Gas up - Let's Go!

Welcome along, Probably just crap on the exhaust pipe, unless there are flames and lots of smoke I'd not worry too much about it. Theses grips have some cleaver electronics, as your battery is dieing the grips will switch off by themselves. Ah, concentrate on braking with your front wheel, use you back brake for slow speed control (being a single, these bikes need some rear brake to keep them smooth at slow speed) - You should be breaking with gradual force on the front until the bike starts to dip, then increase the pressure, apply a little rear brake will also help to stop quicker. 90% of all motorcyclists do not use the front brake to it's most efficiency, you are not alone. The XJ6 is a 4 cylinder bike with twice as much power, it will be smoother, quicker, quiter - but will not have the same 'sole' as the MT. You can increase the power and torque of the engine with a free flowing air filter (DNA not that K&N rubbish) and PowerCommander. The 660 motor needs to breath, you'll get loads more mid to top end by this £300 modification - much more than putting on an aftermarke exhaust. It will, but the problem is with your riding. Best to sort that out with a little practice then you'll be safe on any bike! I had a bike with ABS (three in fact) and they are good, but they do not stop any quicker than a bike that doesn't have ABS. Contact your local IAM group, they will help you out, or better still get a 'Skill for Life' course with the IAM, you'll get lower insurance premiums and learn how to ride and stop the bike safely with no fuss. Or failing that, buy a copy of 'Roadcraft - The Police Riders Handbook" learn it - it will help. It's not about geting another bike, it's about becoming a better rider, and it's cheaper to become a better rider! (and you stay alive longer!) Good luck

The (front) sidelight bulbs are type 501's, found these on Ebay, nice and cheap! http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/2x-4-LED-Xenon-white-HID-T11-501-W5W-Sidelight-bulbs-UK_W0QQitemZ200420794888QQcmdZViewItemQQptZUK_CarsParts_Vehicles_CarParts_SM?hash=item2eaa02a208 These guys sell HID conversion kits, You need the H7 kit, lots of people have then fitted, and love them but I use a pair of driving lamps instead! They fit straight in, and you only need to make a cut on the rubber cover (of the rear of the light) to get the new cable through. Because of the time it takes the light to get upto temp, you get a drop in light for a couple of seconds changing from dipped to main beam. You can overcome this by 'tweeking' the wiring in the switch unit, or putting in a aux circuit and powering from that. http://www.bikevis.com/motorcycle-hid-xenon-conversions.html I'm not sure aboutht enumberplate bulb, never took it out and the partslist just lists as a 5w bulb! Helpful!! Bikevis also do the 501 bulbs (a bit dearer) and some vary good LED light pods that fit any bike (I have them on the XJR) tiny little things but very very noticable from the front.

Good morning. The power budget of the Tenere is pretty rubbish considering what the bike is designed for. The stator pumps out 20.8 amps at 5000rpm (291 watts) and yet the regulator is capable of handling 30amps, so they could have given us a little more to play with. The bike needs around 216 watts of power (276w with cooling fan running) so you have a power budget of 75watts under normal running (assuming you only need the fan when it's warm, and at that point you don't need the heated clothing!) 75 watts is; 5.36 amps at 14 volts (normal running) 6.25 amps at 12 volts (ticking over) These guys make stator replacements for a number of bikes, I've tried to pester them to produce an upgrade for the 660 motor to no avail - www.trailtechproducts.co.uk You could drop them an email asking if they will make an upgraded stator, to say 400w, this would keep within the regulators tollerances. In the mean time there are a couple of things you can do to cut the power needs of the bike; Replace the Daytime Running Lights with LED's (saving of 5watts) Replace the number plate bult with LED (save another 5 watts) Replace the dipped beam with an HID kit (saving 25 watts), but this isn't legal Replace the main beam with HID Kit (another 25 watts) The HID conversion is a popular one as it not only reduced the power requirements, but improved the pittyful main beam on the Tenere. LED main beam replacements have been tried but they just can't get enough light out to be of any use. Does this help ? PS - there is a whole community of XT people living over at www.xt660.com, come over, say hello and you'll get all the advice and opinions you could ever wish for.

Eh ?

Manteiga

There is only one occasion when you are legally permitted to drive a vehicle without displaying a disc. This is when you have taxed the vehicle on-line, when you are permitted to ride/drive for upto 5 days whilst the disc arrives. I'm unsure about taking the vehicle to a MOT station. As you can't Tax without an MOT, I would say that it is permitted to travel DIRECTLY between the nearest MOT Station and home for the purposes of obtaining an MOT Test certificate. The old dealer "it's in the post" story, I'm afraid won't wash with Mr Plod. You could still get nailed for failure to display.

