Don't know if this helps, but I always found my quotes from The Bike Insurer to be loads cheaper than any of the other comparison sites (gocompare, moneysupermarket etc)

http://www.thebikeinsurer.co.uk

I paid that for mine, and then learned that everything was broken on it!
Great deal, and excellent looking bike

Whats to stop you finding the detuning that's been done, and reverting it for more performance?
Or am I completely missunderstanding here?
Orrrr are other components attached to the engine different as well, meaning you'd need to replace a load to get performance up?


I always found this whole "we made an engine perform worse on purpose to sell a bike cheaper" idea a bit weird....

When you go Fazer spotting, just make sure you don't nod at the riders - it's all about the Fazer salute!
Looks so cool when you see a rider coming towards you, and you can't quite work out what they're doing until they get up close...
This actually happened to me once last year when I was riding north on the M40.  Took me a good 10 seconds to realise that the guy on the otherside of the carriageway was on a silver FZS before I started giggling to myself.

Just a quick update as I'm home for the weekend and got a bit of a chance to look.

As the multimeter turned up, I checked the coil resistance and plug cap resistance, and all seemed within the expected range (except 1 plug cap, sat at 8.5kohm instead of the 10 it should - anything to worry about?).
I started going through the electrics, but the weather is a bit shit, and I've got nowhere sheltered I can have a go at the bike :/  I also trimmed the leads back a few mm.
Being a proper idiot, I left my spark plug tool at uni, so couldn't even attempt to get those out and check, but it's another job I'll have to look at next time I'm back.

After all this, the bike starts and runs fine on the drive, but still seems to be suffering when you start riding (just went up and down the road to test, performance seemed to be heading in the same direction as before).

Anyway, I'll chuck another update on when I've had a better chance to go at the bike, incase anyone is interested!


Thanks,

Thanks for the responses guys.  I'll try to answer all those questions in order - hopefully I don't miss any!


The bike was stored out in the elements, unfortunately.
I initially tried to start the bike, found the battery was nearly dead, so brought it in and charged it for a couple of days on a trickle charger.  As for the battery health, I'm not really sure or sure how to check.  The bike starts pretty comfortably first time, but I generally need to charge the battery back up a bit if the bike is left for more than a couple of weeks.
When I say about the short burst up the road - I warmed the bike up for a minute or 2 on the drive, then it was about half a mile before the problems started to become apparent.  The actual ride was probably about 10-15 miles, although none of that above 40mph ish.  I also left the bike over Christmas without much fuel in the tank, and added some fresh regular Shell unleaded when I went out on my first ride.
I need to use some choke to start the bike, and when operating the lever, I can see the cable moving in and out on the carb, so it doesn't seem to be sticking unless it isn't fully closing properly.  I think I had fully closed the choke when I started my ride, but can't remember for sure.


When I got my bike, it didn't come with the toolkit unfortunately, so I'm looking in to picking up a proper fazer one off ebay, unless anyone has a better solution of what to get/where to get it?  As for the multimeter, it's something I've been considering picking up for a while - off to Amazon I go!
I'm back from uni this weekend, so I'll take a good look at all the wiring and try to clean it up where I can - admittedly it wouldn't be the first time corroded wiring has caused my bike problems, if that did turn out to be the case.
To check the downpipes, I tend to just flick a bit of water on them, and it's pretty clear that cylinder 3 isn't getting as hot as quickly, although it certainly isn't staying completely cold.
I also opened up the carbs around last September time to try and clean them out, only to find they were pretty spotless inside - what are the chances they've got bad since then?  The bike seemed to run fine for atleast a few months after this job, so I presumed it was ok...


Similarly with the cam chain, I'm pretty confident the timing was spot on, and the bike seemed to be running perfectly for several months after this job.  Is it likely that if I did get the timing slightly off, it would cause a problem a few months down the line, rather than immediately?




Again, thanks for all the comments.  Hopefully this extra info + some wire cleaning this weekend can go towards me having a happy, tarmac filled spring! 


HazzaBui

Looking at that socket set http://www.lidl.co.uk/cps/rde/SID-C56D7703-B8CCA38B/www_lidl_uk/hs.xsl/our-offers-2491.htm?action=showDetail&id=10231
Doesn't look like there is anything big enough in there for the rear axle nut - can anyone tell me I'm wrong and save me a few quid on a more expensive set? 

As a Reading season ticket holder, I hope to see him playing for the first team in about 15 years of so! 
Reading academy has a habit of producing excellent talent, so it seems a good place to be learning the game!

Had a go at it today, and got most of the solid paint off, but it left some hard to remove crap behind.  Pictures attached - think I might need something a bit stronger than soap and water to get this off!

Posting in general as I want general paint removal tips, rather than fzs specific advice.


A couple of nights ago, some little shits decided to give my bike a bit of a makeover, in the form of covering my headlights with spray paint (I've attached some images).  They also sprayed the seat, but I'm not particularly worried about that - more concerned by my non functioning light 


So! I was hoping people could offer some (preferably cheap) ways to remove this paint, that won't damage the headlight plastic/fairing.


As always, any info, pages I can read, past experience etc is all very much appreciated!


Thanks 
HazzaBui

There goes my £30 voucher!
Beyond that though, very sad to hear - that's where I get the majority of my bike gear, and they are a great little shop!

Signed.


Luckily, the bus lanes near me are generally bike+taxi lanes as well.  I do occasionally get caught out though when they change from taxi+bike to just bus all of a sudden, with no real warning :/