Gas up - Let's Go!

That's the problem, not the lights. A flash of a light simply means "I'm here" not, pull in front of me, there's a speed trap ahead, yes it's OK to pull out - or any other reason. I've had this discussion many many times over the last 24 years, and there are two very good arguments, for instance, and this is very simplistic: You are riding down a road with no lights, in daylight, it's dry and there is good visability and it's a bit of an uneven surface. As you approach a junction the guy in the car looks right at you, waits until you get close then pulls out in front of you. When asked the guy "didn't see you" Next day, same road, same conditions but you have your light on. same thing again the guy pulls out because " I though you flashed your lights to let me out" There's no right and wrong with this topic, both side has sound arguments for it. Personally I like to have my lights on, and my bike has much more road presence than most due to the very high headlight, so there is never an excuse for drivers not to see me. There's little point being right when you're in casualty, but at least there is some recourse, and I would insist that any driver who does something stupid that could put me in danger was dealt with as hard as the law would allow. Without lights on, the driver has a reasonable excuse to absolve themselves from blame (the difference fro due care and an accident), especialy as the (I think I'm right here, but maybe not) bikes must have Daylight Running Lights, so it would be expected that the safest way is to run with lights on. As we all know the law doesn't stand up for the motorcyclist very well at all. I think most experienced riders will concour that you develope a 6th sense for drivers ability, some you know have seen you, others haven't a clue and there are many in between. I think the lights on argument has some grounding to help them see you, but it has to be in partnership with some defensive riding, or sometime just plane aggressive riding.

What sort of parts are you looking for?? try these: www.offtheroad.de www.kedo.de www.touratech.co.uk it really depends what you are after, most things for these bikes are custom made (screens, racks, bash plates), other stuff will fit, such as the TT handguards. There is an Arrow can available, somewhere...... A good Yamaha dealer will have access to some parts too. This is a great bike, I have one that I use for green lane riding, but getting hold of bits is abit of a seach I'm afraid

I agree. I did some racing training in my 20's, and this is one of the safety techniques they teach you - If a car is spinning on the track in front of you, point at where it is, cos when you get there, it won't be. Same on the road, point at the moving hazard if things go pear shaped (and you are running out of options) - chances are it won't be there when you are. Of course this is only a small part of the whole riding thing - every option has it's day!

They do, er did - but the oil pump drive was a soft piece of steel, it only lasted about 20,000 miles then stopped working. Was the first car I ever drove on the roads after passing my test - Overstearing is mandatory, like a shopping trolley!!! When are the auditions ?? Dunno about Hunky, or Gorgous - but I know my tools.

I've got one of them in mine already. Cars stay outside - the garage is for Gods own transport (and the lawn mower!)

Now, I , on the other hand - push It's something that was tought to me a looonnnnnnggggggg time ago when I couldn't quite get the hang of leaning the bike (I think I was about 13..) but I was riding on sand/dirt and I was terrified of the bike falling on me. It was a bit of mind over matter, sort of pushing the bike down into the corner, don't have to worry about trying to lean over. It's a bit of mind over matter, we all do it - just some of us are aware of what we're doing.... I'm fairly sure this thread has been talked to death somewhere else - or is my mind going ??

Just to add a finer point to this, you have three years to lodge a claim with the courts. My missis had a pretty horrific accident in Africa, we looked at sueing the people who organised it (it was supposed to be for Kids and they made some serious errors - we didn't want it to happen to someones kid), but as it happened they had off loaded the risk to the schools and we dropped the case, £2k out of pocket! Never mind. And unless your claim is for more that £5k, then you have to use small claims, and you cannot recover your costs back in small claims. Probably the reason these claims are higher than they should be. and,, would you believe it, there is a price list of what is worth what...... To be honest, once it's been reported, ask them to provide his name and details, and go to a solicitor, you'll not get much but he will have no liability insurance to cover him so even if you just get the cost of repair out of the idiot, he might well remember the Green Cross Code in future. Of, course - you have told everyone the full story,, haven't you ? No excessive speed anything that might get thrown back at you??

There is a very god lesson to learn here, Sometimes it's better to run the bugger down than try and avoid them. It is a lesson I learned 15 years ago - not gonna bore you with the details, but now I put me first (that's easy said with 23+ years of riding/driving experience behind me) - so if someone has the stupidity to walk out, then I'm afraid I'm going to hit them, unless I can stop safely in a straight line, especially this time of year (Small children and dogs are excluded from this). The big problem is people who cause accidents and walk (hubble in your case) away from the scene. PS - Some dick in a van 'SouthPark B&B' did a U-Turn right in front of me last week, managed to stop with inches to spare. The dicks are out there, and they're looking for YOU, beware!

