Out again today on the Bullitt.
I needed to see someone so what better way than travel than in the Bullitt. This time on the way back I took a much more meandering backroads detour. Enjoying just being out riding. Finding roads to head down purely to keep the ride going.
Jamie
Never far from the sea
Caleb was operating his stall selling plants at one of the local markets here in Caithness on a very nice Saturday morning. It certainly made a change from the wet and windy February we have had where any riding was mainly confined to commuting or the odd brief ride just to keep the legs spinning.
So after joining Caleb and the family for lunch which took me pretty much a direct route into town, I decided to take a few detours and tracks around the coast on the way back home.
I picked up a few bits and pieces in town but to be honest I could have got the family to take these home as it didn't warrant the cargo bike, but I really just love riding the big Bullitt. It's just a sweet ride and by it's nature there is no pressure to go fast or to race, so if you don't want to high tail it, it's equally at home taking it steady and enjoying it. When I am riding to work then I am steady and trying to go quickly so a weekend ride is cruising and enjoying the scenery. ;)
A really pleasant few hours to spend re exploring some of the dirt tracks and small back roads.
The Bullitt was it's usual reliable, enjoyable self, taking it all in it's stride.
The only issue I have had is with the front disc wheel which is the hub motor. I have had it go out of true slightly and very hard to force back into true. Have to use leverage in small adjustments die to the fact that the hub us attached to the rim by the aluminium disks. These themselves seem to be pop rivetted to the hub and the rim, leaving no mechanical means to adjust the trueing. I will have to fully dismantle and get some very short spokes cut to replace the disks. It will be fine for spring and then in the summer I will sort it.
Jamie
After a very wet and windy couple of weeks, today was quite nice, sunny for the most part but still cold with the roads not drying out much at all. I don't think they will completely dry now for a few months.
I had a few things to get done this afternoon and one of those was to visit a friend where my Royal Enfield is parked up until my new shed is built, this has now been delayed and not likely to get done until next spring, but the Enfield is tucked up with his bikes, with battery out and now on trickle charge.
It was a good excuse to load up the Bullitt with some tools and a bike cover and head out. While it is just up the road from home I made sure I went way past and travelled the long way round as it was such a nice winters afternoon. The sun was quite low but was oh so bright in the clear afternoon sky. The quiet backroads on a Sunday afternoon suited the Bullitt perfectly. No hauling to get to work or carry cargo from town out to home, this was a Sunday afternoon meander, enjoying the ride for the pure fun of it.
Hope you have all had a nice Sunday as well.
Jamie
Shortly after I was home this is what the sky looked like looking northward
My boy Caleb is growing up fast, seems like only just the other month I was hauling him around on the back of the Long Haul Trucker and Big Dummy, now he is riding my bikes with no problem.
The Bullitt needed just a slight lowering of the seat and handlebars for him to be comfortable and in the right position. He spent several afternoons after school riding it up and down our quiet rural street getting used to the steering and also the electric assist, something he hadn't ever experienced before. He did great and picked it up in no time and you could see his confidence building with each pass.
I think his aim is to be able to take it the 5 mile or so over the backroads to where he looks after several miniature Shetland Ponies. Great to see his confidence build and as he rides everywhere now, also to see his independence come on, not so sure about watching my Bullitt ride up the road away from me :)
Jamie
This Sunday kickstarted a really nice run of weather for us here in the north of Scotland which lasted through to the following Sunday. I managed to get the Wednesday, Thursday and Friday commute on the Bullitt which thanks to the lovely weather and lengthening days was an absolute pleasure and just really enjoyed getting used to the elctric assist and adjusting to try and get the best from it and myself. I was certainly quicker on the commute and more relaxed with it as well. While it is always a better, more relaxed way to get to work and also the ride home letting the worries of the work day dissolve along the way, it was just plain old fun. It will be interesting to see how the commute on my Long Haul trucker will be after a while on the Bullitt as I find I am riding it at a higher cadence than normal, which I assume is down to the assist, so it may speed me up with my accoustic rides.
My morning and evening commute, not stressful :)
I then spent Saturday afternoon tidying up the electric harness and wires from the controller etc. While I had moved the controller from the outside back of the box to inside the cargo box, I had the connections loose as well as the harness to the front wheel inside the box so to be easy to fix or dismantle should there be a problem with it in these early stages. Besides a loose connection on thursday, every thing had been working fine. So I tidied the wires into the secondary box and moved the front drive harness to underneath the cargo box, waterproofed the connections where needed and then made sure it was all weatherproofed and secure.
Out and about again this afternoon putting a few miles onto the Bullitt to shake down the electric assist I fitted this week. Game changer in opening up its versatility even more with hauling cargo and commuting. Just a bit easier.
Still feels a bit like cheating but I can live with that on the cargo bike
Out today on the Bullitt.
I finally got round to swapping out my bars on the Bullitt for a set with a bit more reach and also slightly wider. These are the On One version of the Jeff Jones loop bars, ironically called the 'Geoff ' bars.
It’s
moved the position forward a good bit as on long rides it was feeling a bit too
short with the wide sweep feeling a bit close to my body. Often at low speed or when taking off they just felt a bit wobbly now and again. Nothing major but just a bit unstable sometimes when setting off. Not really been a problem as they have been fine for all
this time, just felt it could be improved. Plus, I love these bars on my Pugsley and similar bend on my 1X1 mtb, and also have the benefit of somewhere to mount my lights until I re
electrify it again.
Short
ride but what an improvement, not that it felt bad before, but now just a lot
more stable and comfortable. This is especially noticeable when setting off, gone completely is any feeling of instability, no matter how small it ever was, it is completely eliminated now. I think this is due to the width and the fact it is a 3 to 4 inches further forward which puts a bit more weight forward than what the previous setup had.
Well after having my few days off last week with plans to do the Badger Divide on my Ogre dashed by the abysmal weather, I then thought I ...
