May 2009 - Posts

• Givi motorcycle and scooter luggage

  Everything Two Wheels are now stocking Givi motorcycle luggage. These top boxes are of the highest quality being totally water and dust proof. Givi are ideal for the daily commuter who carries a laptop, camera equipment or other items that may be damaged by rain or dust. Givi luggage comes with high quality locking mechanism to keep items from being stolen while your motorcycle or scooter is parked up. Everything Two Wheels stock all sizes in the range from the Micro 26lt designed for smaller motorcycles and scooters to the massive 47lt touring boxes. They also come in a range of colours including black red silver and blue and can be customised by adding additional tail and brake lights. To check out the full range call into Everything Two Wheels or log onto the Givi website at: http://www.giviusa.com/ Posted May 29 2009, 05:18 PM by E2W with no comments Filed under: Givi

• Vespa LX125 6000k service

  Yvette is a customer who first came to Everything Two Wheels during the summer to have a Pirelli tyre fitted to her Vespa LX125. A couple of months later and she was back. This time she was here for a 6000k service. We gave this scooter the usual care and attention that we give all motorcycles and scooters that come through our doors. Everything was done from oil and filter change to valve clearances and lube all the moving parts. We even managed to repair an oil leak to the engine caused by a faulty rocker cover gasket and replace a very temperamental headlight bulb. Posted May 28 2009, 10:37 PM by E2W with no comments Filed under: Vespa & Piaggio

• Continental Sport Attack tyre feedback

  I've been getting some great feedback from first time users of Continental Sport Attack tyres. Click on the photos for a closer look at how they performed.   The first rider had these fitted to his Honda VTR1000F when it was here about a month ago. During this time the bike has been used for the daily commute to work and also taken in a track day at Sandown. The rider is very experienced and also an ex-club racer who managed to post some respectable times while lapping the track. Some of the comments made where that the tyre felt ‘very stable' and also ‘I could really hang off the bike in corners'    The second set were fitted to a Triumph 675 that was here for a service a couple of weeks back. The Triumph is her first bike after getting off her restricted license. These tyres also have had a good share of commuting plus did a guided track day at Broadford. The rider said she was amazed as to how fast she was going at the track day and also how grippy the tyres felt. If your thinking of giving Continental Motorcycle tyres a try ring Everything Two Wheels on 03 90777312. Most sizes are on the shelf and ready to be fitted.   Posted May 27 2009, 05:02 PM by E2W with no comments Filed under: Continental tyres.

• Sachs City flat tyre

  "What do you do when you get a flat tyre?" was the question I was asked by the rider of this scooter as she walked in the shop door. Jan is one of the bread of new scooter riders that are ditching the car and taking to the roads due to congestion in inner city Melbourne. Unfortunately these first time inexperienced riders don't know what to do when it all goes wrong.  After getting a puncture not too far from the shop she managed to leap frog from petrol station to petrol station blowing the tyre up as she went but not really knowing how to fix the problem. Luckily enough she spotted the shop on the way past and did a u-turn to see if we could help. The best option in this case was to fit a new Continental Twist scooter tyre. It wasn't long before her Sachs City was up on the bench and a new rear tyre was fitted. Not long after she was back to carving up the peak hour traffic safe in the knowledge that next time she has a problem with her scooter all she has to do is pick up the phone and ring Everything Two Wheels for some free advice.    Posted May 27 2009, 03:51 PM by E2W with no comments Filed under: Sachs

• Pirelli Diablo Rosso tyres - Yamaha R1

  Matt is a regular customer of Everything Two Wheels who's Yamaha R1 has featured on the blog before. He rang me during the week I told me he wanted a new set of tyres but felt like trying something new and asked what I'd recommend? Now, I'm always cautious of telling people what tyres they should buy because I feel tyres are like shoes and just because one pair fits me it doesn't mean they'll fit you. I told him his best bet was to do some research on the net and see what other riders were saying. A couple of days later I got the call. ‘Pirelli Diablo Rosso' seem to be what most Yamaha R1 riders were raving about. A quick phone call and the tyres were here and ready to be fitted. These are the first set of Rosso's I've fitted so I'll keep an eye on them and give you some feedback as to how they go. Matt is an avid track day rider and also uses the bike to commute into the city every day. It will be interesting to see how these tyres perform. Posted May 17 2009, 11:06 AM by E2W with no comments Filed under: Pirelli tyres

