oldtimer

your right merv its the culture today to sue and why any body wants to work at seventy god knows, i dont bother reading or believing the press write or say. paul.

firstly thank you for all your suggestions the thought of me on a v max or rocket jesus i am bad enough on my fz. have spent the day looking and riding a triumph thunderbird,ducati monster and triumph america and honda shadow 750 but still cant make my mind up and then went to look at a thundercat the guy who owns it is a painter and you can tell when you see the bodywork bad things are its a 96 with 46000kms on it ? no tax on it but 12months MOT £1500 dont think so but it does look nice, so back to the drawing board, must remember to change my will drewps.

if the windows were as you say mervin dark and tinted how did the police see through them and tell he was not wearing a seat belt?

well after being asked that many times if i was thinking of selling my bike would i give them first refusal, i have with much regret sold my 125 dragstar (nearly shed a tear)as anybody whos seen it knows it was mint. so my question is what next, bearing in mind i am in my sixties and also have a fz600 what should i get next, love the style and comfort of cruisers but also like the adrenalin rush of sports bikes. all suggestions welcome.

cheeky sod always service my bike every couple of months, had the bike apart and as it turns out your right the fuse box has seen better days so will let a few moths out of my wallet and buy a new one ( god i hate spending money) saved four quid entrance fee oap rate so things arent to bad. the motorway was easier for me and as i dont use a mobile phone at least if i had needed recovery there are the ones on the hard shoulder and you dont pay. would have rung you but not sure if i could go till late last night and as it turns out would have only held you and mike up,will get sorted out for stafford.

hope you have had a better day then me drewps, left at 8.30 went M62 & M1 got just past brighouse when all the electrics went checked fuses and then wiring, after 15 mins bike started got off the M62 on to the M1 after a couple of minutes it did it again this time it took 30mins before i got it going think it might be the coil breaking down and getting hot when it cools down starts again, after that decied enough was enough and set of home broke down four more times just got home 5hours after leaving 92 miles done and yet another show missed. knew i should have gone on my reliable baby dragstar

its not far from junction 21 on the M62 follow signs for milnrow/shaw a640 then A663 not sure about squires but going to lotherton tomorrow so might see drewpy and his mate mike there.

john it could be the jubilee on milnrow road,shaw,oldham, ol2 8bl its the only one in the phone book i could find, its on the A672. hope that helps.

like you happysnapper i was with bennetts been with them for years but never again,because i bought my bikes at different times of the year every time i came to insure them i was told if you want to go on a multibike policy it will cost you a cancellation fee plus admin costs so i left it then spoke to carole nash who could not have been more helpful, with bennets recovery was extra,personal accident was extra in fact everything was an extra. carole nash gave me UK and european breakdown recovery,180 days a year european cover,personal accident cover,helmet and leathers cover in fact everything a biker could need a multibike policy with cover to ride any bike not owned by me and the most important thing they saved me over a £126 on what bennets wanted, 2 months later bennetts rang me to ask why i had not renewed any of my bikes with them it gave me great pleasure to tell them your shit and robbing bastards not a lot they could say.

they got over a six foot fence as the only way in or out of the garden is a side gate locked and bolted as well as two chains connected to two wheelie bins if they had got the four chains off the bikes they are immobilised so how thewy would have got the bikes out god knows the police could not get over the amont of chains and security lights even with the keys it took me 5 minutes to show the police round the back police said they could see why it woke me and that the lights were brilliant. as for the lad paul i will make sure its him first,but i dont fear what will happen if i am caught i am quite prepared to take the punishment it will be a pleasure as long as the scum gets the message.

well paulwhite you were right they were stupid enough to try again this time i phoned the police straight away whilst putting on my jeans at the same time difficult in the dark but did not want to alert them. the police said we have a unit 5minutes away,mean while following gas ups advice i shot them three times they were on there toes,the police were here within 4 mins and set off after them, 10 minutes later three police units turned up that had been looking for them but no luck finding them one of them put the kettle on to make us all a brew while the others took a statement from me when i told them what i had done they were very excited now when i said i had shot them i had but with a camera. camera connected to the computer we all awaited to see the three photos i had taken,it was then the laughter started, oh shit what a stupid school boy error i had made the three photos were black i had not taken the lens cap off. ten minutes before i had been feeling very pleased with myself 3 photos of the scumbags get out of that you little bastards,but at least i was able to give them a good description of them and something i did not tell the police one of them i thought i recognised a young biker who rides a 125 sports bike i have seen in the area,next time i see him his reg number will be taken and he will be dealt with and no witnnesses, of course i will have a witness two of them my rather handy sons.

chris,you say you were a 100mile from home when it started,when did you fill up and how full because it sounds like a fuel problem,if you had filled up before you set off and done a 100miles then it is possible that you ran out of fuel and did not switch over to reserve in time before the carb was dry and unless you switch to prime it wont fill the carb up enough for it to fire,sometimes when the carb is run dry a air lock can cause difficulty in getting the bike to run,other possible causes clogged fuel hose fuel tank breather hole or faulty fuel pump,what did the AA man try if anything some of them are useless when it comes to bikes! basically a bike only needs 3 things to run fuel, a spark and the right air mixture. at the moment the best thing is to check your getting a spark, and switch to prime if your getting a spark and the fuel is getting through and your battery is fully charged if it still doesnt start let us know and we will try to help.

