Ttaskmaster

Look for the Gemini exhausts on eBay. Not the best and need to be kept very clean in bad weather, but good price and great sound.

Reminds me... I really should get the Fudge out for some nosh at Fox's.... yeah. Welcome to the forum!!

Fender (US) = Mudguard (UK). Kickstand = Sidestand Turn Signal = Indicator. Shifter = Gear Lever (pronounced LEE-ver, not Levv-er) Stick = Manual transmission (cars, mainly) Wrench = Spanner Monkey Wrench = Adjustable Spanner Ratchet = Wrench Sidewalk = Pavement Pavement = Road/Tarmac MSF course = CBT & DAS Scooter = Cruiser Scooter = Scooter/Moped Harley Davidson = Overly expensive lump that cries if you show it a corner.

There's one going here in Reading. Bit of a high mileage one, though. Almost hit 40,000 and bloody looks like it! Ah, but YOU are the exact build of rider the Virago was initailly aimed at anyway, so it's perfect sense for you to get one. Heck, I was gonna get a Viggie, but I had the opposite problem. How small are you, anyway? My wife is 5' 4" and so long as she has the bars lowered (takes 5 mins), she fits her Drag perfectly. The weight is something you get used to pretty quick, too. IMO, both bikes are good for you.

Cookies are large and semi-squishy if you pinch them. Biscuit - Bis Cuit (French for Cooked Twice, I believe) are quite brittle and crumble if you pinch them. Also, biscuits go soft when stale, cookies don't. However, Maryland chocolate chip cookies are actually biscuits. Ye follow? I think it's a town in Kent, actually, although likely also a place somewhere like Illinois, I imagine. One evening, the Earl of Sandwich was playing cards and so wanted food that he could eat with one hand. Meat between two slices of bread was his idea and thus it was named. People had obviously been doing that for years earlier, but he was the one who got famous for it. I believe the original/first-named Magic Roundabout is the one in Hemel Hempstead with *six* minis, innit?

Spacer.

Crimony, a braided brake line would cost about £20 to make!!

Or just RTFM, as the whole thing is now online I'm afraid it's a fail. "On machines first used on or after 1 April 1986, the stop lamps must operate by the application of *each* system." http://www.motuk.com/bike/1-3.asp#Menu_Top And for that short test, you now owe me £29.65... However, I do a free re-test

That's the spirit, mate - True bikers do it in all conditions!! Rain ain't fun, but it's only your skin that gets dampened and you can always dry out when you get home. Big bike = heavy = firmly planted in corners = better ride = bigger grin, etc etc. Good choice as well, I'd say. 800 is a nice number and I'm told the Tiger is a wicked fun ride!

Looking good!! Still not a fan of apehangers, but to each his own. Nice to see you have the square mirrors, too!

Goes up and down with the revs and the engine, right? If you sound like a spaceship, but don't get it except while moving (ie, it ceases when you stop, pull in the clutch and/or click into neutral) then that's just the shaft drive. All 650 Drag Queens do that. You really only hear it if you have nice, quiet, standard pipes on, though. I kinda miss that noise...

Our speedos are in miles. Most have kilometers along the inside, in case we hop over to Europe for a trip or something. As for variation: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mile Clocks do tell the time, analogue and digital. However, a clock has a face and so do you, so to 'clean someone's clock' is usually to punch their face in, heh heh!!

As mentioned, it depends on your individual policy wording. It should be automatically excluded from 125cc policies, for obvious reasons. It costs me nothing, so I always have it. I believe it mainly comes in if the accident is your fault, or summat...

Half of that is now generic UK English anyway, though. Terms migrate. Ah, no - Puttees are slightly different, but do the same job. Puttees are long strips of cloth that wrap around the top of the ankle boot and then up to tie just below the knee. British used them in WW1, although we were still issuing them into the late 80s!

Gubbins - Stuff, thingumies, technical knick-knack, random bits, etc. Term used to describe a mass of stuff that, typically, the speaker is not too familiar with... eg, "the fans, CPU, GPU and all that gubbins inside my computer". Gubbed is more a Scottish word, meaning knackered or completely busted, but also means to be punched in the mouth (ie, your gob). Gaiters - Usually spats, or similar cover for the lower legs. US Marines and soldiers wore them in WW2, although they call them Leggings. Same thing. Consequently, anything similar (such as fork covers) are also called gaiters or skirts (as in the platic/leather cover on a car handbrake lever).

