Ninereeds

thanks for all the responses guys its much appreciated. I wanted to use this as a starting point to learn how to do it myself, however looks like i should maybe start with something a little less complicated to complete! I will have a look round to see if anyone local can do this sort of thing for me.

Hello everyone. So a few months back my bike had a little topple in the garage and landed on my push bike, luckily stopping it from falling all the way to the floor however taking a bit of a chunk out of the paint on the tank. (pictures below) Im not very in the know when it comes to paint - people mention things like lacquer, primer, clear coat and paint. I only know what the paint part is. I've been to halfords and had some paint mixed up to the colour code (I was extremely suprised the bloke in halfords knew what he was doing, but thats another story) so the scratch is on the underside of the tank so its not all that noticeable but id like to get it done now anyway - can someone tell me in a sort of step by step way how to go about this? Can i just put the touch up paint into the chip or should i be sanding down/using a rubbing compound to clear away more and making it a smoother finish? how long can i not ride the bike for so that the paint dries? thanks for your help!

someone more experienced than me can feel free to correct this, however this is how i tighten my chain (cbf500) ~put your bike up on the centre stand ~as you look at the bike from behind, loosen off the nut on the right hand side of the axle (the side with the brake caliper) dont take it off, just loosen it. as far as i know, it should be a 27mm socket job. ~now there should be two small threaded bolts sticking out the rear of the swingarm each side, with 2 nuts on (a 14 and a 12mm) ~place a spanner on each nut (on one side) and loosen the nut nearest to you off (furthest to the rear of the bike) repeat this on the other side ~you're now ready to add tension to the chain. ~place the spanner (think its the 14mm) on the nut nearest the swingarm. tighten it (clockwise) and count how many flats of the nut you go through! depending on how slack your chain is, it wont need much! so do 2 flats on the right, stop, then turn 2 flats on the left, this is to keep the wheel straight in the bike. start doing 1 flat each side once you get close to the right tension. ~every time you tighten both nuts, check the chain tension (it should have somewhere around 30mm of free play up and down - check your owners manual for actual figure) ~spin the wheel round and check tension again - this is to check that you arent adjusting it on a tight spot so even thought it has the right play where you had it, as soon as you turn the wheel it could go up to 50mm of play because of a tight spot in the drivechain. ~once youve got the right play more or less evenly through the chain, tighten the locking nuts back up. get both spanners on each nut one side again, make sure the nut at the back doesnt turn as you tighten the nut at the front tight up against it. doesnt have to be insanely tight, but make sure its snug so that it has nowehere to go. repeat on the other side. ~Ideally you should have a torque wrench for the final step - you can pick them up from halfords or amazon but they're a VERY important tool for bike mechanicing! ~tighten up the axle nut to the correct torque. all done! you should notice a huge difference in how the bike rides once the chains been tensioned properly. gear changes are so much smoother! hope that helps for future and saves you 6 quid!

oops, didnt see that sorry. thanks for the redirect.

Anyone from here going? I met up with some guys from here last september - would be nice to meet some new people to put faces to names! I'll be going up for one day to browse the bargains and hopefully pick up 1 or 2 bits for summer, if anyone from south east / reading area is going maybe we can ride up together. Its a perfect place to pick up kit on the cheap for anyone starting out or needing to replace some bits!

Afternoon All, Question for you about planning your rideouts and how you stick to that route once youre out. ride plan was looking at doing this route tomorrow (bank holiday monday) for a longer rideout (anyone is welcome to tag along if they want, so far its just me) but seeing as ive never really ridden this far i will need directions. I have a satnav holder/bag/mount on the handlebars but no means of charging it so I wont be able to have it on all the time as it doesnt hold its charge for so long anymore. Also how would i go about putting this route on google into a tomtom satnav. is there an easy way of doing it or do i have to use some software to plan it out? so that it takes me to the right places and then back home. also anyone can suggest some improvements to the route or things to see/avoid whilst im down that way would be much appreciated.

