Ttaskmaster

Have you got a photo? There might be other options...

I doubt they get much of that in Dallas, TX

I would say yes, you *are* thrashing it a little. Basically, change up just before the engine starts REALLY screaming and, where possible, increase throttle a bit slower. You'll tend to get slightly better performance. Other than that, ride how you choose (but choose to be sensible enough to avoid accidents, at least). 125s are made for new riders, so they expect to get a thrashing. Yours seems nice and new, so go blasting, get some road time and enjoy!!!

Mistake number one!! "None may judge of the craft, but the craftsman". George Silver - 1598! OK, my mate George there *was* speaking of swordsmanship, but the same lesson applies everywhere. If you want opinions, get them from people who know what they're talking about - ie Bikers, first and foremost. Second - You'll find that any biker worth his/her opinion will tell you that their opinion doesn't matter and it's down to what YOU like best! If you like the carpeted seat, keep it! I've not seen one like this myself, so you have a very unique and cool-sounding set-up already. Out of simple curiosity - I would ask what you'd do if it was raining, though? Personally, I went the opposite way to Kindest here - I started out with a pristine, shiny Cruiser all chromed up and gradually let it get a bit mucky (mainly because I rode most of the time and had no daylight left to clean it). The mods I made were almost all purely functional, with the sole exception of adding a rubber cover to my rear brake pedal plate. I choose function over form any day and rather like the 'tacked-on' look. Eventually I will Rat this bike up and make it a proper "Does Stuff" kinda thing! Bottom line, ride what YOU want to ride and the instant someone starts telling you what you "should" do... Tell them they should shut up or face the consequences!! If they want to face the consequences, a good one is to drink them under the table on their credit card - They'll soon learn to keep quiet!!

Right tools - Whatever is required to take the tank off (13mm socket, IIRC), get to and open up the carb. I can't recall exactly what tools as I haven't done it in a while, but certainly nothing you can't get from Halfords (or some lesser tool shop). I also STILL haven't gotten around to doing the jets on mine yet, due to lots of busy-ness in life and my mechanic is the same. But yes, that is all that's usually required. The V&H pipes may be slightly different, but if you're getting baffles fitted then there won't be much imbalance. Figuring out the jet size is a mathematical thing, so don't ask me - I hate numbers. Some may prefer to measure stuff precisely, but since a Cruiser ain't a high performance, highly tuned bike precise numbers don't matter that much. So long as the performance, fuel economy and sound are sufficient for your tastes, that's all that really matters.

You are correct - The open pipes allow greater airflow, making your mixture lean and thus your performance will be lower, but you'll get 5-20 more miles from a full tank. The popping noise is little pockets of unburnt fuel getting out into the exhaust pipes and then burning when they hit the hot pipe-wall. The baffle will increase pressure and *reduce* the popping, but you'll still need to re-jet - One reason is that the pipes won't then get so hot and discolour. Another is better overall performance and your top speed back up where it should be. As for how much to re-jet: Assuming you have your own tools (socket set, wrenches, spanners, allen keys and so on), make friends with your local mechanic and invite him round for a couple of beers, while he talks you through the process. The needles should only need raising a notch or two. Cost - A case of beer.

Something to do with the turning circle and the ease with which they can tip/slip at high speed, I think. An acquaintance got her Drag 1100 Boomed up and that was what they insisted. Part of it was due to the company being located down some country twisties too... Only ridden an side outfit once. That had to have a separate brake on the nearside wheel to avoid the rather hefty slippage - Rode it around at a bike rally... and promptly crashed into a barrier!!

In a straight line, yes. However, all of them steer 'kinda' similar to a car.... kinda. If you've only ever ridden bikes before, it will be very weird! Depending on how they're built, they can slip and slide around sometimes as well as having a tip-risk if the centre of gravity is high enough. Also, they benefit from having beefed up rear brakes, but not everyone does this. They're usually a bitch to reverse, unless you have a reverse gear installed (essential on the very big ones). Boom Trikes are even weirder - so weird, that the guys won't even let you ride it home, insisting your first trips are on familiar roads! Trike - Three-wheeled vehicle. That Piaggio MP3 thing is technically a trike. I just find most custom builds interesting and I take function over looks almost every time. So to see a Reliant Trike, usually Ratted or Survivalled, just makes me want to know more about it!

