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Messages - TomS_
2
« on: 02 May 2019, 03:46:57 pm »
Hi all,
Thought I might put some feelers out - does anyone have a red foxeye front fairing/nose cone for sale, or know where I could find one (suggestions for wreckers etc)?
Thanks!
3
« on: 21 January 2019, 06:14:15 pm »
I had this on mine. On the face book group loads of people did. I left it alone but lads on there sorted it by wrapping the hot side in insulation tape which apparently works
 That doesnt sound promising...
4
« on: 19 January 2019, 04:42:39 pm »
maybe you have thicker skin on one of your hands?
Ah man thats dirty.  talking bollocks. Yeah, Im finding it hard to believe that in 2015 there would have been such glaring issues like that.I guess if they could fix it I might still be in for the sale, but its kind of making me doubt the service from these guys...
5
« on: 19 January 2019, 04:07:03 pm »
I just did a test ride on a Tracer 900 (or perhaps MT-09 Tracer, since it is a 15 plate). It has heated grips, but the only thing I can really fault it for is that the right hand grip got way hotter than the left hand grip - or the left hand grip is a bit bung. It wasnt a mild annoyance, it was a case of to feel any temperature at all in the left hand my right hand was burning off. I dont believe it was a case of simply my left hand is opened up or off the grip more than the right due to working the clutch - I found myself a little stretch of A road and had a little cruise for a few minutes with both hands firmly in place to make sure this was not the case.
Sales man of course tells me this is normal because the right hand grip is thinner due to the way the throttle is built, but I dunno - it was vastly different. My feeling is that surely the designers would know about this, and it would be catered for in their resulting design and not be an issue...
Case in point, a few weeks ago I installed some Oxford heated grips on my Fazer, and I must say that the temperature consistency between the left and the right was spot on. All I needed to do was find the most comfortable temperature setting and forget about it and enjoy the bliss.
I really liked the Tracer 900 I rode, brilliant bike, but the heated grip thing has me reconsidering... I suppose I could always ditch the official grips and put some Oxford grips on, but that defeats the purpose and you lose the ability to control it via the dash.
What are others experiences with this, I only have my Oxford grips to compare to. Or is the sales man just being a sales man and trying to sell it?
6
« on: 19 January 2019, 03:48:14 pm »
Thanks guys, great info. I had been flip flopping on whether I would be keeping it after buying something newer anyway, as maintaining/insuring two bikes plus a car was starting to sound like a tall order. I guess I just didnt want to see it go out this way. Since I was not at fault (other party admitted fault), I suppose even a high ball offer (if they dont just offer me the insured valued, since they would be recovering costs off the other insurer anyway?) I could end up eating all of it and maybe then some [/size]after buying back the bike and sourcing all of the parts![/size][/size]Stuff to think about I guess. It was collected yesterday, so I guess within the next week or so I should have some kind of answer.
7
« on: 18 January 2019, 06:54:15 pm »
As far as I know only bikes registered '07 onwards are exempt. Prior to that you pay the same as a car.
It is based on declared emissions, not strictly the age or euro rating. Age/Euro rating could be considered a guideline for vehicles that will be reasonably guaranteed to be exempt as that class meets the emissions requirement. If you get your bike or other vehicle tested/certified and can show TfL that it meets their emissions requirements, then it can be exempted. DVLA will need to add the emissions figure to your registration, and then TfL will exempt it from the charge. I think I read recently that if you are willing to do so, you can even apply to TfL to exempt an entire model of vehicle rather than an individual, if you can show that model meets the requirement.
8
« on: 18 January 2019, 06:40:04 pm »
and
9
« on: 18 January 2019, 06:35:33 pm »
Ugh. As it happens, I put heated grips on a couple of weeks ago and filled the tank on Monday night, then Tuesday on the way home someone pulled out in front of me at a junction and I ended up re-modeling the side of their car.  The worst of the damage is the bent steering and leaking shock. Other than that its largely cosmetic - smashed headlight, cracked/scratched nose cone, scratch on alternator cover, and thats about it really! Luckily it was quite low speed as I was already slowing down to allow another car out in front of me. Wondering if anyone can give any advice ... Its a great bike (my first bike) and I really enjoyed riding it. I suspect it will be a write off due to the age and perhaps the difficulty of sourcing replacement parts for it. Other than the sentimental value/attachment, is there much point buying it back from the insurer if that option is available so I can fix it up myself? Or take what cash they will give me and put it towards something else? I needed to buy a newer bike anyway as I work in central London and the rules are changing in April. Ive been eyeing off the Tracer 900 for some time, going to test ride one tomorrow.
10
« on: 18 December 2018, 11:16:01 am »
Basically all new model bikes made after 07 should be exempt this won't include older designed bikes sold in 07
Yeah, basically anything that meets Euro 3 should be fine. Its all based on declared emissions anyway. If I had my Fazer tested and the emissions were within the requirement then I would be fine to continue riding it without having to pay the daily charge.
11
« on: 14 December 2018, 09:00:11 am »
Just a shame i can't get hand guards as well on my bike, the combination would be perfect.
I put Oxford Advanced Touring grips on mine. These get plenty hot, I cant run them at full temp as its too uncomfortable. I usually sit in the lower half of the range of settings and that is plenty hot (so far). Hand guards would be the ultimate combination, and I'd like them too, but I havent really been able to find any yet either. Eyeing them up on the next bike, which I probably need to get by April next year if I plan to continue working in central London - new emission laws mean the Fazer wont meet spec and I'd have to pay £12 or so a day to ride in. 
