Aerodyll

I don't think you can open the plastic block to bypass them. If there is another way I'm afraid I don't know how to do it. Anyway, I bought the new bike, so will just replace the switch, see if it's fixed and move it on I reckon. Curious to see how much I can get for it once I clean it up and get it running again. Thanks for your help. B

Hi guys, Thanks for the advice. In retrospect I wish I hadn't used WD40, but wasn't really thinking. Funnily enough though after letting it dry for a day I tried it and it worked perfectly. This lasted for a few days as it tried to buck me off on a slip road off the M1 today. I don't know if this is to do with the sidestand switch, clutch switch or even (the bucking me off while riding at slow speed specifically) something to do with the gears. I am going to replace the two switches and see how it goes. If this doesn't work I guess I'll just have to bite the bullet and get a new Versys 650. I'm sure I could learn to live with it...

So guys, little update. Apologies for my terminology here, it's quite hard to explain this clearly. So I disconnected the sidestand switch. Pulled the two plastic blocks apart. I squirted some WD40 in there and scrubbed it with a toothbrush. Let it dry for a bit then reconnected it and tried to start the bike. It starts up fine, I let it warm up then clutch in and selected first gear. As soon as I select first gear before I release the clutch it dies. It does this every time without fail now. My next move is to remove the connectors from the plastic blocks and give them a wipe and hope I haven' f'ed things up permanently. I didn't do this originally as the manual didn't really show you how to do this so I just kind of smushed advice from here with what I had on hand and I think in retrospect did something a bit daft. I found some new info online that shows how to get the connectors out of the block so I will give that a go next. Just out of curiosity, the way it is dying now before I release the clutch, do you reckon it is still just the kickstand switch? Thanks,

Cheers guys, will update you after the weekend when I've had a look at it.

Hi guys, So recently when I get on the bike first thing it just won't engage first gear. I start it up, let it warm up, clutch in, first gear selected then when I release the clutch while applying some throttle it cuts out. It does this three or four times generally before it will actually engage gear properly. It has also done this when I have travelled ten miles down the road and stopped at traffic lights, when I try to set off again it cuts out as if the kickstand is down. Today it has started doing this when I am moving too, I will set off in first, change up to second and then the bike will jerk violently as if I have opened the kickstand or something. Most of the time when it does this it won't stall just do a big jerk then back to normal but it has once done this and stalled and I ended up coasting the bike to the side of the road. I assumed that when it wouldn't engage first gear it was just the kickstand switch that was either sticking or broken but now it is jerking when moving slowly it makes me wonder. What do you guys think? Cheers, A

It must be the seal, it wasn't a bubble more like something moving under the surface so probably the seal. Anyway its still working so that should hopefully be sorted. Another issue I am having which I have asked before but have to ask again. My bike hates being at 20mph. As in in first its screaming (By screaming I mean at 6k rpm out of about max of 10k) and dragging and in second its raring to go and twitchy. Its like 20mph is between the gears and it just hates it. What do you guys reckon this could be? The bike runs fine, starts fine, and under 15mph and over 25 its fine. In second gear its like the slightest twitch on the throttle and I am off and in first it feels like I am pushing it too hard. Am I overthinking this? Thanks Ben

I got it sorted yesterday. Bled the brakes and now they are much tighter. There was a little air in the system but not loads. It has been suggested to me that I may have a faulty valve on the actual brake fluid cap. So when I squeeze the brake the valve lets a little fluid back in instead of pumping it out. When I bled the brakes with the cap top off it did do a little bloop and splash a tiny bit when I squeezed the brake. Not sure if that's an issue or not. I will see if my brakes resort to how they where originally then I need to look for another cause. Thanks Ben

Nah, no way around it, its practically the drive way to work. It will probably be fine if I just coast down it in first with no throttle. Im just timid about stalling at the moment. Another update on the madness of a new bike! My front brake is almost nonexistent and doesn't trigger the brake light when used. Squeezed it progressively harder today until it was at maximum at 40 mph and it didn't do anything. I have asked my soon to be father in law to have a look at it and show me how to fix it this weekend but until then i'll be going even slower. I am just glad I got him to tighten up the back brake as originally that was useless too. Exciting!

