Capt Sisko

As they used to say about cameras, the best air bag/vest is the one you have with you, or in our case are wearing. Watching the video Hairsy posted my Helite doesn't offer the best front protection compared to others, but for the moment it's what I've got and that'll still do nicely.

One hundred percent agree with both of the above. PPE has its uses and I make sure what I wear is made from/kitted out with marked up stuff, but I'm wise enough to know it's NOT going to make everything okay during an RTC. It's the same with cycle helmets, (or magic hats as the cynics call them). People put them on and think they're safe, however having been involved in the design of a cycle helmet the once, the bar that a cycle helmet has to pass is set ridiculously low. Sure, like motorcycle PPE they can help, put people expect too much from them. We as motorcyclists are in the same boat be that Level 1 or 2. It can only do so much. Me, yes I wear ATGATT, but I’m also IAM and old & wise enough to know looking after me starts with me.

No, well not on long rides it isn't. I've got a GoreTex laminated Richa Atlantic suit and whilst it's 100% waterproof the surface fabric still gets wet (the beading properties never last that long). The problem is that after it's stopped raining the jacket can suck heat out of you as that surface fabric dries out. A waterproof over the top prevents that and keeps you a lot warmer. It’s what a lot of us Iron Butt nutters do on long, wet & cold runs and it does work. In truth it's probably a bit OTT for summer daytime use, and certainly too complicated for just in case on a normal day rainy ride, but it the cold wet weather or as the temperature dips overnight and you’re starting to feel a bit tired, warm is better than cold.

Mini or the full Queen Mary style Sound Bomb?

Be careful with what you tell them you use. If you say, yes I use a Big Locks & Co XYZ123, then they will expect you to use it, all the tiime. The problem comes if your bike gets stolen, they may ask for proof that you used it. Now, that might be fine if the scrotes leave your smashed up lock on the side of the road, but some of them take the broken lock with then, it's called DNA free crime and herin lies the problem. The insurance company gave you a discount because you said I use an XYZ123, but you've got no proof you did. The insurance company then looks at the small print and reduces your claim by whatever percentage and you're stuffed. Call me a cynical old git if you like, but I've been dealing with insurance companies since I got my first bike in 1978 and over the years they've got both harder to deal with and more & more are taking the 'refer to the wording in your policy document' as a get out clause if they can. Insurance companies are hard businesses out to make a profit and not the soft cuddly friends they advertise as. Me, I use a Big Locks & Co XYZ123's and an alarmed disc lock, but the discount the insurance company offered me for it was so pathetically small I thought sod it, it's not worth the hassle should the sh*t hit the fan.

It's worth watching the video below. It's four years old and tech may have moved on since then, but many of its points are still valid. As per veracocha I'm a tethered Hetile user and very happy with it. One tip, if you do go the Helite tethered one, buy one of their clip hangers to clip the tether to when not attached. It just makes sense. https://heliteuk.co.uk/product/clip-hangers/

You have to remember shavings are not normal. They've come off something they shouldn't have, and that's not good. Some very fine particals in the filter at the first 600mile oil change maybe acceptable, but even then only detectable with a magnet. With modern engines there simply shouldn't be anything big enough to visible. As SD said the damage is already done. Walk away.

I got rained on! First time it's rained in my corner of Shropshire of three weeks and whilst it was only a shower it was a short, sharp, heavy one, and muggins here had no choice but to ride through it. Ten minutes later and the sun was shining again.

Whilst I agree the first service at 3,000 miles and another at 6k is a little unusual, 6k thereafter / annually is par for the course for motorcycles and in fact a lot better than some other mainstream makers of small capacity machines. I also suspect that the 3k service is there partially due to the type of people that buy this type of bike, learners, i.e. people who haven't yet learned how to look after their motorcycle. Now that's not their fault, we've all had our learning curves and whilst my father was a Naval Engineering Officer and I had no choice but to do it right, and first time, others aren't so lucky or don't realise that a motorcycle is a complex bit of machinery that you can't just wipe over and give the chain a bit of 3 in 1 like they did in the bicycle they had before. On the face of it a service may just be oil & filters, but it's more. It's looking for potential problems the owner hasn't seen, particularly if that owner in inexperianced. An initial 3 & 6k services ticks both the corporate, look we're taking the responsible route and the satisfy the parents (who may well be signing the loan agreement) at least we know the bike will be safe box.

Is it a fuel pump issue? If gravity is refilling the lines whilst the bike is switched off there'll be enough fuel to start & run it for a short amount of time, but if the pump isn't working or at least not efficiently it'll not replace it and hence the engine stops. Can you hear a whur as the ignition comes on. That said most pumps aren't noisy and you very quickly stop hearing the assorted whurs & ticking noises modern systems make at start up or shut down.

Remember the B bit in CBT stands for basic. She probably think she knows it all, that's not her fault and I'll quite happily call anyone a liar who having passed their test think, right that's it, job done. What many riding schools offer is extra training after your CBT, not to take people up to the main test standard, but real world riding without the pressure of taking a test at the end of it. A few lesson like that will make all difference. If you're looking to get back on the road, why don't you join her? I assume you've been driving a car for the last twenty years and you've got plenty of real world experience on that side but your motorcycle skills are going to rusty to say the least. If the riding school hires bikes & kit, join her. She's going to feel a whole load more confident if you getting hauled up over something when she hasn't. You might also just get the bug again.

