beef

have done some off roading in my vitara, but not any more coz i just scrapped it this week as it was rotten.. have played rugby for 17 years, still play and i also play american football.

not alot wrong with the filtering you did there.... just make sure you thumb is covering the horn as you approach the slip road and be ready to stop as the cars come on and instantly want the outside lane. as the gap was available to slip back into your lane you did and you checked before moving back into you lane. if you look at 2 mins as you approach the bread van, then the skoda has moved over to allow you through but the car in front and behind didnt. and you got passed safely. just practice it.

where abouts in manchester are you?? it had run out of fuel. so i would be looking at that as the cause. you sure its getting fuel and enough fuel at the engine end. carbs may need a clean. shite sucked down throught the needles due to running out of fuel. and does it turn over at all on the button? does the starter clunk or whirrr like its trying to start. does it run when bumped? is the air box clean and the filter dry, its been bloody wet last few days. try taking the air filter out and starting it. its a simple process of elimination, you need fuel/air/spark to start it. if ones missing or not working fully then it wont work...

aint had indicators on either of my last three bikes, had the harley for two years and had the chopper for three years and the current one for one. aint had indicators on any of them and dont generally bother with hand signals either. but the law is if the bike was registered pre 1986 then it does not have to have indicators, and the brake light only has to be activated by one lever. after 1986 then it HAS to have indicators and the brake must operate off both levers. how ever if a bulb has blown then if you do get stopped the officer can tell you to get it fixed. or more accurately issue you with a defect notice and then you have 7 days to get the default rectified and to go to the inspection place as informed by the notice to prove you have had the problem fixed. if you use hand signals then that will draw attention to the fact that you know the bulb is defective and the coppers may get a bit pissy about it, so dont use arm signals just indicate as normal and then fix it asap, and as said earlier buy extra bulbs for the bike. i personally have a few stop/ tail bulbs and headlight and side light bulbs in the garage. i also have bulbs for the car in there aswell. it is a ten min fix when you get the bulb. and i have been stopped by both the police and by a vosa roadside inspection team. i had to explain to the examing officer that the bike was legal with no indicatos, he then had to go ask someone to clarify the facts......

got the bike running today, carbs were full of crap, looks like what ever a fine powder, possibly what was used to seal inside of the tank, will be fitting an in line fuel filter tomorrow, also found a dodgy connect of ht lead to coil, fixed that aswell and the bike is running well. need a new gasket for the carb float bowl aswell...

was good to me you guys today, was a decent run out. oh and my kwak died on way home. had to get recovered. the battery is dead and not charging. had a look around and found a couple of wires have been rubbing on the chain and are now cut through..... more garage time ahead

cool, will see if i can get over to it...

is this the old g-mex / central bike show? 4 i know they had to cancel because of the snow and moved it to later in the year. the ad doesnt say where it is.......

xs still in bits. done a load of cleaning of bits and pieces. finding various parts has been a bit of a swine. and time is at a premimum aswell

have the day off booked and approved so i am there, red noisey kwak z750 flat traker thingy.

some time off, and to be left alone in the garage. so what if its christmas day. i wanna spend it in the garage trying to sort my jeep out.

i filter all the time. live in oldham and work all over manchester. some times its between two lanes heading in my direction some times it outside of my lane and against on coming traffic. i know some people say you shouldnt but my 20 min ride to work would be almost an hour if i sat in the traffic all the way just look at the gap between the traffic and judge it, you will get some times when you can wizz through no probs other times you will get part way down a line and have to stop because the gap is not wide enough. just be sensible, aware and as you do it more and more you will gain the confidene and experience you need.

where abouts are you? and is there definately fuel in it. ? sounds daft but if fuels low may need the reserve switching on... when was it last serviced,/ when were plugs last changed.. what was done? if its ages ago then plugs could be FUBAR do you lights come on when you have ignition on and them switched on?. if so it means theres life in the battery if not then battery is Fubar and therefore would not supply enough spark to power the bike up does it have a fuel filter? if so is it blocked has i got soaked wet through recently?.. if so is the air filter soaked and therefore the carbs aint getting the air they need... simple way of looking at it. a bike needs three things to work. fuel/spark/air. if one is removed or weakened sufficently then it wont work. basic i know but it helps narrow things down.

glad your enjoying it and looking after the bike. when you change the oil dont forget to replace the filter as well. and drain it in to a container you can see in to ie a bowl, that way you can have a look at the oil and check it for foreign matter.. and as you have done the headlight already i would also go round and copper slip all the exosed bits of threads on the bolts, screws ect.helps keep the up coming shite off them, a good chain clean and lube will be a good idea to.. cant beat a few hours with the bike getting it cleaned and preped for change in winter.

best to drain it. it should be easy enough. just remove fuel pipes from carb end and put them into a big enough container. drain it all then run some clean petrol through it as well. and when you have drained it, if you have a fuel filter replace that as well. it might still smoke a little for a few miles after then new fuel is in but that should go away soon enough.

i have an astra which is powered by lpg. its fine dont really notice the difference except it costs £25 to fill instead of £60 plus, there is aparently a power loss of up to 10% but the only time i notice its a bit down on power is reversing but i stick it on to petrol for that. as for doing it to a bike i wouldnt really bother,the reasons like the hassel of getting it set up and running right and the possible insurance grief, some companies wont insure converted lpg cars, just are not worth it.

this is my fav mash up...

bollox missed you. bet your stood behind the bike in the pic aint ya?

sally one may be off but the roughleys one is still on. at the moment the plans are to depart from the old harley shop in stcokport and its 9th december, will post a seperate thread when i know more and have definate times and places.. i think its bull that they have had to scrap it due to not being able to organise it. any one got any contacts for the organisor to see if we can help. i know the roughleys one has the local police on side and there is always a couple of bike coppers who turn up and help to marshall it and do so in their own time and for free....

air head you from near stockport/ manchester and was your bike at roughleys this year?? if so, is this yours? and the paint looked really good....

bolox, was hoping to do it this year..... owt we can do to get it to happen? or a mass impromptu meeting of like minded biker meeting up to do it??

nice sj, got any more pics???

bippo where abouts are you? and as well as the salvation army run there is the roughley's one as well. i have not done the salvation army one but have done the roughley's for the last five years. it has a turn out of about 300 or so bikes, run from stockport harley shop to together trust and then to francis house hospice shop at lowry centre. a mass convoy no stopping for lights or juntions all marshalled by out riders and a real good day... all you do is turn up with a few little unwrapped pressies and follow the leaders, get to the stops aqnd give your pressies over have a brew/ chat and head to next stop.. do the same. this years is december 9th.

and remember i said some strange winners.... i give you best in show. a raked virago with 8'' overs. some polishing and not a lot else. looked ok, but when you looked closely the work round the rake was a bit iffy, welding a bit snotty and looked like there was a good dab of filler in there... there were at least three others that would of come before that if i was picking, the sunbeam mentioned earlier, NEMO the green cracked ice spondon or the triton...

won best paint this was tiny. just about came to my knee, and this turned up aswell... may be my next bike..... vn 800 owner currently building a vn1500 and may be getting rid of this and i have had my eye on it since he first finished it. he aint decided if he wants this one or new one and wont decide until he has finished the new one..