freetime101

Thanks for all the replies, the problem seems to have been solved with a new battery (touch wood!) I measured the battery immediately after a ride the other day and it read 13.06v, I chained it up for the night (took about 5 mins) and retested, it read 13.02v. I then left it alone for two days (no charger) and it read 12.78. I then charged the battery overnight and in the morning it still wouldn't start, I couldn't pin this on either the battery or the charger so I bump started it and went for a 40 odd mile ride, immediately after stopping I tried the button and it wouldn't start Conclusion = battery is fooked! So I went with Stu's recommendation and bought a Motobatt, all is well so far However, out of curiosity I measured the new battery and it reads 12.98v, the old one currently reads 12.8v and will not start the bike. It seems strange that with only 0.18 extra volts the bike starts immediately - is there more to it? Either way the Motobatt seems to have done the job cheers all

Haha she's not cheap, but everything has a price PM me if you're serious

Thanks for all the replies! I have measured the following: Ignition off = 12.89V Ignition on = 11.94V Engine Running = 12.7V (ish, it jumped about quite a bit) Above 3k rpm (much to the annoyance of the neighbours) = 13V ish - it jumped about loads so was hard to get an exact reading... The bike died again on Monday so I charged it overnight on Monday, rode to and from work Tuesday and today and took the readings tonight (Wednesday). I'll do it again in a few days, then go for a nice long ride (what a brilliant excuse ). I'll be ordering a new battery, just want to make sure it's not the alternator or something too The solar chargers look like a good idea as I have to use an extension lead to get a mains charger to it (so can't charge in the rain), but I can only charge it overnight as it's in use during the day... Thanks again

Cheers gents, off to buy a multimeter - and will ride the long way round to get it Back in a few days

Worrying that the charger killed your battery! How do I check the charging system? I'm guessing step 1 is to buy a volt meter? Thanks for the speedy replies by the way

Cheers Stu, so is there a chance that charging it daily will bring the battery back to life? Or is it time for a new battery? It's an Oxford Oximiser 600 charger if that means anything to you?

So after the third day of push starting my bike, I figure it's time to do something about it! I ride 3 miles to work and back each day unless I find time for a longer spin at the weekends, previously I have had no issues however the bike has recently started to play up... It’s a 2006 CBF 600 with heated grips (Honda so they turn off when the bike turns off – but they haven’t been used in months), automatic scott oiler, tom tom holder (but no tom tom) and Honda alarm all added to the electrics. These were on the bike when I bought it and apparently fitted by the dealer. The battery seems to die every few days/week. I have an oxford charger which charges the battery fine, I get the green light in a few hours but after a few days the bike fails to start. The starter will turn, slower and slower as if it's using the last bit of juice, then I give up and push start it to get to work. The bike starts fine on the trip home and I then charge it which buys me a few more days. My first thought is the battery, it seems to only happen on cooler mornings and I guess 6 miles a day isn’t enough to charge a battery. But my concern is that there is something else draining the battery and/or a reason why it’s not charging – is there an easy way to check this? Assuming it is the battery can anybody recommend a good replacement? Thanks in advance 

I took my gf to a bike shop and made her try on loads of helmets, it turns out the only ones that fit are either a £80 no name or a £400 shoei...

It also depends how fast you might be going if you crash - a £30 lid might fair the same as a £300 lid if you're going 30mph, but a 200mph crash would be a different story... As others have said, fit is key! So long as it has the kite mark it should be safe Also look for the sharp rating and gold sticker but take these with a pinch of salt...

No idea about thicker tyres. But my thoughts are that if the bike's been designed to take a certain size tyre, fit that size tyre... Fit pilot sporty's

I was on the loo the other day when the missus came in and gave me a bj... I didn't know if I was coming or going! There was a fight in the fish shop last night... Two fish got battered! Two monkeys in a bath, one says to the other, "ooo, ooh, ahhh argh argh" The other says "well put some cold water in then"

Whoohoo the bike's back on the road! I've got my wheels back I tried giving it some welly to get the stanchion off the slider but in the end I took it to a bike garage to sort out - apparently one of the bushes had slid inside the other so was jamming everything up Changed the seals and refitted the forks so I'm good to go Cheers for the help all!

Yeah that's the problem! Will man up and give it some welly tomorrow - need to buy the new parts and a torque wrench too!

Well I called pitted forks - there's a 6 week wait! And at 40 quid a week rail fare I can't afford to wait that long ... Thanks for the heads up to wemoto, I can't find the stanchions for a cbf600 sa-6 but I assume all the cbf600 models from the same year use the same stanchions? Failing wemoto the honda dealer has them for £130... My next problem is how to get the old seals out - pulling the stanchion isn't working and feels like I'm bashing the crap out of the forks internals (yes I've removed the damper and spring clip...) I saw a method online of filling the fork with oil and compressing it with a car jack, I don't have any spare oil but would water work? Or is this a stupid idea?

http://www.pittedforks.co.uk/price.php Has anybody got experience with these guys? £156 for the pair to be rechromed and rebuilt - is this what I'm after? It's pretty badly gouged and I havn't checked the other one yet...