Minor upgrades

Recently went to Sheng Fatt (SF) to install the crash bar and angle valve. Crash bar for the Vulcan and the angle valve for both bikes. This was actually the second time and I am overall satisfied with their service. They have an excellent after sales service and they get back to you fast and friendly. The first time was about a month ago when I had to replace the rear tyre of the Vulcan. The tyre patch was not sealing properly so I had it replaced with the Bridgestone Battlax T31. I also recently found out that they are not only the official service center for Ducati and Kawasaki but also for Harley and Moto Guzzi. They have showrooms for Kawasaki and Moto Guzzi on the first floor.

Back to the original post, the original plan was to install the angle valve for both the Vulcan and the Demak. This would make filling up and checking the tyre pressure a lot easier. In order to install the angle valve, both bikes will require their tyres to be removed and the original stem valve will be removed to be replaced with the angle valve.

Set off early on Saturday so there would not be a lot of traffic. Left the bikes there and went on our merry way until I got a text from SF that the angle valve cannot be fitted on the Demak as this process requires a tubeless tyre.

Inner tube found on the Demak

Twisted Throttle Dryspec bags

Carrying space on a motorcycle to me is one of the most important thing. Imagine going to market or a short trip to do some groceries and there is no space to carry all your purchases. You would need to rack your brain and play a puzzle game on the spot to get everything in place and not hinder your controls.

There is a reason as to why the Demak does not go out to malls or market. The bike has no storage space. There is always a shopping bag folded and stored somewhere when taking the Demak out and made sure to not over purchase anything which makes it dangerous to carry on the way back. Since started working at the new job, there are times where I had to buy groceries or dinner after work and the most creative way to carry them back was to use the sternum clip on my backpack. If the plastic bag was big, I can rest the rest of the weight on the tank while protecting it from falling with my legs.

Chain cleaning

The chain is the one of the most essential parts on the motorcycle for chain-driven bikes. The chain needs to be maintained i.e. cleaned from all the road dust and gunk accumulated and lubed. It is recommended in the manual to clean and lube the chain after every 600 km but I will be doing it every 1000 km (easier for me to keep track). There are a few items required to complete this simple maintenance but one of the items is a bit of a controversy.

Items needed:

2015 Kawasaki Vulcan S

About 2 years after getting the Demak me and a friend was thinking about getting proper riding pants so on Thaipusam (9 February 2017) we paid a visit to Guan How Superbike which was location in Juru Autocity (not the one at Ipoh). They have a few options and after trying out a few riding pants which did not fit well, we tried the riding jackets since they were on sale and there are a few which we both liked but since the H-D jackets are still in good condition so I had to give it a pass.

Prior to this visit, I saw a 2nd hand Vulcan S in a shop at Ayer Itam but the mileage was too high and the asking price was not that tempting and they would not allow me to test ride the Vulcan. While looking at the all the bikes, the first bike that caught our eye was the new Kawasaki H2R because it was all decked out in chrome. After looking around we spotted a Vulcan S among the sea of 2nd hand bikes for sale. The boss spotted us looking the bike and came to talk to us more about the Vulcan.

Reflectors

Recently I came across this image which had me thinking about my safety on the motorcycle (mainly the Vulcan S).

The image shows that drivers are able to see the reflective clothing from as far as 130 m away but on the Vulcan clothes are mainly blocked by the top box. So the next best step is to find reflectors and attach it to various parts of the Vulcan and hopefully it does the same job as the reflective clothing.