bonio

You're the first person I've ever come across to do this (for road riding, that is). I found it to be such a hassle I never bothered again.

I used to use a Forcefield strap on back protector. Rode tens of thousands of miles in it. Very comfortable. Works with all jackets. The only disadvantage was it was a bit hot in hot weather.

The MV's sounds like an asthmatic sheep. Might take it to the vet's.

Yes, a great bike.

So presumably a break down of trust in the news?

you taking a cut on sales, @TimR?

With a 1250, given the bike will be new or a year or two old max, I'd say stick with a dealer service. When you come to sell it on or px, you'll find that potential buyers will likely to very sensitive to having a full dealer service record - and there will be plenty of other bikes to buy that have it. With an older bike, you have a different set of potential buyers, so if you're sure you're going to be keeping the bike for several years, the independent makes better sense. Either way, as said above, phone them up and give them a call. When I had my 1200, I found the dealer service costs weren't that bad - perhaps £500 or £600 every 12,000 miles. The independents used to undercut this by about 15%. But the costs came in hard when things went wrong, so when the normal warranty runs out, I'd recommend getting the extended warranty. It's about £400 a year, but can save you shedloads.

@Stu Can trump your story, I think. Couple of years back I left the heated grips on while at work. Come 7 o'clock I want to go home - but the starter motor says no (actually it doesn't make a noise at all). Call the RAC. 3 hours later man with a van comes along, gets me started and follows me to a petrol station so I can fill up and he can be sure I can get moving again . By the time I get home, it's midnight and the wife is asleep. She thinks I have a front door key. So do I. We are both wrong. Worse, she's as deaf as a post. So I start knocking at the front door - no answer. I phone the house - no answer. I phone her mobile - no answer. I check all the doors and windows, but they're all locked. Then I do the door / phone / mobile routine again, this time knocking a bit louder. No answer. Louder still. Same result. By now it's about 1 o'clock so I go round the back and start chucking stones at the bedroom window. No answer. I tie some bamboo poles together with garden string and use them to rap the window pane... It's nearly 2 in morning so I lie in wait at the front of the house and wait for light to come on which means she's going to the loo, so I can catch her when she's awake. No lights come on. About half past two I start getting tired, so I go to the greenhouse and have a lie down and get some kip. About half past three I wake up freezing cold, so I go off for walk round the town. I reckon that I've only another three hours to go before places start to open and I can get a cuppa. Then my mobile rings - it's the wife, just a tad mad with me for not being back home

Another possibility - some of the larger manufacturers offer free 7-day insurance cover on a new bike (I guess this is a new bike we're talking about...) Do Honda do the same? If so, it would be enough for you to get the bike home, only thing is after the 7 days you'd have the bike at your risk if it got nicked or damaged somehow.

When my bike was nicked, I had to sort everything out directly with the underwriter. I'd insured the bike with BikeSure; the underwriter was Markerstudy. To be fair, they paid out without a fuss; I had the cash in the bank account after just a couple of weeks.

You training as a drone pilot? MOD job? Or working for Ken McCallum? Cool - I think

Never wanted keyless ride, cos I knew that this would be me.

That's great. Best of luck and many (s)miles with it Jack.

Mod 1 has a bad reputation for accidents! At least you're ok.

@goat At Loddon on the A146 and Morrisons in Beccles.

Can't explain why, but we passed two places this evening, both had petrol and no queues. We were close on empty so stopped to fill up; took no more than 5 minutes.

Sounds similar to when I started out 11 years back. Only the bike I bought was £1100.

Can't really advise you about your local prices... If you're unsure, you're best off taking a friend round with you to see it.

You're mainly at the mercy of the dealer, but you can do things to make sure it isn't your bike that's waiting at the back of the work queue. What about something like this: get some commitments from the dealer: a date when it's going to be worked on, and a final date when it ought to be sorted out. Then write and say you expect them to escalate the matter if the dates aren't met, and you'll be pressing for a complete replacement. Put everything in writing. Phone once or twice a week and ask for status, perhaps request photos. When one of the dates you've set up passes, go to trading standards.

Hello mate and welcome back. Good to hear you've been riding all this time All the best with the new VFR when you get it.

Went through this a few months ago. Got bumped onto Shell, IIRC. They put us on the variable rate tarriff, which was priced ok at the time, but variable. So I left as soon as I could for another provider's fix rate. It took about 2 or 3 months to sort out.

125 is a good size engine for beginners. Plenty fast enough to be frightening but not so much as to be completely terrifying. When you practice, find some private land where there's nothing near about. Don't go wild, keep your speed under 40 until you've a feel for how it works. Look where you want the bike to go (which is not always where it's going!) Most of all, wear a helmet and decent protective gear: especially gloves and boots, but proper jacket and pants too - denim shreds to nothing in under a second.

too much gin

Some learner bikes are small, and aren't gong to work well for someone as tall as you. Best to phone up a few training schools near you and ask their advice; they'll know what bikes they have and which are going to be most suitable.

Ouch, that all sounds painful. Hope you're recovering ok. Sorry, going to have to ask you some more questions in order to help - did you receive your treatment in the UK, or somewhere else? what's your nationality? what's your residency status?