midnight61

well, it's in now and its tough shit, i'm not gonna waste my time worrying about something that probably wont happen... ive got a motorcycle to ride. . What do i tell anyone who's thinking about buying a yamaha 1300 midnight star ...?, "dont bother, you'll never get a replacement tyre for it".... the situation is worse than ridiculous and has somewhat put me off the bike...i'd certainly think twice before buying a yamaha cruiser again, and i'm about to tell yamaha uk exactly the same thing.....

ive ended up buying the dunlop d206 radial..., the correct tyre for this bike is unavailable, no stock in UK, ireland, france or germany...what a ridiculous situation. Its not the tyre of my choice but if i want to ride the bike i needed it... , So i'm running a bias belted front and a radial rear, ...out on the road there is no difference, just feels the same. but rest assured, when the correct tyre is back in stock, i shall be buying a set, and stuffed in a black bin liner in the loft, i aint going through this farce again. Why have yamaha fitted such an oddball tyre size ...? And lets hope Avon come good with the tyre they intend to produce next january

... thanks for that mate, very informative

that tyre on e-bay isnt compatible, its the wrong construction, fit it to get you out the sh1t but, it would fail an MOT with it on (SO I WAS TOLD)...i'm in the same boat, desperate for a rear tyre but non....ANYWHERE |||, apparently production in japan was affected by the tsunami. you got sorted yet Eggar ?

hi, as i see it, by all means keep the 02 eliminator on the bike, as long as you run the cobra fuel processor 'closed loop' as i do... the O2 eliminator will be totally ineffective if you run it 'open loop' My set is very differemnt to yours, im running Cobra speedster shorts, cobra 'closed loop' fi, standard 02 sensor. k and n air filter and a drilled airbox...my cobra fi settings are factory settings .1.3.1, i never felt the need to alter them, it runs fine and returns over 50mpg according to cobra, even with a BAK on the bike 1.3.1 should be good, although, all bikes are different and you may feel the need to adjust the cobra fi...or better still, once you've got it all installed, treat her to a dyno run to dial the fuelling in that way

i wonder if my avatar would fit in a 125 frame ...? ... LOL ...

wow , those PIAA H4 Super Plasma GT-X Bulbs look pretty expensive, hope they are long life, every 'fancy' bulb i have ever fitted in my car and van never seem to last more than a year, wereas standard bulbs last years, ...thats just my experience (and no, i didnt touch em wuth my fingers)

ok, i have 2 dogs that sleep 10 feet from the bike, so lets assume its not nicked, there are no speed traps, and i've taken a sh1t,...i forgot to add, its downhill and there isn't enough time to get out of 2nd gear before i'm slowing down

hi there, overweight 50 yr old here, what kind of top speed can i expect to get out of my xvs1300a when i nip down the paper shop (it's not far) ...?

...what kind of yamaha is that ...?, lol. i guess at 120, how long you can sustain that also depends on your level of fitness and neck/shoulder muscles etc, everyone's differen.

i echo grahams comments, i was quoted £738 for a set of cobra speedster shorts, and advised by that UK seller not to import them myself as there was pifall's ?,i did import them myself, along with a cobra fuel processor which, together cost me £200 less than my original quote for the exhaust alone, the company in USA labelled my exhaust and fuel processor as a gift with a value of less than $100.... and i paid £37 import duty i have since ordered 3 other things from the USA with no problem. The only thing to remember is, what you pay for the item and postage, that wont be it...you will have the dreaded IMPORT DUTY on top when it lands here. in my opinion, uk companies are charging way over the odds for stuff from the states

Graham, i'd be interested to know about this colour thing, and how our bikes are a silmilar age but are different shades of red...surely red is red, not red and dark red...?, i'm certain mine isn't an import. In the absence of any other tyre to fit our bike, it looks like i'll be fitting another bridgestone, i'd dearly love to fit an Avon, as i suspect it'll last longer, but unfortunately...we aint exactly spoilt for choice are we ?. I'm beginning to think now that when yamaha told me 800 'midnight star's, i think they were adding together all the 950's, 1300's and 1900's, i'm beginning to think there's hardly any 1300's out there...

here is the latest addition to my XVS1300, what do you think ...?, its REALLY loud ...||

strangely, yes graham, they say they have moved just over eight hundred XVS1300 in the UK so far ...?, so, where are they ...?, lol

look forward to your feedback graham... i still have had no reply form yamaha uk regarding sales figures...i bet its not more than a few hundred....

will there be any problems with fitting a '180' to the rim...?

ive e-mailed yamaha uk, lets see what they have to say. The Avon in that link could be interesting if you can get it ?!?!, and i notice it would have to be a 180. Graham, as you'll be the first one needing a tyre, i look forward to your decision...but somehow think you'll be putting another bridgestone on, there's not a lot else

still going off track (sorry cakeboy), i am intrigued to know how many xvs1300's are roaming the UK...there must be a way of finding out. In fact, i think i'll E mail yamaha uk and ask. At the risk of repeating myself, i have only ever seen one other (clarkegrays) in 2 years ownership, i drive 35,000 miles a year for work, going all over the place and still, i havent seen one anywhere

the tyre choice for the xvs1300 really is a PITA.... going slightly off the subject, i wonder how many xvs1300's yamaha have sold in the uk ?, as the only other one i have seen on the road in 2 years of ownership is 'clarkegray' (grahams bike). never seen another at all the bike meets and places ive been to, perhaps there isn't the market over here ?

firstly, sorry ive 'hijacked' your thread briefly cakeboy, graham, yeah...we'll have to meet up again this summer, am interested in the proposed june meet up..keep me posted please, i shall keep visiting the other site and ive e-mailed mick, perhaps you've still got my mobile number ?, just text me if so many thanks

for the record, ive done 5,500 on my exedra rear and dont think it'll get to 6,500 miles without replacement,the wear markers are pretty close to the surface now, i guess i ride 2 up 50% of the time. I was expecting a little more...However, how your tyre is almost done at 3,000 miles is odd ?, it should have done much more than that. hi Graham... hope your well mate, my next addition is a pro pad mini beast 5

also consider the cobra speedster range, im running the shorts on my xvs1300 and they are loud

...thats a real shame graham

ive heard of avon venom's and its a tyre i'm interested in as a replacement on my xvs1300 BUT i'm not so sure they do a venom in 170/70/16 .... please tell me i'm wrong ?

most motorists are in too much of a rush,too impatient, too selfish, too busy texting or having phone conversations (or both)... too wrapped up in there own existence to worry about a motorcycle...generally they couldnt give a 'cuss' for bikers. Look out for yourselves out there guys, as we all know...it can be a nasty place and we as bikers are vulnerable against these fools