Markyboy27

Too late my old friend, right at this moment there's a black Humma pulling up at your door with 2 heavy's ringing your bell. Claims Direct accepted my case and you're going down for a long stretch.. guilty as charged: Wilfull Misinformation resulting in ABH. Although if you're prepared to settle out-of court then i'll accept a set of Highway Hawk slash-cut drag pipes & we'll say no more... you know it makes sense.

..thanks, I didn't realise that. Can I take a 125 test just to lose the L-plates and allow pillion ? If so, is it cheaper ?

..i'm typing this from my hospital bed, a knitting needle gripped in my teeth stabbing the keys... the drugs are working now and the pain from my burns are getting easier. Unfortunately the doctors told me not lay off the masturabation until the skin has grown back on my cock, although the upside is at least I can cancel my internet subscription. Good advice to all: Don't smoke whilst riding with a rag stuffed in your petrol filler cap, although it's cheaper than a crack & sack wax.... Seriously though, I wanted to try the mod more to disprove it than anything else... was always suspicious it was a fruitless effort and in truth it was. Just took a run down the A6 (downhill section near Barton, Bedfordshire) and not much difference (still capped at a mind-numbingly screaming 70mph) so will be reinstating the valve this afternoon. Still looking for different sized sprockets in pursuit of the magic 70mph cruising speed that doesn't make your ears bleed. Mark.

Mod Update: Bought a 6mm plastic right-angle elbow connector from the local automotic parts retailer (£1.99) and it fitted perfectly, although the clip that secured the original valve to the frame is too large in diameter, so a piece of tubing was needed to pad it out and secure the hose to the frame. All in all it worked well with regard to the physical replacement, and for 2 quid it seems worth the effort especially asit only takes 15 minutes to reinstate the original with no damage to any parts.

..following on from advice i read o this site i went in search of the Petrol Tank overflow valve which is supposed to restict airflow through the tank (creating a vacuum and possible flat-spots on the power curve). Here's how it's done: Remove pillion seat (one nut) Remove seat (2 allen bolts) Remove single Petrol tank securing bolt (or 2 separate bolts on underside of frame) and lift rear of tank slightly to loosen it. Slide tank backwards about 2 inches (so forward mount slides off rubber seat mount) Pull off rubber seat Remove 8mm bolt securing black plastic cover protecting filter area Remove left hand plastic cover by unclipping top joint (which joins both plastic panels from LHS & RHS together) Follow tank breather pipe from where it hangs down to where it joins the black plastic valve itself. Undo the bolt which secures the filter clip to the frame, thus releasing the valve. Remove both hose clips and pull hoses off valve, allowing valve to be removed. With valve removed you can now seek a junction that will re-join the 2 hoses together but without the one way valve. What I noticed immediately was that the valve operates by way of a ball bearing that is free to move within the valve body, and naturally sits in the base of the valve thus blocking the pipe. This bears out the theory that it would indeed restrict air-flow and hinder air from entering the tank when the ball is engaged in either end of the valve (although you'd hope the free movement of the ball would allow free passage of air). I presume the proof is in the pudding in that if there's an improvement in performance then it's probably worth-while, which is what i'm about to do. I'm still suspicious that a valve is indeed needed, but agree that probability of the bike falling over are very low, and the benefit of decreasing rpm at cruising speed will indeed extend the life of your engine. Hope this helps you Dragstar riders, i'll let you know if it runs better as soon as i get it back on the road. Mark.

..having just blown all my cash on an '03 Dragstar 125 i'm now broke, although did manage to pass my CBT with a somewhat spotless pass-mark. So here's the issue... ride on L-plates without a pillion or go for the full test, which will require £600 for out-of-hours / weekend lessons. However, having been a motocrosser since the age of 9, and a car driver since 17 (now 42) I do feel I could take a crack at the test without investing over half a grand in lessons (especially as my CBT report was 'a natural, just don't appear too confident in your test' which I take to be a good pass-mark). So my question to you is: do examiners take a dim view of upstarts who seek to deprive their colleagues of a living, and therefore apply a high degree of critical eye to one's performance during the test, or do they simply respect a bikers bottle in attempting the test without the aid of significant lessons. Not wishing to be cocky, but £600 is at least 4 tests, so failing it the first time would still be cheaper... what do you think ?

..come on boys & girls, stay focussed on the issue (despite the chat being fun to read), the issue being getting more MPH out of an XVS 125 without butchering it (& therefore buggering it's resale value). I think a bit of Sprocketary work might be the order of the day, although too much would of course increase the effort needed to get up to speed as quick as a standard set-up. However, if you're prepared (as I am) to sacrife a little 0-60 if favour of a 65mph cruising speed (instead of 55mph now) then non-surgery seems appropriate. Trouple is, i've not found anything for sale other than standard front & rear (although i presume I could have them made??). So come on, what are my options ? Mark.