• Honda CBR600RR 6000k service

  My most favorite bike of all time was in the shop on Saturday. The Honda CBR600RR. As I've said in another part of the blog if I could only own one bike the CBR600RR would be it. This one was here for a 6000k service. We did the standard oil and filter change plus a full check over and adjust of the bikes mechanical parts and topped the low fluid levels on the bike too. Once it was done we made up an invoice for the rider and stamped his service log book too. All in a days work at Everything Two Wheels.   Posted May 17 2009, 11:03 AM by E2W with no comments Filed under: Honda

• Triumph 675 10k service

  The Triumph 675. What a bike! This is the first one I've ever ridden and I have to say I was very impressed with how these things go. Most of the six hundreds on the market are peaky in the rev range and take a bit of riding technique to get the best out of them on the road. With the Triumph the power is on right from the bottom of the rev range and pulling away from the shop this bike just got up and went. Its fare to say that running only 3 cylinders instead of the usual 4 gives this bike a heap of grunt. The slim engine also makes for a slim chassis and riding this bike felt more like an oversize 250 rather than a bike that was 675cc's. What a bike. I think its another one to go on my Lotto winners garage list.   Posted May 14 2009, 09:20 PM by E2W with no comments Filed under: Triumph

• Yamaha R6 and Michelin Pilot Powers

  I think this is about as close to owning Valentino Rossi's Yamaha M1 MotoGP bike as you can get. The Yamaha R6. When you look at pictures of the M1 standing next to the R6 it's uncanny how similar the silhouette of the bikes are. This one was in for a set of Michelin Pilot Powers. The Yamaha and Michelins are the perfect combination especially if you like dragging your knee on the floor around corners. Posted May 14 2009, 10:01 AM by E2W with no comments Filed under: Michelin Tyres, Yamaha

• Suzuki M90 Boulevard 'Blinged'

  What a monster of a bike. Jap cruisers have never really been my cup of tea but after I had a Suzuki M90 Boulevard come through the shop yesterday I think my opinion just changed. The owner of this one is the same guy who owns the Gilera Nexus 500i featured earlier in the blog. The scooter is his daily run around but he felt he needed something for the weekend cruse down Kew Boulevard and what better a bike to go cruising on than the Suzuki M90. He has an uncanny knack of being able to ‘bling' his bikes without over doing it and crossing the line between tasteful and tacky. So far he's fitted some pretty cool LED taillights and a fender eliminator. What it was in the shop for today was to have a suspension lowering kit fitted. The new linkages dropped the bike 3 inches closer to the ground and although it's going to be pretty hard to get this thing to go around a corner it really added something to the bikes ‘blinged up' appearance. Posted May 14 2009, 09:23 AM by E2W with no comments Filed under: Suzuki

• The funny world of owning a motorcycle shop

  When other dealers start sending letters threatening legal action against you it means one of two things. Either you've done something to them that you shouldn't have or they don't like something you do and want you to stop it. In my case I think it's the latter of the two. I was surprised to receive a letter from one of the local dealers in the area telling me that I was to remove information from my blog and also I was not an authorised dealer in this brand. And photo copies were enclosed of extracts from the owner's handbook with reference to the scooters limited warranty and its conditions. To put the record straight any motorcycle dealer can service any brand of motorcycle or scooter regardless if they are the local authorised agent or not and this is law as stated under the ‘Trade Practices act of 1974'. It's the same reason companies like Ultratune and Lubemobile can service your car from new and the statutory and limited warranty of the vehicle are unaffected. I was about to forward the letters to my solicitor for her to review but seeing her fees are $300 per hour I decided to do the next best thing. Around lunch time this afternoon I had that funny feeling in my stomach that I usually get every day at this very same time. I picked up the latest copy of Australian Motorcycle News and headed off for the toilet out the back of the shop. After a good 15 minute read I was ready to get back to work. Armed with the four pages of the letters and faxes which I've received over the past few days I proceeded to wipe my................well as they say, a picture paints a thousand words. I guess this gives you a pretty good idea about how I feel regarding this matter!   Posted May 13 2009, 03:52 PM by E2W with no comments

