j0hn

I bought one of these "Chain Cleaning Brushes" (http://www.amazon.co.uk/Laser-4140-Chain-Cleaning-Brush/dp/B002TZWEF8/ ), pretty handy imo. You went one teeth up (15T) on your sprocket right? How is it performing?

I've always thought garages try to rip you off as much as possible and I'm forced to DIY because of it. I'm just dreading the day that I can't do a certain task myself which means handing it over to an "expert" and being considerally out of pocket afterwards

Thanks for the offer but the XT only has a ground clearance of 190mm and the lowest hight for DRC HC2 is 250mm so some lifting would still be required - I know, being a right lazy git here lol. I had a look at some of the paddock stands at the garage and they seem perfectly suitable for your average DIY tasks so I'll probably head down this week to get one.

Yea, road surface wasn't too good, slightly wet. I was just surprised that someone would pull out when a car is turning in. I know she would expect any cars following would have had to stop because there wouldn't have been enough space to go around due to oncoming traffic, so she took the chance. Also, I've started having a closer look at the road surface before I filter. Just the other day I went over some gravel and made my bike wobble a bit, luckily there was enough space for error. //Edit Damn, that's lucky. Didn't know considerate BMW drivers existed

Providing that it's in good condition, I might take you up on that offer I think I've just got the hots for bikes with side-mounted shocks lol. //Edit I think the front on the speed triple looks hideous

This was on my list after the MT-03 but I've been reading/watching more stuff about the ER6-N and I'm sorry to say that I do seem to like it more than the MT-03. It's more than likely I'll upgrade to this when the time comes... sorry guys

Didn't say anything was wrong with it lol. I said if they aren't standard, you could end up with 6 points in total. Legally speaking, it shouldn't be flapping around like yours probably do when riding, but you'd need to be some Judge Dredd cop to realise that. //Edit Not sure if I agree with this. You would ideally want to know what's behind you at all times possible and when an emergency arise you would be able to plan your actions safely without being rear ended. I'm not sure how you would be able to do that without mirrors because a life saver/shoulder check would probably make it worse because you have less time to react to what's in front. It's also a good idea to check your mirrors as you approach traffic lights, junctions and generally check them at intervals when riding. Granted it does look a lot more sexier without them, to each to their own I guess

Tbh, the improvement doesn't warrant what you pay for, if it's a performance boost you are after. Maybe around 3 - 5 mph at best. I actually like the way it looks and sounds more than the pitiful improvement in performance.

Oh something similar happened to me recently, except I didn't filter down the outside of the lane. Caught it on video too

Ha, I think I've spotted one bike that had em wrapped around the fork, just asking for trouble lol. Grouch, would it be possible to get another close up of where you attached your hand guards please? I'm thinking of getting the white version of that but I'm not sure if I'll be able to attach the left one because my heated grips controller has taken up the space

It's a 2008. I went down to pick up some stuff at the garage today and I asked the guy about the lift stands and how compatible they were with my XT and he said the lift stands are really for the lighter true off-road bikes. Those in particular have extra support underneath for the lift stands to be used. I had a look under my XT and there is no real support for a lift stand apart from the bash plate attached to the frame with bolts. I'm not sure how much abuse you can give until the bash plate caves in so he suggested it's safer going for a paddock stand and the only thing that you won't be able to do with them is to take out the rear shock absorber.

Yea, I'm slowly getting back into it. I didn't think it was legal to filter against on coming traffic, is it?

True, well proper off road bikes have a ground clearance around 300mm. I'm thinking of going for this one: http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/DRC-HC2-ADJUSTABLE-HYDRAULIC-MOTOCROSS-BIKE-LIFT-STAND-WITH-DAMPER-ENDURO-/230871081803?pt=UK_Motorcycle_Parts&hash=item35c0fd234b

You sure that one fits without any issues? It states the lifting height is from 32cm, but the ground clearance on the XT is just under 20cm.

Yea, I try not to exceed 10mph, not experienced enough to hit 20mph just yet. I don't usually get many opportunities to filter either or filter for longer than a minute, just the odd occasion. Sometimes the lights changed before I get to them and generally the drivers here are pretty decent and let you rejoin the traffic without you having to stay stuck between traffic moving either side. One thing I remember about my clipping incidents was that the traffic was almost in line so the wing mirrors were directly opposite each other rather than the ideal staggered arrangement. Maybe that's something to look out for before committing to filter?

