Oldfjman

Yup - unfortunately for Charlotte she seems to not have a great understanding of what makes motorcyclists tick. Not meaning any disrespect to you Charlotte, but I'm assuming you a of a youthful disposition and have a narrower view of motorcycling than many of us long-time bikers on here. i recently had an exchange of emails with someone "in the know" regarding the industry view of potential customers and the best types of customers to target, and it seems as though we more mature, experienced, motorcyclists are elements of the past in the minds of the manufacturers - the real future for the market is the under 30 "Hipster" type, who will concentrate on style and brand image/identity, rather than objective values such as performance, reliability, comfort, function etc. Unfortunately many/most of these potential/actual buyers don't frequent forums such as these. - they buy "individual" customised/personalised bikes, rather than dong it themselves and their perception of a brand value is much different to mine.

Hi Charlotte, I've filled it in, but, some of the wording of the questions and options is a bit confusing (including Corporate Social Responsibility with the other options meant that I couldn't use those answers, as the manufacturers don't supply readable CSR info that most regular buyers would read through, so it is not a factor in any of my decisions). Hopefully my answers reflect my true thoughts

Hi CMF I'd love to come to this, as I live only 10 miles away, but the weekend clashes with the Rugby and Coventry Bloodwise Charity Cycle Ride (Bikeathon) on the Sunday and work on the Saturday, so I'm going to miss it again - Sorry, but raising money for a charity is more important than having fun. This year, the Bikeathon numbers were well down on previous years and most of my friends who missed it in 2016 were at the Moto Fest and I reckon a lot of the other missing riders were too. Maybe you/CMF could "communicate with" the Bikeathon organisers, to help encourage them to schedule their event to miss the Moto Fest in 2018 - then more people could attend both

I'm with Ttaskmaster and Dutch on this - I love my FJ 1200. Mentioned earlier was asking if the FJ was easy to ride - a few years ago, we were going on a week long trip to the Black Forest, but the bodywork for my wife's bike was still with the painters. So, I suggested she borrow my dad's GSX 600F for the trip. She agreed, but at the last minute insisted she didn't want to do the journey on a "small", high-revving, bike - so I was told to ride the 600 and Liz would ride the FJ. To be honest, she'd ridden the FJ before (her best ride was a FJOC ride in the Lake District where I tagged along in the car with our youngest in his baby-seat) so had an idea of what it would be like, but even on the tight Black Forest hairpins, she loved it even more, finding it easy to handle especially low speed and she found the smooth low rpm power to be an absolute god-send. AND no one I know has ever complained about pillion comfort on a FJ - just the opposite, too many relax totally and fall asleep on it (comfortably settled into the Givi top-box back rest) :-)

I know it's a bit late now, but did you see that RX50 on Facebook? - it went for £300 and looked a good deal - I thought you wouldn't have missed it, unless you felt it was a bit dodgy (was it ?)

The guy is an amazingly talented "artist" in metal, but I don't see any evidence of real engineering/metallurgical assessment of the integrity of the repairs - doubt the repaired car would meet the relevant safety standards in a properly policed "first world" country (would likely be defined as a criminal "cut and shut" here, rightly or wrongly ! - I wouldn't/couldn't judge). if there was a future accident in that car and someone inside was injured, there'd likely be a prosecution / civil claim against him (wonder if his public liability insurance would cover any claim ?) and a total insurance mess, firmly landed at the door of the vehicles "owner"/driver.

Way cooler than my first moped in '75

+1 the number doesn't work, but never mind, that seems like a stonking deal - bet your daughter will love it - just make sure you have it properly checked for de-restriction and get the gearing right - blatting along at 10,000 rpm and 40mph max is no fun.

I'm sure that Peugeot is a "proper" bike, not a scooter type. The Minarelli engine is the same basic unit as in the Rieju and the Aprilia 50 and in the Derbi, etc etc - reliable, tuneable and easy/plentiful parts availability. Best of luck with your search.

