neversaydie

Hole size on mine is 7mm. If the stem bolt on the lock is 6mm then it should be fine

I have now narrowed down your area to somwhere in Tibet! On your way up do you pass anyone with crampons and ropes? Seriously though, I just can't get my head round that first gear is required to ride up hill. Where did you get the bike from, does it have a service history, how many miles are on the clock? When you open the throttle to accelerate away away, does the revs increase very quickly and then slow down as road speed increases? Engaging neautral can be awkward. Try coasting to a stop in 2nd, and then gently increasing the foot pressure to nick it into neutral. Too much will tkae it straight through into 1st. Also bear in mind that the neutral light may not alweays come on, even if its in neutral. Try not to be too heavy on the pedal changing gear, you will improve with time, and try to avoid block changing by anticipating further ahead and selecting the right gear in advance, makes riding smoother and avoids going down through the gearbox while stationary. Ride safely.

Not sure that I understand why you need to drop down to 1st to go up a hill. There are 2 techniques for changing down, block changing ie clutch in and changing down several gears before clutch releasing (dont forget to match revs with road speed), and letting out the clutch after every single step down and using engine braking. I struggled at first to engage neutral from either 1st or second. It might just be that the bike is already in 1st, so that even a heavy foot cant find a lowwer gear than that. I'd be inclined to check to engine oil and the clutch setup. Do you have the manual with the bike?

Like you, I bought a (very heavy) chain because thats what the insurance recommendations were. Its far too heavy to cart around in the real world though, so I bought a rubber covered steel wire braid 30mm diameter type, much lighter and easily carryable in saddle bags. The saddle bags are more flexible to use, although more expensive. You need the brackets (bars) as the bags have a sleeve on the inner face which slides over the bars and prevents them from both swinging out and hitting the wheel. The saddle bags will also require a carrier that rests over the top of the mudguard, both bags will then mount on the carrier. I also recommend that if you go the saddle bag route, have the security bars that fit through the mounting eyes, but buy your own (quality)locks to secure them. Price of bags varies steeply, I got my pair for less than £150, complete lot for around £200 - £210 as I recall. Shop around on the net for a good deal. Bags with sloping sides leave clearance around the rear suspension. Search for Held Rancher, and you'll see what I mean. Good luck.

£800 for a 51 plate sounds like a good deal, if it weren't for the unknowns, and leaves some room for any repairs etc before it becomes a bad deal. You could explore a second hand lock set/key from a scrapper or get someone savvy to hotwire it to make sure it runs. If its not moved for a while, brakes could be seized so take care. I'd think I'd just be cautious about the ownership question too. Best of luck

Good luck with the CBT. Remember to reset the odometer to zero when you tank up, then as a guide tank up again at around 120 miles. I'd also recommend a trip to your local library and borrow a copy of the Police Motorcycle Riders Manual. Don't expect to overtake much other thna the locla milk float and disabled buggys. Seriously though, its a nice good looking, reliable bike and theres lots of stuff available to glam it up more. Enjoy.

On closer examination, there are 3 holes in the top one, 2 off which are already welded up (these look like a pair in line. On the bottom, there are 4 holes, 2 are welded up (again these look like a pair). Whoever welded them up made a terrific job as they have been plated. Open holes are clearly manufactured, not rusted through. Many thanks for your help.

Both silencers have pin holes along the bottom. If I can get the holes welded over/tacked up, would this be acceptable for MOT test? I expect that the plating will peel off around the weld, but as the holes are on the bottom, I wouldn't be too worried about that. Any guidance greatly appreciated, thanks.

Had some rubber on mine, soaked a piece of cloth in CILLIT BANG, hung it on the area for 30 minutes, then just wiped it off. According to New Scientist magazine, it is now used for cleaning the fuel rods at Dungeness nuclear power station!

Plenty available on the web. Shop around. I bought a pair of HELD RANCHER saddlebags because of the angled rear suspension, the HELD UNIVERSAL BACKPLATE, 2 security pins, and a pair of saddle bag spacers. Expect to pay around £250. Buy your own padlocks as the kit ones are crap. Try and get it all from one supplier, that allows you to haggle and only pay one delivery charge. Happy hunting.

I had the same problem on my 125 Dragstar. Soaked them all with release oil every day for 2 weeks, then over the next few days worked on one bolt at a time. Managed to get them all out 1 by 1 and replaced with stainless steel and copperslip to prevent future corrosion. I had to drill out the hex cap screws though as the sockets were fecked. Start off with a centre drill as it will be guided by the socket and shouldn't wander as you drill down, slow speed, lots of pressure, cutting lubricant. Once the cap is off, you might then be able to get a small pair of grips on the remaining stud, or carry on drilling carefully with a 5mm drill. Once deep enough, tap the hole clean with a 6mm tap. Plenty of patience needed for this task. Good luck if you tackle it

Hi ezcleen, Nice inheritance, it beats a pile of old dusty books and the family cat!

The foot brake adjustment instructions are in the owners manaul, but I suspect that you mean you want the brake pedal to be further away from the footrest. Is that the case? If it is, then I reckon measuring how much you want to move it by, taking the pedal off and getting a decent welder to splice in an intermediate section may do the trick. Trouble is, the further you move the pedal away from its pivot point, the further the pedal has to travel before braking is applied, and bear in mind the increased leverage due to the bracket being longer I don't think there's enough room to to move the mounting bracket forward by drilling a fresh fixing hole in it. You must have big feet Joining the top speed debate, I had my XVS125 easily at 65 with room to spare but bottled as it was pulling my arms out of the sockets. I don't know why anyone would wish to thrash a smashin liitle bike that'll cruise forever at 50-55 with style

I recall that there is a link to the service manual somwhere in previous topics. If you cant find it I can email pages with the tank removal instructions

Hi All, Another newbie to your club. Bought my first bike at 57 years old, and love it, Dragstar 125. Great fun. A few issues with balance at slow speed and finding neutral but I'm getting better. I didn't realise the roads were in such poor condition until I took up two wheels. Clearly, I need to get to grips with some of the terminology (cans/slash cut etc?). Never say die