Uncovered him and took the dehumidifier out, ready to go for his new half exhaust tomorrow. SWMBO taking him as I am still out of commission from a chest infection. Actually passed out this morning while trying to ring in sick, now have a very sore shoulder to go with the other issues, but...

Otto's oil leaks were from barely finger tight valley gasket bolts (front and back of the Vee), but even on the GEMS they needs lots taking off to get to them. THOR with LPG probably much worse. So when I was buttoning him back up I torqued them, let them sit overnight, then retorqued when they...

gungum and aluminium foil laminate (usually 3 - 7 layers depending on location), wedged into place on a smear of gungum in the seam, then put some form of metal strip over it to keep pressure on evenly, then 2-to lots of clamps over it. Done that on lots of bike and several car exhausts.

Yep - was standing water on the M56 on my way home this afternoon. And pretty splashy down the Alderley bypass too.

Like the guy who put in my hardstanding for the garage in Kent. He'd had 2 pickup trucks stolen in 6 months, so he got a ratty old VW Golf TD estate with a tow hitch. He could sling all his ground working tools in the back, and it was man enough to haul a 1/4 ton 360 machine or a couple of yards...

Long set of leads to the battery so you can monitor it easily with everything on / off / locked / etc? Just remember to disconnect them before you actually drive it....

Otto doesn't adjust height / self level and gives beeps and 35mph max message if driven with the under passenger seat relay taken out.

Unbuttoned him a bit a few days ago, enough to empty the dehumidifier and put the protected new exhaust bits in him. Buttoned him back up under his cover until the garage can fit the bits.

Of course I put Otto back together as he was when we took him apart - it would be possible for someone to have previously reversed the cables and me not know. Just looked at RAVE. Yes - they have at some point been reversed. Both engines, throttle is bulkhead side, cruise is radiator side...

Not sure - this is the best I can find in my photos so far, but they look to have different stop points . radii - maybe because with cruise only engaging above 30ish mph the throttle will already be open a bit? Can't go and look, he's got his heavy cover on and it is very gusty out there today too.

Couldn't say for Thor, but GEMS throttle is the front and cruise is nearer the bulkhead.

Otto was up hugely on last year, shopped around online, went back on the phone, got 'extra discounts' to match the online quotes. Still up about 20% but much better than the renewal ones.

Agreed. My 1999 Yamaha 125 does 110mpg but would get clobbered for emission zones, my 85mpg Honda 500 wouldn't. And my 1979 40ish mpg Guzzi is historic class, so would be fine in there. Just mental.

Got the new silencers degreased and first coat of high temp silver applied. give it a good drying time, second coat Sunday I reckon, seeing as the moving boxes we ordered have not been delivered yet.

First place I would check (if possible, I can't get to them on Otto with the GEMS intakes, let alone a Thor with LPG) would be to check the valley gasket bolts. They were the only easy ones when we did the top end on Otto. Both were barely finger tight, instead of 13lb/ft, so made sure to torque...

They are pretty dopey birds. Nearly collected one a few years back on the M1. Explosion of feathers from the van in front hitting it, I dodged the carcass that rolled straight over the top and tumbled off the back.

Done that to a seagull at low speed and that hurt.

When we run the dehumidifier in Otto, I run the extension cable from the outside power socket in through between upper and lower tailgate. If you run the cable inboard of the lights on the lower section and aimed slightly outwards, the top tailgate closes fine without damaging the cable. Then...

If they are that tight I use a fork stanchion / scaff tube over a sturdy T-bar, at a relatively low (level) height and bounce on it a bit. I figure 14 stone doing that is more than I can apply by pulling / pushing by hand. Only needs to just start it moving a fraction.

Ordered new centre and rear boxes for Otto's exhaust Tuesday evening, delivered Thursday morning, unpacked this evening. Do the protective painting over the weekend with the same high temp paint we used on the manifold heatshields and can book him in for them to be fitted.