Ttaskmaster

Does it actually work, though? Is it correct? And what is that bloody 11th colour? Brown? Brown & Red?

Generally these things break at one end or the other, so unscrew each one and pull on the inner spine. If it comes out then it's broken, simple as! Next test is to unscrew both ends and turn one while observing the other. If the other end does not turn then it's also broken, simple as!

TL:DR? It's a pointless styling accessory. Don't worry about it. She will have a far more secure ride either reaching somewhere around the small of her back and gripping the backrest uprights, reaching around and hugging you (no funny business here - This is a family forum and your focus should be on the road!), or simply keeping her hands on her knees and relaxing. The pillion strap does absolutely FUCK all in terms of... well, anything that I can imagine. On a pillion pad like that, it's bloody awkward to get even one naked hand under it, let alone two gloved hands. Heck, I have a tight squeeeze just getting the pad back under it when refitting, let alone someone actually using it while riding. Dynamically, it's pointless. Try it - Sit atop a high stool, grab the front edge and lean back - Notice two things: 1/. Your chosen anchor point is pretty much the same as your pivot point, which does nothing to secure your centre of gravity - Your upper body still tilts rearward to the point where you will fall off the back, feet flailing in the air. 2/. If you do manage to get in a suitable position, every time your body tilts back, your wrists crush your nuts to hell!!

For some reason, cannot upload Flikr pics...

Not so easy, even with the service manual. You should have 11 pins, according to the Service Manual. The plug and relay socket have a cut-out on one side. If my Ascii Art is up to scratch, it should look something like this: __ __ __ __ __ [ ]__] ] [__ __ __ __ __ __] So that's 5 spaces up, 6 down (or the other way around, depending on how you hold it). The slot is marked below as 'empty'. The rest all have coloured wires. Unfortunately the manual doesn't tell me what the top right (B/R) colour actually is, so assuming you have one wire left at the end, that must be it. Plug end is wired like this: L/R R/B L empty G B/R L/B L/Y Sb B/Y L/W B/W Top row, L to R: L/R - Blue/Red R/B - Red/Black L - Blue G - Green B/R - ?????????? Bottom row, L to R: L/B - Blue/Black L/Y - Blue/Yellow Sb - Sky Blue B/Y - Black/Yellow L/W - Blue/White B/W - Black/White Make sense?

I was going to mention unnoticed damage - More unnoticed on cars, but even after a complete and proper, genuine repair some bikes just never ride the same after an off. Injuries also have a habit of not manifesting until days, weeks or sometimes months after the incident and only after being exacerbated by daily life. Often worth getting a check-over by a doctor, just in case.

There's a reason why we're all on a Yamaha forum But seriously, take it up with Trading Standards. Their helplines are free, as is speaking to them in person. They will give you chapter and verse on the consumer law covering this and whether or not anything can be done about it.

+1 - Contact your insurance. That's what it's for!

I don't use compare sites myself and hear quite a few tales of companies that, for various reasons, cannot honour a 'quote' from a third party website. My trick is to get a quote from their website, then phone them up and get another. Often the two differ and you use that as a starting point. Then you play different companies off against each other. It takes a bit of legwork, but can be great fun! I also find Carole Nash the most willing to undercut the competition by a good couple of hundred quid!! "So you're saving me 30% because you're increasing my payment by £380? Well Carole Nash just quoted me £110 for absolutely everything. Can you beat that? Nope - Didn't think so. Bye!!" My last ever conversation with Bennets

Yeah, just like every cop is a racist pig and every biker is a granny-raping, child-eating thug... Start by finding out what others have experienced. Plenty of good accounts on independent review sites. I ended up with Carole Nash, who have a reputation as being very expensive - For me, they were the cheapest and have always given me top service, but so many others found them fighting tooth and nail to get the best deal for their customers.

Chose the wrong insurers then, or violated the terms. If you accept their first offer then yes, you will be screwed. If you read your paperwork, follow the T&Cs, know your stuff and argue it with them, you should get a fair settlement.

