Ttaskmaster

Only nice after the sun goes down. M25 and M4 today. Filtering was nasty, but even at (ahem) miles an hour, the air viscosity was generating enough friction to further heat me up. I hate it when it's like this!

Carb balance, timing, idle, clogged fuel line, dirty air filter... Need more info. An Intro wouldn't go amiss, either

Plenty of ideas... however, it's considered a little rude to leap in to a forum with a 'Help me' demand like that. Imagine walking into a bar full of strangers and saying exactly what you just said above - How many people would even be listening by the time you finished? The done thing is to post an intro in the New Members section. Nothing major, just a bit about who you are, where you are, what you ride, any experience you have and anything else that breaks the ice. We're a close community here, not an online bike repair helpline and have no time for those who simply come along, demand help without so much as a 'hello', 'excuse me' or even a 'please' and then bugger off without a word of thanks... and we do get a lot of those! Conversely, I've known members here spend hours typing up precise How-To repair guides, source parts for others or even ride many miles to visit and assist in person, all just because the other person made that little effort. Now, as your post above is one of the more polite ones, I'm inclined to believe you'll stick around even after we help out here. So, hop on over, whack up an Intro and let's be friends, yeah? See ya shortly

Best wishes for a speedy recovery and hope to find you back in the saddle soon, fella. These things happen to some of us occasionally I'm afraid. Part of the lifestyle. But while bikes can be fixed or replaced, you can't so it's good that you're still here to tell the tale. Don't let it get you down too much. 45,000 is a pretty serious mileage, especially on a 125, so you're clearly doing something right. People who drive like prick-features will eventually come a'cropper one way or the other, so keep posting his description it and you'll either get him in the end or find him upside-down in a hedge where he belongs. Meanwhile, if you go ahead on the DAS, I wish you every success and many more decades of trouble-free riding!!

If it is SORNed, you don't need insurance. However, it can be good to insure it, as you are covered for any theft. Why would you tax it unless you were taking it on the road? If it is going on the road, you need to insure it. Fairly straightforward and sensical, really. I don't know what all the fuss was about on the other thread!

Heya chap!! The Owners Manual that comes with a new bike, sure. You can usually just Google those as free pdfs, or occasionally find them on the Yamaha Websites for free download. Depends on the year, as I think Yammie only feature 1996 bikes onward. The actual papaer versions should only be a few bucks on eBay or something. There is also a Haynes manual (known as Clymer in the US), which is 'an Owner's Guide to Maintenance and Servicing'. Pretty good and cover most common makes of bike from most years. Expect maybe $30-40 for a brand new plastic-sealed one... Whatever £20 equates to today. Downloads are around, but that's the copyrighted content mentioned above. Lastly, there is the Workshop Manual, ie the official book from Yamaha that every mechanic will use to service your bike and check the details in. These *do* cost, which is probably what the $80 ones were. If not a Workshop Manual, they were overcharging!! Again, free pdfs can be found if you look, but we can't legally direct you to them. Then again, ask nicely and members here who can, will try and help. Welcome to the forum!

Rubber mounted, probably.

But you're on a 125. Those and Sports bikes are most likely to need parts, so are the highest targets for thieves who steal to break. Also 125s are easily ridden by joyriding scrotes and less likely to have lots of security on them. High risk bike = high premium. CN use Green Flag now I thought, or some other random company? Certainly did last year, so we got a comprehensive AA policy that covers all of our vehicles. Saves on the insurance renewals, too.

Lovely intro, Rob! That's the sort of thing we love to see from newbies here and I bet it only took a couple of minutes!! A very hearty welcome to the forum!

Has 2 parking tickets. One was for using a car space (no choice, really). The other was because I didn't buy a ticket, on the basis that I had nowhere to put it and the sign said nothing about bikes. The lady on the phone (High Wycombe Council, in case you need it) said it would have been mitigating if I'd bought one and just kept hold of it.

Exactly what Bippo said.

I asked the Russian bike expert at work here and from your description he says, "is mo-tor-sick-le". There ya go, I guess... Sorry, it's Friday afternoon and I'm about to go play in traffic, hee hee!!

They would be out of sight before anyone thought to note the numbers down, I expect.

