Variomatic

I'm still in the middle of a front brake calliper rebuild, and have noticed that the standard rubber hose that Yamaha provided is most definitely on the way out. What about braided lines? Worth the extra money? Decent for every day use? Are the claims of better feel true?

Right, my front brake is sized on, it seems to be stuck about 25-30% on, I got it running after a while out of the game due to MOT and money problems and went to the shop the get fuel, the fuel had been sitting in the bike for close to 2 months so it needed some new stuff before the 10 mile trip I had to make. But the bike wouldn't move properly, I got to the fuel station, put it on the centre stand and checked, the front brake was stuck on a little bit, and the brake disk was so hot that when I put a few drops of water onto it they boiled before I could withdraw my hand. So, half way through the calliper rebuild I find myself with no idea which brake fluid the bike needs, and realising I know nothing about brake fluids. Can anyone provide some general info about brake fluids, what the different DOT's mean, what the colour means, about mixing different types and different synthetics or non synthetics. The stuff that was in there was a nice Yellow colour, making me think it was DOT3. I have some DOT4 semi-synthetic. Will that work ok?

One of the very few upsides to a 125cc bike, they cost basically nothing to maintain, parts are cheap and plentiful, even more so if you're Ok with second hand part (which I am provided the part is in good condition) Soon I'm getting new tyres, clutch plates and springs, heated grips, wheel bearings and replacing some blown bulbs in the instrument pannel that I've been to bone idle lasy to replace.

Ohh for fuck sake that's utterly ridiulous. £12.50!? What option are they going to give people? A LOT of peoiple have bikes as there only mode of transport, what is the alternative for them? Sudden;ly have to buy a new bike? Use the unimaginably expensive public transport? Walk the 15-20 mile trip each day? NO, if they want to impose such a ridiculously expensive tax, they have to provide an equally inexpensive way of getting around for the people they will fuck over.

I have an extremely bright tail and head light, and I have reflectors on each side of my bike, and reflective patches on my jacket and boots. Most biker's are fairly damn visible as it is, unless this is similarly priced to a normal helmet, I'm not going to bother, I have plenty of safety features as it is. If it's the same price as a noral helmet, or even £15 or £20 more (which for something as simple as LED's is reasonable) then I'll have one, can't have enought safety features, BUT, if this is like £50 or £100 more, I'm not gonna bother. To make helmet LED's a thing in the loing run, these have to be priced competatively,

It's plastic chrome, once it's scratched it's basically fucked, best thing you can do is spray it any colour you want, or try some chrome spray paint, or just buy a new one since they're fairly cheap.

"A-ring-ding-ding-ding-ding"

Sounds like it's bogging and not climbing properly, maybe a dead air filter, maybe a blocked fuel line, green death (gunk that apears when petrol goes bad after sitting for a while) built up in the jets, worn out plugs. Lot's of possible things. Just methodically work through stuff people have listed that sound like possible causes. Or just pay out and take it to a mechanic.

Then maybe they shouldnt cycle like jeb ends When they start using the road properly, then I'll stop getting angry at them, speed isn't too much of a problem, it's the simple fact that 90% of them cycle like rules don't apply to them.

I do that a lot, but it annoys me, I have so many plans, cusom frame bobber with a low capacity V-twin, a Honda CB cafe racer, A Suzuki Bandit stunt bike, a bobber rat bike, an XJ as a daily rider, a steam powered bike, electric bike, a few classics I'd love to own, and many more plans. But I'm too damn poor.

I seem to be the only biker in the world who looks forward to getting rid of there bike. But then again my bike has lovingly been named "A pile of scrap" for the last 6 months. Come on, it wobbles like jelly once you get above 50, it's like it has a hinge in the middle, can't wait to get rid of the metal bastard.

I have a story, and the video to go with it from my helmet camera I might upload, I was on my way home from a trip to the Horse Shoe Pass, and obviously, all the licra clad bell ends decide to come on the roads and get in everyones way as much as possible. I'm on my way down the hill and come up to some cyclists, but since it was a fairly steep hill they where managing a speed of about 40, fair enogh, get to the bottom of the hill and slow down to about 20, bit slow but they are human powered so I'm not to annoyed, although a little ticked off because I lost all momentum (something you need to keep up when you only have 11bhp). Theres a cross road, a red light stopping me and the cyclists in front, BUT, do these licra clad cocks stop for it like they are supposed to? NOPE! They just careen straight into the center of the junction, without even looking left or right, then sat in the center of it for about 1 or 2 seconds just deciding what to do, blocking everyone and causing a lot of danger for themselfes and other road users, before wobbling off to the left. Come the hell on, just because you don't have a licnece plate does it mean you can ignore red lights, fly into the center of a junction without looking, and then stop there. Ether I'm being to harsh to these middle age cocks treying to regain a hint of youth by dressing in licra and making other road users angry, OR, they are just idiots where I live.