Another "thumbs up" for the Rieju - we got our youngest a Rieju RS 50 Matrix Pro for his 16th birthday in 2010. He was 6ft tall and had no problems on it. It ran flawlessly and, the quality of its parts is on a par with anything else out there (we also had it de-restricted properly and put on a bigger gearbox sprocket and smaller rear sprocket - it was dangerously slow on open roads when restricted, and he wanted to get out and do some "real riding", not just town centre GP's - once restricted etc it bobbed along comfortably at 60mph plus, according to my Garmin GPS). Once he passed his test, it was relegated to occasional use just to keep it in running order. Then 2 years ago, we sold it to one of his friends (£1,100) and this guy has ridden it, without cleaning it and has abused it totally for over 10k miles and it's still been reliable and held up. My only worry buying any 50 is that they'll all have ridden by clueless kids and thrashed to an inch of their lives - So you could be buying a hand grenade, no matter how careful you are. We tried to push him towards the SX version, but as he'd had off road bikes since he was 6, he wanted something road-racy

I'm with Pilningglas on this - frame, forks, yokes, wheels, swinging arm, suspension, engine, carbs, airbox/filter, exhaust, bodywork, wiring loom, instruments, lights are all totally different. As mentioned, maybe front mudguards might be interchangeable and things like switchgear, brake calipers, odd individual electrical components - but I doubt much else.

Or, potatoes, WD40 and a gas cooker spark igniter (over yards spud-flight achieved)

This is my favourite use of scaffolding - 30ft long, in Calne, Wilts.

Seen the resemblance in lots of VR photo's over the years - sometimes it's uncanny

Why not look here - flip up touring screen only £43 or £46 http://www.fjcatalogue.com/body.html ive got one (the smoked one) and it works perfectly for me (I'm 5'8") - but I prefer the smaller standard screen for just hooning about.

I'm with Dutch on this, holding gears until 6000 rm before changing up is not something I'd recommend on an FJ - you'd never get out of 3rd gear legally in the UK. in normal use, 3k - 4k is plenty for keeping up with traffic (except for on dual carriageways and motorways), but taking it up to 5k and more really does bring a smile to my face.

They weren't that popular, true, but they were great little bikes - definitely had the old CB 550 F character - and I really like their styling. As far as parts go, that's not something that would put me off - talk to David Silver spares and see what their stocks are like for that model, and ask your local Honda dealer or do a bit eBay searching before you rule it out completely - Gotta be worth it. You'll be amazed how many things are interchangeable between various Honda's of the 70's, 80's and 90's - I'd wager a front end or wheel & disc swap from something like a VF500/750, a CBX 750, or a CX 650/500 E would be a pretty straightforward way to get rid of the inboard discs (I know a CX500B front end fitted straight onto a CB500 that was 10-12 years younger) and CBR 600 forks/wheels etc seem to fit onto a whole range of other models with very little work. I'm sure the back brake could be sorted too in a similar fashion. In my (very) humble opinion, a nicely braked/wheeled CBX 550 would be a lovely little bike and I'd be well jealous if someone had one. Here's a photo of the aforementioned CB 500, with double disc CX 500 front end fitted (the CB 650 front end was also a straight fit) and 400 Superdream back wheel - as well as few other mods (from memory, I think the ignition coils and front brake master cylinder I fitted were from a CBX 550

Hi Waddy - just my two-pennies worth, but I always take the simple approach, so here we go ! if you're getting spitting back through the carbs, then the ignited charge from the combustion chamber is getting back through your inlet valve. in my opinion, there can be only 2 reasons for this :- The inlet valves are open when the mixture ignites, or too shortly thereafter (either your valve timing is wrong, or your plugs are sparking at the wrong time, as Drewpy mentioned). or The inlet valves are not sealing properly and letting the ignited mixture blow back out of the inlet and into the carbs. I'm not sure what your compression should be, but 110 psi does seem a bit low for a small engine with a high compression ratio. Although you said the engine was running in his bike, that would be irrelevant as you dismantled it and then put the parts back on your engine. Again using the simple method, putting in parts that you know worked before and getting the same problem on your bike would indicate that it's either a ) nothing to do with the parts you've replaced, or b ) you've got something else installed or set up incorrectly. If you're adamant the valve timing is ok, and the valves are sealing, it must be something to do with the ignition (firing at the wrong time). The only thing you can do is check all of these again and eliminate them one by one by having someone else go through it with you to confirm everything is as it should be (checking everything off against the manufacturers settings).

