The V Strom Lives!

We finally got the V-Strom DL650 going and registered! Needed the fuel tank rust cleaning out with hydrochloric acid, new fuel pump, new low pressure inlet side fuel filter, new high pressure fuel filter and pressure regulator. The high pressure fuel filter is hidden in part of the fuel pump housing and not visible! Sneaky Suzuki engineers had me going for agesĀ  with that one. I’ll post a whole lot of photos of the process. Over 40 hours spent so far, but worth it to get an old but brand new bike for a reasonable price.Andrew_on_New_DL650_April_2016IMG_20160401_182508 IMG_20160402_184724IMG_20160402_141310IMG_20160402_203016IMG_20160403_180117IMG_20160403_165102IMG_20160403_173816IMG_20160403_174339

The Big Red Pig has gone

After much thought and soul searching, the BRP had to go. We simply had far too many motorbikes in the garage and I found it wasn’t getting riden hardly ever. It’s gone to a good new home in Auckland. It was hooligan bike in every way, but just too agressive, harsh and my arse couldn’t handle the hard seat for any more than 30 minutes.  The VStrom is now filling the void that the BRP has left.IMG_20151121_141500IMG_20151121_144402 Here’s the last footage of me riding it on the beach:

Security Cameras

I’ve been messing about with indoor security cameras and found the VStarcam to be pretty good. Works in any browser (doesn’t have to be IE like some others) and has a great Android phone app. Easy to set up too. I tried to get it working with Zoneminder, but for some reason I couldn’t get the path right. It does have an SD card so can be used as a stand alone unit with motion recording. Video quality is excellent, and the two way audio is hilarious. I’ve put one into a retail environment and doing another next week. For the money, they are a bargain. You can score one here

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Big Bertie Arrives

A bit of an impulse buy really. My Wellington Allpower dealer, Ellmers, offered us a 2004 Honda CB1300 for what appeared to be a very reasonable price. Ange had a test ride and we decided that it would be a great bike for touring on, so, BAM! we took it home.

Big Bertie, The Honda CB1300