Thanks guys. An FZ6 Foxy? That's what I trained on. Really liked it once id gotten used to it. Another question for you guys to save me making a thread everytime. There's a very steep cobbled road outside my office. It's full of leaves and mud n stuff and about 40 /60 feet long with a T junction at the end. Atm I struggle to ride down it as I put gas on to stop engine stalling but as it's steep downhill any throttle feels like to much as it's not long enough. So. How should I handle this? It's very hard to control the bike atm n that surface. Can I leave the throttle and clutch alone and ride down in first gear on tickover and just focus on breaking? Today I almost ended up in the middle of the road I went too fast. Thanks Ben

Chears guys. I don't really want to ask this but should I get P's for my bike? As I am slow at junctions and sometimes slow down when changing gear. I don't want to cause a nuisance to anyone. Not to mention yesterday while filtering a transit van deliberately started weaving side to side in his lane to screw with me and as a biker I don't like that and as a new biker it was really not what I needed. Don't really want P's but just a thought . Cheers Ben

Howdy guys, passed my test a couple of days ago and due to my insurance being a pain I have no grey area between going from my scooter to my bike so have to jump in at the deep end on the bike for commuting to work. So I am now officially riding my ER-5. I have a few questions regarding riding I would like to ask. Firstly, my bike doesn't feel right at 20mph with the clutch out in first or second gear. It feels like its too high for first gear but not fast enough for second. It jerks around and lurches. What do I do about this/what causes this? It is pretty uncomfortable. Secondly, downshifting. I know its a buzz word and there is a ton of info out there but I am finding it a bit overwhelming. Today I ended up in the wrong gear at junctions as well as downshifting and feeling the vehicle lurch underneath me as it applies a lot of engine braking. When I shift down a gear how do I do it? At the moment its clutch in, throttle off, gear down, clutch out/throttle on. Is this right? I've read about rev matching, engine breaking and so on and its all going round in circles in my head. I know I'm obviously doing something wrong but Im not sure how to fix it. Thanks for any help. Ben

Congratulations Foxy! And no bike shopping for me, I already have an ER 5 in the garage. Tomorrow when I'm not hungover I will be riding it! I'll upload a picture when I'm on my PC later

We are indeed celebrating! I passed with 5 minors and hilariously 4 of which where for going too slow in junctions and roundabouts! One was for one instance of bad positioning being on the right side but turning left. I am mega pleased the test is done and I'm now road legal with no L plates. I was stunned I passed too as I hadn't been on a bike for 2 weeks beforehand and I was bloody dire when I got on it yesterday morning. I was stalling all over the place, it was pissing it down and my visor was covered with rain drops. I was horrid I even asked the instructor if I should just bail on this test as I was clearly not up to it. I messed up so much, I nearly dropped the bike and hurt my wrist saving it, outside the test centre!. At one point I pulled over and told my instructor to take my glasses as they were steaming up with the visor down but covered with rain with it up. After that things began to improve and I slowly got back to my previous skill level. It turns out my eyes are 'just' fine for riding so I also passed without my glasses which makes me happy. I got the nice examiner too he's called Jordi and if you're taking your test at the Rotherham test centre I hope you get him. He is very personable, puts you at your ease and does smile a little bit to show you hes human and makes you feel less like hes out to get you. The test itself had a few funny bits too but nothing dangerous. The route he took me on didn't have any speed signs as far as I could tell so for almost the entire test I didn't know what speed I should be doing so I just guessed. Overall one hell of a day, very odd. But I passed! Now I can relax and get used to my own bike a bit before I swap it out with my old scooter. Thanks for the birthday wishes btw, very unexpected but very kind of you guys. Cheers!

Bhawk: Good luck mate, to both of us! davefly76: I was in the right hand side of my line but was stopped. I just began to say why I thought I screwed up but actually ended up pointing out where I messed up quite accurately. I looked down the road, mirror, signal then as I checked the mirror again I had begun to move already. Only very slightly but still I had begun to move before I had properly checked so that must be it. Silly really. Just thought I would say as my test is tomorrow it has taken all the shine off of my birthday which is today lol. Now I am just nervous!

