Fizzy

Bought a Seiko Kinetic watch a couple of years back now. Described as 'as new, only worn to try on and never worn again'

Turned up, light scratching all over the strap, a deep gouge in the glass and a nice cmixture of skin/dirt all over the back of it...

Contacted the seller first, before contacting eBay, who gave me some sob story that it was her late husband's watch, he'd never worn it, I was mistaken, must be my fault, blah blah blah

I decided to take loads of pictures showing the issues, as I figured she was now going to claim I'd done it, eBay found in my favour and I eventually got my money back. She had 100% feedback up to that point, no idea why she'd lied about the watches condition, but it was plain to see it was far from 'as new'!

I think if you're having to ask, then confidence is definitely an issue

It's hard for anyone here to say just how nervous/confident you are, only you can really make that call

Just how far a journey would it be?

After 15 years of not riding, I bought a 50cc scooter from East London and rode it out to Farnborough. That was certainly a trek, and it wasn't easy avoiding motorways or dual carriageways but I survived

PSN: Fizzoid

Steam: Croptonboy

Ah, but how do you know it's not a Chinese copy of a Chinese made helmet?

Hence knowing what make/model it is gives us something to go on, so does make a difference

Makes no difference if its a helmet made for the UK market and sold widely in the UK

But we don't know if it is made for the UK market, because we don't know what helmet it is...

This question has been asked before but I will ask it again in large letters.

What brand is the helmet?

What model is the helmet?

 

What does it matter?

Makes no difference regarding approval or legality is concerned

Going to have a guess here, but I'd say that if we know what make and model of helmet it is, a quick interwebz search will tell the OP what they need to know

Took my CBT at 16years old. Like most young lads I was fearless so it didn't phase me at all jumping on a 50cc bike and mixing with the traffic.

I think it you guys who did it later in life who are worriers

Didn't even need a CBT when I started riding, straight on a moped at 16 and had a RXS 100 waiting for me on my 17th. It's certainly a while ago now, but don't think I was that nervous about riding

Took a CBT in Summer as I've been commuting on a 50 for a while and needed something bigger/newer as my commute to the station is now longer and takes in some 40-50mph roads. There was 1 other on my course, a 16 year old. The morning part he was fine, he'd clearly studied the Highway Code and riding round the car park he was fine.

However after lunch on the road ride, he was, well, dangerous! He was clearly VERY nervous, chugging along at 20mph (the only time he got up to 30 was in a 20 zone!), not reading the road (he turned left when he should have gone straight on (road bent round sharply to right)), stopping on main roads to give way to traffic at side roads, and when he was making right turns he was swinging the bike all the way left and then back across the road.

He was asked to come back for more training, but it did make me wonder how many 16 year olds had been like him when I started riding

I do see posts on FB where kids have claimed to have fallen off yet still been given the certificate. I've always suspected it's BS, but perhaps not?

The amount of people that manage to pull a good ride/drive out of their crevice and pass the test but then find out they cannot ride/drive for toffee is amazing.

My boss's wife passed her bike test. A few days later she was at the showroom collecting her bike. Drove off the forecourt and straight into the shop opposite. Most of the damage was dented pride. Guys came over from the bike shop and suggested she take some training, and they'd have the bike delivered to her...

Don't know what you mean

If it doesn't hurt America, and it doesn't profit America, he doesn't want to know.

He certainly seems that way

So any Middle-Eastern country that has oil is still in for it then!

pretty much what Tim said

What tyres are they?

 

ContiGo's, apparently the best choice out of two options for this bike.

I've seen them nicknamed Conti Let-Go's quite a few times, due to their apparent wet weather performance. I have them on my YBR too

What are your other options? The go-to tyre for the YBR is apparently the Michelin Pilot Sporty

I know what you mean about confidence though. I had a low speed (luckily) off at the beginning of the year which was in the wet and knocked my wet weather confidence no end. Before that, I was happy to throw it around much more and never had an issue, but after that I found myself tip-toeing around in the wet.

It's still not what it used to be but I'm more confident now, although the thinner rear on the YBR worries me a little, as does the tyre itself.

Also, what bike is it? On a lot of them the fuel gauge is just a bad joke

That's true! When my YBR reads empty, it usually means it's about half full

Hi,

Looks like the older style optimate Tamiya connections.