Guys, any help at all with this would be most greatfully recieved. This is a fellow bikers post of XT660.com (Bullit). My Yamaha XT600E reg Q587UAR was stolen tonight whilst visiting a friend in Eltham, SW9. If you guys can please be on the lookout for it I would appreciate it. It has certain distinguishing features that makes this bike quite unique. It is completely WHITE, has an Acerbis long range tank, Aluminium rims, stainless spokes with TKC's fitted, Ohlins rear shock, aluminium bash plate, Renthal gold handlebars and Barkbusters handguards (White). Also a new Hepco & Becker pannier rack fitted recently after the photo was taken. I dont know if this is a lost cause but I have to keep hoping that it will be found fairly intact. It has a very distinctive oversized long range tank on it. These are like rocking horse crap and come up for sale less times than Christmas. Thanks

She's very understanding......

Erm,,,,, Check your service schedule, the MT03 has the 660 motor in it, and it has 6000 mile service intervals. First service is Oil & filter, cables joints 'n connections. Check with your local dealer as these services are under 'menu' pricing, but it shouldn't be anything more that 2 hours plus parts, or maybe £120 ??.

THere is a site that reckons they can id it for you -> http://www.wildbits.com/tunatic/ Dunno how safe it is thought!

OK, completely missing the point there..... Free software is not updated fast enought, that is the problem. There is nothing wrong with the product itself, just the data it runs with. The reason is very simple, it's not a comercial product and therefore there are no drivers to update this stuff in the timeframes required. Antivirus signatures can change three of four times a day! O/S vulnerabilities are announced to the community as soon as they become known and so from that point the race is on for protection. The only driver for that is commercial agreements between suppliers and business, users get the fall out from that in cheap (-er than business does anyway!) subscription costs. Linux - To a skilled Administrator it can be the very secure against infultration, to someone playing, it is the easiest thing in the world to breach. If you think you are skilled then you could easily earn £50k a year in the UK, so go for it! The reason that Linux, Firefox, Mac-OS all belive they are 'safer' is down to pure numbers. Microsoft is the most atacked OS in the world. Hackers see this as the Holy Grail, bigger than the CIA, NASSA, Homeland security (US) or any other government system in the world. Firefox has approaching 50% of the market, so there will be a change is stategy before long and we'll see a string of vulnerabilities coming out for this product as people find holes in the security. Security is a layered approach. You absolutaly must use different products to protect against different levels of threat. That is accepted by almost every Security Expert in the business. I'm really not bothered at all what you do, My system is very safe - but I still have two machines, one for web crap the other for important stuff. I've been around this stuff before Microsoft released it's first versions of Windows, I have one of the highest Networking Qualifications available (and have to re-qualify every 2 years), and I'm responsible for a network with over 100,000 users running Voice, Data and Video. You can listen to advice offered (for free), or argue against it - the choice is yours.

I'm paid to know this stuff, not think it.

Don't worry, It's just Drewpy gathering everyones bank and cerdit card details - He always leaves you some cash behind..... Seriously though, The address you see is the public address of the Interwet, if this is the same as you PC then you need to look at your PC security! You can look at your IP address by typing 'cmd' into the run box (bottom of the windows menu) then ipconfig in the black box that comes up. When you attach to any web page, this page knows your IP address and the kind of browser you are using, otherwise your page format could be corrupt (browser type) or, without you IP address the web server couldn't actually communicate with you! So the information is actually public and neccasary. Considering Internet Security, firstly don't connect your PC directly to it, use a router and a decent one that has in-built firewall and NAT ability (most have these days). If you use wireless then make sure you activate MAC address security (this only allows communication between the devices with the listed MAC address and the AP (Access Point - the Wireless bit of the router), so even if someone guesses or gathers your PassKey they will still not be able to enter your network. Next, think about your PC, install some firewall software that isn't windows firewall, as well as some intrusion protection software - you can get this all bundled up with something like Nortons Internet Security. Before someone jumps in with the old "you can get this stuff free" statement, consider this, why is it free ??? there is nothing for nothing in this world. I have seen these 'free' or shareware programs gather information about your PC. Internet protection is a fast moving business, you need something that will be updated quickly as soon as a new theat emerges. I get around 3 Serious Vulnerability Notices every week from the one major Internet equipment provider - and this equipment runs the internet, so reaction has to be very quick. With your PC it's not so important (it might be to you off course!). You need a piece of software that will alert you when something is changing. Look at your user privileges, setup an administrator on you PC, but only use it to make changes. All the other times use a user that cannot make changes, without the correct access rights, any software that breaches security only has the same rights as your limited user - so limited damage. You could consider having an 'internet PC' and a PC for everything else in your house - there is nothing safer than an air gapped machine (Air gapped reffers to the 'air gap' between your machine and the network). Any software that inspects your outgoing information (such as address, account numbers, contact details etc) is also usefull , if a pain at times, but it will alert you if your PC starts to send out your account detals while you are in a google search! Of course the first action would be to switch off your router and stop it while you investigate. The best way to think about it, how good is the lock on your door? Would you consider a free lock from some bloke in a van who you don't know??? But you would let the same bloke protect your identity and account information ??

