Mike79

Update on this: we can now gain access to the bike but he is refusing to hand over the keys. Am I right in guessing I can use VIN number and/or ignition cylinder code to get a new key cut? It’s a CBR600. Anyone know how much Honda will charge for a key? Is that the best route to go?

Bender and onesea, yes he is self employed and deliberately moving to cash payments to try and avoid csa reach. Thanks for the info, really appreciate it

Thanks Bender, wil do. Yes he is a nasty piece of work. Earning loads and refusing to pay child Maint while she is back living with parents with 2 young kids to look after and low income. This is just adding to her mental state

Thanks everyone for the replies. Will likely try CAB with view to taking legal and also speak to finance company. Speaking to the guys parents and attempting to repossess the vehicle again are also decent ideas/options. Thanks a lot

Wondering if folks can help please? I have a friend who took out finance in her name for her now ex-boyfriends new Bike. She is the registered keeper. They have now split but she is still having to pay the finance (which she can’t afford) he is refusing to pay it back but also preventing her taking possession of the bike back. What are her options? she can obviously speak to the police and report it but wants to avoid that if possible. Any other advice I can give? The Bike is locked in a garage and cannot get access to it. She can stop paying the finance and have it repossessed but this will obviously affect her credit which she will be relying on to get herself back on her feet. Any advice would be appreciated

It is from a commercial dealer and they are charging £100 to deliver it and pickup my part exchange. I wouldn’t know enough to check these things myself

I would appreciate some advice regarding a 2 year old z900 I’m looking at with 4000 odd miles - ST18RMX Registered June18 and from vehicle check looks like no tax has been on it from June19. So it may have been sitting for over a year potentially. It comes with 3 months warranty from a Honda approved garage I’ve got some high res pics and it looks fab but I can’t test ride it with COVID restrictions and I’m 4 hour drive away so would be taking a chance buying from pics only What questions should i ask? Ie how long have they had the bike. Should I be worried if it’s been sitting a year what condition the fuel tank, brakes, battery etc might be like? Any other issues I need to watch out for? How else can I be sure I’m not going to have to spend a fortune fixing issues assuming these things won’t be covered under warranty? Would really appreciate advice how I should progress

Yes my current insurance was provided through carol nash with “markerstudy” so I will call just to check first. Just this morning I tried another price comparison site just to check and a better quote came for 375 which is much better. Ironically with the same insurance company I used last year. So for that I’m not too worried if my current insurer can’t match any more. Cheers

It’s a commuter mostly with a weekend blast thrown in. But working from home until early next year anyway. Still want something to have fun with in the meantime though. I did consider the storage thing but I am trading my current bike in as PE and don’t want to be without a bike completely. Thanks for the input

Yes Yes, yes, no Above Thanks for this. Just thought I’d check

Hey folks I currently pay £200 for my Kawasaki er6n insurance (inc breakdown) and renewal is mar21. I have a years no claims and this will likely go to 2 then. I’ve only had my licence just under 2 years. First year cost was £270 I’ve got my eye on a 2018 z900 and got some insurance quotes via price comparison £600 being the cheapest but my current insurer on there wanted £1200. Should I call my insurer and see if they can match my cheapest quote which I assume is impossible? I guess if they don’t then the obvious thing to do is to pay £50 cancellation fee and just buy the new policy from the cheaper provider? But that means I’m sacrificing a years no claims bonus. Does that really matter if there are such massive variations in price anyway? I checked to see the effect of waiting until my 2nd year no claims bonus took effect before getting the new bike and the price reduced from 600 to 450 in March21 What would you do? I’m still a relative newby, I never change vehicles that often and when I do the price difference has always been negligible so I just stay with the same provider until renewal, I would appreciate your thoughts in this case

Hi Folks I have arranged a test ride on a used 2009 Kawasaki ER6F with 15000 miles on the clock for £2800. It has a part service history but not recently. It has only done 2000 miles in the past 3.5 years As I am a complete newby how should I get piece of mind on the purchase? Can I ask for an independent inspection? or ask them to do a full service before I buy? Or just buy a warranty? Would that protect me for the obvious things that might go wrong with an old, low miles bike? Is it things like battery, tyres, fuel tank, fluids, seals that I need to ensure are ok? Any other tips? I don't want to be lumped with any large bills when this is already the top end of my budget for my first bike Much appreciated

I have a couple of questions after passing mod2 this week. I’m obviously eager to get out on a bike as soon as possible. And I’m completely new to everything. Firstly, it seems most people store their bike away for winter. Why? Is it safety due to the dangers of riding in the wet? Or that bikes rust in the rain? Or both? I don’t have storage, only a large drive so I can only really get a waterproof cover and park outside. Is that common? Will a bike suffer higher maintenance costs as a result of riding in winter? Just trying to understand and decide if getting my first bike now is worth it or should I wait till spring Secondly I have no clue about maintaining a bike. Is it something you learn as you go along? Should I find someone to help teach me minor maintenance? I guess I would be ok with fluid top ups etc. But what kind of other maintenance should I be doing on my own and what should I get a garage to do? (Like chain tension adjustment and cleaning, lunricating chain) How often would I have to spend maintaining a bike? Or do some people use a service garage for everything? This newby would appreciate your advice.

