Ttaskmaster

'Fine' as in bottle of 1975 vintage Vina del Perdon Rioja... or 'F.I.N.E.' as in Aerosmith's version (F**ked up, Neurotic,Insecure and Emotional)? I got a Cradle CD free with somethingorother... "Two thousand fattened years like maniacs have despoiled our common grave. Now what necrophagous second coming backs from the cradle to enslave"... Yeah, okay Dani. You're the devil and we all fear your power, or whatever he's on about... Meanwhile, as the rest of us Goth types grew up and left school...!! He *is* just doing this for theatrical reasons, right? He's not taking it seriously?

Also, you might wanna put an Intro in the New Members section, as a matter of manners/'nettiquette First-time questions from strangers are usually met with silence, as we get a lot of one-post wonders. Something short will do, just a bit about you, where you're from (town), age and riding/mechanical experience. Helps us to better find solutions, y'see, especially any local stuff. XZ550? Is it the 'Vision' model, like this: Please tell me you're putting everything back to standard??!! This thing looks like an absolute Streethawk 1980s JOYGASM!!! I mean, just look at this Dash: As for your bars, you should be able to get suitable adapters for either clip-ons or a single bar. Just a case of Google-Fu mostly.

An Intro in the New Members section is usually the polite way to go about getting assistance here, chap. Our assistance is free, so all we ask is a touch of manners (or 'Nettiquette) to start with

It may be a bit far, but there's two places here in Reading that I guarante are very fair in their MOTs and will do right by you as best as the law allows... Both offer free retests if you fix the problem and return within a few days.

The properly ridden figure is 7 seconds on the 650. Timed, I've done it in just over 5 seconds, averaging 5.3 using stock pipes, a leaner mix, a steady build of throttle and clutchless upshifting, running on the Avon Venoms' superior grip. Only turned it back to richer as it killed the fuel economy. The biggest key is a warm engine, with the right balance of throttle increase. Too much and it will be sluggish, too little and it will be slow. You should expect to beat most unmodded cars off the line and easily hit 50 before they do. Powerful Chelsea Tractors driven by nutty, competitive women are a problem, as they just about keep pace but will try and bully you off the road, which is a performance-reducing distraction. Good Sports bikes should breach the 3 second barrier. My old FJ1200 Sports-Tourer does it in 2.8, apparently. So far I've been too busy going WWWWWWWWWWWWOOOWWWWWWWWW to actually count.

Strip, no. Rebuild, yes. We got the front cylinder apart with the whole assembly still in situ and it was NOT easy!! The cylinder is held together by four threaded shafts. We had to get the top off, then use a pair of nuts counter-spun to undo the lower end and then slide the bottom of the cylinder up enough to wiggle it out. Getting the bastard thing out of the cradle will make things MUCH easier, if you can manage it.

Cradle just sounds like noise to me... coincidence?

Parts built to order... how much does THAT cost? And if it's actually sensible, why did no-one mention these guys earlier, dammitt??!!

Yeah, but your wind-up is irrelevant because a Honda Black Widow 750 (basically a Shadow, but with some unspecified differences that makes it faster) can whup any other bike on the road... apparently!! There's no trolling here... just piss-taking of what ended up being a silly question. This is a Yamaha forum. Any Yamaha is the best, as far as we're concerned... and we're not very, at that. As you said, both bikes are fine. Some people disagree. Pilot (aviator) is more a term applied to riders of big, fast bikes like Sports Tourers. But since it also applies to the pilot of a big, slow cruiser ships, it might as well apply to big slow Cruiser bikes as well!! Virago means various things, depending on what point in history you're reading. If you wanna argue pure specs, I believe the Drag's slightly lower torque kicks in at notably lower revs (4.5-5k), which is why it is faster off the line. Averaging the specs out from 11 different reviews: 535 - 43.81HP (32.1kW) @ 7500rpm with 48.00 Nm (35.4 ft.lbs) @ 6000rpm 650 - 39.42HP (28.8kW) @ 6500rpm with 50.10 Nm (37.0 ft.lbs) @ 5000rpm Incidentally, you can forget ANYTHING that MCN says. It stands for More Crap than News and is basically the same made up tabloid bollocks as The Sun newspaper, but with more tits and less bare breasts.

