Joeman

Find an old classic bike with a right foot gear change, or tank shift... Alternatively, adapt a bike to have a right foot gear change and a thumb brake for the rear Just found this: http://photoalbum.disabledbiker.co.uk/albums/userpics/10010/heel-toe-shift.jpg Thread here: http://forum.disabledbiker.co.uk/viewtopic.php?t=720 (Sorry for link to another forum)

would rather drain it and flush it, as some very helpful mates chucked a bottle of rad weld in, ( which did do the job) rather clean the lot and start again I'd be tempted to run a hosepipe into rad hose and run the engine to flush the system out. With the rad removed, run the hose pipe into one hose and allow the water out the other.

Mike Hailwood for me one of the greatest riders ever never moved or hung off the bike. Master class here "> Defiantly no lemon. I have mixed feelings about this, on the one hand it does enable a bike to have less lean angle & useful to have in your rider toolbox, on the other hand, within my large biking mate circle I have a few bike plod mates who never do this & yet will leave you for dust,,, Its an interesting debate as hanging off does reduce bike lean angle, however the greater the lean, the larger the tyre contact patch with the road and so the greater the level of grip.

modern cars have a system that if a light failes, it compensates with another light in the same cluster. So if a tail light fails, the system lights up the brake light. If a brake light failes it uses the fog light, and if an indicator failes it will flash the brake light on that side only. all clever stuff designed to keep the driver as legal as possible. In the case of a bike, if you lose your tail light, just rig your brake light up to stay on.

They are only to be used when the vehicle is stopped. Driving along with both indicators flashing is going to confuse the hell out of some idiot cage driver!!

Try shifting the bum cheek on the inside of the turn off the seat too, and lowering the inside shoulder. Feels odd to begin with, but you soon get the hang of it. Thinking about your positioning on your bike is really good. Most just sit there like a lemon!!

So long as the water pump is below the level of the bottom hose you can swap out the rad without having to drain the whole system. Water remains in the pump so no need to prime the pump. Although if you Dont know how long the coolant has been in there its probably a good idea to drain it all out.

Pop the bottom hose off (water everywhere) pop the top hose off, unbolt the rad from the bike, and fit new one. Hopefully the old hoses haven't gone too hard. warm the engine a bit to help make the pipes supple. Also not so cold on your hands when the water pours over them.

A great lesson in life.... Its always easier to get "Forgiveness" than "Permission"...

how long you planing to keep the bike for? Long enough to expect to need the hazzard lights? or short enough for the next buyer to be worried about a dodgy hazzard light switch??

Doesn't sound much fun! But if you can get your chain back on by just looping it over the sprocket and rolling the bike, its probably too loose. Chain guard is there to stop oil splatter, so you're OK riding without it.

have you driven in Lux before? watch out for their weird "Priority Right" laws where you give way to cars joining from the right... its very odd!

Lux is a nice place. Been there a few times. Make sure you pop into Cactus. You can buy everything in there!!

these aren't on a thread they are a stepped adjuster good point - missed that!! Clean em up, take the weight off the back wheel, and start adjusting!!

If you've turned it off the end of the threads you'll need a spring compressor to squash the spring and allow you to lift the ring back onto the thread. Be tempted to just take the shock off to do it.

I bought some gloves and socks...

Collecting my S1000rr on Sunday, so hope that's doesn't suffer from the same problems..

just watch your fingers! there is a lot of energy in those little springs... the whole head can jump about, so make sure youre holding it down well!

Same way as they normally open - the Camshaft turns and the lobes on the cam push the valves open. So turn the cam shaft the values will open. Dont get your fingers in there! if they slam shut they will take your fingers off!!

Get the valves open and see if you can see any damage to the valve seats. if it looks nice a shiny and un-damaged, then dont bother taking them out. Worst case is that a valve has closed with a fragment of metal between it and the valve seat and damaged the valve or seat. if thats happened... well, it gets expensive...

get a wire brush for your electric drill, hold the drill in the vice and spin it up.. what he didn't show is how to get the valves out. you need a valve compressor to compress the valve spring. Not sure if the valves in your engine are the same size, but if they are, once you've taken them out, dont mix them up! make sure you get them back in the same port they came from. But, if the valve seats (the surfaces where the valves seals to the head) are damaged, its a different story...

yes, thats the one! watch this video from about 5:30 ">

you have to experience valve grinding!! its a right of passage for anyone who takes engines apart... Get them valves out, inspect the seats, and get your sucky grinding stick out!!

Nice thread... Giving me some ideas...

Just ordered one with a shower attachment so I can also use it to shower off the dogs when they get all muddy