JohnnyK Posted September 20, 2010 Posted September 20, 2010 Hi guys and girls, After 6 weeks of waiting for the cogs to turn far enough for the DVLA to spit out a new provisional licence and send it via second-class post to me, I was finally able to take my CBT, insure and tax my bike and get it on the road yesterday! I've done close to 100 miles on it today, drove into London went for a little toot around and then blatted back down the A316 to Weybridge... found out that my beast of a 125 Drag refuses to go faster than 55mph, but then at 6'3 and 17st I'm not the lightest or most aerodynamic of lumps for it to shift. Been great so far, just wanted to let everyone know that I'm very happy I chose to free myself from public transport, riding a bike is brilliant. Oh and the question; if anyone knows somewhere where I can get some decentish weatherproof panniers for a 125 'drag for around the £100 mark (preferably less ) I would very much appreciate it. Cheers all happy riding Johnny
Vez Posted September 20, 2010 Posted September 20, 2010 Nice to hear you enjoyed your first day. Keep safe, and keep enjoying your new found freedom
Guest CardBoardDave Posted September 20, 2010 Posted September 20, 2010 It is a great feeling i totally agree with you there and 55mph on the right roads is still fun. enjoy johnny
up.yours Posted September 20, 2010 Posted September 20, 2010 well done johnny ,welcome to biking...dave don't be tight,,,tell him what he needs to do:o .......
Moderator drewpy Posted September 21, 2010 Moderator Posted September 21, 2010 nice to hear that you have the bug, I never forget my forst time on a bike (on the back of my uncles Triumph) fantastic and the best bit? you'll have even more adventures awaiting you!
Ttaskmaster Posted September 21, 2010 Posted September 21, 2010 OOH-RAH, mate!! Freedom never tasted so good, eh!!
2 Wheels Posted September 21, 2010 Posted September 21, 2010 Failte: Johnnyk to the YOC. Aaaaaa the joy of feeling free as a bird, its great isnt it. me still gets this feeling everytime im heading off for a weekend touring, all probs and mistermeeners left at home for a weekend of fun and enjoyment !!!
christofeser Posted September 21, 2010 Posted September 21, 2010 Welcome mate, I'm in Esher. I only top 60 out of mine usually... im 15st. Anything can be done???? I don't know. Anyone like to tell us?
wild foamy Posted September 21, 2010 Posted September 21, 2010 my old DT50 would just about manage 55 if you thrashed the living daylights out of it, but im only 9.5st ^.^, and it put up a hell of a fight and had a tendancy to go "f*ck you, ive had enough" and die until i let it settle and kept it at sensible speeds (40mph, nothing more). im thinking maybe gearing?, smaller rear sprocket or larger front sprocket, aslong as your engine has the guts to pull it, once again, going back to my old DT (can you tell i still miss it?...) it was fairly gutless on acceleration, but was faster than a stock DT because i had the smallest available sprocket on the back and a larger front one. failing that, fuel and exhaust systems and maybe engine management?, im unfamiliar with the 125 drag so im just shooting ideas out into the dark
Paulwhite Posted September 22, 2010 Posted September 22, 2010 hi and welcome to the yoc forum!!! if your looking for more power then forget it cause you cant squeeze anymore out of the engine. BUT there are a few things you can do to help! 1. get a smaller / larger front sprocket . ppl have put a smaller sprocket on (2 or 3 teeth) and have said that they have seen an improvement! (id personally get a smaller and a bigger one (2-3 teeth) cause a smaller one increases pulling power but lowers top end speed, but a bigger one will lower engine revs, lower the pulling power slightly but increases top end speed! 2. put a free flow oil filter and some decent oil in the engine. Id have to say this is a must! iv found that these engines tend to be a bit poor in this department so a good grade oil and a free flow filter will help LOADS. 3. if you wanted you could drill 5 6mm holes in each exhaust plate (the black bit at the end of the exhaust where the exit pipe is) its mainly to improve the sound but it dus free up the exhaust a little. plus you can put 6mm bolts in the holes when it comes to the mot! (saves having to get a new exhaust cause with the holes it wont pass) 4. finally if you sort of know what ur doing or are quite handy with a spanner you could put a bigger main jet in the carb increasing the air/fuel mixture a little (a 95 main jet will surfice ) this will improve the torque slightly but you will notice it when riding all these put together should help you reach that magic 60mph but the best advice i can give is to just ride it and get used to the bike, i used to find that id have to rev it quite hard from 3rd gear i used to hit 58 in 4th then flick it into 5th for cruising but could never manage to get it above 62mph unless i was going downhill! hope this helps m8 .Paul.
JohnnyK Posted September 22, 2010 Author Posted September 22, 2010 Thanks guys for all your kind remarks and Paul/Chris/foamy cheers for the helpful comments. Chris I got your PM, I will definitely be keen to go for a ride down your way sometime soon, maybe this Sunday? Paul, thanks for that post, I read your stuff about the 125 'drag before I bought one and thought that I might end up looking at doing the things you mentioned; it's a really great bike to learn on I think because I really have to work the gears, especially on roads like the A4, I can't be lazy and slow down to 20 in 4th gear then expect to be able to power back up to 40 unless I'm prepared to wait for 10 minutes while people beep furiously behind me... ! I'm hoping in 6 months or so I will have enough experience to take my test and upgrade to something like a 650. I have noticed though that commuting in London on a cruiser is not nearly as easy as it would be on a sports bike! The bars are at just the right height to take off a strip of car wing mirrors on either side... On an unrelated note, a weird thing happened to me yesterday on my first day of commuting... a guy stepped out into the road in front of me while I was doing about 40, I pull up to a halt and beep at him, and he comes at me and tries to steal my backpack! Fortunately I was much stronger than he was, and if it had gotten any worse I do have kevlar knuckles on my gloves, they would do the job! Happy riding all, speak soon. Johnny
christofeser Posted September 22, 2010 Posted September 22, 2010 You'll get used to commuting/filtering etc. When I started I was shitting it so much that I would RATHER get stuck in traffic. I'll check what I'm doing this Sunday, but I'll probably be up for a ride. I'm up to Ipswich the following weekend though for Copdock Motorcycle Show, so we'll try make something work... Like I said best gimme a text when you know you're free...
christofeser Posted September 22, 2010 Posted September 22, 2010 You'll get used to commuting/filtering etc. When I started I was shitting it so much that I would RATHER get stuck in traffic. I'll check what I'm doing this Sunday, but I'll probably be up for a ride. I'm up to Ipswich the following weekend though for Copdock Motorcycle Show, so we'll try make something work... Like I said best gimme a text when you know you're free...
eduardo Posted September 23, 2010 Posted September 23, 2010 hiya and welcome to the open road........ if it's cheap gear you're after try scouting around car-boot sales while we still have a little bit of sun left...... i can't believe the bargains i've had from tank bags for a fiver to full leathers in great nick for thirty quid!!! best of luck with the hunt for panniers Eddie
JohnnyK Posted September 26, 2010 Author Posted September 26, 2010 Johnny, did you get my PM, too? Oh yeah, just got it! Still getting the hang of the thing, I had two at once and I missed the first one Reply on the way...
Recommended Posts