mealexme

Honestly, you're best off going and sitting on a load to see what you prefer. It also depends on if you have any restrictions on your licence in regards to power. I used to own a sports bike for commuting. I put some heated grips on it, a double bubble screen and some decent tyres and rode that thing through all weathers, including snow. The hornet is a great starter bike after coming off a 125cc. It can be a great stepping stone before getting something bigger, or a long term commuter bike. They're popular and fairly cheap if anything goes wrong. The CBR650R would be my personal choice, but I am a bit bias. I used to have an older 600rr, which I believe was the slightly sportier version. The CBR650R is a great looking bike, it has wind protection in the form of fairings/screen and you'll love it on twisty roads. You also won't be able to take it green laning. Although I have had my 600rr down some pretty sketchy Devon lanes. What you could do is buy the CF300 and use it as a bit of stepping stone bike as you get used to the increase of power. Explore the island for a year or two, then get something sporty and more powerful like the CBR650R, that way you have the best of all worlds

They got rid of the chat function too. That's all I can remember. I can't even remember what it used to look like now

Same here. I've had varying success with Oxfords waterproof products over the years. The trousers I sent back the other week were Oxford and they are advertised as "waterproof" trousers on the website, yet lasted 4 minutes in a shower before I started to get wet. Within 10 minutes, water was running down my leg an into my boots. Don't get me wrong, they make some great products (I even have a couple of Oxford products on the bike at the moment), but for some reason they seem to be lacking when it comes to their waterproof products from my experience 14% seems steep. I recently sold some stuff on ebay and I'm sure they didn't charge me that much!

These things? https://www.express.co.uk/life-style/cars/1070006/speed-camera-mobile-phone-driving-UK-fine

Honestly, I have no idea how they fixed it. I dropped it off broken and picked it up fixed. I don't ask questions

I was reading this thread since it started, because I had a slow puncture too. I was thinking of just doing it myself, but took it to a garage instead. I'm glad it did because it cost me £40 to get it sorted and it hasn't lost a single PSI yet

Glad it all worked out. I'm sure there will be a lot more of those "act casual, don't look suspicious" moments to come, likely after a spirited ride

I can see why you're confused. You're saying that the law and your insurance policy are obviously two different things. The law does state that you can ride straight to the MOT station and back, but you're saying the insurance policy is worded in a way that makes it sound like if you were caught riding to the MOT station, then technically, because you don't have a valid MOT certificate, although it may be legal to do, your insurance may have a different view, stating that you are not insured without that certificate. Honestly, I'm sure it would be fine. I'm confident enough that if I was in the same situation, I would ride to the MOT station and back (I pass two police stations on the way there) and I'm confident that if you got pulled over by the police, they would just let you on your way once they'd seen you were insured. However, the other side of that coin is that every insurance companies small print is different (well done for reading it, most people don't bother), and I would assume that where it says "not valid without an MOT", there would be a caveat stating that it's ok to ride to an MOT station and back, and the fact that there isn't seems to be a bit of a red flag. Insurance companies will do anything to get out of a claim, and if the worst did happen (you had an accident), and your insurance got involved, they could refuse to pay if you broke anything in the small print. As I said though, if it was me, I'd just ride there and back without thinking twice. There is probably something somewhere else in the small print stating that you can do it. But if you're at all worried, ring them. They normally have a free number that you can call for enquiries. This forum is great for information and advice, and we could tell you what the law says you can and can't do all day long, or we could tell you in detail what our own insurers allow us to do, but unfortunately we can't tell you what's in the small print of your insurance documents.

huh. The more you know. The good thing with Gore-tex is you know where you stand though . Only yesterday I returned some "waterproof" bike trousers because it took less than 5 minutes of rain before it felt like I'd pissed myself. I swapped them in for some RST gear at twice the price and the guy in the shop said they'd be waterproof, but honestly I'm apprehensive to wear them in the rain, because I've lost all confidence in "waterproof" gear. Gore-Tex may be expensive for what it is, but at least you know it's going to keep you dry

The clutch switch was my first thought too. It's there to make sure the clutch is pulled in before the bike will allow you to start it. Some people by-pass them for various reasons (I did mine because I got some different levers and the switch wouldn't activate) Pictures would be useful though

Thanks for the replies. They never got back to me, so it looks like it's not an issue I'm going to have to deal with anyway

I'd imagine the solution was what TimR suggested, as I was thinking the same thing, but as the original post was 3 years ago, I'm not sure you'll get a reply. @Will124467 are you having the same problem?

I'm thinking of getting a little second job to help with the finances, and thought it might be fun to join the Domino delivery crew, riding around on scooters all day and eating peoples pizzas. No wait, delivering. Delivering peoples pizzas. I must remember to get that right before the interview. But then I got to thinking. If I use their bikes, they all have L-plates on them. Now, I've had my licence for over 10 years and I've done a bit of research on this, but I can't find anywhere that says for definite if I can ride with L-plates or not? The .gov website says they "should" be removed or covered, but then other websites say they "must" be remove and I can't find anything definitive.