Hi guys. Thanks for the responses. Calmed down a bit now! I don't think the instructor was an arse or anything just that he decided I was being dangerous. The first was due to my being stuck behind a stack of cars on a dual carriageway leading to a roundabout. The right lane was clear so I indicated and checked mirrors and it was clear. I started to move but as I did so a car came into view and went down the side of me so i stopped. Just bad timing I suppose but it obviously looked bad to him. The second issue was when I entered a roundabout. I was going straight on and cars where coming round going straight on the other way. I decided it was clear but a car came round and indicated going right (so as to go infront of me and take what is to me the first exit if that makes sense). Either they didn't indicate until late or I didn't see it until late as it was quite sunny. Anyway I was now going too fast to stop as I had committed to the maneuver so decided it was far safer to go ahead instead of stopping. I wasn't close to the car and they didn't need to slow down for me. I've been on the road on my 125 scooter and done this and seen others do this many many times. Especially on busy roundabouts if you didn't do this you wouldn't make progress. But this too must have been dangerous to him. I sort of get why the second instance was dangerous especially on a test I should have been careful. But perhaps I think that the real issue is that I was going too fast to begin with as to force me to make snap decisions I should go slower to allow more time to make my mind up. Its funny but as I was so stressed about my mod 1 and got so worked up about it I kind of walked into this test a bit too relaxed. This is the easy bit according to most and my instructors said my riding was fine so I decided not to worry about it and maybe I overshot it and took the advice 'ride for yourself like the examiner isn't there' a bit too literally. I rode safely and confidently but maybe I was a bit too comfortable. Booked in for the 7th of october now, fingers crossed. I think I am going to just slow everything down for the test. Slow right down for roundabouts and put my foot down unless it is clear when I get there and give at least a heartbeat before I indicate,look,move. If I get failed due to hesitation though I may flip a table! Thanks for your comments, Ben

Hi guys. I had my mod 2 yesterday. All my instructors said my riding is fine and that I should pass no problem. After the test which went more or less ok I was told I had failed. I had 3 minors and 2 serious faults. One being entering roundabouts a bit too fast and the other for not giving enough time between signalling and lane changing or overtaking. I don't disagree with these issues and I don't think they were too serious, I was just going a little bit too fast and can easily pull that back by going slower. However now I am worried because what happens next time if I get another examiner and this guy says I am too slow? Then the third guy says I am hesitant? Its over 100 quid each time I go for this test not to mention holiday days lost from work. I am worried about having a new examiner with a different opinion. And somewhat annoyed that none of my instructors have mentioned these issues during my lessons if they are serious enough to be failed on. They mentioned similar things when I was learning but the last 3 lessons they all said I was riding fine. I still like my school and instructors are fine but can't help but question why this hasn't been pulled up before now. Thanks Ben

Thanks guys. I wrote this at work so didn't realise it was unfinished! sorry. Fixed it now.

Just to conclude this story again (because I obviously didn't give up after the first attempt) Went for my second attempt, had a good few hours riding before hand which made a world of difference. Did about 8 u-turns before the test and did them perfectly. On the test the examiner was much more positive and friendly which also made a huge difference. I put the bike in neutral everytime I stopped to give me a second in which to take a deep breath before I did anything. I did the U-turn with some nerves but did it fine, then minutes later he asked me to turn round but don't not worry about staying in lines e.t.c. Without trying I did a perfect u-turn tighter and smoother than before! Go figure! I passed with 2 minors, one for skidding a little bit on the emergency stop and the second for stalling the bike when I stopped on the slow ride. Neither of those things I have ever done before. I had a good ride after the test too in which the instructor never had to prompt me to do anything. I have my Mod 2 on wednesday 21st and although I am nervous I am not even close to the amount of anxiety I had before. Would like to pass first time but I feel like I am just going to put all thoughts of passing/failing out of my mind and just treat it the same as when I#m with the instructor.

