My bike had its first service yesterday (27/7/2010). I rang Doble (the place I bought the bike) last week and they quoted £120 inc VAT for the first service. Given that they are a fair way from where I stay and that this wasn't a brilliant deal, I decided to give my local dealer, Grafton Motorcycles, Milton Keynes, a call. The lady on the line quoted me a price of £90 inc VAT, and I made sure to ask her that this included everything. I was therefore a bit miffed when I had to pay £107.69 for the service, apparently it was £91.64 ex VAT! Now this might not be a big difference but it is the principal that counts - this was pretty sneaky of them and left a bad aftertaste. She also claimed that they had used fully synthetic oil wheras I checked that the oil specified below is part synthetic. To add insult to injury, she then tried to sell me an extended warranty (a la Comet) for the bike! All I can say that next time I will ask for a written fully specified quote. Anyway for those that might be interested, here is the breakdown of the invoice:
Labor (1 hr): £45
Oil filter cartridge: £10.43
Castrol GPS Power 1 10W30 (part synthetic) 3.5L: £33.46
Sundries: £2.75
Sub total: £91.64
VAT: £16.05
Total: £107.69
With regards to the performance of the bike since the service, I have only ridden about 10 miles, and it seems fine, but its too early to say whether they is an improvement or not. I will report back!
Wednesday 28 July 2010
Thursday 22 July 2010
Insurance for the bike
I thought I'd a few lines on this as it was an interesting experience. On my CG125 I had a good insurance deal with Carol Nash (~£120 third party with 1 years no claims bonus). My first thought when buying the new bike was to try and get them to transfer the insurance for a little extra top up. Just to be on the safe side when negotiating with them, I went to Bennetts and got a quote for £166 (comprehensive insurance including commuting to and from work) for the CBF600 based on my 1 years NCB, and 41 years of age. When I phoned Carol Nash I was stunned when the best deal they could offer me was for £450!!! I had a good opinion of Carol Nash before but after this I just realised that they were like any other insurance broker, only interested in hoiking in new customers and completely disinterested in maintaining loyalty. I find it difficult to understand why this is the case and wonder if it has something to do with how these salesmen are awarded their bonuses. Nevertheless, I went and tried another web comparison site. One of the cheaper companies coming up was CIA, a company with which I had insurance previously, but which I abandoned after yet another outrageous quote. Strangely enough just seconds after being on the website, I got a phone call from a salesman from CIA. I think it was the same guy who sold me the previous policy! He offered to beat the best quote that I had and did a deal for £160 including legal cover and lower excess (£200 + £200). I guess the moral of this story is that one has to really shop around every year for the best deal and be ruthless!
Monday 12 July 2010
Fuel Consumption
I have now had the bike for a little over two weeks and driven 365 miles. In this time I have filled up three times and I have made a note of the mileage and petrol filled each time. I try and fill up the tank each time, but these figures should be taken with a pinch of salt as my consistency may vary. With regards to traffic situation, most of the riding has been done on 60 and 70 mph roads and I have tried to stick to the speed limits as far as possible. The average mileage up to now is 52 mpg. I had 90 mpg on the CG125, and while there is no way this bike will come near that, I am hoping that it improves with time...
19/7/2010
The bike has now done 511 miles and the average for the past 503 miles is 55 mpg. So things are looking up! I also noticed that the tyre pressures were low (front 31psi and rear 36 psi). The reading should be front: 36psi and rear 42psi. I have now topped it up so lets see if I notice a difference to the next fill. Incidently, and I guess as expected, the ride is a bit harsher now.
12/8/2010
Since the first service there has been a definite improvement in the fuel consumption. I am now at 1037 miles and have filled up three times since the first service and the fuel consumption has on all three ocassions been better than 59 mpg. The long term average now stands at 58mpg. I checked tyres pressures today for the first time since the first service. The rear pressure was OK at 39.5 psi but the front was worringly at only 31.5 psi. I filled both up to the correct pressures and a notice a change in handling for the better, and will just have to be more diligent in checking and keeping the pressures up. I have also updated the graph.
19/7/2010
The bike has now done 511 miles and the average for the past 503 miles is 55 mpg. So things are looking up! I also noticed that the tyre pressures were low (front 31psi and rear 36 psi). The reading should be front: 36psi and rear 42psi. I have now topped it up so lets see if I notice a difference to the next fill. Incidently, and I guess as expected, the ride is a bit harsher now.
12/8/2010
Since the first service there has been a definite improvement in the fuel consumption. I am now at 1037 miles and have filled up three times since the first service and the fuel consumption has on all three ocassions been better than 59 mpg. The long term average now stands at 58mpg. I checked tyres pressures today for the first time since the first service. The rear pressure was OK at 39.5 psi but the front was worringly at only 31.5 psi. I filled both up to the correct pressures and a notice a change in handling for the better, and will just have to be more diligent in checking and keeping the pressures up. I have also updated the graph.
Saturday 3 July 2010
Fixing the tax disc to the bike
This bike did not come with a tax disc holder and my first option was to buy a GPMoto black aluminium tax disc holder which is sold at Halfords for £14.99. However to fix this to the bike one has to find a suitable bolt to attach it to. Furthermore, the holder itself uses through bolts with thick nuts and will therefore not sit nicely if there is something behind it. I therefore looked for other options and found: secur-i-disc from http://www.secur-i-disc.co.uk/ for £2.95 including postage:
The pack contains two transparent discs with adhesive backing:
The larger disc has text around the perimeter. Take the protective paper off the adhesive side and place it on a desk with the adhesive side facing up:
Place the tax disc with face down on the adhesive disc. Make sure you do this carefully so that the tax disc is reasonably well centred:
Remove the protective paper from the adhesive side of the smaller disc. This disc is slightly larger than the tax disc, and the idea is to stick it onto the back side of the tax disc so all the edges of the tax disc are sandwiched between the two plastic sheets. Otherwise there is the risk that the disc will be destroyed when it rains:
Note the periferi of the adhesive side of the large disk has not been covered and this is what is used to attach it to the left side of the bike. I afixed it to a plastic panel:
So all-in-all a simply and elegant solution! It is supposed to be tamper-proof as attempts to remove it will destroy the tax disc. The only question is whether it will surivive for one year when used daily and in pouring rain. I will report back!
The pack contains two transparent discs with adhesive backing:
The larger disc has text around the perimeter. Take the protective paper off the adhesive side and place it on a desk with the adhesive side facing up:
Place the tax disc with face down on the adhesive disc. Make sure you do this carefully so that the tax disc is reasonably well centred:
Remove the protective paper from the adhesive side of the smaller disc. This disc is slightly larger than the tax disc, and the idea is to stick it onto the back side of the tax disc so all the edges of the tax disc are sandwiched between the two plastic sheets. Otherwise there is the risk that the disc will be destroyed when it rains:
Note the periferi of the adhesive side of the large disk has not been covered and this is what is used to attach it to the left side of the bike. I afixed it to a plastic panel:
So all-in-all a simply and elegant solution! It is supposed to be tamper-proof as attempts to remove it will destroy the tax disc. The only question is whether it will surivive for one year when used daily and in pouring rain. I will report back!
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