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Welcome - Getting started & FAQs - Read Here First... => Introduce Yourself & Your Bike => Topic started by: kettle738 on March 08, 2016, 12:43:40 AM

Title: Newbie from the UK
Post by: kettle738 on March 08, 2016, 12:43:40 AM
Hi all, I'm Mick from the south east corner of the UK.  I hope to get my low mileage near mint ST1100 delivered tomorrow all things being equal, and if the temperature gets much over today's 4C I might get a few miles in too.

This is my first ST1100 to own, but I've done tens of thousands of miles round London on them in my former life, so I know what I'm getting.....there are a few classics in the garage so this bike is going to get an easy life of European touring, starting with a possible trip to Switzerland in June to do some Alpine passes.

Hopefully there should be two photos attached, one of the ST1100 which I still haven't laid hands on and one of it's grandad, another shaft drive 1100 that it will be sharing garage space with. Forums like this are priceless, so much knowledge and you are rarely the first person to tackle whatever your bike problem is, so I look forward to learning a bit.(http://i1086.photobucket.com/albums/j445/kettle738/XS1100%20Finished%20Apr%202014%20060%201280x960.jpg)
(http://i1086.photobucket.com/albums/j445/kettle738/Honda%20ST1100%201.jpg)

Mick...........kettle738

   
Title: Re: Newbie from the UK
Post by: Gadget on March 08, 2016, 01:33:56 AM
Welcome Mick from Brisbane, Queensland, Australia and hopefully we'll see you touring down under one day.
Title: Re: Newbie from the UK
Post by: Gadget on March 08, 2016, 01:34:49 AM
That ST1100 looks like it's in mint condition. Brian will be impressed.
Title: Re: Newbie from the UK
Post by: kettle738 on March 08, 2016, 01:42:16 AM

I'd love to do some riding in Australia, in fact I'd just love to go to Australia, but the nearest I've ever got has been Vietnam........photographs do have an unfortunate habit of flattering vehicles, but I spoke to the seller who seemed a sensible bloke and he says there is barely a mark on it, 14,000m from new..... I also managed to get the top box changed to a colour matched Hondaline one as he had two identical St1100s for sale, I wanted the Honda box from the other bike and his other buyer wanted the GIVI from this one  :thumbs

Fingers crossed when it turns up......it lives up to the photos.....

Mick...........kettle738   
Title: Re: Newbie from the UK
Post by: alans1100 on March 08, 2016, 01:55:37 AM
Welcome aboard Mick from South Australia

This may interest you being up over in the UK http://www.britstoc.com/ (http://www.britstoc.com/) which is happening in June and might want to join up with this mob as well as some of them are on here http://www.my-mc-phoenix.com/index.php (http://www.my-mc-phoenix.com/index.php)
Title: Re: Newbie from the UK
Post by: kettle738 on March 08, 2016, 02:08:58 AM

Many thanks for that.....we can't do the Scottish trip as we are in Brighton that weekend, but I'm going to scour that website.

Mick...........kettle738
Title: Re: Newbie from the UK
Post by: Abe on March 08, 2016, 04:16:06 AM
Welcome Mick to the forum.

Two nice looking rides there  :thumbs :thumbs
Title: Re: Newbie from the UK
Post by: Wild Rose on March 08, 2016, 06:17:35 AM
Welcome Mick to OzSTOC from Toowoomba Queensland  :hatwave
Enjoy your ST1100  :thumb Enjoy the Forum  :thumbs
 :beer
Title: Re: Newbie from the UK
Post by: West Aussie Glen on March 08, 2016, 08:56:59 AM
Welcome Mick, what a beautiful XS.
I owned this one for a few years. It was a great bike but had to go when the ST1300 arrived.