Passed mod2 this afternoon with 4 minors. It was bucketing rain and foggy and I was soaked to the bone after 4 hour lessson before the test. I didn’t think I rode very well and was sure I had failed but my minors were for a missed signal changing lanes, poor shoulder check, wide positioning on a roundabout and using engine braking at school flashing 20 zone rather than actual brakes. Delighted with the result. The ride back accross town unaccompanied was amazing. Thanks all for the advice and encouragement

I paid a total of £664.50 - It was £499 for the course, a further £75+£15.50 for test fees and £75 for pass guarantee (which gave further training and accompanied to test centre etc up to 2 resits each test) Edit: I only need to pay for test fees if I have to resit

Passed mod1 today with a clean sheet. I was worried 2 weeks off the bike I would be rusty but after 10 minutes of the hour pre-test practice I was back into the swing of it. 51 for the swerve and 58 for the emergency stop. Mod2 next week. Gulp

Failed mod1 today. All was well until the last exercise (swerve) kicked a cone as didn't swerve enough. It was heavy rain and I guess It just panicked a bit. Examiner was a good guy (chattier than I thought he would be) and I can tell he wanted me to pass. Resit in 2 weeks. Will treat today as a learning tool. I did however feel very comfortable and confident on the road today before the test. It all seems to be coming together and I'm enjoying every minute, which is the whole point I guess

Day 2 of direct access course on SV650 today. Day went really well. Didn’t drop the big bike which is nice. Really enjoyed the bikes power once I got used to it. Couple of hours doing mod1 practice on some private road space which went well. Then 2 hours road ride in all different types of road. Dual carriageways, lots of country roads, lots of town riding. I did manage to work on counter steering for the country road bends so that helped me lean into the corners better. But instructor says I need a little more practice on these roads Then 2 hours practice at the test centre. Got a good feel for the area and enjoyed the practice. Also 2 mock tests done with one pass no minors and one fail for hitting the line on uturn (and 1 other minor). It was the first time I had ever hit it and had nailed it ever time up till that point. Practiced it some more and was fine I managed the right hand circuit much better than left. The left swerve feels unnatural to me. But my speeds were fine and everything went well. My figure of 8 is my weakest area but instructor said it’s good I just need to be more confident and take it wider if necessary. (He teaches to stay inside the last cone of the slalom so need to take the previous turn wider) So it’s onto mod 1 test day on Wednesday with an hour practice before. I’m quietly confident but hopefully test nerves dont get better of me. Gulp

Well I had my first day of the DAS course yesterday all day on the 125. I really enjoyed it and the instructor said I did well but he can tell I lack confidence which will come with time. There were 2 of us with the instructor. We started some slow speed stuff in the car park before heading out into the road. We started in 20 zones practicing procedures for right and left turns. Then onto roundabouts including a spiral one which has a high failure rate. We did a lot of country roads mixing high speed with slow tight corners and we also did dual carriageways. Then we used a blocked of bit of straight road to practice the high speed mod1 parts. Instructor said I nailed them perfectly and at the required speed. There was part of the ride which I found very unnerving which was riding the country roads in driving rain and gale force wind, and bombing down dual carriage way flat out at 65 mph I felt very vulnerable and exposed in both cases due to the conditions but once it had dried up a bit felt much better. Part of me though why on Earth I’m doing this and I considered not going back for day 2. But ended the day on a high, feeling much more confident. Finally for the last 30 minutes we got introduced to the big bikes we will use on day2. Suzuki SV650. Initially as we did laps of the car park the Bike felt amazing. Smooth with great brakes and throttle. Really enjoyed riding it. But we then tried figure of 8 and I performed very poorly indeed. Just couldn’t manage it. Instructor said I was going too slow and using too much back brake. This worked great for the 125 but not so for the 650. He said I must be shattered after being on the bike for over 7 hours and we can call it a day. That put a downer on the day a bit and I’m worried I won’t cope this Saturday on the big bike. I hope he was right and I was just shattered but the carpark is on quite an incline so maybe just a bit too much going on for my first attempt. I would feel much better on flat road. I still feel I would need another 2 or 3 full days training before any tests but I guess most people sitting them would also wish they had more time too. Time will tell

I have my DAS course booked starting in 2 weeks time with my mod1 at end of the month and mod2 second week in November I have booked the course and tests away from my own town and don’t know the roads well. Will this be a particular disadvantage with mod2? Also it is a full course but is only 22 hours over 4 days! Does this seem a little light? I am worried that given I’ve only done the CBT this may not get me to test standard. Day 1 is a full day with 125 entirely on the road, day 2 a week later with transition to 650cc bike on the road in the morning then the whole afternoon at the test centre to train/practice for mod1. A few days later I get an hour practice at the test centre before the test. Then a week later I have 5 hours mod2 training in the morning right before the test early afternoon. This just seems very tight. I would welcome folks opinions. It was a great price, I was impressed with the instructor and I get up 2 resits for each test included if necessary. Mike