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It's about how much can we rip out of you before you decide to buy a car. No really it's all about progression in your motorcycling, so a small 50/125 is supposed to be safer than a whomping great 1300, it is but not for the reasons that are driving it, most folk have to learn how to ride and your right once you can ride a small bike then getting on a bigger one is a short learning curve BUT if you break it down still further and have to pay each time then imagine how much the authorities can get in revenue. Plus if you put an age limit on each bike size then it becomes even more difficult to actually pass your test without real determination, so the upshot is not many folks ride bikes in the UK as compared to other more sensible countries. Oh and of course there is the thorny topic of the ROAD TAX which on a 1200cc car is a quarter of the price of a 600cc motorcycle and sometimes the car (low emission type) pays NO TAX AT ALL so pick the bones out of that lot if you can. Just to add insult to injury the car test is £92 including theory and practical test, so wouldn't you just say "F**K IT" and go for a car instead of the bike?

KIN HELL !! When I did it it was about £5 and a cup of coffee for the tester, oh and a cake which I was "ENCOURAGED" to buy. Mind you that was 1968.

One thing that occurs to me is have you checked the seating on the inlet side? It's just that the rubber on the end of the small spike (cannot for the life of me remember it's name) sometimes gets compressed to the point that it let's fuel past or the seating can wear and let fuel through, just my thoughts on it you understand, may not be the float height at all is what I'm thinking, you can get replacements if that's the problem in a carb refurb kit. PS looked it up "VALVE FLOAT" (needle) perhaps?

I like carrot but Turnips give me gas !!!

No experience of your particular bike but usually when something electrical plays up it's simply a bad earth or broken wire, my bike had developed a weird glitch the other day, all well and then engine shuts off and 2 seconds later all's well again, found a frayed wire under the engine that runs to the oil light and without it it thinks your out of oil and the engine stops ! Fixed the wire and no problems at all now. So dive into the wiring and see if you can see a loose or broken wire, use a multi-meter to check that the wiring is not broken in the middle and clean the earth wires off as they get cruddy after a time. My best guess anyway. PS not sure if it matters but a bad battery will give you odd behaviour sometimes so make sure it's charging ok, again multi-meter across the + & - terminals to check what you charging rate is.

Love it !!!

Nice write up Bippo and glad you got to cross something off of your bucket list, to many folks just think that's a good idea and never get any further with it, it's not called IRON BUTT for nothing is it?

Se my answer in your "BAR" question.

Well according to those that should know, YZF600R forum, it should be semi synth 10/40 oil and 10/40 fully synth if your racing. Putoline super Dx4, Castrol GP, Motul 3000 20/50 if it's a hot climate, Rotella 5w-40 with Mobil 1 M110 filter. Hope that gives you some ideas. Most of this was from the USA so should be just right for you as your in the LONE STAR state.

Got loads of socks !! But warm underwear might be considered. Don't need a Monkey I got 4 cat's .

Sorry that's what I meant that you can replace one if it's broken but if you don't have one in the first place then you could fit one to your present tank (cut big hole and hope it don't leak!) or buy a tank from another bike that fits and use the one in that.

That's a "YES", you need 2 otherwise the police will have you over and give you a bit of a talking to, then when they catch you the next time (they will) your going to look a right prat with a fine and an endorsement on you shiny new licence.

Hi Gary, Welcome to the YOC

The rack is about the only shiny thing on it !! But other than that it's a fair little bike for getting about on a farm I should think, taking 2 rough ones and making 1 good one is a good idea just remember to keep the bits you don't use cos as sure a shit as soon as you chuck them away that's the bit that will break or fall off. Welcome to the YOC it's always nice to have new folks join in.

I have Hard luggage on the XJ and a set of soft luggage both are great but I prefer the soft luggage as it just sits across the seat and you can still carry a pillion if you want, not much help there I know, so if I had to choose between the two I would have soft luggage, holds about the same amount and has plenty of room for odds and sod's and if your filtering they are not such a problem cos they sit nearer to the bike and don't stick out like hard luggage does. But if money were no object I would buy the large tail pack cos that way you can tell anyone that there's not enough room for a pillion and they hold twice the amount of most panniers. I think as well you can use the tail pack as a ruck sack type thing to make it easier to haul your stuff around.

Never heard of an after market fuel gauge, someone will be along now and say there are hundreds of them, is it so difficult to just open the lid and have a look inside? Most of the ready fitted fuel gauges have a gert big hole drilled into the bottom of the tank so if your feeling lucky then snag a sender off of a scrapper and see how it goes, you could of course just fit another tank with it already installed just finding one that will fit your bike is then the problem. Not much help I'm afraid but hope some of that points you to a solution.

Nice that you have finally decided on which way to go, would like to see the bike when you get it, your always welcome to drop in and visit mate we will keep a chair for you.

Foamy if it has ONLY 50K on it then it's just about run in, these things are mile munchers and not like anything you have ever ridden before, I have only ridden mine for a few days and can say that this is the best bike I have ever owned easy to work on and the spares while not as cheap as the XJ are fairly close, I need a new mono shock and that's going to be around the £300 mark but it will last about 10 years before I have to clean it let alone fix it. Don't waver now mate look on ebay and see what's out there if your not sure about the 1100, I saw 2 1200s just yesterday that were in the £1000 range and one even had all the work done. The 3CV is a mix of bikes and the ABS model is ok but the ABS can give problems, well it is 20 odd years old so if you can find one that has been rebuilt or has new parts that's the one I would go for, each to their own.

I think it's a case of if they had rubbers then they need to be in good condition if not then it's not a problem, my Suzi had all metal pegs and that passed.

Hi Gasant and Welcome to the YOC, as above we love piccies and the guys & girls on here love these old strokers.

Are they made by the "EMPEROR" clothing company by any chance ? Do I really have to explain this ?

Hi Dave and welcome to the YOC, always nice to have new folks join in, quite a few members from your side of the pond. Ride safe.

Hi Kevin, Welcome to the YOC

I like the idea but there comes a time when there is so much going on that you forget what your actually doing, riding a bike, I have no wish to see what is behind me on a screen as well as the 2 mirrors that are already there. At 6 or 7 hundred pounds it's a very expensive toy, just another gimmick for the power rangers to brag about. All us normal people can actually look behind us if we're that interested.

Good luck with the interview Foamy, hope you get the job and the bike.