Dan

Good people of the forum, Impartial non-bias advice required. I'm thinking of getting the below: http://www.gumtree.com/p/cars-vans-motorbikes/yamaha-ybr-125cc-in-west-london/1055801320 It's a 2006 Yammy YBR with 22k miles on the clock for £800 I need it for commuting and practicing for my DAS im not looking for a deep meaningful long term relationship but i don't want it to pack up on me either. I took the advice in my other thread about mileage and it does look fairly well maintained. But i'm an amatuer. What i'd like some advice on is whether you got any alarm bells from the ad and whether it's a reasonable price. Also when i see it, what are they key things for me to check/test with a bike of that age/mileage. I know she must have seen a bit of action but at less than half my original budget. I'd use the cash leftover for my DAS. Also what the hell is a handlebar weight? All advice appreciated.

Yeah, a mate of mine bought a two year old YBR in fantastic condition for 1595 and sold it two years later after passing his tests etc for 1500. A £95 depreciation after two years and another 2k miles on the clock, amazing. He probably could have got his money back if he'd waited, theres not many things these days that hold their value like that. Everything these days is made in China. I'm sure alot of people aren't aware how many components on their own bikes are made in China before being shipped and rebranded. Personally i will avoid for the time being but it's very tempting. 1500 is nothing for a new bike, you could just ride it until it breaks and then just buy another.

Micromorts: Your Guide to Living Longer - Summer …: "> Give this a go tells you how risky things are based on measurements called micromorts. A 1 in one million chance of dying is 1 micromort. There's a measurement for riding a motorbike but I won't ruin the surprise.

If it's just me then a silver Citroen C2 1.1 lx If i'm picking up the kids or hitting the motorway, a grey 1.5 turbo diesel Renault Scenic

Cheers for the advice. After ringing around and getting similar quotes, I ended up getting in a strop and sticking it on autotrader yesterday afternoon minus the price of all the work that needed doing. By 7pm i'd flogged it! Im pleased as that means i don't have to spend money and time on something i'm trying to be rid of and i have yet more £'s towards getting an actual bike, but it all happened so suddenly, now i have no bike at all and i don't like the feeling On the plus side it's bike shopping time

As the title suggests my bike just failed it's MOT and i'm fairly pissed off about it as i'm currently trying to sell the thing! It failed on two things: The first is the front brake pads are knackered - Fine i can replace those easily not a problem. The second was that it had excessive "notching" when turning the handlebars with the front wheel off the ground, which i was told is the steering head bearings. The guy demonstrated it to me and i could indeed feel the notching when turning the handlebars left and right. For those in the know, does this sound like the correct diagnosis for the notching? I was quoted over £200 for the work as apparently it takes ages to dismantle and then get down to them, about 3 hours. Time aside is this an easy job to do as i might just do it myself rather then pay out £200 plus retest fees for a bike i'm desperately trying to sell!! Also i had an advisory 'Rear roller brake test indicates slight fluctuation of brake effort' what could be causing that? I hadn't noticed a single damn one of these things the bike rides, brakes and turns absolutely fine (for a 5 year old scooter with 19k miles on the clock) and i just want to get rid of it so i make some room on the drive for a CBF. its very frustrating. Any advice much appreciated

Hi All - This is hopefully a quickie. So the specs for my little Suzuki states the top speed is 63mph but the other day down a long incline i was pushing 75mph according to the speedo. The bike started to pull back or jolt It was like i was taking my hand all the way off the throttle except i wasn't. I'm wondering what caused this, was it simply my little 125cc engine gasping for air? I'm no mechanic but im guessing i should avoid doing it again.

This 'nob of the day' behaviour i experience every single damn day of life. People who see the L plates and propel themselves out in front of me like demented lemmings. I'm sure you know the ones I'm talking about. The people who pull out in front of you with such desperate urgency it's like the hounds of hell are snapping at their heels. They don't just want to pull out in front of you they need it. It's as if the survival of not just the human species but of the entire universe hinges on them pulling out onto that piece of road at that exact moment in time and to hell with the consequences!! Then THEN! they proceed to pootle along casually at approximately 25.5mph . Whilst your stuck behind them looking in your mirrors and fuming at the completely and utterly barren stretch of road thats snaking away behind you. Wondering why these contempable useless cretins couldn't wait 4,5 maybe even 6 seconds for you to pass them first.

I got no problem with you thrill seekers, no problem at all. Plus as a smoker I'm not going to lecture others about playing fast and loose with their health. Just try not to kill any of us normal folk whilst your taking it to the Max, pushing it to the limit or whatever it is you free thinking mavericks call it.

