Fozzie

The XJ6 you had did brake like a nutter I can vouch for that, I had one as a hire bike for 6 months this year when my ER got knocked into. Brembo calipers were on it and they are the dogs proverbial when it comes to brakes

Ive gone 2 wheels off before on my current one, but it was a big ridge in the road that wasn't noticeable as you went down the hill. Is it that sort of thing as thats normal for you to have a sudden jolt. I doubt you came off the floor unless you heard your engine scream as the wheel span up with no load I think Megawatt can help you, or at least I think it was him who sorted Littlecats thundercat

I'm there with my Dad and Jin next monday I wasnt planning on meeting up as we always just disband anyway when we all want to go and see different things so if i see you I'll say hi

So compressed, some are great, some are alright and some are shit Like the review, Im after the 1198 one day, just because its the biggest V-twin sports bike going i think

My bike is too shiney and could use some scratches I'll pop along if I can get up to my Parents on the Friday as I'm not going to shoot up direct from London at 5am to do it again. My hands couldnt take the cold on the 180 mile trip there Thinking of it, its no wonder I fell off last time

New gel battery in, for a start the battery on this bike is tiny... No wonder it lasted just 4 years. It turns over so much quicker and easier now, and i took it for a long ride and everything is normal so Im confident it was just a consumable that came to the end of its use

Aint that hard, I've done it and would do it again... For a price

Depends on what type of roads you are riding on mate. If you are using big dual carriage ways or 50mph+ roads yes the Varadero is the better bet. However if it is just bopping between towns on main roads with a few sections of 40-50 then the CBF will do you just fine

Iridium spark plug Better air filter Full lighter/racing exhaust system Chop off bits you dont need and make the bike look better And all of that will account for about about a 5-10mph higher top speed but better acceleration.

Good man Let us know how you get on and the difference you notice if any at all I like the forums myth buster style methods

I'll put the battery in as that seems most likely first and see what happens It's been struggling more and more over the last several weeks and it wasnt very strong before that. It just looks like battery degredation and the time they last matches up. With the rec/reg reading normal consistently before I set off on rides, and after when its scolding hot it wouldnt add up why the battery still fails after this point if its supposedly been charging steadily. All connections are sound, the battery is screwed in correctly etc as I had all fairings off the bike recently and replaced the tail light and indicators with LED versions and tidied it up then as I noticed it was starting to struggle. The LED kit theoretically puts a lot less strain on it. Like I said, we'll see what happens. If it weakens in the same pattern or dies on me I will then look into the alternator and replace the lot.

nope, it can compensate for a dodgy stator, the clue is in the name of the component . Ah but if it compensates, before, during and after a ride and is charging normally. Why did the battery then fail to start up if the reg/rec is working normally albeit compensating?

If the stator has gone then Im selling it The stator going is worst case scenario. Also the voltage readings came back fine, the rec/reg is charging normally so that rules out the possibility of the stator I hope

Ahhh now its clicked... Looking at the different I don't really see it as its still the same piston forcing the pressure down the lines. Perhaps the racing setup uses it better or theres a hidden factor like the Y junction causes a slight inefficiency the other setup doesnt

Can you elaborate on that a bit, it looks like you are saying there is no difference in brake performance but it makes the brakes a lot better which contradicts? They are supposed to allow more pressure to reach the calipers as opposed to expanding the line. Whether this is noticeable or not I dont know though on old lines that will be expanding more than new ones I would expect quite a decent change

When you hit the brakes the rubber hoses expand under the pressure through the system... This in effect is causing an inefficiency as pressure that could otherwise be going to the calipers isnt. The steel braided lines don't expand, or at least expand as much and dont degrade with the heat and expansion that goes through the brake lines. So basically, they last longer and apply more pressure into the calipers making your brakes better. Hope this helps

I know the reg/rec is an issue with these Hondas, Im hoping that at only 4 years old and 11,000 miles young it hasnt gone just yet. I'll try it with the voltmeter before and after a long ride but I thought if the reg/reg had gone the lights would be failing as I rode if it was undercharging it or the battery would be very hot and boil if it was overcharging it? Neither have happened yet but I am all ears if there is a more reliable rec/reg for this bike

Disconnected battery, attached spare battery of the same rating that id connected up about 2 hours ago to the charger. Left the ignition and lights on for a full minute to get rid of the surface charge that lurks immediately after charging and to let it run down a bit. It started easily. So like I said, Gel battery on its way but thanks guys

I could hear the starter try and turn over the engine is what I meant! It would turn over once veeeery slowly and then just cut out and we would hear very rapid clicking from the solenoid I was thinking of dismantling the starter motor anyway and just having a look to make sure all of its components are still in spec. I hope they are as they are bloody expensive

Yeah I know its dodgy, the only info I got on it was sketchy but it seemed to be the case as it happened to the 1989 250 in my garage at the moment. I just left it on for months and never started the bike, came back and it was dry as a bone. So I just bought a gel battery for my bike and the 250. Will see what happens when I leave it on constantly then, as I suspect its to do with charging it back up again which the optimate does, like anything the battery wears out with lots of use so perhaps it trickle charging can be detrimental in the great long term Though I dont know, maybe ive confused someone who was using a battery charger with an optimate user, though saying that all the chargers ive bought go into a maintenance mode or something similar. But hey ho im not going to lose sleep over it

I left it on the optimate over night when its cold and it works fine the following day... Rang my dad who basically said the reason the electrics still work but the engine struggles to start if at all is because the battery has just reached that point now where it can run the bikes electrics and sustain it while it runs. But trying to spin up the starter motor is a big no no... So I ordered a new gel battery for it (apparently gel is better) and I will see how I get on with that

I bought it for reliability Now usually I would have just thought "dead battery" but this coincided with something that confused me. I went out on a 50 mile ride, bike is fine but I need some petrol by the end of it as I havent filled it in over a week. Pull in, top up, pay, go back out and put the ignition on. I notice my time is still an hour out and change it taking 20-30 seconds. Hit the starter and dead... I hear it try to turn over but it just cant. So I bump it and ride home 20 miles away, in that time I checked to see if it was the rec/reg but the lights consistently remained bright, didnt miss a beat. I get home and turn it off, then 30 seconds later fire it back up again and it starts. I then leave it for 10 minutes off and read my Haynes manual on it but it doesnt actually have an insert in the troubleshooting section to deal with this precise problem. Turn on the ignition, leave it 10 seconds, hit the starter and dead. Now here is the confusing part. When I just leave it, its electrics and FI all fire up fine, the light isnt dimming at all so Im now wondering if rather than the battery it is the starter motor. Or is it just battery as this is the first this has happened to me personally Oh and next time... Im buying Yamaha

I think it depends on the battery, as I know a bloke who dried out 2 or 3 batteries as he left the bike standing for over a year without switching it on etc at all. He since swapped it for what he said was a proper sealed unit. And the issues have supposedly stopped

Buy ninja 600 fairings and build some mounts

Get the new one painted nicely, and then mess with the old one... See if you can get some Osram night racer bulbs in there and maybe some angel eyes I currently have an ER650F project on the go, Kawasaki ZXR250 1989 and a 2007 Suzuki bandit as well. But seeing as they are being built to the owners standards I cant mess