Gears is just experience. You have 3 basic sounds - The rumbling burble of an idling engine, the growly sound of the powerband, and lastly the screaming agony of an over-revving engine struggling. Change up just before the engine starts screaming. Change down just before it starts burbling and feeling a bit lazy. Since you will, "of course", be closely watching your speed as all well-behaved bikers do... Once you're in the correct gear (easy as), you'll start learning what the bike sounds like at each speed range and learn to tell your gear from how it sounds at the speed you're doing. Couple of weeks riding and you'll be like a pro!

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Checking it's all tight-fitting is good, but still re-jet. This will solve a lot of the issues and bring your performance back closer to the original set-up.

Googling suggests £600-£1000 on average, based on past sales.

Technically:- Intentionally seeking to cause offense over someone's personal preference and abusing that person for having chosen such is very indicative of forcing that opinion on someone and thus indirectly dictating what they should and shouldn't choose, by virtue of the less-favoured choice incurring unrelenting ridicule. Could even call it bullying, for simplicity. I wasn't actually taking this seriously, hence the remark about building a fleet of them just to piss Kev off. I also fail to see how pointing out that these three-wheeled vehicles (classified as Trikes on the documentation) being the choice of disabled riders is 'below the belt' (unless that's some kind of paraplegic joke), but hey... If people want to get serious about this, I can do that. Or we can just continue to take the piss. Gimme a call and let me know...

Nah, I'm better than that - I'm just going to trike up a whole fleet of Robin Reliants for the sole purpose of annoying Up Yours I do find it eyebrow-raising that a biker would try and tell another biker what they can and cannot ride, when this whole lifestyle is about freedom and freedom of choice, though.

My general upshift points, bearing in mind I have custom pipes fitted: 1st - 0mph 2nd - 20mph 3rd - 30mph 4th - 40-50mph 5th - 60mph and above. I have no idea what the KPH is and I refuse to work in such measures, because I'm stubborn I tend to keep revs down teh lower end of the powerband and ride that. It uses a touch more fuel but everything is just so much easier.

If it's just a regular ticking that speeds up when you rev, then it's your tappets working. If it sounds like a sewing machine on speed, then you may want to check their adjustment.

Welcome to the forum!

I don't really think it can get safer. The only three things that are consistent in motorcycle accidents are either the rider being a twat/asleep/inexperienced, the other road user being a twat/asleep/inexperienced or the conditions being unavoidable. None of these can really be altered much, I'm afraid.

OK. From now on, we'll only ride what YOU tell us we can ride, then. Whatever YOUR opinion states is permissible. Government is trying to do that anyway, so why not have another choice of dictator. I always thought this element of biking was about personal freedom and personal choice, from what bike to what you wear and how (even if) you customise said bike. But hey, someone doesn't like what you choose to ride - rip it up and burn it, eh!

Tell that to all the disabled riders who use one!!

Is it a fast clicking, almost like an electronic buzzing? Sounds like the fuel pump kicking in. Nothing to worry about at all. Basically, a little fuel often just evaporates, especially if the weather and/or your bike is very warm. That sound is just the pump priming and gearing up ready to go. It's all cool.

I love Cornwall on the 650! Did you do the road from Tintagel into Boscastle, with the hairpin? R2P comms - When they have their bike week, Lidl do a really £5 set that will last about a year. At that price, it's a good option getting a new one each time, rather than spending on the expensive ones that often fail just as easily.

With opinions like that, I'm sure they'd say the same about you I've seen some rather cool trikes Survivalled up off a Robin frame. Remember: It don't matter what you ride, so long as you ride.

Should'a gotten a Custom Welcome to the Dragstar fold, mate!!

Wicked!!! Nice intro and nice bikes, mate!! Good idea getting some time in on the road. Nothing like experience and practice to provide relaxed confidence for the test!! Remember what my instructor said to me: "It's not about luck, it's about skill". Now go get em!!