/7. Not a fan of the stands that pick up from the side as they need several different adapters, they won't pick up old Skool bikes and don't fit on lifts. Having said that if I had one modern bike I may think different. Out of paddock stands, most good ones come with Adapters to lift bobbins or lift under the arm. The only thing I avoid is paddock stands that slot Together and are 3 pieces of tube. I find that with constant use and 200kg bikes they become sloppy and are nowhere near as good as the one piece ones. That's my 10c worth. I think I have 5 rears and 3 fronts

Dave, can you see why I'm not keen on changing the height with the linkage? The links don't just change the height they change the leverage ratio on the shock. I'm suprised more folk can't tell this.

Dropping the front has its benifits, but you mess with rake, trail, wheelbase, ground clearance and a few other things. Easy to spoil a bike. A very short mate with a big bore Spondon Turbo once told me... "Height and strength are just poor substitutes for ability"

Not a fan of lowering kits. Riden several bikes that have been done, Bandits, GSXR's, Katana, SV, Hayabusa and never found one that was as good as stock. Lack of ground clearance and poor steering (stable, but slow) are normal. Done a few for learners or for the drags. B-King has quite lazy geometry and making it more so doesn't do it any favours (if you like "sporty) Funny enough, most owners seem happy as they either look nice or feel safer riding. Doesn't make it right or wrong. Whatever works for you Dave.

Mixed ride today, A few long sections of nice open 130mph sweepers, 3 nice sections of twistys like the pic, each about 5 miles. Went out early, roads were deserted. About 200 miles and home by 1pm. Rain started af 2pm!

I'll add up how many sets of tyres i've gone through so far this year.... Today:

Edit: sorry.

Local (Qld) plates too...

Powercommanders dont create horsepower, they may find some if the bikes not running at its best. They only correct any poor settings in what you have. A bike running spot on with gain nothing. To find a LOT of horsepower from a powercommander a bike would have to be running waaaay off to start with. I have seen one bike that lost 3 or 4 horsepower top end when remapped with a PC. It peaked as the mixture went lean, although it lost a couple top end, overall it was a much nicer bike afterwards. Hard to explain to an owner lots of dyno work lost him 3 horsepower!

210/220 at the tyre is REAL healthy. 200 is bloody good. That must be some serious mod's because you wont find that with a pipe / filter and re-map. I ride with a local BMW mechanic who own's K1300R, K1300S, the new 800 etc. Pretty sure none of his hotted up BMW's are near that. Be very wary of dyno figures. I've seen bike lose/gain between 15 and 20 ponys riding between one and another on the same day. We ran a claimed "190+hp" bike against a 163hp one, The 163 bike pulled away in every gear, and ran 2 tenths quicker at the strip. Both figures from different dyno's.

Powercommanders are great... on the right bike. I have one on my GSX1400, with a full system and a few other mods it needed a bit of adjustment. The stock ECU isnt great. Wouldnt touch one on a B-King, the B-Kings ECU can be re-mapped and tweeked far beyond anything a power commander can ever do. Remapping a Kings stock ECU will remove timing retards, and tweek secondary butterflys, EXUP vaves etc. Some folk quote "at the crank" figures, which are calculated and "somewhere near" but mean nothing other than pub bragging. Only figures worth anything are at the tyre. Crank figures are meaningless. You'll never seen them, never use them.

Not sure. After Xmas I had 8 weeks off, went riding most days. 20+ at least days would have been 300 mile+ rides. Shortest day would be 60 miles to the cafe. Got an 800 mile weekend coming up soon.

Bloody Welsh ! I wonder if they'd like Julia Gillard back !

I do know a farmer who has "5 year subsidies" on his cattle. Every year he gets a pay out for each animal. He sold the animals the 1st year but because he still holds the certificates he gets to claim every year for animals he no longer owns. Two points, If you think this is easy or common, have a go! 2nd, he get subsidies because the government, both UK and EU has made it impossible for him to trade competitively against the cheaper (and equally subsidised) EU imports. Try farming without getting your government "quota's" on what you can and can not grow, farmers have very little control compared with the past. A few folk do REAL well, the media jump on it, the uneducated masses think they are all the same. Believe it or not, UK farmers get a shit deal and I wouldn't want to be in there shoe's (I could have been, but glad I walked away)

Another thing to keep in mind.... Will you keep them insured and pay for that ? If so, it will carry an extra cost, If not then your investment carries an extra risk. No possessions are 100% safe. I'd certainly say Gold is worth considering as long as you do your homework and realise the risks.

All my family are farmers. Feel free to give it a go, You might find out why it has such a high suicide rate and why many farmers are losing property's they have worked all their lives to hand down to their kids. For every story where a farmer does OK there's 20 more where he is being f#cked by everyone from the supermarkets, our Government, the EU, the Public, the tax man, foot and mouth, BSE (mad cow) the weather, and a dozen others. Try leaving a business to your kids that's making a loss and then tell them they have to pay a big chunk in inheritance tax, see how well they handle a bit of family history that's been passed down for generations. A few farmers fall lucky or manage to work the system They really are in a minority. Most have realised they get very little support from either the Public or their Government who don't care or haven't got a clue. Give it a try sometime. Its a laugh a minute.

Hi Steve, welcome. Sorry to hear about your loss of the GSXR, still, never mind, a Honda is better than nothing.

Well done Dave. I found that not drinking will open up new opportunitys, be it money, time, keeping different company or just something different to experience. I couldn't do watches, fiddly stuff gives me the sh#ts! I can drive across the country to move a mountain but putting a screw in my glasses or soldering a wire on my bike always seems a bloody drama to me ! Well done Mate.

Nothing here at the moment but I'll keep my eye out for anything that looks interesting Dave.

Well done Stan. It was always a nice feeling to ride home with a new cert in the pockets. Bloody glad I don't have to do it any more though.