Paulwhite

on mine the cylinder gasket is metal (coated in plastic) and the cylinder head is a metal gasket and after 8 years they are still fine so iv used a little gasket sealant just to make sure and they are the same for both cylinders but if there worn, wemoto or e-bay is the best place to get new ones, it is chain driven overhead cam, the cam sprocket has a mark on it (for tdc) so iv marked the chain to that, so when i come to put the head on, it will go back on exactly as it came off, he will need to take the tensioner off, but the chain should be ok and it is a good idea to get the torque wrench and service manual! but the hardest part is stripping it and putting it back together lol

right you wont need to take the engine out but you will need to strip the bike! that means taking the tank off, seat off, carb off, air filter assembly/box, and exhausts, basically anything that is in the way of the cylinders! make sure you take note or pictures of what goes where when you take it apart especially the fuel pipes! then you will come across the plastic parts on the top of the heads, take them off (should be some small allen key bolts) then when you get all that sorted give me a bell and il go through step by step, as to the piston rings the Yamaha dealer should b able to get them in for under £20, but its allot easier to get new pistons with the rings on them (makes a 20 min job into a 2 min job) so look into how much new pistons with rings would cost (shouldnt be too much). but yeah im not sure when il b doing it next week (still got to sweet talk the misses lol) but iv had to do it 3 times already! so il have to get back to you on that one but yeah its easy peasy (if not a little messy and tedious)

yes it would b costly to get the piston rings done unless you want to try it urself? if you wanted i could give you a step by step with pics(i need to do it to my bike next week ) but its quite simple if you have the right tools i.e socket set, allen keys, screwdriver and needle nose pliers. it just takes a while to strip the bike down say 2 to 3 days max for the whole job and thats taking your time and having a fag and brew every 5 min lol

well if its ur piston rings about to go then u wont b able to start it on the starter motor but you should be able to bump it. easy way to check (piston rings) bump start the bike keep it running for 10 min then turn the ignition off, turn ignition back on and it should start on the starter motor, turn it off again and let stand for 30 min then try the starter again if it dont start up then ur piston rings need replacing. but check ur oil 1st and hope and prey you havent done the same thing i did. see if the oil is ok (if its normal, thin, or like a white cream then post what you find) my bike did something similar when it decided to kill itself, was driving at full speed then it stuttered, then slowed down to a stop and wouldnt start up till it had cooled down, my 1st thought was fuel but id just come back from filling the tank, got it to my m8s house to strip down and found that the bottom end had gone! was gonna cost me £400 to get it fixed then id need to buy gaskets ect, or £500 just for the part (from the dealer!) so then the xvs 125 bobber was born......... but yeah get back to me on what you find but hopefully you have just run out of fuel

yeah sonds like your carbs need a good clean but i cant help you with a manual/step by step

what brether pipe? crank-case or petrol-tank? unles your on about the vacume hoses?

yeah you can allways tell when a biker is driving a car

ul be lucky iv been searching on e-bay for a while trying to find one have you tried the yamaha dealer?

ok m8 well my e-mail adress is in my profile plus you can pm me if you need to hope you get it sorted

iv had a similar problem and found that it was the connections to the battery wernt on properly have you checked that all the bolts are tight? or your fuses? if you have and it still refuses to work iv got a solenoid that i could sell you iv got an 04 xvs 125 that im re-building as it broke after 4 years (from brand new) and have loads of parts im trying to sell to fund the new project, if you take a look on the customs part of the forum ul see it (xvs 125 bobber) basically what you see on the photo is what im using so everything else needs to be sold lol but yeah if your interested give me a bell. hope its just a loose bolt m8 .Paul.

shame m8 best take it to the dealers to sort out cause it shouldnt be doing that.

nice bike m8 have you thought of getting some handle bar risers and drag bars on it? would make it look right aggressive! and i think some exhaust rap would look good aswell

i havent heard of the fuel evaporating but it is possible i suppose, i think (but dont hold me to it!) that it could be that the sun is heating up the barrel on the engine causing it to expand but not the piston so its creating a gap between the inside of the barrel and the piston causing it not to start. but best get the dealer to take a look easyest solution get a bike cover for it

nice amount of security m8 glad they didnt get owt! just a shame you didnt get them, but you never know they might be back, there stupid enough to try and nick it with all that security in the 1st place! id recommend using something else than a baseball bat though something like a wooden spoon or a plate would be acceptable in the police eyes lmfao! oh and dont use that gun idea, it works but the last person to try it got locked up so probably not the best thing to do id suggest getting some trellis to put up on the fence but cut every slat half way at an angle so when weight is applied it snaps off to a sharp point .

get a compression test! could be your piston rings. similar thing happened to me, my bike wouldnt start unless i bumped it then would die after a few seconds found it was the piston rings that had gone. but as i said get a compression test done just to rule it out then ul know where to start.

