Adam2201

Just treated her to a bit of maintenance...: http://imgur.com/ygYeckw A few signs your plugs might not have been changed in a while: 1) gaps out, 2) a tiny bit of rust!, 3) a bloody great mummified wasp! Just the brake cappuccino fluid and coolant to change now when i have chance.. Well I managed to make it through the first week without binning it! In spite of my best efforts in setting off with the disc lock on - I don't recommend this (it wouldn't fit through the disc on the ybr so I used a chain, which was easier to remember before setting off)! I absolutely love the bike, puts a massive grin on my face every day . Need to plan some longer summer outings now to get used to cornering. Have many of you done the BikeSafe course? Would you recommend it for new riders?

Cheers for the advice guys. Picked the Fazer up last night and got a couple of pics with my potato phone this morning http://imgur.com/a/tbPM5 (ignore the KTM in the background trying to steal her thunder). Scared myself silly opening itup on a country lane on the way home - the road just seemed to disappear! I'm definitely going to have to take it easy for a few weeks. Silkk, a ZXR will definitely be on the agenda one day but not for a while now. I've seen that waterless coolant on and old Wheeler Dealers episode, looks like pretty cool stuff and they do 2L bottles (only £22!! ). Will see how she gets on for now...smelled pretty hot on the way home, so a full service and coolant change will be a priority this weekend. Captf - the 40 quid was from a comparison site, so I ended up starting a new policy. It's annoying to lose the no claims, but those kind of admin charges are fairly normal now. I tried the Bikesure policy off here but they quoted double the price I paid unfortunately. How do you like your XJ6? I passed my test on one, such a wicked bike! g1hsg - yep, a boxeye rather than foxeye - like something out of Transformers, I love the look of them! Previous owner had done an HID upgrade (I guess it's full HID rather than just a bulb, I don't know much about them), but it wasn't pleasant in the dark on the M3. I thought retrofitting HID would be a problem for the MOT, but seems to have gone through the last few ok. It's only done about 500 miles in the last 4 years, but runs well. Signed up on foc-u - seems like a cool site. I'll be doing servicing, but I might end up paying someone to balance the carbs the first time and watch how they do it - I've never messed with them before and balancing 4 (I think it's a quad carb isn't it?) is probably not the best place to start! Looking forward to some longer rides over the summer!

Well, the YBR is sold- was sad to see it go, but it held its value much better than expected... in fact, it held value so well that I managed to buy a mint FZS600 for the same price! Pick her up tomorrow night and can't wait.. found a few twisties for the way home if I manage to get there in daylight. I'd looked at a few SVS650s and Thundercats and got quite into the idea of getting something sportier, but the ones I could afford were all a bit rough round the edges (or cracks round the fairing bolts which makes me think they'd been track bikes) and I didn't have the budget to put them right. Fazer was a low mileage bargain with a lot of work done, and should be decent for commuting as well as a bit of summer weekend fun! Just need to sort insurance now... I've got 11 months no claims with RAC at present, which it would be nice to keep, but with the admin fees for changing bike/updating to full license it looks like I might as well start a new policy. Only 40 quid difference between a year's no claims and zero no claims looking online, and RAC seem to think it reasonable to charge me a £30.00 'admin fee' for the 5 minutes on the premium rate phone number to update the policy

You definitely shouldn't mention that, it could be dangerous! To be honest though, I don't like the idea of spending weeks breaking in an engine, only for the bike to lose 30% of its value in the process.. if you plan on keeping something forever, I can see the value in knowing you've been the only owner, but I'll always buy used. Seen some cracking bikes for sale, just need to sell the YBR and I'll be laughing...

Nice bike DT, someone got a bargain buying that. They look great in yellow. No excuse for anyone to not see you either! That fzr looks tidy as well. Need to get the ybr sold then the bargain hunting can begin... Will come back and let you know what I find.

Thanks for all the advice.. Budget is going to be 1000-1250 maximum, depending on what I get for the ybr, so it will definitely be second hand. It will mainly be used for commuting but I'm not set on a naked style bike, those just tend to be the ones that fall within budget. Cynic, I like the idea of a 400, my stepdad used to have a zxr400 with the ram air pipes and that was a cracking bike, but they're quite rare now. Will take a look at the baby gsxr as I didn't know they did a 400. Dt I've heard great things about the SV, if I can find a tidy one within budget it could be a winner. A mate has the SVS so I'll try to have a sit on that at some point to get a feel for it. The temptation is just to get out there and buy one whilst the weathers nice, but as you've mentioned I don't want to end up with a money pit that wants loads spending on it. Think I might be asking a lot!

