Gas up - Let's Go!

I did once, never planned it, went and pissed off a bloody Adder - got me right on the side of the hand. Hurt like fecking hell, wouldn't recommend it...... Seriously though, and I know as much about sticking needles into your body as you do about my mothers coffee stiring habits - but, my missus has had her belly button done 3 times, and every time the body rejected the 'addition', she now has a lovely scar (matches the 550mm of scaring on her arm). I'd consider myself an authentic biker (in that I ride all weathers, to all places and always preffer the bike over the car) and I ain't got no holes in my body that shouldn't be there.

.... and some posts have gone astray......

no no no no no no no no Not you and your bike, jeasus, I had the TTR sidways proping the thing up with my leg - at a whole 20mph... No, I'm reffering too the who har about this weather, you'd think we'd never had snow in a generation......... Had to laugh at the bloke across the road, couldn't get his car up the ramps onto his drive..... So I put mine up there and let him park in my drive which I'd cleared earlier. I wish we had this weather all winter - but that would only leave the second week in May to have dry roads......

Thats a sexy looking lady you've got there. Enjoy the fact you have a bike no-one in the country has, it doesn't last long! I had the first XT660Z in the UK, and it was only the second in Europe,,,,,, - for a whole week!

I've just been for a ride about - just for shits 'n giggles realy! It's like riding speedway................ no breaks! I'm really not sure what all this bl00dy fuss is about - There was 8 inches of the stuff on top of the Landy this morning, drove 122 miles to Radclife, then drove home again. My missus arrived at school this morning (now she has a stupid little Pugot 207, with stupid wide wheels) to find no-one else could make it, wouldn't care but she has to travel 15 miles, and one teacher lives in the same sodding village as the school!!!! Is the world incapable of driving, walking, riding, crawling when we get a bit of frozen precipitation - or does the UK just love a good excuse to swing the lead ?? Yours, Grumpy of Cumbria

It doesn't matter where you live - you're still doing it twice! OK, here's the details; 839 miles , best (legal) time is 13:03 on quickest route from top to bottom 833 Miles , best (again legal) time is 13:49, based on the shortest route 862 miles, best time 15:13, based on the back roads These assume no stops at all.

Yes - you are quite right, It's on the Honda website -> but the salesman didn't know where it came from! We'll that's a fine state to be in isn't it, cos I want one the same for my (soon to be) XJR...... but at £200+ I'm not going to buy one just to have to cut the bugger up! Back to the drawing board then.

I've seen this rack on a CB1300 at a local dealers, I like this rack as the black pad rotates to sit down as in the picture, or turns to form a more upright backrest. The dealer has no idea where it came from (was on the bike when they got it), but I realy like it (as will the missus). The problem is that I'm not buying the CB as I've got a better deal on a XJR1300. Has anyone got any idea what make this is, where I can get one, something similar - it's the spinny back rest I really like, so the tail fin things from Givi aren't really it.

Thats ^ the best way to get a realistic price Steve. Presumably you are after something else? take it into a showroom and see what they'll offer you for it (prices do vary a bit depending on where you are in the counrty, local demand etc). The only thing is, it's approaching a Classic in the coming years, so it might sway the price a bit, I don't know, it's just a thought - you might find some old bugger who'll pay more for it......

If you needed another good pointer, Cumbria Constabulary have / are in the process of ditching all of thier Pans, and replacing them with FJR's - mainly on account of the Pan's have some questionable chassis enginnering.

What happens when you start your bike ? do all the lights dim? is there plenty of life in the battery? is it cold? how often do you run the bike? is it everytime the ignition goes off or just when you start it after a long stand? I've had this same problem on a few different bikes and every time it is the battery, when the stater motor kicks in, it takes all available power so the 12v feed to the clocks is disrupted for a second - enough to reset the clock and the trip. The odo doesn't require power to keep it's value, this information is kept on a non-volatile chip.

I went out with a bird once, used this tech...... I'll shutup!

Welcome back. And a write up?

Pictures? Diagram? Is this area a pavement ?? How much of the space are you taking up ?? Are there any other signs anywhere ?? how far from the Double Yellows is the bike? and how far from the house?? Now the double yellows: are they complete, unbroken, propperly ended (there should be a line joining them together at the end, extending slightly towards the gutter. OK, this is a technicality, but it could get you of the tickets if all alse fails - and the buggers will just fix it after... ??????

Nope - but she knows she doesn't like it!, I don't know, you figure it out - you've as much chance as I have!!! There's a dragster down the road for sale, not sure of the size, but that's the bike she doesn't like. Life's so simple when you just have yourself to worry about. I tried a Honda, is it a shadow?? big black thing. Not a bike I could live with day in day out (mainly because of the cost of the foot plates!) but I though it quite relaxing for plodding around on.

OG has already suggested one of them - well almost I always though, a second bike (the dirt bike doesn't count!) would be an easy descision - but when you get one to satisfy 'er indoors it becomes as bad as choosing a new sofa, or wallpaper!! Found a '08 XJR1300 locally, ex-demo for £5499 - bit on the outside of the price range, but I think I might have a look all the same. I did point here in the direction of a cruiser - I think she said "NO, phuck off, die, I'm not getting on that, what next a bloody Hogg, if you get that I'm getting a divorce!" Women, can't live with them - can't sell them.......

