RIDE’S bikes
Jim’s RF600R gets its MOT... and an immediate puncture
THE LORD GIVETH (an MOT pass) and he taketh away (the opportunity to actually ride the bike). It’s a fickle thing, recommissioning old bikes…
I’d got the RF booked in for its first MOT since I finished recommissioning it after standing for a while. I’d bled the brakes; I’d checked the oil; I’d charged the battery; I’d stuck a couple of gallons of fuel from a can in (didn’t want to fill it in case I needed to do any work on it after its first ride); and I’d fired it up the night before to check it was all ok (though running on carbs, the fumes in the workshop almost killed me). I’d checked the weather forecast (cloudy and sunny spells) and was genuinely excited as I went to bed the night before.
Waking the next morning, my spirits sunk, as dark clouds covered the sky and puddles had formed overnight. I was a little apprehensive; brand-new tyres that hadn’t turned a mile, a bike I hadn’t ridden before and felt like it had the slightest hesitation on the throttle and may or may not accelerate smoothly. Still, I’m nothing if not plain stubborn, so I kitted-up, warmed the bike, snuck it into first and pulled out onto the road for the first time…
It was delightful. The sound that reached my ears past plugs and helmet was subtle yet unmistakably inline four; the revs increased smoothly with no hesitation, stuttering or fluffing; the throttle worked smoothly and after a couple of lacklustre applications, the pads started to bite into the discs. Some temporary traffic lights gave me an opportunity to — unsuccessfully — faff trying to find neutral before heading out onto the roundabouts and dual carriageway that would lead me to the MOT station.
Now as this was the first run since everything was replaced or renewed, I naturally took it easy — ahem — but it was clear that this was going to be a fun thing to ride. It’s not blisteringly fast — my father-in-law had already said it wasn’t — but the power delivery was easy-going and linear and the brakes, on that first tentative ride, seemed to bite nicely and provide ample stopping power though I’m sure this will improve as the miles
grow. The handling seemed reasonable — it reacted positively but not sharply, it wasn’t crashy or bouncy, it didn’t pitch alarmingly on the brakes and overall, I was happy with how it rode.
In the MOT station, Sean the tester noticed a slight brake-fluid leak which he traced to the master-cylinder banjo bolt and was obliged to fail the bike on that basis. However, he was also able to rectify it (by nipping the bleed-nipple equipped double banjo bolt up) until it no longer leaked (clearly the manual torque setting isn’t quite enough) and then issue the bike with a pass, which I was delighted with.
Leaving the workshop, the weather was dry but the roads still weren’t (it had rained during the test) so I decided to wait for a first proper ride and just headed home. A mate was passing and stopped to have a chat — he hadn’t seen the RF before, so we had a good look round it. Which was when I spotted a screw poking its ugly head out of the centre of the rear tyre.
What followed was swearing in at least six major European languages (you gotta have the basics, right?) It looked small so I hoped it would not have killed the brand new Dunlop Roadsmart III, so I spun it off and went straight back to Double O to see if Sean could fix it. He did, so it was back on the bike a ncouple of days later, ready to head out again when the rain stopped.
Which it did, eventually. For the first proper ride, I stayed reasonably local, just in case something went awry but it ran faultlessly. The engine was just as smooth and seemed to relish every passing mile; I ‘experimented’ with its rev range and the power delivery remained smooth approaching five figures.
I still didn’t have enough miles on the tyres to start pushing them but it was clear that the chassis would compliment the smooth, if a little muted, power perfectly.
There is clearly a lot more to come; once the tyres are scrubbed in, I can lean on them a bit more and with some more miles on the brakes, I can use them more too as the speed increases, which it will.
A summer of inline-four fun beckons…