GaryJM

Get into the habit of cleaning your bike weekly and whilst doing that clean and lube your chain. Also check the chain and adjust when needed. If you don't already have tools look at buying a socket set and some spanners (combination ones are what I reccomend personally) Using those tools rather than the ones that come with the bike to do your chain as they will be better quality than the bike tool kit. Not sure if you even would get a tool kit with your bike as I'm assuming it's Chinese or one of those countries that produce cheaper bikes. If Haynes or Clymer do one buy a manual for your bike as usually there's a fair bit of useful info in them regarding simple maintance.

Depends on the saving, not just going for that reason Stu. Quite enjoy going to bike shows, if I do buy anything that will be first as I've never bought any from them previously. Makes a nice day out and compared to others things it's quite cheap.

http://www.manchesterbikeshow.com is the address. Haven't been to any recently but need a new BLJ and some crash bungs for the bike.

This weekend is the show in Manchester, any one going tomorrow? I'm going tomorrow obviously so if any one is there we could meet up for a blether.

Need to know what sort of distances you need to transmit on. PMR 446 radios can transmit for reasonable distance. So what are you intending to do pillion to rider, bike to bike, talk to every Tom Dick and Harry? For example if you where a licensed Radio Amateur there are 2m radios that support Bluetooth so a Bluetooth headset could be linked and you could talk for a 50 mile radius. So what distance is needed and for what purpose?

Having lost the front on two occasions in the past, both times due to diesel or similar on the road I've purchased my first bike with ABS. Not sure if it would help much with diesel but if it does all good and well. I can't see the point of not having it.

Forks on the 600 and 1200 are different but there are also differences between the different marks as well. So are we talking about a mark 1,2 or 3? Also have you tried asking on the Bandit forum, they may be able to give you alternatives. Good bunch of peeps and know there bandits inside out. http://www.banditforum.co.uk

If you are doing it with a school then they will have gear you can borrow for the time you are doing your training and test. You will need to show the examiner that you can safely ride the bike on NSL roads so yes he/she will take you onto a dual carriage way ( dual carriageways have a speed limit of up to 70 mph) and he/ she will expect you to ride at those speeds if safe to do so. The examiner will give consideration as to the bike as well. If you do the test on a 125 he/she will be aware that a lot of 125's will struggle to hit 60, let alone do 70. Note if safe to do so, that will depend on a variety of factors such as traffic, condition of the road, weather etc. As to being skint and not able to afford the gear look on eBay et al,as quite often there is second had gear available.

When I had the bandit I just kept it standard. If you have a mark two with a speed sensor bear in mind changing the front will affect the accuracy of your speedo. That's why I kept it the same as standard as going the route of a speed healer etc was just too much hassle imv.

As others are saying just riding will build up your experiance and confidence. As you have survived a winter riding your skills will be improving quite quickly. Set the controls to suit yourself rather than the manufacturer, if you put it into a garage be aware they may set them back to the original settings thou. I normally set the rear brake to have minimal movement between on and off. That's just my preferance and how I'm used to it. Slow speed control comes with riding and practice. You could get yourself onto a supermarket car park when it's closed and practice slow speed control there. Such as figure of 8, walking pace riding etc. With slow speed it's more the rear brake you will use than the front brake. We all stall our bikes at times even those of us who have been riding since the year dot.

Didn't filter when I sat the test but my examiner was in a car as his bike was off the road due to it not working. Can't remenber for sure think he had been involed in a bump and it was being sorted. He was never closer to me than 2/3 cars away. So if I filtered I would have left him well and truly behind.

Rather than using pliers use one of these http://i718.photobucket.com/albums/ww181/GaryJM/Mobile%20Uploads/2014-03/25F18D7F-7A9B-408B-B68B-C326EFD073A0.jpg

Is the 48 hours including traveling time? Or is that the time you will spend once you have got there? Distance and time from them may just be a factor for such a brief visit.

never felt the need to so haven't. Have you?

To say you can't use a break in a bend is inaccurate but doing so safely and not make the bike stand up is a skill you have to learn. It's best to do your breaking before the bend and get into the appropriate gear for your bike. As to braking in general I tend to use the front and only both for emergency stops. Don't forget you also will have some element of engine braking as well but that's prob another topic as some engine configurations are better than others. for this

Delkevic are the ones I bought when mine rotted through. About £180 when I bought mine. Fiddley job but fit well. If I was to buy another Bandit and it still had the OEM down pipes I would just change them to be honest. Not planning on buying one thou. Looking at a Sprint for my next bike.

Congrats on getting CBT

If the chain was that bad should have been picked up by any decent mechanic and have advised you that it needed replacing there and then when they serviced your bike. Chains aren't a normal part of servicing but usually a check that things are correctly attached/tightened is. Never heard of a bike place not advising you that something needs adjusting or replacing before.

Good luck.

Still need to adjust the chain of it is too loose it can jump off the sprockets and lock up the rear wheel. I suggest you get a Haynes or similar manual and adjust it asap. If you post your location one of us may be able to show you how to do it.

Chain and sprockets wear. they also need lubing regularly ( more so in winter). As has been said have you adjusted the chain to tighten it up? may be all it needs. As to a new chain and sprockets as others have said DID chains are the best. Change a chain and sprockets isn't hard either if they need change why not try to do it yourself or even if one of us is free and close by give you a hand to do it.

May be interested as well depends on a few things so can't commit at this point.

Happy New Year all.

Merry Christmas all

Ellesmere Port ( not sure how far that is from you) has Jenny Tinmouths Two Wheels place. Independent not sure on how much they charge thou. Seems to have a good rep.