Leatherat

I think you're right, I've found one on Ebay for £30 in chrome. I found the complete opposite to be honest, the Harley has phenomenal brakes, Discs on both front and rear wheels that pull you up very rapidly, where as the XVS650 was at best vague and the rear was only really able to slow you down rather than bring you to a halt, more than a little pressure on the foot brake caused violent skidding and sphincter tightening. The 1200 lump will pull your arms off in any gear, but is very vibration-ee. The bike turns into corners really quick, not sharp like a sports bike but not like a bomber turning as the Dragstar does, it also feels very short, and man alive, it's got a blokes clutch!

It's a completely different animal to be honest. Comfort wise, the XVS650 is miles ahead, the Harley has sharper handling than the laid back cruiser though, the bikes can't be compared really, both good but different. I thought long and hard about the Vmax, it is quite simply an awesome machine, and fairly rare too, but only having a limited budget, it really came down to resale values. I could have taken my £4K and ploughed it into a Vmax, and in a year or two sold it for £2.5K, whereas HD prices are extremely stable and that sportster is never going to lose. Even after looking at the financial practicalities, alot came down to......... Sad but true..........Harley F*%king Davidson Baby!!!!

The paint is a really coarse Metalflake, and flips between the Green and Yellow that you can see in the pics. There is a chip out of it on the front mudgaurd, about the size of a pea but very visable, but I guess there's nothing can be done to touch it in. It needs either some forward controls or Highway pegs really, and a pair of throw over saddle bags for my wet weather gear. It's being PDI'd at present and I hope to have it on the drive by Friday. Can't wait, as I have to use the car until then for work etc, which I'm not too happy about.

Thanks guys, I know they're not as great as the hype would have you beleive but I've been wanting one (Heritage Softail actually, but have you seen the prices!!!!) for ages and ages. It started life as an 883, but it's been converted to 1200 Well, I did queery that, but the sales man said that this model came with just the metal strap, no cover????? Hmmm, we'll see what can be done about that, but I can' push too hard, not with what I paid for it.

For the first time in a long time, I am no longer a Yamaha owner I've just sold my beloved XVS650 Classic to a very nice chap who seems to adore it, so it's off to a good home. I have bought another bike, it's just not a Yamaha.......It's a HARLEY DAVIDSON Baby! Whadya reckon to this....... HARLEY F$%KIN' DAVIDSON BABY!!!!!! So I guess the question is.......as a non Yamaha owner, am I still welcome in the Yamaha owners club?

MOD is short for module. It's a 2 part test, the parts are refered to as Modules hence Mod 1 & Mod 2.

Fantastic! Well done that man! When's the Mod 2 test? and did you have to do the dreaded avoidance test?

It's not that I'm mellowing, it's that you're becoming more like me..........Slippery slope!

I'm a bit confused...... It's called Charles guy martins (or summink) 2010 road trip blog, he left in August 2010 and some german bloke was a bit nasty to him, then he ends up in Sweden right........ but it's July 2011 now, did he not go any further or did he get bored of writing about eating cheese and chocolate milk?

There are good reasons very few people do this sort of thing. Personally it's not my idea of fun, riding thousands of miles to see the shitholes of the world on an old Moto Guzzi that looks like a mad max tribute act. Surely after saving for 10 years, they could have come up with a better bike than a Spada. Each to their own of course, but you can't expect people not to take the piss, daft buggers! P.S Had I known, I've got an old BSA C15 they could have had, it would have made as much sense.

It's an ECO bike! You use the motor to get up to 70mph, then jam the front brake on and roll over and over using that roll cage untill you loose momentum then it's back on the gas.....brake and over you go again

£200!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! They're pulling you're panties down and they're gonna fuck you hard!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 20min job for anyone with a MIG welder, go elsewhere and only take £50 max with you, and you really ought to be able to get chips and a pint on the way home with that!

Yes it's a 12 volt system, with a negative earth. Get some automotive insulated wire, remove the horn and connect it to the battery direct, universal polarity so either wire onto either terminal (you don't need to use solder or connectors, just hold it or twist it so that it stays on). The horn should sound continuosly if it works. If no sound is heard or it faulters at all, new horn, there are 4 on Ebay at present from £4.99 up to £21.00 or yes, you could go for a universal horn. If the horn works when connected to the battery, then it's either the switch or the wiring. The switch is just a mechanism to break the electrical circuit to the horn and should be fairly easy to bypass with the wire you used to connect the horn to the battery, after you bypass the switch if the horn works continuosly the switch is at fault, buy and fit a new switch (Ebay is not a huge amount of help on this one at present) or try WD40 into the switch itself, can't hurt and it's cleaning properties sometimes work on electrical contacts. Worst case senario in my opinion is if the horn itself works and the switch is working perfectly well, then you have a break in the wiring or a bad earth. Trace the wiring back to the earthing point, clean and tighten that and check again, if there's still no joy it's a case of out with the multi meter to find the fault, alteratively, run some new wiring to the horn. Good luck.

