I put Ohlins fork springs & oil in mine and it was a definite improvement as they are a bit stiffer.

I've got the official Yamaha top box and rack. Its handy to have somewhere to lock stuff away if you leave the bike. To fit the rack you have to cut a hole in the rear seat panel which isn't clever, but its an easy job with a hot knife. I think the Givi rack is a different design and you dont have to cut the holes. I thought about hard panniers but didn't bother as they are expensive and make the bike too wide. With soft panniers there isn't a gap between the panniers and seat panel.


Loaded up the bike was more difficult to put on the main stand and you could feel the front end being lighter than normal, but at my touring pace it wasn't a problem.

Some facts:

55% of the UK export goes to the EU. 7% of the export of rest of the EU goes to the UK.
 

Where do these facts come from? If true, we certainly do trade a lot with the EU.

I've just had a google for the Welsh view, this is from 15th Feb, before Cameron's talks.


http://www.itv.com/news/wales/2016-02-15/poll-shows-growing-support-for-leaving-eu/


What about in Wales? This is what our new Barometer poll found (with changes from December once more in brackets):

Remain a member of the European Union: 37% (-3%)
Leave the European Union: 45% (+3%)
Would not vote: 3% (-2%)
Don’t Know: 16% (+2%)


Our previous poll gave Leave the first lead, albeit a very narrow one, that they had experienced in Wales for two years. They have now extended that advantage to a clear eight percentage points.

Pleas vote no so as the French will end up deporting me, my wife and I are going to move to France on 15th March. Trust me not my decision.

Merde.

Whereabouts are you being 'trafficked' to?
Nice roads though, lots of empty places, better weather on the whole, food & wine is good. 

I've no idea about prices on the Fazer8.
If you are going to keep the new bike for 11+ years like the old Yamaha I wouldn't worry too much about selling it. If you plan to keep it for just a few years the Fazer8 would be harder to shift on as there would be a load of MT07/09 on the secondhand market by then. The Fazer8 wasnt a popular bike in the first place. I'd guess its not on the dirty toerags hit list of bikes to steal though. Is that a selling point 
From what I've read, the MT07 would be more fun to ride.

Deleted that post as it seems the info I got was incorrect.

My tips are:

Make sure you get one you can sit up in. My tent is slightly too small for that.

Get some cheap tarp to go under the groundsheet as all tents seem to have really thin ones which could let water through or wear very quickly if you camp on stoney ground, like this
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/ECONOMY-TARPAULIN-TARP-LIGHTWEIGHT-WATERPROOF-GROUND-SHEET-COVER-GREAT-VALUE-/400270626376

Take a small fold up stool to sit on, makes a difference if you have to cook on wet ground.


Theres loads of tips in this thread  http://foc-u.co.uk/index.php/topic,11421.0.html

  Obviously top gear roll on is a no contest but normal 0-60 or 40-70 how close would it be?

You've just reminded me about 1 thing which took me ages to adjust to, the XJR only has 5 gears.

I had one from 2003-2010 after deciding 2-up touring wasn't much fun on a YZF750R. 50,000 reliable miles, loads of torque if a little heavy. I only sold it because I wanted something with a fairing/screen. Apart from a bit of windblast it was really comfortable for rider & pillion.  I had an exhaust collector box go at 6 years and a couple of £5 clutch seals every 18,000 miles, no other issues.

Marquez riding shotgun for Lorenzo?? Marquez knew how far Rossi was behind, it was on Lorenzo's & Pedrosa's pitboard. Marquez isn't thick, he would know even if he got past Lorenzo, Lorenzo would win the title. So why not just go for the win? Answer, he couldn't.  Didn't have the tyre left? Didn't want to risk a dodgy pass on another Spaniard, in Spain, at the last round and take him out? Pedrosa cocked his plan up? He overtook him then ran wide, easy pass back for Marquez but lost some time. Great last lap from Lorenzo, covered any possible pass.

Marquez and Crutchow were complaining Friday the front tyre wouldn't last. Pedrosa did a great job of managing his tyres, his pace hardly dropped all race. Lorenzo and Marquez' pace dropped at the end, like it normally does.
Lorenzo got another lights to flag win, he has done that several times.


Lorenzo 7 wins
Marquez 5 wins
Rossi 4 wins.

7 wins for Lorenzo, a good years work. Even if Marquez had got passed him Lorenzo would have won on countback. A shame for Lorenzo the whole season is marred by the Sepang incident, nothing to do with him. Even if Rossi hadn't started from the back would the outcome have been any different, he didn't have the pace of the front 3.

http://resources.motogp.com/files/results/2015/VAL/MotoGP/RAC/Analysis.pdf?v1_7092d17a 

Also, what a year for Yamaha. MotoGP champion, manufacturer's title, the new R1 winning BSB & American championships, Suzuka 8- Hour winners. Maybe more of that next year plus WSB with Alex Lowes & Ginters.

So Lorenzo says that Rossi's punishment is not enough, take Malasia's points off him,,,now hang on there Mr Lorenzo , Rossi is you team mate,,you are playing with fire now,,Yamaha racing pays you a million to race,,you will lose your job and be replaced by Bradley and goto Honda where everyone will hate you more..haha, suicide.l

So will Yamaha sack Lorenzo after Valencia ?  pay him out,,,send him away into the wilderness .

That's an odd thing to say, can you remember what happened when they were team mates in 2009/10? Rossi wanted the wall built between them. Rossi decided to move to Ducati in 2011, which turned out to be a massive mistake.

My take on this event is maybe Marquez is thinking he has had a crap year because his bike was rubbish at the start of the year so just wanted to let Rossi & Lorenzo know he is now back on form and watch out next year.  Played around with them, even Lorenzo at PI, let him get a lead then catch him up with a fastest lap at the end.

In 2010 Rossi was out of the title race because he broke his leg. When he came back he wanted to show he was still the greatest and rode at Motegi to prove it. ok, he finished 3rd not 1st, but he had to beat the new world champion elect, Lorenzo.
 Lorenzo was ahead in the points, Pedrosa was out because of a busted collar bone, but even so, Rossi was still bashing fairings with Lorenzo. If Lorenzo had gone down and bust a leg he could still have lost the title.
 I don't think Rossi would have given a shit, just like Marquez doesn't give a shit who wins this year, he is just out to prove he can beat them all.
 
Back to Sepang, whos to say if Marquez didn't crash he wouldn't have then caught up the leaders starting from the next lap and won again, just like at PI.

http://www.downvids.net/motegi-2010-rossi-vs-lorenzo-566060.html