Kick Start Help!

Message

Henriettaah · Mon Sep 19, 2005 8:23 am

P.s messing on with the bike like this is good for getting to know it and to do some 'bonding' - but I feel though as if when we get on the open road I'm gonna cr@p my pants! Pillion is one thing - being in control is another!

#22 Unread post by **Kal** » Mon Sep 19, 2005 4:32 pm

You've nothing to worry about, for the first ten minutes without an instructor I was absolutely terrified, after that it was all cool and the gang.

You handled giving birth - a motorbike shouldnt give you any trouble.

Nice score on the jacket, where'd you get it? My Leather is a size or so larger than I needed but I've not noticed any problems with it, apart from it giving me shoulders like Carrot!

Oh and the mudguard/speedo cable thing? I solved that with small cable ties from a poundshop - one tight loop through the mounting in the mudguard, another one through that loop, then round the speedo and front brake cable. It brakes and needs replacing every so often but then its like 50 or so cable ties to the pound, and theres always other uses for cable ties on the bike.

Henriettaah · Mon Sep 19, 2005 8:15 pm

Cable ties

Nice one Kal. The new battery I got - while being a 12v - was slightly shorter and fatter than the original... so I need a cable tie to fix that onto the shelf too. Looks like a trip to good old Poundland is in order.

I got the jacket from eBay - Bikersworld Online. I've decided its far too big - sat on the bike with it last night and it just kind of rides up so I look like an extreme power ranger or something.

In fact I think I'm going to need a 'Small' - the large also has on the label UK size 16 (I'm a 12!) and the chest acually measures 42", not 40 as it says!

So love the jacket and very impressed but really need a smaller size.

I hope what you say about giving birth/handling the bike on the open road is right

*lol*

And, I find the gear shift a little high, making it uncomfortable/painful/difficult when gearchanging. Is there any way of adjusting this height?

#24 Unread post by **Kal** » Mon Sep 19, 2005 8:51 pm

Any decent Jacket is going to be a little stiff at first and need wearing into your body shape, it felt like mine took years! So keep that in mind when looking at them.

The gear change lever?

Options that I immediately thought of are;

An aftermarket gear shift lever with bend to suit your foot,
Adjustment of the currant lever if its the spilt type with a securing bolt
Aftermarket footpegs to put your foot in a higher position

If all else fails have a friendly mechanic bend the lever into a more suitable shape. Smiling sweetly and batting eyelashes can achieve no end of cooperation here for some reason.

Afraid I dont know your Elsie well enough to say which is suitable.

Henriettaah · Mon Sep 19, 2005 9:57 pm

Hmmm. I wanted to change the footpegs anyway but from what I can gather, the fixing to the plate appears to be a type of pin which doesn't screw in, and there seems to be no way of loosening/removing it. I'll have to see if the gear shift can be altered...

sapaul · #26 Unread post by **sapaul** » Tue Sep 20, 2005 12:17 am

Henriettaah, this does not sound like you. All of you posts that I have read put you as a quietly mature confident person and you should be proud as to the work that you are putting into your bike. Stop trying too hard, this is probably the scource of your nerves. Biking, and all associated activities, like reading Haynes, should be fun. Believe me when you get to ride the bike it will all come together and you will start another learning curve.