Just to conclude this story, I failed my Mod 1. Completely due to nerves, put my foot down on the U-turn bloody silly mistake and am furious with myself. On the other hand my instructor says my gears are pretty much where they should be now. Not great but not terrible either. Thanks Ben

Yeah got my mod 1 booked for 31st. Did some practice for it yesterday and no real problems with it except for hitting a cone once in the avoidance bit. Exciting.

Had my lesson yesterday. It went very well, much better than before. I spoke very with the instructor before going out about my issue and he gave me some good advice. As I am used to controlling the speed with the throttle from my scooter he said to slowly roll off the throttle and sightly tap the front brake as I slow down. Not to use it to brake yet just to warn other drivers I'm slowing. Then as I close the throttle I apply the front brake then add a bit of rear brake. I bring the clutch in to change down as I go but just feather it to get some engine braking. As I get close to stopping I release the front and slow control to a stop. This made it much easier for me. I missed a few gears and changing could be smoother and I stalled once but that should come with experience. Enjoyed my lesson though which made a big difference.

When coming to a junction the really hard part is going down the gears but letting the clutch out for each gear. I was told to release the throttle, squeeze the clutch, brake and change down but to release the clutch for each gear. This takes so long and the engine braking on the 600 meant that as soon as I release the clutch I slow down rapidly. I have since started applying some more throttle as I release the clutch but still quite a lot of steps to go through. He also told me I need to be in first before I stop at least for a few meters as he had a go at me for changing just before I stop then putting my foot down as it unbalances me (which is fair enough). I wouldn't say I am looking forward to this Saturday with a full day on the big bike but I think I am dreading it a little less.

Thanks for the help guys, that has really made me feel better about it. I think on my lesson I am going to drop my speed for junctions well before I normally would and then ride up to the line in first. Going down the gearbox as my speed drops. One thing that still really confuses me is that people mention that you can drop down gears to go faster? That seems very backwards to me. I always thought each gear had a maximum speed it would produce and you go up the gears to get access to higher speeds. I understand now that this is incorrect but still don't fully understand how they work. I have heard people say that lower gears produce acceleration but no force and higher gears do the opposite but this still confuses me. And another question relating to downshifting. Do you lower your speed before you shift the gear or can you do it before so the engine braking helps you so its not all brakes? Sorry if these are annoying or simple, as I said I seem to be in the minority of people who can't get their head around this. I was told to think of gears as being similar to those on a bicycle but I always found the highest gears produced the most speed so i am at a loss as to how to understand them . Thanks Ben

Hi guys, I am in the middle of a DAS course, just moved up to a 600cc Fazer. I have had half a day on this bike and I am really struggling to get comfortable with gears. Going up the gearbox isn't too bad but going down it really unnerves me. I seem to have built up a psychological barrier and really confused/scared myself regarding downshifting to the point that its messing up everything else on the bike. I ride an automatic scooter and have never driven a car so gears are a new thing to me. I was sort of getting there on the 125 but then I changed to the bigger bike and everything feels different and I am pretty intimidated by the machine now. I know the process of how to shift gears (ignoring rev matching and that for now just simple clutch in, gear change, revs up and clutch out for the moment). But I really struggle to understand when and I am really scared of locking the back wheel. On the 125 it was easy to understand when to change the gear as the throttle only had 2 positions and the engine was easily audible when it was racing or struggling. The fazer is so quiet and the revs have such a range that even in first gear I was doing up to 25/30mph and the rpm's where still only at 5k. I guess I want to ask how do you know when it is the right time to change gears? And when going down the gear box up to a junction how early do you start the process? The engine braking on the 600cc took me by surprise so I ended up stopping way before the white line last time. And finally just to put it into perspective for me, is this fear/confusion common? I have my mod1 test booked for next week and have a lesson between now and then and at the moment I feel like I should consider giving it up as I am finding the whole thing quite stressful. The only real fun Ive had so far was feeling the power of the big bike when we got onto an open stretch of road. Thanks Ben

I found a way of storing it in the end. I just hold the chin strap inside the storage bit under the seat and close it. The helmet just rests down the side of the body nexct to the seat. Not a great solution but functional for short time periods.