Norcot

Definitely worth buying the right tools for the job! I used to make do with my shoddy tool kit but eventually splashed out on things like socket set and a torque wrench, made maintainence 10 times easier! Things would come off without shearing the tools! I guess my biggest lesson learnt for maintainence anyway is to keep cleaning the bike, not only does keeping it clean reduce the wear etc, but I've caught plenty of little things that could have turned worse like loose side stand bolts etc.

Congrats! So what bike have you got lined up for yourself? Now it's the to learn to wheelie / get that knee down (none of which I have ever managed or attempted so far... I don't have the balls tbh..)

The mt 09 looks the dogs ba&@£cks. The xj does look nice too. What year of xj are you looking at? Insurance isn't bad either! I'm down south in Bristol and just got a new KTM and the insurance is insane.. Luckily my plan is to move back up to Scotland sometime where my insurance drops (but probably my salary too,..)

Very odd problem, perhaps start a thread in the workshop board where you may get more help. I've no idea what it is.. Have your tried connecting your old indicators and trying them out to check that it's nothing on the bike?

We have Bicycle boxes at the lights in Bristol too but they tend to be red or just a box from the white lines. In traffic I often filter to the front and sit half in it just to get in front of the cars. I've never had any issues here. I just take note that it is 'intended' for cyclists (push bike variety) and give them their space, they don't even mind sharing.

Woo getting the hang on clutchless shifts up and down, relatively smooth too. Same as Andrew though, I actually managed to shift to neutral and come to stop, but no idea how I would go from neutral to first in the even I didn't have a clutch cable.. Think I'm going to give up learning this soon though as im sure the bike is fine but it feels wrong.. Like I'm going to break it

On the plus side it seems a few of us have read this thread and started learning clutch less shifting. I was trying it out on my fz6, downshifting was simple and easy enough to do smoothly every time. Although I found up shifts difficult.. It just doesn't physically shift, I managed it a couple of times by blipping the throttle slightly but seemed like luck.

Well done on the mod 1, and good luck for the mod 2! Feels great when it's all done

Welcome and a good choice of chariot my first proper bike was a 1994 diversion, always wanted the new divy but couldn't afford it, when I saved the money I then moved to the Fazer, i found it less agile but it was racey and really stable through corners. Anyhow I'm sure you will love the divy! Led signals are easy, just buy a set of led signals, and then for each indicator you need a ballast which ensures that the led signals draw the same about of power as the original bulb indicator and that will ensure that your indicator relay works at the same rate meaning the lights will blink at the correct interval, without the ballast they would work but blink really fast (hence be outside of the legal requirements for uk MOT). To fit them it's a case of unplugging the old and plugging in the new. You should be able to find the ballasts on eBay or amazon by searching for led indicator / turn signal ballast.

Welcome and good luck with the restoration! Will be a head turner when it's finished I'm sure

Thanks for the info but afraid I've already got it on order. However these were my concerns too looking at the old duke, the new one 2012 onwards I think, have made many steps towards addressing them. They have done something with the engine and rubber mounted the bars so vibrations are pretty much gone, one my test ride there was absolutely no vibes until I went above 70mph and even that was a gentle tingle through the seat. Also service interval has been increased to every 10000km, that's about once a year for me then. So I guess it just parts cost i have to deal with. Give it a couple of years at least until its all paid off and I will prob want to change again I seen the Yama mt09 photos and videos, that looks sweet!

First thoughts like above are the battery, shouldn't be the side stand switch as you can hear the starter motor ticking, I'm pretty sure if the side stand is down and you try to start the motor doesn't do anything.

Thanks blackhat, it's nice to know I will still be accepted The duke was something else compared to my Fazer, can't believe how agile it is, took some corners fast which on the Fazer at the same speed takes some effort shifting your weight a little, on the duke it was a doddle.

I've only owned my yamaha fz6 for a year and a half, and before that an XC diversion for another year and half. Being a Yama owner for 3 years (the entirety of my riding time) I'm afraid to say I'm going to defect. I've had three years of sensible bikes and now I want something more of toy than before. After test riding a new Ktm duke 690 for an afternoon and finding a great offer at my local dealer I have decided to bite the bullet Not to worry though, I am still I keen biker and pro Yama so I won't be leaving this great community How many others have defected / come back?

