Grave

howdy folks, does anyone know if you can fit the fork covers/shrouds from a vstar classic onto the forks of a vstar custom without have to change actual forks & trees, etc? Grave

Ta-Daaaaa! Finally, after a torterous amount of time, money, effort and lest we forget the mountain of paperwork, Bobsan arrives from Australia and it has to be said is running like a dream in her new climate! Muchos appreciatas to everyone who chipped in when it was needed. See you all out there sometime...

hi folks, not sure if this was the right place (again) so apologies if not. my XVS1100 will be here in a few weeks and as i'm a good citizen i would like to pick up some old stock pipes before i take it to the DVLA to be registered and VOSA tested. only required temporarily (on the offchance someone local has a spare set) because i will off course be replacing them as soon as i'm on the road, needless to say with a government approved exhaust and big baffles to dampen down all that horrible engine noise that could disturb the native hedgehogs & sparrows. best place to find stock pipes or known wreckers yards who deal with yamahas anyone? Grave(ly compliant)

Don't think I've had a bike I've regretted getting rid of but maybe thats just because of concentrating on the one its being replaced with. Part of the fun (for me at least) with getting a new bike is what to do with it in the way of customising & tinkering and now I come to think about it I've always went slightly bigger on the engine size with the last couple being 1100's. Don't think I could go down a size for a new bike to be honest but then 1100 does leave a lot of room for going up the way and not so much for going down anyway. That said, I don't think if an opportunity to buy a new bike came up I'd buy it just because it had a bigger engine. Grave(ly settling in back home)

Ladies, Gentlemen and Hibs fans :-) Securer than a really secure thing thats just been checked over for secureness by a security guard... Don't always believe what you read on a label kids... I did have a giggle at the "DO NOT DROP" line on the box. That was until I met the guy who came to pick it up today and now I realise it is fully justified.

I'll have you know I once offered to buy a man a drink. Was in 1992, but it still counts!

Somali Pirates? Grave(ly immature)

Ahhhh, you're obviously confusing me with someone who makes life easy for themselves. I just bet you're the kind of bloke who would ask why I would pack away all my tools BEFORE remembering to change the oil, filters, pods & plugs? i have 8 straps here so will go with all points but maybe keep EFG on a low tension. tried the bike in earlier today and was pretty impressed. very snug and could stand up on its own once the front wheel was i its cradle. well, pickup team should be here in about 6 or 7hrs so i'm off into the garage for some quality time before they get here. Grave(ly anxious)

Oooohh, so no general consensus in here either then :-) Thanks for all the tips people. The steel-framed skid came from the local Harley dealer. They don't make them themselves, so its pretty reliable :-) My thinking there was if it can get a Road King at over 350kg to Australia then it should be more than enough for a VStar at under 260kg. There was also no need for chocs, the frame is supported by the 2 cross sections you can see in the pic and I have at least a dozen ratchet straps to hand. Bike will also be wrapped/surrounded by a fairly hardcore corrugated cardboard with some major overkill bubble-wrap which I suspect will make it more comfortable than I'll be on the plane. I did get a shipping crate from a local Yamaha dealer which had no steel frame in the base and was made from what looks like recon-plywood (a recycled board made from wood & paper pulp that can snap if you look at it too hard) The strapping points on the bike is the remaining issue, especially around the forks & handlebars. Would be less stable unsupported, but strapping here could compress the forks. At the risk of turning this into a spot the ball competition... The plan thus far: Loop around the rear wheel at point A. Straight overs with B, C, D, F. One strap per side for point H. Looping around point G with one strap per side on the bars (E) currently debatable. Can't really remove the front wheel since I still need to get the bike picked up by a courier from port to Glasgow on the off chance they need to wheel the thing up a ramp into a van. Opinions of course welcomed and if anyone knows a reliable courier please let me know. Less than 24hrs now until pickup time so if this lot doesn't get my wheels back to Glasgow in one piece then I'm putting it down to the conspiring of fates and an international plot by Yamaha so they can sell me another bike. Grave(ly perplexed)

heylo folks, i have a rough idea of how to strap down a bike in a shipping crate and thought i'd double check by having a quick browse online but i get the impression that there are several views on the subject with no real clear definitive consensus. anyway, thought i'd narrow it down and find out if you good people have a system you prefer or can advise on. havent had a bum steer in here with my endevours to get my bike back to the UK so far! using a steel-framed skid which is forklift only (cant be suspended by straps) and i have plenty ratchet straps to spare.

will be bikeless until ship reaches port, so probably looking at 6 or 7 weeks going without. looking on the bright side though since it could be worse. it was touch & go for a while there that i could get the bike back with me at all. Grave(ly optimistic)

nae danger man, dinnae firget the pizza crunch an' all 'at ye ken? Grave(ly linguistic)

have never felt the inclination to try one and cant see that changing anytime in the near future. i have however been hankering for a deep fried pizza for over 6yrs now and will be top of my "to do" list as soon as i get back Grave(ly peckish)