millietant

And my all-time favourite photo - from our 2004 Euro tour with the kids.

Cheers Blackhat, luv that Z and co-incidentally my first real bike was KH 250 B2 in '77 9 I'd love another, but no room in the garage at the moment). I've tinkered with many bikes over the years, my favourite being a '73 CB500F we mono-shocked (home-built) and completely re-worked in the mid 80's. CMM magazine did a full spread on it a few years back. Right now I'm on with updating one of the FJ's - USD forks, 17" rear wheel, big bore kit, Kent cams, flowed head, R1 brakes etc, etc, etc, and have started on the TL restoration - it was used off-road by many of the family but now is semi-retired. Funnily enough, I like off-roading in both cars & bikes. Went out in the desert this summer at Moab in Utah and had an awesome day - did Hell's Gate, Hells Revenge and Wipeout Hill amongst other things. Back at hone we have a Nissan Navara which I play in off-road, but nothimg serious. On the bikes, we tend to use the CRF and the GY - I get out with my youngest Ryan, but in Devon, I've used a Suzuki RMX 450F (Liz and Ryan used DRZ 125's). Here's a couple of pictures - hope you like them. 4x4'ing in Utah Ryan waitng for me to unload the bikes after a day Off-Roading.

Having added replies to a few posts already, I then noticed a post regarding new members who don't introduce themselves. Luckily, I haven't had any problems or needed any advice, so I hope I'll be forgiven for my little oversight. So, with that out of the way, HELLO to everyone on here and a Very Happy New Year. I've been riding bikes now for over 35 years, starting with a FS1E and ending up for the last 24 years with FJ1200's (amongst many others) - My wife also rides a Yamaha, a Fazer 1000 (as well as her VF 750). My favourite biking hobbies are:- 1) the Nurburgring (done too many laps to count - or think about the cost of); 2) touring Europe with Liz and the kids ; 3) off-roading (especially in Devon); 4) blatting around the north of England and the Scottish borders with friends ; 5) restoring, modifying and tinkering with bikes from the 70's to the 90's ; That's enough about me for now, you've probably got the gist - old git bike-anorak. Looking forward to meeting up with a few like-minded souls over the coming years. Cheers

'90 - it was essentially to cash in on the RC 30 link - it was cleaning up in the racing world and had the single sided swinging arm - I think the first normal VFR model with it was the VFR750FJ or FK

I've pm'd you someone who should be able to help with the ride.

Dan, The correct answer is tadaaa........ a Derbi GPR 125 - its had the stickers removed, but that's what it is. The wheels were what gave it away (remembered them from a pic of someone else's bike) - here's a pic of a red one, with stickers in place. Cheers

With all of it's torque, the FJ doesn't need 6 gears. As standard, they can feel a bit revvy in top at around 70, depending on what you're used to, but mostly that's because of the grunt; not the same thing as you'll have experience on the 5 speede DT - remember though, at the redline in 5th gear you'd be on the wrong side of 160mph -Going to a one tooth larger gearbox sprocket and a 2 teeth smaller rear wheel sprocket fixes that and yet first gear is still perfectly usable and essentially feels unaffected. The FJ ticks every box except the one it doesn't need to tick. BUT, if 6 speeds are essential, give up the torque and instantaneous passing power and go for a relatively early CBR 1000F, or an early VFR 750 - or if you can find a good one, a VF 750 F - the V fours always feel relaxed and I know you can pick them up for around £1k. Those early VF's are relatively forgotten about now (so bargains are available), but as an example, this is our (Liz's) 1985 VF - it's got +40k miles on it, has been totally reliable and has been around Europe on numerous tours 400 miles in a day no problem.

