Ttaskmaster

It's not a small bike and you can still go fast enough to lose yer licence. Red bikes always go faster, anyway, heh heh!!!

1/. A second FJ1200. Possibly a 3rd FJ1200, all tricked out with 'stuff'. 2/. WW2 Harley, kitted out and marked up for E-Co, 2nd Battalion, 16th Infantry Regiment, 1st Infantry Division, US Army. 3/. Dragstar 650 Custom. Possibly 4, one of which will be ratted, another of which will be militarised. 4/. Something that looks 99% like a Police bike, just for shits and giggles. 5/. 1982 Honda CR 500, heavily modded - See below. That's the Top Five I guess, but there're others too, including a Yamaha Bolt, 'just because'!! And this Honda CR 500:

Riding hard like a muthafukka, with half-baffled Geminis, lack of attention to tuning/maintenance and a general disregard for fuel prices, you should expect 120-130 before hitting reserve. Gear up earlier and ride steadily to help the economy - 2nd at 20, 3rd at 30, 4th by 45 and 5th from 60 upwards. Avoid whacking open the throttle and avoid speeding up/slowing down too much (where possible). Book says you should expect 175 miles, including reserve.

Oh, I haven't kicked it. Smoking right now, in fact. I just smoke a lot more when I'm playing games, especially during the cutscenes. E-Cigs are easier to just pick up for a bit than rolling up!!

Or the other way around, ie sensory input invokes memories... Whenever I use my electric cigarette, I am flooded with memories of Renassance era Firenze. I've never even been to Italy, but I used the 'leccy (cheaper than smoking 60 a day) when spending hours and hours playing Assassin's Creed!

Just screws and lathe-type stuff, or can you make other stuff too, like bar risers, engine covers and things?

You live and learn... hopefully from others' mistakes!! Thanks for sharing!

Fuck all that - Ride what makes you happy and damn anyone who gets in your way! My current bike is the 1992 model of a 1988 concept, a slight re-jig of something from around 1978 and yet it can still whip the shit out of maybe two-thirds of the bikes made just yesterday!!

Help is easy (assuming someone knows the answer). All ya gota do is post an intro, take part in the community a bit and hang around with us. Not much to ask, yet some people come along thinking this is an online helpdesk that will solve the problems for free that mechanics charge 30 quid an hour for... They don't last long, heh heh!

Keep talkin'... tell us more!

A whole weekend for an oil change? Naw, do it in one evening, mate - Set it up to drain, go watch a movie and have dinner, come back out, do the swaps, top up and away ye go. Easy as... surely?

If filtering in the UK is illegal, why does the Highway Code caution road users to watch out for bikes filtering? It *is* legal. There is a line between legally filtering and careless riding, though. It's subjective too, which doesn't help and a lot depends on how you're doing it. If you are straddling the white line, keeping within about a foot either side of it, that's okay. If you're completely switching from lane to lane all the time, that is weaving, NOT filtering. In an incident, liability *used* to be automatic 50/50 at best, but that is changing. A lot of it depends on witnesses. If you've just ridden like a cock, expect to get dumped on by anyone nearby. Personally, anyone who moves aside, even a touch, I like to thank as I go past. Quick wave, hand up or whatever. Costs nothing, good manners and might even perk the miserable buggers up a bit. To help avoid incidents, try and keep one of your brakes covered as you go. Watch people's mirrors (space gauge) and keep an eye out for indicators (early warning), as well as their front wheels starting to turn (earlier warning). Also, there is no set speed limit for filtering, but that still means you have to obey the speed limit of the road you're on - No filtering at 40 through a 30 zone!! General guide is the 20:20 rule... 1/. Not more than 20mph above the speed of the traffic you're filtering past and 2/. Not filtering if the traffic is going faster than 20mph. Note that this is given as a ratio. This means you can feasibly do 30mph past traffic that's going 10mph, or go 10mph faster than traffic that's doing 30mph. Just watch your spacing and keep thinking, "What If...". Be ready to rejoin your lane when you can. The aim is to keep you from doing anything faster than 40mph - If you find yourself exceeding that, it's time to find a gap and rejoin your lane. A good trick for rejoining is to see when cars start to move off or pick up speed - You're watching their wheels, remember - As the line of traffic starts to expand and space out, there will come a point where this 'caterpillar effect' reaches you. Cars pull away slower than bikes, so as car A pulls off, you can merge into the gap before car B really gets going. Slow down, maybe whack your indicator on and make SURE you've been seen approaching by car B. Be ready to drop in front of car C or even D, if they haven't. Once you merge in, be nice and wave a thank-you or give a thumbs-up to the vehicle behind!! Other general guides: Single lane of traffic - 2 way traffic: Go down the right hand side, remembering that you're essentially overtaking, so watch your solid white lines and so on. Watch for oncoming traffic especially and fucking well give way to any, since you're occupying *their* lane! One lane traffic: Don't. Just DON'T! Two lanes of traffic - Head up the middle, between the two. Left side would be undertaking and right side would be just insane. Three lanes - Motorways!! Filter between lanes 2 and 3. Cars swapping lanes are less frequent, vision is better and people do often expect to see you there. When going past HGVs especialy, watch for vehicles pulling in front of them, or into your lane from in front - HGVs create a blind corner and hide views of other vehicles from each other. Do NOT pull directly in front of HGVs either, even if there is a gap. The front is a large blind spot for the driver and even a Range Rover can hide in them, so you definitely won't be seen. If you have to brake when you're in that blind spot, you are likely fucked!! Instead, wait until the HGV is at least central in your left mirror, if not further, before pulling in front of them.

