Christoph

I have an AGV Stealth, it took a little while to bed in but now i find it very comfy and i do love the helmet. However it is really quite noisy when you start getting much above 70mph. If you're sitting at 80+mph (not condoning this of course ) then you would definitely need ear plugs. Perhaps try the AGV S-4 which I think is exactly the same shell as the Stealth but without the air scoops on the top. Not sure how much this affects the ventilation and misting in winter etc though?

Happened to mine a couple of times as well, same place both times... on a hill on a lead up to a roundabout. Never anywhere else. Same thing with the getting used to it = slowing down feeling, a nice sunny day and some open roads soon reassured me that it's going fine.

Might try and meet you all up at Sunny (we hope) Hunny... as i'm coming from Norwich.

So, i took the bike back to the dealers on Monday straight after work. 1 1/2 hours later (the dealer's in ipswich, i'm in norwich) in the pouring rain i got there. The chap had a look, and as he suspected on the phone, salt had worked it's way into the gear lever... simply took the circlip off... cleaned it up and greased it up and it moves like a dream again. He showed me how to do it for future reference (so easy when you know how!) and even declined a tenner's beer money for his trouble... top bloke. I also know this... all my gear is almost entirely waterproof. Except the crotch, which was a tad damp. Problem solved... good times.

It blew onto the right hand side, as far as i can tell there is no damage to the gear lever. Thanks for all your replies from the look of some of those google results this problem has happened to a few people when they've left the bike standing for a little while. I'm going to ring the dealer tomorrow and get it booked in to be looked at... there's still 2 weeks left on the 3 month warranty and should be a couple of weeks on the manufacturer's if anything major actually is wrong. Rear tyre also went down to 17psi from 33psi in the one and 1/2 weeks it was stood still... will have them look at the tyre too!

Hi all. Went out for a ride today for the first time in a couple of weeks (after the wind blew the bike over)... by far the longest the bike's stood still since i bought it. Riding along an A road and the speed limit dropped from 60 down to 40. I'd been riding in 6th and as i came up to the new limit i dropped it down into 5th (fine) and then tried to get into fourth... just a spongy gear selector, clutch out and still in 5th. Tried a couple of times with some more pressure and blipping the throttle and nothing. So i pull over and after a bit of fannying around in a layby it seemed okay and i could find neutral 1st, 2nd happily. Ride a few more miles, get into 6th, come to changing down and the same problem. This same problem seems to have happened again and again on the way home, usually (but not always) when i get into 6th. Could it be something to do with the oil after our recent cold spell? (the bike was fully warmed up when this started happening.) (ps... i'm no techy with bikes so don't have much of a clue about it.)

I'm pretty sure that even if it obscures the image so much it can't be read normally, the negative image will show up the letters clear as day. Can't remember where but there is an article on a anti speed cam site somewhere, will see if i can dig the link out.

A few more (dirty- not in that way!) pics So chuffed... love it!

I just bought the Oxford Stormex last week for £49.99 including free delivery from here: http://www.bikebitzuk.co.uk/index.php?main_page=product_info&products_id=30. Ordered Wednesday at about 11pm and it was delivered on Friday day time (you have to sign for it). It seems to do the job spot on so far.

So... i took the plunge at the weekend and bought a 07 SV650s with the full fairing - gets delivered on Friday. Was tempted to go new, but this only had 1300 miles on the clock for a year and half old with second service done as well. Tank protector will go straight away... it's bad. Insurance so far: Comp £750; 3PFT £265 but have yet to play off again each other. Thanks for everyone's advice. http://www.themotorbikeforum.co.uk/download/file.php?id=1695 http://www.themotorbikeforum.co.uk/download/file.php?id=1696

If you're riding with your choke out then that may be why your engine is stalling (don't know the technicalities on flooding etc) but you shouldn't need to ride with any choke. You should only need choke to start your engine from cold, if it's been running for any period of time then you shouldn't use any choke (hence why not riding with choke out). I know that my bike won't start very well (if at all) on a warm/hot engine with any choke - from experience when i first started. (thankfully a colleague who is a biker was in the car park and came over to tell me what was wrong - nice chap!) To start after the stall [EDIT: if you've flooded the engine or had tried starting with choke whilst hot]: No choke at all, open the throttle fully, press the starter and then immediately close the throttle... repeat a couple of times and it usually works.