Yes i'm a bonamassa fan, Heard him a couple of times on the planet rock radio station and just thought wow, this guys good. looked him up online and i enjoy pretty much all of his music. On the heavier side of things, Ive been listening to Soilwork's latest (not sure if greatest but its a very heated debate) The Living Infinite double album. there really isnt much filler on it considering its a double album. though it did take them 3 years to release. Incredible songwriting and performance throughout the entire thing. listened to something from the album at least once a day since its release. Killswitch Engage's new album Disarm the Descent is playing at the moment, really enjoying it. Like soilwork its a return to old form and its great! Sevendust's Black Out the Sun is the other newish one for me, its a start in the right direction after their last few albums not being as good but its still not quite there, just a few minor tweaks missing that would make it a great album.

so could you run through what youve actually done? all i see is a strange yellow pipe gaffa taped onto the back of a satnav?

thanks eddie, much appreciated. from what ive looked at, we wont be touching any small roads in Germany, literally border to border on a motorway/a road equivalent in some places. Thanks for the hint anyway, it may come in handy

thanks for all the advice guys. Like i said, Id most likely set up a hammock and sleeping bag in the back and lock myself in, so people would have to be seriously crafty to sneak in! not sure id be too keen on sleeping outside given the weather as it is currently! We've told the rental company we're taking it abroad to europe and it costs us an extra £5 a day so its not all that bad. I wonder how they timed that mrbarry, they must have ANPR on the entrances and exits unless there is a very efficient officer taking notes of which cars come and leave and at what times. Apart from the hi-vis, breathlysers, warning triangle and first aid kit - there is nothing else i need? It doesnt still class as winter or something and i wont need snowchains in the back or something silly?

Hello everyone, not sure if this is the right section for this but i couldnt think of anywhere else to put it, and you guys are so helpful i wanted to ask here first. so basically, I'm helping a friend out whos emigrating to prague. We're renting a lwb transit, cramming all his flat pack furniture in the back and driving from essex to the ferry at dover - calais, then through europe to Prague. Theyve rented/bought a flat already so dropping them off, setting it all up then I'm heading back solo on the Sunday to return the van. What do i need to know about driving on the continent? This will be my first time. I've gather that the breathalyser law has been passed in france now, so will need to pick some of those up before we go, is there anything germany or czech specific like that we should know about? whats the law with warning triangles and hi vis jackets? and the last one i can remember to ask for now - whats the law on stopping somewhere and getting some sleep? Its a pretty long trip back on my own and its gonna be a busy weekend so I imagine at some point i will need to have a break for a few hours. I have a hammock and was going to set it up in the back of the van if i stopped, but dont fancy being woken up from beauty sleep by some foreign coppers! where/when can i stop? the upside to this is, the spare room in their flat is now mine, so I can go out there whenever i want, and if i can get a job, live out there with them. Or just take the bike out for a seriously long rideout thanks for any help and advice!

sure, here they are. is it as simple as the top screw pulls the top of the visor in, the bottom screw pulls the bottom of the visor in, or is that too logical and easy for the italians? my phone camera in the day is awesome, in artificial/night lights its awful : had to use a torch for those shots!

Thanks for the advice chrissy, i think the problem is that the visor fit/seal is just plain bad. it only touches/seals at one point, the rest of it is open, so wind and cold air get into the lid and it creates a lot of noise. you really have to slam the visor down to get a good seal on it, and even then on the motorway doing lifesavers the wind tends to open it back up again, so its only a temp fix. the rest of the time it has quite a sizeable gap on the bottom, and at the top around by the hinges. see pics below: what sort of thing do you mean by "add some silicone"? what product specifically? also could you explain tightening the base plates for me? Thanks! top of visor bottom of visor bottom left

I had a similar problem with mine before christmas, the indicators would only work sporadically and sometimes not at all. got home and tested the hazard lights and they worked fine, all bulbs flashed so figured it was damp in the indicator switch. sprayed some GT85 in there and the weather stayed relatively dry and it sorted itself out after a few days.

