fastbob

Thanks for all the replies , I brought this up because I casually happened to mention that I was less than impressed by the artist in question whilst eating my lunch in the office canteen. I was rounded upon by a surprisingly broad cross section of my colleagues with such ferocity that I was quite taken aback . Just because I described him as a " Beady eyed, pasty faced , warbling , ginger gnome " doesn't mean that I actually hate the little chap . In fact I was merely painting a picture in words for the benefit of those who hadn't heard of him . Unfortunately everyone present had bought into this media phenomenon big time which left me feeling as if I had walked into a Catholic Church and denounced his Holiness' the Pope .

Is it alright to state publicly that I don't like Ed Sheeran or would it be safer not to mention the subject at all ? Was I somewhere else when the whole world was seemingly brainwashed ? I'm confused .

I wonder if the rebore was done to accurately match the new piston . Was it done by an experienced engineer in a reputable engine shop or was it done by someone who happened to have a boring machine ?

Oh wow , its an Enfield ! I completely understand, 29bhp is plenty . I enjoy my ER5 just as much as my GSXR but for different reasons.

Thats a spanner set every 3 and a half years.. I think you need to question your buying choices. Buy cheap buy twice (and then some.) I don't actually think I have bought so many spanner sets but I was just musing upon how I could have ended up with so many 11mm spanners . I once worked for a shop that sold Teng Tools that had very poor stock control

Not having the luxury of a workshop I have to keep all my tools including my spanners in a toolbox. I don't know about you guys but I am sick of picking up a 10mm spanner only to find that its actually an 11mm spanner. Someone will prove me wrong but I absolutely cannot think of any possible use for an 11mm spanner on a motorbike. So I finally decided to sort my spanners out and to my astonishment I discovered that I am the owner of no less than eleven of the useless bloody things ! So this got me thinking that assuming I've never deliberately bought an individual 11mm spanner, I must , over 40 years have bought at least eleven spanner sets ! Anyway, I've finally rounded them all up and zip tied them together so they can plague me no more.Good riddance!

Don't worry about it , my ER5 starts and runs fine whatever I do to the pilot air screws . Remember they only influence the idle and lower rev range then the main jets kick in . I think mine are set at ¾ of a turn out because I was trying to reduce the banging on the over run after I fitted the race can . Starts first touch and settles down quickly to a rock steady idle , after 8000 miles I've come to love the popping and banging . By the way, its one and a quarter + or - a quarter for reference whatever that means.

Unless brake fluid is actually pissing out of the calipers then its got to be air still in the system .

Where's that ? Looks a bit like Bewdley . ( edit ) Yes I've just checked G Maps and it is Bewdley . Well you were lucky not to get moved on or given a ticket . I used to enjoy parking right there but a few years ago the council decided that all bikes had to be parked across the way in a designated bike park next to the public toilets . The police were actually very apologetic but threatened us with fines nonetheless.

Never had to use one .. Adding one of those will create a balance issue if not present at fitting time . No , you don't leave it attached , this would put great strain on the rubber valve seat and would be highly dangerous. These are for when you just can't get the rigid air hose at a garage to go onto the valve at the correct angle. I have to use one because on my GSXR the discs get in the way . When I worked in a bike shop , customers would buy these in pairs and despite everything we said to discourage them they would insist on leaving them attached to both valves while riding . Anyway if you don't need one then fair enough.

If you haven't checked or pumped up your tyres for two years there's quite a good chance that they have worn in an uneven manner due to incorrect inflation . You're probably going to need one of these if you are going to use an air pump at a garage.

I couldn't have put it better , its just a bump .

Quite so, a torque wrench can do more harm than good especially on a worn or greasy thread.

Well I could suggest one way to lower emissions and that would be to ban the use of big cc motorbikes that have no practical purpose other than mindless recreation and the habitual breaking of speed limits .........oh shit

Don't be tempted by any Sportster pre 2004 , the vibrations kill the fun .Here's a good example of what you can get ( thanks Stu )

Your gonna become a reverse vampire and only come out on very sunny days? No , I'm going to get a 2004 1200 sportster with the minimum of chrome and powder coated engine and forks and I'm going to ride it as an ordinary motorbike.

Thanks Stu, I almost certainly will be buying from Gumtree , I just fancied looking at lots of used Harleys this weekend without the corporate hype and boutique atmosphere of an official HD dealership. These places are pretty much standardised so if you've seen one you've seen them all and as I say , they only deal in nearly new buybacks and I don't particularly like any of the current models anyway. As I have also mentioned in another post, I have no interest in the HD culture, I just want a bike that's as different to a GSXR as you can get .

Side stand switches generally need connecting rather than disconnecting if that makes sense . In other words they work by making a circuit rather than breaking one . If yours isn't connected because I'm guessing that you ain't having a side stand on a trike then this could be the problem.

Well if you want to give it away I'll have it

What do you fancy ?? http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-highlands-islands-41035766 Although thats last years, it gets bigger every year, if you dont have one sorted by august bank holiday weekend, you could pop up, always bikes for sale and definitely the biggest collection of HD's you will find in the uk, good weekend of drink and music and lots of other bikes too. What do I fancy ? I know exactly what i want . I want a 2004 -2006 XL 1200 R . I've been researching this for some time and I have settled on this model because its got the first rubber mounted engine , everything is powder coated , twin discs, mid controls , race cams , a carburetor, no fuel pump, belt drive and many low mileage examples fall into my price range ( £5000 )

Fastbob, sorry I know of only one and its a dealership where my old workmate's son is the service manager. Its at Uppingham in Rutland and will be a gteat rideout from Coventry for you (under 50 miles). You get free tea and coffee too just take some sandwiches and enjoy. Theres a great crowd of friendly riders congregate there. I used to turn up for free tea on my Bonnie and make fun of them! Heres a link http://www.sycamorehd.co.uk Thanks for that but I'm trying to avoid HD dealerships because they only seem to sell nearly new pristine bikes that are outside my projected budget. I've been to Wolverhampton HD and they were extremely welcoming despite me making it very clear that i was looking for an older model . Many of the bikes in HD dealerships look so " Bling " that I don't know how people dare ride them .

Does anybody know of any second hand bike showrooms, excluding official Harley dealers , where I can see the maximum amount of used Harleys in one place. Preferably within 100 miles of Coventry. I fancy a ride at the weekend and I'm aiming to buy a Harley this year so all suggestions are welcome.

Get two 250ml bottles because it not a good idea to store an opened bottle for a long time .

Don't ever call them pussies .

You can't go wrong with a Shoei , good choice.