I have exactly the same problem on my CBR125... rear brake - it's so annoying coming to a stop in the town... nice shiny bike... then you hear that squeak! Seems worse if i haven't lubed the chain for a while, lube it and the squeaking disappears for another 100miles or so.

Indeed a very sexy bike, but looking for a faired beauty for a bit more wind protection. Not quite a SV white wash as predicted, the kwak seems to be coming out on top... I will indeed sit on them all before choosing. Anyone give me pros/cons of any of the above bikes - handling, fuel consump, how good the fairing actually is in practise, build quality, throttle response, pillion comfort... sorry to sound such a noob (cos i am really) but just want to get to know about the bikes from people with experience on them.

The Z750 is a stunning bike but i'm looking for more wind protection, looks like it'll be a bit blustery on the big roads.

I would worry about keeping it rust free... often don't clean after a ride until i can find some time - which is usually a week or so. I guess that's a pretty bad idea on any bike but it would worry me if they were particularly susceptible? What about the pillion seat on the SV, it doesn't look like much fun? One vote for the Kwak... Tom?

Been told with the SV that they don't like the winters, particularly the salt... don't know if this is still the case with the new bikes?

Hi all... after riding the 125 for a while now and gaining some confidence and bike craft, i'm finally thinking of taking the plunge and moving up to the bigger league. I'm looking for a faired bike around the 600 - 700cc mark used equally for short distance commuting as it is long distance play-time at the weekends. It would be good to know how highly people rate each of the machines... good and bad points please Okay... so far, ideas are: FZ6S2 (ABS) ER-6F CBF600S Bandit 650SA SV650Sport V-Strom 650GT Your opinions? Also added a poll for squits and giggles.

The manual says it should idle at 1400 +-100 after 10mins stop and start riding. Have you looked at the idle speed after 10-15 mins of riding? If it is 2000rpm after that, maybe just adjusting the idle speed as mentioned before. It says how on page 72 of the 2004 manual with all the idle speed info.

Got one from HG, £20. Absolutely fantastic on cold rides and as they say, so versatile as well.

Had a cat run out on me last week, doing about 40 (me, not the cat ). Appeared from nowhere and it just ran... didn't even seem to notice me. I slammed on the anchors as much as the conditions would let me and was still going to hit said pussy. So, with nothing behind or oncoming i released the brakes and swerved around its back end just as it passed right in front of me - blissfully unaware of the miniature heart attack it had just caused. That was my introduction to the swerve manoeuvre... Question for more experienced bikers, was i right to release the brakes before attempting the swerve... it seemed natural at the time?

Like people have said, it is important that the locking pin is small enough to fit through the holes in you brake disc... the other option is to fit it all the way over your disc and secure it on the inner of the disc. I bought a Xena disc lock first out and got it home and found it didn't fit as the distance between the locking pin and the other end was too short to go all the way over my disc but the pin itself was too big to go through any of the lightning holes in the disc. I took my bike with me when i went to exchange it and tried the some more locks at the shop, i ended up buying an Abus Granite detecto which is nice and chunky. http://www.abus.de/images/prod/zweirad/Motorrad/Granit_Detecto_dt.jpg I would advise getting an alarmed disc lock, you get a nice moderately loud siren that alerts you if anyone's playing with your bike and even better - it will let you know if you try to ride off whilst it's still locked.

I wear a pair of Buffalo textile trousers over jeans and over my work trousers, they were from Hein Gericke. About £80 i think. They also work fine on their own or over shorts etc.

Fixed. Took the brake lever off and gave it and the bolt a bit of a clean, put it back on and it's now as smooth as a baby's bottom.

Hi all, I've noticed since a ride on sunday that my front brake lever now seems to judder when ever it is pulled normally. It happens both when stationary and moving. However, when i apply some upwards pressure on the lever and then pull it, it seems to move smooth and as happy as larry. It feels almost as though it's metal against rubber causing the judder. Front brake also seems a little spongy all of a sudden at the same time as the juddering started... brake fluid looks okay, disc seems okay... only thing i haven't checked since sunday is the pads. Any advice? Thanks.

Alright Wannars, I used to be a Felixstowe lad until I went to uni in Norwich several years back and have stayed up here ever since. Good times, nice to see someone from home here.