230 miles on ¾ of a tank.... Blimey, how big is your tank??!! Fuel often makes a difference. Find a station whose fuel your bike likes. The Drag would actualy fucking bitch and moan if I dared use anything from a supermarket station. BP or Shell only, in the ideal world... fussy thing! Other thoughts to start with: Oil dirty or too thick? Air filter need cleaning/changing? Carbs need cleaning again (lots of road crap earlier on this year)? Worn tyres or incorrect pressure?

Greets!! Viggies are a bit of a favourite round these parts, so you chose well!

Hola senor! Virago - Good choice. Little brother of the Cruiser family here. Lots of riders and lots of advice!

Hola!

Have a look at this thread, mate:

Hold yer horses, Punchy... no need to 'take off' just yet - I *was* getting here!! Takes a while to read things through a hangover and the loud keyclicks are murder on the ears! Welcome to the forum!!

Welcome to the forum!! Where the hell do you live, that you're getting rain and storms??!! Nowt but baking hot sun and unbreezy, humid, stagnant air round here... I might have to take a little rideout to come visit your town!!

Yeah, but Noisy plays with his own bits!!!

Do you not use it to keep track of mileage done and thus fuel remaining? I assume you've tried spinning the reset dial a few cycles to see if that realigns everything? Also check your speedo cable, see if it's nicked, split, or if the internals have sheared.

The service intervals for various parts of your machine, along with instructions for most of it, should be in your Owners Manual. If you don't have one, Yamaha offer FREE pdf downloads on their website: http://www.yamaha-motor.eu/uk/services/owner-manuals/index.aspx The Haynes is good enough but, while the full, official Workshop Manual is awesome, it will cost quite a bit. However, all the basics for general maintenance will be in the Owners Manual. Supposedly, you should be able to do most of it with the toolkit they supply when the bike is new (if you have it). I can actually manage this on the FJ, but having your own kit at home is far easier!!

All I could find from a quick Google: http://www.wemoto.com/bikes/yamaha/xvs_125_dragstar/00-04/tyres/#tyres http://www.motorbiketyresguide.com/tyre/xvs+125+drag+star These will give you an idea of what kind you'd need, so you may find more listed on individual manufacturers webshites. Avon don't seem to have anything, but Dunlop and Bridgestone may... Also, I've used these guys for my 125 before. They might offer other options and may even cover your area, as it's only 58 minutes away: http://www.gsmotorcycletyres.co.uk/index.html

Urrggghh... is that a.... SUZUKI??!! On a YAMAHA FORUM?????!!! OH, THE INSULT!!!!!

Hey, I wasn't far off!