I agree with all thats been said in here. Local shops are normally pretty happy to do a deal with you if youre buying a fair bit all at once. I had to get kit for kickboxing last week so went into the shop (as i needed it to fit so buying online wasnt an option) picked a load of stuff and asked "willing to do a discount if i buy it all together?" he said if you pay cash im sure we can work something out and i saved about 20quid. same advice for making sure the helmet "fits", if youve got your heart set on the £800 arai race replica lid from some motogp rider, you'll probably be disappointed when it doesnt fit well and its uncomfortable to wear. Dont build up any preconceptions about brands before you go out (unless its based on the sharp rating, like Bonniebird said) and try on all the helmets you can. if you see one that doesnt feel right, sorry but no matter what cool design it has on the side, its not going to treat you or protect you well. walk away from that one and try another.

yes, my bike does this too and i believe my car does as well. Nothing to worry about

He had it on centre stand, in gear and cleaning the chain with a rag as the chain span Now I do the same, put my bike on centre stand and when I clean it I run it in gear and use the cleaning tool. Hold the brush with one hand while using degreaser in the other. Then I put it in neutral, run a rag on it to clean off the degreaser, then run it again while lubing, then use the rag with it stopped, then one more quick layer Many just leave it in gear and carefully use a rag but while many get away with it for years there will always be one and sods law is its you for some reason I cant remember where or who said, but I was told never ever put it in gear whilst on the centre stand. perhaps its to save you getting your hand trapped? It would make it soooo much easier to lube the chain though. perhaps i will ignore the scare mongering and start cheating.

Well I have a picture of my finger after it got caught in between a spinning diskbrake and frame (of a pushbike) whilst servicing a bike - its got some blood though so not sure if people are particularly squemish about that sort of thing. went through the nail and flesh like butter untill it jarred on the bone - strangely i didnt feel it and just looked at my hand thinking "well would you fancy that, I always worried about that happening" then got it cleaned up and bandaged and went back to work.

twelve foot ninja - "> seriously catchy rock/metal/something in between (and hot dancers) and manchester orchestra - "> some feel good rock/possibly indie? my 2 latest discoveries and loving the respective albums theyre from too.

thanks for the quick reply! and thank you too.

so going for "stupidest question of the year" award super early in january this year, but i've googled and checked the handbook, it doesnt seem to come up with anything. how do i top up my bike oil? as in, where does it go? because in a car you dont pour it down the dipstick, it goes somewhere else (at least on mine it does) It's a honda cbf500 with a dipstick and not an oil window - is there a cap somewhere to take off and fill up, or do i unscrew the dipstick and put it in that way? i feel bad for asking this, but i'd feel worse having to post "my bike blew up, help" edit: whilst i'm here. The gearbox seems very clunky and when engine braking i sometimes get a faint knocking or clicking noise at low revs - is this related to oil levels or chain tension or something a little more serious? I'm going to be doing (read: my friend is going to show me how to do) a simple service soon as its coming up to 8k miles - should i have this done then recheck it?

I got a gopro hero3 for xmas (very very happy with that) so i'll be taking some footage with it soon and ill upload it in tried and tested for some comparisons. so far ive had alittle play and it does do looped recording and many other wonderful things. obviously the setback is the price, i do realise theyre very expensive.

these guys caught my ear on the radio the other week, loved it since. cant really put a "sounds like" with this, but AC/DC comes to mind. (The Temperance Movement - Only Friend) had a blast from the very distant past recently too, this song is just too much fun volume 11 required and space to dance like an idiot. (Focus - Hocus Pocus) edit - just put this on, I like it. Will be searching out more from him now!

Maybe its not leaking It could be an age thing well at the ripe old age of 22, I hope it bloody isnt! I think the crotch area has most stitching/joins/possibilities for something to go wrong in the manufacturing so its the most likely place to spring a leak. Gonna try redoing them tonight.

I bought the nikwax stuff and used it a while ago, seemed to make it stop raining everytime i needed to go out which was useful, untill i rode upto nottingham the other week and through a serious (seriously serious) downpour on the m1. they held out for about 1 minute then the leaky crotch struck again and it was like turning a tap on inside my trousers. luckily 1/2 mile out from the services, pulled in and dug out some overtrousers and stuck them on for damage control. had a few people tell me i was mental for riding in the weather conditions which made me chuckle. will try again handwashing them next time as i dont get on with washing machines - Im too used to handwashing stuff to know how to use them properly!