alol74

I still think having neutral between 1st and 2nd is stupid, there's probably some reason to it?!?

Never heard the thumb, gap and fingers explanation before - I suppose its right. I asked a mate before I went on the CBT, he explained it as first is bottom, up half a click for neutral then the rest are above. Its just getting used to it. On my CBT the instructor had me move over to the side (the thicko area ) and practice starting smoothly while the scooter boys did turning. I soon caught them back up though after I managed to find the biting point.

PS - do the DAS!

Just did my Module 1 on CB500. Hell, it is a real machine, especially after my XR125... I still love it, but... 500cc is sooooo much nicer, and the voice... the voice of 500cc is beautiful Anyway, I'd definitely support those who say 500cc is easier than 125. Totally. But 125 gives you so much needed experience that when I did my 500cc training, there was no question about what gear I'm in... Generally, the foot should find the gear itself, no counting, just listen to the engine... btw... on the bike I did the test its sooooo easy to get in neutral that I actually had to check the "N" light every time I changed gears between 1st and 2nd.... My 125 never goes in neutral unless I want it to

Hi guys,

Can anyone suggest a decent motorcycle-ish rucksack for a laptop?

Alex

Hi,

Did a test session with my training school on Sunday under pouring rain. The tarmac grip was perfect. CB 500 was nice and responsive. All fine, no faults... So I think everything is just down to nerves. We will see tomorrow morning how good I am at controlling them

Got Module One done !!! Hurray !!! Anyway, just one minor fault which I cannot deny - observation at the beginning of slow movement part - was looking at and talking to the examiner, so got totally distracted... Anyway, pass is a pass. 56Km/h on swerve, 63Km/h on Emergency stop...

So, my advice is - take your time, relax, look where you are going/turning , have fun, there is nothing too hard there ! Good luck !

Hi,

Did a test session with my training school on Sunday under pouring rain. The tarmac grip was perfect. CB 500 was nice and responsive. All fine, no faults... So I think everything is just down to nerves. We will see tomorrow morning how good I am at controlling them

Dalgety Bay ... Theory is passed, Module 1&2 to go

Can anyone suggest somes tips or advise on how to tune up my friends motorbike. He has had around 62 out of it, Cheers in advance

Well, I've got NXR125, 2 tricks that would definitely work - one - lie down on your bike's tank and two - go downhill but on serious note, I don't think XR125 can go much faster than 60-62MPH

When you are on your test talk to yourself out loud.

Talk yourself through EVERYTHING you are approaching telling yourself what to do.

If your instructor was any good he/she would have been telling you these things as you rode along so now tell yourself the same things.

Not only will it help you relax and it will make the test go quicker.

Try it on your own bike,it works!!

Excellent idea

Hi everyone !

Can you please tell me how that thing called I'm talking about a metallic part with scale on it and bolt and with hole for rear axle - it used for wheel alignment. Hopefully my description makes sense. Anyone shed some light please ? The nuts on it have gone very rusty and totally stuck and WD40 doesn't help, but I need to adjust chain, so I want to replace it with another one but I need to know how its called

Thanks

Alex

whats the bike I might be able to give you a part number..

and a bike shop should be able to help from you description.

Cheers guys, appreciate your swift comeback... Yes, I was talking about, I guess, tensioner with ruler/scale markings and a hole for the rear axle.

The bike is Honda NXR125 Bros (UK variant is called XR125), 2004

BTW, anyone can suggest what I can do to unscrew that stuck nut ? As I said, WD-40 has been applied I think 20 times in the last month and it just doesn't help, I tried my best with spanner and it just damaged nut's flanges any ideas here ?

Hi everyone !

Can you please tell me how that thing called I'm talking about a metallic part with scale on it and bolt and with hole for rear axle - it used for wheel alignment. Hopefully my description makes sense. Anyone shed some light please ? The nuts on it have gone very rusty and totally stuck and WD40 doesn't help, but I need to adjust chain, so I want to replace it with another one but I need to know how its called

Thanks

Alex

Hi,

Still unsure about leather trousers length... Any good advice on that ? How long should it be ? Any ideas if its going to stretch with time ?

Alex

In summer or starting the bike in a warm garage you may need no choke at all.

Sitting on the bike , select neutral gear (light comes on) and raise side stand. Check kill switch is in run position. Lights off. Some bikes need the clutch lever in. Some start better with it in.

Press the start button and listen to the engine. Use short bursts of the starter so as not to drain the battery.

If it fires, catch it with the throttle.

If it doesn't fire, move the choke to the first position and try again.

If no joy move to second position and try again.

It should start.

Don't be tempted to ride off at this point.

Let the motor run for 30 seconds or so , listening all the time. As the revs pick up, move the choke to its resting position, in small increments.

The choke does just that, it cuts off the air to the air fuel mix , making it "richer."

This will help a cold engine to fire up but is undesirable for normal running purposes.

Too rich a mixture on a cold day will wet the spark plug rendering it unable to do its job. ie ignite the mixture with a spark. So less is more and don't be tempted to blip the throttle before you hear it firing.

Once the bike is running smothly and responding to the throttle it's time to move off.

Moving off before the engine is warm may result in an unexpected stall and an off. Which will take a lot longer than the 30 seconds or so to warm the engine.

