iandouglas

Have not seen train spotting just em as a Jedi knight and that round the world thing - oh and a programme about ww2 aircraft but having seen the bike series I did not take to it and turned off. As I said somewhere I am becoming an even more miserable old git than I was before I retired, I do not especially recommend retirement.

I think the fox eye is the mark 2 version, still like the box eye but think now, after a few alarming experiences, that I would just end up getting myself into trouble, I know all that stuff about a bike only going as fast as you turn the tap on but I am no good at self control and thus better off with a less powerful bike. The xj 900 thing has come about simply because it looks like it might be a big comfy version of what I have got already and that has a certain attraction but really the post was about there always being something else out there that one mentally might latch on to rather than just being content. Could be my age, personality, who knows - once I said something along these lines to a friend and he said give your own bike a good clean up and I must say that does work.

Well I am no mechanic but I would start with checking out the free movement of the throttle grip, on my bike I simply take off the bar end stop and loose the cable housing, it should run free and spring back - worth a bit of a greasing maybe. I guess nothing is sticking at the other end, injection or carb there should be unrestricted movement, you seem to have eliminated cable issues, cables do not like ties much unless they are a loose fit.

Going back to the original post, I do not think you are an idiot, we all make mistakes

I have this day dream issue I'm not rich but constantly think of other bikes It is a nuisance because there really is not anything wrong with the bike I have I think it might be a general motorbike thing, For a long time it was a fazer 600, the early box eye one until I finally realised it was not for me, now it is an old xj900 pre diversion, been looking for months, but At least these are still yamahas. The grass is not always greener in any event so I do not know why I do it.

Cms is the last resort for me - yes expensive with shipping but they do seem to have some parts that it is difficult to get elsewhere for a 25 year old bike like mine.

Try the kill switch, times I have fallen for that. Plus the side stand switch will cut the engine, so you do not drive with it down.

That's them - too much about themselves and not enough about the bikes if I recall, all I can remember is being slightly disappointed. Ps no offence about scots - most are ok IMO, he's a bit of an exception, tad full of himself - since I have been retired I find that I am becoming increasingly critical of everything, not good.

Look forward to watching Sam lovegrove and that other guy - actually Iike henry, he is not as bad as Charlie what's it and that other actor character, scots bloke, forget his name, round the world backwards or something like that! Ewan somebody or other

Well done, the sun has come out as I compose this, that must be a good sign, regarding cost, that is motorbikes for you, arm and a leg but a chap has to have a hobby, look at what these model railway people spend.

well i thought i had seen the use of cell phones on orange county choppers while people are driving cars, seems like its only illegal in california if you are under 18, that seems weird to me, thanks to capif

odd thing is that being on the phone while driving is legal in the usa i believe

bad luck but really minor stuff in the big scheme of things like for example being nearly knocked off your bike as happened to me a couple of weeks ago on the four lane each way section of the m40, i would just make a mental note to take it steady, not to hurry and to concentrate on what you are doing, these things happen to us all

i'd miss the ability to filter

anyone seen this? http://www.motorcyclenews.com/news/2010/june/jun1010-mirror-columnist-is-a-knob/ I think maybe he has a point but it ignores the fun/adiction of motorcycling

we went for bennetts, i'm with them too

sorry, this turned ito a bit of an essay a little while ago i had a particularly frightening experience returning across london onto the four lane m40 motorway - i know that cars can overtake both sides in the states and elsewhere but here with lanes each faster than the next, as you all know, you are supposed to pass on the side which has the faster lane. a big mpv, joining the road he pushed out fast right in front from the wrong/illegal side, - something you just don't do normally but worse he was wreckless, really much too close and at considerable speed. I came across him further up the road, curious to see who had nearly terminated me, i pulled near and signalled to the effect that his behaviour was dangerous and he seemed to apologise but at the same time laugh it off. i know this sounds like another typical road joust but it was a narrow margin, so tight that i'm looking for other routes that don't involve fast motorway sections where these lane switching drivers lurk. It puts you off riding, on motorways i reckon it is probably safer to go as fast as you are allowed to keep clear of the lane changing that goes on when people leave at the last minute or join in an abrupt way. strangely enough the m25 seems slightly better, my general impression of the m25, of which i do about 180 degrees regularly on a motorbike is... expect no signals, random lane switching, last minute decisions to exit the motorway, joining traffic to abruptly push out (and to possibly nearly collide as per above although difficult to counter this) or drive very slow. if i cut through london it isn't much better, worse is the old kent road where things can get competitive i told a friend about the first incident on the m40 who said if i thought that was bad i ought to try driving round the paris ring road - possibly standards are changing, it is all a bit more universal third world, duck and dive, anthing goes and 'blow you matey' so maybe i should just get used to it. i suppose the fact is that the roads are crowded. people are in a hurry or under pressure and really it can become a cut throat free for all where mad behaviour rules because others back off. contrast this to trips to the south west across country and the only real worry there are those that drift out of side roads in a daze rather than deliberately push out but i can live with that incidentally bippo, re: I mean other people's actions annoy me more in a car as opposed to on a bike that is what i thought you meant, i'm getting confused here, nothing unusual for me

gosh when i get to use the wife's car i just switch into 'well we will get to our destination one day' mode and sort of give up before i start, the opposite to you bippo i guess with the bike i'm out to have some fun or i'm on a mission or something and just hate being thwarted and that enjoyment being taken away, crazy thinking? this morning taking my bike up to get repaired I saw a car threatening to pull out so this time i slowed and flashed 'ok pull out then' but he/she didn't, you can't win!

you know, thinking about this, i'm going to try something it goes against the grain but in future i will make a point of flashing them out even if i think they are going to pull out anyway and generally give way to them rather than put up with the anger and resentment i suffer any longer it is a slightly weird and non highway code approach but perhaps it is the way to go rather than fume away. like thinking, 'ok you're more important than me and you obiously have a deadline to meet or need to get home quicker than me' what do you think? might work out?

i know that cars pulling out in front is a common thing i find it quite infuriating when it is evidently pushing in it's rude, saying that 'i'm bigger and more important' anyway, the reason i'm writing this is because that it seems to be getting to be a regular event - mostly it around 4pm as people begin to leave for home; before that, during the day it is less of an issue. my own theory is that people in work are increasingly more stressed, impartient, prepared to take short cuts just thought i'd say something, trouble is poor road behaviour upsets my own balance and i find after a couple or three instances that my riding deteriorates as i maybe go for broke just to get away from these characters. do you find this? any comments/advice appreciated...

haha that's ok - i've been looking at ads for some time now

thanks guys, that helps

thanks, the only other slight worry is its weight, manoeuvring it about that is, with the shaft it is quite a heavy bike, about 245kg i think. got an idea the 750 was shaft drive too?

does the rear wheel do the steering?

Yamaha XJ 900 F 87-90 pre diversion http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/251851218758?_trksid=p2060778.m1438.l2649&ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT has anybody owned one of these please? some reviews refer to vibration, like to know whether this is an adverse issue please