Cutty Sark

Oh I love this.... Perhaps not really something that would happen on a road bike, but take a look at this, the guy rode with his M-X boots on, holding his rear brake on for a few miles ..... Now, that's propper boke! I have had pads break up on me, though it's always been due to the ammount of crap, mud and general sh!t I put the bike through - it's a dirtbike thing rather than something you would ever see on the highway...

I've often considered loading the bike up and shipping it over there for a month or two...... We've got relatives in Vancouver, so one of these days I'm going there for a good look around... It doesn't matter about Karma, it always feels good to be able to help a mate out, and with a bit of luck he'll never have to return the favour.

I can't really add to this, bieng of ancient Norse descent. Although the family name goes back a long long way, traced back to Ireland then back again to Yorkshire - so propper English, the other side (my biologicaly stronger side) were from Scandinavia and in more recent events, were well known Rievers, and bad ass reivers at that.... So where is England, I just looked out of the window, and yes,,,, it's still there. It's kinda funny though, if you walk into the middle of Newcastle and ask a local what are they , they will answer "Geordie", in Leeds you'll ge "Yorkshireman" ask anyone in Scotland and you'll get "Scottish" or maybe "scotts", Wales is the same (not being a real country, but a principality), but here in England people generally have a different view of thier belonging, it beng much more to do with the local area than that of a greater collective. And another thing, why oh why do most people attribute the Union Flag with an English thing ?? WFT is going on there, do these people know nothing ?? And why the Fu*k do people insist on calling it the Union Jack....... And another thing, about 1 in 5 Union Flags I see are bloody well upside down, one of those was on a government desk !, Don't they know it's a sodding distress signal! I always makes me laugh when you see an Ulsterman or Scottsman on the TV slagging off the British......... I love stupid people, but they are way too powerfull in large groups....

I've missed your apt summing up of things.

Not if you were only needeing a Daylight Running MOT, if you want to ride in the dark or at times of reduced visability then you must have your number plate illuminated. It's not a problem at all, even with a small tail tidy, as you can get bolts that have LED's in them to illuminate your plate. The only issue you might find is if yout plate angle is so shallow that the lights shine into the vehicle behind. Then I supposed you could end up with some forms from Mr Officer.... LED Number Plate Bolts

He is refering to the fact that certain southerners have a bizzare dance that involves trying to beat each other with sticks! Nothing at all like wearing a skirt and dancing around some old swords...... or, praising to an old stomach full of ofal and seeds........

Well that's down to the giver, if you check the box that says 'Gift Aid' and fill in the details correctly then the Treasury gets nothing, in fact it gives back the tax it took from you on the donation! Listen to me, defending HMRC....... I need to take a pill! I can see why people want to give to these things, and that's thier own personal descision. Personally, I wonder how they struggled to get rescue teams in there fast enough, aid in there fast enough and yet ITN and BBC could put a reporter (who normally drives a desk in London) in the thick of it telling us all how bad it is...... Makes me wonder does that. I'm very picky about the Charities I give to, I refuse to give to the RSPCA becasue of the vast amounts they spend on advertising - I want my money to go to help, not to provide postcards from Tibbie The Tomcat every month..... Call me callous, but I'd only ever consider giving to UK doorstep charities (the ones that deliver aid to the local area), such as the Air Ambulance, ChildLine/NSPCC, Macmillan etc.

If that is a problem you can eliminate the overrun pops by blocking or removing the AIS plumbing. Yep. Run these motors with breathing modificayions at your peril without one!! Try for Power Commanders, the owner (Simon) is a top bloke, knows his stuff and will do the best price on a PC-V for you. In fact if you speak to him first, he may even have the right map for some cans, saving you anywhere between £120 and £200 for Dyno time!

Problems with these things are well documented, Flatbed trucks are the biggest problem as the camera can't tell how fast they are going..... Just goes to show yuo should always ask for BOTH pictures if you are captured, I read of a guy a few years ago who got off with a ban due to a bird being in the picture (this was the old GATSO's) and the Police couldn't show that the camera hadn't mistaken the bird.... Vibrations on numberplates are another big problem as the plate on a bike can vibrate at high speed giving incorrect readings as to the vehicles speed....

No one has said it will be a 1200....... only MCN have mooted that idea, mainly because of the old 1200cc tractor engine that BMUU use. They have said it will be a twin, with Shaft and ABS/TC My guess is it will be a tweaked TDM motor, maybe 900/990 to keep it inline with the KTM's Apparently, it is going to be unvailed in 3 or 4 weeks, but again it's just rumour, Yamaha are keeping quite on this, not even any pre-production spy shots anywhere, so I don't even think they have a road going bike yet..... (unless it's so similar to the Tenere that no-one has noticed)

I'm not sure about the fairing option, but luggage should be available, try a web search on Givi - they usually have some options for most bikes. The 660 motor can't really give out any more than 35kW without some work.. I'm not sure about Espania, but here in the UK we are permitted to restrict bikes of a great capacity to allow use under a restricted licience. This opens up the field a little to any 600cc bike. Problem being that when the power is restricted the bikes feel sluggish and a little , erm, wrong!