Gas up - Let's Go!

Ladies and Gentler-men, So, in April I bought my missis a 125 to get through her test - now she's decided she prefferes to sit on the back and let me do the thinking. Fair enough - she did roll down Kilimajaro in a 4x4 a couple of years ago, and apart from the 6 opperations to get her back in the land of the able boddied it's kinda knocked her confidence. .....and now I'm stuck with an '05 XL125 Varadero,, until my lovely kind local Yam dealer got this Fazer 600 in on an '05 with 18,000 miles on the clock. A bit weather worn but nothing I can't resolve with a bit of TLC. I got the bike for almost a swap so I'm happy, and I've something in the garage with a bit more power (the TTR & Tenere are a bit slow when I'm out with the guys on the 1000cc street bikes). Last time I owned a straight 4 it was a ZZR, so I'm a bit out of touch, and looking for the low down. So, give it to me, what are the worst bits of these bikes? Where is it going to go wrong on me? What's going to fall off first? (apart from me) ???? Get on yer and tell me all about it.....

Very prudent, and it is what I do as a matter of course with all my bikes - mainly due to the aux power take off, GPS etc. However, these new grips switch off with the bike, must have some sort of monitoring trickery in them, they also switch off if there isn't enough UUmph going to the battey. For those who don't fully understand how to wire up an auxilary circuit it's a fairly safe bet to follow the manufacturers instructions (in fact Oxford recommend direct connection, over a relay) Curious - Why a 5 pin relay? What's wrong with 4??

Sound advice, if it's 3c in the air, by the time you've done 30 miles it'll fel like -30c. I work in Newcastle, live in Carlisle and ride all year round. Oxford heated Grips are the best you can get, forget any other make, you're wasting your cash, £50ish of Ebay, if you get the '08 model you just connect direct to your battery. EXO2 do a wonderfull heated glove and body warmer but they are expensive. I have both of these and they do keep you toastie warm. If this is out of your price range, dress in thin layers - forget thick fleeces and jumpers etc, better to put two very thin tops on rather than one thick one. Same goes for socks, and if you can bear it a pait of base layer long johns (or an old pair of tights - believe me they are very warm under your pants!), oh and get a pair of (silk if you can afford it) inner gloves, Hein Gericke in Carlisle have them. You might want to consider some hand guards, if your bike will suit them, help to keep the wet away from your gloves, and the wind blast Make sure your lid is prepaired right. A Fog City insert will let you keep the visor shut and it won't mist up. Gloves, get a pair with a 'wiper' fitted, and make sure they are loose around the fingers. This old cruiser guy (probably dead now) told me to use a pair of gloves a size too big, so that you could a small marble in each finger hold will your hand was in there. Stupid bugger I though, but the air space really helps to keep the cold at bay. The 'wiper'; the fine spray that the cars lift up through the winter is salty (obviously!) and this is a bugger to get off your visor, so a glove with a rubber wiper is a good investment. ACF50 - this is the single best thing to protect your bike. ScotOiler do a one too, don't bother with it - it's crap, it leaves a dirty puddle under your bike and needs to be applied daily. ACF50 is what they use of aircraft to stop them corroding. just keep putting it on, your bike will look crap, but a quick spray with Parafine in the Spring and some MuchOff wil have it looking like new. Riding, you'll get used to it! Look out for the grit that settles in the middle of the road if you ae using that part of the road, and remember that a salted road is a greasy one, worse still after a bit of light rain. Chain lube, two schools of though here, dry and wet. Dry lube needs the chain to warm up to work well, not a problem on bigger bikes, but I think your on a smaller bike, is that right? you might be better with a wet lube and make sure you clean and re-apply as often as you can. The salt gets into the grease and acks like a sort of grinding paste on your chain. The ScotOiler is a sound investment, I've just clocked up 9000 miles on my first chain and sprocket, still not needed to adjust my chain and it's got another 10, 000 miles in it easy. They are not hard to maintain, just use the right oil and set the flow rate at 1 per 30 seconds, a squirt of chain cleaner every 500-700 miles and that's about it. The constant flow of oil washes the salt deposits away. There is one realy advantage to riding the winter, come spring when the others are wonering if it;s warm enough to go out for a ride, you will already be out there. Your riding will have improved beyond recognition and you are better placed to avoid the sad Spring statistics. enjoy the cold, can't call yourself a biker unless you ride all year round......

