Ttaskmaster

Awesome - Welcome to the forum, Roy!! Very kind of you to lend us your expertise, mate!!

Well... Silly-ish. I've known a fair few professionals who've forgotten to turn the fuel back on for a post-works test ride. Ah... You'd said XV125 earlier and your profile says XVS 125. Thought we were talking about the Dragstar here. You sure the re-jet was done properly? Are the pipes and the tank free of sedimentary crap?

A full service, at least where I get mine done, is a comprehensive top to tail check almost like a PDI. Silly question - You don't have the fuel tap turned off, do you? If not, have you tried starting it with the tap turned to Prime?

FYI - 'Good Buddy' no longer means good buddy.....

Woody's Rule #1 - Get it serviced. Next: Describe precisely what happens when you do stuff, ie - Press teh start button, use the choke etc.

Copy that, copy that. Got me a ballet dancer at my back door, gets me 10-2 barefoot. I'm copying the mail while they blow my doors off, passing by with their go-go girls. Kicked down the hammer lane the other day, motion lotion bleeding away... got sat in some roller skates' rocking chair for about 20 miles!!

I just did give you the downsides. It's not a fast bike, so if you're scraping the pegs, then you're going into the corner too fast. I've managed to scrape the pegs as low as 10mph before in a lovely slow turn. Looks crap if you don't polish it. Custom accessories cost a lot. They are usually quite heavy. They are only ridden by Rockstar wannabes, posers, tossers, posing tossers and hard-as-nails 1% Outlaw bikers..... I'm trying real hard to come up with real bad sides, but there aren't that many, TBH. Maintenance is usually great, as there's no fairing or anything in the way.

As mentioned - Listening is NOT illegal. Otherwise you'd never have motorcycle lessons, would you? Besides - Cars have stereos... However - Failing to pay due care and attention IS illegal. My other half cannot ride without music in her ears. I just listen to the engine, most times. I have ridden occasionally with some sounds and I use an MP4 Watch. I also use a CB radio a fair bit. Just make sure you pay complete attention.

I hate Classic styling and they don't make a Custom version. I hate chrome and only clean mine - I rarely polish it. I am not fond of belt or chain drives. It's an unfaired bike, designed for cruising at motorway speeds. 90mph+ is hard going for some. However - Cruisers are comfy as heck (get a backrest for yer pillion) and real pleasure machines. I'd have other bikes too, but they'd all be second fiddle to the Cruiser! To know anything more, you'd need to ride one. It cannot be spoken of, taught or in any way articulated - It must be experienced!!!

A quick blast does not charge the battery. Well, not by any noticable amount, anyway. You really need to keep these things topped up with an optimiser and/or take her out for a good looooooooong ride. Even then, that will charge the battery some, but rarely keep it fully topped up. Additionally, it only charges at a certain rev range (don't ask - Drags don't even have rev counters). Basically, ride it for a good distance cruise, keeping it squarely planted within the power band. Do it often and all will be good. Optimiser as a backup.

Do you guys REALLY not know who that is, then??!! Click here to discover the identity of this mystery goddess......

No you don't, but if it's just a good alarm you want, DIY fits are also cheap. I was just mentioning that Accumen also offer a Cat 1 (which has to be pro-fit).

The only real limits are your imagination, your wallet and simple the physics of mechanics, mate. Here's an idea - Cant the seat backwards a bit. Then, remove the rear springs and replace with springs that are longer. This will raise your back end up by an extra 6 inches or so and give you a Streetfighter-Cruiser sort of look. It'll also shorten your wheelbase, meaning you turn into corners faster. I was going to do that, but ended up selling the 125 to fund the 650.

