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Pulled the trigger on a vmax this evening. Practically stole the damn thing. She is lightly modded to exactly how I would tweak a max. Motorcycle bucket list complete. So if anybody wants a tdr......

Sorry haven't commented on this earlier. I've been looking at trying to get a good way of automating posts from here to Facebook, currently I haven't really found a nice way of doing it without spamming everyone. There's a new version launching int he next few weeks which should make this possible. You're right it's Facebook, our traffic significantly dropped once shortly after they launched their groups functionality. Compared to a forum it's pretty useless in regards to searching and usability etc. However it's there immediately in your hand where most people are checking all the time. We'll have an app coming out soon with alerting functionality, hopefully it's going to help!

Yesterday a van turned up bringing a pressy to myself Younger version of the one I got with only 16.5K miles on the clock. FJ-1200 3XW That also means that the 3CV is on the market.

Hey guys - long post alert, but for those not interested in reading it, there's a link at the end to some photos. So I’m finally getting around to posting up about my Europe trip. A rough plan for the trip was conceived before I had the Tiger 1200, but I won’t lie at being relieved with the prospect of doing it on a far more comfortable bike! Anyway, the core principles were to be on the move pretty much every day, to camp every night, and to be as self-sufficient as possible. In total I was away for 16 days and clocked up 4,000 miles. For the first couple of days I actually chaperoning a friend who wanted to go to Europe on her bike, but was a little tentative about crossing the pond and being there without the prospect of any support. Because of this, we spent 3 days getting to the Black Forest, which for me wasn’t ideal (as it was boring). If I had travelled on my own I would have reached the Black Forest in 1 day, but never mind. Anyway, I left home at 5am for a rush hour commute to the EuroTunnel. The panniers on the Tiger give it a very wide profile, and whilst I have previously filtered fully loaded, I was hoping for a trouble-free journey down the M1. Thankfully all ran smoothly - and the weather was crisp and clear. I arrived at 11.30am at our agreed rendezvous (a Shell petrol station one junction before the EuroTunnel). I filled up and then pushed my bike to a parking space to wait for my friend. Pushed the bike forwards (and even backwards!) into this parking bay so all I had to do was ride it out. Fully loaded, I was quite impressed. And then… for some reason when I went to put the side stand down, I physically pushed the bike away from me ?! I have no idea what I was thinking! It was a literal shove with both my hands? I’ve never done anything like that before. So naturally my bike fell onto it’s right side. A 90 degree drop, fully loaded, and pushed with quite some force! A couple of bikers were fuelling up having just returned from Europe so I enlisted their help in lifting it. The damage - well nothing which prevented me from continuing my journey thankfully: Smashed front right indicator so that wasn’t working A minor scuff on the right hand guard (but this had saved my mirror and brake lever) I had added some fork protectors and they’d done their job - no damage to the forks, front brake, etc. Just a very minor chip on said fork protector A little bit of coolant had leaked out, causing the bike temperature to sit just a little higher until I topped it up later in Italy My poor right pannier had taken the bulk of drop - but saved literally everything else on the bike (including the engine guard). The inside of the pannier compressed from the pressure applied to it from the pannier frame and weight of the bike / luggage pressing on it. The pannier stayed on for the rest of the trip (didn’t want to risk removing it), but I did leave it secured with ratchet straps as a back up. So that’s it! I need a new pannier and a new indicator, but everything else survived unscathed, which is a relief. Bike up-righted and friend now in toe, we headed for the EuroTunnel and had plain sailing over to France. It was then a dull jaunt over to the first campsite which was literally just a rest stop for us. The final couple of miles to this campsite were down a forest track. I was tired (having been riding since 5am) and mentally drained trying to navigate and lead my friend smoothly. This is only my third time riding in another country so every sense was heightened. Whilst trying to work out where our next right turn was I had stopped paying attention to the awful road conditions. The physical weight of the Tiger helped as I then spent the next few hundred miles literally storming through a series of rather aggressive potholes! I kicked up so much