bonio

It was all looking fantastic until I got to Torquay, and then I lost all faith in the journalist.

The Bergman is a good call. You can wear your boots to work and a pair of shoes under your desk. Then you've only the trousers to worry about. Rain proof overtrousers (small and light) plus kevlar jeans which you can wear all day?

Wow. That made a difference.

A couple of years ago I saw an ex-police Z1000SX on ebay. High miles - something like 45k iirc - but other than that looked fine. And it was ridiculously cheap. I was tempted until I thought that it would probably have been ridden pretty hard so I let it drop. But a DVSA bike isn't going to be pelting up roads at over 100 on too many occasions. Sounds like a bargain.

I've on this for a while. Seems to me like a top idea. Only saw one job come up near here back in the days of lockdown, so it was jumped on at once.

I used to commute on a 50cc scoot, with limits between 30mph to 60mph. I think I once did 40pmh on it on a steep downhill (difficult, this was Cambridgeshire) but apart from that it was strictly a 30mph machine. I didn't actually feel unsafe; in fact it felt a lot more safe than doing the same journey on a pushbike. I only did it for 18 months, and then changed jobs and changed commutes, so did my test and got a full licence.

A foray into Naarfolk: St John, Metfield (an entry from Suffolk) https://i.imgur.com/fM5Hs2E.jpg' alt='IMGUR>'> Greyhound, Tibenham https://i.imgur.com/34R6tjz.jpg' alt='IMGUR>'> St Nicholas, Fundenhall https://i.imgur.com/t500SJG.jpg' alt='IMGUR>'> St Paul, Thuxton https://i.imgur.com/bAnRG46.jpg' alt='IMGUR>'> Stag, Attleborough https://i.imgur.com/cpI9IR6.jpg' alt='IMGUR>'> Half Moon, Rushall https://i.imgur.com/oPaXx2M.jpg' alt='IMGUR>'>

Mad dogs and Englishmen, mate. Welshmen should stay at home.

'ello mate. Not seen you here for a while.

Trying to find your lost youth, mate?

I read your first in a bit of a hurry and saw FJR1300 instead of XJR1300 so I imagined you liked the sports tourer look. Ok, now I'm reading it more carefully, you want a largish naked or semi faired beast? Honda NC700X? Yamaha XSR 900?

BBR is better than nothing, but it's good to be aware of its weaknesses - people have uploaded all kinds of routes they've done, whether they were any good or not. To get the best out of BBR, you need to look beyond the map, and go click on each road you're interested in and read what the person said. Too often it's something like "lot of boring straights but it got me to my Mum's in time for lunch". The Bikers' Britain books are excellent - I've never followed one of their routes and been disappointed. There are some apps like kurviger that will find twisty routes for you, but to me there are a lot of ingredients to a good road - sight lines, traffic, road surface - as well as bends', and I've not found the apps to be a replacement for local knowledge.

Have you found the review? ... https://www.motorcyclenews.com/bike-reviews/suzuki/gsx750f/1998/

What about a VFR800? Triumph Sprint? Z1000SX?

[mention]Mercer91[/mention] All us nobheads here learned to ride. So, pretty much anyone can.

Good on you mate. Have fun. I like the idea of posting pics here so you'll know how it should go back together. I've got some pics of how the clutch fits, if you need them.

Got an MOT for the VanVan. Just one advisory: L plate covering the rear reflector.

I've got the Oxford Premium jobbie. It takes the Tiger fine, and I can wheel it about a bit too, as long as I don't go wild. With the VanVan and the DRZ, they both feel safe as houses. Only issue with paddock stands I find is it's tricky getting the bike kind of upright as you're lifting it. But with a 125, you can hold the bike up with one hand, no problem.

MT125 double-sided swingarm

Try one of these https://www.oxfordproducts.com/motorcycle/brands/oxford/workshop/big_black_bike_rear_paddock_stand/ or if you're feeling posh one of these https://www.oxfordproducts.com/motorcycle/brands/oxford/workshop/oxford_premium_rear_paddock_stand/ (look around for the best price, though) And you can fit bobbins if you want: see here Personally, I don't think I'd wouldn't bother, though. The paddock stands include hooks for bobbins and rests that you can use directly on the swing arm. Which is what I do on the DRZ and the VanVan.

Best one I ever heard of was Randy Sarah

I've heard of him, mate. I've even read his book. It was ok. Don't have the book any more, mind.

Another thing that comes into play is experience. The first time I insured my 1200, the premium was around £1000 for a year. When I came to renew, it down to a quarter of that. The difference was that I could could say I had experience riding a 1200cc bike. If you want to save money, get a Bandit or a Fazer 600 for now and buy your beemer next year. Or you could explain the problem to the dealer and see if they're able to arrange some discount with BMW insurance But BMW aren't used to dealing with hard-up customers, so don't hold your breath.

Great choice.

Did the original training with the Cambs group; had a great observer, a young lad riding a Pan. I wasn't a fast learner (in either sense), but he was very patient For this last retest, I did a couple of observed rides with folk the Suffolk group, and then the test was up your way by a bloke from Long Stratton. I'd say go for it. Worst that can happen is that you don't get on with it, in which case you just move on.