Ever get the feeling someone doesn't like you? Apart from a cigar (still lit) landing in my lap from the old git in front (a few years ago now) - nothing! I did return the cigar to the owner at the next set of traffic lights, after all, if I'd have kept it, that would have been stealing......

I had a chat with a Police instructor on this a few weeks ago. They teach you to use up all the width of the road, especialy at junctions (so to avoid being cught behind the cars A-Pillar), making sure as you approacj you are visble to the driver in all of his/her mirrors. Even then, and I quote "done up like a christmas tree, flashing blues, and whailing two's they still don't see you" There's no right and wrong, just survive or dive.......

Arai Signet -GT Cathcart, quiet, well vent'd and realy comfortable, 4Yrs old now, so due for replacement. I just liked the colours! Also have an Arai Tour-X, comfortable, well vent'd but noisy at speed

FogTech do a wipe for the inside of your visor (do a google search, you'll find them on the Paintball sites), one application lasts about 3-4 hours of really heavy rain. Other products are available, have a look down the usual bikes shops/dealers. These are cheap solutions, but... You need to keep your visor shut during your ride, completely as once the rain gets inside the coating is useless. A more permanent solution is a Fog City insert, these work faultlessly, but be carefull when cleaning them as they scratch easy. I have one of these in my Aria, and I use the FogTech wipes in my Tour X (no fog city available for these yet). Only if you dip your clutch. This trailing the rear brake thing, there are a few opinions on this, and each one has it's merits. However, on a nice smooth 4 cylinder machine, you can get away with throttle control, if you have a shaft driven bike the engine braking will be very good, however if you are running a thumper (single cyclinder bike) then the only way to keep it smooth through the corner, especially at slow speed is to trail the rear brake. You need to use this method on some V-Twins two as they can be a bit 'lumpy' at slower speeds. Another point, at some time you are going to corner too fast, we've all done it. The experienced riders will give a bit more opposite turn on the bars, the bike will lean a bit more, you get round and then worry about what you've done after you exit the corner. The more inexperienced rider will either overrun and leave the road, back off and maybe loose enough speed to get round, or worse go for the brake, and usually the front brake, and this will stand the bike upright and it all gets very messy. The rear brake, however in this situation will cause the bike to tighten into the corner, and may just save you from making a mess of it all! There are advanced techniques for using both brakes in fast corners to improve traction at the front wheel, but you really don't want to think about anything like that for a while. Filtering, the rear brake gives you lots of controll here too, hit the front and you'll start to dive, yes with experience you'll be fine and you can, given practice controll both the throttle and the front brake to keep the bike stable. As you are just learning, stick to using the rear for controlling the stability. As for leaving junctions, keep at it. My wife has recently done her CBT, and she was told to dip the clutch in corners! After I confronted the instructor it turns out that he hadn't ensured that his pupils understood him fully. You have to watch out for this, if you think something is wrong, ask, and keep asking until you are completly sure what you should be doing. Some aspects of the test are a little obscure, and after the test you will forget to use these ever again, after all we all develope out own riding style, some of use are still riding safely as a result. Some, sadly are not. Remember this, the test is not a certification that you can ride, it is an invitation to continue your learning. The Rossers in most counties run the BikeSafe Scheme, take advantage of this, these guys are highly trained and are eagre to pass on thier experience and knowledge (yes you get some numpties too, but you do everywhere!). You might even consider some advanced riding, but in my experience these courses are expensive and you have to be very open to critisism and not get upset easily. Read 'Roadcraft', and read it a couple of time a year, you will learn something that will make your life easier every time you pick it up. but above all, go out, have fun and enjoy the ride.

Back in the UK! After 8146 miles, 679.22 litres of fuel in 19 days, I'm back home. Bloody hell it was hard, not so much the riding, but the mental side was really tough at times. Still, the bike's run in now. I need to transfer some pics to the web, and update my site with some more infor that isn't on the blog - as soon as it's done, I will put a post up. Thanks for the messages of support over the past three weeks, it's good to know people are with you in spirit. I can honestly say, I can't think of another bike that would have made it round the route I used, the mountain roads in Romania would have finished off most bikes - this is the place for long travel suspension! I didn't see any GS riders on these roads

Lies, Dammed Lies and Statistics - Winston Churchill

I agree, and the guy was already disqualified, but in mitigation if you listen to the comentry by the traffic office, he does hint a couple of times that the riding itself isn't bad. And the speed shown on the screen, not the normal way, but what appears to be an overlay, at the same time if you look at the lean on the bike (doing somewhere around 100MPH) is about 80degrees from horizontal, or 10 degrees off vertical if you like - last time I was riding them speeds, my lean angle was much less I was watching the same piece of footage on the news, where the newsreader pointed out how he's crossed the white line, commiting an offence - he had, but it wasn't on his side of the road, he had a broken line..... I think this enforces the general view that Biker are fair game, even when those reporting it have no clear idea of the highway code.........