My keyboard - it's a crap speller !! I think I'll get a new one for Christmas and stop these Typoes....... Me, being a man of course, I'm pefect ,,,, any minute now Goff will come along and put me back in my box

I couldn't condon that - it keeps me in a job. Ahem,,, Don't want to get all sanctimonious, but that makes you no better than them - and it contravenes the computer missus act, unless you just want to block out thier address from your PC, of course you do - don't you ? Alex - they will no doubt have another go, I was a member of a site that had to hide away due to the constant attacks, it's now limping along with a few die hard users... You should consider increaseing the security of the server now, I don't know what it is - and this certainly isn't the place to discuss it, or what you have in front of it by way of NAT, DMZ, Statefull Inspection etc - but another attack will happen, especially when the attackers see that they are getting a response from the site users. My opinion, it's over qualified kids/geeks pitting thier wits agains you, it is very unlikely that they are after any data, and in any case there should be nothing on the server that isn't available in the public domain. Proffesionally speaking. Personally, these people need re-guided, they ahve brilliant minds and if they turned it to good use there is no end to what could be achieved, otherwise chops thier fingers off!

Check these babies out -> Alarm Mines They modify easily too..............

The maual is probably the best investment you could make in any bike, Haynes ones are OK, but you can get the Yamaha Workshop Service Manual on-line for less, and they are much better, as long as you have some mechanical knowledge. Do a search on fleec-u-bay for XSV650 workshop manual, shouldn't cost you more than £5 - £10 quid for it all on CD. If it's one or two spokes that are loose then your wheel is unlikely to be out of shape, but you really must get it sorted. I get loose spokes on my dirt bike all the time, I just nip them up and check the wheel everytime I service her (every 12 weeks or so). The temp can make a diference too, in the summer when everything expands you might find them geting loose, then in the winter everythign will tighten up - so make sure you check them, too tight can lead to snapped spokes - and I've had a few of them too....... Then again, I'm comparing my experience on the dirt with road riding, and lets face it, road bikes have it easy really.

Haven't you heard Goff? Along with making drink expensive to stop drunken idiots, this government is abolishing Child Abuse by making sexual intercourse illegal. They are also planning to outlaw car manufacture in an attampt to cut speeding....

I've ridden around Ireland, on a VFR800 and a Varadero. To be honest the roads over there don't suit a sportsbike over the dual sports bikes. On the narrow twisty, gravel & pott-hole'd roads the XT is a far better bike than the R. Don't get me wrong the R is a fine looking bike, nothing like a 125, and possibly the best looking 125 on the market today - I can see why you are tempted. Not sure of the regulations for riding bikes there, but how long before you can move up to a bigger machine? you might be better off using the cash you have to get a full licence (Not sure if you've got one or not from the post - sorry), that way you'll have bigger scope to choose from. Remember advice you get is from different riders, with different views, riding in different countries with different roads. It's only advice, you can listen - then make up your own mind. If you really want one, get it - it's your money, and either way you'll increase your experience. You might hate it, but it's better to regret something you have done, rather than something you haven't.

That is very true. I have a 30" inside leg and I can get my foot flat (foot, not feet), with the bike all but a degree out from verticle. To get both feet down, it's the balls of the feet. The other problem is your weight, if you're a slight build then you are not going to compress the suspension enough, so leg measurment is immaterial, if you are a fat b's'rd then it's fine once you get your leg over the bike. Getting on and off a loaded bike is a whole new set of dance moves ! I lost a stone on wieght doing my Europe trip this year, and I put it down to the jumping on and off dance three or four times a day.... Still - it's a fine looking bike:

Offer him £20, you never know, when it's sat on the shelf for a while he might be tempted - then say it's only worth £10 to you now........ Trouble with eBay is there's loads of Ejits out there who'll pay the money without a second thought

Get a new XT660Z - 8146 miles in 19 days. Covered 24 countries and not a single ache, other than the brused arm after I fell of the bike trying to master the forest roads on Sweden! I've been given the job or organising a run down to Gib in late spring. probably ferry to Bilbao then ride through Spain. about the same cost as riding through France but without the crap weather that alway blows in from the Atlantic every time I ride through Bordeaux......

