S-Westerly

Obviously Yamaha is different from Ducati. Only an approved Ducati service centre (dealer) can do any servicing while the bike is under warranty. Since both the OP and yourself are both Yamaha riders I'll bow to your superior knowledge. Pretty sure the law states that you can use whoever you want providing they are a VAT registered business and you use genuine parts @Joeman is the guy for this sort of thing Interesting, I must read the fine print on my warranty as I rather gave up when it started in with all the ways in which it can be voided. There is supposed to be a guy near me who is a wizard with Italian bikes and cheaper than the dealer. Could be a winner.

@S-Westerly You have owned some Chinese bikes No I haven't, because I'd prefer to spend my money elsewhere. However I have had to put up with Chinese built ships, tools, safety equipment and other stuff. It has all been quantifiably worse than the same stuff made in Europe, Japan, South Korea or the USA. Cheaper yes, but crap to use. That's my opinion and I'm not pushing it on you. However I will never buy a Chinese bike myself. End of.

Obviously Yamaha is different from Ducati. Only an approved Ducati service centre (dealer) can do any servicing while the bike is under warranty. Since both the OP and yourself are both Yamaha riders I'll bow to your superior knowledge.

Many years ago the cry was "don't buy a Jap bike". Time moves on and Jap bikes are as good as any and better than most. Unfortunately Chinese made and branded products are still in the phase of being not very good in general. Things made in China but to western standards can be good eg. Hilts bikes etc. A pure Chinese bike will rot away and sadly won't last. Read reviews and make your own choice. For what it's worth I have an Italian bike and thoroughly enjoy it despite many nay-sayers.

Generally speaking while the bike is under warranty you need to have it serviced by an authorised dealer. Getting it done by anyone else will almost certainly void the warranty. Once the bike is out of warranty then you can do whatever. I believe this also applies to those clever fellows who can do their own bike maintenance. I can't but my son in law can so once my warranty period is over I won't be using my dealer, probably.

Tell me about it. £70 for a spare visor for a Schubert which I'm keeping for better weather. Meanwhile using my other lid which although a less good helmet seems less prone to scratching.

It's a real place, never saw a fairy but when I was there had an excellent inn with a very good restaurant. Made up for the lack of fairies.

Ditto. Absolutely worth doing. Port Fairy is a nice place to stay on the way.

Yes and most of it is average speed checked as well making whizzing a bit problematic.

Oh yes, and usually meaning no respect whatsoever. Although I have to say that I have used the expression myself especially when talking to senior management.

"Obviously" when said in a certain patronising tone as part of an answer to a question. If it was bloody obvious I wouldn't have asked the question would I? Also the phrase "at this moment in time" so beloved of politicians. In fact if I think about it every word uttered by any politician is usually over used, distorted and seems to be the exact opposite of the dictionary definition.

Not another one from the Guardian?

I'm with MCE at the moment but have not made a claim (hopefully won't) and they were cheaper for me last year as a born again biker. They were half the price of Bikesure. I'll be interested to see what there renewal quote comes in at.

60 months warranty is bloody amazing. Are you sure it's not 6 months? I only got 2 years on my bike and I think that's pretty standard.

The hate mail is a good name for that particular rag. I virtually gave up on it after reading some of the reader's comments. Enough to make you give up on humanity.

This what happens when you read the Guardian. Nightmares all round and this scooter fits right in. It's also really only useful if you live in a bit city. Being battery powered though might stop scrotes from nicking it!

That's what I have. Seem to work well but I don't live in an area overrun with bike thieves. It is heavy and gives a secure feel. I guess it's as good as any and better than some.

Filtering on the inside? No, no, and no again. You leave yourself nowhere to go plus in addition to cars you leave yourself open to pedestrians wandering into the road. A car turning into a junction will have difficulty seeing you and if other traffic has stopped to let him across he's going to assume it's clear to go. I think you'll be lucky to get 50:50.

Why would you want non-leather? Personally (and this is just me I'm sure) but if I wear any kind of non-leather footwear within a few days they smell like week old summer roadkill. Then my wife makes me keep them in the shed.

Look on the bright side - in 30 years time you'll be probably just like her so you'll be able to annoy your kids just as much.

According to the [strikeout]nanny state[/strikeout]science just about everything that is nice to eat or drink is a cause of increased risk of some dreadful disease. So as we all have to die of something we may as well crack on and enjoy ourselves. I'm surely not giving up smoked ham or bacon. Fixed it The trouble with science is that for every theory there is a counter theory. Remember butter was supposed to be bad for you but now it's supposed to be good? So like many people I just ignore it. I've made it to past 60 so something will get me sooner rather than later. Hey ho.

Oooh, I bet that caused some marital friction. I'd have been on the naughty step for months. I still get grief for dropping a can of paint on a new carpet - 34 years ago!

According to the nanny state just about everything that is nice to eat or drink is a cause of increased risk of some dreadful disease. So as we all have to die of something we may as well crack on and enjoy ourselves. I'm surely not giving up smoked ham or bacon.

Joined ship on October 27th. Due off January 26th subject to being somewhere I can actually get off. Every day on board is a working day including Christmas etc. And the ship is 'dry' as well so no drowning one's sorrows.

Slow speed MAN 6S70ME-C diesel: 21,000 HP at 82 RPM. Top speed about 15 knots (17 mph). Pushing about 180,000 tonnes. Fuel consumption of 55 tonnes per 24 hours.