Hi Andy, I toured around Europe in 1978 with a friend on an XS 250 (I rode a KH 250). The 2 week ride, I think, notched up about 3500 miles and the XS and KH both kept up comfortable 75-80 mph speeds on dual carriageways/motorways with no problems - although the XS was often in 5th rather than 6th gear. My KH was always in 5th ........ as it only had 5 gears ! Rather than go for a smaller front sprocket as an early step, why not leave it as it is until you've got the engine sorted - 65mph is not normal for one of those bikes - and then think about it when everything else is right. if you need the higher revs, just keep it in 5th, until you're going downhill - and remember, small engined bikes need "momentum" (just watch Moto3 races), so to keep up with the rest, go as fast as you can down every hill to get a good run up every up-slope :-)

I'm not a fan of Henry Cole, although he seems to be the best we've got. His monotone voice bores me to death and my wife (who is into bikes) says watching his programmes actually puts her off biking. We need someone who is enthusiastic, informative and has a stand-out personality. Henry just doesn't keep us interested. Clarkson is different - didn't like him until I met him at the Nurburgring when he first tested the S Type Jag there. We rode around the track when he was out on the public sessions and spoke to him in the car park between his filming sections. Because in those days he wasn't really internationally famous, almost nobody noticed him, except the Brits and he looked like a lost, lonely sheep when the crew weren't around around - but, talking to him, he was genuinely funny (didn't mind people taking the mock out of him), interesting and also confirmed he'd had bikes in his youth and didn't hate them as it appeared. The funniest part was that he was sooooo slow in that Jag, we were passing and strafing him every time we saw the car - but likely he wasn't allowed to push it on the public sessions, only when they had the track closed for filming. Don't think I'd want Clarkson to host a bike programme, BUT we need someone who doesn't come across as rooted in the Brit-Bike / Chopper-Hipster scenes - just look at his Gladstone Motorcycles bikes - as Henry Cole does (he's the archetypal old-guy in a waxed cotton jacket) and that's coming from someone who's probably quite a bit older than him.

I've had my current FJ1200 for 27 years now. It's done fully loaded touring at the height of summer in Southern France, Spain, Italy, Yugoslavia, in heavy traffic and +30 C temperatures for hours on end - so no worries about overheating in English summertime. Just make sure you change the oil regularly. As others have mentioned the clutch slave cylinders seals go occasionally, but they're easy to fix. Nothing much on the FJ is difficult to do, but honestly, I would seriously recommend you join the FJOC - Phil Hacker is THE guru for FJ's and the club servicing is excellent and cheap. You can ride your bike there, stay and drink tea while watching them service your bike - or just sit and read. The other benefit is that Phil (or Ernie) can tell you about all of the upgrades and improvements you can make that will bring the bikes characteristics more up to date. After all of these years I've still not found another bike that beats the FJ as an all-round high performance bike that can tour with the best of them - although our Fazer 1000 gets close-ish :-)

When our son passed his test at 17yrs and 6 weeks old, we got him a Fazer 600 (2003 model) and put in the 33 bhp restrictor washer kit. He thought it was brilliant - still accelerated cruised well enough and had more than enough torque/power for a starter bike (although he'd been riding off-roaders for 12 years). Then, as soon as his 2 years were up, we took the restrictors out and he loved it even more. At 21 he loves it, still rides it and is happy with its 95 bhp :-) I'd say it was your best option for overall value with reliability, comfort, style etc.

Cagiva Elephant's, good early adventure bikes, great for touring in the Alps.

Anthony Hopkirk :-). - no relation to Anthony Hopkins, who played Burt Munro. Brilliant film, saw it first quite a few years ago when it first came out, must have watched it 10 times now. One of my all-time faves.