Oldfjman

Sorry guys, but I thought the series overall was pretty badly done - great idea, but badly researched/produced and pretty amateurish - mind you, still way better than anything else around that covers bikes at the moment (I find Henry Cole to be a particularly monotonous and boring presenter) On the episode where they covered the history of Suzuki, they did a whole section on the 1976 GS 750, their first 4 stroke, and every picture used was a GT 750 J - !!!!! Even the captioned pictures. How the heck did this get through production, review and editing - screenshot below And not only that, but they then do a whole section on how the GSXR 750 was such a race-bike hit, but half of the video footage used (and the soundtrack) is of Schwantz on a RGV 500 !!!

Thanks Slice - glad you came through it and your help is very very welcome :-) Cheers.

Cheers Meatloaf - we feel for you. Keep your chin up. We're over £700 so far (for Liz and I - with the others riding for us and raising sponsorship themselves, we should have a half decent group amount for Macmillan) but we're hoping for a lot more now that people are finding out about our ride.

Thanks Drewps - it's very much appreciated.

Afternoon all, This weekend I'll be cycling around 150 miles, from Whitehaven to Sunderland, with another 25 riders that my wife and I have conscripted - all to raise money for Macmillan Cancer Support. Both Liz and I have lost our fathers to cancer in recent years, as well as other friends and relatives, and we can't thank the Macmillan Nurses enough for the help and support they've given to all cancer patients. To help them, we're doing this challenge to raise as much money for them as possible, so that they can keep on helping all of our families, friends and colleagues, through their suffering. We would greatly appreciate it if you could find it in your hearts to help this fantastic charity by making a donation (however large or small) through our Just Giving page, using the site below. Many thanks in advance and all the best to everyone. https://www.justgiving.com/fundraising/Dean-Liz-Welburn-C2C-2016

I do understand what you mean by BRAKING - youngest did hundreds of laps of the Nurburgring on the back of my RSV - he did find the straps useful. :-) I think our kit will be a bit small though 5 10 is tall for a 14yr old (even for an adult!)

49 and grey hair Danno !!!! You must have had a hard life :-) Welcome to the site - who knows, the grey might now start to disappear.

Hey Cynic, what size is your daughter ? We might have some kit that would fit her - we have used to have some kit that my 14yr old niece wore when she came riding with us as well regarding her resting on you when you're braking, have you tried "Pillion Pals" ? - great for kids. They're plastic handles fixed to a belt - Liz is wearing one in this pic - it really helps an inexperienced pillion to get confident on the bike and feel safe. Helps in both braking and acceleration. Even though she wore them, Ryan was so confident that he rarely used them.

The picture in my sig has our two boys in it when they were 9 and 14, from a 2 week European tour with Liz and I, on my FJ1200 and her Fazer 1000 (the pic was taken in the Black Forest, Hotel Hirsch, lovely place). Having their own, correctly fitting kit was always an essential for us. No amount of saving on cost would be allowed by Liz when it came to the kids hence the youngest ending up with set of Arlen Ness one-piece leathers for riding his moped). Mind you, when he fell off his Fazer 600, albeit at slow speed, we were all happy he was wearing his leathers (slight scuffs but no personal damage/injury), boots, gloves etc.

I think that by the time the XS 250 was around, the 2 strokes were already on the wane, with the exception of the X7 and the 250 Elsie - the biggest selling 250 at the end of the 70's and early 80's will undoubtedly have been the Honda Superdream. There was also the GSX 250 and the Z 250 (Scorpion) - even sold in Kork Ballington replica colours. From '77 to late '81 I rode my 2 stroke KH 250 and hated the 4 strokes - sounding like farts, but able to go much further on a tank of petrol.

Sold in the US as either the XS1100 Special, or the XS1100 Maxim (there was also a de-chromed version called the Midnight Maxim). My word, those Americans really loved naming cars and bikes (think they still do !).

Hiya Mad - got my brother and his wife and their new baby staying with us next weekend, first time they've been down to see us for years, so Sat is out, but I'll keep in touch with another time soon. I'm not a pub person, but I like the Merchants (they sell Belgian, Kriek beer, on tap) and it's usually quiet enough to talk in. The closest pub to me is up at the Central Park Premier Inn (we're on the Coton estate) - again it's usually quiet. Either of those suit ?

