neversaydie

The existence of the brake fluide reservior looks like it depends upon the age of the bike, some of the photos on the net show drum front brake, some show disc front brake. It seems from your description that it must be a drum front brake

I think original sprockets are 13 on the front and 47 on the rear. Dont get the bolts mixed up when re-fitting. One tip is to sketch the are youre working on a piece of cardboard, then push the screws/fasteners into the cardboard on the sketch, in the location that they fit on the bike. For your bolt, try yellow pages for a local bolt/fastener supplier

Dont worry too much about the rear brake, they arent particularly effective. Just make sure that the pointer on the arm doesnt have to travel too far before the brake comes on, as thats an indication of brake shoe wear. Tr y not to fiddle if its running well, service it as per the owners manual

I think id be inclined to service the bike first, oil/air filters/new plugs/exhaust leaks etc. If no better, then find out what the standard sprocket sizes are and check them against whats on the bike, previous owner/s may have fitted non standard in the past

Get the back wheel off the floor and the bike level, bike in neutral, ignition off. Rotate the wheel in the direction of travel and watch the chain on the bottom run. Its normal to see the amount of sag vary between most and least. Adjust the chain at the point of least sag to give the amount of movement described in the owners manual. Before locking up the axle, check that the front and rear wheels are in line with each other, there should be some sort of increment mark on the rear adjustment to set up to

£500 per cylinder! Have a look at this, might be of interest to you http://www.unlimited-power.net/Changes_in_170cm3-shop_view-37-39.html

As a starter Chris, read your owners manual, it contains the maintenance requirements for the bike

Hi Dave Use the search function to locate the XVS125 manual. If you cant locate it, send me a message and Ill wing it over to you. Its basically the same engine, but was "tuned" to meet new emissions regs

Silkolene Super 41 10W/40

Absolute hoot, just what the doctor ordered to cheer me up, got knocked off last week

If its the black rubber one, then its called the carburetor joint, reckon on around £100 for a new one. Dont but crap off ebey like Morph just did, cos it probably wont fit

For anyone considering a tyre purchase, I've had this rear one on for 7k now on the draggie, and still plenty left. Make is Heidenau, purchased from PNEUSONLINE. Also had new front and rear on the virago this year of same make, no problems, both delivered next day

Open the tab "crankcase cover 1" on the side menu Its item 2 on the dwg (the larger of the 2 plugs, I think thas the one in your piccy) and FFS thats expensive @£36.75 Id be inclined to try a chrome rattle can first, or a breakers yard

I managed 1m 12 secs of the 1st 15 secs of the 2nd and 6 secs of the 3rd Its the same piece of "music" innit

Try one down on the front

I reckon 900 to 1000 is ball park for rpm at idle, there are any number of vids on youtube of stock modded and aftermarket pipes. I dont understand what is meant by "idleing in 5th"

crankcase cover plate

3 up on the front? Prepare to be overtaken by milk floats/disabled buggies/joggers

Stock bike should do 70 without any mods, and still get 120-130 miles to a tank

Its not good to have that on your electrical connectors, leads to failure.Try coating connectors with vaseline/srpay with Wd40 oc ACF50 or somehting similar to prevent it building up

Well done, congrats.

more commonly called klingons these days

OHHH yes, great looking bike, post a pic when you get it please

Im with all the cynics on this one. Doesnt matter whether its gas/electrickery/petrol, the less you try to use the more the price goes up as BG(big business)will still seek to maintain its profit on ivestments. Peak oil passed? Not convinced. Marketing ploy to slow down rate of consumption while mainting high price by making us think its running out. Huge resources still left, but the chinks have spanked us in africa buy buying up most of the reserves. Huge resources as yet untapped in antartica, but larerady the land is carved up and owned by countries/companies. Just another couple of degrees will free it all up

Fook me, poy choips un groyvy. I thought it was real for 20 seconds I'm slowing up