Ebay

Its been a long time since my last update. Whats new then...well, quite a lot has happened in fact. Just returned from the first "away " trip of the year, a 600 mile round trip to Cognac in France. Pretty uneventful but fun to be able to get away on the bike and use it to its full potential, and to ride some decent roads at speeds above 40 mph !

Being just over 6 foot tall means the wind buffeting from the standard screen does get somewhat tiresome on the motorway, but I dont really do the mileage at speed to warrant a taller screen. However I am keeping an eye on Ebay for one, which is where I found the single seat conversion that now sits proudly on the Pan.

It was spotted back in November, a complete kit with the hump, bracket to move the seat lock, and the single seat, and I thought, well, why not, its something different, plus I ride solo most of the time anyway. Having done the business it arrived promptly, but I knew it had to be sprayed to colour match the bike - it was from an ex-AA bike and was bright yellow. Getting the colour matched, even with the colour codes, was quite an ordeal, to the point where it had been forgotten about by both myself and the spray shop. A quick call at the end of May, and a visit to them with the bike to get a match, and it finally went on in June, to my delight. It looks very smart and quite unique, and has turned the heads of a few fellow Pan owners too, mainly as a potential way to stop their other halves from getting on the back ! They appear quite regularly on Ebay, so maybe there is a business opportunity coming my way...he he he

I also spotted on Ebay, but missed out on, a shorter, sports style screen for the Pan. I've never seen anything like this before or since, and havent found it online either, its like a cut down version of the std screen. It looks very smart and might be just the thing for summer riding when you need the breeze to cool you down. If anyone else has seen this please let me know where I can get one from !

The bike was serviced before the trip, about 1000 miles shy of its scheduled 32k mile service, but there was nothing major except for new front wheel bearings. I had heard a rumble from the front end for a while, but had assumed it to be the worn front tyre, which has also been replaced. Is 30k miles from a set of wheel bearing normal ?

I have moved house too, within walking distance of work, so the bike is sadly no longer the weapon of choice for the daily commute. I say sad because it means I dont get to ride daily now, but conversely the fuel bill has dropped, and when we do go for a ride it is for fun now, which is so much more enjoyable than fighting with the rush hour traffic.

This also means I have no excuse for having a bike that looks "used" and will have to get the polishing cloths out......

Anyways, Safe riding as always and enjoy the warm summer nights out

Craig