Ttaskmaster

1. Depends on your inside leg length. Mine are about 33", which means my feet are just a little forward of my knees when I ride (the Drag, anyway). However, if your legs start cramping, just straighten them out and rest your heels/calves on the pegs for a bit. 2. Custom all the way. Always!!!! Nah, it's totally up to you. The performance stats are about the same, in that both models have 40HP, but the Classic has 20kg of extra metal on it though, so will be slower. 3. Not really, no. 4. Check the rear shock, make sure it's clean and in good condition. 6. £2500 is the usual price for a nice one. These are Cruisers though, so the chrome rusts and it falls apart if it's not been looked after. 8. General bits, easy enough. Getting the rocker covers off is a little fiddly. You'll need a way of holding it upright to check the oil, as it has no centrestand.

Fuck, YEAH!!!!!

Oh, I see... you speak of the FJ1200 and want a concise answer, eh?? OK then..... JOYGASM!!!!!

MOTORWAYS ARE MY PLAYGROUND!!!!!!!!!!!!! Seriously, get on one, go down a motorway and just experience the roll-on in 3rd, 4th or 5th... nothing like it on this planet!! Filtering is nice and easy once you get the feel for the bike. Touring Europe is considered a run-of-the-mill outing for an FJ Owner! Even for a tatty model between £500-900, you're getting one hell of a bike for that money. Remember that this thing started life as the FJ1100 sports bike, though. Yamaha realised it was a bit heavy for such duty (although Doc Hacker still races two 1100s in the pre-injection class and does very well, it must be said), so redesigned it as the 1200 Sports Tourer. Thus it will behave as a Sports Tourer. This means 0-60 in 2.8 seconds. 1st gear won't run out of steam until after 75. Top speed 160... and it will actually do that. Note that the bike will be unexpectedly heavy for most riders and you'll have to be a bit forceful if you want to go fast, accelerate hard or wrench it around in the twisties... but that only suits the mood you'll be in when you want that kind of misbehaving and when you need a more relaxed ride, the bike just effortlessly calms down along with you! Beyond that, the weight is solidly planted and control at all speeds is great. Riding position is slightly forward and long-limbed folk may prefer 1" risers, but there's plenty of room to move around, stretch out and be happy. Tank top is flat, which is great for front luggage. Full sets of Givi and Renthal rear luggage are plentiful and various other types are easily accomodated too. Tie downs are good (I had a pair of speakers on the back on Wednesday) and you can get a fully loaded 165L issue Bergan behind you with no worries. Pillion ride is amazingly comfortable and only improved with a back-rest top box. The bike still pulls effortlessly 2-up and handling is not hard work for the rider (even if your pillion is a bit of a big'un). Range is good - You have a 22L tank and can expect around the 50mpg mark. While the new higher ethanol fuel is not recommended as it will fuck up your rubbery engine bits (like carb diaphragms), using the slightly more expensive fancy fuels not only saves your rubbers but returns far more additional miles than it costs! Parts are pretty cheap and very plentiful. Working on it is a dream - Seat off, tank off, un-pop the side fairing and you have access to rear lights, battery, fuses, fuel pump, airbox, carbs, cylinder heads, plugs, coils and all manner of stuff. Every time I have to do something to my bike or watch someone else's hassle attempting the same on another model, I end up loving mine just that little bit more!! You have 3 basic variants - 1TX, 3CV and 3XW. Not that much between them overall, but subtle differences that may eventually matter a whole lot more. You're supposed to run crossply tyres on them, but there are a couple of radials that will fit properly and you can swap the wheels for EXUP/Genesis ones to accomodate any approriately sized radial. More here: http://fjclub.co.uk/#/buying-a-fj/4546920434 TBH, no-one who actually knows what they're talking about will ever slate the FJ series. In all the comparison reviews, even today, there is nothing the FJ gets a #1 on for handling, performance, economy etc... but rather it usually comes in at #2 across the board, making it the best all-rounder. I could go on forever, but that's probably a good start. Get on one, take it out and see what you think - You will not be disappointed!!

Nothing to do with riding in Winter, mate - That's the price you pay for buying cheap tools and not keeping your Dragstar properly protected against the Winter elements... something I have MUCH experience in, myself!! Have you checked the brake light switch itself? These often collect crap and seize up so, while your brake pedal may be fine, the switch stays stuck on. My wife's Drag did this all the time! Also, strip and clean the rear brake drum out - Good to do periodically anyway, but you will likely have a collection of dust and road crap in there that won't be helping things.

One may quite reasonably argue that your 125 experiences (the naff sound, the high insurance, the low performance, the jibes and jokes, the L-Plate Haters, etc) are all just part of 'paying your dues' for when you are a full-time biker on a proper big bike, and all...

What he said!! Ride safe, bru.

Quick answer - No. There aren't than many mods for the 125 and TBH, I'd advise keeping it stock standard unless you plan to ride the bike forever. Modding 125s decreases their resale value generally and IMO modded pipes just make it sound worse. You can drill the pipes for a *slightly* better sound, but it's not worth it IMO. You might be OK running it on straight-throughs, but that will require some messing with the carbs, rejetting and so on. You have precious little grunt on the Baby Drag as is, so I'd advise staying stock. It will usually just sound loud rather than better. If you want a proper meatier sound, you'll really only get that on a bigger bike. The 650 can sound pretty damn wicked but even then it lacks just the little bit of extra bass I wanted to really kick it with the bigger boys.