The battery on my YBR Custom went dead because...well because I was using a 30 something year old battery (don't ask how a 30 whatever year old battery got into a 2009 bike, long ass story), I couldn't aford a new one so I ended up using a the kick start for about 2 months. This is the exact reason I like my bikes to have a kick start, but then again, bump is always an option but a risky one. Still though, lesson learned.

This is exactly why I give lorrys about 2 or 3 times as much room as they legitimately need. Those mother***kers are blind in that cab, and blind with a V12, 700hp, 22 tone, 7mpg Goliath.

Never heard of this, if you want to mess with reeds to get more flow or power, just go and buy a new set of reeds, don't risk breaking the ones in there.

Just go and buy a manual for it, you'll need it for this, and you'll find it useful for year to come.

I've been known to reuse the odd exhaust gasket, or one time bodge a thick paper clip to keep a castle nut in place to get a bike home, but never in my life have I found such a bad bodge, sure silicon may be a wonder material but you can't just stick a bolt head back on with it...

....well that was an odd experiance...

Well, provided it was working when it was parked, and it was kept under cover, the interneals should be in just as good a condition as when it was last run, so long as water and so on hasn't got into it. Id go round with a battery and crank it over to make sure it's not siezed, if it wasn't, I'd likely have it, provided it was aparantly running ok when it was put there.

Cyclists are the bane of my riding life, even more so on twisty roads where you can't safely get past them. Get off the roads you lycra clad knob ends. And if you do insist on cycling on roads for god sake at least be sensible and courteous to other road users.

First time I got on a big bike (private roads before someone plays the law and shouts at me) I did the same thing, forget about the power and put too much throttle on, next thing you know your going twie as fsast as you want to and the front wheels not on the floor anymore Lovely bike, wanted one for a while, but these days i think I'fd prefer an old CB, anyway, hope you enjoy.

I've rebuilt enhgines with that problem before, I replaced the piston rings, new valves, changed the plugs and cleaned the carbs to within an inch of there lives. Now it runs sweet. But that may be a bit of a problem, from what I've heard that problem is caused by bad cpompression, usually valves or rings in my experiance, drain the oil to see if it has fuel in it, if it does, you've got bad rings. Otherwise, I'm not sure, rebuild perhaps, an engine as old as an XS 400 could probably benefit from it anyway. I'm just speaking from MY experiance, I'm not a mechanic, just my two cents. (That bike has a godly sound by the way, love those bikes)

As I have stated many times, you are all mistaken, the power limit on a 125 under a CBT is 14.6Hp, you cannot, on hell or earth do 100mph with that little power. Unless you want a custom made motorcycle that weighs 2 grams and will be unable to get an MOT even for all the lip service in the world. The bikes you refer to are things such ad a Honda NSR or an Aprillia RS125, these are 2 strokes, they make a lot of power, to be ride under a CBT you need to have them limited down to basically nothing, and be lucky to hit 75 with a decent tail wind. And a 4 stroke 125? HA! 4 stroke may be the king of the road, but if you strangle it with that displacment it's about as powerful as a mouse fart or a gentle breez. Good luck doing 100mph in a 4 stroke 125 on an MOT and road worthy bike. I keep hearing people rant about 100mph bikes on a CBt and I'm getting mighty sick of it. You can NOT do 100mph on a CBT.

Nooooooo, the leagl limit on a CBT is 14.6Hp at the rear wheel, granted bikes like a Honda NSR 125 and an Aprilia RS 125 (both 2 stokes) CAN do 110mph, that is only with the power limiter removed, you can buy a 110mph bike, but you'll have to limit it to 14.6 hp, and then you'd be lucky to hit 75 with a tail wind on a down hill slope on a long straight. Anyone with a 125 that can do 100mph is breaking the law. And the bilke would be crushed. Not to mention your skinny wheels, the way the bike weighs nothing and is blown across lanes by wind, and the general view people have of you. There are multiple down sides to a 125, thats why no one really wants to stay on them long, but as I have stated in my other threads, I disagree with the CBT anyway and think an actual test should be implimented, and a larger engine size allowed. Like I stated earlier, in my very illegal experiments with L plates, I found people do pull out on me a significantly lesser amount, as if they see the L plate and believe me to ride slowly,

I have no doubt this will be poorly implimented and cause a contravorsy somewhere down the line. I maintain that you should have to take lessons and a test as you do in a car. 125 at 16, 250cc between 17 and 19, then whatever you want with another test. And just scrap the CBT. Bikes are far more dangerous than cars, so why the hell do we let idiots like me on the road with 2-4 hours on road experiance and some trundling round a car park? And expect them to be adiquatly trained to deal with stuff as complex as a magic round about? Or even inner city traffic? So why do we treat motorcycles as if they are toys? The CBT is an outdated idea and should be removed compleatly. (Yes I ride on a CBT, think of that what you will)