I was just wondering if the underside of the XT could support for the lift stands. I know it's a supermoto so the stand should cause no problems... right? Sorry, I'm also kinda misled by your post, are you talking about the side stand that comes with the bike or the lift stand linked in your previous post?

Now you've got me worried that my speedo will inevitably fail Is the modified fitting bracket any complicated or is it simple enough to DIY? Unrelated, I've also been looking at getting a bike stand for my XT, how is the one you bought working out for you? I wouldn't have thought the base plate for the XT could take the load for that type of stand so I've just been looking for rear paddock stands.

Wow, looks great without the mirrors, nice work! Love the hand guards, I'm thinking of investing in them myself now lol. I noticed your front L plate, is it me or are the edges trimmed? I would be a bit cautioned if they are. A copper on a bad day could use that to slap you with 3 points or 6 if your back L plate isn't "standard" either. Lucky it wasn't spotted after you were fine-toothed during your last encounter.

Oh mahn that's some crazy filtering lol, lucky no one was hurt! True, I try to take in to account all factors... like slowing down when going past side roads, wheels turning and generally doing it below 5 - 10mph if space allows.

Yea, I noticed a slight improvement. Sounds like a beast with the baffle out too but I don't like riding with it off, too distracting and it's an easy way to grab unwanted attention to yourself.

I'm a new rider so this is a whole new level for me. I've watched a few filtering tips and guides on youtube (by sensible riders) and have been attempting on stationary traffic - when necessary and safe - to get to the front of the lights. Two months on and I've managed to clip two wing mirrors, latest being just last week. The second time it happened, I knew it was too narrow but I had committed so I ended up squeezing through only to fail miserably. Both times I pulled up on to the side of the road and apologised, they were both women drivers and after checking there were no serious damage we parted ways. I guess I've been lucky so far to not have any claims made against me but these incidents have created a major set back. I'm not as confident filtering anymore and even when an opportunity arise I hesitate and only commit when there is enough space for 3/4 of a car to squeeze through lol. I'm interested to see how many of you riders actually filter and what your wing mirror clipping rate is, if you've ever clipped at all. Would also love to read some tips and tricks

Heh, well I definitely have space for two bikes but I was told that once you move on to a bigger bike, you are less likely to go back to riding the smaller one. I know that's not going to be true for me because the XT handles immensely well during city rides and filtering, so I would use that for short journeys. That being said, my commute doesn't really involve me riding for long periods and the only bit of motorway I get is limited at 50mph with only the last half mile being a 60mph - too bad it's a pretty steep hill and getting an average of 54mph and as low as 45mph on a windy day. PS. Added some pictures of the bike taken before I passed my test or any mods apart from the Arrow exhaust.

Hey, how did you get on with this? I recently installed a set of R&G Heated grips on my XT 125 X and works great. Pretty much similar setup to Airhead's. It just seems better to have the grips powered off the batter through the relay operated by the tail light than have it pull 12v from the main wiring loom. Just incase something goes wrong, you've got the fuse but it's also isolated from rest of the electrics on your bike.

Hey, did you ever manage to change your blub? Came across these: http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/YAMAHA-XT-125-X-55w-Xenon-High-Low-BULBS-KIT-/200542776837?pt=UK_Motorcycle_Parts&hash=item2eb147ee05

Hey o/ Passed my full test* restricted test a few months back and been driving around on a Yamaha XT 125 X (2008). Was almost going to buy a MT-03 but I decided to wait a while before I move up. Also the XT is just awesome and I have trouble letting it go, tbh, I would have just kept the XT if I had gone for the MT-03 but I was told against keeping two bikes so the XT stayed I'm currently doing some modifications on it so I'll upload the pics when I'm done Some pics of the bike before any mods apart from the arrow exhaust. These were taken before I passed my test so those hideous L-plates are not remotely in the vicinity of my bike. Glad to be here and probably should have done this first thing when I joined, my bad. *sorry, might have misled some of you guys when I said full test, I meant the full license as opposed to the CBT, but it's a restricted license.