Iceni

Yeah I tried that one already. Thinking it might just be enough to pop the plates appart. I think it's just a case of popping the clutch cover off and giving it a tap. The parts are pretty cheap to replace it. Less than £30 so i'm not going to loose out even if it's all bound up and needs scraping appart. ATM even with the clutch in when you pop it into gear the bike lurches and stalls instantly. If the plates are not at fault part of the linkage inside might have a problem so i need to inspect it even if it suddelnly pops free. It's just not worth the hassle of it going pop when I'm out on it. I'd rather have 100% knowelege of what the problem is and know it's fixed. I also don't know how the clutch sperates. I would assume it's an arm that seperates the plates towards your foot. Then upon relese the plate come back into contact. I have found the XV125s manual on the yamaha homepage. While not a haynes manual it has enough information for me to be able to forumlate a work plan for the bike and a service schedule. Odd as it might sound it's not the first gift with an engine I've recived! I got a Honda gx160 based kart given from a mate for doing their mechanic work without pay for 2 years, The same guy also gave me my first car, a fiesta MK1, then he tried to give me a honda H100. I didn't want that bike as I already had the car by that point! This XV125 is from a differnt person, I have however done him a lot of favors. Stop your perverted minds right away..

For the alu parts. Brass wool, Brass suede brush Toothbrush For the steel parts Steel wool Wet and dry paper Flapper wheel and cordless drill. Wet and dry and the flapper wheel are too abrasive on the Alu parts. You'll end up removing a lot of metal. On steel it's fine. Your chrome parts will either be steel electroplated, brass electroplated, Aluminum electroplated or plastic. The pipes/wheels ect will all be steel. Pure chrome is brittle and useless as a construction material. Some of the other components like light fittings and engine covers have a good chance of been plastic or aluminium. Your best solution here is to have a look at the inside or back of the item and see when you discover. Using wet and dry on a Alu/brass plated section will look aweful, The plastic sections tend to be cheap to replace so it's not as disasterous. You can aslo use a brass wire wheel on the engine, You HAVE to make sure the brush is 100% brass and not coated steel. This will allow a bit of time saving since you can use a drill and blast the tarnish away. This is all from expirience with honda gx160 engines from the race kart scene. I have little knowelege of bikes

Superb, When the time comes for getting on the road I'll make sure i come get a quote from you guys. That might not be for a few months, I'm currently looking at the new slightly more confusing Motorbike test system. From what i can gather. I can ride for 2 years on a CBT, provided i do the CBT on a 125. I can then do either a 125 comunter licence, Or direct acess to 600cc. Since i am over 24 years old. I'm going to have a word with the local test centres. I think we have a speedway, and an airfield in the local area both doing CBT + tests. I'll be phoning and getting quotes once I get my full licence back. It's due for a card renewall.

I've already checked the cable and arm. It's working as intended The sump was left dry for a bit so i suspect the plates have been bound on. I'd rather just swap them over. It's actually an added saftey measure atm since i know if anyone tries to steal it and drive it away they won't get it moving. It'll just stall as soon as your drop it into gear. There was a fear the big end would be ceased, but the starter motor was able to push the engine without a problem one we got some oil in her. We gave the engine a few turns over, then left it for a few mins before doing it again. The guy helping me thought this an unneeded step but a siezed big eng would have been disasterous. I've spent a bit of time looking it over while it was ticking over. The brakes are fine. No deep rust on the front disk, and the pads have some left on them. The rear drum is free and working, I've not been able to test either under powerd movement up the garden, But pushing in neutral both work. The handle bars appear to have a very slight missalignment to them. The throttle side is closer to the rider than the clutch side. I suspect this was done in the drop as the bars appear to be pretty thin mild steel. There is also an end cap missing from the clutch side hand grip. Suspension is fine, No rust, no leaks. the springs are intact and clear of any problem as well. The worst rust is on the rear cissy bar, and luggage cage. This looks to be a cheaper chrome job than the rest of the machine, I'm not even sure if it's a factory fit or aftermarket. The rust here while not dangerous is bad enough to be detrimental to the bike even if scrubbed back. I have 2 options. Take the one thats on it off and have it powder coated, or buy a new one. I suspect it'll be cheaper to get a new one. I also need to pick up a feeler guage and do the tappets as she sounds a little pinky. Might just be the engine but i think a general service will help. Might be that the valve springs have been sat compressed and i have soft springs. Either way thats not too hard a job on such a small engine, I used to service honda GX160 engines almost daily when we raced karts, These little Vtwins are a little more complicated but not rocket science. Provided I pay attention do i don't drop a valve it should all be good I'm going to drag it out tomorrow and get some pictures up, I'm like a child with a toy ATM. My wife has been laughing at me for been sat in front of the pc in a helmet and gloves...... LOL

Well I've been arround the local bike shops today testing helmets. I tried on probably 30 helmets in various shops. Ended up with a caberg justissimo. www.webbikeworld.com/r2/motorcycle-helmet/caberg-justissimo/ I have an odd head aparrently. I'm an XS size and have a very round skull. Most of the helmets I tried on were massive, or didn't cup the back of my head at all. This one cups all the way round to my neck, And gives enough cheek pressure. I used to race karts and know what helmets work for me. Anything that can slide over the crown of my head will slip over my eyes at some point! So the cupping at the rear is essential. I also picked up some gloves. I got poor mans winter gloves Just some carbon knuckle, Medium padded ones. I have a feeling they will end up been my spring/autumm gloves, as they neither have enough padding for winter, or enough ventalation for summer. For the season we're in they should be about perfect.

