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Messages - Janet
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« on: 02 January 2012, 10:38:01 am »
Happy New Year everyone  We've put together a review of what we got up to in 2011:  It's at 2011 - A Vintage Year
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« on: 27 December 2011, 02:27:23 pm »
They have been runing on 10% ethanol for a while in the USA, and a couple of my friends over there are having all sorts of problems with their 1998-spec R1s. It doesn't seem to cause such obvious problems with injected motors, but they both find that their carbs get messed up if they leave their bikes to stand for any length of time and their bikes won't start. I know that one of them (and he's pretty mechanically competent - he's recently built his own aeroplane) has had to take his R1 into a professional workshop at least twice to get it sorted.
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« on: 26 November 2011, 07:56:22 am »
If you have a current passport there's a much less worrying way to do it. You can apply online and give your passport number as well as the normal details. They use this to retrieve your photo and your signature from your passport, and send you your new licence (in my and my husband's experience) in just a few days. You are supposed to return your old licence to them, cut in half, but you get about three weeks to do this, meaning that you get the new one and have time to check it before surrendering the old one.
My husband and I have both done this within the last couple of years to get our first photocard licences - apart from anything else our old paper licences, of 1987 vintage, were starting to fall apart. Both of our new licences were entirely correct, even though they contained extra information (dates tests passed which were back in the 80s, etc) which hadn't appeared on the old paper licences.
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« on: 21 November 2011, 03:52:48 pm »
Thanks for the kind words about our website. We've just come back from a fortnight in Florida/South Carolina. We had great weather there too, but I'm amazed at how mild it still is back here. I fully expected the roads to be covered with corrosive roadsalt by the time we returned, but actually we'll be able to do some riding as soon as we shake off the jetlag. There are a few pictures on our website from a bit of flying I was lucky enough to be able to enjoy while we were over there, at http://www.torquemonsters.co.uk/flypast.htm. We happen to know a former US Marine Corps fighter pilot (I got to know him when we both had 1998 R1s), so we often get to fly with him or one of his friends when we visit him. And here's a gratuitous shot of my FZ1 and Andy's Speed Triple: 
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« on: 31 October 2011, 07:37:27 am »
It's a problem I'm very familiar with. My dad was a mechanical engineer and I'm far more technically minded than my husband (not to say that he's lacking there), but I've seen it time and time again. Back in 1985 I actually gave up biking for a while as my bikes always seemed to be unreliable (mostly because service departments didn't take me seriously, so problems never got resolved on the first visit). When I came back to biking in early 1987 I bought an MZ ETZ250 from a dealer who would routinely call me "love" but in such a way that I didn't mind. He always took me seriously when I said I had problems with the bike and was also very good about trying to find ways to make the bikes he sold easier for women to manage (option of smaller back wheel, etc). I learnt a bit more about working on bikes while I had the MZ, and found that most things could be fixed on the roadside with a bit of know-how and confidence. My confidence grew to the extent that the MZ was the first bike I took touring overseas.
Since the MZ I've not had any problems with dealers. I've chosen them as carefully as the bike and will walk out and look elsewhere if I don't like their attitude. To some extent I think dealers have moved on a bit since 1982 when I started biking. But I also found it to be a bit of a chicken and egg situation. If you lack confidence and come over that way they assume you're a dumb blonde, if you exhude confidence they usually don't (there are exceptions in both directions). But, if you've been badly treated by a dealer a few times it can destroy your confidence and set you up for more mistreatment in the future.
Back in 1998 I got an R1. In fact I think it possible that I was the first woman in the world to own one. My husband had a Bandit 1200 at the time. Being the lovely husband that he is, he bought me a proper R1 jacket to go with the bike. However, he was then set up for disappointment, as every time I walked into somewhere and the jacket was noticed some guy would turn to him and ask him about his R1, and he'd have to say "why don't you ask her - she's wearing the jacket".