(http://i1122.photobucket.com/albums/l535/West_Aussie_Glen/DSC02233.jpg) (http://s1122.photobucket.com/user/West_Aussie_Glen/media/DSC02233.jpg.html)
Title: Re: Newbie from the UK
Post by: Jdbiker on March 08, 2016, 09:14:06 AM
Welcome Mick from Melbourne Victoria.
That's a beautiful XS1100 you have there, have one myself but not as nice looking. Will post picture when enlightened by Kev Murphy!
Cheers.
Title: Re: Newbie from the UK
Post by: Draco (Heartbreak Kid) on March 08, 2016, 09:20:10 AM
 :blu13 Welcome to OzStoc OZ mick hope you'll enjoy reading and getting great info about your ST as i have. Ride safe and enjoy :thumbs :blu13left
Title: Re: Newbie from the UK
Post by: Mitch on March 08, 2016, 09:32:05 AM
Hi Mick and a Warm Welcome from the Wild West  :hatwave :runyay
                    :grin :blk13 :grin
Title: Re: Newbie from the UK
Post by: kettle738 on March 08, 2016, 07:42:31 PM

Thank you for the kind comments, much appreciated....I have history with the XS11, it was bought by a good mate 27 years ago as a low mileage minter and we did several South of France trips on it back in the day when we used to share a bike to keep costs down.....now the wives come along and and the hotels have had to go up a few notches.

The XS was retired about seven years ago when it developed a bad smoking habit from cold starts...I always thought it was nothing more than valve stem seals, so a few years back I bought it, treated it to a set of Viton seals and restored it......the next step is a Mockett fairing....not sure if you had them in Australia, but a very effective fairing, it's just awaiting me getting round to having it painted to match.  I love the way I barely need to look at the starter button and she's running, very rarely gives any grief, so the ST1100 has that to live up to.....which it should do easily enough.

(http://i1086.photobucket.com/albums/j445/kettle738/Samsung%20Photos%20355.jpg)

The silver one is an XS1100 I had back then, with the Mockett fairing.....I still have the kettle next to it.

I'm just filling time waiting for the ST1100 to be delivered, should be here within the next hour.....it's like Christmas only better.

Mick..........kettle738   
Title: Re: Newbie from the UK
Post by: bloodbikes on March 08, 2016, 07:45:51 PM
Welcome to OZSTOC Mick from a transplanted Pom originally from Leicester now living in Western Australia.

 :wht11
Title: Re: Newbie from the UK
Post by: Shiney on March 08, 2016, 08:53:57 PM
G'day Mick, welcome to the forum mate :hatwave
Title: Re: Newbie from the UK
Post by: ST2UP on March 08, 2016, 09:24:59 PM
Welcome along Mick....enjoy your new STead mate :thumbsup
Title: Re: Newbie from the UK
Post by: Kev Murphy on March 09, 2016, 09:05:13 PM
G'day, Mick, from far west coast of Victoria. Welcome to the forum. I will be dropping in to visit Jdbiker in a week and a half, to show him how to post pix.
Your 1100 is a lot cleaner than my 98 model, but then I have 171,000 k on the dial, and have been ram-raided to the horizontal by a rampant emu, lol.
Title: Re: Newbie from the UK
Post by: kettle738 on March 09, 2016, 10:48:53 PM

I think if I got upended by a rampant Emu in this country it would make the national news!....I haven't been to Leicester in years, but anyone who left this country more than four or five years ago would probably be shocked by the changes if they came back....the only constant is the weather which hovers between pleasant and grim....if only we could move the UK eight hundred miles south!

The ST1100 arrived yesterday and I think it's a peach.....I'll post some photos very soon....the only downside was someone in the courier company had left the ignition on, probably for a couple of days so the brand new gel battery was flatter than a jaywalking hedgehog.  I measured 2.8V on my meter and had my doubts about recovering it, but four or five hours on an old style charger and overnight on the Optimate seem to have revived it, fingers crossed...I'm slightly surprised at how small the battery is, but if it does the job, less is more.

I spent a couple of hours removing an Autocom system yesterday....very nicely fitted and probably top kit in it's day, but long superseded by bluetooth for convenience.  The swingarm looks rust free, just a few paint chips and tiny amounts of surface rust, nothing tragic at all.....today's task is mounting the Sat Nav...nicking an idea for an alloy bar mount from another forum......it will work, but my metal bending skills are not the best.

The paperwork shows this one was off the road for seven years which explains the low miles and it's done a few hundred a year for the last couple of years, so once it's up and running and I'm happy all is ok, I think the best thing for it is a good workout.

Mick...........kettle738

   
Title: Re: Newbie from the UK
Post by: Kev Murphy on March 09, 2016, 11:22:23 PM
Just rubbing it in, Mick .... it is now 22 minutes after midnight, and temp inside my unit is 26 degrees c (78.8 fah)
Outside is 17.1 (62.8 fah) great weather for 'skinning' it inside with the blinds drawn  :grin

No, I haven't had the heater on, or the aircon running    :rofl

So, ... when are you coming to Australia?