well at ten to three this morning i was woken by the sound of one of my bikes being moved i heard the chains rattle and my security lights come on lighting up the rear of the house like blackpool illuminations, i woke my son up and armed with baseball bats went to confront the two lads, we only made one mistake going out in our boxers and not putting our jeans on. of course they were off like a shot and only having boxers on and no shoes there was only so far i was going to chase them, the police of course were so helpful by informing me nothing was actually taken as if i didnt know that so there was little they could do (for a change i replied ) oh but one thing they were keen on was what was i intending to do with the baseball bat? well i dont think i need to tell you what i was going to do. both bikes had chains on and a third chaing them together steering locks on and immobilised and under security lighting and the garden gate is locked and chained which gives me a chance to get the scumbags as long as i put my pants on next time.

all the best mate have a good one.

this is something that really pisses me off some so called bikers who think because they ride a bigger bike they are superier,have had a similar experience myself today i needed to give my dragstar 125 a good run so went round the ribble valley a good 80 mile round trip as it was hot i stopped at a little country pub for a drink and parked next to some sports bikes,went in got my drink and came out sat on the grass near my bike, one of the other bikers asked me whats your bike mate is it the 650 or 1100, i said no its a 125 to which he replied have you never thought of getting a proper bike, people like that are just knobheads just ignore them but i do understand where your coming from i get a totally different reaction when i am out on my bigger bikes some people even give me a nod.

after having read through your posts that is the third low speed off you have had on your bikes and non of them your fault?i think i have to agree with oldgit its about time you stopped making excuses and took some of the blame,perhaps you need to take some more training just because you have passed your test does not mean you are a competent rider. you list an immpresive list of mods you have done to your bike but no mention of a restrictor kit,as your on a restricted licence at your age have you had one fitted on this bike or did you just not bother the same as with your other bike or maybe you feel you just dont need to as your such a good rider.

for all your day to day stuff you cant do better than this place. http://www.wemoto.com/bikes/Yamaha/XVS_125_Dragstar/00-04/ for something like your lock as taskmaster suggests try e bay or look for a breakers who is breaking a 125 dragstar,but as the lock incorporates the catch to keep the casing on try finding out of a yamaha dealer what one costs and if its not to dear maybe buy it or if its silly money keep your eye on e bay.

had a look this morning chris at what you are talking about its the exhaust pipe cover which is held in place by two m6 bolts so what oldgit suggested with a jubilee clip should work, having now seen your photos and looking at mine i realise i was wrong i thought you were talking about the exhaust but its the chrome heat shield that goes over the exhaust pipe leading to the muffler. looks like your going to be busy with the amount of rust showing on picture three, the foot pegs and on the frame under the seat need sorting good luck.

being at the front of the bike it gets all the crap and wet weather thrown at it so it can snap and fail. is the exhaust still connected and solid? if it had not been dark i would have gone outside and took a picture of mine to get a better idea of a solution will have a look tomorrow. theres a link on here for the workshop manual will have a look and post the link tomorrow.

unlike oldgitonabike who is really not that old karen most of those names to me are fairly modern,how could you forget barry sheene? now people like Mike Hailwood,Jim Redman,Phil read, ,Giacomo Agostini,Bill Ivy, Jarno Saarinen and my all time favourite Geoff Duke are my era as i am an old git and the bikes you feature from you tube and the ace cafe are the type of bikes i started off with and love but have recently fallen for a new love a kawasaki w650 that i am trying to get another old guy to sell me. welcome karen and as JYA12R says fill in the rest of your member information so we can to know you.

looked out for you but did not see you,got there about half ten like you say the weather was great, only made my mind up to go this morning went on the motorways only 25mins just got back also.

75mph is the top speed claimed by yamaha but i had one pass me at 80,as far as the gears and only getting 4, where did you buy the bike from and how many miles has it done,if it is a second hand bike the thing could have been thrashed or maybe the last owner sold it because of this problem,it could be something as simple as some minor adjustments or something major like the gear selector or maybe its you how experienced a rider are you? as drewpy said are you starting in first and going through all the gears. dont feel stupid we have all been there things will fall in to place,just get some miles under your belt.

In theory increasing the number of teeth on the front sprocket and/or decreasing the number of teeth on the rear sprocket you will result in higher top speed, lower acceleration and better fuel economy. And vice versa: decreasing the number of teeth on the front sprocket and/or increasing the number of teeth on the rear sprocket will result in lower top speed, higher acceleration and worse fuel economy. However whilst generally true in practice this is not allways the case, mostly due to the power output of the machine at certain revs being higher or lower than at others. to achieve your desired result will often involve some trial and error. It should also be noted that some models cannot accommodate larger front sprockets but in the case of the xvs dragstar 125 this is not a problem as it will accomodate these changes without the need for any alteration of the chain. one or two teeth? well as the gain with one tooth is so minor i would be inclined to go +2 on the front sprocket and maybe less 3 on the rear sprocket as with Lowering the ratio increases top end speed - Increasing the ratio increases acceleration and bottom end power you will get the maximum benifit but like the guy in the link i gave you it is a matter of trial and error and as i have been happy with the performance of my 125 i have not done any modifications i can only go of what others have done, when i feel the need for speed and an adreniline rush i get on my fz.

reservoir dog , hi juan heres that link to the topic on sprockets it was a guy who wanted to do the same as you hope this helps. its on page two to save you reading it all.