g1hsg

Tough luck Alex. For what it's worth mate I reckon yours was head and shoulders above the eventual winner. Second's not too bad. Ask your Ashes team

Hi and welcome.A handy hint for the future, mothers tend to be a lot more agreeable to engine rebuilds in the house than wives.

Haha, just imagine how poor the originals might have been then ! Can certainly relate to the exhilaration/fear on opening up the Fazer for the first time, all part of the fun. There was a very good video guide on YouTube on using the Carbtune, it's really easy to follow and there's no better way to get to know your bike.

I'm sure you'll love the Fazer. I'm guessing it'll be a boxeye at YBR prices. You might want to think about upgrading the headlights if you do much riding in the dark as they are notoriously poor. The guys over on The unoffical Fazer owners club site ( www.foc-u.co.uk ) are a great source of advice. If you intend doing your own servicing I recommend investing in a Morgan carbtune to balance the carbs. Have fun

Don't know whether the wife would agree to this. I'm supposed to be on a diet

Don't you mean 'custom made harness" ?

Could have done without the air guitar from the red shirted guy BUT a welcome change from the Eagles original.

I was on my way home from work tonight, riding from Wigan to Bolton when I passed a guy hunched over what looked like a pre war bike at the side of the road. I turned round and pulled up to ask if he needed a hand. Indeed he did, the clutch had failed on what turned out to be a 1933 Coventry Eagle Silent Superb and he was going to need a hand to lift it into his van. I spent a very happy 20 minutes chatting with Brian, the owner whilst we waited for his brother in law to arrive with the van. Describing the Coventry as his 'new' bike Brian told me his usual ride was built in 1903 ! In the 20 minutes I spent there a rider on an MZ also stopped to offer assistance and to have a chat. If there's a better way to pass time on a sunny Sunday evening I've yet to find it.

Great intro and a welcome change from the more common one liners. Welcome back.

I'm with Cynic on this. Not to criticise your riding but if I understood your post fully you have maybe 15 hours max on a 650 a couple of months ago chances are it was a nice docile handling beast ideally suited for DAS. A litre bike won't give you any leeway IF things start to go wrong. I frightened myself enough on my FZS600 when my zeal exceeded my experience in the first few months after doing my DAS. But then again what do I know ? I rather like the looks of the Virago. As others have said try to get a feel for a range of bikes and decide what you want it to do, that was part of the fun for me after passing. Persuading dealers to offer a test ride when the ink was still wet on the licence was slightly less fun. After an SR125 I think you'll find more or less anything will feel exhilarating for a good while. Good luck and enjoy whatever you end up riding

A sound method for choosing a wife as well. Don't tell the wife though

Good luck on the touring, rather you than me on the MT125 though. The most I've managed on mine is 225 miles (with just one 5 minute fuel stop) in a stint, but I do have a dodgy back. DT's suggestion regarding posting your gear is a good one, if you use one of the parcel aggregation firms to book a courier (such as Parcel2Go or ParcelMonkey) it can be surprisingly cheap. How many days are you planning on taking to get there ?

TomTom seem to be having a fire sale on their map updates, I assume it's to counter the increasing number of satnavs that come with 'free' lifetime updates out of the box. The last time I checked TomTom wanted over £40 for a UK & ROI update, now down to £14.95 and using the discount code Welcome15_uk I got another £8 off. Shame the powered mount crapped out last week and they don't seem to make replacements for the Rider v2 any longer. Still with a full charge it's likely that my back will fail before the Satnav runs out of charge.

Ace "How Long" although it was their only hit, Paul Carrack went on to have further hits with Squeeze "Tempted" & Mike and the Mechanics "The Living Years"

I'm no mechanic, but as the remains of the broken bolt are below the surface the head of the 'new' LH bolt tapped into place will hit the retainer rather than the top of the sheared bolt. Surely unless the threads of both the existing and new bolts have identical pitches it's going to be more tears of frustration.

Out of interest what was it about the Boxeye that turned you off it ?

I'll second Cambridge cyclists knowledge of the Highway Code. I took our youngest down there for an interview last year and was convinced that Dignitas had opened a branch office, they must either be tired of life or just lack any comprehension of the danger they put themselves in.

The steering geometry on some of these looks challenging to say the least.

Sounds like a bad connection to me, I had exactly the same problem about a year ago. Have you asked on Fazer Owners Club www.foc-u.co.uk ?

I'm with Blackhat on this. The roads in many parts of Greater Manchester have been gritted every day for the past 5 days as the snow has been a couple of inches thick on occasion. And, as usual, the standard of driving in the snow has been piss poor. How can you fail to understand that once traction has been lost it won't be regained by applying more power ? I've witnessed two low speed shunts by drivers ineptitude in the snow.

Perhaps you would like to post an intro in the appropriate section to tell us a bit about yourself, we're sticklers for etiquette on here ! Unfortunately the MT07 & YZFR levers and mirrors aren't compatible I'm afraid. As the MT125 is still relatively new it's a dealers job I'm sorry to say. Stick around and contribute.

A minor inconvenience I'll grant you

I so want this, the helmet that is, not the bike. http://s1293.photobucket.com/user/g1hsg/media/Animalhelmet_zps00060419.jpg.html?sort=3&o=0

They're great bikes, only real issue with the Boxeye are the piteous headlights. There are many upgrade options provided you don't mind butchering the plastic lampholders. Carb rubbers are getting a bit expensive. Assuming you are doing your own maintenance (If you don't own one already) I'd highly recommend getting a Morgan Carbtune to balance the carbs easily

Having a workshop clearout and came across the above. Part no 90891-10124. In Yamaha partspeak 'kit' is synonymous with 'and washer' Can't be arsed eBaying it due to the number of fuckwit queries my last eBay sale raised. PM me if it's of any use to you