Windows 10 upgrade good and bad

I've recently done the free upgrade to Windows 10, so I thought I'd post my experiences in case they help / tally with anyone else's.

First of all the tool advised I couldn't upgrade because the older of the two graphics cards (a 7300 GS), was compatible. I only had that card in there to run my third monitor, as I couldn't get all three ports working on the 7700. So I did a little research, established an active adapter was needed on the DisplayPort, bought one, then was able to run all three monitors from the newer card. With this working, I removed the older card and vainly hoped the upgrade tool would rerun an assessment. It wouldn't and despite trying various way to force it, I couldn't, so instead I just reinstalled Windows 7.

After going through the various updates the Windows 10 tool soon popped up again, this time the system was all compatible, then the notification to upgrade arrived a few days later. However I wanted to ensure it was a clean install, so it was a slightly long winded process. In order to do a clean install I needed an activated instance of Windows 10 running first, so I went through the upgrade process as normal which was painless.

On firing up the new Windows 10 installation, the first thing I noticed was that the fonts were terrible, blurry and rough. Changing Cleartype settings made no difference. I also noted an upgrade  install over my two year old Windows 7 install took up over 60GB - ridiculous.

Now to the clean install. I downloaded the Media creation tool, which then downloaded another copy of Windows 10 (but with my previous activation embedded), which I put on a USB flash drive. I then booted to this, wiped all the previous partitions and reinstalled Windows 10. This time the fonts were slightly better (I think the graphics driver is different but I didn't take a note of the previous version), however they still leave a lot to be desired. The new install occupied a more palatable 18GB.

All was OK and I started setting the OS up, mapping Docs / Pics etc across to my NAS. Then I found all the folders stopped working and I couldn't backslash to the NAS either. Windows refused to connect and complained: "A specified logon session does not exist. It may already have been terminated", WTF??

Some more searching revealed that incredibly, setting up a PIN to login, as Windows encourages you to do and I duly had, breaks local network access! Furthermore, there seems to be no way to remove the PIN. However, logging out then logging back in with your full password does fix the issue, so now I can access the NAS again and subsequently, the mappings are all good. This seems ludicrous to me, so hopefully I've missed something or if not, it will be fixed shortly.

Other than that it's early days. The font issue is really annoying and nearly reason enough to go back to Windows 7, however it looks like it might be a Radeon problem so I'm hoping it improves soon with a driver update. Groove music seems decent, as does the new Photo app. Due to the complaints about the Windows 8 layout, we're back to the Desktop being a large and pretty much redundant empty space - I'm not sure this is a good thing to be honest, but it seems I'm in the minority. Instead an abbreviated version of the Windows 8 tile system appears in the Start menu. The Edge browser doesn't have addons yet - this is a PITA as it means Lastpass won't work, however there is a two click option to load the current site in IE, which gets around it. Other than that, Edge seems clean and fast so hopefully add on support will be added shortly.

Epic West Wales fishing weekend

Took myself off to Wales in search of it's wildest trout this weekend and managed to find a few. I was entirely self contained; the back of my old Shogun (my specialist fishing and pigeon shooting machine), converts into a flat bed and I'd plugged in a portable fridge, luxury...! I got to Llyn Bugeilyn late on Friday

evening, a drizzly fog was descending as the light failed and half an hour later, it was blowing a gale and lashing down with rain.

 A mile or so from the nearest road in horrible weather, it felt very desolate indeed. Happily it had blown out by the morning, so after a cup of coffee and hastily cooked egg and bacon roll, I was ready to go and on the water by 720am, then delighted with my first fish after a fair few missed takes at 745am. I managed to catch and return eight in total, up to about half a pound, before I set off for Nant-y-moch at around 11am.

Arriving at Nant-y-moch

Tony, a season ticket holder turned up in the morning, he'd been fishing it for years so it was good to have a chat and hear some of the stories. Sure enough, he was fishing exactly the same team as me! I'd heard it said before, but the fish do seem 'fast' at Bugeilyn, I had a lot of missed takes, maybe they just weren't committing. Fish came to all three flies in my team, a Gold Bead Bibio on point, a Black and Peacock spider on the dropper and a Claret dabbler on the bob, the latter taking the most of them.

I then set off cross country to Nant-y-moch, as it was about 20

miles shorter than the very indirect road route, but got thwarted by a locked gate into the forestry about two miles in. So unfortunately I wasted two hours retracing my steps, then taking the long route. Nonetheless, I got to Nant-y-moch and was delighted to be rewarded with a fish second cast. I went on to catch twelve in total, but they were mostly quite small and all returned but one; for my supper. I found Nant-y-moch a hard place to judge, as all I could find was a barren stone bottom, so it was a case of just fishing where the wind suited. Again the fish liked small and black, with a few on the claret dabbler.

