Monday 19 February 2018

Notes on 690 ownership Part 1

Having owned the 690 for a just over two months and having got the snow and Christmas out of the way, I’m riding it more often and starting to fine tune it to my liking but it hasn't all been plain sailing.

So far the temporary arrangement holding the rack and top box on is working OK so I must get round to converting it into a more permanent solution. and I’ve added a connector to the bike for my heated jacket to keep mobile in the cold weather 

As previous mentioned the dip beam was set far too high and was blinding oncoming traffic, adjusting this meant having to remove the adjustable screen but as I had found it uncomfortable in all positions, I decided to remove altogether... 


Before


After

No more buffeting and although this now means I’m sitting in the wind blast, the clean airflow over my helmet is much quieter. 

I also got a pleasant surprise when I discovered the dip beam is in fact an H.I.D. (High Intensity Discharge) unit. no wonder it is so bright.

The bike also got a trip to the Peak District and acquitted itself well on the green roads apart from the first couple that were muddy, did I mention the tyres are rubbish in mud!




Then the bike let me down, cutting out and refusing to start on the way to work. after a short while it came back to life only to do the same thing on the way home at the exact same roundabout! This time it wouldn't restart so Grainne and Caitlin came to my rescue in the van, the RAC having quoted me three hours for recovery. Back to the dealers it went and a corroded connector was found leading to the fuel pump and duly replaced. all seemed well.... for two days!

When it did exactly the same thing! Again the RAC quoted me three hours so as I was only 9 miles away, I got a taxi home and got the van myself

Back to the dealers again and this time they found the spark plug cap was broken inside, easily sorted and now running fine.

I have a few more plans such as heated grips, a better (i.e. smaller and lighter) top box solution and a replacement right hand mirror as it keeps folding in the slipstream.