Cheers,

IM

Yeah certainly looks like a large Tamiya connector

http://www.batteryspace.com/images/products/detail/1.514.jpg

Would it be of concern if a bike has been sat for a few months? Seems like the owner fell off, had it fixed and hasn't ridden it since.

Hard to say, depends on the reason it's sat. Mine had been sat a while, hence needing the front brake and fork seals doing. You do see some bikes that have been parked up because the owner can't afford to run it, that to me rings alarm bells, because it means it probably hasn't been maintained properly

Chinese? 'cough cough ... ' Personally, I'd nuke the factories that make chinese bikes but,

Although they'd then be a shortage of new 125 Yamahas

The YBR is made my a company called Jianshe in China, who also produce bikes under their own name. Their JS 125-6F should look very familiar

Jacket/trousers, as suggested, try eBay, you can probably get a jacket for about £25 with the armour. I dropped lucky and bought an IXON jacket for 99p!

Will you get something like a YBR for £700? Well yes, I think so, and not necessarily one with loads of issues either. I was recently in the same boat, with a similar budget. Looked at YBRs and CBFs. Went with the YBR in the end as it was a little lower to the ground (I'm 174cm) and was thinner. The seat on the CBF felt like it was stretching my legs too much, YBR felt much more comfy.

2 bikes I narrowed it down to was a 2009 stolen/recovered CBF which was only a couple of miles from me, for sale on eBay. Had 8 months MOT and was decent enough, finally sold for £640, but I went for a 2007 YBR with 13k on it. No MOT, so took a bit of a punt, but other than needing new fork seals and the front brake cleaning, it went through the MOT. Paid £500 for the bike and £165 for the work, which included an oil change and the MOT cost.

Had new scooter this week and I just want to check regarding storage boxes. Is it safe to leave them on the bike over night?

Suppose it all depends on where you live, and if you plan on leaving anything valuable in it

I always take mine off when parking it up overnight, but then that's more down to the fact the cover won't fit with it on

Well it is definitely starting to turn, so far discovered my summer jacket even with the thermal lining is far too cold at 4am in 5'c, today I put a hoody on underneath and helped a bit but a new jacket is definitely next order.

I find a decent windstopper works wonders for keeping the chill out

Ah thanks Fizzy.

Yeah most of the people who take their own bike to do the CBT on are doing refresher course within 2 years so still insured and have a CBT

Exactly that, although I did take my 50 to the training centre for my first CBT, but I have a moped licence. Ended up doing it on one of their YBRs anyway

It's possible the training centre's insurance would cover you on your own bike, but I personally doubt it, but there's nothing to stop you asking

You could wheel it down there, and ride home once insured/taxed but it's a 5 minute walk, so is it worth it?

Not only that, but I'd be surprised if the insurance would cover you until you have the CBT certificate (they asked me when mine was issued as they had no record of me having one on file), in which case you'd then need to wait for the insurance documents to come though, before popping to the Post Office to get the bike taxed, which is exactly what I did recently

Yeah using your own scooter for the CBT seems a bit of hassle, I'm never sure how the insurance works out for that stuff either as you will be riding it on the road prior to getting your CBT in the afternoon.

Pretty sure you won't be allowed to ride your own scooter as your insurance won't cover you until you have the CBT, and it's unlikely the training centre's insurance will cover you

Great, time to get out and have some fun. Take it easy though, do a few runs as confidence builders first

Another option, could be the immobiliser? Did it sound like this before?

Is the red ignition light not coming on?

Here's the recode sequence (borrowed from another site)

The recoding sequence is:

a) Put red key in ignition, turn so that power comes on but do _not_ start the engine. Wait 3-5 seconds, turn off and remove red key (take it away from the bike).

b) For each of your black keys; put it in the ignition, turn so that power comes on but do not start the engine. Wait 3-5 seconds, turn off and remove black key (if you have more than one black key, repeat step b)!

c) Finally re-insert red key in ignition, turn so that power comes on but do not start engine. Wait 3-5 sec turn off and remove red key.

Now the immobilizer is re-encoded and should recognize the back keys. Do not take the red key near the machine once it is encoded, if it accidentally "catches" the red key when started - it will "forget" the back keys - and you will have to repeat the process.