Here's how mine works... also how my other half's works, so it must be standard: Turn ignition off. Turn bars to full lock left. Turn key back one click, while at the same time turning the bars back just a little. The key will click smoothly into Steering Lock and the bars will 'settle' back toward the left again. To unlock: Turn the bars slightly to the right, like you did to lock it. Turn the key forward. There will be the same smooth, definite click and you'll then be unlocked. It does take just a little practice to find the right spot sometimes. Within a week of just riding to work and back, you should find no problems whatsoever!!!

Nope... My 650 Drag does this and I don't even have an immobiliser. The noise is just your fuel pump, my friend. Good news is that there's nothing to worry about. When you stop the bike for a bit, quite often a little fuel will evaporate out of the fuel line, or flow back up it. When you first turn on the ignition, the pump winds itself up and restores a good supply of fuel in the line, ready for starting. You may find some slight variance as the temperature changes. Occasionally, it won't buzz at all. Just give it a couple of seconds to finish what it's doing and then start her up!! Happy riding!!

Alarm - Accumen. Cheap-ish and available in Cat 1 or Cat 3, with DIY fitting. Remember, an alarm is just so YOU can hear if someone's messing with yer bike. No-one else will even look out the window. Don't bother with an immobiliser, either - It doesn't stop anyone from lifting the bike (that's why you chain it to something immovable) and even some professionally fitted ones can fail at the worst possible moment - Immobilised bike while leaning in at 70mph...

Is the key like a bar with little wedges cut out of it? If so, that's a disc detainer lock - Stupidly hard to pick without the specially made tools (which are kinda expensive) and even then, it takes a lot of skill. Extremely secure - Lockie can still cut you a new one if you need, though. By contrast, I bought an 'über secure' chunky bar lock with my first bike chain. It has a standard pin tumbler lock and even I can rake that open in less than 3 seconds

One person's 'aggresive ride' is another's 'tame piece of junk'. Test ride is the ONLY real answer. As for filtering - This is different from white lining. White-lining is riding along the white line for no good reason... or just to be a cock. Filtering is making progress through slow-moving traffic, usually between lanes. There is a 20-20 rule of thumb: No more than 20mph faster than the traffic and not filtering if traffic is going faster than 20mph. This means that you'll never be going faster than 40mph and, in the case of stopped traffic, 20mph. So if the traffic is doing 10, you're no faster than 30 etc etc... The theory on motorways is that going between lanes 2 and 3 is safer, since people change between these less frequently. A lot of drivers suddenly swap lanes to get ready for an exit, or to just overtake that truck in front.

As I said, you could be considered a wimp... or you could be considered sensible by making yourself comfortable. Depends on how you look at it For me, comfort = control = safe and enjoyable riding.

I use a TomTom Rider v2. Best buy ever. Ram-Mount make the mounting that comes with it, but their webshite also has a whole range of different 'solutions'.

WAKE UP!!!!!!

SatNav all the way for me!! Then again, I have a proper bike one. I must point out that SatNav is a navigational AID only, not the ultimate word of God. If you suddenly come across an impassable obstacle - road closure, accident, poor track road etc - You just select teh option to avoid that part of the route. Only reason I can think of, for not taking you back the way you'd come, is if there were one-way streets. It takes a little skill to use a SatNav effectively, but whether you're in the middle of nowhere or just exploring a new part of town, I've never had any problems.

It happens occasionally, to all of us. Even me. I do mean occasionally, though. Most of it will just go with time as your riding habits develop. Whenever it happens to me I'm never expecting it, but I just recognise it and re-shift. No worries. Try not to pay any attention to what the little green light is doing - Learn to know your bike and it's behaviour from sound and feel. If your bike is continually doing this, like Murbster's, then there's either a fault which needs fixing, or you bought a crap bike and should swap it for something else... Cruisers are good (nudge nudge)

Who you calling 'Mature'??!! I'm a mere 30 years old and loving every peurile second of it!! And which queen said that, anyway? ....kidding!!!

Wimping out? Well, yes you are, but... "Any fuckwitt can rough it - A good soldier makes himself comfortable under any conditions!!".