The Bar

hello all went to my local dealer yesterday to book my xvs950 midnight star in for it's first 600 mile service expecting to pay £60-£70 for the service and get the book stamped to keep the two year warranty going, i nearly had a fit when the service guy came out with £350 as i hadn't bought the bike from them.

loud back fire as i give;r some gas ,,anyone know anything abouit timing etc ? cheers

Got my LB80 going, has a small petcock leak at the moment, going to remove it and get a simple on and off one. anyways, my max speed is 35mph, I plan to change the gearing (sprockets) but need to know if anyone has done this route before, I want to get a bigger sprocket in front and smaller one in the rear. What size can I fit in the case without using the dremel? cheers! also, what is the stock gearing of the LB80? I read somewhere it was 14 front 32 rear..

Another week another problem on the YBR front. When pulling away it's almost impossible to do it smoothly, you can get the cluch so far out before a loud clunk radiates through the entire bike and the clutch engages all at once. Weirdly though, it only happens once it's warm, and gets worse the hotter the engine is. Been wracking my brains and I can't pinpoint it, the chain is adjusted and lubed perfectly, the clutch cable and lever where both replaced 2 months ago. Can't figure it out, worn out clutch plates, broken gear tooth, bent clutch rod, worn clutch/drive-train? Anyone got any ideas? Don't know what's caused it, I've been changing the oil every 1000 miles re…

Hey guys I am looking at getting an SCR950 at the end of this month and I was hoping some of you guys may have one and have added various accessories to it. I know Yamaha don't do many official accessories and there are tons of 3rd party ones, but I am unsure as how many may actually work. A more comfortable seat and paniers would be the main things I would be after. Does anyone know if you can get these for the SCR950? Thanks in advance Jon

I mean it, DO NOT underestimate Finnerez on his dt, ok on an open road you may toast him. But you will be lured into its web of country roads full of blind apex bends and he is GONE. That thing changes direction like a housefly, you will be humbled. You have been warned

Right first off the machine FZ400R (46X) first registerd 1986 imported 1993. Currently on a 1987 plate (D) Good points virtually complete if exceedingly tatty well I have owned it for 8 years and the previous guy owned it for 2 years so it's been in my garden 10 years time flies. He left it as a box of bits after ripping it apart. He took the wheels and frame had them powder coated gold (don't know what possesed him) anyway ravages of time have put it that it needs doing again wheels are ok been stored in my shed on a shelf. Bad points forks pitted but can get them rechromed I have located fork seals. Rad is damaged but can be rebuilt by local rad specialis…

You are all officially warned, CBT dispatched with a glowing report from the instructor siting words like level headed, good instincts, complemented on her riding kit. Insurance finally came via bikesure, 270quid. Bare bones 3PO policy but when they value the bike at 400quid and want a 500 quid excess on tpft for an extra 150 quid seems little point. Anyho, another lady biker is on the road.

Well, what a cracking weekend that was. Seeing and listening to all the stuff going on behind the scenes was something else, professionalism taken to a new (maybe too much at times) level. Thursday night started by walking around the paddock with a cold beer and then into pitlane to see the MotoGP bikes started and ran through the gears Friday work started at Pit Lane exit for Free Practice Saturday more of the same and then qualifying (did you know that during MotoGP quali and races you cannot walk across pitlane anywhere without a helmet on ?) Sunday pit lane exit for warmups followed by grid boards (I was on Row 2) and yellow flags for the start of the rac…

Today I was out riding most of the day. Not a single problem. Besides the usual driver you have to swerve for because they've never heard of checking their blind spots. Coming home though, as I came down the freeway off-ramp, downshifting to 4th.. Was fine. Then 3rd.. fine. Then 2nd.. Hang on. Clutch pulled in and I'm pressing down on the gear shift lever and nothing. My foot is just moving up and down. No click, no gear engaging. Wth. I accelerated a bit more and squeezed the clutch back in but nothing. I tapped my foot a few times and it was just freely bouncing up and down. I eventually got it into 2nd then pulled up and it wouldn't get into 1st. Same issue.. …

