Davidbg

All solved now it was the brushes on the starter motor - only a £163 bill, could've been worse i guess

Ok - update from todays efforts... Took the bike apart and tested reg/rec, that was fine. Took it to a garage and it turned out to be a starter motor and quoted £500 for it!!! so i'm looking around for something cheaper that i can source myself What fun ¬¬

yeah fraid so... I'm a physicist so I have a rough idea of electronics, sounds kind of like a transformer but doesn't a slightly different thing. I found a manual - but it's all in spanish so i'm working my way through it. Does it have to be in the bike running when you test it? or can it be removed for testing?

and engine wise - mines a single cylinder, I think the CBR is a 4 cylinder?

no, not sure i have... maybe an unsophisticated machine somewhere This is the problem I've had - it's not a very common bike, so finding help can be tricky So how do you test a reg/rec assuming I can get it out?

No Haynes for my bike And no- won't turn over at all... Optimate says it's fully charged - pretty sure it isn't charging off the alternator either, rode it 20 miles after a bump start and didn't make any difference

Ok so 2 weeks ago my bike wouldn't start, switched on fine but wouldn't turn the engine over. Replaced the battery, worked fine for 2 weeks - even tested the old battery, it was well and truly dead... then today I ran it as usual and as it was warming up it stalled itself and wouldn't start again. Recharged battery with an optimate, still won't turn over again... Most suggestions have been reg/rec but I can't be sure - the problem I've got is my nearest bike dealer is 50 miles away and the local guy I usually use has a 2 week waiting list and I only have a week to sort this... If it is reg/rec where should I look for parts? It's a Honda CBF250 by the way... and is it easy enough to fit?

I have though about hand guards, might look into it... All my gear is windproof and waterproof anyway... and longish by my standards is 2-3 hours... I'll stop at least once but I don't wanna have to keep stopping to warm up... thanks for all the replies:)

I just got one of these http://www.oxford-shop.co.uk/item3239.htm nice cheap solution and seems to work(Y)

I have a longish ride coming up this weekend, and with forecasted temperatures of < 0 - I need ideas to keep hands/ feet warm. I already have inner silk gloves and thermal socks, but they didn't really work in 10 degrees, let alone 0. I'd rather not have heated grips or something - any ideas?

I'm looking at getting some side panniers for my CBF, I'm considering the Oxford First Time Panniers kind of thing... What are your experiences of soft luggage? I'm not so keen on tank bags and I already have a top box and rucksack... any ideas?

I bought my bike 7 months before I passed my test - if a good deal comes up (which it does tend to in winter - find a desperate dealer) go for it! Take most the petrol out the bike, take it off both or one wheel (centre stand maybe) get an optimate charger - just plugs into the battery then plug into the wall and keeps the battery healthy (http://www.busters-accessories.co.uk/pr ... w=optimate something like that - £50 but you can use it even when the bikes up and running), declare the bike off the road. Then when you get it up and running, pump up the tyres, stick some petrol in it, lube the chain, tax it and off you go!

I failed mod 1 today - i'm 6 foot 5, and was riding a yamaha YBR 125 with my knees in the handlebars:P i failed on the U-turn which is a struggle at my height... oh well, try again next week... hit 56kph on the speed trap though:)

my '04 Honda CBF250:)

hmmmm... heated grips sound nice, but I fear a little expensive... maybe I'll look into it... I only recently bought the bike second hand, so not sure what caused the problem - but I was told it wasn't a big deal, I just think it looks a bit messy and I'd rather not have an exposed throttle tube...

Being fairly new to bikes I'm not clued up on things like this... My CBF 250 Honda's grips have shrunk down by about 1cm and of course exposed the throttle tube on one side. I'd like to replace the grips to sort this out. I found a website that sells genuine Honda parts, which I think is the way to go. I asked them about how to go about it and of course they suggest I spent silly amounts replacing many parts... So I'm after some proper advice... Do I need to replace the throttle tube, or can I get away with just buying news grips? And is this something that even needs dealing with if the cost is too excessive? I'd appreciate any other advice regarding this, I've hopefully added a picture to give you an idea thanks! The right hand grip