Just had my tyres replaced and was advised that the holes that the pins that hold the brake pads in place go through in my rear caliper have worn badly. They are oval!
I guess this is just because of vibration slowly wearing the metal out, but....
Is this common?
Am I doing something wrong to cause this?
Apart from a new rear brake, is there anything I can do?
Thanks in advance

Got to the petrol station today and could not open the filler cap. Being ham fisted, I even bent the key trying.

At home, tried the spare (straight) key and still no joy.

Undid the 5 Allen key bolts, bit it appears that there is something else to undo before I can remove the filler cap unit (I left my Haynes manual at a friend's house after some work on the bike).

The lock is currently soaking in penetrating oil, but I'm not holding much hope.  I'll replace it ASAP but I need to know how to get the cap off to replace it and if there is a short term bodge to open the lid.

How hard can I hit what to help? Don't mind if cap does not lock if a temp fix can be performed. Would a screwdriver down the barrel force the lock open?

I've got enough fuel to get to and from work tomorrow, just, but as the light came on as I got home, 36 mile round trip is all I'm prepared to risk.

Thanks in advance

If my old BS kite mark "fell off" my straight through Akrapovik, as they do you know, and I wanted to put one on to help at MOT or being stopped by police time replace it, where should the kite mark go?

Is it where the 'not for road use' was, ie under the little pipe at the back of the silencer, where the 'E' mark is on the OE pipe, ie on the inside, or doesn't it matter.

Thanks in advance

Never thought about changing the DOT rating of my brake fluid since I found out that DOT 5 could not be mixed with DOT 4 (and I'm too lazy to clean the whole system out rather than a quick flush through).  Anyway, looking for brake fluid last night and I find that you can get a "super DOT 4 (like Motul RBF)" and a DOT 5.1 that can be mixed with DOT 4.

I think the only time I had brake fade on the Fazer was when chasing better riders down hill on the Alps and using a lot of hard braking.  It is easy enough to change the fluid so unless it will last a LOT longer I don't think I need additional life.  Any other benefits with the superior DOT 4 or DOT 5?

What is the collective thought about brake fluid?  Stick with DOT 4 and save the extra pennies, use the DOT 5.1 (at twice the price) or go up to a racing brake fluid (at 4 times the price)?

Hi all,

I have a Gen1 Fazer 1000.  It has been off the road for a year or so, but just got it back on the road.  It wasn't stored very well over last winter and was sat under a plastic sheet in the garden so got a wet and snowed on.  It is running OK except for an intermittent electircal problem.

Every now and then the engine will die for a few seconds.  During this time the lights stay on, but the clocks, rev counter and speedo stop working.  I have done things like turn the run-kill off and on, but I dont think this really has any effect on the problem - the bike just starts working again.  Once (and only once as far as I know) the rev counter and speedo both flicked around about full and then back again to zero and then the engine started (as I was riding at the time I was not paying too much attention to exact figures displayed by the needles - is this a diagnostic like the TPS is out?).

Given that the clock die but lights stay on, I've ruled out side stand switch, run kill switch and ignition as, I think, either the clocks will stay on or the lights will go off - is this right?

I've wiggled wires and fuses, but cannot replicate the problem when stationery.  Before I attempt to trace and double check every wire that it could possibly be, are there any known weak areas in the electrical system on the Fazer that could cause this or areas that people think I should start looking at first.

Thanks in advance