Kevin, if you're going to beat the corner, before you do it again you need to know what you did wrong. There's been some decent advice here already, but IMO the most important bit has been missed. If a corner tightens up on you unexpectedly, it doesn't necessarily mean that you were going too fast for the corner - it more likely means that your entry to the corner and line through it, was wrong (on the right approach and line, your speed might still have been safe). This is the biggest mistake that riders (even those who've been riding for 20 years and more) make and I see it all the time, especially on you-tube videos. The cause is generally the result of either 1) going into a right hander too close to the centre line, or 2) going into a left hander too close to kerb. Many riders think that taking a tight line, or the inside line, is the best/fastest way around a corner - not true. Can I ask - did you enter this corner, out to the left, beside the kerb, turning in when you could see around the corner ? Or, did you enter it (and do you normally go into rightanders) between the middle of your lane and the white line ? There's a very well known saying amongst racing instructors "tight in, wide out - wide in, tight out". The fastest and safest is the second - wide in, tight out - the way most "untrained" riders ride is - tight in, wide out and that's why they keep running out of road/track. Your description of your incident is the classic description of a "tight in, wide out", approach - you come in tight to the centre line, don't have the best visibility through the corner, the corner tightens up on you "unexpectedly", you run wide (and target fixation takes over), off the road and into the grass. Coming in wide and looking through the corner minimises the risk of getting caught out like you did. There's also something Eddie Lawson used to teach - look as far along the track/road surface as you can see and as you ride, if the furthest point you can see (the vanishing point) is getting closer to you, then slow down. If the vanishing point is getting further away from you, you can accelerate (because your visibility distance is increasing). This also helps to get your speed right when cornering, reducing the risk of going in too fast. There's a lot more to this whole philosophy that's too much to write about here - but I'd be interested if this either 1) sounds like teaching granny to suck eggs, or 2) is remotely accurate and helpful. If it's 2), I'd be happy to point you some other sources of advice.

Hiya Mad, I also live in Rugby. I'm a bit anti-social and work away from home a lot during the week. I ride around here with my wife and son mostly (at weekends) and we don't really have any other biking mates in Rugby, so it might make a change to catch up with someone else who's well into bikes. I also have a lot of other hobbies that take up time, so the idea of once or twice a month is much better than being tied to weekly club-type get together's. For a starter, count me in. Just post up any suggestions (time/place) and I'll do my best to join in/pop along. Cheers.

Both myself and my wife have multi - bike policies. When she put her CRF 230 on her Fazer 1000 policy the extra premium was virtually nothing (although being in our 50's our insurance is pretty cheap anyway.

Rachel Stevens, every effing time - the most beautiful woman alive !

I Read a map before I go and commit the route to memory - really don't like the idea of Sat Nav on a bike - especially if you're not going to mainland Europe and beyond........... I like the challenge/adventure of relying I on my own orienteering skills. My wife usually has a map, or a list of towns along the route to our destination, to make sure she keeps going in the right "general" direction (give or take 10-20 miles).

Hi Sam, good to see another female rider joining - my wife rides everywhere with me on her bike (she's been a bike instructor) and now our son joins us on his bike. When he passed his test, we got him a 2003 Fazer 600 (with a 33bhp restrictors kit fitted) - fantastic bike for a relative beginner. Hope you get the right bike and get your Tours in. :-)

Out of that choice, definitely go for the FJ 1200 - comfort, relaxed riding (even at high speed), easy to work on, massively upgradeable (if you want to), carries luggage and a passenger far better than the other bikes you've listed. Cheap parts (through the FJOC and Phil "Doc" Hacker), unbelievably reliable (even better than Honda's) and just sooooooo torquey - you can easily pull away from a standstill in 5th gear if you choose to. My wife went looking for a VFR but found the riding position too leaned forward, putting too much weight on her wrists - hence she ended up choosing a Fazer 1000 after a test ride. I'll be taking my FJ 1200 for yet another 2 week Euro Tour this summer, with no qualms/quibbles/worries - and it's 25 years old with lots of miles - but less than Phil Hacker's 190k mile specimen.

SUMMER 2009 in Scotland (again youngest gets in the picture) and yes it rained non-stop for the whole trip - with our best friends, also on their Fazer 1000 (we bought the Fazer 600 from them).

Ha ha - lots of pics in our collection - couple here In Black Forest 2004, myself, wife and two kids (youngest with flip up lid is the one with the 600 now) My FJ 1200 "bed", at Plymouth when we arrived 4 hrs early for the ferry - and it was raining !

Wife and son with their Fazer's on Easter Monday, together with my RSV - the FJ is awaiting fitting of it's USD front end from a FZR 1000 RU.

Evening all - new member here, had my current FJ1200 since new in '89 (got first in '86) and had a 2nd FJ 1200 (that ended up a race bike) between '94 and '09. First Yam was my FS1E in '76. My wife got her first Yam in '03 - her Fazer 1000 - which she still has and loves. Here she is with both bikes in '04 ready for family Europen tour (with our sons aged 9 & 14) In early 2011 when our youngest was 17yrs and 3 months old, he passed his bike test - and there was only one bike he/we considered - a pre '04 Fazer 600 - comfort, style, reliability, everything except 33 bhp - but a kit soon sorted that. The restrictors has just been removed and he's now enjoying full power riding - here's the bike on return from de-restriction, still stylish at 11 yrs old. I suppose you could say that we're died in the wool Yam-Fan's even though we've another 8 non-Yam bikes in the garage. The FJ & Fazers are our clear favourite's (although I really do love my RSV as well and Liz will never sell her '85 VF 750 FD, otherwise known as "Freddie"). Ride well, ride safe, ride fast.