dust behind me, that when I did eventually see my friend in my mirror, she was so far back! I had a blast - the suspension on the Tiger was just soaking up these potholes. I had a massive grin on my face at the end! Day two - well nothing really exciting to report on this one. It was just another jaunt over to our second French campsite. Both these campsites were really close to the borders of Belgium and Luxembourg, so we spend our time snaking between these 3 countries. Upon arrival to the campsite I pulled down a road which was actually the exit for the campsite. Full gated security - no way of us getting through. So we had to turn the bikes around. This is where the physical size of the Tiger and my inexperience let me down. This road was narrow and on a very steep hill. My friend (on a tiny BMW 650) was able to shuffle hers round. I was over thinking and starting to panic. Assessing the situation whilst she parked at the top of the road, I thought it was best for me to utilise a patch of grass to help with the turn. So when ready to go, I aimed for this grass to complete a wide turn, rather than being restricted to a narrow road. I completed the turn successfully, but what I didn’t foresee was quite how rutted this grass was going to be! I wish I had it on film - a quarter tonne bike, with luggage and an idiotic woman at the helm basically didn’t make for a dignified scene! Much cursing and much bouncing up and down. In situations like that I usually go for speed and power (because I’m clueless and want to get out the situation as quickly as possible). Well that’s great in principle, but it was like riding over tiny trenches so my back wheel was only able to get traction on raised parts. Much wheel spinning and a scream of relieve when I was back on the road and climbing up the hill! Day 3 and we diverted to Strasbourg before arriving in the Black Forest. I’m not keen on city riding anyway (I used to get zero joy from my central London bike commutes for work). This is also where the Tiger isn’t in it’s element. It’s massive with full luggage, so I couldn’t filter through the heavy traffic, and I was struggling to locate a parking spot for both bikes - particularly one of my size. Anyway, success eventually and it was a spot literally in the centre! Perfect. A bite to eat in a restaurant clad with retro bike memorabilia, and a wander around, we were then back on the bikes and heading to the Black Forest. Finally, this is where the roads started to get interesting. We had our first introduction into hairpins - the first of MANY on this trip. We stayed at the campsite for 2 nights. On Day 4 we both did our own thing because our riding style is just different. I left early and did about 350km, my friend left later and did 50km. So I was glad to be out on my own, and was enjoying the roads. I actually chose to stay away from the more popular roads (such as the B500) - they felt quite similar to roads we have here in the UK, but the single track back roads were full of hairpins and steep drops - much more exciting. If I had travelled on my own, I would have spent 3 nights in the Black Forest. Day 5 and we were aiming for a German campsite near the Austrian border. It had been bucketing it down from 9pm the night before so our tents etc. were saturated. This made for a slow ride as I spent most of the time worrying about my friend who feels the cold, doesn’t have adequate bike clothing for rain, has no weather protection on her bike, and feels the cold. In comparison, I don’t feel the cold, have a Rukka suit which kept me bone dry (they are amazing) and was well protected behind my screen and fairing. I felt we had to keep stopping so that she could warm up, etc. About 20km from the campsite, her clutch failed, but luckily it was an easy fix at the roadside. It was at this point we agreed to split from day 6 onwards. I wanted to stay in Austria for longer and she wanted to aim for the warmth and sun of Italy. It was always our intention to ride our own ride, but the night before the EuroTunnel she lost her wallet, so I was having to buy her petrol and food, etc., meaning she was unfortunately tied to me. We withdrew a stack of cash from my account so that we could split. So day 6, and I was so happy to be able to ride how I wanted / for how long I wanted / and where I wanted without worrying about anyone else. So to Austria I went! I stayed for a couple of days at a campsite near Italy, so I was overlooked by the beautiful Dolomites. I loved Austria, and wish I could have spent more time there. I had a list of roads I wanted to ride, but physically didn’t have the time. However the standout ones were the Felbertauern Tunnel (I love a good tunnel) and of course, Grossglockner. The day I rode Grossglockner the weather was less than ideal. The toll person was in shock when I pulled up - warning me not to ride it as it was horrid up there. But I went ahead