Your bike is 5ish years old and may be in need of a service. Nothing too complicated on the XR. Make sure you lock it up well. They are highly nickable.

 

cheers for that. Actually even with choke on revs don't seem to go up as engine warms up...

Not sure about service - will probably have to do it myself as I kinda suspect that it hasn't been done for quite awhile...

Engine always stalls in top lever position .... BTW, I don't understand why the bike is actually called "NXR 125" (found it printed on its body) whereas in all docs it is called and registered as Honda XR125...

http://www.google.co.uk/search?sourceid=navclient&hl=en-GB&ie=UTF-8&rlz=1T4ADBF_en-GBGB227GB227&q=Buying+a+used+motorcycle

http://i195.photobucket.com/albums/z28/Colin_the_bear/smiley-signs142.gif

Heres a useful site, my dad refers to it alot:

http://www.bonthronebikes.co.uk/help/advice-on-buying-a-second-hand-bike

I actually meant motorbike

Just wonder if anyone can suggest any potentially problematic areas that should be checked on second-hand bike?

In summer or starting the bike in a warm garage you may need no choke at all.

Sitting on the bike , select neutral gear (light comes on) and raise side stand. Check kill switch is in run position. Lights off. Some bikes need the clutch lever in. Some start better with it in.

Press the start button and listen to the engine. Use short bursts of the starter so as not to drain the battery.

If it fires, catch it with the throttle.

If it doesn't fire, move the choke to the first position and try again.

If no joy move to second position and try again.

It should start.

Don't be tempted to ride off at this point.

Let the motor run for 30 seconds or so , listening all the time. As the revs pick up, move the choke to its resting position, in small increments.

The choke does just that, it cuts off the air to the air fuel mix , making it "richer."

This will help a cold engine to fire up but is undesirable for normal running purposes.

Too rich a mixture on a cold day will wet the spark plug rendering it unable to do its job. ie ignite the mixture with a spark. So less is more and don't be tempted to blip the throttle before you hear it firing.

Once the bike is running smothly and responding to the throttle it's time to move off.

Moving off before the engine is warm may result in an unexpected stall and an off. Which will take a lot longer than the 30 seconds or so to warm the engine.

Your bike is 5ish years old and may be in need of a service. Nothing too complicated on the XR. Make sure you lock it up well. They are highly nickable.

cheers for that. Actually even with choke on revs don't seem to go up as engine warms up...

Not sure about service - will probably have to do it myself as I kinda suspect that it hasn't been done for quite awhile...

Would help to know what bike, year etc m8.

It is Honda XR125L 2004

May take a while to learn your bike. But you sound like you have the right idea, full on for cold starting, reduce as it warms up, once it is warm you should be able to turn it off completely. If when you turn it off it ALWAYS stalls, some cable adjustement may be reqd.

Would this affect riding in top gear ? Cause i've noticed that engine hesitates and kinda misfires when I give it full throttle in top gear ?

wheel driven drive, with cable..

undo the cable and check the inner (metal core), it could be broken.. if so remove from speedo and replace..

otherwise, whilst the cable is off, prop the bike up (centrestand and a mate) front wheel off the ground and turn the wheel, you should see looking inside the drive the inners turning..

if not the drive gear is broken, both easy and cheap fixes..

It appears that the cable is actually broken just where it was wired to a wee metalic thingy (very clear eh ?) which in turn goes into drive unit. The drive unit has a thing which looks like a screwdriver head which actually goes into that metallic bit that I was talking about above and which falls off So I guess I'll need new speedo cable...

yet another silly question from motorbike newbie.

There is a choke and it has a lever that seems to have 3 positions - can anyone suggest what positions are for what regime ? It seems that all-down is for starting engine... Middle is when it is warm, but if I go all way up it just stalls Any hints please ?

Since only today I received my brand-new helmet, I have just finished my first ever ride on my lovely seconda-hand Honda bike and discovered that speedo isn't working

I can see that speedo hose (?) may be the reason, as that hose has another wee one smaller in diameter hose inserted and connecting that hose to hose leading to the frontal wheel's hub... And that small bit between larger hoses is a bit loose, not making a sealed connection...

Can someone suggest where I can start checking what is wrong ?

Thanks

My Honda XR 125L

you could helicoil them..

http://coolercasesuk.co.uk/showthread.php?t=1211

depends on how much lever brackets would be... or get alternative mirrors that fit inside the bars..

Thanks, I guess clamp-on mirrors would be easier and probably cheaper option...

Dalgety Bay

hello and welcome to TMBF

please put a post in the newbie's section and say hello.

also please fill in your location in your profile.

clamp- on mirrors might work, failing that you'll have to drill out holes

and re- tap the threads maybe using heli-coils or similar.

you could always look on e bay for the whole things.

I'm not sure if you need mirrors legally now!

you didn't used to but that may have changed.

Great, thanks for tips ! Apparently it is leagal to ride without mirrors...

Hi everyone,

A quick question from newbie. I've recently got my first bike - Honda XR125L and it appears that mirror-mounting screw holes that brakes/clutch lever assembies have are totally wasted and mirrors' bolts just can't screw in... Can anyone suggest what would be the best course of action here ? Shall I replace lever assemblies or shall I install new clamp-on mirrors? Can I ride without mirrors ?

Thanks