Kev Raymond
Features writer
“As I’m not based in the office, I’m keen to keep up with what the rest of the team is doing in the soap opera of the long-term test updates. I’m particularly curious to hear more about Martin’s 2000-mile week.”
SOMETIMES YOU REALLY do have to pull out all the stops for your mates, especially if it creates the perfect excuse for a bike-related mission. A Jewish friend of mine is getting married this month, and when he told me they had opted for the classic salt-beef beigels for the wedding breakfast, naturally I offered to help out. It’s widely accepted that the East End of London produces some of the finest beigels in the land, with Brick Lane’s Beigel Bake being one of the most famous bakeries.
A trip to London would also be the ideal test for some of the modifications I’ve made to the V-strom this month – some more successful than others. The chain (and wheels) really were in need of a clean, tighten and relube, but I only have a paddock stand with hooks fitted. So I temporarily screwed some Allen bolts into the threaded slots intended for swingarm cotton reels, which worked perfectly.
I’ve also fitted a Tomtom sat nav and, as a 12-volt accessory socket is included on the dash of the V-strom, installation is extremely straightforward. I used the Tomtom Rider’s ‘Plan A Thrill’ feature to take me on some really interesting roads around Hertfordshire on the way into London from Peterborough.
Slightly less successful was the homemade screen extender I tried to fabricate; Suzuki (and Touratech) are out of stock of the taller screens, so I tried