RantMachine

Damn it all, different batteries

Checked the battery in accordance with Bob's instructions. Might see if I can convince Moo to loan me the use of Ermintrude's battery when she gets home, just to give the solenoid one last check.

But swiss cheese isn't supposed to rust...

Well, I've had its guts out and the battery seems fine, so then I've moved on to checking the solenoid and I have no idea what the problem could be. No idea at all.

Be good to see you (sober) again mate..... and not in a nurses uniform either......I still bear the emotional scars....... Dammit Bob, you just ruined the last six months of PTSD therapy...

Between my squishy engine and the weight of the bike, I can bump mine in 2nd by shoving it forward 2ft while I stand over it Guess I should be grateful!

By all rights I should've sorted a bigger bike by then, seeing as I have my first year of no claims in mid march. So I'd expect to be joining up

Wow Just found out from my mum that the family friend who used to give me a lift to school was the/a director of Haynes! Crazy stuff!

Much appreciated! Don't know if the weather over here is stretching over your way, but working on the bike outside is certainly off the cards for now

Cheers guys Got my multimeter, just waiting for the weather to get a little bit less bleak. Might have to break out some tarpaulin for a makeshift tent at this rate... Also, my dad spotted a ZZR600 Haynes going for peanuts in their sale, which seemed like a tempting enough deal now that I'm being more realistic about my budget and the V-Strom has become a pipe dream

Argh, I knew I'd miss a detail - I get the little clicking noise when pressing the starter but the engine doesn't turn over. I think I read somewher once that was a hint of problem with the wiring? Sounds just the same as the problems I had with it before which Rick Stringer told me was the solenoid. Not that I entirely trust the man... Cheers for the advice Bob, I'll give you an update once I've got back and taken another look.

Hiya one and all. Bike has fouled up again, no doubt thanks to being ridden through the winter and being chinese (so no smart arse Chineae bike comments thank you, I know my mistakes and live with then every day ). In short, it won't start. Been resorting to bump starts when I absolutely need to ride it. Charged the battery and that's not the fault, so I'm off to Halfrauds in a minute to grab a multimeter so I can carry on working through the Haynes. Solenoid seems a likely cause, because that's packed in once before so it's likely to be a particularly shoddy component. Haven't seen anything else mentioned in the Haynes that I should buy in order to do my troubleshooting, but does anyone have any recommendations for other things I should grab while I'm there? For obvious reasons I can't go back easily so I'd rather buy too much stuff now than not enough. After all it'll probably be useful somewhere down the line. And for those who know my bike well - yes, it's still under warranty, but getting it to my dealership in Bedford is a pain in the bum, and to be frank I'm the kind of person who would prefer to learn to do these things myself when the opportunity arises. I can repay any advice with Photoshop lessons or retouching photos, seeing as those are MY special skills that other folks don't all have Cheers in advance guys!

Another christmas specisl, I imagine

Everything. Absolutely everything. Why does feal life christmas always end up like an Eastenders christmas special, eh?

All the talk of replacement CG125 engines flying around at the moment made me decide to hunt down the heritage of my engine - I knew it had Suzuki roots, and after a bit of digging I can say with confidence that it's a Van Van clone. Explains why it's as gutless as a poorly starfish when you go past 50

Yeah, that's the stuff. Absolutely stunning for the price thusfar! I'll have to get a review written up once I'm off the train when I don't have a sleeping Moo leaning on one of my arms

My textiles seem to be woven of pure magic, spent about an hour outside in a storm last night and my clothes underneath where bone dry, and my textiles had barely absorbed any of it! They'd even started drying by the time I got them off Witchcraft if ever I saw it, but I'm not complaining!

Oh yeah, I've got a few days in January with Moo back at work... good chance to get started

Giving the rest of us a chance

Naaaaah, you're being too generous - chewing gum doesn't dissolve in winter. Must've muttered "f**king monkey metal" under my breath a good two dozen times while cleaning mine earlier today.

Nice one! I've got the best score for a 125 so far but I shouldn't be too hard to beat (also, I say best - there are only two of us, and Moo is the other with a whole 10 points) I think almost everyone else has given up for this year so if you're brave enough then it'd be a good time to jump ahead of a good few of us!

Sure, if you're up for riding down to East Anglia

Do what I did - melt a bin liner onto it, drag it along the floor at speed, then stop giving a damn about how pretty it looks as long as it isn't getting any worse

Feel like my riding is getting worse by the day since my last off, so I'm at the car park for the local guided busway and I'll stay here until I get my confidence back. Sort of struggling to relate my riding now to my riding before. Also, keep wobbling when I lean the bike because my arms subconsciously lock up. I won't have it! This isn't like me at all and I hate it.

We'd better do! I know it'll be twice as fun with a decent bike and GPS I seem to recall GoG is working out the list.