Any biker who does not have cover for theft is an idiot IMO. NO amount of security is going to be 100% and if they really REALLY want it, they will get it. That is what the insurance is for. That said, I'm all in favour of making a bike as unattractive and awkward a target as possible. The goal is for them to take one look and decide to bugger off elsewhere for easier pickings. If they look closely, you want them to see that if they want it, it'll still take a good hour and no fear of having their heads thoroughly kicked in to get it. I live in the countryside. I have a bike and that's it. No car, no bicycle, no trains, no busses. If someone nicks my bike, whether I'm at home, in town or out and about, that's it. I'm stuffed. At best, nearest assistance is 40 miles away and that's assuming he's not at work, either. Always imagine the worst case scenario, as that's the one that will catch you out when you least expect it. If you want to risk being stranded and screwed, skip the theft cover. Otherwise do everything you can to protect yourself. Personally, I advise nothing less than fully comp with all bells and whistles.

BOO to the manufacturer, then!! Even Oxfords state which models they will and will not fit, on the actual packaging! Their manual also covers everything you need. Oxford aren't an amazing brand, but for being comparatively low-end they're fairly solid for the most part.

RTFM - The hard sleeve from inside the grip is only required on certain models. Take the sleeve out of the grip and try fitting it onto your existing throttle slider. It should be a pretty snug fit. Report back and let us know.

Micro-Screwdriver set Combitool - 8, 10 & 12mm sockets, screwdrivers, spanners, few allen keys. Multi-tool - Pliers, blades, drivers, etc Torch - Tactical type (aka portable sun) Chances are if anything fails on this bike, I'll need more than just the tools to remove a panel or something!

Somerfield/Morrisons, Waitrose and Sainsburys all sell them. Asda and Tesco probably do too, but I'm banned from shopping in those...

Unlicenced selling or distributing the property of Her Majesty is an offence, for which dear Foams can be put on a charge. There are websites around where you can buy them, but they're getting fewer and 1 x 24hr pack goes for about £20 now! There used to be one that did all that Wayfarer crap, but specialised in the AB Biscuits Brown and Biscuits Fruit (new cinnamon kind, not the garibaldi). Even Biscuitsbrown.co.uk has vanished. Besides, half the new packs are just civvy shit. You don't even get the cool green or white packaging any more. Gone are the little tins of meat pate or cheese - It's now a plasti-foil sachet of Prince's brand fish paste that doesn't even squeeze out properly. About the only delight is a Yorkie stamped with 'it's not for civvies' on the side. I don't recall seeing a screech equivalent, either. Still miles fecking better than MREs, though!

Most of us have to roll the bike forward or backward a touch before finding the best angle for reaching the valve. Then it's a case of bending and twisting around a bit. My back wheel has a right-angled valve for this reason. Failing that, you can get these add-on extenders, usually right-angled, that help. However, some users report air leakage and even balance problems, mainly if you leave them on while you ride.

Dammit, beat me to it Foams!! 'Biscuits, Brown' are THE definitive man's biscuit, a throwback to the Royal Navy hardtack days where you had to smack the biscuit with a 12lb sledge just to break it and it was festooned with weevils (early garibaldi, perhaps?) Furthermore, only faggots and sailors 'dunk' biscuits... REAL men crunch them dry. Anything equal to or smaller than a jaffa cake is consumed whole in one bite. For REAL men of a civilian nature, the ONLY biscuit of choice for you is the garibaldi. Pink wafers are only acceptable if having tea with an elderly woman, particularly if her sharing your presence is in the capacity of being someone's granny. Anyone who dares to say or even think otherwise is a hoity-toity poofter and needs a good roughing up with a pitchfork in a police cell. Gene Hunt, chapter one, verse two!!

I get my Hotmail pushed to my phone and it has always kept copies on the server. Even marks them as read, if I open them. Despite that, I rarely use that account and just use my original Yahoo ones.

The Mrs hates silence, so always has the iPod on when she rides. I can't abide distractions and greatly prefer listening to the engine when I'm going.

OOHHH, shiney!! Me likey. Kinda like the love child of self-amalgamating tape and blu-tac!

+1 for keeping your cables lubed up!

Google is your friend, Foams... To run all 16bit Windows installers and programs on Windows 7 64bit you will need to install a 32bit version of Windows as a guest OS in something like MS Virtual PC, Vmware, VirtualBox, Parallels, etc. You might also have success with DOSBox or OpenGlide. D-Fend Reloaded is possibly the easiest to use and includes DOSBox already installed.

A whole 10%? It takes maybe 2.5 seconds to open Firefox and fully load my homepage, so that's suddenly 2.25 seconds... oh. wow. Snap mode? I don't really use anything that's not in Classic mode, so I'd probably flip out over any additional unnecessary fancy features, especially if I couldn't disable them! Besides, I'm a heavy gamer, so it's lucky number 7 all the way for me!!