and ended up riding it twice (because I needed to get back to the campsite at the end of the day!). I get what he was saying…. I saw only a handful of bikes in total. The first time I rode it the temperature at the top was around 2 degrees and there was black ice. My back wheel was squirming around for traction on the hairpins, but thankfully I didn’t have an issue with the front wheel, otherwise I think I may have regretted my decision rapidly! For the ride back it was a little warmer at the top (3.5 degrees…!) and the torrential rain I’d been in all day had since made it to the summit, but was still just falling as rain. The black ice had gone on my return leg too (thankfully!). Overall visibility was terrible. I was able to see the glacier, but the higher I climbed, the worse it became. For those that know the road, you’ll be aware there is a ‘bikers point’. Checking out the map after I paid the toll I thought, perfect - I’ll head there. Well the fog was so intense that It was literally only when I pulled onto the access road, that I could see it was fully cobbled. I was doing this in the morning where I’d been encountering black ice, the fog was just crazy, from what I could see of the access road, it was incredibly narrow and my sat nav showed a tonne of hairpins! FFS… I was on it now, no choice other than to get to the bikers point to turn around. Because it was generally quiet, and bikers were in the minority, I was encountering cars on this road (I assumed they weren’t allowed). Really not ideal. I shat myself the entire way up because I was worried the cobbles would be slippery. Anyway, made it - but it was pointless because I couldn’t admire the views! Never mind, at least going downhill was easier… Days 8 and 9 were spent in Italy. I rode countless mountain passes in the Dolomites, but don’t have a list of the ones taken. They were great though, but I’ll admit to noticing a difference in local driving quality (when compared with Germany and Austria!). The Italian’s are a little mental and car drivers won’t hesitate to overtake another car whilst on a bend. Sometimes road conditions weren’t as great either, and I noticed that their hairpinned main roads were normally narrower than the hairpin roads in Germany and Austria. So overall I kept my wits about me the entire time I was in Italy. I was getting Italian bikers pulling up next to me in my lane and riding with me whilst they were checking me out. They’d do it for a while, give a thumbs up, and then carry on riding like lunatics. I couldn’t work out whether it was them seeing a UK biker, a biker on their own, a big 1200 (it’s all mopeds there), a woman biker, or that fact I was in full bike gear when it was hot?! No idea why I was attracting such attention from every other Italian geared bike…. It was making me chuckle anyway. It was at the Italy campsite that I’d agreed to meet up with my friend again so that I could top up her funds and so we could share our adventures to date. On day 9 (I think) I took a break from mountains and hairpins for a more leisurely ride around Lake Garda. I have visited Lake Garda when I was younger and loved how clear it was. So it was great to re-visit, and great to just stop and enjoy a nice coffee and ice cream by the lake. On this day I also pulled into a Triumph garage I was riding past. They were so kind and took the initiative to check the bike over. Everything was fine other than the coolant (from my drop, which I knew about). So whilst they were checking everything over (free of charge) I wandered around admiring a little slice of British motoring they had - classic Mini’s (I used to own one) and some old school Jags hidden out the back of their workshop. On the last day in Italy I headed to Stelvio Pass as I made my way to Switzerland. I knew the road had a tonne of hairpins, but I’ll be honest with you - I hate hairpins. I know the theory of how to get a bike round a hairpin, but I’ll often then overthink it and mess them up. However, I don’t like my own irrational fears to get in the way of why I ride. So I aimed for Stelvio with a clear idea of what to expect. Mind you, the first few hairpins really caught me off guard. The main thing I struggled with was the serious lack of visibility - I had not idea whether there was a vehicle coming down. So I was going into these hairpins blind, with a fully loaded bike that is overwhelming if I needed to physically stop it on a camber. I think it was that playing on my mind and making me feel tense. Anyway, once I cleared a few of the more tree-lined hairpins, the scenery opened up and I began to enjoy myself more. Don’t get me wrong, I was still taking some of the hairpins in a way which would make experienced riders wince, but I was enjoying myself, recognising my mistakes, and grinning like an idiot when I completely smashed one. I felt liberated by the time I made it to the top. I sat and watched