Oh I don't know, sounds similar to the old 2 part tests. It still does nothing for high speed riding though.

Such is the Police's focus on Bikers, they've developed thier technology to be able to catch us! Check this on the BBC Website Bikers are all speed demons

A Wiltshire biker has just been banged up for 15 months for doing 130 on A-Roads ! Check it out - BBC News - 130MPH Biker

We're often looking for a film to watch, and I'm a bit picky with books - this looks just the ticket, I'll be keeping an eye on it...

Not sure about problems, these bikes are pretty bullet proof - about to stick 9000 miles on mine, that's why I opted for the XTZ. I'll be able to tell you all about it when I get home mid September, or you can Visit My Website to get updates. These are great bikes, and the 660 engine just goes on and on and on and on.......

I came out of the test centre, turned right across a really busy road, then got into the traffic - The examiner had actually said turn left....... I lost him but he knew exatly where I was as he kept me on track with the radio - and I couldn't see hime anywhere in my mirrors....... Just relax, what's the worts that could happen? you'll be in the same possition you are today. Good luck, don't panic and make sure you do your life savers.

Michelin Enduro Comp 3's - Brilliant on the dirt, use them on the TTR600E for Green Lanes, I've got about 1000km's out of the (about 600ish miles!)rear, mental! make a crazy noise on the tarmac but expensive for the mileage If you want knobblies with a bit more road wear try the T63's they last a bit longer but still give good dirt grip.

Some people just don't have the natural beauty that others have, some think you can get it out of a bottle/jar. Imagine waking up to it in the morning, with the face still impregnated on the pillow! I knew what you ment, er mean - just my sick little early morning mind! Oh god here I go again, mud baths and skimpy biki... STOP IT! I'm going to take KT for a good thrashing down the back lanes.... (KT, have to name the bloody bike or my missus has no idea what I'm taking about!). Sorry of any offence

I think women done up to the nines look very nice! Then again, I have the same issues with guys riding in shorts, tee-shirts etc, but the biggest thing that gets me is gloves, why don't people wear gloves? OK so it's a personal thing and it doesn't hurt anyone but the daft bugger who comes off - or does it? they take up time in A&E, or worse a bed and we all pay fo that....Hmmmmm, worth a though With the massive advances in technical clothing there is just no good reason for it. I've a rally suit from Hein Gericke, and I've worn it from the freezing early December morning dash across the north Pennines to Gibraltar in summer and it works fine. I just don't get it. Go on, someone explain,,,, please ? That conjours up a very different image.............

PCSO's have less rights that mr average, I wouln'd take any notice. It's complete crap what he is saying, there is a whole plethera of bikes out there with different sized wheels - my nice new XT660Z, my TTR600E has, my last two Varadero's did. Utter rubish. Here here. Even if it was a police officer, all they can do is report it - just because you are accused doesn't mean they are right. Yamaha wouldn't have got these bikes past homologation if there were any issues at all. Did you get a note of his number? you can always report him.......... anyway,

Fuse? Kill switch? Faulty start switch? I assume you have warning lights when you turn on the ignition? I'd just get the Avo out and work backwards from the starter solenoid.

Click on the "Quote" button on the post you want quote, it will turn red, Use the "add reply" button at the bottom of the page rather than the "reply" button on each post and you'll then see the multiple quotes in your post, you can edit out the bits you don't want to use too.

It's not the size of the dog in the fight, but the fight in the dog, as they say. We've got two Westies, best hyper sensitive early warning system about! Punch way above thier weight in the barking catagory!

I'll agree to that! I've got Enduro Compertition tyres on my TTR, the most (UK) off-road legal tyre you can get, I have the contact patch of a stamp - great fun cornering arse end first!!!! but they don't half go down quick!

Watch out, might just be a rouse to get that HUGE dog something to eat!