clarke

Have you tried a Yam dealer? Also if the locks aren't damaged, if you can get the barrel out you could take it to a locksmith and get a key made for the lock. Failing that scrap/breakers yards etc

You can buy aftermarket pipes but they tend to be expensive... as for slipons - check out alchemy bikes - if you email they'll respond/call you back. They're very friendly & will give you a quick answer. there are a few videos on youtube of the 125 with aftermarket exhausts such as: Don't know whether drilling the exhaust would do anything noticable? I know people drill the 1300 exhaust as there's a plate halfway the pipe - not sure if it's in the 125? If you do change exhaust or remove baffles you may need to rejet? Final thought, not sure how old you are/have a license etc but you may be better saving the £££s and putting it towards the 650 Dragstar?

I use vinegar and a toothbrush on my Dragstar's wheels and it works a treat, so I'd have a go with the above...

You may wish to read the advice on MoneySavingExpert.com http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/insurance/cheap-motorbike-scooter-insurance Good guide on how to get a good deal... I use Aquote for my 125 (third party fire and theft) and MCE for my 1300, but once I'd paid MCE I phoned back with a question & they were very rude and unhelpful so I won't use them next year (shame as I used them previously and they were ok which is why I used them this time) Afraid at the end of the day your age probably is the biggest factor. My 125 quote dropped from £115 to £76 this year as I've hit 30...

With all the salt on the roads at the moment you may want to give it a quick hose down (normal hose) after each ride to get the excess salt off. Otherwise, like said above hose, bucket of soapy water, rinse, dry, (polish if you want), oil chain, wd40 switches & you're off...

Don't forget to email them and ask them for delivery prices to your house. I've bought from the US before and the company used a postal service that sent them to Heathrow only. Had to pay extra to have them sent up north (or go and collect...) I recently bought some bags for my 1300 from the US. The seller was on ebay, had good ratings + answered my questions very quickly. Again used paypal to ensure it was covered 'just in case'. Paypal will convert your £ to $ but they use their own exchange rate (was about £10 more than googled currency converters said). This was sent via USPS (US postal service) which was cheapest, then royal mail or more to the point parcel force take over. Don't forget there's VAT and import tax to be added too. Parcel force will send you a letter when your package arrives telling you how much you owe. You can go and pay in person + pick the package up, or pay on net/phone and they'll deliver. Think my bags were around £470 including postage, and the additional charges I had to pay in the UK was about £68 (VAT, import tax and parceforce handling fee of £8). Still that said, the bags are £900 in the UK! Good luck with your purchase

Hi, A lot of people in the US replace the standard bars with the Royal Star Tour Delux (RSTD) bars. You can get them in the UK, part # 1D6-26110-01-00. You'll need to replace the grips too though. If you look in the custom section, there's a few articles on the XVS1300 and Jimm has talked about these bars (he's fitted them + says they're amazing!) I'm planning on getting these bars too, and if you want I can send you a link to a guide on how to fit them? Hope this helps?

All replacement parts are Yamaha OEM stock. Just replaced them all in one go in Sept as I hadn't looked at any of them since I got the bike in 2008 (it's an 02 plate & not sure if they've ever been done!) It's due it's MOT in Jan, may also have it serviced depending on costs... Not too worried about gear changing. If mine starts slowing down I just gear down. Mine will get upto 60mph, 65 at a push (+ once 70mph with a pillion on the back, but that was down a big hill! Thought the bike would rattle apart though) Good luck with getting your's back on the road

Before you splash out your ££ for a manual, try this? Not sure if it's what you want but may help? (May also have a manual you do want?) http://www.scribd.com/doc/19415470/XVS950-V-STAR5S712009#

Sorry to hear about your mishap - was it ice? All the parts for the XVS125 can be found here, but you can't order the parts from them You'll have to go to a dealer (or hit ebay etc) http://www.yamaha-motor.co.uk/accessories/acc_overview.jsp#Star+Acc/XVS125 As for the nut sizes, there's a workshop manual here: (am sure it will list them - if not let me know + I'll go to my garage tomorrow + check) Hope you get it sorted soon! As for gear shifting, I go 2nd at 10-15mph, 3rd 25-35, 4th 30-45, 5th 40+. Maybe I'm shifting too early? Mind my bike's felt sluggish recently & seems to have flat spots on acceleration. Recently changed the spark plugs, air filter, oil & oil filter but am wondering if my engine timing is out?

Hope you're ok. You should report it to the police if you haven't already. Let them know what happened at the very least to cover your back. Did the driver give you his details? I'm sure by law he should have done??? Also if you or your bike develop any problems as a result of the accident a police report will also help with any insurance claims you may need to make.

Hi Terminator, There's a good guide in this post. Would be good to see some pics of your bike

I think they're called the Roadliner in the US? Maybe you could look for reviews under that? I've seen one in my local dealership and they're MASSIVE! The dealer tried to pursuade me go for that rather than the XVS 1300, but I don't think the UK is big enough for the 1900! Good luck if you get one and let us know how you get on.

It's a right pain to get the oil level right on the Dragstar. I changed my oil + ended up having to refil twice to get it right as I spilt quite a bit the 1st time due to awkward access to the oil plug (you can get a funnel with a long flexible spout from Tesco for about £2 - £3 which I found invaluable). Even though I know I filled the right amount of oil as stated in the manual, it still looks odd when you look through the sight glass. If you don't have a manual check out http://www.yamaha-motor.co.uk/community/service/manuals.jsp - you should be able to find it here

I haven't ridden it (am in UK) but if you look on Youtube there's loads of videos of bikes going over on it. (may give you an idea?). here's one with a truck on the wrong side of the road! I can't believe this fella did this (hope he's ok!) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=whVXD3ex9DA Most of them involve riders pushing themselves + their bikes beyond their limits.