After a delightful supper overlooking the water, I set off late down to Llyn Teifi. But arriving as darkness fell, I was confounded by my directions, so I parked up down a remote lane and settled in for the evening, weary from the excitement of the day. In the morning, I found the straight forward road route to Llyn Teifi and was on the water by eight.

Having walked round the other side, my first fish soon followed, with what proved to be a trademark, energetic take in the big wave. The fish were a better stamp here than at Bugeilyn or Nant--y-moch; all half a pound and upwards. I had a good few hours, totalling five fish to a Coch-y-Bondus, the Dabbler again and they quite liked the black Zulu on the point. I then headed over the hill to Llyn Hir, but unfortunately the wind didn't suit it, so I only fished for 20 minutes or so without a take. Then it was over again to Llyn Egnant which looks a great water, but I couldn't seem to get to grips with it.

After fishing it fairly well for three hours, on the windward and leeward banks, I hadn't even moved a fish. Sadly I had to give it best and head back to the car, but I was glad to see another fisherman eventually land one before I left. They're in there, but I don't know what I was doing wrong! Finally it was back home after a thoroughly enjoyable, but very tiring, proper fishing weekend. I shall definitely be back. Bugeilyn was a delight in it's remoteness and I'm sure there are some better fish to be had in Teifi. Exquisite fishing all.

Fishing Beacons Reservoir

I've been searching for something similar to the big and fairly wild brown trout reservoirs in the south west, but a little closer to our home in the Cotswolds. My search has centred around Wales and I found the various 'wilderness' reservoirs Welsh Water have. Beacons reservoir looked a great bet,

View from the far bank

primarily wild brown trout with the odd rainbow, so I booked a ticket through the Wye & Usk Foundation. We arrived and given there was a road right next to it with bikes howling up and down, it wasn't very wilderness at all. The two fishable spots on the near bank already had anglers on them and so we headed to the far bank. However it was very bright with not a cloud in the sky, plus very gusty, with the wind not settling in any direction. It made for very difficult fishing, especially with a #5, so I never really got going properly.

A Beacons reservoir brownie

Nonetheless a 3/4 pound brown trout was decent enough to attach itself to a Bibio on the point once I'd switched to sink tip, so we didn't go fishless. Later on in the day when anglers on the near bank left, it was then busy with passers by stopping to sunbathe or sit around, so by 2pm I decided to call it best and head the two hours back home. The water would be good fished from a boat, but it doesn't lend itself to bank fishing very well. There were about five people fishing there in total which given the condition, filled up most fishable spots. It's not a very pleasant experience with lots of people and litter about and its obviously not secluded. Good to tick another one off, but I probably won't be rushing back. Llyn Bugeilyn looks a much better prospect, shame it's so far away... Back home for Fernworthy or maybe Colliford next weekend, can't wait!

TTR renovation - Part 5 - back in working order

Old and new inlet rubbers

The ratchet guide arrived with the new inlet rubbers and I was able to get the old ones off. Turns out they were four piece when they should have been two piece... The rubber inlets  had completely unbonded from the internal aluminium flanges that bolt to the head. I should have realised this back at the start when I removed the carb and they seemed loose, another lesson learnt.

I fitted the new bits and buttoned it all back up to see how it ran. Started first kick from cold after a couple of priming kicks, so much better there. There was a rattle coming from the kick start though, plus the kick lever was getting stuck as it wasn't auto decompressing properly, so I didn't run it for long. I got back then went briefly to start it to check an unrelated  indicator problem, but got a kick back, firing my knee into the handlebar (that was another two days limping), so back into the garage and back apart. Turns out I'd stupidly not aligned the ratchet guide properly with the decomp lobe the other side of the kick start gear - hence no auto decomp. I also found that this time, it had smashed up the bolts and tabs making up the kick start stop. My first major mistake on this one, but thankfully not too expensive - back to motorcyclespareparts.eu...

smashed up kick start stop

Meanwhile I got some help from the horizonsunlimited forum, where jjrider kindly took a photo of an old mechanism he had lying around and sent to me. The problem with the kick start issues on this bike is that I only have a TTRE electric start workshop manual  - it's all I've found anywhere online. So its fine for most of the bike, but I'm blind on the kick start stuff, hence I made the mistake in alignment. In case it helps anyone reading this, the straight vertical side of the kick start ratchet wheel lobe, should align with a dot that reveals itself at the end of the ratchet spline on the kick start shaft, once you take the circlip, washer and spring off. Anyway, that's all now back together and I've been out today - the bikes running really well with the new inlet rubbers, it's easy to start with no kick backs and all the back firing has gone.