Guys /gals ,just had to get this off my chest : Certain Scottish motorcycle dealer's appalling behaviour. Now, I'm new to this forum and I'm well-versed in the ways of libel law-suits,but here goes Friend of the neighbours' son took his XVS250 Dragstar to a certain Scottish dealer .Symptoms:bike starts and runs ok until throttle opened up,then starts 'bogging'. (Obviously it's a coil failing,but to continue.....) Remember,this is a young lad who knows nowt about bikes. Dealer asks him 'How much are you willing to spend on us doing diagnostic checks?' ' Well,I've got about £200' The bill came to (surprise,surprise £195 ) - for 'diag…

my 1992 xv5352yl started coughing and spluttering dirt in the carbs I suspected some job to get them of even worse ive heard putting them back, anyhow I stripped them down cleaned everthing went to set the mixture screws two of them totally chewed to bits could not move them so ithought I will look at ebay etc see if I can pick up a fair price set of carbs as rare as hens teeth ,the only decent pair I saw was £249 but they had been rebuilt but the buyer said the front cylinder mixture screw was seized and could not be moved but he said its at factory setting and he said t they ran ok on the bike that he was breaking when I had my old 38 year old cm 400 I could get a se…

Hi all,since I've got insomnia and I was going to post this anyway --you do NOT need to remove the carbs from an XV535 Virago in order to overhaul them. The carbs have been designed so that you can get the jets out from the rhs and the diaphragms on the lhs without having to take the carbs off the bike. I have overhauled the carbs on an XV535 and can vouch for this. You will need a torx drive for the diaphragm side ,but that's it. If you are in disbelief ,take a closer look at the bike or take it to an honest mechanic.

hi guys i'm new here i'm looking to upgrade my dragstar to 180cc but i don't know if i have to change the cylinders heads or just keep the stock ones i'm asking this because in every upgrade kit i seen online there isn't new cylinders heads and i can't find anything about this online has someone ever done this upgrade before? this is my dragstar please don't hate i know there is nothing more ironic than a japanese bike whit american flag livery

Hi, It's been a long while since posting, but due to circumstance, I have yet to do my DAS and am on 6th CBT. Anyhow, moving on to the issue: The only way to shift down that works is blipping the throttle. I struggle blipping when breaking, so, naturally I go by the manual which says not to blip but slowly release clutch and apply throttle as required. The problem with that method, is that the revs spike when releasing the clutch, by about 3k, if there is and throttle applied, with no throttle the back wheel starts to lock and the bike lurches. So far, the only work around is to blip on downshift, and block change if coming to a stop. I find it od…

HI So My 1977 DT 175 1g1 is up for its annual MOT, it’s done almost 100 miles since last year, It has a new battery and new bulbs, well 100 miles old, It’s failed for having a head light aim too high, (‘tilt it down then’? I said) It does not have a discernible beam pattern, (they never did??) Oh and the indicators are dim and when they flash other lights are affected, (They always did that it’s only a 6 volt system) Nothing has changed since last year, that was my local Honda bike shop, the older guy who normally does it is on holiday so the youngster did it, Oh and he tried to start it like it was a 1960s 500 cc…

On occasion there have been folks on here that want to fix a problem with their LED indicators flashing to fast. I saw this video and thought that it might help them with a full explanation on why it happens and the correct fix for this problem. I like this guy (Delboys garage) cos he mostly does away with the usual bullshit that others waffle on about, an easy fix with lots of explanations on "How to". Some of his other videos are helpful as well especially the one on fork seal replacement on both USD and normal forks.

50cc Moped, compression tested at 40psi, So, fitted brand new barrel, piston & rings, compression tested 40 psi again?? Base gasket/ head seals are fine with no leaks Is it possible the air is being forced out the crank seals under compression?

hi i have a 1992 xv535 virago ,i would like to swap the sidestand for a longer one anybody know if a stand from a later model which has a longer stand would fit my bike or one from a xvs dragstar i know the bracket may different but as long as the stand will fit

I've just come across a company called "Zeeltronic" that specialises in programmable CDI units for Yamaha's. http://www.zeeltronic.com/page/home.php Has anybody tried one of these as they are quite expensive so just wondering are they worth the money?