125cc bikes Vs 1.8ltr car comparisons are at best pointless, the bike is a completely different animal. Suffice to say a 125 will be tremendously quicker off the mark, but the car will quickly catch up as with only 11 bhp to play with they soon run out of steam. On an SR125 it'll all be over by 65-70mph but 1,000,000 sph (Smiles per hour) You should be looking to achive aaround 85-100 mpg Yes, a reliable one will I'm sure you'd find the city traffic a lot easier on a bike, afterall that's why the sensible people use motorcycles to commute. As for the stairs......possible Yes, practical????? (have you ever seen Animal House? ) Here's another option....... you're 21, so you quailfy to take the DAS (Direct Access Scheme) training, which allows you to do your training and test on a 500cc machine. Once the test has been passed, you are free to ride which ever bike, of any cc and bhp that you want, and this can be achived by a novice rider, within you're budget (including buying a bike, although not a nice shiny one, and remember your Peugeot has some value and once you've ridden a decent bike you'll not want to use the car again) in around 3-5 days of training. Sounds to me like you want speed, and there are bikes out there that will do in excess of 175mph for less than £5k (As a novice, don't expect to live long on one of these!) The DAS training can be had for around £600 (which will include the CBT and Mod's 1&2). You're theory test will set you back about £30, leaving you around £400 for a bike. Have a look on Ebay for what's available for that sort of cash, you'll get far more large bike for £400 than you will 125. Good luck and don't forget to let us know how you get on.

Funniest thing I've seen in decades! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B8fkd1eTQ7U&feature=related "they're gonna beat our asses!"

Just buy one of these....... http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/YAMAHA-XVS125-DRAGSTAR-01-04-STAND-SIDE-/110709679756?pt=UK_Motorcycle_Parts&hash=item19c6cfa68c http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/YAMAHA-XVS-125-DRAGSTAR-SIDE-STAND-/230638692288?pt=UK_Motorcycle_Parts&hash=item35b32327c0 Both are priced at pretty much less than a tank of petrol, and I'm not sure the original stand is availible in chrome anyway.

What then??? There are presently 6 SR125's on MCN used bikes for sale http://www.motorcyclenews.com/MCN/bikes-for-sale/searchresults/Yamaha/SR125/_/N-148+2363+191 All of them are for sale by dealers, all of them are around the same vintage and none of them are anywhere close to £450. Yes they're from dealers, and of course you'll pay more from a bike shop than a private sale but the disparity in price would ring alarm bells for me. What are the tyres like, does it need a new chain and sprocket set? These items alone will set you back another £200 at least. Buying from a dealer and paying the extra purchace price, will buy you some peace of mind, the bike will be straight, and you'll get at least 3 months warranty, and if you push your luck, probably some other gear as well. By you're own admission you know nothing about bikes, so your first wants to be a good one, so as not to put you off forever. Unless you have someone availible to assist you who knows motorcycles, spending some more money and buying from a reputable source is a wise move. Going back to the original question, what then? Personally I wouldn't let it go that far, I would phone the guy up and tell him the deals off, but ultimately it's your shout.

I don't supose it's ever going to be a big seller, it's a Moto Guzzi afterall!

I saw this and thought of all you people who hanker after a good quality Dragstar. http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/YAMAHA-XVS-650-Dragstar-/290584792178?pt=UK_Motorcycles&hash=item43a8340c72

Oh Hi Oh!

Motorcycles or Childrens toys.......Hmmmm, let me think........No contest.......IOM on the telly everytime!

Right, Firstly.....I hope you appriciate this, as being serious is not my default setting. Across the top of my V5, printed in large white letters on an inch wide blue banner is the statement 'THIS DOCUMENT IS NOT PROOF OF OWNERSHIP' so maybe your insurance company might not require the V5 to be in your name, but if they do........ Having looked at my V5 new keepers section, 3/4 way down on the left hand sie there is a unique 'Doc. Ref. No.' This number coresponds with the 'Document Reference Number' on the front page of the V5 except for the first number, i.e - doument number front page = 1593 964 4923 doc ref No new keeper slip = 91593 964 4923 So when dealing with the DVLA, if you knock the first number off your Doc ref no on your new keeper slip, hey presto! you'll have the document reference number of your V5, which might make things easier. BTW, my Yamaha engine number is not the same as the VIN/Frame number, not even close. Hope this helps. Lets hope the chav scum who nicked it have torched it! Chineese rubbish ought not to be on our streets!

Well, there you go. I'd never heard of them, but MX ain't my bag. Doesn't look like it would be much use going to the shops though. I guess the last of the Aprilla's was the last of the road going smokers.

Around 40 years ago, the two-stroke engine came into its heyday. The engines were cheap to manufacture, and produced exceptional performance in comparison to four-strokes of equivalent capacity. Yamaha, Suzuki and Kawasaki sold thousands of two-strokes based around their racing machines and many of the biggest names in motorcycle sport got their start in the 250 production racing class. However as far as I'm aware, Aprilla's 2004 model RS250 was the last production 2 stoke available to buy and ride on the road. The last 250 two-stroke manufacturer of road bikes in Japan was Suzuki and Aprilia had used the Suzuki v-twin 250 two-stroke motor for the RS250, but with Suzuki ceasing production Aprilia no longer had a supply of motors and the 2004 model was their last production run - the very last example of a breed of motorcycle which will hold a special place in the heart of motorcycle enthusiasts forever. As I said, there are still plenty of 'smokers' about, but try buying a new one.

Your bike is a 4 stroke and works like this..... http://auto.howstuffworks.com/engine1.htm A two stroke works like this...... http://science.howstuffworks.com/transport/engines-equipment/two-stroke2.htm I could spend hours decribing how they both work and the differences of each, but these sites do it so much quicker. As yours is a four stroke, keep the oil level in the engine cranckcases topped up and put petrol in the tank and you'll be fine. If it was a 2 stroke, you'd have to mix oil with the fuel (some bikes have seperate tanks for oil and petrol and mix them automatically, some you have to add oil to the petrol tank yourself) but don't concern yourself with it, as 2 stroke engines are pretty much obsolete nowdays (still plenty of smokers about though so a working knowledge of them will always be handy).