If it's literally just a tune-up, it should take a few minutes (including warming the engine up). So take one hour's labour costs (£30 per hour is reasonable... sort of) and factor that down to however many minutes it takes the bloke. If it's part of a full on service, he may not even charge you extra for it. Alternatively, get yourself a set of mercury gauges for about £50 and do it yourself. I do mine. It's usually just turning a couple of screws until the gauges are even. No more difficult than setting the hands on a clock, really!! However, if by 'tune up', you mean actually stripping the carbs, cleaning them out and rebuilding everything, then it will take longer. I can strip, clean and rebuild my own 4-piece carb within a leisurely 2 hours. This includes stripping the other bits off the bike to reach them, fucking about getting the carbs back on again, taking a phonecall or two, smoking cigarettes and making tea. Assuming no problems (extra dirty, stripped screws, awkward parts, etc) I'd expect a pro to manage it in about an hour. If you're anywhere near Reading, I know an excellent professional mechanic...

Unbelievable... Fucking cock... !!

Wow.... reminds me so much of 1980s computer driving games - I actually really like it!! How does it ride? Oh, and welcome to the forum!

Oh... I did it the hard way, then!

Start by looking here: http://fjclub.co.uk/#/buying-a-fjr1300/4546979445 The FJR forum is a great place to get opinions from a wide range of long-time riders. Also, consider signing up with the FJ & FJR Owners Club, there. The benefits are fantastic. The Club workshop has two of the best and most experienced mechanics for these bikes. Ernie has been working on the FJR1300 bike since their introduction in 2001 and can manage a full 24k service in a single day! Also, the Club shop has some very nice, exclusive parts that you won't find anywhere else!

How did you rate Hamburger Hill?

That's a generic pic showing the 2001 colour scheme. This one is in bits, half of which are rusty orange!!!!! It will be for sale, yes. This is not a For Sale thread, as I can't post those... Personally, I'd have conscience trouble selling a Drag with 50k of hard all-year riding on it, anyway, but I believe me and my mechanic can make it last a good 20-30 more so long as it looks the biz. I'm just concerned that the chrome is too far gone already.

Here you are welcome, especially with an avatar like that!!

I should perhaps explain - 'sorely used & all-weather-abused' is Tasky talk for "OMG, that chrome is fucked to hell and no amount of polishing will save it"!! I'd normally keep it standard (I practice most of what I preach, generally), but it will look more like the dog's arse than his danglies!!

'Ello and welcome!

OK boys, girls, kings, queens and all in-betweens.... I have FINALLY managed to get the 650 Dragstar down to most of the basic component parts, enough that I can start polishing and painting frames, sub-frames and all that. The question is what to do with it... It's originally the standard black & chrome colours of 2001: It's a sorely used & all-weather-abused bike with almost 50k on the clock, and will be up for sale as the SWMBO owner really wants a Hornet-like bike. While checking sale values, I saw this: http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201307047645719/sort/pricedesc/usedbikes/cc-to/700cc/cc-from/600cc/model/xvs/make/yamaha/page/1/radius/1500/postcode/rg71jt/quicksearch/true?logcode=p Would you consider buying a bike like this? Would gloss black enginework look (and sell) better? Would I be better off staying standard? What's the word on the street, Yamaheads?

Asking what model a car is on a bike forum... hmm. Well, I guess if nothing else, it proves how smart us bikers can be - Even with all the clues posted above, I had no idea... so I did a bit of research, ran some Googles and came up with the answer. I could tell you the exact make & model of car, full history, driver's name, who his family are, how many pets he has... Can I win a Go Pro based solely on that? We shall see!!

Fark off....!!! Loud noises do not save lives, given how often someone has almost walked into my VERY loud moving Dragstar (I had the baffles out and you could hear me a good 20 seconds before I arrived)!! Given the amount of blind pedestrians (half of them wearing Burberry) who have nearly walked right into my moving bike just this month alone, I'd say it's down to the pedestrian to get off their fucking iPhone and watch where the fuck they are going or shut up and pay out when they find a 42 stone bike dropping them to the floor like a sack of shit!! The companies producing these cars should fit a signal emitter to each of their vehicles and fully fund a receiving warning device scheme for any pedestrians who are *genuinely* blind. Job done.

Wicked intro!! Welcome

It is indeed a type of Peregrine Falcon. It was so named because it eats Blackbirds, or so the rumour goes.

Apparently only doing 60mph... can't see the speedo clear enough. Overcooked the overtake, crossed the solid whites and then, for some reason, suddenly abandoned his setup that would have carried him through the corner. I'm thinking target lock? Inexperienced, not interested in improving his riding, probably a Summer Rider on his first jaunt out on the Baby Ninja and now just another statistic in the war against bikers...

I like how the clocks whizz round. Really wish mine did that! Dunno which I'd prefer, TBH - This or a Blackbird... I do love how your bike profiles goes: YAHAMA, YAHAMA,YAHAMA,YAHAMA,YAHAMA, Suzuki...