I voted other vehicles just because of the unpredictability factor, but really as a learner i guess it's all of the above! Speaking of being a learner, i'll add my L-Plates to the list, these things are bloody lethal. Frankly i get treated like a piece of crap on two wheels. Every day i get cut up, have people pull out in front of me, not giving way to me when i have right of way etc etc. I'm sure is the L's making them think i'm slow and unsure or something. Anyway, can't wait to get them off.

Yes, yes i do. My lid has a bluetooth receiver/Fm radio actually built into it. I listen to talk radio or some music almost everytime i ride. If i don't, i find i start talking to myself so i don't have to sit there listening to myself breathe the whole way.

Here’s how my CBT went. I never really intended to get any type of motorcycle but when a friend of mine offered me his old Suzuki UX125 (scooter) for free, I obviously accepted. This meant me for the first time in 12 years slapping on some L-plates and attending a CBT course. Even though it was a slightly wearing looking scooter, I was incredibly eager to get going and had to endure the torture of having it sit on my drive for a week but not being able to touch it. I turned up for the CBT on a unseasonably hot day, it was boiling. It was me and three others on the course, two of which had been riding years and were just there to renew their certificate. And then me and one other who were total amateurs. The first hour or so was spent lounging on the grass soaking up the sun and talking about basic theory, safety and what gear to wear etc. I was fine with all of this stuff already and I’m sure most people are. If your sensible it’s fairly obvious you have to look after yourself on a bike clothing wise and have the right attitude on the road. I was a bit bored during this section and wanted to get on a bike. Finally we were taken for a walk around a Yamaha YBR which we would all be riding. We covered the positions and functions of all the levers, pedals, dials, switches, stands etc. Then how to check tyres, oil and all that stuff. The instructor was very thorough, and happily fielded questions from me and the other noob whilst the two experienced guys on the course looked bored and smoked cigarettes. The next part involved us all pushing around then sitting on the bike. Then we were shown how to start it and how to put it in and out of neutral, then first, then we slowly started pulling forward and backward including shoulder checks etc. This was when I first realised I might not be a natural as I was seriously clumsy on the clutch and changing gears and stalled a few times. Then I started to get a bit nervous that I might fail or not be able to complete the day as I was seriously rubbish. Finally I more or less got the hang of it and we started to ride around in circles, stopping and cone ‘junctions’ and pulling away, all the while correctly selecting and changing gear and stopping in good time. The instructor stood at the side yelling advice and instruction but personally there was way too much info to be taking in all at once. I was trying to listen to him, implement what he was saying and control all these alien levers and pedals all at the same time. My gear changes nearly yanked my arms out their sockets and my breaking nearly put me over the handlebars. It seemed no matter what brake I used it was always the wrong one and I was getting frustrated and angry at myself for being such a utterly useless cack-handed pleb. This went on for a couple of hours before we stopped, had a bit of a chat and moved on to the slow manoeuvres. I was drenched in nervous and heat related sweat at this point making me really uncomfortable and distracted and i was seriously stressing out as we were running out of time. Anyway I was awful at this as well whilst everybody else was getting on fine. I had issues with the throttle this time, I was either way to heavy or too light, I couldn’t slip the clutch properly and was seriously wobbly around each cone, I was probably rushing things. Luckily I didn’t put any feet down or fall off though. After a while doing slaloms and figure 8’s improved to an acceptable level and we started to get ready for the road. The instructor guy came up to me and said although I’d improved a lot over the course of day and he thought I’d be fine to go out on the road on a manual he could see a day of toiling and stressing in the sweltering sun had taken its toll on me (by now the sweat was actually dripping out the sleeves of my jacket- yeah gross) and I could either come back another day or use a 50cc scooter for the on road stuff. I’m a determined chap when I set my mind to things so I took the scooter out. To be honest my confidence which was low at that point increased significantly. Not having to worry about gears was a welcome break and I sailed through the manoeuvre’s and ride about with no problems what so ever and really enjoyed it. Then we headed back to the centre to pick up our certificates. I felt like mine had been well hard earned. I’ve used my bike every day to commute 150 miles a week, wind rain and shine (and flooding) since then and I’m obsessed. My advice for any other rank amateurs would be to use decent footwear, I wore hiking boots and they made my already clumsy fumbling even more ineffective, they were much too bulky. You should get some decent bike boots, you’ll be needing them after anyway.