bikers and high-end cars for an hour and a half at the summit, enjoying a bratwurst, of course! The ride down the other side was just as beautiful. I stayed in a campsite which was probably the worst overall - whilst it was in Switzerland, it was close to the Italian border, and still very much felt Italian - drivers were mental and I didn’t hear anyone speaking French or German…. The campsite itself was dated, the ground was like sand (so difficult to get my bike secure on its side-stand) and the campsite was also bizarrely a destination for locals to visit for their evening meal?! Italians gathered in groups are not quiet!! Never mind - it just encouraged me to get out and stay out the next day! It was from there that I headed to the campsite I was looking forward to the most. A campsite in Switzerland which was at the foot of a glacier. It was basically close to Mont Blanc (as the crow flies). I stayed there a total of 3 days and chilling at the campsite of an evening was just so serene. Over these 3 days I soaked up roads in the Swiss Alps, dipped into the French Alps and enjoyed seeing Mont Blanc up close. Overall the weather was great, resulting in fabulous views. One night I experienced a first for me, a silent thunderstorm. The mountains surrounding me were blocking out the noise, and the lightening was momentarily silhouetting the mountains which was so cool. I took a tarp with me so that I could comfortably sit outside my tent and cook, etc. So it was nice just sitting there listening to the rain fall. On my final night at the campsite, there was some light rain when I went to bed, then clearly a cold snap hit during the night so all these rain drops which had been sitting on my tent and tarp fabric has frozen solid. My entire tent was frozen, the glacier had a fresh layer of snow on it, and the ground was slippery. It was so cold that anything I then placed outside the tent as I was packing up was freezing! What I have also experienced is how painful it is trying to open frozen aluminium panniers with bare hands…! Likewise, my tent has one of the poles exposed, so I was having to melt the seams with my breath so I could collapse that down. All good fun! Getting my bike off this hilly campsite on icy ground - well that was less fun, but I did it. This is the very campsite where the day before I thought I’d ride towards the glacier and see how close I could get (big mistake as I ended up on a dirt track with large loose stones - and then suddenly a narrow dead end out of nowhere! Turning my bike around then (with no ice) wasn’t fun, so I was glad this time I didn’t encounter any problems. I’ll also take the time at this point to say just how amazing the heated seats and heated grips are on this bike. At this point in the trip, my friend has been taking 4 days slowly riding back through France to the EuroTunnel. I didn’t want to do that, so stuck in Switzerland for as long as I could. I then rode all day on the motorway to make it to the campsite we’d stayed at on day 1. This was then a great starting point for my final trek back to the EuroTunnel. Even though it was a boring day riding through Switzerland and France, it was a compromise I was happy to make. Along with Austria, the French and Swiss Alps are certainly a place I want to go back to. After I’d packed up at the final campsite back in France, I had a 250km jaunt back to the EuroTunnel where I met my friend again. She was a little worn out from her slow trek back through France, something she didn’t enjoy doing. But we were both safe and sound and ready for the delightful over-populated UK roads. After arriving back in the UK we went our separate ways (my friend back to London and me back up North). Terrible planning - the train had got us back into the UK on a Friday during rush hour…. So it was slow going for me, but I arrived back home with no dramas! It was a full on adventure, moving every day, but I loved it. I enjoyed camping every night - the longest consecutive period of time I’ve spent camping. The bike was mainly a pleasure to ride, long distances and cold weather are easy to tackle aboard this bike. Really it was only awkward slow speed manoeuvring I struggled with (more because I’m on tip-toes), and then the consistent 27 degree heat in Italy ,as I get no air flow behind the huge screen, hand guards and countless wind deflectors dotted around the fairing. It wasn’t uncommon to see me standing on the bike as I travelled around Italy…! The next time I head to Europe for a biking holiday, I’ll cover less distance. I want to spend a long weekend in the Black Forest (I think that would be enough for me). I also would love to do a week-long holiday specifically in Austria, and another week-long holiday specifically around the Swiss and French Alps. So it’s certainly given me a flavour of what those locations are like. Here’s to the next adventure! https://imgur.com/a/56Lomzz

