Not before time. The plugs looked like summation out of a barn find and the oil was black treacle. Thank god for oe toolkit spark plug sockets...

I commute Monday Tuesday Wednesday, but home early on Wednesday, so religiously wash/ fs365 the bike along with clean the chain/ relube and clean rear shock and tie rods etc with wd40 every Wednesday afternoon. Every three or four weeks tops I check tyre pressures and take all three calipers off, drop the pads out and clean Pistons anti squeal shims pins etc, coppa grease and back together, along with running all the exup stainless cap heads out and back in again with coppa slip. I also clean the headers up with one of them green pads the missus uses to do saucepans. I'm assuming they are stainless, mine get filthy with all the shit on the roads around here this time if the year( the commute is probably about 200 miles and it's nearly always wet, with salt and mud from tractors thrown in) do you think I should just stick to washing them? They get stains behind the crud that won't come off with soap and water. Breaks me heart to use the bike like this but needs must

Anyone know if he's alright? He was a regular long time fazer thou feller but he's not been on since November..

I love my fazer to bits, and think it's possibly, no, definitely, the best all rounder ever built. But that bloody exup.......anyhoo, today the missus has an eye test in the heart of Bristol. Living in the Forest of Dean and Knowing the traffic will be horrendous from the Severn bridge onwards I take her in on the thou, with its freshly greased exup valve. In Chepstow I get the bloody 7k fault! Anyhoo, it was intermittent so onwards to Bristol, and I park on the pavement and get the toolkit out right outside the opticians. At least I can play the breakdown card if a traffic warden shows up. By now the fault is happening constantly, and it's ok in the city so I know the valve is stuck in the closed position. I whip the pulley of the valve and try it, valve turns easily and smoothly, so put it back on and slacken the cables a bit, reasoning that I've over tightened them perhaps, even though it's done probably 200 miles since I last adjusted them. No difference, so I take the pulley off again and check to see if it moves around hanging loose. It doesn't, both when I'm revving the bike and when I kill it with the kill switch. So all back together, and head home with 7k fault going all the way, and  get there wit h about an hours daylight left to check it out. Again pulley off and check, no movement. So tank up, left hand infill and fitting bracket ( the one with the reg/rec fitted to it) removed to give me a bit of access. I'm thinking the cables are frayed internally and locking up, but pulling on them near the servo pulley with needle nosed pliers they seem ok. I pull them back up through the outer sleeve to give them both an inch of play near the servo and try it again. Servo not working! Wasn't expecting that :-( anyhoo, there's a slot in the left hand side of the servo pulley, I can just about reach thru with a slotted screwdriver and put it in the slot and see if there's any movement in the pulley. It's stuck but suddenly gives a little bit. I start the bike and bingo, it's turning ok, and no 7k fault. I spray loads of wd40 into the servo pulley shaft as best I can, reconnect the pulley on the valve, and take up the slack in the cables, and try it again. It's all working ok. Buggered if I know...I've not used the bike for a couple weeks while I've been away working, is it conceivable it seized up in that time. Have sprayed loads more wd40 around the servo pulley and will give it 20 or 30 miles in the morning to see if it's behaving...

Only realised when I was looking for somewhere to site me givi spots the side guards are missing! Anybody got a pair either oe or aftermarket please?

It's never easy is it...lost my 11 year old lab two weeks ago. Still can't quite get to grips with it. Today I went on a long ride, through the Wye valley and into Wales, then back. It kinda cleared my head, as the bike does, was cold, but I was well wrapped up and the road was ok most of the time. He was a beautiful dog, and the gentlest creature I have ever known. Today helped no end in truth, another reason we all love bikes I guess. The fazer is the best two grand I have ever spent. It turned a cold winter ride along the Wye into something altogether different, and lifted my mood for the first time since I had to take my best friend to the vet, and never got to take him home.. Here's an old bike, ridden by an old man, outside an old castle in Chepstow. Roll on spring, but until then, I'll keep riding the thou, it's an incredible machine In any circumstances

fellers...my clutch is noisier with the lever out than when its in, not a lot, and i know theres bound to be a bit because the plates are disengaged..is it worth whipping the cover off to have a gander this weekend or are they all like that? i thought the biting point was a bit high when i bought it but its fine in use and i was comparing it to my zzr11 at the time which only has 6k on the clock (fazer has 30)

Dunno why they changed the lights so you only get one dipped beam on a later fazer, guess it's EU regs or summat. Anyhow, I'm old and blind, my evening commute from Bristol to the heart of the Forest of Dean is quite terrifying in the dark, even more so when it's raining. Do they do brighter bulbs nowadays that don't burn hot and need updated fuses like the old 100 w halogens? I don't want the arse ache or cost of HID...

Ok so picked up my 04 gen one with 30k up yesterday, had a brief test ride before I put it in the van and it's lively enough, taxed and insured so first proper ride now through the Wye valley, about forty miles round trip. Did notice yesterday ex ups a little rattly and clutch bites a bit high and quick, hopefully nuffin problematic, gonna strip the exup out later in the week, but service record shows it was last stripped out, cleaned and greased  3,000 miles ago in 2014. Just to refresh my memory, should it check itself out when you turn the ignition on? Feels good to have a fazer thou again, even before I've ridden it...

building a berluddy grut workshop for penny's bruv whilst he's working in Canada earning the big bucks on the sand/oil fields. Letting him know how it went via videos uploaded to you tube. This week laid four big bays totalling almost 15000 square feet nine inches deep with the missus helping on the screeding beam...hard going indeedy ..But I got to use the yamarrar on today's update to illustrate his workshop floor area, which is nice because I'm flogging it next week boo hoo. Sticking to the modern classics from now on, just bought a zzr1100 d6 that's mint but been in storage for ten years and only has 5k on the clock, really really looking forward to working on that over the winter and running it come next summerhttp://youtu.be/ovpeb6QmOUg

Had to drop a dealer mates gixxer thou at the block yesterday at Peterborough For Friday's auction, and they have ten identical all black ( including proper Yamaha fairing lowers) fz1s. All stock aside from heated grips and calibrated clocks, so it's a reasonable assumption they are ex police or similar, ie well maintained and possibly high mileage. Dunno if they will put all ten in but they will do at least a few, bikes look ok and kinda stealthy, could be a good buy for someone. Aside from that they have loads of bikes going through, mostly black horse repos or end of pcp deals, so worth a look if your after summat

At 56 years old, and a lifetime of being a builder, I'm taking three years out to go to university and chase my own particular dream. As such, my beautiful Yamaha has to go, and be replaced by summat cheaper and more commuter friendly. So...
The all black gen2, probably the best looking bike ever built. Straight thru cans, Ecu re flashed to stage two by micha, pc5,k and n filter,set up by bsd tuning Peterborough, recent tyres,sprocket cover, chain guard and side covers professionally painted black in 2k, mileage 10k ( I think, could be less, bike us at home and I work away)all Oe spares including cans and exup valve heated grips, bar end mirrors etc all for less than some are asking for gen ones on e bay..£6500 firm 07841 656175 paul ps bike is in Forest of Dean but I've got a big vanso delivery possible...took me a year to find this bike in this colour...

..how well do we know this look...