Well, since y'all got me being picky on the subject of precise language... That symbol is the Caduceus, icon of Mercury/Hermes (Roman/Greek), the messenger of the gods, guide of the dead and protector of merchants, shepherds, gamblers, liars, and thieves. It symbolises commerce and negotiation, exchange and reciprocity and just about anything else involving balance. In alchemy it represents all four base elements, make and female, good and evil and loads of other stuff. Because of the above and because it was also used on a Gary Numan album cover, it is thus tattoed in flick-shading on my left shoulder. Hence the avatar. It has naff-all to do with medicine or medical practice - That is the Rod Of Asclepius, a staff with a single snake and no wings. The misuse of one over t'other is mostly regarded as historical confusion, but is always being debated by some academic or other. Sorry... something about mobile phones? They'd be somewhere around Wanker. Same results, caused by lack of attention. They think they're doing fine, not realising they haven't a clue what's happening. One moment's distraction and SMASH... dead schoolchildren and bikers all over the road. Will likely complain that the *other* party should have been watching where they were going... but will shit themselves when you square up to them and demand they put their money where their (about to be smashed in) mouth is. Different countries, diferent cultures. UK driving is actually a relatively high standard on the whole, so we are fucking merciless and crucify anyone for the *slightest* mistake. HGV drivers are supposedly notoriously bad drivers, but when you really grill people on it and investigate, they tend to mean foreign HGV drivers... but we're too polite to say such things, of course!! Lane Splitting is what the UK calls Filtering. And it is perfectly legal here, albeit a very grey area. Motorists are taught to watch out for filtering bikes, particularly in stationary or slow-moving traffic. There aren't really any set speeds, but if you're hooning down between two lanes, you're likely going way too fast. 20:20 is a common guideline - Not more than 20mph faster than the traffic you're passing and not filtering if that traffic is going above 20mph. This, however, is a guideline ratio and so some go 40 if the traffic is doing 30. Filtering generally means between two lanes on a 2/3 lane road. It can also mean down the outside of a single lane, as it's technically a type of overtake. If there's a dividing rail between your side and the oncoming traffic side, or if you're going down the inside of a traffic lane, then it's pretty much illegal. Weaving is a 'whole nuther' ball game. This is basically switching lanes back and forth into the gaps between each vehicle, or flitting from one to another. At it's best, it looks like you're doing a slalom through road cones, but with cars instad. This is generally looked upon as "NOT GOOD" by the cops - If you're going above the speed limit then it's undertaking, dangerous/reckless driving, unneccesary lane changing and whatever else they can think up. If you're going under the speed limit, it's a slightly less-naughty version of the above. generally you're more of a hazard than they'd like. Pretty much the same as high-speed filtering, but worse.

Area you live in, age, security, type of machine, etc. They all affect the premium. Could be 'Ped scrotes have been up to shit lately, which earmarks your 50 as a troublemaker's ride. Chances are they see a 19 year old as an easy mark and probably expecting a high price to begin with. Mess around on the comparison sites, get the lowest you can find and use that to play companies off against each other.

Wow, just found this in a Google for summat else... Grizzly having a bad day or something? Even by MY standards that was quite a kick in the sack, given how sincere and genuine FJPilot was... No wonder he hasn't returned!!

Welcome!! Check and lube up your headstock. Check your tyres and their pressures. Perhaps fork alignment as well...

They're not bikers. They are children on off-roaders and likely illegal ones, too. It's fucking sickening, but it is the season for it. All the cunts are out. Bike park at work was full today. Five extra riders whose bikes only ever see daylight about thrice a year. I know the 'Blader and the Gaytona one both filter and undertake above 90 through 10mph rush hour traffic on the 40 limit A-road. Fucking pricks, the lot of 'em! Last Summer, we collectively cautioned and later shopped the Repsol Race Rep guy to his boss for riding without tax and insurance (he was riding for work purposes as well, which was the kicker). He later got done for failing to stop at the scene as well.

And Google for an Owners Manual!! Seriously, if you're new to bikes, simply reading this through and looking at the pictures helps immensely!!

In 4 minutes I'd ascertained that yours is an American model, there were several faults common to that bike, the coils were the most likely common fault and in keeping with your description thus far, the best-rated replacements were DC1-1 Dyna Coils and that there's a helpful US-based owners forum specific to your bike range at XJBikes.com. I tried to help... I'm trying to be a nice Tasky these days...

Drain tank, clean it and entire fuel line out , including pump. Clean carbs, check timing and balance, all the usual. Do everything that doesn't cost new parts.

Well we're not all utter gurus here and certainly not guaranteed to magic up answers within the 24 hours it took you to expect an answer. Knowing nothing of your bike, I did a quick Google and in about 4 minutes had several sites all in the US that offered at least a starting point that was related to the ignition issues your explanation suggested, even though it was fuse related anyway. On behalf of the entire forum, I offer our sincerest apologies for not resolving your issue sooner and promise to try and offer a better service next time. Sense of humour optional.

Just about every HT lead will be quite thick and have that sort of shaped plug on the end, though, so you know what sort of thing to look for. One of the few universally recognisible parts on a bike. Chances are it's behind the removable panel, near the top of your engine. I'd bet money on it!! Also, I can't link you to it here (copyright reasons), but you can find owners manuals to download for free. Just Google.

Which jacket is this? What have I missed?

Also, I'm bored at work, so this is about as helpful as people get, unless you post an Intro in the Introduction section. One-post wonders are considered quite rude, y'see.