Listen... you smell something?

Some exaggeration for effect may be in evidence.

Where I been at, I hear you ask? I been at one with my bike, just tripping and... uh... gripping and... such-like. I think in the near future, we can only expect updates when things go awry.

Up until this week, things have been non-awry. I haven't managed any more mini-epics, just commutes and pleasure jaunts. The bike has been behaving itself just fine, although the tyres are not great in the wet, and roundabouts need to be treated with serious respect - I've had a foot down to correct a wobble. Woke the cagers up, anyway.

However, this week has brought a potential new issue, a mild cooking smell. It's a 'hot' smell rather than sharp burning, is evident even after short runs, and it smells vaguely rubbery. There's nothing binding on the wheels, and I can't find anything touching the engine, although it does seem to be coming from down there. So, internal then.

I suspect the clutch, particularly with the switch to fully synthetic oil and the Activ8 treatment that I did a while back, but if it's that, then it's taken a long time to start slipping. I've adjusted it up, and there's no feel or sound of slipping evident.

Well, first port of call was another oil change today, still with 5W-40 synthetic, but the smell still seems to be evident. Then it stalled entering a roundabout, just faltered, popped and died. OK, I was being a bit limp-wristed, and it started right up again, but we're not having that.

The other thing that occurs then is the valve clearances. I've had them tighten up to nothing once before, as did SteveF on the Chinese Bike Forum, and they are suspiciously quiet at the moment. First thing tomorrow, it'll be off with the rocker cover and out with the feeler gauges. Then we shall see what we shall see. Oh yes, we shall. See, I mean.