Christmas Vouchers Still available - Stuck for a present - Why not an Advanced Motorcycle Course

Many thanks to all the customers who have already been in touch and bought vouchers for advanced motorcycle training courses in 2014.....

In the UK the post is now against us, but I can send a pdf version of a voucher to anyone who wants to book a courses as a last minute Christmas Present.

Only £25.00 deposit

Skippy the BMW - Rear Shocker lost all it's Oil.........

Last week I noticed that the reliable Bmw R1200GS was starting to handle strangely on some bends.  Thought nothing of it as I thought the tyres had gone off.  The rear has done 12,000 miles with 3mm left on it, but has squared off.  Couldn't find anything wrong, so on another ride, the BMW was reacting like a Kangaroo.  The rear had  mind of it's own and when I stopped I saw oil dripping from the rear shock.
Time for some research........
The BMW has done 38,000 miles, never had a pillion and not had a hard life, but the rear shock gone.

Can I get it repaired - NO - Sealed unit so what next....... Replacement BMW Shock around £1,200.00, better look at the forums.  Found some replacement units from Wilbers, Ohlins, Hagon and Nitron, all in the region of £400 to £650.

I managed to source a pair from a 2012 model which had only done 9,000 miles for £300.00.  I would be replacing Showa shocks to White Power..... Would they fit...

Time to look up the Haynes Manual, chapter 4.14 for front Shock and chapter 4.20 and make sure I have the necessary tools...Yes invested in a Hex Socket set awhile back.

So tackled the rear shock absorber first, 

Take off the silencer which gives you better acces and the undo the bottom securing bolt first, before removing placing chocks under the rear wheel to take the weight off the shock. Next having removed the seat undo the top, everything slack, how will it come off.

Noticed in the Haynes manual that they removed the rear wheel, but having looked at the space available, I removed my mudslinger and the shock came away.  No Issues.

Rear shock fitted and torque'd as required, silencer refitted, bit of silicon on the joint, start up...Sounding OK.

Just need to was off all the oil off the 'Mudslinger, replace. JOB DONE in about 30 minutes....

I was in the mood and it was early in the morning so I decided to trackle the front shock.....

I thought it would be an easy job....NO !

I had a big problem with the bottom bolt, it would undo so far and the go tight.......  Out came the WD40 to lubricate the bolt and work it forward and back...Still would not come out.

Last resort filed some metal off the hole on the offside fork leg and to be astonishment, bolt came out, no problem.

So bottom bolt out, time to tackle the top nut, but where is it ?

You have to remove all the side panels, Petrol tank cover, which then uncovers the plastic petrol tank.

Do I remove it or not.....No just pull it back to reveal the bolt on top of the front shock.... Allen key and spanner - Sorted

Now compress the back suspension and raise the front a little with chocks under the sump, just enough and the front shock come out easy.

Now time to tighten it all up and start replacing all the panels.

 I always dread this bit, in case I drop anything into the tank, but it has to be done.  Replacing the petrol cap, but first stuff the whole with  some rag.

Will it work YES and when I had finished, no screws missing or left over, so ready for the road again after a quick wash

 New Shock Fitted

Ready for Work again

Repairing Garmin Zumo 550 Sat Nav

Well it has happened again..... My Garmin Zumo 550 Sat Nav stopped working again.  It broke when I was in Normandy in April and through the internet I found out that a common fault was a thing called a Digitizer.  In otherwords the screen you touch to make it all happen.  This time the sat nav turned on and the screen went white.  I coupled the sat nav upto the computer and everything was functioning, so I thought the Digitizer had failed.  After a quick search on the internet I order a new replacement and fitted it today.
Thought you might see how I did it:

Make sure you have a set of these handy - Electronic Screwdriver Set as you need to remove all the 8 screws from the back of the Sat Nav and also the top cover.

CONNECTIONS TO DIGITIZER AND FRONT SCREEN

When you ease open the the back cover the front screen is attached with the straps above.  They are held in place with a small plastic hinged bars which when pulled back releases both connections.  Looking at the unit from this angle, pull towards you.  One is black for the long connection the other browish. 

Before I went any further I checked the new digitizer and switched the sat nav on.  It worked, so on with the installation.

FRONT SCREEN
Remove 4 four phillips scews from the plastic housing and remember not to loose the rubber seal.