I'll get ye some pics tonight. It's 21 years old with 9 previous owners, so kinda tatty, but still in fine working order. Needs a few cosmetic, maintenance and safety additions (new mirror, Scottoiler, crash bars, etc) but still gorgeous... and the biggest fucking bike in the parking bays at work, heh heh!!! Fuel consumption and stuff will be the fine fiddling that'll take place after I've had it for a bit and gotten used to it.

IMO, no. If you're not insured to carry pillions, you may not carry pillions. It's argued that a pillion is a third party, but if it's your fault the company may not pay out. Ultimately, it all depends on the exact wording of your policy.

I quizzed the Churchill guy in depth about what the Admiral quote covered and while there were a few optional extras that cost an extra £40 in all, the premium still stood.

Check Admiral *and* the Meerkat as well, as you may find even better results. My basic premium was under £90!! Organisation... depends on many other factors as well, I think. Probably drops it by a fiver, or something.

Decide EXACTLY what you want... then wait for another year or two and see if you still want it. I have two myself, but I always tell the Mrs the above. She's been "getting a tattoo" every year for the full decade that I've known her, but each time it's a different design!! Avoid anything in the books of 'Flashes' that the artist has. Get your own design. Heck, have the tattooist or an artist friend design you something. Check the tattooist's work - Again, ignore his/her book, look at photos, preferably the 'freshly done' and those showing it a couple of years later. Ideally, find one that several trustworthy people recommend (preferably undressing to show the work proudly), even if he/she is a bit of a hike to get to, as they're more likely to be decent. Find something you like and chat with the artist about how it could be done. Lastly, read the first line again!

YAY, another 650 Custom Drag Queen!!! Lots of Draggie riders here and the Custom is always the best choice. Solid bike, very fun ride and perfect for just about anything. I can't say much more, otherwise I'll start gushing and I've plenty of posts like that if you're that innerested, like! What's the mileage, if I may ask? Bars are up to you. If this is a frequently ridden bike, you'll want the originals, set to your own height. If you do them right, the standard mirrors will leave you with NO blind spots!!! Pretty wicked, eh! However: Ditch those other keys on the ring, or they'll swing and scratch the tank when you ride. Keep an eye on the piece-of-shit regulator/rectifier bracket - It tends to snap just above the frame bolt. Keep an eye on your rear monoshock - See my Attention Dragstar Owners thread for further details. Keep the sodding thing as clean as you bloody well can!! Seriously, clean, clean, clean, then polish, then protective coating. You'll regret it if you dont!! Keep it well-serviced. Get the actual Yamaha workshop service manual, as Haynes and Clymer are somewhat erroneous. I can probably help you locate a copy, if you need. Also, can you post up a pic of these odd saddlebags/panniers? Usually, you just take the back seat off, throw the saddlebags over, refit seat and tie them to the supports with the leather thonging. Lastly, this is a public forum, so you may want to open up Paint or something and cover up yer registration plate. Not everyone does, but it's a thought. Oh yeah - Welcome to the forum!!

Try CompareTheMeerkat.com, Devitt and the Admiral websites. Also, be honest about the value of your bikes. Don't try and insure them for 5k if they're only worth 2. Also, try dropping the value and the mileage by 1 (ie 3,999 instead of 4,000), see what that comes out with. Lastly - Get a comparison website quote, another off each of the cheapest 5 companies' own websites and then one on the phone (try and do the second one while sorting the third). Then play them off, both against each other and against themselves. It takes (me) a good half-day, but saves you hundreds!!

Bike is too clean. Needs more riding!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Most of it is written in that there profile of mine, to the left. Half of what I get up to would make for a very boring YouTube. The rest, well... some of it might get me arrested!!

Taskmaster was a nickname I picked up waaaaaaaaay back in the Air Cadets. We didn't do much Air stuff anyway so we ended up doing more ground-based Army stuff, but since I was a bit Army barmy back then I got well stuck-in. By the time I was an NCO, I was competent and had very high standards for most things, so drove my little sprogs hard. They called me a harsh taskmaster. Over time the context was reinterpreted. The capital T originally stood for 'The', but among the several billion internet users also made it pretty unique, which I needed for email. I'm not one for the long 'Bob1234567890305014501545785894685' type usernames . Most people online just know me as Tasky anyway now