Finally passed my mod 2 and despite half hearted promises (mainly to the mrs) about keeping the ybr's fuel economy and cheap parts it just doesn't feel right after riding an xj6! I'm on a bit of a budget and have seen a few of the older xj600n's knocking around on eBay and auto Trader at a bargain price. For people that have owned them, are they fairly decent year-round commuters, or would I be better off trying to wait for a mid mileage fz6 or (if it's not swearing to mention on here) a S**uki SV or Bandit? Are there any common issues I should be looking out for if I buy one? Looking on Google it seems like the exhausts are quite expensive to replace. For selling the YBR, does anyone have any experience of using MCN? Price wise they are the same as auto Trader and flea bay and bikes seem to fetch a bit more money but I'm not sure if the level of interest would be the same. Cheers

Cheers Kev. Drewpy it's was an eBay special and had already opened and fitted bolts when I realised so I can't send it back , but it does look crap. Will see how it looks when it's tied up. Nayruf, tried a route across top yoke but it's not quite long enough.. just rubs on the key! Learned a lesson, should have paid a bit more for the HEL off wemoto

Cheers for the advice Kev. I did originally have the hose pointing upwards from the reservoir which was better but didn't like the steep angle of it . Will get busy with the cable ties and see if it gets better..if not will try pointing it up again...shouldn't affect the braking if there's a steep curve in it should it?

Hi guys, Hoping for a bit of advice. I've recently replaced the brake hose on my ybr as part of a caliper overhaul and although it was described as fitting my bike, the new SS one is much longer than the original.. Pics below : http://imgur.com/TYDhgGw http://imgur.com/E7ulHj7 http://imgur.com/ZhWw9OB I can't seem to find a route for the hose that doesn't leave it flapping around. It moves from lock to lock with no problem but I'm wondering if it's going to be a problem for the MOT? Does anyone have any experience of this? Are they just checking it to see that it didn't foul on the frame/other parts when you move the steering, or will an excessively long hose (ooh err) cause a problem as well? Cheers in advance for any help

Scooter riders are the bain of my commute. In and out of cycle lanes and boxes, undertaking, overtaking. The three wheeled version is the worst! Also, what's the fascination with sitting at traffic lights and revving the engine constantly with the back brake on (as if it had a manual gearbox)?

Cheers Pilninggas. I did it the same way I've done it every time I've adjusted the chain, but will go back to basics tonight and do it one turn at at a time on each side and see if that works. Spacers are all in and in the right place.. I was tired last night and trying to get it built in a hurry, so it's probably a bit of that as well.

Will try to get one for you tomorrow when I can work in daylight. The swingarm has chain guide on one side/brake torque arm on the other so it can only go one way round.

Hi everyone, Happy New Year! I took the swingarm off my YBR125 to strip down, remove rust and re-paint over Christmas. When I've put it all back together, the wheel alignment at the back seems to be way out according to the marks on the arm (I know the marks are not definitive, but they were fairly accurate before removing the swingarm, which is what's making me think I've done something wrong). If I take up the chain slack on the left hand side I'm at the second mark on the swingarm, but on the right hand side the adjuster bolt isn't even touching the swingarm on the second mark, it's nearer to the forth before it makes contact. I've pulled the wheel all the way back before I try to set the tension (as when I've adjusted slack in the past), so I've no idea what's changed. I'll have another look at it tonight and try measuring the wheel relative to the swingarm on each side, but does anyone have any idea what I might have done to put it so far out of alignment? I haven't changed the bushes or any of the components of the swingarm - the only thing I've done differently when I've put it back together is move the 3mm shim (there was only one fitted) from the right hand side of the bike to the left ( as per Yamaha manual and haynes manual), would this make a difference to the alignment? Many thanks in advance for any help, Adam

Thanks guys. No, blackhat I'm 30. Grew up with bikes in the family, not sure why it took me so long to get my own but i'm loving being on two wheels so far. I had been thinking about chancing the 125 test with no lessons, for 100 quid it's got to be worth a try to get the l plates off. But I'll probably leave that as a backup for if I don't manage DAS this year.

Hi all, Great site, I’m sure I’ll be back for advice at some point later but thought i’d say hello for now. I’ve recently done CBT and bought my first bike, I’d been looking at China’s finest offerings for a while but I saw the error of my ways and found a nice ‘Japanese’ YBR for the right price! Not going to be nailing any track days any time soon but she’s been nice and reliable so far and great for commuting and learning to ride. What would you all advise about doing DAS? Does everyone do the intensive courses nowadays or is it possible to break it down into lessons and spread the cost out a bit?