clarke

I had heard of tin foil being used but I think that was with Coca-Cola not water. Something about the acid in it (as with vinegar) which dissolves the rust. Whatever you use, ACF-50 wheels after to protect.

The guys on the V-Strom forum I visit are starting to use these guys http://www.allyearbiker.co.uk/ to come and apply ACF-50 to their bikes. Not used myself, but they have some good hints and tips on cleaning bike and applying ACF-50

I wouldn't use t-cut myself. One other cheap trick is vinegar and a tooth brush. Vinegar is good at shifting surface rust and cheap as chips (goes nice with chips too!). When you get the ACF-50 spray it on a cloth and avoid brakes/tyres. Give the rest of the bike a wash and good coating with ACF then when weather warms up give it a good clean ready for sale

If it's surface rust VERY fine wire wool, plenty of wax/polish (eg muc-off miracle shine) and light rubbing. Make sure you use plenty of polish and don't let it dry. Did this on my old XVS125 and they came up a treat. Once done polish often or use ACF-50 or something similar to keep the rust at bay.

:'( You know I ALMOST bought my old XVS1300 back but the missus wouldn't let me... (Though she did let me buy the 950...I'll talk about this in a separate post) Am glad you're enjoying the Cobra exhaust. I had a chat with my dealer mechanic who seemed to say so long as it isn't stamped "not for road use" it should be ok at MOT. As for noise level, at the moment it's down to the tester so he said it would be fine - most Harleys with aftermarket exhausts are much louder. Maybe Phil will see this and say if his passed MOT with Cobra straight thru pipes on, that was a LOUD (like Brian Blessed) bike!

http://www.aerocoat.co.uk/ got a good write up in Ride. A bit further East but they say can do any colour

I'm not convinced it's the fault of the police that scroates get off with cautions rather than sent to prison. The penal system is underfunded, the prisons are overcrowded so sentences are reduced which in turn leads to police being discouraged from arresting, which in turn lets the scroates think they can do it again. I'm sure most police officers would love to have these toe-rags locked up but they can only work with the system they have.

only problem with the above is if you've been prosecuted in the past for assault, common assault and ABH you won't qualify as a credible witness as you have a history of violence... Best thing to do as stated by O.P. is to keep your bike locked up and if possible out of sight.

Insured a bike last week as Social, Domestic, Pleasure only. Decided this week I want to add commuting as well and it works out £52 cheaper... (it was £40 more at the time I took out original policy). Very odd. Also reinsured V-Strom yesterday. Bennetts kindly offered to auto renew for £489 for my convenience (unless I phone to cancel), £400 compulsory excess and £50 voluntary, so phone up and they immediately say cheapest they can do it is £405. Anyway, got it for £280 elsewhere with compulsory £250 excess and no voluntary, business use with additional rider. Oh, and I informed them on telephone I had panniers (no option to add them on internet) and apart from not knowing what panniers are, came back and said makes no difference to policy and just buy online... Anywho, took his name down, time of call etc just in case. Definitely worth shopping around.

Could be bulb or fuse (if panel has own fuse)

Well, decided to go for a refund & they were fine with it + apologised about what happened... Back on the look out for another bike.

Its the steering head bearings - entire front end rocks backward and forward when pulled on centre stand. Not good! They took it back in a van tonight, but given it sailed through an MOT last week I have no idea what else could be wrong with it...

Bike picked up & taken away in a van. Fella said bearings must have just gone on my way home as claims it was fine when taken to/from MOT.... Not sure I'm convinced. Starting to think I might just ask for a refund...

Well got a call back + they're sending a mechanic to my house tonight to either fix the bike on site or take it back to their shop to be fixed. Guess that's not bad customer service (although should never have had the problem) Here's some pics

Well, I picked up my Fazer today from Bike543 in Oldham. Just ridden back to Leeds in the peeing rain, come off M621 brake and there's vibrations throughout the handlebars. By the time I get to my house it seems more noticeable (though not really used brakes on motorways unlike riding through city traffic). Pop it on centre stand at home, pull front wheel forwards & backwards and there's loads of movement. Very surprised as they had it MOT'd last week for me to pick up. Does make me wonder if there's anything else up with it...? Anyway, I've given them a call & they said they'll get back to me. Hopefully won't take too long as was looking forward to getting out on it this week as am off work. I'll post a pic soon

I have no idea either...

Thanks Pat but unfortunately you're one day too late... Due to being stuck at work I let the wife decide and she picked the other & stuck a deposit on it... Guess I'll have to see how I get on... I did read you have to make.better use of the higher revs on the newer one to get the best from the engine. Hopefully I won't flex the frame as I tend to be conservative in my riding style (too many years on cruisers) On a side note, the FZS wasn't the foxeye model (unlike my previous one) so I don't feel too bad about it.... I did go and see quite a few FZS bikes but they were all in a sorry state, not good to see bikes like that!

It's an addition... The Strom sits slightly too high for the icy weather & is a bugger to clean with all the plastic panels which are a PITA to remove. I was just going to get the FZS but saw a FZ for similar price..

I've decided to get a Fazer again, but can't decide between a FZS600 (like my old one) or a 2003 FZ600 for a slight update. Anyone ridden both, had experience, got any opinions to help me decide? Cheers Graham

V-Strom forum seems to rate Anakee 2s over Battlewings (replacement of trailwing?)

Does it affect resale value? I was told before by a garage that changing a car's colour does... (don't know if it's true or the same for bikes mind)

"A coward you are Withnail, an expert in bulls you are not!" "I"

8 months doesn't seem long at all for a chain and sprocket set... At the very least get a paint brush and 'paint' oil on it once a week.... You can get chain cleaner for about £6 - £7, might be worth using to help get the salt off. Avoid jet washing the chain as it'll not be doing it any favours.

I can only talk about my 12 plate Suzuki V Strom - it doesn't seem to mind whether I put ASDA regular or Shell regular in it, I get the same mileage regardless. The only drop in mileage I noticed was when I used Shell V-Power, lost about 50 miles on the range of the tank and never noticed any performance improvements. The missus' diesel car did run better (ie more mpgs) on Shell diesel than ASDA though.