1/. Then either I'm a fucking brilliant rider, or every 535 I've ridden alongside has had a really shit pilot... 2/. Doesn't Virago mean shouty, boisterous woman trying to emulate a man, or something? Coincidence? Hint: Raging cruiser fanboys ought not to throw stones at other raging cruiser fanboys, especially on a raging Yamaha fanboy forum... Funny, I could say the exact same thing about faggy little 535 riders... 'cept the Viggie's leather tank cover is actually called a bra!! Besides, I have photographic proof that my Drags lack tank bra, tassles and screen. Hell, even my chrome has gone unpolished for at least a year... maybe longer. Also, just something I should probably point out... "im considering an xvs650." "ill probably sell the bike and hopefully get a Drag by summer." "I think the Draggie is the answer, prefereably a Classic because i love the huge front tyre and forks. And the classic fenders on them," "Plus i LOVE the look of the 650 classic, especially in black/grey." All them are quotes from EazyDuz's earlier forum posts

You can usually expect most 650 engines to be £450-odd. The killer is how much the postage ends up. If you can collect, it's usually good. If not, sell your house!!

Took a normal record player. Plugged a phono (ye olde headphones jack size) adapter into the headphones socket. Plugged a male-to-male 3.5mm (modern earphones jack size) audio lead* into the adapter Plugged the other end of the audio lead into the mic input jack of the PC. Stick record on, record on PC, save as MP3 file. Job done. *3.5mm male-to-male audio lead is found at any decent PC shop (including PC World) for a couple quid and often comes with any PC monitor that has it's own speakers.

Oh. That's a bit bollocks, Yamaha...

Google is your friend.

33hp @7000rpm, apparently. Most 400cc bikes seem to be around the 33bhp mark. The Yamaha XJ400 is a fantastic bike for this exact purpose!

As a very general guide - Every 6 months or 4000 miles, whichever is soonest. The 300 miles might have been checking your chain...

Bleed it the old-fashioned way, I say. Pump up the pressure a few times, hold lever in, open bleed valve for a couple seconds, close, rinse and repeat. You should be able to get the lever stopping solid a good inch or more away from the grip. I personally insist on braided brake lines for all my bikes. I believe they do help, as plasticky rubber lines start to bulge under pressure after a while. They also look better!

Serviced my own 125.

Or have learned from others' experiences...

Stupid thing to do, really... 40hp down to 33. Like it makes THAT much difference on a 650 Drag!!

The parts shops refuse to stock their stuff, yet will get in anything else you ask for. Point 1. The mechanics at the independant service places won't touch them, regardless of how good their product is. Point 2. The one guy (self employed) I trust implicitly with my own bike, who doesn't fuck about and will tell you if something is good also advises against using Betor. Point 3. Most of these have no interest in which parts you get. The service shops all deal with Harleys, so you can have whatever you want for other makes - They don't give a shit. They might well be a good product, but I've already lost a good few hundred quid to comapnies' bullshit customer sales people this year and would not want to risk being stuffed by any other problems.

I'm totally with the 80s thing!! Lids may still deteriorate, even if not used, as manufacturing components break down. Using old lids not my thing, personally, but your call... This from: http://www.smf.org/helmetfaq "Why should you replace your helmet every five years? The five-year replacement recommendation is based on a consensus by both helmet manufacturers and the Snell Foundation. Glues, resins and other materials used in helmet production can affect liner materials. Hair oils, body fluids and cosmetics, as well as normal "wear and tear" all contribute to helmet degradation. Petroleum based products present in cleaners, paints, fuels and other commonly encountered materials may also degrade materials used in many helmets possibly degrading performance. Additionally, experience indicates there will be a noticeable improvement in the protective characteristic of helmets over a five-year period due to advances in materials, designs, production methods and the standards. Thus, the recommendation for five-year helmet replacement is a judgment call stemming from a prudent safety philosophy. "

Err... an actual 1983 vintage helmet? Or just a retro-styled, brand new modern one? Silly question, but you *are* aware that helmets usually degrade over time, resulting in something with less head protection than a slice of cheese... right?

Oh, that's just the cost of the parts before shipping!! There aren't that many second hand parts, mainly because breaking for those means their engine is also damaged. Not usually worth buying unless you can inspect them beforehand. Try ebay.co.uk, or one of the other European variants. ebay.de is probably a good starting place.

Apparently I'm old too, so that's no excuse... or so they tell me.