clarke

As I'm getting soft in my old age I went and bought a Keis Heated Jacket and some Heated Gloves. Been using them for a month now so thought I'd share some thoughts. The jacket (long sleeved) is good - it heats really well and I've not gone passed setting 2 of 4 and can ride comfortably with this my motorbike jacket (no winter lining) and a t-shirt. Note, the Keis jacket isn't waterproof or armoured or designed to offer any protection so you have to wear it under a jacket. It plugs into the bike via a wiring loom and uses 7.5 amp fuse. It comes with a 'free' controller at the moment, but unfortunately the controller sits in the jacket pocket rather than on the handlebars so you can't adjust the temperature whilst riding which is a shame. It also makes it a bit of a pain to set up as you have to plug the Keis jacket in & set the temperature before you can zip up your normal jacket. Two other things to mention is the collar is quite high so I struggle to do my normal jacket up fully, though it's not bothered me yet. Probably my biggest criticism of the jacket is the wires in the sleeve that are for connecting Keis Heated Gloves to it so you don't have to run an extra wiring loom. Unfortunately these wires aren't long enough to connect to the heated outer gloves, which I would have preferred to use (Keis said they were designed to work together then suggested I purchase additional 300mm wires to get them to work) so I ended up buying the inner gloves. These are good, but again not waterproof so have to go under your normal gloves. Makes you feel like you've got fat hands, but keep you nice and warm. You do have to use a larger fuse to run the jacket and gloves together - 10 amps, so I bought an adapter loom so I can plug the jacket into my Optimate connection (7.5amp) and the jacket & gloves into the Keiss loom. Overall I'd give them 8/10.

I went for a longer ride on this at the weekend, nice laid-back approach to riding which I've kinda missed since loosing the 1300. One thing I noticed is I've got to do something about the rear shock setting as I think its shattered my spine!

I bet it'll be a U.S. only release, just like the Stryker, the Road Star, Stratoliner, Roadliner and so on. Also, with these stupid motorcycle license categories I'd be surprised if they release another cruiser in Europe unless it's small as the XVS950 is ok for A2 license.

Sorry to hear that Grouch. Hope you have more luck with it when you get it back

Something like this with moulded knuckles/fingers may be better? (Unless you're going for bad-ass look?) http://www.hein-gericke.co.uk/motorcycle-gloves/alpinestars-spx-handschuhe-schwarz.html

I thought 50cc was category P on the license? I'd call the DVLA to check, you may have 'full' A restricted to 50cc but learner A for 125 with a CBT...?

You shouldn't need to remove the wheel, just unbolt the caliper.

Difference between the 2 bike quotes is about risk, I bet there's less theft of FJR1300s... Agree they should always offer their best quote but they hope people will just accept the renewal so they can cash in. It seems no-one is bothered about rewarding loyalty any more - if you're a loyal customer all you do is subsidise the offers for new customers.

Just going back to the original post, how long has this been happening? Has it been a while or fairly recent?

MCE ask you for your current mileage and copies of your driving license. I was told by one insurance company not to worry if it was 1000 miles over but if it was 1000s over then you need to declare.

Just a quick update, thanks to Colin Appleyards in Keighley (and in particular Kevin) Suzuki have sent me a letter today saying they'll honour the 3 year warranty and breakdown cover... It did take Kevin pretty much a week of going through Suzuki ranks mind.

For insurance purposes between 10-15 years (according to Bike saying some insurance companies have recently classed some models as classics at 10 years). For the true sense of classic I think it's been covered above, it's about innovative design and iconic status...

Spotted this in last month's Ride and thought some of you may wish to make some suggestions to Yamaha http://www.yamaha-motor.eu/designcafe/en/index.aspx?view=surveyoverview

+1 for getting a 125cc instead

Well, having nearly been taken out by a car last week I've just bought a hi-viz jacket. It may or may not make drivers spot me any better, but I guess if it does I'll never know as the car will spot me and stop. Now I drive a car and am pretty good at spotting bikers whether they're wearing hi-viz or not but that's because I ride a bike! Bearing in mind most car drivers are too busy using mobiles etc rather than look for a tiny insignificant biker anything that may help me be seen on my commute can only be a good thing. I would not make hi-viz compulsory though, but would make driver awareness of motorbikes a compulsory part of car training.

Use ear plugs, it won't sound so tinny...

I had breath kits there too but took them out when came back... Think I read recently the French govt have postponed the requirement to carry these now...?? Got the warning triangle helmet cover/bag from Hein Gericke, saves loads of space. May have needed warning triangle for Germany...? +1 on (blue) loctite

Went out on the XVS1300 with the wife saying I wanted to use up some petrol so I could remove the tank, only to run out of petrol!!! Pushed the bike (310+kg) a few miles to the nearest petrol station and said to missus, not putting too much in as am taking the tank off when I get home. Unfortunately I didn't put enough petrol in the tank to make it home & ran out again 3 miles from nearest petrol station... The wife was NOT impressed...! (still can't mention it to her today!) Never ran out of petrol since!

No idea myself but H4 from what I can tell on Google...?

Pic...?

I almost bought a 2nd hand Cobra slip-on from the US for $100, but then shipping was $200 - same as a new one shipped. it'll probably be next year now

There's a mini roundabout near me (used to be a T-junction) where cars coming from the left never seem to see me to the point where I pay more attention to the traffic on my left than the right. Today I was on the roundabout and noticed the car on my left not stopping, I break to a stop and am beeping my horn but she just turns right cutting me up, completely oblivious to me with absolutely no indication she's seen me. Then I spot the mobile being held to her ear by her right shoulder so there's no way she could've even looked right to check. I was well p1$$ed off to the extent I clocked her reg and reported her to the police as she'll kill someone soon! This mini-roundabout is a bikers nemesis as cars never look. Just before Christmas another woman drove straight across me again, this time speeding from the rate she flew passed. If I hadn't stopped I doubt I'd be here. On that occasion it just so happened she was traveling in the same direction as me so at the next set of lights I pulled up alongside her and suggested she pay more attention to what she's doing. I think she thought I might be aggressive as she knew she'd nearly killed me but I'd calmed down by then. As I told the police today, I'm used to not being seen but the one today was completely oblivious. I'm also reporting that junction to the council again as it's near a school but cars will do 40mph down there.

Check it's not under the pillion seat. You can always get one sewn on

Tools that came with the bike, zip ties, electrical tape, first aid kit & warning triangle helmet cover (still there from France), breakdown card and phone.

Oh forgot to say, I do like the black but thought there's enough black cruisers out there. The blue is nice though I think I'd have preferred red... And if I was buying a new one, Padgetts have a white one listed which looks really great