mikestrivens

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Probably best to go to a reputable dealer local to you with your wish list and see what is available for your skill set and licence category. Without more information we are going to be struggling to assist you.

Bigger bike, better lights, practice road positioning with instructor and you will be well on your way to be sorted.

I always wear a balaclava under my skid lid to reduce the sweat etc from contaminating the padding, but at the end of the day they still need cleaning occasionally.

good for you

well done, good luck for Friday

Fuel contaminated could be the cause.

The heated grips are a godsend in the winter. They should be standard fit on all bikes sold in this country.

Schuberth C4 (with SCR bluetooth comms to link with iPhone for Sat Nav) or M1 helmet - depends on type of ride Frank Thomas or Richa Leather jacket and Bull-it or Red Route kevlar lined jeans if dry Rukka Nivala suit if wet or cold. Daytona Road Star GTX wide boots if wet or longish challenging ride, Alpinestar ankle boots if dry and short ride Rukka argosaurus gloves I also have some old gear eg. Frank Thomas boots and Dianese waterproof coat. My old Belstaff leathers shrunk in the wardrope, as did my old Arai helmet (strange that) You can never have too much gear.

I use fuel stabiliser when laying any of my vehicles up for over a couple of weeks. The ethanol in modern fuels doesn’t have a good shelf life and can cause the problems you described.

I Had Youles of Manchester put one of these on my Tiger 800. Made a big difference to keeping the rear of the bike clean and easier to wash. Highly recommend.

I found that watching hundreds of hours of YouTube training videos, e.g MCRider and RoadCraftNottingham, helped immensely and then putting the stuff into practice really helped me get back in to biking. Learning to read the road ahead comes with practice and experience. I had a car pull out on me many years ago and I am still very cautious when I see vehicles at junctions waiting to pull out. I adopt many of the SMIDSY (Sorry Mate I Didn't See You) tactics like weaving and I have extra lights on the bike to make me more visible. Hope this helps.

I use a iPhone 8 Plus with a Quad Lock case and the appropriate attachments for all my vehicles. I use the Waze and Scenic sat navs for routes. I can plug the phone in to charge on all but my push bike. The Quad Lock case comes with a waterproof poncho but I haven't used it and the phone was fine in a torrential downpour going from Youles in Manchester to home, about 20 miles.

Good result

Does a white helmet count as being reflective?

They look like they wouldn't give your hands any protection in a fall.

2nd that advice. Do the DAS and go straight onto a larger bike.

I use a Quadlock system with my iPhone in a Quadlock case that fits to different brackets. I have one on my motorbike, one on my push bike and one in each car. Means that I only need one satnav, i.e. phone. I use Waze as my primary satnav but also Scenic for the motorbike. The has blue tooth to the Schuberth C4 helmet.

Fortnine did a video on this. I think it amounts to whether there was anything inside the helmet when it hits the ground as to whether or not the protection is damaged. But it is your head , would you risk it?

try soaking them in clean brake fluid for 24 hours to see if that softens the stubborn gunk. As has been said before you need to be very careful not to scratch the pistons so time and care is to your benefit.

Given that the seals are there to keep the brake fluid in it follows that at least part of the seal is in contact with the brake fluid so the seals can't possibly be damaged by the brake fluid. I've always used clean brake fluid to lubricate the seals and pistons when working on brakes. All the garages I know do the same.

They cost more than my first house.

sportsbikeshop.co.uk will allow you to return boots that have not been worn outside. I have done this several times to get the right fit that I am happy with.

Or a Schuberth C4 helmet, which I have found to work perfectly with my iPhone at motorway speeds.

Just goes to prove that bikers are invisible.