Wednesday 28 November 2018

Fully fLEDged

Spent a couple of evenings fitting the rear LED units. Like the front, these are all-in-one (tail, brake and indicator) and were a mere £65. They came with a cheap, plastic surround which looks ok from a distance but they may need changing one day. I bought these because the surround may be cheap but it was the only one I could find where it was cut at an offset angle so it fit nicely on the curved rear wing with no fettling required.

Compared to the old, blocky lights, they look great:


The wiring would have been pretty straightforward had I not conspired to keep getting it wrong and putting the terminals in the wrong slot of the plug. I had to take the damn thing apart about 3 times,  even cutting it off once, while lying on my back with my head in the wheelarch.

But the result looks great, i think:



So, as the contrived title of this post suggests, Zedster is now fully LEDd up, back and front.

Edit: actually, not quite true - the reversing and fog lights are still normal bulbs - doh!

Saturday 24 November 2018

The nut at the wheel

Recently, i have noticed a little way-wardness with the steering which i thought was just the wet and icy roads in this weather. But then, on my way home from work, I realised that I had a good 2 inches of play in the steering. I took the wheel off today and realised the main bolt holding the wheel into the column was loose. Thankfully a simple fix (adding some thread lock this time) and hopefully a return to go-kart level of directness.

Having decided that I wouldn't commute in Zedster too often, I've done just that for the last week. A combination of my old bones getting too cold on my motorbike and a very squared-off front tyre on said bike making the early morning ride a bit hairy, means Zedster has been the transport of choice.

One new problem at this time of year is being blinded by cars in my rear view mirror, so I've bought some anti-glare film for the mirror - fitted tonight, see how it goes.

Finally, I've continued to have wiring problems with the right, front DRL and indicator - I think the the wire was simply too short and vibrations were separating the spade terminals. So, I've added several inches of extra wiring to remove the tension - hopefully it will finally be fixed.

Sunday 18 November 2018

Wings and Things

With the headlamps now incorporating an indicator, I could safely get rid of the carbuncles that IVA required. I was considering just getting rid of them totally but i have a little problem with the wiring to my new headlamps. My fault but i seem to have a loose connection on one side and, occasionally, the indicator doesn't work. I've tried to rewire it again tonight so its hopefully fixed but I've decided its better to have dedicated indicators, in case of a repeat in future.

I bought some funky and tiny motorbike indicators and spent some time this evening fitting them and they look great - you can't see in the picture but they do that cool Kitt-style left to right motion:



The finishing touch was what i had planned to replace the indicators with - stick-on winglets:


They look pretty good and not bad for £5 - although I won't be surprised if they drop off on my first time out.

UPDATE: Yup, a couple did drop off but I think that was more because I knocked them with my feet. I like them so much, I decided to bolt them on, so they're here to stay.

Sunday 11 November 2018

Memorable memorial

On a very wet Rememberance Day, I went on a short trip with the SKCC forum guys on their annual visit to the tiny village of Stopham for their memorial service. It seems the club members stumbled upon the service a few years ago, the locals were pleased to see them, so they go every year.

Although it wasn't raining when i got up at 7am, the roads were soaked and, every now and then, it hammered down but Zedster took it in his stride. I still haven't got straps on my doors, so water still sprays up and wets my elbow but otherwise, i'm dry and almost too warm with the heat from the engine. I took the drive more carefully because of the conditions but it was still good fun, with a few (intentional) rear end drifts on roundabouts being much easier in the wet.

At the memorial service, as a newbie, I had to place the wreath which was a tad embarrassing - 5 old boys in suits and medals and me in my trainers and blue kagul with wet patch!

Although there were 5 or 6 of the forum there, only me and one other turned up in kits:


Zedster was in a right mess when I got back, so much so that I even had to wash him - shock!

The new LEDs continue to impress, although the high beam is not much brighter than the dipped. But with dipped being so good, it's not an issue:


In fact, I'm so happy with them, I've bought a set for the rears as well - hope to get them on in the next week or 2...