I've been thinking this over for a while now, I have a Fazer 600, 2005 that I (just about) swapped last year for a Varadero 125 that my missus had. I've ridden it a few times but It's just to, erm, how do I put it, Fizzy! I just don't like the way you have to wind it up to make it go, I like to be able to pull away with low revs and push the bike on. Don't get me wrong, this is a great bike for someone just past their test (or who've never had a big bike with loads of torque) - it's just not for me. So, I've been looking at what I can get to replace it. I need something that me and the misus can ride in comfort (the rear seat on the Tenere is just too high for her to get up), put some luggage on (for the pair of us) and has low end grunt. I've considered another Varadero, but I think I'd like to try something else, and if I turn up with another adventure bike I'm very likely to end up with it lodged in some place I don't want to talk about!. So I'm sort of settling on the likes of a Yamaha XJR1300, Honda CB1300 - you get the picture. So, I'm interested in any ideas you guys have, experience of these bikes, general fault etc etc?? Oh, I have enough on my plate looking after the dirt bike, so it'll have to be a current bike, say last 2-3 years. Breakdowns are not a good idea with Mrs GULGo on the back.....

Just remember, in a game of chicken, ultimately the bigger object will win - if you go all the way.

modus vivendi..... I saw the same thing happen last year in Romania, could have been Bulagria, but for the fact the guy on the bike stopped nose to nose with the Barbie Girl in the BMUU, and waited....... and she moved backwards, turning the car (as if to go around him), and he moved forwards ,,,,, and waited this went on for about 100yards, all the while the traffic was building and everone was getting frustrated (I parked up just to have a good look),,, She had to get back into the traffic in the end, about 10 cars back from where she started - Classic!

I agree with some of what you are saying, and disagree with other parts - too deep to go into I think, and it's been done to death on more than one thread. Besides it's all personal attitude and this makes it very subjective so in a debate no-one wins - but not doing it right could well see you in a wooden box. Food for thought? You are right, not all of them, but the vast majority are either; * Aren't aware of bikes, * Are aware but don't really care, * Are aware and try to block bikes, * Are aware but try to outrun them/outbrake them/out perform etc * Are aware, and do stupid things like drive in the gutter to give you room (throwing up all the crap at the same time) to get past - despite the fact there is a convoy of 40 ton trucks coming towards you (you get the picture) and this makes them dangerous There are lots of drivers who are aware and do the right thing - nothing, they maybe give you a discrete signal (a slight movement to the left (or right depending where you are), some propper eye contact or a quick flash of the indicator (turn signal) and then let you decide what to do. When you've riden as many miles as some of us (I firmly believe experience comes with time in the saddle - not years on your licience) you develope a sort of 6th sense as to what kind of driver is in your way, but it takes observation so clearly there are times when you cannot apply this experience and have to assume the worst case (i.e. - Mr 'I've been driving since 1950, so I have more right' to use this road' is going to pull out, causing Mrs 'I pay my road tax and my kids are late for school' to swearve and come into your path. When you do something that pushes the bounderies and get away with it you become conditioned to acccept that as the norm, not many people learn from near misses, mainly because the get a 'buzz' from it, so the mind does it more and more and each time the 'buzz' is less effective so the boundery becomes more extreme. It's human nature, some like the safe zone, others like to push it to the absolute limits, it's how humanity has grown and developed. Giving a driver the benefit of the doubt may result in you getting hurt, ride defensively all the time and you reduce this risk - hence teaching the young/inexperienced to treat all drivers like they are out to get you is pretty much the only way to get it across. You cannot teach experience, if you could you would be very rich - the problem with youth is it doesn't have the experience to know what how to make best use of it! It's a bit annoying when you get new riders asking what appear to teadious questions, and then rebuking advice with what expereince has taught you to be wrong, but they have to learn and when they do we have a duty to pass on the benefit of our experience, otherwise motorcycling will suffer in the long run. Some might not care about anyone else, but give youth a chance - it's our future.

Get your bike onto some Green Lanes, stick to the code, but you'll soon start to learn how the bike tells you when the wheels are giving up on grip. The good thing is, you don't even need to be going fast, anything up to 25mph. Once you get back on tarmac you'll be suprised how your confidence has grown.

Wow! I thought you were a die hard rider.... That's a reasonable excuse I'd say. Normally I'm a firm "bikes are for riding - not for looking at" kinda guy, but at that age - yes I agree. Me too, one way or another. The salt is a real pain I agree, so I tend to stick to the dirt bike this time of year. It's got so much ACF50 on it it's hard to tell what colour it should be! I bought a Fizzer 600 last year with the intention of demoting it to a winter hack, but I just don't like it (can't get used to this reving the balls out of something to make it go) so it's sat in the garage since September, it'll get a good polish in the next few weeks then in the 'for sale' sections. I've a car sitting in the drive, since Christmas it's done just over 100 miles - only use it when I bl00dy well have to, but it has to stay there as work pay for me to have it - stupid isn't it?? Anyway, the sun is out again so I'm off to enjoy our summer, before June comes along and it's all wet'n windy again......

But on a more serious note. Like I said, it's a metter of attitude. They have the wrong attitude because they don't 'want' to drive. When you were at school were you better at the things you enjoyed? that's the point. Most (not all) drivers don't really want to be there, so they do the absolute minimum they have to to themselves from A to B. Here's something to consider - anything that happens to you on the road is your fault. Live by that and you live longer Being right is no consolation while you are waiting in A&E (or in a hurse)

But on a more serious note. Like I said, it's a metter of attitude. They have the wrong attitude because they don't 'want' to drive. When you were at school were you better at the things you enjoyed? that's the point. Most (not all) drivers don't really want to be there, so they do the absolute minimum they have to to themselves from A to B. Here's something to consider - anything that happens to you on the road is your fault. Live by that and you live longer Being right is no consolation while you are waiting in A&E (or in a hurse)

nooooooooooooo. Jaguar and Merc drivers own the road, unlike BMW and Luxus drivers who just think they do. Let's start a momement, ban all bikes from the roads...... then we can have a revolution....