Oh Slice... owned twice in one thread! [emoji1787]

First post, I can't believe I have never been on this site before, I have had XS's for 17 years. Current bike XS 850 with a rebuild XS 850 just started, I bought it 12 years ago as someone's stalled project, for spares or rebuild and has been virtually untouched since. Lockdown has prompted a relook at it. This will be an 'economy' rebuild, I live in the far north of Scotland so don't get to many meetings although I did go to the Yorkshire Pudding Rally in 2017. Round trip of 930 miles, I was the only XS triple there. The highlight of my weekend was getting the bus into York for some 'culture' and a beer, (yes I am boring). Last year went to 'Thunder in the Glen'. I have taken the bike to the Continent nine times, mostly Germany, Belgium and Holland, been round the Nordschleiffe, terrifying. Went to Assen Moto GP in 2009, great time. I meet up with the German Triples IG (Interested Group)at various locations in Germany for their Treffen (rally). Last October we had a stand at the Stafford Show so no trip to Germany. This year I don't know if I will be away due to COVID, we shall see. Ken.

Just made me laugh out loud!!!

Hi just joined

Well I’m back home now, safe and sound - after 16 nights camping, I’m looking forward to a proper bed (and decent shower...!) I’ll sort through some photos / footage over the next week or so and share a general update with you all.

I’m in the Black Forest now, Drewps [emoji846] heading off the the Alps tomorrow. Camping the whole way.

I’ve decided to go for the refund and find a new bike. I’ll keep an eye on that breaker for future smaller jobs.

Ok, spoke to the tyre man today, function wins out over form this time, the pirelli looks prettier but he said the latest pr5 is one of those (big step) moments. The 5 is supposedly at half worn, as good as the outgoing pr4 brand new. Time will tell. Will be fitted Thursday. 300 quid fitted and balanced to loose wheels.

My mate has been drinking brake fluid, I asked him if he was addicted? he said no he could stop anytime!

My mate drinks battery acid, I told him he'll need to watch he doesn't get charged My other mate eats black wire. I asked if he is depressed, he said no he feels really positive after eating. I asked if it is a recent habit, he said no he'd been doing it for ions

STOP DOING THIS SHIT! In your house its ok if you want or where no one sees them but not in a restaurant. It is a public place devoted to food consumption. The truth is I don't agree, I don't know what you think, but it makes me sick. I know that many will come out to defend it, and they will say a lot of things in their favor, but they won't even change my mind about this act. It's a bad habit. You can tell what's been instilled in her house and it looks like it's normal for her, as if nothings happened, but...STOP putting your dirty flipping flip flops on top of the table. It isn't right......

Crikey what a pain in the arse, had a leaky rocker cover gasket on the vmax, finally got to sorting it today after waiting for weeeeeeks for the damn thing to show up. What a thing to fit, officially you take off the seat, airbox, carbs, fuel pump, drain coolant, header tank......continue till dead. So like any good home mechanic I cheated. If you whip the seat off (4 bolts) you can get at everything but you have to change the gasket without taking the cover off, just lifting it maybe 15mm. Its fiddly, and a few strategic blobs of yamabond (or red hylomar) to make it behave. But it is possible if your careful and patient. All done in the time it would have took just to get to the damn thing. Not keen on repeating it though, the gasket looks like its dead easy to snap.

TDM is a bit SHORT!. Im 6"1 and I thought it was spot on. I nearly bought a 850 back in the stone age. Green one as I recall but no matter. How is the 1300 better if the tdm is small, or are we just talking numbers? You need to get him on some bikes so he realises just how fast bikes are so he realises just how slow his 535 was in the motorcycle universe. In his mind 1300 is big numbers so fast, 900 is smaller and slower. The real world difference, with the bodywork you can ride the tdm considerably faster and for longer than the 1300. My vmax has a ton of horsepower, needs a subtle experienced hand to ride it quick though. Its knackering to ride hard too. Any year the YOC tour has proved that any bike, from an sr125 right up to an FJR1300 and anything in-between ridden with a group of genuine friends is a great.