• Continental 'Go' big wheel scooter tyres

  I've been getting some good feedback from customers who I've fitted Continental ‘Go' big wheel scooter tyres for. Riders are telling me that the grip they give is very good both in wet and dry conditions. There also pretty good at dealing with that wonder of Melbourne's inner city roads ‘tram tracks'. The one fitted today went on a Sym HD200 in a 120/80/16. If your big wheel scooter is in need of some new tyres and you want to give Continentals a try give Everything Two Wheels a ring on 03 90777312. Most sizes are on the shelf and can be fitted while you wait. Posted May 09 2009, 07:05 AM by E2W with no comments Filed under: Continental tyres.

• Triumph Speed Triple 20k service

  Where are all the Triumph owners coming from? Over the past few weeks I seen a couple of Speed Triple a Street Triple a Tiger and a Triumph 675 is booked in for a service next week too. This one was here for a 20k service which by Triumph's service schedule is a major service. I don't know if it's just because I've had the Japanese regime of services every 6000k's drummed into me over the years or what but I always feel that Triumphs and their service intervals of 10,000k's are way too long to be leaving a bike between services. This Speed Triple was well and truly in need of some attention. Two things that stood out on this one were how far out of whack the throttle bodies were and how dirty the coolant was that came out of it. To get this one back up to spec took the best part of a day to complete but once done it was a nice bike to ride again. As I've said somewhere else in the blog The Triumph is one I'd have sitting in a corner of the garage if money was no object. In the mean time I'll keep buying the lotto tickets. Posted May 09 2009, 06:18 AM by E2W with no comments Filed under: Triumph

• VTR1000F 24,000k service

  As anyone who knows me knows I'm a fan of Honda's. And the Honda VTR1000F is one of those classic bikes where Honda managed to build a great bike. The one in the shop today was in for a 24,000k service and it got the works. Everything was done from changing the oil to checking the valve clearances. After spending most of the day bringing this one up to spec it was time for the test ride. One thing I noticed with this bike was how smooth it was on and off the throttle at low speeds. It's been a while since I'd ridden a big cc bike that wasn't fuel injected and you really can feel a difference in the way the throttle operates on a carbureted bike compared to one that's fuel injected. It's a shame Honda have dropped this one from the range. Dam those Euro 4 emission laws! Posted May 09 2009, 06:13 AM by E2W with no comments Filed under: Honda

• Honda SH300i at Everything Two Wheels

  Nick a regular customer of Everything Two Wheels dropped in at the shop today to show off his new scooter. The Honda SH300i. These things really are the cream of the crop in the scooter world and I can see this model being a big seller for Honda MPE. For piece of mind Nick wanted me to give the scooter a quick check over while he watched before heading off home down the freeway. Apart from a low oil level and under inflated tyres the scooter was perfect. This is the second SH300i to come through the shop and I do enjoy servicing these. I look forward to seeing this one in another 995 kilometers for its first service and knowing Nick that won't be to far away. Posted May 07 2009, 03:04 PM by E2W with no comments Filed under: Honda

• Sym VS125 1st service

  It's no wonder Sym sell so many. The Sym VS125 has to be one on the best value for money scooters out in the market place. New customer to Everything Two Wheels Tanya brought hers into us for its first service after buying it new a few weeks back. The Sym VS125 has a very high quality finish to it that you just don't get with most other scooters in this price range. Plus the after service support given to Sym customers is second to none and supply of spare parts is never an issue with the Sym brand too. Is it any wonder the VS125 has been Australia's number one selling scooter for so long? Posted May 06 2009, 05:27 PM by E2W with no comments Filed under: Sym