That's probably because she didn't want you in the house - you just think she's being nice, devious creatures women. Any man who claims to understand them - clearly doesn't

It's still bl00dy funny though.....

It's a fair idea - but don't you want to have your bike to ride around Ireland ?? Staying in Liverpool there is a fair to medium chance that someone might like your bike more than you do......

Goff - I'm scratching my heed at this one, When I was young I had intended to become a vet - a complete failure in Chemistry O level (when exams where still hard!) caused a change in direction to Engineering and my path was marked!!! Anyway, thinking back to my Biology (Got a B at O level in that), but it was a long time ago so I might be (almost certainly will be) wrong, but,,,, I though you could only vacinate against a 'bug' or disease ie something that invades your body - like meningitis for instance. Wheras the Flu is a Virus, and as such invades the cells - so a vacination agaist the cells would (unless it's very cleaver) would cause your body to kill itself. I recall something about White Blood Cells mimicking the outer shell of the 'bug' causing it to self destruct, but this doesn't happen with a virus as it relies on a host body cell ??? There is also a big poster up in our Quacks telling you that if you have a cold stay at home - as there's no pills available to get rid of it. So this whole Flu thing is a bit of a mystery to me - or is there more to placebo than we are told.......

The long runs you are talking about will be fine on this bike, I've got one with 18500 on the clock and it runs perfectly. The effect on the rider might vary, I find the Fizzer a bit fussy, and I'd not want to do any long range stuff on it - more of a Sunday blast bike IMHO. OK, so you are looking for a bike that will take you tp France and back a few times a year, pressumably you are asking for fully faired because of the weather protection ?? And you have a budget of £5K. Consider a test ride on a XT660Z, yes it's a single, and yes it's not as smooth as the in-line 4's, like the Fizzer. I put 8146 miles on mine in 19 days and it is the most comfy long range bike around. The seating possition is such that you see everything, no aches pains or wind blast. Fully kitted out with panniers, on the road will be about £5500 spanking new. It's not everyone's cup of tea - but those who love them, really love them. There are some down sides to the bike, the Italians have a habit of over tightening the cable ties around the wiring harness, the deal will loosen these (if they don't the harness wears through!). The bike is very tall, so if your leg is less than 30" then it's going to be a struggle (although there are lowering kits available). Pluss points; 300 mile range on a single tank of juice, great weather protection great visability loads of road prescence after 500 miles you'll get off and be looking forward to the next 500, rather than looking for a masseur Like I say, not everyones cup of tea - but if you want a go anywhere/anytime bike, then at least get down to yuor dealer and have a look. When you say North, is it the real North, or more Manchester /Leeds north ??

You need to ask this on the XT660 forum - 6000 people all with XT's www.xt660.com , tell 'em I sent you.

I can see your point here, the perception is that the journey starts in Ireland, and the crappy UK roads are a pain when you want to get there. You just need to consider it all as the journey (after all it is a journey, not a race) from the momment you step out of the door. Why not arrange to have a starting point, all together? Bike shops are pretty good for this as it puts people (even if it is just your mum and great aunty Florence with here flea bitten mutt) in and around the shop - always looks good for them. Get some mates to ride the first 20 or so miles with you etc. The point is it will make you feel like the journey started there and get you out of the starting in Ireland mindset. It also makes getting off the ferry a milestone in the journey and you'll get a good feeling, trust me. If time is the problem, and you really want to start at the ferry then a man-in-a-van is the best option I'd say. But 200 miles? it's only really a days riding, even on a small bike. time it so you get to the ferry (ready for check in) and do it over two days.

There is hope for this generation yet! I don't think people realise just how damaging all this technology is to the fabric of society - and for those who keep a weather eye on the bleeding edge stuff, you may well be afraid. I have to work with this crap every day, we've just completed the biggest rollout of new Telephony technology in Europe, it cost millions and has dispensed with about 2500 jobs, and takes away most human interaction. Internet purcashing - it migh be cheaper for us all now, but people/jobs are being lost through this self service - and when they're all gone the monopolies will begin to recoupe thier profits..... The trouble is, there is a relativly small group of people who get rich when pushing forward technology, it's like a pyramid scheme - 80% loose out! Sorry this is most definitly so I'll shutup my ramblings and get back to putting people out of work...