A nice day for a ride, but...

[Phmode]

...only if your brakes don't keep locking on!

So a short notice meet up with Richard in Broadway, halfway twixt his and mine, for a Cotswold jaunt. The last time the bike was out it was a stinking hot day and today was most definitely not, so it was out with the winter gear and away with the summer stuff, zip in the waterproof liners, stow the summer gloves just in case but wear the waterproof all-season ones and, seeing as we are most definitely not getting an Indian Summer, I might as well bolt the BarkBusters handguards on to keep the pinkies warm. I didn't remember the big gap between the end of the grips and the BarkBusters but it was a year or so since I last fitted them so meh...

And so, all wintered up, off I set. It was only after meeting up and downing a coffee and a huge lump of choccie cake in Broadway that we set off into the bright sun but with the threat of rain always there. We had probably gone about 20 miles when, slowing for a cross-roads, my front brake seemed to lock and the lever went solid on me. I was only doing about 15mph and it was slimy and wet so did the ABS just kick in? I mentioned it to Richard and after the cross-roads I did a couple of brake tests but all seemed fine...and then it did it again at speed, only momentarily but it was a bum-puckerer for sure. And then again! OK, pull over and set fire to it...

We had a quick look at the front pads and compared the temps on my bike and Richard's but there was no clue to be found. And then, whilst fiddling with my lever while I was getting the kindling and matches out, Richard discovered that the front brake lever was fouling the spine on the right BarkBuster on a full pull and would stay 'pulled' after it was released.

Oo'er missus! Out with the tools and adjust it out of the way and all was fine and dandy so I stowed the kindling for another day and we set off once more whilst trying to find out why my MRA navigator wasn't talking to me. We never did and by this time I needed fuel so we diverted into Cirencester and then headed back out toward Burford to continue the jaunt.

What with the rain and the various stops the day was wearing on so we decided to dive into Burford Garden Centre for more tea and cake.

We obviously missed more heavy rain as we supped and scoffed and by the time we were ready to set off again we realised it was going to be getting dark rather soon, what with the clocks having gone back yesterday and so we decided to head off in different directions and try to beat the rush hour traffic.

A nice run despite the rain and puddles and shite all over the roads and after my front brake returned to normal service.

[richtea]

Lovely tea & cake. Twice. And pie! Thanks Brian!
And who knew the Cotswolds had so many empty straight(ish) cross-country roads. And we didn't even go on the Fosse Way.
And so few petrol stations on them. Like none.

Must do it again.

[Phmode]

And, apart from the many, many cars who tried, some succeeding, to pull out directly in front of us and those who thought we were a couple of cops and dived for the ditch with brake lights on boost, there was relatively little traffic - straight roads in the middle of nowhere, no filling stations, obvious really.

Oh, and the GS type biker who clearly didn't see us approaching, went to pull out, wobbled, stopped and nearly fell off...

I just dug out some old piccies of the K with the BarkBusters on it from way back in 2016. They clearly showed the gap twixt BB spine and end of grip so they were correctly installed yesterday, just badly adjusted.

With the shorter days (not 24 hours anymore?) we need an earlier start. Or we just turn it into a meet up and scoff cake day rather than a meet up and ride day.

As an adjunct, the Schuberth seemed to have a number of fatal errors; not connecting to phone and device (iPhone as navigator) automatically, constantly telling me that the intercom had failed and to try later (when I was riding by myself, never did it while we were connected) and then this morning deciding to turn on, connect to my phone and then say 'Goodbye' and promptly turn off. Over and over and over.

It seems the muteness of the MRA nav is a combination of the Audio setting (randomly?) going to 'Off' when I do a restart and it (possibly) talking to me while not connected to the i/c. Now I know what to keep an eye on. When used in the car it is flawless, so I doubt it is an inherent problem in the MRA.

Also, it turns out the Schuberth SC2 i/c has a secret (OK, it's in the user guide but meh...) 'Fault Reset' button which is separate from the 'Factory Reset'. This now seems to have cured the random connectivity problem but I'll need to get out in the shite once more to see if it keeps telling me the i/c has failed.

[richtea]

With the shorter days (not 24 hours anymore?) we need an earlier start.

Well, I did have to do vital stuff up until 10:30 - hence the relaxed 11:30 start. Sorry about that. 

Next time we'll start at 10am from sunny Broadway - Home to The Long Tea Bag (aka The Used Prophylactic):
https://maps.app.goo.gl/c5aw9xcpkxS4KtpK9

Or we just turn it into a meet up and scoff cake day rather than a meet up and ride day.

You make that sound like a bad thing.

[Phmode]

Well...

We should do a weigh-in before we start, but without the angry, macho head-butting.

And, I'm not normally up and about in time for a 10am start. Unless it is from my place...