chrisw

Sports bikes like the R6 have clutchless upshifting taken into account at design stage, and is not going to harm your bike. Best way is before you change gear, put a little pressure on the lever and then when you ease off the accelerator for that nanosecond it will shift nicely. It may be lazy but it saves the drive chain and the clutch from jolts and wear that you get on the higher revving bikes during gear changes.

Not much serious woud go wrong ... and it would be in excellent condition as I'd be tinkering with my bike all the time

I wear 'Richa' leathers. I always choose to go with 2 peice leathers that zip all the way round, if they're good enough for race schools there good enough for me. it gives the bonus of taking the jacket off down the pub in summer instead of overheating. Everyone I know who has a 1 peice suit wishes they'd bought 2 peice, although I'm sure not everyone feels the same.

Hi Wiggsy and congratualtions on passing your test. I see you've gone for a 2003 model and not one of the olders ones (upto 2002) which my previous comments were based on, so the back end should feel a little bit more stable. Take care of it mate, and learn to ride and know it before opening her up through the twisties .... remember anyone can ride fast in a striaght line it's the corners that make a talented rider. Oh and when the tyres are ready for replacing ditch the Dunlops they're OK but not as good as something like the Pirelli Diablo's which I think work very well on the 03/04 R6's. But most of all enjoy her ... especially when the Summer finally starts.

Best way is to use a Hair Dryer on the stickers, and they come off easily enough. Bit late now though!!

Best thing to do is always keep your clear visor with you, then if you do get pulled yuo can show them that yuo've got the a clear one should you need it. either put it inside your leathers or get one of the visor bags that strap round your waist. I've worn a dark visor since I started riding 6 years ago, I cover about 15thousand miles a year and have never been pulled yet.

A number of years ago I lent my Car to Magnex (more famously known as Micron for bikes), for them to design the exhaust and inlet manifold for 16v Calibra. They gave me the products free with a lifetime warrenty, after all they're going to make a lot of money from borrowing your stuff so why should you have to pay for a system .... time for negotiation if they want money for it. Don't know how WolfRacing treat stuff but I I had nothing to fear on that respect.

Just put the bike away until the new part arrive, your need for living is greater than the need to use your bike, or at least it should be !!

I've fitted a Scorpion Carbon Oval to my 04 R6, and not had any fueling problems. It has a removable baffle for when you need to keep things quiet.

This year the roads are worse ... I've had the front slip on me quite a few times during stright line breaking. There's been further articles about it in MCN and one of the product (Road Salt) that is questionable is called SAFECOTE. More and more people are commenting about the stuff, and even the Emergency Services have indicated an increase in accidents (Not just bike related) where roads have been treated with SAFECOTE. There really ought to be an immediate ban on this stuff !

Andy is right, fitting Race tyres to a road bike isn't clever at all. Race tyres require alot more heat than Road tyres, and riding those tyres on the road they just won't heat up enough to provide the grip of a good quality Road tyre. Also what happens if it start to spit with rain when your out, it will only need to get slightly damp before you could have a serious slide out. Then there's the Plod issue, if he catches you it could be a hefty fine and points. My advice keep to good fast road tyres if that's your thing. Don't fit race tyres. In fact the Ron Haslam Race School don't even fit Race tyres to there bikes for the track, they fit road tyres because people aren't at race speeds.

They have put the same system onto an R1 as well and it was a massive 6 seconds quicker per lap (not sure which track). They reckon they'll have the system on the market in the next few years but it's likely to be on the tourers rather than the sports bikes.

204's and 207's are old now but should still perform well. I've tried Bridsgestones (BT01's) on my R6 and hated them , they ruined the handling. I'm now running Pirelli Diablo's and they seem really good. Remember though that at this time of year your never going to get full grip even when the roads are dry, there's sand grains about from gritting, the roads are cold so you don't get the full stickyness you should. If the tyres are still in good condition, I'd run them through winter when you have to take it steady anyway and then then buy a new pair once the weather picks up, then you'll get most of the summer on new tyres.

I ride an 04 R6 and love it. It doesn't need to be thrashed all the time but is sluggish below 5k. As for the tyre, some people like it some poeple don't if you don't like it just put a 70 profile on it, I'm not aware of any clearance problem with the mudguard. I've left my front tyre as a 60 profile, I know someone who put a 70 on and they hated it after the 0 and went back, apperently the bike turned alot slower.

I had a similiar problem recently and took it to the dealers to be looked at seems it still under warrenty. Apperently all it needed was the selector pivot cover taking off and a damn good cleaning behind there, and that was on an 04 bike. I'm not saying this will be the problem but it's worth a look at.

My previous bike was a Cat and shortly after buying it I replaced all the dash bulbs to 5w. Owned the bike for nearly 3 years and put almost 36k on the clock and had no problem from the higher rated bulbs.

hmm not sure myself ... I ride a 2004 R6 but when buying I read alot and once read about the older R6's which said "Don't buy one unless you have 10, 000 miles of sports bike riding. I think it's because the back end on them was quite twitchy and if you weren't able to read the signs of what the bike was saying (which new riders don't tend to be able to do) it was likely to break loose suddenly. My ex's friend had this very thing happen to her, she passed her test bought an older R6, within 2 weeks she had a fatal accident, because the back end broke loose. I don't mean to put a downer on things but, if you're buying something you should have all the facts so you can make an informed decision. Personally I think it's too much of a hooligans bike to be suitable to a new rider.

I've been told by a dealer that many new bikes have flat beams so it doesn't matter whether it's for uk / europe / usa but that could be a load of shite ! Best thing is to check it on a wall and see if it does extend on one side. If you need to change it then chances are that your going to have to buy a UK spec headlight, strip down the front end of the R1 swap it and put back together. Don't forget to keep the several screws and 3 bits of weird shaped plastic that will almost certainly be left over, into a safe place !!

I so hope you mean nice solid feel. I wouldn't want to be riding along thinking, "hmm this bike has a nice soiled feeling to it, the previous owner must have shit himself several time to get it to feel like this"

I had a Thundercat for my first bike, and it was absolutely brilliant. I covered 36k miles in just under 3 years and it never let me down once. It would keep up with other 600's and was competent in the corners. You may need to play about with the suspension a bit to harden it up just a little, but that would go for any bike getting it to your preferences. I'd say the Thundercat over the R6 for a first bike ... and I now own an R6. Get some experiance first and some 'no claims bonus' behind you.

You could get the Scott Oiler Touring Kit so the reservoir fits at the back of the number plate !!

Personally I think he's innocent ... bloody stupid for putting himself in such a position to be accused but innocent non the less !! that song in the link was so so funny !!

I've got heated grips on mine, they're nice and warm for you palms but the outside of the hand still gets cold. However I've also bought some Heated gloves gtom GIALA you can either get a complete heated glove or a heated glove line that you put on and then your normal gloves over the top, but the liner version doesn;t wrap under the finger tips like the heated glove does. I've had mine almost 2 years and had a slight problems with the wiring I sent it back to them on Tuesday and by Thurday I had replacment cable back at mine, now that's what I call a good service from the 2yr guarentee. If you need any more info on these just ask !!

If it does have NOT FOR ROAD USE stamped on it you can get it polished out !! My mates had a few of his done.

oops sorry for the typo's !!