What are people doing during their lockdown?
 

So what are we all up to in the enforced stay at home period. No doubt some are still working (I was last week and am not purely because our youngest has some of the symptoms so we are all at home for 2 weeks).

I have been sorting out my bike now that “list of jobs at home number one” has been completed. Yesterday and today saw me remove a single disc set up from my BMW R80 and fit twin discs. It will be interesting to see if they are significantly better and also to see if the insurance company charge me extra for what was an option on the original bike....

Whilst messing around I also broke the bead on both wheels so that I could smooth out the surface on the wheels where the tyres seal - or in my wheels case, are supposed to seal. Hopefully they will go more than 24 hours without needing to be pumped up. No doubt I will need to do it again until such time as I powder coat them.

Tomorrow “list of jobs at home number two” will appear once She Who Must Be Obeyed realises that I am enjoying myself excessively.

Before the days of the virus I'd started rebuilding an old bike for a trip this summer and I've just kept going with it. Main problem has been the businesses you depend on for stuff you can't do yourself - rebores, blast cleaning, plating etc have all shut down so progress is gradually grinding to a halt as I run into one bottleneck after another.

Luckily the two main spares companies I use are still trading although at much lower capacity than normal and email only. One of them only opens their order line at 4.00ppm each day and it's a bit like getting Glastonbury tickets - 4.00pm order line opens, 4.01pm order capacity reached and that's it for the day.

As the trip I'd planned is almost certainly off the deadlines I'd set are not that important any more but I need to get the thing finished. It's a kind of inversion of how these things normally go where I can get everything I need easily but my time is limited. Now I have the time but I can't get anything.


https://i.postimg.cc/cHQRGDYw/workshop.jpg

I know the feeling of frustration - I went to fit the callipers for the twin discs yesterday and they don’t fit over the discs. The discs I was sent are the wrong ones - the supplier is looking to see if they have the right ones in stock and hopefully they will be a simple swap out. Otherwise I will have to have the more expensive discs - still I will be able to stop more effectively once it is done And the brakes will be ready for a trip with a greater load than now - my weight is coming down (which is a nice change) and the increased load will by my son locally and luggage on longer runs.

I am working on old bikes as well.

1988 Yamaha Venture 1300

If I finish I got 2 more bikes that need work. (on of them is a GT500) ^^^^^ :)

You can order parts from online vendors/dealers.

I am riding my bike in germany ....
only for business reasons ...of course.
Not for fun. :smartass:



https://www.motorradonline.de/ratgeb...-erlaubt-sind/


symptoms: hay fever

3 weeks off on full pay is not to be sneezed at :oops2:

:innocent:

I'm well ahead on stuff will get me off the naughty step at home should I choose to get a decent ride in later in the year. Painted the bedroom, revamped to load of the garden, full valet and tidy up service on the wife's car etc.

My 1973 CL350 is pretty much ready to ride but the short trips allowed to buy food etc. not only help with sanity but are showing up little defects. The suppliers are still working.

The week after next it's my turn to be officially working again. This is actually harder as there isn't any work to do, you are just hanging about waiting for the phone to ring, looking for emails to send to prove you are doing something :(

Above all we can't complain if this is the worst of it. They've chosen a balance between the economy and people's lives, so just crack on and plan for when it easer.

Andy

All my work is on indefinite hold and I wouldn't be surprised to find that it's been 'automated' out of existence by the time we're back to something like normal. I keep getting emails telling me how they've automated this bit and that bit so I suspect it's only a matter of time. As I'm past retirement age anyway it doesn't really bother me that much but it would be a cause for concern were I a decade or two younger.

Once I get the current bike (old 250 Yamaha) out of the 'workshed' there's quite a few more to take its place. My plan was to have the Yamaha running well enough to use it for the UK HUBB meeting in June but now that's off the table. Plan B is to use it for the HU French meeting in Sept if that's going ahead.

In the meantime next up is my CCM604 which had a top end strip last year to replace a damaged piston - something I thought would only take a week or so, but having managed to break the oil control ring :( I put it to one side in disgust. Then after that there's an old 500cc Kawasaki to restore and then . . .

same here in Poland, riding a lot for business and to parents house :thumbup1:

My area (Vancouver Island) is not on lock-down per se, but is practicing "social distancing". Non-essential businesses have been ordered closed by the health officials. My work is doing tech support for one of these 'essential businesses' so I've at least had my work to keep me busy and a steady paycheque to keep my creditors happy.

