Gilera DNA.org

Bike went down yesterday. Not too surprised really, anyone who does the 40 mile round trip I do every day through London rush hour traffic is going to visit the tarmac from time to time. At least no other vehicles were involved. I’ve got a sore right wrist and some bumps but I’ll live, I still managed to continue on and work my 12 hour shift.

Bike is surprisingly intact. I thought it might have buckled the forks but no, the’re okay or I would have noticed by now. The right indicator will need to be replaced which is about £8 so that’s not too bad although I see prices quoted for the bulb of £20. We’ll see. Might try and fit it myself. Not interested in the scratches – this is a working bike.

Have to be philosophical about these prangs, the’re rare but annoying. It wouldn’t have happened on a MP3 though.

It is an odd situation that I have a blog called Gilera DNA.org yet I never write about the bike I ride 40 miles every day. The reason for this is however a good one – the bike hasn’t given me any trouble. Like a Mac, it just works. I’ve done about two thousand miles on it since I bought it but I’m not even convinced it needs a service. This was also my experience on my last DNA which was one of the reasons I was so keen to get another one but it doesn’t make for a very eventful blog I suppose.

My view has always been that the blog is written from the point of view of a Gilera DNA rider and there is not the need to post DNA related stuff that there might appear. There is no new DNA related media anyway, other than me of course and the second hand ads.

Spent fifty quid on this alarmed disc lock for the bike because I like the idea of it having some sort of alarm which doesn’t run off the bike’s battery and can even be used on maybe a future bike. It’s a good fit and seems secure. The alarm is irritating rather than loud; the key is tiny and fiddly and it’s a pain to try and unlock it in the dark but I always use it because it seems silly not to. there is a non alarmed setting.

Is it worth the money? Jurys still out but as someone who has already had their DNA nicked I want the maximum security possible.

Technorati tags: Gilera, Disc Lock, Motorcycle Security

Took the bike to my usual (proper Gilera) dealer to sort the stalling problem and generally look over the bike and bring it up to scratch as much as possible. Moral to everyone here – there was nothing wrong except the drive belt had not been changed probably ever. I’m not even that surprised about this, it seems to be de rigueur that DNA’s are ‘maintained’ like this.

Bike’s still spluttering but I think that’s just the inevitable result of it’s previous lack of care. Otherwise sound and smooth and remains a solid fun bike. It’s been out on the M25 and M1 today in the bright sunshine, me in my leathers, lots of glances from bemused old men (I remember when a Gilera was a 500cc motorcycle blah, blah…) yeah it felt good!

I travel about 40 miles a day commuting to work so it is a good opportunity to test out the bike and see what’s wrong with it. Bikes like this tend to have been abused and this one whilst in extremely good condition, has probably been crashed, not run in properly and not serviced properly and I expect it to require some work. Fortunately I have a good relationship with a local Gilera dealer who maintained my old bike and who I know will sort this one out to a proper standard.

Well the bike’s cutting out at low revs as if it’s cold except it’s worse after a long distance. There’s also a clicking around the fuel pump I’m not going to guess what it is as I’m usually wrong but this is the problem to be sorted out first. there is also some delay on acceleration which I would hazard suggests that the drivebelt needs replacing. this is fine as I used to have that changed pretty regularly on the old bike.

Good news is that the engine seems sound and smooth, there’s plenty of power. I’m confident it can be sorted out without too much pain.