Aw! Thanks man! Did you miss me... and my schoolmarmy ways?

cant you drill the old nipple out? you can buy nipples with 0.5 oversize for this reason. You can also buy bleedable banjos, they replace the existing banjo but have a bleed nipple built in - i have fitted one and as long as you orientate the caliper correctly you can bleed them out. They look like this: if you must replace the caliper, do you know the bolt spacing? There are a number of yamahas with the same ~(i think) 83mm calipers.

Just for you Jimmy Corona virus

When I have been that way in June. Yes. I would argue the toss in January. Esp with a good blow on. Christ on a stick the wind of the Clyde could cut glass this time of year.

Don't care where we go, after all the work I have done on the bike I just want to go! Give me a map reference and I will meet you there.

I’m currently sat under a tarp near Mont Blanc - I’m camping at the foot of a glacier in fact, and there’s a silent thunderstorm going on around me. So it feels like a suitable time to admit something to you guys... Not long after our Wales weekend I found myself on a rare mid-week rideout on a very hot day. I had always planned a Europe tour for this year (currently on it), and by all intents and purposes I was doing it on my F800GT. The mid-week ride was to focus my mind and think about what I’d need to comfortably execute my 16 day camp trip in a self-sufficient manner. So anyway, I wheel my bike out my lock-up and for only the 2nd time in my riding life I had a flat - a pesky nail in my rear wheel. I angrily plug it (this is a PR5 which only had about 2,000 miles to its name). I average 12,000 miles out of a set and PR5’s aren’t cheap so I was pissed! Anyway, plugged in sweltering heat and off I went on a ride. It was my first proper ride out since living back in the Peak District and I found myself naturally gravitating towards my old Triumph garage... I’m sure you get where I’m going...! But before I continue I should maybe explain why I had the F800GT in the first place. I regrettably sold my Street Triple to buy a second home (all of that went to shit) and I was left bikeless. When in the market again I found a second hand (fully specced and still under warranty) F800GT. It fitted the bill so I went for it. In the 3 years I owned it, it never let me down and did everything I asked of it. But unlike my Tiger 800 and Street Triple - it never inspired me. So back on track... as I found myself heading to the Triumph garage I was thinking of my dream bike. The one bike I would want to say that I’d owned when reminiscing as a granny...! That bike? A Tiger 1200.... Now that’s a big bike. Heavier than the huge BMW GSA’s (those 30 litre tank beasts...!). So heavy that unlike BMW, Triumph don’t advertise the fully fuelled wet weight... their claimed dry weight matches a fully fuelled GSA. So by all accounts a fully fuelled Tiger 1200 is in the 260-270kg bracket. And unlike the BMW’s - that weight is all up high. So at 5’8” (on a good day) and an admittedly weedy woman I thought “sod it” and dropped by for a test ride! Knowing full well that if I didn’t enjoy it, I’d revert back to a Tiger 800 (a bike I very much loved). Well that wasn’t a concern... The Tiger 1200 is such a blast! I test rode for a good few hours and couldn’t resist. I managed to pick up a new one before my Europe trip. I feel ashamed admitting it to you guys (being “purists”) but this bike is amazing. Yes it’s entirely electronic - to the point where even I question its longevity. But in reality after its warranty period I’ll likely just hand it back. I genuinely believe that’s how they are making vehicles these days. The engine will go on and on, but I’m not sold on everything around it...! Anyway, I always manage a fair few miles on my bikes (despite working from home) so I’m owning this bike with the mind set that it’ll go back after 3 years. I’m having my mid life crisis early...! Haha. Yes it’s as big and heavy as it feels (I tiptoe on it) but that’s the only negative. It’s comfortable, has things I never knew I wanted in my life (heated seat - I’m talking about you...!) and the engine is what I was missing in the F800GT. It pulls without thought in any gear / any speed. So by the time I get back home this Friday the bike will have over 7,000 miles under its belt and I’ve enjoyed all of them. It’s without doubt the largest bike I’ll ever own. I already know that my next bikes will be lighter (and therefore less CC), but that doesn’t matter. I’m as happy as a pig in .... right now. I’ve ridden this bike over Großglocknerstraße, Stelvio Pass, torrential rain and off-road to this glacial foot. And all of it fully loaded with camping gear. So I’m officially back in the Triumph world - and have fully embraced a modern technologically-advanced bike. And for that - I apologise to all of you...! [emoji23]

An eye-watering $1500 (and I'll also have the aforementioned tax...) but the 'bike is worth every penny. IF I come to sell it (I shan't - it'll be passed to my son) I could even make a couple of grand. But that's not what this is about - I'm livin' the dream !!