I've found the same thing. A lot of the time it's on cheap listings from China, so I've always presumed it was just some guy in China trying to push products and get views on his items, and someone who just makes the products and doesn't ride bikes (obviously not the same guy for every listing).

I almost crashed because of a wasp once. I have no idea how, but it got inside my helmet with the visor down, buzzing around my face on a tight and windy road, where I couldn't pull over safely. I opened the visor but it didn't want to get out, so I held my breath so it couldn't get into my airways and bury itself in there (because that's the sort of logic my brain gives me when this little death fly is angry in the confined area that is my face). It felt like forever before I found somewhere to stop, and breath again. Never again, I'd rate the experience as a -10/10.

The original post is a couple of years old, so I guess that's answered that question haha. I'm not surprised it didn't take off to be honest. Too many things can go wrong. I've heard of someone writing off a bike from simply dropping it at a junction. It's just not worth it renting it out to a stranger, no matter how good your insurance is

Thanks mate. I'm sure there is much frustration and disappointment still to come. Nooooooooo. I take it back. I take it all back! I'm absolutely gutted for you. Strange the bloke just left it sitting for years though. I mean, I forget where I park the car in the carpark from time to time, but that's ridiculous

I used to ride through the city at 2-3am and the first set of lights I came across took forever to change, so I presumed it wasn't registered and ran them on red. I did this for every set of lights on my commute for months, until there was another car in view (not at the junction) and I didn't want to run a red infront of it, thinking I'd be sat there forever. The lights turned to green almost immediately and that was the moment I realised that those first set of lights that I ran months ago were just on a cycle and took a minute or two to turn green, so I'd been running reds for months for no reason

I have to say, I'm a little disappointed you've almost got it on the road. I've quite liked coming on here and reading about your adventure, and very jealous of your find!

I have to agree with OP, this is dumb. It's such a random thing for then to be doing anyway, and the way they're going about it doesn't really make sense. Have one bee on the £1, two bees on the £2 etc. Having two animals on a £1 just adds confusion. Or better yet, have the smaller animals on the smaller denominations. One bee on a 1p, one chicken on the £1... The whole thing just doesn't seem very well thought out I can only imagine they're trying to get parents to teach their kids with money in the hope that the next generation don't become a cashless generation and put the royal mint our of a job

I cant offer any advice on the helmet apart from maybe removing all the internals and visually inspecting for cracks. Obviously, this will only show up obvious damage, and certainly isn't going to show an unseen damage. What I can offer, is possibly the most unusual animal to be headbutted. I was riding to work one night in the dark (I used to do night shifts), doing maybe 40/50mph and out of nowhere a bat hit my visor and rolled off to the side. I did have a look for it on the way home as I rode past, but it either survived and flew off, or ended up in a hedge

So, I changed the fuel mixture screws, found a small leak in the exhaust which is now patched up and changed out the rubber cap on the air filter box and it seems to run better once warmed up. It was still having trouble starting though. Then, whilst riding past a military base, the thing cut out completely. At first I thought I'd stalled it, then realised there was no power at all to the clocks or anything. So I had to push the thing to the side of the road, but struggled to find neutral for a second, before I realised that I was looking for a neutral light on a dash that has no power Anyway, I got it to the side of the road, convinced the security at the military base that I was just broken down and not doing anything suspicious, as I left the bike right outside their entrance and found another way home. I grabbed some tools and the car, then spent hours on the side of the road, in the rain going through fuses, taking the thing apart, checking ground wires, changing the battery and just looking at everything I could think of until I was about to give in and call a recovery firm. Then I spotted it, behind the headlights; a red wire which looked like it had been corroded for a long time, until it finally snapped. I twisted it back together, and all of a sudden the bike sprung back into life. The headlights seem stronger and crucially, now it starts on the button first time, every time! It is still a bit spluttery whilst it's warming up with the choke on, but fine once warm. I don't know if thats normal now, but its a lot better than it was, and I'm no longer concerned that it won't start every morning. There are still a couple.of things concerning me, such as the vacuum measurements, but hopefully it will get me through winter as it is and I can have another look when the weather warms up. I'll have a look out for the carbs icing up, but I don't think it's quite cold enough for that yet

Unfortunately I can't hear the video at work, but my first question would be: Has it been serviced regularly?

Good review, hopefully they last as long as your Hein Gericke kit! Funnily enough, I'm looking at replacing my Hein Gerick jacket, which I worked out I'd bought back in 2010. It's a shame they aren't around anymore because I don't remember them being very expensive (certainly not £1300)

It's a good idea, but I'd be the idiot that gets an ambulance called out because I twisted my foot in a pot hole and dropped the bike haha