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3 of us old codgers went out today plus Shadow. Run up to North Cornwall, Otterham Station, Slaughter Bridge, Tintagel, Boscastle and Camaford. I managed to save Shadow from being dragged into the Witches Museum, oh and apparently: “I’m not fucking funny at all” according to her.

She does look in the best of moods.

Fourth day here now and no sign of the fucking maid yet ..

You'd love it there Pedro, lots of great roads and history in the area plus you won't find better hosts

It's shit there , don't bother ............... more chances for me to go then

I’m planning on doing mine, the problem is that by the time you pay someone to them you very quickly approach the price of new ones.

Took out Shadow to get her chin up. Missing her freedom on her CB125F.

Dry everything before pushing the dust covers home. I've been using hamerite for the lower stations for years but the last couple of times it seems to chip off much easier than it used to. Be interesting to hear how the wheel paint lasts, should be good in theory.

Got home yesterday from a 3400+ mile road trip....gonna be in the 80'sF today & into the 90'sF by Monday....glad we beat the heat...& you can have states like MN & ND!

Just did an eight day trip on the TRK502X which took me from Murcia province, up to Segovia where I met five friends from the UK. From there we went west to Miranda do Duro which is on the border between Spain and Portugal. Further west to Chaves and then onto Porto for two nights following most of the Rota Norte which was fantastic. We headed east to Avila using as many twisty mountain roads we could find and then finally I had to head home to Murcia province. My mates went north via Leon and the mountains so they can get their ferry on Wednesday. Fantastic trip with only a little motorway to get around Murcia city. No rain, great roads, only stopped by the police once early on Sunday morning to carry out an alcohol test (no problem!) The TRK is a fantastic moto and wasn’t left behind by the larger bikes…….and of course, it cost much less to buy! ……..where to next?

It was pristine before the gammon got there.

Great shots @Saul , you have so many go to places down there

I just had a look at the Honda parts list, you are right Ian, the lock ring sits above the oil seal. Obviously different to my Suzuki

There is usually an oil seal with a retaining ring above it that sits in its own groove, if that retaining ring is in the dust cover groove then the dust covers won’t seat properly.

OK if this isn't allowed I'm sorry . . . We are stopping using Airbnb they charge way to much commission !!!! . . . But we are still open to folk , weather it's on bikes road or rough, camper or tent couples or groups...all on a cash basis, the Shack sleeps 5 in a double and a triple both ensuite, fitted kitchen and TV lounge and pool for €100 per night S/C. I can come up with prices for campers/tents on arrival. We're 10km from the Dordogne river , the roads are to die for , there's loads to see or just chill by the pool. Give us a shout if interested PiF

Get in …….

Just got the renewal notice from Bennetts for my CBF600, fecking £198 TPFT with a £500 compulsory excess for a bike worth about £1000. Shopped around and got the same cover and excess from One Click, Allianz Underwritten, for £97.17. Bit more palatable. No add ons as I have got cover for that elsewhere.

I now have everything I need to do the swing arm, I am going to have a ring round on Monday and see how quickly I can get it turned around if I want it powder coated.

They look good, it will be interesting to see how they last.

Nice pool--

So you can write text!

Just painted my fork lowers ready to reassemble the bike. After rebuilding the forks I washed them in soapy water. Then sanded them all over with 240 grit sandpaper, would have gone finer but I used what I had. Then degreased them with brake cleaner on a rag. Panel wipe or thinners would have been better but again used what I had. Masked the Showa label, fork seals and stantions. I gave them 2 coats of high build primer leaving the paint 15 mins to flash off between coats. They came up quite well at this stage with no faults to my eyes so I didn’t bother giving them another light sand. I went for lunch then came back and gave the lowers two coats of car wheel silver. Giving 30 mins between coats. I am quite pleased with how well they came up considering how rough they were. I am going to give them 24hrs to cure before attempting to refit them to the bike. I chose the wheel steel paint as I have used it loads in the past and is pretty tough once cured perfect for fork sliders. Of course you can always do better but for my 18 year old CBF they are plenty good enough. The important thing is to clean and prepare the surface you are going to paint well as that will ultimately determine the finish you get. Also lighter coats are better to prevent runs in the paint. Good clean prep and care will give tidy results. Now you do what you want but I was asked to show what I did.

I was at my bank yesterday waiting in line. There was just one lady in front of me, an Asian lady, who was trying to exchange yen for pounds. It was obvious she was a little irritated. She asked the teller, "Why it change? Yesterday, I get two hunat poun of yen. Today I only get hunat eighty? Why it change?" The teller shrugged his shoulders and said, "Fluctuations." The Asian lady says, "Fluc you white people too!"

All done, first time I have ever done fork seals. Fiddly mucky job but straightforward enough. Had to go and get my mate to undo the dampener bolts on the bottom of the forks. I will buy the long Allen sockets I need for the next time.

Bonus, spare for next time. SKF have always had a good name but Koyo have always been good bearings too.

The plugs that came out did not show any sign of wear. I will clean them up set the gaps and keep them.

Got the new swingarm bearings today, also got a full compliment of SKF wheel bearings for the new wheels, I have to say they seem better quality than the KOYO.

Here’s to border force not letting you back in to the country.

I just keep cleaning and gapping plugs until they show signs of physical breakdown.

I like the sound of that. I was thinking about doing them every other year but I did 5k last year so that would make it roughly every three years for plugs. I'm gonna change all the fluids this year so as to set a datem as a starting point. When I bought the bike the previous owner said he had a full service done the year before for the MoT and that would match with what I found today after 5000 miles in my ownership and him only doing 100 miles between MoT's. The only thing that troubles me a little is that I have no record of valve clearances being done and the bike is at 36000 miles. Doesn't necessarily mean they haven't been done just I have no record of it. They are supposed to be done every 16000 I believe. I chatted to the mechanic I use about it and he said not to sweat it. As long as the bike starts fine you shouldn't worry. It starts perfectly and the motor is pretty quiet compared to other Honda 600's I have heard this year. But I do worry as that is my way

Mandis last 1000 was 4500 intervals with the plugs changed every other time if I remember right. I've changed them on the newer one she now has only to find once the job was done I took out Iridium tipped. I'll put them back in next time, always read the service book first. Scrap that, 4000mile intervals and plugs changed at 16000 miles.

Sad CBF600

Just been out and serviced the CBF. Oil and filter, air filter and plugs. What was in there wasn’t too bad so it has been serviced in the last couple of years. I did an oil and filter change last year. Twas nice to be able the get the filter off with resorting to brutality Plugs were a fiddly pain the arse to do, can’t ever remember doing them on an inline 4. I had a blade years ago but I paid to have that serviced. Just the brakes to strip, clean and change fluid now. Gonna do that after the fork seals. I may do that later or in the morning. Just out of interest how many miles between plug changes do people do, don’t want to do it again in a hurry if I don’t have to

Just finished stripping the forks out of the bike. Total pain in the arse and filthy, seals been misting for some time I would say judging by the gunk. I don't have an impact and looking at the dampener bolts in the bottom of the fork legs I will just mangle them with allen keys. Be cheaper in the long run to pay the local bike shop to do it with the right tools. After all I have done all the donkey work. Also I am pretty sure it will be cheaper to pay them than buy an impact.