The purpose of the "wiggly ring" is to keep the lower ring central, taking up the free space (regardless of how much space you perceive there to be!) and keeps the ring central and equi-distant all around. Just because the original rings don't have them is no basis to leave them out. You may find that the original ring is a little wider in its cross section thereby not needing them, whereas the newer ring may be that little bit smaller to enable the 'wiggly ring to sit behind it!! Manufacturers don't include them for fun or as an 'optional extra' after all their R&D. When I did my engine , i put them in as supplied..... If l had left them out and for whatever reason I wasn't happy with the performance ....I wouldn't want to strip it ALL down again just to put them in!!

I've had a look at the facebook sites, Can't say I'm over impressed by them, posts tend to be 'look where I've been' photos and no obvious threads to follow about bike maintenance etc. I'll stick with the forum thanks even if the activity has died down.

She's back. Picked her up today and all is sweet. Finally got an as good as new FJ-1200 in the garage with 16.5K on the clock. Carbs done, valve clearances done, tune-up done. Parted with a few shekels to get her right but I'm sure the love will come back again soon.

I think you mean you're Hahahahahahahaha

Probably succumbed to some sort of stress related disease by now

It's different. It's the torque. Makes anything seem peaky. Any time, any gear, any rpm yank it's chain and it fucks off. It's not subtle like an in line 4 either. It's old school angry gsxr type shove. You got to respect it. Coming from peaky 600's and 10 years of 2 stroke quite honestly it's hard to get your head round. I feel like I'm 16years old again when I start it.

Yep pics coming when I remember how.... Mot'd her Saturday. Now christened Trigger as from what we can figure the only parts of the original bike are the loom and frame. Oh. I have ridden some quick stuff in my time, a 1260 bandit, an 08 blade, couple of gsxr 750's. It's not the same. Sweets mercy this thing (considering it's from 1985, mines a 98). Just re writes the word fast. It really is ridiculous. The way it accelerates takes your breath away. I'm in love.

Well. not quite its a 96 lol. Need to put pics up. It's de chromed apart from the tailpipes with flat black bodywork. Done nice and looks meaner than telling the wife her sister is a better shag.

Ok so finally got round to replacing the front wheel bearing on the bike, I have if I'm honest been thinking that the MOT bloke who did my bike way back in April was having a bit of a laugh when he said that the front and rear bearings were in need of doing. So finally got the time to slip the front wheel off, knocked out the first bearing and it was ok'ish a bit grumbly but not what you would call knackered 2nd bearing comes out and f**k me there is half the cage missing AND one of the balls is no where to be seen! I mean how can a ball bearing be missing? Counted those in the other bearing and sure enough I have one less in the off side ball race! I have been riding on this since April cos I thought I knew better, just goes to show no matter how many times you think the MOT guy is taking the piss they might actually be right. I am going to do the rear bearings tomorrow and can only wonder what horrors lay in wait. Oh and my new ABBA lift has been christened "STANNAH" in honour of your comments about my age and mobility, see I can take a joke tho I suspect some of you buggers weren't joking

I'd say the carbs need taking off then, and a good clean. The choke circuits are probably blocked. If you can find somewhere that does ultrasonic cleaning I'd recommend that

I’m still up for a trip - would be good to do something this year if we can.

Hi Sacha, welcome back dear girl! Yeah these poor folks that don't have a life of their own now want to take someone else's. Plus they own a Harley, I mean that has to hurt all the time the only cheap thing is the fuel.

