Leatherat

I've never heard of a trade auction for bikes, like they have for cars to be honest (awiting some smart arse to shoot me down in flames! )

Aay Aay Larrrr, I'm sorry to be the voice of doom, but I would forget the pavement if I were you. Firstly, the council won't be at all happy with you parking on the path, and there is a very real possibility of somewone 'hurting' themselves on you're illegally parked motorcycle and as you know, 'where there's blame, there's a claim'. Parking it on the road is not ideal, but many, many people do just that with no, or little problem, so don't let it put you off. Would it be at all possible to park it inside the house? A ramp could be fashioned and the bike left in the hall?It might sound like a ludicrous idea, but again many people live with a bike in the house, I'm lucky enough to have garaging but still have been known to have a bike in bits in the kitchen. If you're only choice is to keep it on the roadside, a good quality cover and a lock and chain will keep both prying eyes and the weather off your new machine. I have often thought about a spiked plate inserted halfway along the chain, so that when the bike is locked through the frame and rear wheel, the spiked plate would rest on the saddle thus detering anyone from sitting on the bike. The spikes don't have to be too extreme to encourage someone to resist the urge, and therefore shouldn't cause you any trouble from the Bizzies. Don't let this small hurdle put you off buying what you obviously want, remember.....people ride bikes with arms and legs missing, you've only got to find somewhere to park. Good luck, and remeber to post the pictures when you get it.

Wasn't trying to be funny.

There's a comma missing from the title of this post (here's a clue, it goes after bbc).

They are also obstructing the Queens Highway, which is an offence, the same is true of these idiots who block the outside lane of a two lane carrigeway long before it merges into one, these fucking imbeciles cause more congestion as only half the available road space can be used, but of course the old bill are never there when needed are they, no they're too busy waiting in unmarked cars on dual carrigeways for people returning home from Weston Bike night at slightly above the recommended velocity.......Bastards!!!!!!!!!

Ere, you can't fool me! I've been to the 'pool and know for a certain fact you're all born with the shell suit and perm! That aside, black ones are sooooo last season, and if you're really bothered about the colour, theres always flash harry's respray booth, who specialise in a quick blow over to disguise it from da bizzies (yeah I used to watch 'Brookie'. Any assistance you may need, just post it up on here and we'll try to help out....gis us a job....I can do dat! Oh, and pictures to admire will be required when yu make your purchase

Firstly.....welcome to the YOC. Secondly.......Aay Aay Aay Calm down, Calm down, day do doe don't day doe! The 650 is a great machine for a first bike, it has 40ish bhp and is quite rapid off the mark. It runs out of steam at about 90mph though. It has been around for quite a few years but still retains quite high residual values, look for low milages and mint condition, they are out there. Service costs are hard to quantify but air filters can be had for around £12.00, oil filters £5 -10 on the net, tyres are around £130 rear (never replaced a front so I'm not sure). Fuel economy can be around 45mpg and the 16 ltr tank hits reserve around 130-140 miles. Would the 1100 be a better buy? well that depends.......are you confident that your riding ability is a reasonable standard? if so the 1100 is a more powerful machine, it is also a little biggger physically, I've been riding since I was 16 (I'm 45 now) and I would have gone for the 1100 if I could have afforded one (which I couldn't) as I find the 650 a little underpowered (I did sell a XJ900S Diversion which had 98bhp to buy the dragstar) All in all you pays your money and takes your choice. Try to find a 650 and an 1100 at a dealers and test ride them, you'll find out so much more having your bum in the saddle than you will reading someone elses opininon, but if you decide on a 650........ I have this one for sale it's a 1998 with only 14500 miles on the clock (that's just over 1000 miles a year) Yours for £2500 if you're interested drop me a PM. If you just need advice it's £25 per hour! Be lucky.

Move over Lennon & McCartney! Good on 'em!!! They all seem to be having a great time even the old bloke who must have wandered in off the street (bit old for scouts really, but I guess you've got to make execptions for the special little boys)

Yeah I think you're right, and that niche area is my garage........Leatherat's status is actively hunting!

Sounds like you want a Metalflake paint job, but can't aford it. Well, I'm afraid you get what you pay for. Do it yourself with rattle cans and glitter, it'll look like you made it in school for your mum! If you want to sell the bike to fund something else, spray cans are fine but for gods sake forget the glitter!