There are lots of bits that still need doing to sort it out, stripping and rebuilding calipers, new chain and sprockets etc - but I now know it's a sweet running bike, worth spending the time and effort on.

So there's my tale from a mechanically conversant but lacking in experience perspective. The various photos I took dismantling it were a great help and nothing is ever as daunting as it might seem if you've not done it before - so if in doubt go for it. Work sensibly and methodically and you won't go far wrong, as ever Google is your friend. I certainly won't be taking bikes to workshops much any more!

TT600R renovation - Part 4 - running lean.

I was busy doing other things for a while and my garage was full, so it stayed at the Mike Wheeler's in Witney for a while (great service by the way!). Eventually they found a source for the parts and duly fitted them, turns out it had destroyed various bits of the kick start mechanism internally (ratchet wheel, kick start gear, idle gear and ratchet stop), plus they put an MOT on. While at the workshop we still felt the replacement CDI might be at fault, so they swapped it for the old one and got it to run on both, but very roughly on the original. It seems CDIs can partly fail. When we went to pick it up it was a pig to start again, but started to come back to life via a few kick backs. The clutch was also gummed up again, so I pointed it in the direction of home and the moment it fired knocked it in gear and rode off. It got me home but still wasn't right.

Half way home

Second kick start destroyed..

After a ride around I realised it was backfiring much more than it had before, plus still needed choke to start when warm, and wouldn't tick over properly. It had a hanging idle as well so I suspected something was making it lean.  Eventually, after messing about with checking the new air filter was oiled etc, I got it running and finally suspecting the inlet rubbers, sprayed easy start on them while it was running - sure enough the revs rose so I'd found the culprit, lean running due to knackered inlet rubbers. The studs for the inlet rubbers were very tight so one evening I went to warm it up to make removing them easier. One bloody big kick back and it destroyed ANOTHER kick start. Not wanting to take it to the workshop again this time round, I just decided to get on with it and take the clutch cover off myself. Sure enough, it was all pretty simple and I shouldn't have been nervous about doing it before - but it's all a learning curve.

Once the cover was off I took it apart and found it had destroyed another ratchet wheel. I called Mike Wheeler's and they said they'd been able to source TTR parts at motorcyclespareparts.eu - so this time I ordered direct and fitted myself. Great service there and an excellent source for hard to find TTR parts.

TT600R renovation - Part 3 - it lives!

Once we'd moved house I had better facilities to work on it regularly, so could focus my attention on making it go. With the new CDI fitted I decided it was time to give it a good kicking. I could smell and see fuel was getting through now and finally, dripping with sweat from kicking it over, I got a backfire. I decided to be fairly bold and sprayed some easy start in through the vacuum take off on the inlet rubber in front of the carb, to take the carb out the equation. It wouldn't start but I could determine a slight burnt fuel smell indicating some combustion, so I knew it was getting a spark. I thought it was probably getting a spark anyway, but I couldn't do this basic test as was unable to kick it and properly ground the plug at the same time. Failing to do so would likely fry the new CDI - so I didn't try. Next, I sprayed some Easy Start in the air box and started to get the odd cough and squeak, definite signs of life. Then finally after 60 - 70 kicks and with me f**king knackered it fired! There was a fair bit of smoke as it kicked out 7 yrs of accumulated crap and it stopped after a few seconds, but nonetheless it lived! I was learning how to kick the thing as well, from feel and what I'd read on forums, so I was pretty pleased. It wouldn't run without the choke out (another tell tale sign I should have noticed), but nonetheless it worked.

Over the next few weeks I got it running a few times, but noted that it gave some fairly vicious kick backs. It did it once when I wasn't wearing a steel shanked MX boot - I never did that again afterwards. I got it out and took it for a brief ride to check the clutch and gearbox worked as expected. Everything seemed OK, but the engine wasn't happy, feeling lumpy, not wanting to tick over and not very lively. Then one day, it kicked back so violently when I went to start it, it destroyed the kick start mechanism and punctured a hole in the clutch cover where the kick start smashed its stop and continued into the casing. At this point in time I wasn't too confident about taking the clutch cover off. Seems stupid now, but not really knowing what was inside and thinking it would also mean changing the auto decomp I wasn't keen. So off to the local workshop it was.

TTR Renovation - Part 2 - initial troubleshooting

Back at base I decided to go through the whole electrical system testing resistance according to spec, as I had no idea what else might have perished in the time it had been stood. I was pleased to find everything seems to be performing OK and the various kill switches were doing what they should be. The coil resistance did seem a little off, so as it was only £30 or so I put a new one. The sump plug was loose and most of the oil had left the of engine, so I did an oil and filter change for good measure, plus put a new iridium plug in. There were a couple of casing studs missing so I replaced them, plus (backing myself that I'd actually get it running), decided to replace the rear cowling which was flaking away. I also took the headlight apart, drained the water out of it, then cleaned it up inside.