I've been walking into the office, which is mostly empty as about 85% of our staff are working remotely. Before Easter the streets were almost empty, like a scene from a zombie movie. The last week, the traffic on the roads has increased substantially and I notice people out cycling or walking in family units, staying well apart from others.

I've been going out on the weekend mornings to ride for 60-90 minutes in the local area. The health officials have warned that they do not want vacationers travelling or day-trippers getting into trouble and putting a strain on first-responders, so I've been riding easy cruises at maybe 3 or 4/10s within easy reach of home.

Dealership showrooms for vehicles are closed - but repair and maintenance are considered essential services, so I've had my bike in for a tire and service, and it's ready to take for a long ride once restrictions are lifted...

Every evening at 6.30 in the town where we live, Belper, there is the lovely sound of “mooing” as in the sound cows make. It is called the Belper Moo and the local radio station picked upon it and made a video. Featuring, on violin, Mrs Benson, my wife.

So here you go:

https://www.facebook.com/watch/?ref=...25062664593366

I cannot explain the reason it started, nor why it continues, but it has been going on for weeks now and is getting spread further around the world.

Is anyone watching travel-related videos?
 

I've just watched "The Freedom Machine", intended to promote a sense of two-wheeled 'freedom' down through Baja California .. providing it's done a Ducati Scrambler! .. wearing an Arai helmet!

Worth a watch though, especially if you're into mermaids. :tt1:



also

www.itchyboots.com

I'm working my way through Noraly's (a fair dutch maiden's) series of short overland videos on her 'Itchy Boots' YouTube channel, which is helping to pass the time and keep me well entertained. :thumbup1:

Been riding along the north coast of Estonia on my free days. This is the northernmost point of the Estonian mainland, Purekkari cape. Was quite a cold day.

Slowly fixing the last bits from last year's end-of-season crash. Replaced the levers since this photo, got a new MRA touring screen and handguards coming from Louis.

I was meant to be getting married next week then going on a bike trip around Scandinavia for our honeymoon.

Now I'm drinking too much and building motorcycles....jeiger

I've been working from home in the city and my forest cabin.

I've also been reacquainting myself with motorcycling after shamefully dropping to 3 figure annual mileages.

As such I've looked up all my bike forum login details and I've started filling peoples post searches with nonsense.

I've also bought myself a TDM and I've rediscovered my garage and toolkits.

Work's taken a hit, but I've kept myself busy continuing with tasks at the cabin which had been on a to do list for a looooong time and stuff's really moved along.

So I guess, the lockdown has given me a chance to catch up with future projects and past passions!

Congrats Ted, although whether that's for the drinking/ building or the marrying I'm not sure ....:rofl:

Re Scandi honeymoon, my son lives in Stockholm and last year he was having car problems. He's more of an academic than a mechanic so we were doing car repairs by FaceTime, where he'd point his phone at the car, I'd tell him what to undo and he'd then spend the next hour doing what would take me five minutes. At one point we decided we needed some bits so he ordered them and we said we'll pick the job up again when they arrive. Three days later I got a FaceTime call. 'The bits have arrived, have they?' I asked. 'Yes, yes, I've done the job, I just called to let you know I got married yesterday. 'The church was doing a half price offer so we went for it'...

A month later his best friend got married on a Swedish tv game show to a woman he'd never met until they came together at the 'altar'. He was one of three they block filmed at the same time. They lasted a month before going their separate ways (the tv company paid for the divorce!). One of the other couples though didn't make it out of the building before separating ... :rolleyes2: Made for interesting tv back in Feb / Mar when it was on.

So, are we all invited to the rescheduled wedding :rofl::rofl::rofl: At the very least you could send us all a bit of cake ...:thumbup1:

My son and his wife (see above) are sitting out the epidemic in their cabin in the woods in the wilds of Sweden. Both of them are able to work from home and although the cabin is (many) miles from nowhere they've got really good internet. The cabin is over 300 miles from their house in Stockholm and they go back every couple of weeks to water the plants, collect the mail etc. Nobody's bothered about whether the journey is 'essential' or not. Here in the UK the only vehicle trip I've done in seven weeks is when my wife forgot her NHS ID card and couldn't log into the computer system at work so I had to drive it over to her. I was amazed the car actually started.

I could sell tickets i suppose ;)

Do two jobs at the same time and "sell" her the idea that a wedding at Baskerville Hall in June 2021 would be so romantic.

Wasting too much time on the Internet, starting series on Netflix but not finishing them, same thing with books, lol. Generally just taking it easy and trying not to worry too much.