j0hn

Well I've managed to track down three road-legal off-road rear tyres for my XT. XT-644 Army Special MT 21 RALLYCROSS Mitas C02 Finding a 17" front tyre however is proving to be difficult and near impossible since the de facto standard for front off-road rim size is 21".

Yea I've experienced that myself. I've got a set of Pirelli MT75s on mine and I was wondering the other day, how would a set of road legal off-road tyres (the likes of Michelin AC10, which obviously won't fit on my bike) compare to them?

I don't really trust other drivers or their indicators and I was taught that on my CBT, so I only commit to pulling out when I actually see the vehicle follow through. If that was the only fault then there isn't anything to worry about on your next test - apart from other drivers of course. Are you able to book another test before the change in January? I had the unfortunate experience of going around a roundabout and meeting up with a cyclist and only after a few minutes in to the test. Wasn't really sure what I had to do so I just stayed behind him and thought I had failed for some stupid reason but ended up passing at the end. Watch out for them cyclists too, I've heard people failing because of them.

Slightly unorthodox but my bike is kept indoors so no real chance of it being iced up . But as I was hosing it down, I did think about the icy path this is going to leave so probably won't be doing that again. I'll wait for the ACF50s. Heh, I don't really have a lot of expenses so I can afford to splash out on my bike . What are these pump action types you speak of?

Oooh, haven't heard of ACF50. Thanks for the suggestion, just invested in two cans, should last me through winter. Do you apply it after a deep clean and how often do you have to re-apply?

I noticed I've started doing that instinctively now, isn't a bad idea. When I asked the local mechanic about riding in this weather, as well as the information already posted on this thread, he suggested that I should hose the bike before putting it away for the night as the salt gathered during a ride could really deteriorate it. Only takes a couple of minutes and less hassle if you do so in the long run.

I conquered the 7am roads today! Sad to say it wasn't much of a challenge, but the time will come . I'm actually rather excited to try riding on snow. I know I'm not invisible and will probably come off a few times - hopefully not at the worst of times like while being tailgated. To be honest, I'm more worried about doing damage to someone else when coming off. Also, I guess the cost of repairing - if there are damages - won't be as much compared to some of the bikes you guys ride. So I think I understand the need for riders putting them away until Spring apart from the obvious fact of harming yourself. Am I correct in saying that it's not impossible to go over ice - either straight or a slight lean - as long as you are super smooth with your throttle and balance?

Oh wow, totally didn't expect that do happen!

Haha! Maybe some kind of makeshift salt/gravel dispenser on top of your wheels like one of those Scottoiler things might do the trick

It's encouraging to know that there are more than a handful of year round riders . I've just been out and did experience a back wheel slide on a hardly used road but I anticipated it and closed the throttle in time. I crap out at roundabouts and try to avoid leaning the bike at all. mike1949, what's it like riding in the snow? I can't imagine it to be any worse than it would be to ride on icy conditions.

The only thing I was worried about on my Mod 1 was the U-turn - I know, it's easier than the figure of eight but I kept putting my foot down during lessons. Did it without any problems and passed it first time on my test though Here are some tips I was given - which I'm sure you would have already been filled in on: always do your checks/observations before moving off, specially during the manual handling - treat it as if you were on a real road look up and focus on a fixed object in the distance for your U-turn - this is where I had trouble because I kept looking down and down came the foot as soon as you come out of the circuit, open your throttle - you should be in second gear if for some reason - maybe bad weather - you lock your rear wheel during the emergency stop, you might be given a minor as long as you release the brake and stop the bike from skidding Good luck!

This is my first time facing snow/icy weather but I plan on riding through it, if the weather isn't too severe that is. After my first fall (video below) just the other day - which was completely rider error as you can hear the over-revving just before I came off - I'm having some doubts whether it's possible to ride in these conditions no matter how aware and careful you are. So I'm wondering how many of you ride through the winter time and who puts their bikes away. Would also love to hear some tips I also bought a can of these Tyre Grip sprays which has great reviews so I'll be trying that out. The first fall - no damage to the bike, the foot peg and break pedal took most of the impact.

Welshwan, I actually had to take them off because my bike had trouble starting the next morning with them on. I don't know if it's because the wattage was too high or a weak battery but since Grouch managed to get it working, it might be the latter. So I've got the original 35W ones back on but if I'm being honest I didn't notice a great improvement.

Humm, did you not order the same one as I did? I got these with mine: And also a pair that looked similar to this: So in total, 2x H4 2x T4 and 2x T10 (I think that's what they are called?)

£70 labour here

Damn I think my regulator is working fine because the battery meter on the display shows full when riding and then goes down to less than half when stopped. Also my Optimate is showing red whenever I plug it in.

Yea, after reading some more, Lithium Ion batteries seems to be crap. I've ordered that MottoBatt AGM battery, hopefully it'll last longer than my lead-acid did.

Optimate is struggling to keep the battery alive too, might not even be the bulbs, maybe something is actually wrong with the engine or the carbs are clogged. Just going to have to see how it rides tomorrow and if it still jerks then investigate further.

So I've managed to kill my Yuasa YTX7L-BS 12V 6A battery after 5 months and optimiate is struggling to keep it alive. I've been on the hunt for a new battery and came across Lithium Ion Batteries and also the MotoBatt AGM type costing £72.50 and £40.50 respectively. After reading more about the Lithium Ion batteries, I get the notion that it isn't a drop in replacement for lead-acid batteries as their charging is controlled by some sort of microprocessor which could fool your bike into thinking the battery is full, preventing it from being charged at all. I'm not sure how much of that is fact and if the Sky Rich Li batteries actually work fine without issues. I also take that a normal Optimate charger wouldn't work on the Li type and might have to go for the Optimate Lithium? Have any of you riders upgraded to a Lithium Ion battery and if so, is it worth it? With price aside, would it be best to stick to my current lead-acid battery by Yuasa, get a MotoBatt AGM or go for a Lithium Ion battery?

Grouch, sorry to say that I have had to take them off and put my old ones back on again. Bike wouldn't turn over this morning and after a few tries using the ignition switch, battery went flat and had to kick start it. Then I started experiencing weird engine misses/jerks while I was riding which I thought might have been due to high load from the new bulbs. Looks like it messed up the battery so I'll have to look for a new one soon.

Took about 30 minutes to take apart and fit that Xenon bulb from eBay. Headlight was placed so tightly and couldn't really find a way to remove the front body as it was attached to the indicators making it harder to get your hands in. Got there in the end though and money saved Just curious if anyone would actually go to a garage to get a new headlight fitted and if so, how much would it cost?

I only recently found out that this is a common design fault. If you had searched the forum, you would have seen the following threads. And a possible solution by Grouch here: I can feel it, any day now and it's going to be me. I guess I better get ready while I'm ahead

Seen them both before, hilarious lol. PS. Replace the https with http for the embed to work, ie. [media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h2G1IP_U9A0[/media] The bbcode parser is probbalby not coded to match https.

I use Muc-Off Chain Cleaner and Silkolene Chain Lube. I wonder if the Castrol Chain Lube is better.

Ha, looks a deal, though I find that paying a bit more for something that's geniune works out better in the long run compared to its knock-off counterpart Even though in most cases you're just paying for the "make", it puts my mind at ease.