Motorbikes

[charlesr]

I haven't got time to do my own maintenance. I used to do car cambelts and stuff at uni, but now I just pay someone to get it done.

[Montaver]

I went out on my brothers Suzuki GSX-R 1000 the other day, absolutely incredible. The acceleration blows your head of, blink look down and your doing 150.

[Eps]

I have done nothing so ANY advice is great!

1.) FOLLOW THE SERVICE SCHEDULE FOR YOUR BIKE!

2.) Obviously, at first, get someone else to do the servicing. But...

3.) Watch them while they do it, if you can. And see if there are any Internet enthusiasts' communities for your bike. Definitely buy the service manual for your bike; you'll learn a hell of a lot even if you don't service the bike yourself yet.

4.) Usually, the most common/frequent routine maintenance tasks (the ones you're most likely to do yourself) are cleaning/lubing the chain, making sure the tyres are up to pressure, checking the chain slack, and changing the oil every few thousand miles. Definitely learn how to change your own oil; it's easy on almost all bikes and can act as the 'gateway drug' to doing more of your own maintenance.


Speaking of which, I finished my valve job and the carb sync. Bloody hell. The previous owner let the valves get so tight there was no clearance even with the smallest gauge thickness. When I opened them up to spec, it was like night and day. The new acceleration almost made me come off the bike! I have two to three times as much low-end power as I did before - that's how long it had been since the valves had been maintained. How can people neglect bikes like that?! Lucky I caught it!

Off down to Tampa tomorrow; "see" you all in a few days..

[Alastair]

I want to do more on my bike, the last one I had I did loads of work including an engine swap all without assistance.

As Eps says though I need to get a Haynes manual for this bike and a bit more confidence with an FI bike, it somehow feels like it'd be easier to cock up and harder to put right if I do!

Also I need to find a decent mechanic as they are so expensive I want to know I'm getting value for money and a lot of knowledge too.

[TheForce]

I've ordered this beauty today !! the new 2008 Fireblade





oh YEAH !!

I should get it in March or April !!
I really can't wait to get this baby on the Nordschleife !!

Honda POWER !

[Alastair]

Apart from the fact that it looks like it has a heavyweight boxers nose I'm insane with jealousy!

In that colour scheme Force?

[TheForce]

yup, exactly like on the pictures (apart from the white lines on the wheels), from the moment I saw it in these colours I knew that would be the one !

[Zatoichi_Samurai]

I failed my DAS practical test today, which sucks. I put my foot down doing the u-turn, apart from that i had 2 or 3 random minors. Re-booked it for december, but I need to work on my u-turns (i probably get about 3 of 5 right), so i may buy a 125 to practice on, though it may be a bit pointless as my re-test is in a few weeks? Any u-turn advice from you experienced guys?

[Alastair]

Bad luck dude.

Apart from lots of practice I'd say the basics are; Back brake on to damp the throttle inputs. Quite a lot of throttle to keep the momentum (countered by the brake which together will help you keep much more steady). Head up (do not look at the floor at all). Look where you want to be, don't look along the kerb you start at, look where you want to be going. And confidence, nice smooth positive moves should see you through. The guy I did my lessons with was trying to be really delicate and precise and had a real trouble getting to grips with it until he got his head around really revving the bike.

Finally, don't do it on a sporty bike!! I had no problem doing U-turns on my lessons or test but the steering lock on the SV650s is so poor I really can't do them at all now. Had I taken the test on my bike I really doubt I'd have had such an easy time!!

[Eps]

Blimey, is that an automatic fail then? I never did that in the UK, although I did put my foot down on my US test, which cost me a lot of points but I had enough left to scrape through (think I got a perfect score otherwise). I did the more rigorous Motorcycle Safety Foundation course though to break me into riding American-style... the one you can do at the local DMV is pathetically easy, hence all the squids on the roads

Re: tips - remember target fixation! Look where you WANT to go, and remember that a (teensy tiny) bit of acceleration through the u-turn will keep you stable just as more acceleration does in bigger turns. Also, do it on a Hayabusa or ZX-14.*




* - Not really

[TheForce]

bad luck mate,

best advice has already been given above...

(just) look where you want to go !
And keep a little throttle open and adjust the speed with your rear brake..

good luck for the next time

[MartyG]

Finally, don't do it on a sporty bike!! I had no problem doing U-turns on my lessons or test but the steering lock on the SV650s is so poor I really can't do them at all now. Had I taken the test on my bike I really doubt I'd have had such an easy time!!

That really can't be used as an excuse on the test because before the examiner gets you to do a U-turn, he gets you to walk the bike around in the road, thus proving it can be done with the lock on the bike. I did my test on a Kawasaki GPz500, and had to do a u-turn on a freshly gravelled road, fortunately I didn't do the emergency stop on that road.

I find that trying to do u-turns too slowly causes problems - but really the only way to get better at them is to practice.

I really don't think they're much use on the road, far better to find a junction or driveway and turn there instead, less risk, but for the test it's more to show you can control the bike at slow speeds.

[Alastair]

That really can't be used as an excuse on the test because before the examiner gets you to do a U-turn, he gets you to walk the bike around in the road, thus proving it can be done with the lock on the bike. I did my test on a Kawasaki GPz500, and had to do a u-turn on a freshly gravelled road, fortunately I didn't do the emergency stop on that road.

The examiner has the option to do that, it's not a requirement of the test. I certainly didn't do it and neither did the guy that did his after me.

I'm not sure if you think I was but I wasn't making excuses for them or saying it's not possible, just that it's harder.

[MartyG]

No I didn't think that. It's definitely harder with a bike with less lock - which is normally why the examiners get you to do it. I thought it was part of the test tbh - I did my test three times ( so don't worry about failing ) with three different examiners and they all asked me to do it.

I failed for being "too agressive with acceleration" past a junction into a higher speed limit ( which was completely empty ) and driving too close to a car in a 30 ( which was nonsense ) in my first test, and too timid in the second so the examiner didn't think I was confident enough.

The third one was just right

[Zatoichi_Samurai]

Thanks for the advice and words of encouragement guys! I think the main issue is that I tend to roll off the throttle as I come into the 2nd half off the U. I know I shouldn't do that, but seem to anyway. Ah well, next time!