Doesn't boat stand for: "Break Out Another Thousand"

I've got a Ryobi one and for light /medium weight stuff it's not bad. Certainly good enough for day to day for washing the bike and seeing off the assorted salt & winter crud, but not powerfull enough to blast the patio or the black haze you sometimes get on the back of a car. The 'kit' comes with a hose to suck up water from a bucket, and it does work, but I usually attach it to the mains water hose as it seems to produce more pressure out of the pointy end that way. The battery last more than enough for several, wet, wash & rince cycles. https://www.amazon.co.uk/Ryobi-RY18PW22A-0-18V-ONE-Cordless/dp/B08JM2XZGX?source=ps-sl-shoppingads-lpcontext&ref_=fplfs&smid=A3P5ROKL5A1OLE&gQT=1&th=1 I still have 'proper' jet wash but only use this on the bike sparingly and then on the parts like the front of the engine & cylinder cooling fins that catch the brunt of the road cr*p and that has been baked dry as the bike didn't get wash after the previous mucky ride. Bottom line, if / when it dies will I buy another battery powered one, probably.

It took me about ten seconds to find one on google (that may or may not be the right one), however if you fit one and you haven't passed your test, don't tell your insurance company and the DVLA, and you get caught by the police, worse have a accident, then you're going to be in world of deep shit that could haunt you for decades. If you have passed your test and actually tell the relivant authorities, well good luck to you, but you're going to make your bike virtually worthless. The point of this type of bikes is they are both cheap and legit for leaners to ride. Buy it, pass your test/give up and sell it to the next learner is the usual practice. No one once they've passed their test will want what really a disposable & clapped out learner bike with a dubious aliexpress conversion kit. Sorry if that's putting it very bluntly, but it's the truth.

I went on one couple of years ago. It was a good mixture of police advice on, well not on riding techniques as such, but on the causes of accidents, why drivers don't see us and what we can learn from that, as well as the practical stuff of what to do at the scene of an accident. They even gave out mini first aid kits, heater pads, buffs and other useful free stuff. Reading the above the content does vary, but if you've got one on locally I do urge you to go on one. They really are worth it.

I don't know if the situation is the same with motorcycle winter tyres, but car winter tyres are not recommended for summer use. They both will wear very quickly and provide less grip (i.e. a longer braking distance) than summer tyres. Obviously the reverse, in particular the grip bit is true in the winter. I've never had winter tyres on any of my motorbikes, but I've used them on cars for years. They really do make a huge difference in the snow & cold weather carpared to summer tyres.

New tyres day Pair of Michelin* PR6 GT. Bikes always feel better with new tyres don't they. *Currently with a £30 cash back deal. EDIT:- Just checked on the invoice of the last set of 6GTs I bought and I've got a wopping 9,500 miles out of them, and they were still legal, albeit quite squared off. Considering that's on a R1250RT which is a big old bird making 136bhp and more torque than the Queen Mary, I think that's pretty good. I also checked the front brake pads whilst the wheels were of and after 30,450 mile the OEM pads look good for more. And no, I'm not Capt Slow, more like Capt Learned to read the road and maybe don't brake as much as others.

Is it a squeak like a small rodent makes. If so, as it's a Chinese bike it could be that's it a reincarnation of mousy tongue.

Dunlop Mutants are billed as crossover type tyre. I think they're aimed at bigger bike than a Hymalain though, but worth a look anyway. https://www.dunlop.eu/en_gb/motorcycle/tires/mutant--mutant.html

Slightly bigger in terms of cc, but the 650 Royal Enfield Interceptor might tick a lot of boxes. Loads of fair weather & low miles used examples are out there as well.

Welcome, and whilst I had a F800GT they were never the most popular of models BMW sold and there aren't many active owner of then on this forum.. I hope you enjoy yours as they're a good bike, they just never sold in the numbers they deserved. For your exhaust you'll probably be better off asking on one of the specialist F800 forums. Try:- https://www.f800riders.org/forums/f800gt-modification-nation.269/ When I had my F800GT I found them, like this lot, a friendly bunch.

It's worth looking at the availability of spares. https://www.motor-x.com/oem/v-c1002v-2 I haven't clicked on every category, but 99% of what they list just isn't available. That would worry me. A simple spill could take you off the road for a long time if you have to wait for spares to come from China (assuming they genuinely are available).

And that's the problem with that RD400. Looking at the photos it's in better condition than when it came out of the factory. It's now a show bike, probably be trailered everywhere and never turn a wheel in anger again. Shame, one ride on a wet road and . . . . .

Following on from the comment from @bud in the thread about EU exhaust regs "All the bikes we sold for peanuts. Going for crazy money now." What did you once have that you sold for peanuts that nowadays does indeed go for crazy money? By that I don't mean the mundane that people ask inflated prices for just because it survived to a ripe old old age, the ‘it's rare’ (as in, no one bought them at the time), the it’s been got at and now has a brown seat on it and certainly not the exotica of the day that was always going to be something special, but a bike that time has proven to be worth more than it’s sum of parts. I’ll start the ball rolling. I had a '78 White & Red RD400E https://www.carandclassic.com/car/C1762272 £20k FFS - Who are they kidding!

Like Throttled, the village where I live has a miles worth of dead straight coming out of it and both riders & drivers go for it. You occassional hear a car, you frequently hear motorbikes. As Simon Davey effectivly said, call me a hypocrit, I'm that as well. In my youth it was an RD400 with Micron expansion chambers on followed by a Z650 4 into 1 Harris that would have woken up Rip Van Winkle from his deepest of slumbers. If I was twenty again I'd probably be out there thinking how good it sounded along with the best of them. Do I blame youngsters for wanting their loud exhaust? No. Would they take any notice of a grumpy old git like me if I challenged them about it? No, (just as I wouldn't have done forty years ago either). Do I wish they chose some other straight to gun it at 6 o'clock on a Sunday morning? Absolutely yes!