Mississippi Bullfrog

I only have two buckets so hardly worth listing them. But if I had to then no. 1 would be the orange one from B&Q, no.2 would be the yellow one our daughter painted flowers all over. Is having loads of buckets a thing these days?

What Stu said about the fluid boiling. It's a hydraulic system so if the fluid is old and has now got water absorbed in it (brake fluid is hydroscopic) at heat the water boils which creates a gas bubble. You can compress gas so that takes the hydraulic action out of the brake fluid. As he said, replace the fluid regularly.

I remember camping in Nottingham in 76, the camp in the next field left a big propane cylinder out in the sun and it exploded. Fortunately everyone was out for the day so no casualties, but it made a hell of a mess. That and watching workmen install a height barrier on the site and the realise they couldn't get their van out.

I hate it when people take a bad joke and then milk it for all its worth. There's a village called Nobottle! Seriously? Must be why they have to keep cows on the street.

I am sure many people starting out will find this comprehensive write up useful. I'd just query the none use of the rear brake for an emergency stop. The front brake in the dry does upwards of 70% of the braking but proper application of the rear both adds stability and slows you quicker. If the rear brake is applied properly it prevents all the weight being thrown forwards. In the wet the rear brake should be used with a bit more pressure to prevent the front end locking up and sliding from under you. If the rear locks it's easier to control and ease off of the pressure? Linked ABS systems apply both brakes in an emergency situation.

Hmmm....I happened to call in at our local bike shop on the way home and they have a 2013 CBF1000 in stock. I like bikes that look like bikes, rather than some form of alien insect. I'm kind of interested. Thanks for your review.

And Brasso. Back in the late 70's a biker mate of mine used to swear by adding Brasso to his fuel as it polished the inside of the engine. He did however tend to suffer from piston failure for some reason.

Contrary to the many cynical opinions you will read about these things they do work. They do exactly what they are meant to do. Which is to con money out of gullible mugs. In which sense they are very effective. Any use in a petrol tank? Nope. That's not their primary purpose.

I can't comment on either of your suggestions. But I recently bought a Frank Thomas FTL400 jacket for summer riding. £160 from J&S. I am very pleased with it. Jackets are a really personal choice as it depends what suits you. I find it really comfy to ride in, simple to wear (not too many fastenings to mess with) and most importantly it's got a decent level of protection whilst being cool during this hot weather.

The plug ought to look a light grey/brown colour. That does look like it's running too rich. Check it is the right plug for the engine as well - they vary in heat ranges. If you adjust the carb settings then two golden rules. First is to mark the original settings so you can go back to them if necessary. Second is to adjust by very small degrees - don't go winding mixtures screws by several turns - usually a quarter turn at a time is about right. Err on the side of slightly rich if you have to, burning too lean does more harm than slightly rich.

As above or some contaminant in the fuel. If there's some water in the tank for example then that can happen. A trick for getting rid of water in fuel tanks is to add some methylated spirit. Water won't mix with petrol but it does mix with meths and then the resulting meths/water emulsion then mixes with the petrol enabling it to be burnt without causing the engine to cut out. Or of your don't fancy that simply buy some petrol with ethanol content - it's beginning to be sold in the UK (which causes problems for classic car owners as the fuel systems aren't made for it) - that already contains a percentage of alcohol in the fuel so it's cleanse the tank of water droplets.

In warm weather you often don't need the choke to start bike engines. If you close the choke then it's running too rich to fire up in warm weather, so just fire it up with the choke open. I don't understand why you want to close the choke once the engine is warm - that will cause it to run too rich which is why it won't idle. Once an engine is warm you leave the choke fully open. The problem is I'm not sure you're referring to open and closed the right way round in the first place - hence the query about the captions on the photos. Open - means that the choke flap is fully open so airflow is not restricted. Closed - means the flap sits across the airflow so restricting it. Less air mean the air-fuel mix is made richer for cold starts.

On my phone so can't see the photos too clearly, but on most chokes the butterfly is closed for cold starts and is fully open when warm. When the butterfly flap is closed it restricts the airflow to enrich the mixture.

I've use Halfords 10W-40 semi synth as well. I just keep to the principle of changing the oil very frequently - usually gets done every 2k. It's a quick job and if the oil is kept fresh the detergents stop the engine building up deposits.

Well done

High fuel consumption, bogging down on idle and cutting out, poor restarting from hot - all suggests it's running rich to me.