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« on: 30 October 2011, 12:02:11 pm »
We decided to get the bikes ridden yesterday, to get them warmed through, batteries charged, etc, on what will almost certainly be our last opportunity to ride on dry roads before we head off to Florida for a fortnight on Wednesday. We rode the six or so miles to get them fuelled up, and then had to decide whether to turn for home - it was still quite cold and the roads were busy - or to press on to Fowlers, our usual dealers, a further 15 or so miles. We decided to press on to Fowlers, and when we got there we discovered that this weekend they have 20% off all Arai helmets. This was good timing, as my mum always gives us £500 for Christmas, to buy something we really want, and we'd already decided to invest in some new helmets. With the 20% off we were able to get the helmets we really wanted, a Black Frost Axces for Andy and a Chaser V in the Pride scheme for me. We then pondered on whether to stop for a bite to eat in their cafe, but decided to head straight home. We got home and parked up the bikes, and less than 20 minutes later it poured down with rain. All in all a successful day.
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« on: 24 October 2011, 03:21:47 pm »
We were there too, though I agree with Ghostrider that the signage was a bit confusing if you hadn't done it before (we hadn't). We still had a great day, and managed to stay on the official route. We've put a few pictures up at http://www.torquemonsters.co.uk/hoggin.htm
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« on: 16 October 2011, 02:16:57 pm »
I followed a white naked one for several miles today on the "Hoggin' the Bridge" charity ride. It had a George White plate.
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« on: 08 October 2011, 02:12:52 pm »
I tried it several times on my home computer (which is also my work computer since I'm a freelance copy editor). Each time I tried it it fouled everything up so badly that I had to use system restore to go back to IE8. I discussed it with my ISP (BT) and they say that it's still in beta (yeah, right!), so their BT Netprotect Plus, which is McAfee based, doesn't work with it. Part of the McAfee stuff also doesn't work with the latest update to Firefox. Firefox will at least work properly, but you don't get some of the McAfee features.
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« on: 04 October 2011, 02:46:22 pm »
can anyone make a suggestion as to why the mirrors on my foxeye fazer move at will!!!
I have removed them but have no idea if any parts are missing.
They constantly move rearwards.
I had a similar problem with the right hand mirror on my 2010 FZ1-N. If I went particularly fast the mirror head moved so that the mirror became useless (it was definitely moving at the mirror head joint, not further down). I raised it at 600 service and they tightened everything that they could, but it got slowly worse. I've just had the whole mirror replaced under warranty - my dealers were quite amenable to putting a claim through. It is fixed now, though I've noticed that they've set the mirror stem at such an angle as to "discourage" it from moving anyway. I wonder if that means that it's not the first time that they've seen this particular problem. Actualy I've just realised that, I think, yours is an older bike and will be out of warranty. However, depending on where it's moving, it should be possible to set the stem angle so that the mirror can't move in the direction it's tending to (assuming that it's the mirror head, like on my bike, with a ball and socket type joint). Just set the stem a bit further forward than you normally would so that the ball and socket is right against the end of its range of adjustment.
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« on: 04 October 2011, 02:17:28 pm »
this what bike magazine sais about the FZ8
"if yamahas 130bhp,150mph FZ1can be likened to a rampaging wildebeest (and those who've ridden one will know it certainly can) then the FZ8 is his unlucky mate who's been tagged with a tranquilliser dart,staggered around for a bit and just managed to dislodge it before passing out,from the outside,the two animals look almost the same-they're an identical size with matching silouttes-but that instinctive snarl at its core has been tamed,and it's not quite as steady on its hind legs"
and with a comparison against the honda hornet 600 bike said
"if you want an 800,get a hornet 600"
the FZ8 could not out accelerate a hornet 600 in the mid range the hornet being 180cc smaller in engine size
Those quotes really hit the mark in my opinion. Last July (owning a 2008 Hornet 600 at the time) I had a demo ride on the FZ8, just out of interest, and really didn't like it - it wasn't anything like as good a ride as my Hornet. Then I was told that the dealer had some cheap brand new FZ1s, took one out for a demo ride ... and bought one!
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« on: 04 October 2011, 02:10:07 pm »
I took one out for a demo ride last July, but it didn't seem as good as my 2008 Hornet 600. The dealer then said that they had some cheap brand new FZ1s going, so I took a demo ride on one of those and bought one. IMHO there's a huge difference between the two, with the FZ8 being a bit too nice, and the FZ1 being a bit of a pit bull ... and that's how I like my bikes.
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« on: 04 October 2011, 01:58:04 pm »
Well hello from one of the other girls on here. I've got a 2010 FZ1. I have had three R1s in the past, but my FZ1's much more fun!  Here's a picture of me with my bike and my husband's Speed Triple in Castle Combe: 
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