Mississippi Bullfrog

I know a few guys who have used that particular oil in bikes with no problems.

This could still be the battery. I had one recently doing the same - the battery showed good voltage but was collapsing as soon as any load was applied. The charger wouldn't touch it so it looked like it was at full charge - when in reality it was fried. Try testing the battery voltage with a 12v bulb connected to it - see what voltage it is holding when the bulb is connected.

If you don't have much use for a grinder otherwise then consider putting the money into a Dremel - or one of the cheaper versions. It's the kind of thing you'll use time and time again all around the house so well worth having. I have a cordless Dremel which is brilliant for removing chain links.

Andrew needs to get a life.

That's easy - the black one is Ginger and the ginger one is - oh hang on...... I've never tried to name all mine, there's about 130,000 of them http://i.imgur.com/0eMZcYf.jpg?1

Many moons ago I started on a 125 - and there's much to be said for the experience gained. However I had to commute on some pretty quick roads on it and it wasn't the most joyful of experiences. Riding flat out trying to keep up with traffic on a small bike with skinny tyres and not much by the way of brakes & suspension got a bit tiresome. If your commute is round town or roads up to 50mph then a 125 is fine. If you need to travel on A roads at the national speed limit or dual carriageways I think I'd spend a bit more and go down the A2 route. Both have advantages and disadvantages, so I'd say the deciding factor is the distance and type of road you have to ride every day.

A friend lives on a rural lane and his house is right on a right hand bend - in effect you go straight ahead to go down his driveway. Which I did one day, parked up, and was just getting out of the car when a lady came belting up the drive and straight into me. Hit me so hard up the chuff the front windscreen popped straight out. Fair do's - she put her hand up straight away to what she'd done. What was a bit of shock was the red mess all over her windscreen which looked pretty grim - turned out to be a pizza she'd just bought and had left on her parcel shelf. I'd seen her glancing down all the way down the lane so I'd slowed right down and indicated for miles before pulling in. Still didn't help much.

Sounds like poor sparks not igniting the richer fuel mix on acceleration. As said, leads, plugs, could be damp in the connectors?

Slightly worried that the dog thinks it has two feet. It's not some kind of mutant toy is it?

Can you pull the plugs and see what the tips look like. That can tell you quite a lot about an engine.

What happens if you lower the headlight aim so that high beam can be used without dazzling oncoming traffic on a motorway? You said you'd raised the aim (presumably trying to make dipped beam reach further) in which high beam will be aimed very high.

It might help to know which bike and what bulbs you've got fitted. Mostly just upping the wattage isn't a brilliant idea as you end up with blown fuse (if you're lucky), melted loom (if you're not) and in the long run a lot of lenses will discolour if too much heat goes through them. The Nightbreaker bulbs are meant to help. I used to have to ride overnight out to Anglesey down the A55, in a mid-winter blizzard there was no visibility at all. I used to follow a truck - until one night the visibility was so bad the truck was half-way to Swansea before I realised we weren't on the A55 anymore. I found setting the headlight to the highest level didn't actually help as the beam isn't hitting anything - it's just going out into empty air. If anything I'd either drop the main beam a bit, and ride to the road you can see, or set your spot light to light the road surface leaving your main beam to cover anything higher. I'm currently looking at some Cree led spots - but haven't had time to do much yet. I've got one on my push iron and it sends a beam for a hell of a distance.

Silly man. The key was left in the lock all the time. They do look pretty good don't they!

Much as I have been sometimes so tempted I've realised that somewhere there will be some poor unsuspecting biker who won't know why this guy is likely to carve them up without provocation or warning. I've generally found that when the caged have nowhere to go having a bike's headlight a few feet from their face starts making them look pretty silly pretty quickly. Revenge is an art, best done slowly and with subtlety.

Yes, I have a feeling this is how it might have to be. I'll look at the wiring when it arrives. I'm always a bit wary of the sparky stuff. It is strange magic.

I have just bought myself a 2006 Honda CBF500 - not the fastest thing on two wheels but it will do what I need it to do and hopefully be a reliable as my old CB500. The bike is being delivered next week after a few jobs being done. It is fitted with a Datatool alarm and immobiliser for which I have two transmitters but no PIN code. It's a System 3/21 type (not sure what the difference is between the 3 & the 21 as the instruction manual just says that everything for one also applies to the other). Just wondered if anyone has any experience of this system when bough on a used bike. I'd like to keep it intact and running, but what happens when I need to remove the bike's main battery. I've got instructions how to delete the old PIN but it comes with a warning, that if the internal battery is dead then deleting the old PIN will kill the system. Does that mean it simply stops working or will killing the system trigger the immobiliser (which would be a bad thing!) As said, anyone had one, any ideas or suggestions?