It's insane what I've seen this summer, shorts and tees on an r1 but still got his boots and gloves on.. You go through the effort to protect hands and feet when your torso and legs will be skinned alive.. As nice as it would be in the heat to ride along in a tshirt I can't bare to try it as I've seen the damage I can do to myself falling over running or walking! And that's under 10mph. Although I do admit if I'm heading into town sometimes, ie riding under 30mph I have been naughty and ride in my normal denim jeans.. I still have leather jacket, gloves and boot on though.

Everyone on this forum is friendly but you will find you get better and more responses if you tell us about yourself and thank people for help, common courtesy. People don't like one hit wonders who ask for help and you never see them on here again. Anyhow, back to bikes. Really need a little more information to help precisely, but a few things to check maybe, Idle setting - Is it cutting out when it's idling (ie no throttle?) could be the idle setting is too low causing it to cut out. spark plugs and distributor - are all cylinders firing reliably and ok? Are all plugs producing a good ignition? If not can cause it to stall. Carbs - if it has a carb it may need balanced, if fuel air mixture isn't right it can cause the engine to run unsmoothly or cut out. Air filter - unlikely to completely stall the engine but is it clean? Letting enough air through to the engine? Could be many other things too but if you can provide more info like how and when it cuts out, how does it behave before and during the stall, etc..

Looks great guys, thanks for all the suggestions, will put the, all into my route planning and see how it pans out!

Hi Steve, as above an intro goes a long way, you will get more responses as people get to know you. I ride an fz6 so not exactly the same bike, but I will vouch for the fz6, it has a racey 4cylinder engine that redlines at about 15000rpm, yet it has a laid back seating position and great styling. Anyhow based on my experience and when I hunted around the Internet for my fz6 the only common thing to watch for was that the earlier fz6 had a throttle position sensor fault which a lot were recalled for (for a free repair). Apart from this it's just the usual things. I've had mine for 2 years now (2004 plate) it has done 32000miles and starts and runs perfectly having had no issues.

Cleaning your bike thoroughly from time to time is a good time to inspect bolts and general condition, I tend to find the issues that could turn into problems when cleaning my bike, most of the time I'm not even looking for them. Glad everything's okay though, things could have been a lot worse by the sound of it!

Is the video by any chance a road I'm Scotland? Heading towards Glasgow? Looks familiar. With filtering I have two personal rules I stick to so I don't become cocky, only go as fast as i can that I can still avoid any car in front if it pulls out on me (so when there is a gap in either lane I slow down in anticipation that the car in the other lane may move across) and second is that I don't filter if traffic is moving faster than 30mph (don't know why I do this but just a personal rule)

Thanks for the comments everyone, it was one of my more controlled panic moments! Having ridden that same road again last weekend I have discovered going the opposite direction (the direction of the van) that Bend is rather blind, with that said if I was the van driver I wouldn't have went as slowly as he did across the road.

Hi and welcome to the Yamily good choice of bike too, I have an fz6 at the moment but sat on one of the fz8 in the shop recently, looks niceeee! I'm over Bristol way so if your ever over this side / Wales and need some people to ride with just send me a message.

Thanks for the suggestion I will take a look on google maps and street view to get some ideas. We're trying to get some nice towns and some twisties in there. Thanks also for advice about macdumps and macfreewifi too. Will also keep in mind about the breakdown recovery rules, hopefully it doesn't come to that, my fz6 is on 30000 miles now but has had a tyre and brake pad change, valves shimmed last year, and I will do the oil and filter before I leave so hoping for no nasty surprises. Any suggestions for places south of La Rochelle? We plan to head to Biarritz and it possible maybe head across border to Spain for a day ride.

I do recommend the attenuating ear plugs now following trying them for last week after a couple of recommendations from people on this thread. Comfortable on the motorway, yet can hear clearly when going slowly through town.

Ok so I have given these plugs a shot, first impression on the motorway was that there was still a reasonable amount of wind noise. But then I noticed the wind noise was just as loud as it was going about 30mph as it was 70 So plodding along the center of Bristol I can hear about as much as I could without the plugs, I can still hear my bike purr away, if not clearer than without the ear plugs. Most important though, I could hear the traffic around me, and even enough to talk to another biker still with helmet on. Makes the motorway much more pleasant but without blocking out all the noise. I have found one problem though.. Now I can hear the rattles on my bike more clearly than before as the exhaust is turned down a little Thanks for the recommendation of these plugs, definitely worth a shot to anyone out there who finds it too loud at speed but still wants to be able to hear what's going on around them.