Old Digitizer - Metal Carrier - Rubber Seal

  If the digitizer had not been replaced before, the original is glued in and you will need to ease the screen away from the metal carrier.  When I did the first replacement I cracked the screen.   It happens..... Doesn't matter as you are replacing it.
Time for the replacement:
The replacement digitizer is slightly smaller, so I applied a bit of clear silicon to hold it centrally on the metal carrier and also put a small amount on the rubber seal.  Screw the carrier and new digitizer back onto the plastic body and then carefully refit the the plastic electrical connections - Click the retaining bars back in place.
Put the two parts of the Zumo 550 and switch on........ Works !!!!!! 

Working Garmin Zumo 550 Repair £20.00

Advancedbiker talks about video editing........

For years I have been using Pinnacle Studio for my editing, but like everything these days, when technology moves on, do I !
Well I have been trying to do a video clip to put on Youtube, using Picture in Picture.  Why, well I thought if I could show speed, gears and revs on a video clip,it would help riders viewing them.  I have spent many hour editing on Pinnacle, but it would never produce the finished video.  It just would not let me put two HD Drift 1080p camera captured footage together......Frustrating.......

So I got in touch with a fellow Facebooker, Russ Stevenson who suggested Cyberlink Power Director.

Went on the internet yesterday, downloaded a free trial..........Hey Presto........
Quicker to download files, easier to edit footage and I could put clips from four video sources onto one frame if I wanted to.... Here is one example:

It is only experimenting at present, but there is potential....

Advancedbiker - Youtube - Google+ = Comments

On November 6th 2013, Google changed its YouTube property to only allow comments from Google Plus accounts, thus de-anonymizing commenters, as the principal element of its site-wide comments overhaul.

You can still post your comments on my Youtube channel, but as far as I see it, you must have a Google+ account......I think !

Good luck

Advanced Motorcycle Training Christmas Vouchers for 2014 Courses

It is that time of year again.... Christmas........

Stuck for a present, WHY not consider buying an Advanced Motorcycle Training Course for 2014.

All you need to do is contact Advanced Motorcycle Training .Com and for a deposit of £25.00 you will receive a Gift Voucher and Ride to Survive DVD.

Date of course to be arranged

When you take the radio off the rider ......!

Picture the scene......

Just completed a great days training out into Wales and was on the way back having left Shrewsbury on the B road towards Newport and eventually Stafford.  Said the the riders, used to do two at a time them, last session , do you want the radios still....

NO WE WILL BE OK !    Bad mistake and here is why :

This was back in about 2000 and now the radios stay on till the end of the day.........

Why does Advancedbiker use a Radio ?

Why do I use a radio ?

Well I started using radios back in the 1980's as a means of communicating between myself as an Instructor to all my clients who I took out training.

However over the years a number of organisations have had certain reservations about radio use, I think basically because of the BLAME culture that we now live in.

When you use radios any conversation can be taken as an instruction and therefore if acted on incorrectly could leave you in a situation whereby the person who receives that message, could be placed in danger.

So when you use radios, do you cease to become an Instructor ?  Do you then become an observer , mentor, trainer, coach.....etc

I think what ever slant is put on it you must ALWAYS act in a professional manner and that goes for the person you have out with you.

When you go out training you can use the radio in several ways and the most common way is giving commentary, either by doing a demonstration ride in front or by following the other rider.  Something like this:

Motorway ride M6 Junction 18 to 17 in Cheshire

Then the other way of using radio is for the coaching - mentoring the rider you are with.  You have got to strike a happy balance between offering the rider sufficient information for them to make their own riding decisions based on the information supplied.  I have been with Observers -Instructors who never stop talking and in my view this cannot be a good thing as it eventually turns the other rider into what I call a ROBOTIC rider. Not thinking for themselves.

The use of radios for me gives me :

• Control of the riding environment
• Able to give directions
• Instant feedback - Including Praise
• A more effective method of delivering the 'training'

I hope that when you watch the following video you hear that I try not to give any instructions actions for the rider to take.  Using words like - Consider......Pick your head up....... Look ahead......Watch out......Safety...... Use BUZZ words and keep them short, and check with the rider first taht they are happy and understand certain phrases. 

 In the following video clip it is early on in the training and I am only concentrating on a few issues; Forward Observation, Gears, Positioning.....

Here Goes:

This is looking a rider at the commencement of a session with the added bonus of him being able to communicate back to me.  He had never done anything like this before, but he does cope very well.

The use of radios for me is a great 'tool' - Don't be afraid to use them.