And,,,,,,DT400b,,

My Dog Minton !!..... Bad minton

I've just been trawling through a few piston ring manufactures websites AE , Hastings, Nevlock, MI, and found an answer to the question of the spring ring behind: ..." It is their to apply additional radial pressure to the piston ring. This increases the unit pressure applied at the cylinder wall. " So there you go.!

Hello Owner of Three 2 stroke Yamaha's. A RT 100, RXS 100 and a very old RD 250. Hope everyone has a great New Year.

Totally its Facebook, nobody wants to wait anymore. TDR forum has gone the same, vmax forum too. Its all facebook. We need to try and start on facebook. The vmax and TDR face book forums are running well.

Would take me a month to get to France on the DT

Hi mate, welcome back, glad you took the time to come and see us again! All we need now is for GROUCH to turn up and it's old home week.

Hello, I am a new member located in Denver, Colorado. I inherited a 1982 DT100 from my son. It was his first bike and he moved to a larger one. I must admit I have always been a Honda guy (1976 XL100, 1973 CB125, 1974 Trail 90), but I have a special connection to the DT100. In the summer after High School graduation, 1977, my buddy bought a DT100 and convinced me (didn't take much) to buy a bike and take it up to his family cottage in Michigan's Upper Peninsula for the month of August. I found the XL...only a year old with less than 2000 miles on it for $300. Amazing how fast bikes depreciated back then! When the time came I took off the front wheel and handlebar, removed the back seat from my 1961 Studebaker Lark, and loaded the bike in for the 600 mile trip. Once there, we spent a few hours everyday (in between waterskiing and beer drinking) riding the trails and fire breaks (every square mile there is a break for the forest fire trucks...no trees, seldom used, sand roads). Sometimes we would swap bikes and I enjoyed how the DT could pop wheelies and climb hills better than the XL. What scared me off of 2-strokes though, was the occasional fowled plug or hard starting of the DT. The XL was just dead-on reliable in that regard. So now, 42 years later I have the DT and am learning about the 2-stroke world. It is in pretty good shape, with just over 2300 miles on it, but it needs some TLC. My son and I did some preliminary work when it was his...new fork seals, seat cover, drive sprocket, chain, battery, spark plug, carb cleaning, etc. I am now working to make the starting more reliable (remember I am used to first kick with a Honda, while the DT needs 4-5). So, I am tearing it down a bit this winter and replacing the reed valves and the badly dented exhaust header....with the intent to clean up the intake and exhaust without really tearing into the engine, and I got a new ignition coil to try out too. Since most of my riding will be on the street I am replacing the dirt tires with dual-sport tread tires...similar to what was used on the original DT1...which, by the way was my first motorcycle ride on the back of my Dad's buddies bike. One more note. This bike is a DT by the part numbers and title, but it has original MX stickers on the tank and has the MX white/yellow paint scheme. My son was convinced someone changed it out, but I think maybe Yamaha sold some DT bikes with the MX identification as a sales gimmick. I would attach a photo, but all my photos are .jpg not GIF. Best regards, PinkTavo

So after the last YOC meet up and rolling round the roads of Wales I think it's time for me to uprate the rear shock on the FJR, this is because I did find myself yoyoing round some of the wonderful bends in Wales. Apparently the OE rear shock on the FJR is known for being a bit under sprung and as it's one I bought used from France some years ago I figured it was time for a bit of an upgrade, anyway I went to the FJ owners club the other day and got a sparkly new YSS shock for the bike, pretty bloody amazing difference in corners and it does not squat down anymore when I give it the beans. Plus I can now alter the ride height and the rebound which the standard shock lacked, it was either hard or soft, neither of which was much different if I'm honest except that it would pogo on the soft setting like a right bastard! So I'm now thinking that the front springs are at least 19 years old and could probably do with a bit of an upgrade as well, the club do a set of Hyper-pro springs that are made for the FJR so when I do the front wheel bearings I might as well do the springs as well, I will have the wheel off and it's only a few bolts to drop the fork legs out. Rear wheel bearings need doing as well so might as well have the swing arm off to grease those bearings as well, so all in all looks like I will be in the garage for the next few days! Oh and I have a swanky new lift ! There's lucky!