I went out today and got myself a lid. Ended up with a caberg justissimo. It's new had the Gold stamp, and more importantly was only £80. I have a silly sized head apparently. XS is not common, and this lid had been sat a fair amount of time in the back of the shop untouched. I also picked up some gloves and already own a leather biker jacket. I'll swap the jacket for a kevlar one when i have a CBT and start to get ready to go on the road. For the minute the basic protection is in place for me. And I can progress to actually working on the bike. I also turned the bike over today. It's still on the wrong oil, But the clutch is still siezed. So I just let in run for 30 mins, It's not had a decent length tick over for a long time. It fiered up second time, came back off the choke after about 3 mins of running. Once off the choke it was reving to full with no sputtering and no apparent loss of power through the range (audable only). Once i get these parts on order (thursday) and have a tinker with the internals I think I'll have to get myself booked in for a CBT! Beef I'll add my location later, For the minute the bike is un-insured and sat locked in a back garden. I don't want to advertise a location until I have a gound anchor, and Insurance in place

Will do I'll have to do a bit of searching in my area for parts dealers. I can nip into Halfords for the oil, But if i'm dropping it I may as well do the filters, and strip the clutch as well. I do know the wife of a local club member, While I have no interest in been part of his little club I do apriciate his expirience with the bike itself. I'll get him to come apriaise the machine since i know he lives for his bikes, And will be able to spot a defect at 100 paces. His wife should keep his nefarious intrests at bay, and the fact I'm closer to a hippy than a biker Not much use to his crowd of people, It's still some scary dealings to think your friends could also become your enemies just by having an affiliation. It almost feels like a political minefield.

Perhaps he used a small lathe chuck. We used to have one for removing big end bearing. You flip the chuck so it grips internally, then use a rod through the spidle and whack it. Something like this. http://www.harborfreight.com/2-inch-mini-lathe-chuck-with-mt-1-shank-65132.html

I'm pretty sure the bike is clear. The guy works on an oil rig and tends to pay cash, Plus it's the 2001 model. You'd have to evade pretty hard to manage to avoid payments for 12 years I'll check anyway when I get the documents through. I've just read that thread on here about oil I knew it was a mistake when I was putting it in. Since it wasn't going to be put into gear i figured it wouldn't hurt the engine. I plan on stripping the clutch, I don't fancy the idea of 12 year old clutch plates exploding due to age at high speed I had that happen in a MK1 fiesta (my first car). And it made me aware of how much stress they take It also taught me how to drive a car without a clutch after having a chat to my grandad over the phone. He said start in it gear and feel the gears in.... Suprisingly the car was fine after a 15 mile drive home and new plates went in!

Hey! Today was an interesting day. A friend decided to skip the country for a promotion. He didn't want any ties back in the uk and basically sold everything as fast as he could. He like a numpty forgot about his bike. It's been sat 5+ years. Never used since he dropped it on a roundabout going very slowly. He did some superfical damage, a minor paintwork and chrome graze, and hurt his pride a lot. Never got on it again. So he decides to give it to me.... I have no bike expirience! No helmet, No protective clothing, no licence or CBT. I do have a full UK car licence, and am not stupid/young enough to go out playing without all of the former been in place first! I've made a thread over in the Customs section if people want to give me a hand in getting this machine back on the road, and me sat on it legally! Like I said 0 bike expirience! Somone had to show me the left brake was the clutch My thread is here

Hey people. This has been an odd week for me, A friend is moving to a new country and has an old bike that he used very briefly. He's not wanting any ties back to the UK, And in addition wants to move as quickly as possible. This means that his XV125 that has only been used for 2103 miles has just been handed to me. I have no knowlege about bikes, I'm a 32 year old, Had a driver licence since 17, But never owned or used any bike. As far as i know he dropped it on a roundabout at very very low speed about 5 years ago, Lost his bottle and never got on it again. The damage to the bike was a minor scuff on the electric covers on the drivers side, But no other damage. I think he hurt his pride more than the bike. Anyhow the bike has not been used. I've dropped the oil, and put some new oil in to make sure it starts. It suprisingly does. All of the electrics appear to be fine as well. Neutral light, normal lights ect. My question is this, How do I go about ensuring that a bike that has been stood for so long is road worthy. I know that the MOT should validate some concirn but at present it doesn't have one. And I have no idea about how to go about checking the machine to make sure it will pass. From what i can see when i've looked over the bike. The cables are tight, and need reworking. The fuel needs changing. The oil wants swapping again, this time with a new filter. The tyres are slighty flat, and i need to check the tyre walls. They do hold pressure tho and have been sat at low pressure not flat. As far as i can tell the walls are intact no cracks. Can somone point me in the correct direction for some kind of check list to perform to ensure that most of the functions on the bike are working as intended. Also does anyone know where to get a user manual and service manual. I have neither, and would like very much to have a travel path around the bike and a reference guide to getting the correct oil ect before I do any more tinkering. The oil in it atm is just some castrol 10w 40 magantec I had in the garage. Figured for just turning it over without doing any riding it would be fine. The correct oil will be needed before i can test the clutch ect. Many thanks for looking. The bike is identical to this one. Including the same seat.