That's great, thanks. The fuel economy is not dissimillar to my 650 Dragstar, that'll do about 45mpg if you ride like your mum, and considerably less if you want to break the speed limit (it struggles to top 90mph and takes a while to get there, but to be fair it wasn't designed to be a fast bike really). The Vboost you talk about, is that where the second carb set up comes in? I had decided to get a Vmax some time ago, but was disueded by a guy at work who said that although they are monsterously quick, it came at a heavy price....namely fuel comsumption, not really a problem back in the 90's but today, with a gallon costing £6.00 it really has become a top of the list consideration. The more I hear about the Vmax the more it sounds awesome........... and I can't wait!!!!

Now that's what I was looking for, Thanks Andy! BTW what sort of fuel mileage are you getting? and is it right that the fuel tank is vey small? (with the price of fuel it's a big consideration these days) I am looking for an '87-'90 bike, although I'd like to keep towards the 90's because they came with electronic ignition however I prefer the earlier wheels instead of the almost solid ones of the later bikes, it must be in original condition (I don't like bikes which have been messed with) and have around £2.5K to play with, looking around, although not plentiful I think I can get a reasonable Vmax for that sort of money. What's the problem with the non uk (not full power) machines, are they really that different?

Just £2 per month goes some way to keeping our air con and hundreds of eco friendly strip lights working

It is doubtless that the Afgan Heroes charity does a good job, but as far as I understand they confine their assistance to those involved in the Afgan war. I stand behind our armed forces, regardless of the service to which they belong or which conflict they served in (if any). To this end I fully support the RBLR http://www.rblr.co.uk/content/ who, as a branch of the Royal British Legion raise money to support all service (and Ex service) personel who have come across hard times. Membership is open to all (you don't have to have served in the forces) and they hold some great motorcycling events all around the country.

Would you call a Vmax a custom type bike (i.e like a Dragstar or a Virago would be termed custom) If so does anyone have any 1st hand info on them? and if they're not customs...........where on these forums do I ask the question? Assuming they are classed as a custom and I'm posting in the right place........I'm going to sell my 650 dragstar (anyone interested?) and I'm planning to replace it with a late eighties/ early 90's Vmax. I've never owned or even ridden the Vmax, so any advice would be appreiciated.

Not a term often used where the Gas are concerned! "One for the Bristol City, two for the boys in red, three for the fans down Ashton Gate, we'll follow till we'm dead!"

I'll comply with that request with the greatest of pleasure

Oh it's there alright., but on the back of my cut I've had many people make comment about the YOC patch and where people might obtain one, alas I very much doubt there will be a re run due to the hassle it seemed to become. So a rare collectors item, worth a pretty penny in a year or two I'll wager .

I though you might find that to be the case. Like I said before, if it were that easy, the hundreds of people who have gone before you would have done just that rather than having to spend huge amounts of cash on aftermarket pipes, which, I'm afraid, is what you'll have to do. By altering your original pipes by cutting the link pipe, you'll alter not only the way it sounds, but also the way it runs, you'll also have to repair the damage you've done if you ever want to go back to the original set up. Far better to remove the original pipes, spend the cash and replace with custom pipes, then, if you need to , you can revert to the factory spec. Keep an eye on Ebay or the for sale section on here, as custom pipes come up for sale occassionally, but if you see some, don't hang around, they'll not be there for long as they have got to be one of the most sought after parts for the XVS range.

Hi Ben, welcome along, good luck with the tests, should be no problem for a inteligent bloke such as yourself! Being based in North London, do your best to survive in all that traffic and try to get out of the city and enjoy riding, it's a lot more fun when you're not constantly in a battle

Yeah I figured that if a little pin badge with the Ace's logo was £5.50 ......I probably couldn't afford to use the toilets!

The price really ought to be a secondary consideration, look into the company offering the low price before you commit, there are some crappy insurance firms out there, and it will only become apparent when you really need their help. Lowest price?.......usually for a reason.

Beware Leicester area......in general, as it's a Shithole!

Not to my knowledge.......but having partied extensivly around London who knows? I found these pictures of last Sunday's Ace Cafe gig on the web and there is a rare appearance of Leatherat in all of them........can you spot the hansome bugger?