I have a Wolf branded compressor. It's the same machine as the Machine Mart stuff, just cheaper. The only differences are the colour and that it comes with Euro fittings instead of UK ones. But if you're buying cheap air kit from Lidl /Aldi then that comes with Euro fittings as well. Mine is the 50 litre tank which will spray car panels fine. It runs small air tools but not things like sanders or cutters which gobble the air. If you are looking at the budget end of the market it's all the same Chinese stuff with different brand names so you might as well buy the cheapest version you can. Just don't buy cheap hose - it's worth spending a bit more on that.

Love it or hate it, the Van Van is that kind of bike. Back in the 70's the Californian beach bums needed something with big fat tyres to cruise the sands, and the original Van Van was born. In the early years of the 21st Century someone had the bright idea of relaunching the same concept and the current version has been in production virtually unchanged since then. The only notable change has been the introduction of fuel injection to replace the good old carb. It is hoot to ride, obviously not that fast, but lightweight, well mannered and with those big fat tyres it trundles over road imperfections without bothering about them at all. You know those long shiny bits where they bodge the surface back together, poorly fitted cats eyes, pot holes, gouges, grids - well the Van Van just removes them from existence. Round town it excels with a good comfy riding position and easy balance. You can ride to a standstill in heavy traffic. The gears are slick, those who report crunchy gear selection have usually undone the wrong bolt when changing the oil and replaced the gear selector rod upside down. It obviously isn't a bike for the motorway, and there's not much to be done to increase power. The engine is limited by its valves and head, messing with the exhaust won't do anything. But there are two things you can do. The first is to fit a screen, that improves the aerodynamics no end. The other is the usual thing of fitting a smaller front cog. Carb bikes come with 15 teeth front cogs as standard, FI have 14. You just go down one. That keeps the engine in a better rpm range when in 6th. In theory a Van Van will top 70mph in standard form, but only going downhill with the wind behind you. In reality you push it as far as you can in 5th, stick it in 6th, and it slows down again. Any gradient or headwind and 6th is useless. With a smaller cog mine will hit 68mph before the rev limiter kicks in (10k), but it will hold at a steady 60mph all day, headwind or moderate gradient included. (You really wouldn't want to do this to be honest because the engine is spinning at around 9,000 rpm so it gets a bit wearing.) But if you stick to A roads long journeys are fine. What you lose on power you more than make up in comfort, simplicity and ease of riding. Simplicity is high on the Van Van's list of attributes. The switchgear is all standard (usual Suzuki clutch in to start), there's a neat little speedo, neutral light, turn light, fuel low light (FI models), high beam light and FI fault light. Maintenance is a cinch, the high exhaust means everything at the back end is easy to get at. Most jobs can be done by anyone with a modicum of mechanical aptitude, spares are cheap. The finish is slightly better than Suzuki's usual rust prone creations, but if you ride all winter protect it with ACF50. Popular modifications are to add a front mudguard extension and also a rear mudguard flap that covers the shock. The rears can be cut out of a cheap car mat to good effect. Serious riders fit heated grips which the 12v system copes with but don't leave them switched on at a break or it won't restart. The battery isn't huge. Many add a tachometer but you really don't need one, the engine is pretty good at letting you know what it's doing. Keep the tyre pressures at a modest 18psi front and back. Either side of that and the Van Van lets you know it isn't happy, you start to notice road imperfections. Cornering is a bit of a doddle given the size and weight of the bike and the huge tyres. You just can't fall off the side of them. Everyone has their own style, I find that laying the bike over a bit, sitting more upright in the saddle and slightly counter steering, just means it goes round corners without any fuss or drama. It's the kind of bike that puts a smile on your face at the end of every journey. If you're looking for something that is easy to ride, easy to maintain, that will give you confidence and provide cheap reliable transport, have a sit on one. Oh - the bits I forgot - I've had mine just over two years. Love it to bits. Would easily buy another - in fact due to a rather generous relative I'm currently looking at one of the new 200's. I've been looking at bigger stuff, but I know they won't make me smile half so much, and that's really what counts most. http://i.imgur.com/VRhyYmO.jpg?1

I tried contacts but found that if I had to crack the visor open something always got into my eye. In the end I went back to glasses and bought the right helmet. Much prefer riding in glasses than contacts as if I have the visor up I've still got something protecting my eyes. Good luck with the training. Once it clicks it feels right.