I have a Duke - not the Duke 2 version though. I'm happy with it. The mechanism for the flip front is solid and easy to use even wearing winter gloves. The pinlock certainly reduces misting though in really cold weather I crack the visor slightly at lights. I only wear plugs for motorways as I don't find it excessively noisy. I wear photochromic glasses so I don't use the sun visor that much but it's easy to slide down. Occasionally I've struggled to get it back up first time.

Lower than what? you seem to be suggesting sub 500Ma. is that right? No - I just said you can buy gel cell chargers that are cheap at 500Ma or less (mine is 400Ma) and they're handy for bike batteries. If the OP is looking for a cheap option it's worth looking into. Often they are sold as simple plug in lead-acid chargers with outputs of 500Ma or less. I've used gel cells for model aircraft pit box power supplies for years and the trick is to charge them slow and low to make them last. Model shops sell them for a lot less than you'd pay for something similar from a bike shop. Gel cells can be charged with a standard charger but if the current is too high for too long the gel separates from the plates and it naturally can't flow back again. With lead-acids most chargers will raise the voltage to ensure maximum charge, if monitor the battery temperature you'll notice it gets warmer as full capacity is reached. That's where your gel cell begins to have problems - they won't tolerate that heating up phase. Hence a cheap, simple and easy solution is a low amp charger. The chargers that are 'universal' have the capacity to charge low and slow. I wouldn't use the charger I use for my leisure batteries on a gel cell - an 8amp charge would fry them.

Sounds like a dud relay. Check where the noise is coming from. Also check the earth connection as they tend to corrode which leads to poor conductivity.

Gel cells need charging at a lower amperage than lead acid. If they are charged too fast the gel separates from the plates and it kills them. You can buy a plug in charger for gel cells at sub 500Ma which are only a few pounds. They're quite handy for maintaining both lead acid and gel batteries. The Optimate and CTEK are good and well worth it, but you can use a simple gel charger if you only want to spend a few quid.

A flexible rod with something like petroleum jelly on the end can remove bits of crud quite well. If the valves are closed hopefully nothing has got into the cylinders. If in doubt I'd try the rod trick around the combustion chamber as well.

Sounds like someone's been to the pub already. I know a couple of pubs frequented by cyclists around there - I wonder if that's what they were thinking of?

I cycled LEJOG a few years back - 1018 miles total on the route we took. As a test route I'd say it's not really worth it - it is what it is and you do it because it's there. Wherever you live there's the additional complication of getting to Land's End to start with and then back from John O'Groats at the end. (John O'Groats isn't even the furthest bit of the mainland anyway. That's a bit of private land you can't get onto which is a bit of a disappointment when you get there.) In terms of scenic routes. Cornwall & Devon we followed the coast. Gorgeous but very hilly. You also need to use a couple of ferries which is fun. Crossing the Severn area is a bit mundane and then you need to figure a route up the border between England and Wales. We took the A49 which isn't a bad ride - with an engine. Bit horrid without though, especially when it's raining none stop. One of the surprising bits in terms of scenery was Lancashire - probably the best bit so far as the scenery went. Then we headed via Carlisle and went towards Glasgow, Loch Lomond, Rannock Moor (where they were filming Harry Potter at the time). Loch Ness and then your choice of routes gets a bit restricted. The top bit of Scotland - well I'm sure the locals love it but frankly it's not the prettiest or most dramatic scenery. You kind of just have to go through it to get to John O'Groats, and when you get there you wonder if it was worth it. Then - as said - you've got to go retrace your steps to get home. Remember anytime after May and the Scottish midges will eat you alive. Last time I took a sailing course up there we ended up wearing mesh head gear all week and it was horrible. (I am told a diet of pure Marmite for 6 months before you go puts the blighters off.) Scotland might have lots of mountains but they tend not to build roads over them so you're travelling through the valleys which generally means fairly busy A roads. So - if you want to do LEJOG then it's something worth doing for it's own right. But if you're looking for a test run for a long trip to sunnier climes then I'd look at working out a circular route from where you live that takes you some places you really want to see. Frankly - on a motorbike, I'd rather do a round the coast trip so you don't have to retrace your steps. You could do the English coastline, go through Hereford and up the A49 if you don't want to do the Welsh coast, then cut across at Hadrian's wall to make it circular. It's probably longer than the LEJOG route one way, but shorter than from home - LEJOG - back home.

The question has to be asked - how often do you need the hazard switch anyway?

What bike? If it's a carb and it's running rich then it will flood on idle and take a while to restart.