ok 1 tooth isnt going to make any noticeable improvement ur better off going up or down by 3 teeth, ok if you get more teeth you get more speed with lower rpm (that is if you have the torque to pull it) and less teeth gives you more pulling power which = acceleration but at higher rpm. if you get 3 less teeth and put a bigger main jet in the carb to give you more torque, that way you would be able to get to a good speed, fast but ur over all top speed will suffer for it. but if you put 3 extra teeth and put a bigger main jet in the carb then you should get the same pulling power but more top end speed at a slightly lower rpm (works out better for the engine) if it was me id put 3 extra teeth on and jet the carb then if i wasnt happy i could put the original sprocket on but still keep the added torque produced by the bigger jet. with regards to chain, it depends on how much slack you have when you put the back wheel as far forward as you can but you should put some cash aside for a longer chain.

hello im in need of some serious help iv got an xv 125 virago engine and iv managed to brake the cam sprocket on the front cylinder head!! cant seem to find a spare part but am going to go to cmc to get one ordered in. my main problem is sorting out the timing! the rear cylinder head is set up perfect but the front one is out and i dont know how to sort it can anyone give me a run through on how to sort it out? either by comparing it to the rear cylinder or doing it all from scratch? cheers for any help .Paul. ps, iv got my hands on the xvs 125 dragstars barrels and heads ect and they fit perfect on the xv 125 virago engine but the cam timing seems to be different to the virago's just wondered if anyone out there could tell me how to match the dragstars heads to the virago engine/ cdi unit. thats if its a viable option, the rear cylinders exhaust manifold is corroded onto the head so need to see if i can sort it. or if i could get away with just putting the front dragstar cylinder head on the virago engine (the exhaust bolt on the virago head has sheared off and i cant sort it) thanks again . Paul.

yeah its a new one to me iv never heard of an insurance company paying someone without finding out who is liable 1st. well did she give you her details? or did you give her yours? just wonderd cause if she gave you her details then she accepted liability but if you swaped details then you both accept liability therefore ul have to fork out some dosh to get her car fixed as u only have tpft. or so i understand it ?

iv never heard of it m8 but it sounds weird. they pay you a minimum amount to keep you happy for a while whilst they try and pin the accident on you then ask for it back if you dont win. sounds dodgy as fook m8 get yourself down to the solicitors for half an hour (should be free for the 1st 30 min!) and see what they have to say! but surely its a conflict of interest if its the same insurance company as your own?? think they might try and bounce the blame till one of you gives up trying to claim the money then they wont have to pay out. or try their hardest to pin it on you as its cheeper to fix a scratch and dent than it is a whole bike!

yeah i cant say its ALL bmw drivers as i have come across plenty good ones. but it seems to be bmw drivers that stick in peoples mind when having a good rant about near misses/ accidents they have had, saying that the only bad near misses/disputes iv had involved women drivers! one woman on the phone with 2 kids in the back, pulling out the junction and forcing me onto the pavement at 30mph! it was an overcast but bright day, i was on a white bike with red jacket and helmet, in defensive road position, with loud pipes doing 30mph, was about a cars distance from the junction when she pulls out on me! all i got was a hand up to say sorry! so she got a nice dent in the side of her car! another time i parked up in front of this car in town to find this woman in it shouting and putting her fist up at me (she wanted to get out of the parking space) she had about half a cars space between her and the car behind her and about 4ft between me and the front bonnet! she had plenty of room to reverse back by 4 ft then pull off but ohh no it was my fault she couldnt get out and i had blocked her in !

would be mint if you could get something on your glove knuckles to permanently stamp "TWAT" to their window or bodywork just as a constant reminder that they nearly seriously injured someone .......... hmmmmmmmm......IDEA!!!!!

yeah that works for me! take caliper off, get someone to push the brake lever in while you get some grips on it , twist and pull.

i find it amusing when the person in the car puts the blinkers on and decide that if they dont look at you and just keep looking ahead then ul not do anything even though they have just nearly deprived your kids of a farther!! winds me up something chronic! ignorant f**king pri**s could do with some tennis ball bombs to make them stop then claim their f**king car keys!!

ok say you take the main jet out the carb and have a look at the number itl say something like 95 for example what i mean buy 10.5 is add 10.5 to the jet size so 95 + 10.5 = 105.5 which should be the size of jet to go and get (its not an exact science as every engine is differant but its a good starting point) as to valves i havent got a clue best off getting a manual

if the head only has a couple of dints that are hardly noticeable then you can get away with it, but if there are deep chunks then ul need a new one. you could always sand the inside of the head, to smooth out the dents if you really wanted to (might even improve performance a little) just get some wet/dry on it and rub it for a week or two should sort it out lovely! you may also want to put a 0.5 bigger jet in to compensate for the work. hope this helps