Leaky headlight...

 Satisfied the engine was turning OK and that it had oil and fresh petrol in it, I decided to see if it would start, there appeared to be plenty of compression. Needless to say it wouldn't. Fuel wasn't moving through the new clear pipe I'd fitted by the tap, plus there was none at the carb drain screw, so was safe to say it wasn't getting fuel, I couldn't smell any either.

So I took the carbs off and found the float valve stuck, I gave everything a good clean and put it all back together again. At this stage I should have noted the inlet rubbers were overly flexible, but still.

Given I knew everything else was OK, I decided it was time to try and find a new CDI. They're silly money from Yamaha, but I eventually imagined to source an aftermarket one from Wieltronic in Belgium, via eBay. I fitted it and it still wouldn't start, but at this point we moved house so there was a pause in progress.

Yamaha TT600R renovation - Part 1

As I bought it, AFTER we'd cleaned it up....

I thought I'd write up my experience getting a basket case bike into running order - from the perspective of someone who mostly knows how bikes work, but doesn't have a great deal of experience fixing them up beyond general maintenance and rebuilding calipers etc. Hopefully my lessons and experiences will be useful for someone in a similar position - I've learnt a lot in the last few months. So last summer I finally managed to persuade my mate who runs the local dealership to part with an 03 Yamaha TT600R that had been sat in the corner of his yard, outside, for about six years. Previously he'd told me I didn't want it because it was knackered, but he eventually relented. It had originally come in with a presumed electrical fault but then had been abandoned. It had a decent supermoto conversion; talon hubs, excel rims, Maxxis supermoto tyres and a full titanium Remus system. But it had been out uncovered with the instrument binnacle hanging off and a rag in place of the spark plug. We dragged it out, pumped the tyres up, confirmed the engine wasn't (too), seized and sprayed some WD40 in the cylinder for good measure.

He suggested a new CDI or kill switch which didn't seem to bad, as far as they could remember they'd already fitted a new loom, ignition switch and coil. So I loaded it up and took it away...

Opening the season at Clatworthy

Father and I headed down to Clatworthy at the weekend against our better judgement, it was a cold day with a cold wind. Nonetheless we wanted to kick the season off so over we went, the wife elected not to fish...

Fishing from the far bank I started with a floating line, twitching back a small gold head GRHE on the point, a red buzzer next up and a PTN on the dropper. To my surprise I was into a fish within about 15 minutes, the fish took the buzzer,
probably about 7 - 8 feet down (right).

After that it was a fairly slow business until I missed a good thump fairly deep on the point fly, then got a savage take close in on the GRHE twenty minutes later to yield a second fish. Meanwhile Father had headed up the bank and caught two in quick succession fishing a Black and Peacock on a floating line. A couple of hours passed with not much doing and the after a brief spell of sunshine the weather refused to lighten up, so I changed to an intermediate, pulling a mini white booby on the point (felt a bit dirty), and a Zulu variant on the dropper. Was into a fish first cast on the point. so that seemed to work. Then on the third cast bang again and was into a another fish, which once I'd played it in a bit, turned out to be two fish, one on each fly! I must have just hit a pod of them and being early season, they were probably less wairy of lures, which everybody seems to drag in all day round there. So that was me, Father picked up one more fish but really by 3.30pm, it was colder, the fish were done for the day, so we were off home to the fire. A good day given the conditions, it seemed less a case of using a specific fly and more a case of being at the right depth and finding a pod of fish. The fish were all between two and three pounds, so seemed smaller than previous seasons at Clatworthy, but it was only one day so if I'm there again this season, we'll see how it goes. Meanwhile, I hear Roadford and Colliford have made a strong start, so look forward to getting down there as soon as I can.

Post Office...

Is it any wonder the Post Office is struggling against the competition? Going public seemed to help them out, but whenever I need something done, there seems to be an issue of some sort. Can't post a mobile phone with a battery in it because it's hazardous, really?? I had a long parcel to post today, 170cm 'Oh that's too long for here..", give me strength...

I get they need to post everywhere for a fixed cost unlike the other mail providers, but they're just difficult to do business with. DPD by comparison, have a driver tracking service so you can pin point to the nearest 30 mins when your parcel will arrive. Isn't this the approach to customer services and convenience Royal Mail should be adopting in the modern age? Maybe the post man should pick my parcel up on his way through tomorrow, now that would be convenient.