I bought the eldest of my 2 kids a new Hongdu GY 125 for his 15th birthday (5yrs ago)- a chinese copy of a Honda XLR 125 - the idea being that he'd use it off-road until he was 17, then he could use it on the road. The reason I bought it was that a 7 year old Honda XLR 125 was £1650 (unknown life history) and this one was £799, brand new. Thought it better to risk half the money on the new machine. Also - I recently tried to convince my 16yr old that either a restored FS1E, or AP 50, or even a Fantic Caballero were the "moped" he should get for his 16th birthday. Showing him some pictures of them, he just laughed and said after being on the back of his mums Fazer 1000, my FJ 12 and my Aprilia RSV for as long as he could remember - the "Style" of these old bikes didn't suit him. I was pleased he took the time to look - but at the end of the day, we wanted a safe, reliable machine for him (I for one remember the problems I had with my own moped way back when) and he thought his Arlen Ness leathers would look out of place on a FS1E or a trail bike. We caved in and got him this - and I don't care what anyone else thinks, its bloody brilliant and well worth every penny. I did try to buy a nearly new s/h one, but every one I chased had been sold on the first day of the advert being put up.

Go for it - My wife rides a Fazer 1000 (she'd had it since 2003). It uses a set of tyres every 7k miles (Pilot Road's), gets around 200 - 210 miles per tank of fuel, has cheap services (valves don't need adjusting very often), is easy on chains and has been utterly reliable in 7 years - still on the original battery (always on an optimiser when not in use), never used any oil in between changes (I change the oil about every 2.5k miles). On top of that it's really comfortable and Liz loves the power - sher's toured Europe on it loads of times, sometimes with one of the kids on board and she's even had it round the Nurburgring - so have I, but it decked out a bit in places where my Aprilia RSV doesn't - and didn't in places where my FJ does. For real sporty riding I'd suggest changing the rear shock - Hagon do a quality, uprated, adjustable and rebuildable one for under £300 The only niggle has been the EXUP valve which sticks occasionally - slight problem for me because Liz wanted the full fairing lowers and they're a fiddle to take on and off - but apart from the lowers, it's an easy and pretty quick job - you can see them on the pic below.

KirriePete - they don't need a shaft. Look after the chain and you'll get 35k miles out of it easily. I end up adjusting mine once every 2000 miles - ish, at the most. All I do is keep it lubed (scott-oilers are good for this) and check the tension every now and again. Who needs a shaft - with torque reaction upsetting the handling.

Those FJ babies are so easy to ride, don't worry about it. My advice would be to buy it now, if it's a really good one, and spend some time and tlc on bringing up to pristine condition. My FJ is 21 years old and has never missed a beat - it's serviced by Phil Hacker (FJ Owners Club) and runs like a dream - here it is at Plymouth last year waiting for the Santander ferry (10 day trip across Spain and up through France to Le Havre), alongside is my wife on her Fazer 1000. Phil Hackers's own FJ racer (pic below)is featured in the latest edition of Practical Sportbikes. In 2009, there were 6 FJ's racing in the Wirral 100 Forgotten Era class - all FJOC members and they proved those things can be made to really go and handle - but especially they can stop. On top of this, they are still fantastic bikes for touring on, and commuting on, and for just blatting around on. Guess you could say I'm a fan !!

Dan, if you want to ride fast (or faster), go to a track. Trackdays are easy to find and give you a safe place to thrash it. Better still, go to a track/race school - something like the Ron Haslam school at Silverstone. I'm sure they do session on Honda 125's that would be just up your street. As for going fast on the road - I ride both an FJ1200 and an Aprillia RSV on the road - obviously the RSV is the "faster" bike, but on the road, I make the same progress on either bike. On my FJ, I can easily keep up with badly ridden modern superbikes (even with a passenger on board) on the road - and I've passed plenty on the track. But, even on my RSV, there are others riding bikes like FJ's that can pass me any time they like. Speed is down to the skill of the rider - Sean Emmett (ex BSB and 500 GP rider)did a track session on a Kawasaki Zephyr 1100 (upright retro-style bike) and was overtaking the latest superbikes of the time left, right & centre. Chill-out, learn to ride properly - follow Keith Code's instructions in his book "Twist of the Wrist" and you'll be a far faster, safer, rider, even on your 125. Cheers