Wiring Issues

| RM

From new, I’ve always had issues with the wiring on the Sprint: I ordered it new with the heated grips and powered top-box but Triumph ship them to the dealers “as-is” and the dealers then fit the accessories.

Or they should…

In my case I discovered last night that the fuse issue appears to be a short in the accessory socket which shares the same wiring as the grips fitted by Metropolis. The moment you try to plug something in to the socket, it shorts and the fuse blows instantly (you can hear it popping if you have the saddle off).

Also, from new there has never been any power to the socket in the powered top-box. Ah. According to Triumph UK, that’s probably because Metropolis may not have fitted a relay that they needed to… {sigh}

So I’ve contacted Jack Lilley at Romford to get them to sort both issues under warranty. I’m waiting for a call back to book it in.

Why was I looking last night? I was removing the wiring for my old Tom Tom Rider and fitting the much more substantial motorcycle mount and loom for my new Garmin zumo 590LM.  This is in preparation for this year’s Eurothrash to Austria with Ali on the pillion – she was comfortable enough to fall asleep on the back the other week – and has also meant I’ve upgraded our intercom/headsets to the new Cardo scala rider G9c PowerSet.

Good Friday; Good Drive

| Richard Morris

On Good Friday, we finally got a chance to take the MX-5 for a proper drive, having collected it on a rainy Sunday before heading off on holiday.

I had arranged a studio photoshoot with Zara Watson up at Milton Keynes and Ali was going to be joining in for part of the shoot.

A to Z

A to Z

This meant that we had to keep the roof up on our drive up to MK, sadly, so as not to potentially leave her hair in a mess. This did show that even at speed on a motorway with the roof up, the car was actually fairly quiet inside.

Our journey back home – via Thurrock Lakeside for shopping – was another story though: having worked out that you can’t lower the roof is the boot is not closed whilst loading my camera kit and Ali’s modelling gear, we dropped the top, turned on the super-efficient heated seats and hurtled off.

I can report that the MX-5 handles superbly on the MK race circuit – er, I mean roundabouts and roads – and that again at speed with the roof and windows down it’s still very acceptable in terms of noise and a lack of turbulence.

After shopping and dinner and despite it getting dark, we dropped the top to drive back up to London. As Ali had been forced to drink wine, she still didn’t get a chance to drive her car either. Result!

Good Friday; Good Drive

| Richard

On Good Friday, we finally got a chance to take the MX-5 for a proper drive, having collected it on a rainy Sunday before heading off on holiday.

I had arranged a studio photoshoot with Zara Watson up at Milton Keynes and Ali was going to be joining in for part of the shoot.

A to Z

A to Z

This meant that we had to keep the roof up on our drive up to MK, sadly, so as not to potentially leave her hair in a mess. This did show that even at speed on a motorway with the roof up, the car was actually fairly quiet inside.

Our journey back home – via Thurrock Lakeside for shopping – was another story though: having worked out that you can’t lower the roof is the boot is not closed whilst loading my camera kit and Ali’s modelling gear, we dropped the top, turned on the super-efficient heated seats and hurtled off.

I can report that the MX-5 handles superbly on the MK race circuit – er, I mean roundabouts and roads – and that again at speed with the roof and windows down it’s still very acceptable in terms of noise and a lack of turbulence.

After shopping and dinner and despite it getting dark, we dropped the top to drive back up to London. As Ali had been forced to drink wine, she still didn’t get a chance to drive her car either. Result!

Zara Watson

| RHMP

A couple of days after getting back from Fuerteventura, it was off to Saracen House Studio in Milton Keynes to do a shoot I’d planned a couple of months back with the gorgeous Zara Watson.

As it was Good Friday and as Ali Brooks was still here in London with me, she came along for the ride and took her modelling stuff with her to combine a solo shoot with Zara with some joint shots.

And very pleased I am too with the results, which can be seen in the Headshots and Lingerie galleries.

And Zara has just left me a lovely reference over on PurplePort:

“Worked with Richard as part of my studio day at Saracen House Studio. He is a very lovely guy, friendy, funny, easy going …a pleasure to work with.

“He also brought along his lovely partner Ali Brooks (another model) whom i worked with, she is also a great lady, easy to get on and work with.

“We shot a mixture of styles and Richard has been so kind as to send me the images from the shoot, which are great.

I would definitely recommend Richard , a sound, respectful guy. I would work with him again without any hesitation. Big smile

Thanks a million Smile x”

Ali Brooks in Fuerteventura

| RHMP

A planned week away in Fuerteventura up in the North of the island meant only one thing: taking Ali Brooks along for a working holiday.

And so it was that we shot from our luxury villa, did a bit of “urbex” in an an abandoned, half-built hotel complex and of course the marvelous sand dunes.

The results can be seen in the Art Nude gallery.

I Wanna Be Collected

| Richard Morris

Whilst the weather last week was lovely and Spring-like, we couldn’t go and collect it on a nice, dry and bright Saturday as I was moving house. No, we went to pick up the MX-5 on the Sunday, my birthday, as it happens.

But it was a little soggy when we woke up and grabbed a bus, the London Overground and a train to get to Eden Park and walk down to the dealers, Masters.

As we walked into the showroom, there it was – it’s a ‘she’ apparently… – sitting there in the showroom looking lovely.

Ali in the MX-5 at Masters Ali 4 MX-5

We did the paperwork, handed over some more cash and off I drove into the traffic: Ali isn’t used to London driving yet, so I got to drive the new MX-5 home. Sadly, it wasn’t dry enough to put the hood down: instead, we got to try out the exceptional 5-point heated leather seats which were very efficient indeed!

I plugged the house address into the built-in satnav and off we drove. A lovely car it is to drive too! Once home, we put the hood down and set to work pairing our iPhones with it: the MX-5 has a feature where it stores multiple user profiles so my phonebook and phone are set for one user and Ali’s for another.

But rain stopped play with our intended photoshoot which will have to wait until we’re back from our holiday.

I Wanna Be Collected

| Richard

Whilst the weather last week was lovely and Spring-like, we couldn’t go and collect it on a nice, dry and bright Saturday as I was moving house. No, we went to pick up the MX-5 on the Sunday, my birthday, as it happens.

But it was a little soggy when we woke up and grabbed a bus, the London Overground and a train to get to Eden Park and walk down to the dealers, Masters.

As we walked into the showroom, there it was – it’s a ‘she’ apparently… – sitting there in the showroom looking lovely.

Ali in the MX-5 at Masters Ali 4 MX-5

We did the paperwork, handed over some more cash and off I drove into the traffic: Ali isn’t used to London driving yet, so I got to drive the new MX-5 home. Sadly, it wasn’t dry enough to put the hood down: instead, we got to try out the exceptional 5-point heated leather seats which were very efficient indeed!

I plugged the house address into the built-in satnav and off we drove. A lovely car it is to drive too! Once home, we put the hood down and set to work pairing our iPhones with it: the MX-5 has a feature where it stores multiple user profiles so my phonebook and phone are set for one user and Ali’s for another.

But rain stopped play with our intended photoshoot which will have to wait until we’re back from our holiday.