Regarding battery, I replaced mine within the last 12 months, and bought a Lithium cell. Its lighter, smaller, and packs more starting punch than Anthony Joshua. Well worth a look at, when the time comes for a replacement
Title: Re: Newbie from the UK
Post by: tj189 on March 13, 2016, 12:28:55 PM
Welcome Mick, enjoy your time here on the forum  :beer
Title: Re: Newbie from the UK
Post by: kettle738 on April 02, 2016, 05:26:14 PM

Took the ST1100 out for it's first ride yesterday.....  :dred11 the bike has had relatively little use and I was fully expecting some sort of issue.  During it's month on the bench it's had fresh coolant, (easy to do while the exhausts were removed) new (original Honda part) left side downpipes and collector box....... what an awkward SOB that was......new tyres, rear drive cleaned and lubed, a Sat Nav mount fitted and a general clean and fettle.  The bike was supplied with fresh oil and filter so I could ignore that.

I just dialled in a thirty mile or so ride with a fuel stop midway to top it up with fresh fuel.......and I have to say this bike is an absolute peach!  Faster than I recall from my Moto Plod days, handling just as I remembered it....incredible given the weight....super comfortable and such a pleasure to ride.

The only tiny bugbear was another one that came back to me.....wind noise....the bike currently has a GIVI screen which I do like, it doesn't have the cat eye cut outs but I have the original screen as a template so I can add those later if needed.   My last tourer was an R1200GS BMW with a GIVI airflow screen....that screen was two blades with the front one adjustable for height over a large range, it allowed a lot of air to pass under the foot of the screen, the net result of which was zero buffeting and the quietest screen I've ever had despite it being quite small, so  it I'm going to look at fitting a laminar lip to see if I can improve air flow....and if that doesn't work I'll try the cats eyes to relieve the low pressure pocket behind the screen.

For a first ride on a new bike which is getting on a bit though it could hardly have gone any better......good feeling.

Mick...........kettle738   
Title: Re: Newbie from the UK
Post by: Abe on April 02, 2016, 05:33:13 PM
Boy oh boy Mick, she sounds like a new bike  ++

Wind noise can be a problem but the laminar should fix that issue for you.

Thanks for the update
Title: Re: Newbie from the UK
Post by: gaz on April 02, 2016, 05:45:47 PM
G'day Mick, welcome to the forum mate :hatwave

Welcome to OzStoc  :fp
Title: Re: Newbie from the UK
Post by: Shiney on April 02, 2016, 06:14:26 PM
G'day Mick,
I had a laminar lip on my old 1990 ST1100 and it worked a charm so I'm sure it'll do the trick for you too :thumbsup

Photos from the first ride I had on the Big 11 with the wife :runyay
(http://i1075.photobucket.com/albums/w435/ShineyOzSTOC/3_zps3ac737a1.jpg) (http://s1075.photobucket.com/user/ShineyOzSTOC/media/3_zps3ac737a1.jpg.html)

(http://i1075.photobucket.com/albums/w435/ShineyOzSTOC/5_zps4e124eca.jpg) (http://s1075.photobucket.com/user/ShineyOzSTOC/media/5_zps4e124eca.jpg.html)
Title: Re: Newbie from the UK
Post by: johnnyYTED on April 02, 2016, 07:27:42 PM
:dred11
G'day Mick, yet another welcome from NSW this time..  SCMICK looking bike  you've got there.   My bike STranger just won the trophy for the moST charismatic ,, or worst looking ST ... hehehe... he's a 1998 ex police model with 177, odd k's
(http://i774.photobucket.com/albums/yy22/Johnny_Whitehead/WA%20Nat%20Rally/HD0016_zpses47xh4w.jpg) (http://s774.photobucket.com/user/Johnny_Whitehead/media/WA%20Nat%20Rally/HD0016_zpses47xh4w.jpg.html)
xs11's were great bike also ...
Title: Re: Newbie from the UK
Post by: Biggles on April 02, 2016, 08:25:35 PM
Welcome Kettle.
We should advise you, Johnny's ST11 isn't pink!    :eek
Just a trick of the light.  If it were pink it would have copped more than an award for "Most Charismatic".    :spank