Was out on my XVS1300 yesterday in strong wind. It weighs about 450kg (bike, me + the other half) and the wind moved the bike on the open road across the lanes + nearly took the other half off the back . Dropped the speed from 70 to about 60mph and that helped. Afraid its the nature of bikes and wind (only solution is to get a car, but even these are affected by wind). Having said that, if your bike always goes to the right you've either got a prevailing wind that always blows in one direction, you naturally lean to the right when you ride, or there could be something with the bike? If you're worried it's the bike get it looked at sooner than later as if there is a fault with the bike it needs fixing asap.

Good advice above. I remember riding my 50cc scooter in strong winds, got to a bend and couldn't lean the scooter over to take it as the wind was that strong - had to slow right down to get round... My 125 has a bit more weight but I still get batted about by the wind to some extent. The most important thing to remember is ride to the conditions, you do get 'use' to wind/bad conditions with experience, but just remember to allow more time and take it easy out there.

For those who are addicted to chrome, what about these? £80 from http://www.customcruisers.com/custom2005/customshop2005/index1.html?lang=en-uk&lang=en-uk&target=d1211.html Am toying with the idea, will write a review if I buy some

That's what I meant too (just not explained very well)

Glad I bought the Hot Hands then!! Only disappointed with the fact I've had to tape them up to waterproof the connections, meaning I can't simply unplug + plug in when wanted (which is why I bought them in the 1st place). Still, small price to pay for not having a flat battery - will have to remember to charge my battery up regularly now I ride home in the dark. Looks good on the 1300 - will def get the Hot Grips for the 1300. Also good to know the headlight can cope with the load (do your lamps also tap into the headlight as well?)

You are braver than me!! Good to know though!

Right, posting this here as I've fitted them to my XVS 125 Dragstar (review may differ on a non-custom bike?) Ok, bought a set for £40 thinking as 'overgrips' easy to install, remove, less hassle than replacing the standard grips as they just velcro over the top. First thing I noticed is the wires coming off each grip aren't long enough to reach more than halfway down the handlebars, which means that the connections (which aren't waterproof) are exposed halfway down the handlebars. Ended up electrical taping them up, which kind of defeated the purpose of buying them. Also, alot of wires exposed on the bars which whilst spent ages making them neat, still look pretty ugly. Perhaps on a non-custom bike they may connect in a more discrete place/behind a panel? The rest of the installation was pretty straight forward with them connecting direct to the battery (just need to remember to turn them off) As for the finished product, they make the grips massive (much bigger than my 1300 grips - again may differ from a non-custom bike) which feels a bit weird to use but not too bad. Tried them today and they do get warm. Whether they'll work well on a cold day is another matter. Will have to wait and see Think if I was going to buy them again I'd go for the Oxford Heated grips and just replace the standard grips - at least that way the feel of the finished product would be similar to normal grips. Oh, they also came with free Oxford bar muffs. Not sure if they'd fit, but they just looked too ugly to bother to try. Again maybe on a non-custom bike they's look less ugly & be worth the effort of installing?

Have to say not sure I feel confident enough to dremmel my screen (maybe when I've had it a bit longer?? Does look good tilted back) I can see why you keep the floorboards on - they do look good and are handy for passangers. If you do get the chrome pannels you'll have to show some pics. As for your suggestion Goff, replacing the other half is certainly an interesting solution... keep trying to get her to learn to bike but she's not interested (doesn't like riding a mountain bike) Haven't managed to grind my pegs on my 125 so not sure I'd get it on my 1300 - maybe when I've ridden it a bit longer and got more confident?? Right, as for the bars - have taken some pics which hope you may find useful? Hard to tell from looking but I think there would be some give in the boards before the bars catch. Hopefully you'll get an idea from how they look compared to yours?

I also figured around 10 miles to a litre as I put £5 in within a few miles of my light coming on whilst on the motorway + got 50 miles before the light came back on. Riding 2 up I get about 130ish miles before my reserve light comes on - have pushed it (again 2 up) to 25 miles on the red light but was convinced I was about to run out! Haven't dared to test it any further as I once ran out completely on a 50cc scooter and that was bad enough pushing it half a mile to the petrol station (I'd just past a minute before!)

I do like the 950 as well - looks really good. I almost bought one myself but the other half said the 1300 was more comfy for her as pillion and the bikes were the same price so what can you do? I know the 2010 version of the 1300 is supposed to have some changes so may bring it more up to date - all chrome headlight, RSTD handlebars as standard, lower riders seat, gloss black frame etc (check out Yamaha's US website for details) Would be good to see a pic of the 1300 in black... I also like the rear seat being removed but my other half wouldn't have it either! Have you thought about removing your rear floorboards now you have no seat?? All the parts on my bike are OEM apart from the rear footboards (highway hawk - half the OEM price) and the radiator grill. I haven't leaned my bike over enough to see if the bars catch the floor, nor do I know how much the boards move by before contact is made. I'll have a look tomorrow & see if I can work out when the bars would catch. I had a quick look today at leaning the screen back but couldn't see how to do it without either removing a nut or drilling a new hole (I may be missing the obvious?). I do prefer the angle of the screen in line with the forks, but am also concerned that as it's the tall screen, if I tilt it back I may bash my noggin on the screen when putting it in my garage. You do look through the screen when riding - have commented in the past that its a bit awkward in rain but not too bad.