Cov_AL

I've been chatting to my dealer - and they've told me I'm fine to work on my bike. The warranty states that "service work should be done by a competent mechanic" - So as long as you use decent quality consumables (oils, filters etc.) and don't mess it up by forgetting to tighten something, cross threading, under/over torque or any other silly mistakes. your warranty will still be valid. Checking and setting valve clearances is perfectly fine.

If you haven't already - get yourself a torque wrench - Draper do one for about £20 which is ideal. A good trick for keeping track of the bolts is to roughly draw the shape of the case your removing onto a piece of card and as you remove the bolts poke them through the card in their respective places. Mixing up the bolts (one is 70mm one is 75mm!) and over tightening can crack the crank-case which is an £800 part + gaskets and labour could write off an old draggie... A "friend" did this to my old draggie when I first got it - i don't speak to him anymore!

I'd recommend getting an alarmed disc lock - mainly as it goes off when you start the bike (thanks to the vibration) if you've forgotten remove it... Mine has saved me from caliper damage at least half a dozen times!

I should probably mention - The boards are sprung. I haven't seen any alternate foot rests available as of yet (If you know of some please share the link!) Although I could probably make some, or at least make some others fit... Roy - I don't understand what you mean by "pegs with a lesser diameter" (ammeye bin fick ) and the suspension is not a problem - I'm not grounding out under load, I'm leaning...

I've only had my Midnight star since halfway through december, and only just finished running her in last week. So I've done 1000 miles of commuting in the snow, rain and freezing conditions. Since the weather has picked up a bit, I've gone for a few ride outs just for fun and being as the roads are now dry - I've been leaning more. I only scraped the boards for the first time just over a week ago, and now I keep getting them - I can see this getting annoying by the end of the summer - They catch the ground much more than the pegs on the Dragstar did! So what can be done? Any ideas?? Looking down at the boards whilst riding along I noticed that they're much wider then my feet - so having them 1/2" narrower would be a good start and give me a couple more degrees of lean. Of course getting some pegs to fit might help...

Try holding down the ctrl button and pressing the + button once or twice... Should make everything a bit BIGGER.

I originally wanted Black - it's what I know (Both Dragstars were black) but I got a few hunderd off for having the blue one they had in stock... Now I've had it a while - I prefer the Blue!

I think you'll want a 18mm deep socket for the spark plugs (it'd be worth checking the gap while your there). Or you could try bump starting her... Did you use RedeX before you put her away for winter?

Wayhey! :D LOVE IT!! Thanks for the heads up on the price increase Wattsy! saved myself a packet - the 0% finance only ran untill christmas eve as well... Only managed about 250 miles so far with christmas/new year boozing and then shed loads of snow getting in the way, but one fine on the train and I'm back to biking to work!

I've not had mine for long - only stuck about 250miles on it so far - but I have noticed a bit of top end rattle - I figure I'll mention it to the garage at the first service... Could well be valve clearences - but adjusting them won't void your warrentee surely? Anyway - voila! -

Just took it for a spin, picking it up tomorrow!

I'm getting all giddy now! The 650 is on ebay! (PM me if you want the link) I've been looking on the DVLA for a suitable Reg Starting to think - sod the test ride, just give me the bike!! gonna try to phone my insurance provider tomorrow p.s. Cheers for the test ride offer Goff - I think if I rode that far, I wouldn't be in a hurry to get on another bike though!

Right then! I popped up the local dealership on saturday... The 650 should be on ebay by tonight and I'm taking a short test ride on saturday. All being well it'll be mine to ride away before christmas! This is gonna be the best christmas EVER!

I'm thinking it's time to do away with the the Custom 650 Dragstar, and the only bike that's really taking my fancy is the 950... Slight problem is - I don't fancy spending £7000 without taking a test ride, but I can't find anywhere that's demo'ing one. So, if you own one - can you give me any reasons I might not want one?? so far I've only got: - I'd rather have foot pegs rather than footboards... How are they in the wet? Can you throw them around as much as you could the 650?? Done any mods? (Santa might need a little financial help this year...)

Yep, that's the way to do it!

Dealer: Final drive £1180 Coupling link £15 Shaft £128 (or something like that) eBay - the lot inc delivery £75!!! !!!WIN!!! Bike is back together - All I need to do is put some new 80w-90 oil in (which I've still got left over from the last time I did an oil change) :D Total fix cost - Parts/labour/moving bike between workshops £136.00!!!! What a relief - Thought I was gonna have to go and buy myself an xvs950... Well - I still might - but it can wait till the nice weather starts now

I'm a tad upset Riding to work on tusday morning, Pulled away from some lights - Crunch, crunch, bang, rattle, Stop. Seems I need a new final drive unit (the bit between the drive shaft and the back wheel) which cost in the region of £1200. Anyone know of anyone breaking an XVS650???

Short answer is: NO.

What's the OD and pitch?

There is a course running at Worcester College of Technology - Might be a few hundred miles out of your way though...

If you were to fit the air-con onto your air intake (airbox) it would cool the air, making it denser which should make your bike run better...

I hate to be the barer of bad news but - your screen is illegal. A motorbike screen is not allowed to come above your eye level (in the uk at least)

I had some, they were on for less than a year before the chrome started to flake off...

^That's pretty comprehensive^ although I've never straddled the bike to lift the tank off, and I don't use the string trick (although I might give it a go next time) I know you've covered these Ttask but; Things that have cost me time/money: - after a long 3 days working on the bike I forgot to reconnect the fuel hose before turning the fuel tap back on (doh!) - overtightened the speedo bolts (fecked the rubbers...)

RST jacket - £70ish local shop Shark s500 air (matt black) - £90 - NEC bikeshow Biker goretex Gloves - £62.50 local shop Bata Aquaboot or airstar boots - £50/£15 (secondhand) local shop/legion riders rally Draggin' jeans - £89.95 per pair (I've got about a dozen - I wear them everyday) - http://www.dragginjeans.net High-vis waterproof over-trousers - £8.95 - eBay + many other lids/gloves/jackets