12
« on: 12 December 2018, 09:21:39 pm »
Delayed from Sunday ...
Today I installed heated grips. I'd held out with nice squishy grips, but the cold weather forced my hands. So far it has been amazing. The ride tomorrow will be interesting, with 0/below 0 temperatures!
13
« on: 12 December 2018, 09:10:15 pm »
If you ran into him as hard as it looks it was probably shit after he had a bowel loosening moment
14
« on: 07 December 2018, 09:32:39 am »
No-one else seems to have asked, so I must be stupid. What the heck is the gloopy stuff dripping after the impact?
Some iced coffee kind of drink. My gear and bike smelled like a really sweet coffee for a week after that. edit: oops, bit late to the party. The guy didnt really seem to give much of a shit. If I had the camera on my helmet you'd have gotten a better view of what happened after. He just threw what was left of his coffe on the ground and walked off.
15
« on: 05 December 2018, 08:08:58 pm »
Small update.
It has been behaving over the past week or so. Since doing that little bit of work I havent had the buzzing any more, so perhaps there was a little bit of corrosion in there preventing a proper contact, and that is now a little better. I'll keep my eye on it.
On to the next project for now I think, heated grips!
16
« on: 24 November 2018, 01:43:08 pm »
tommyardin good shout on the bolt cleaning,but don't put vaseline (it's not conductive) or anything else onto bolt or area before refitting bolt put it on after, same goes for all connections like this including battery terminals, their needs to be metal to metal for a proper contact. 
Ive got a little tub of NO-OX-ID grease which is specifically intended for use with electrical contacts. I took a look at the connectors under the left panel at the front. They look really really good IMO (and I do a reasonable amount of work with electronics etc), still very shiny and golden/brass in appearance, no typical green corosion. Perhaps a little discolouration on the contacts for a thicker black wire which is probably the ground. I did measure its resistance and it came out at practically zero ohms (0.2) so probably that connetion is ok. The bike starts just fine, so I dont think there is anything funny going on with the connection from the battery to the chassis. I gave it a quick look and it seems fine - not loose, no visible signs of anything untoward. I added some NO-OX-ID to the connector under the fairing and pulled the connectors apart and pushed them back together a couple of times for good measure. Of course, everything is behaving right now, and I suspect that if I need to dig any deeper Im going to have to take the dash off completely, and right now the cold weather doesnt lend itself nicely to a long project like that. I also measured the voltage at the battery terminals with the engine off, on, and with some revs. It was varying anywhere from about 12.9 up to about 14 volts, so I suppose the alternator might also be fine and is still able to supply charge to the battery and other accessories. Yet to take the petrol tank off and look at the connectors under there. I might try that tomorrow. For now the mystery remains...
18
« on: 23 November 2018, 12:44:22 pm »
It sounds like the connection to ground is dodgy.
I'll check this out too. Ive got a good multimeter, so I'll take some measurements and see how I go.
19
« on: 23 November 2018, 12:43:50 pm »
Check the connectors under the left infill panel. They suffer from corrosion and the light tap may have been enough to effect it.
Actually now that you mention this, a friend recently had a similar problem with his FZ6 which resulted in his headlights being a bit intermittent. Turned out to be corrosion affecting a big connector under the fuel tank. I'll take a look at this. Thanks for the suggestion/reminder! Prior to moving it spent all of its life outdoors in all of the rain. Now its in a garage and ironically its developing more issues.
20
« on: 23 November 2018, 08:53:23 am »
Some months ago, I ran in to a pedestrian that stepped out in front of me from between two cars, looking the other way. It was a relatively low speed impact, and they were apparently just fine, because they simply walked away after it (didnt stop to abuse me, say sorry, ask what the hell, or anything!) Yes I got it on camera.
Since then, somewhat coincidentally, Ive been having some strange issues with my electrics. It could be completely coincidental, and Im hoping that there hasnt been any damage to something.
Anyway, it started with simple things, like I'd turn on the ignition when the headlights were on and start getting a buzzing noise from the dash, the fuel gauge would go over full. Then other things started happening, like the dash would cut out and I would lose the time. Then I would turn the indicators on and they would be very dim and reversed (!!??). Then sometimes I would turn the indicators on and the dash would cut out. Sometimes the dash cuts out and I dont lose the time.
I started suspecting the battery. Maybe the voltage was too low, and the reason for suspecting it is because after a few minutes of running everything would be fine and dandy! I bought a replacement battery but havent yet installed it as I just moved house etc and other things have taken priority. But this morning has been the worst so far. It started off as usual. I would turn the headlights off and start it up, then after a minute or two of warming up while I was faffing about with ear plugs, helmet etc I would turn the headlights on, no worries, everything worked as expected. I set off on my commute to work and then everything started going wrong. Trying to use the indicators would cut the dash out and I would lose the time. Seemingly, having the headlights on actually doesnt turn the headlights on, but it does cut the dash out (which means I cant see my speed!) and I cannot indicate, with both indicators dimly lit on the dash. Eventually I figured out that I could indicate if I turned the headlights all the way off, so I had to do most of the commute without headlights just so I could at least indicate. Luckily it wasnt too dark, but I would still have rather had headlights for visibility. Has anyone seem crazy behaviour like this? When I ran in to the pedestrian, I did end up covered in some sweet smelling iced coffee drink (sorry, I dont drink coffee so have no idea what it was), and some of it went over some of the controls on the bike. Im wondering if perhaps some of it is causing sticky contacts perhaps? Ive yet to spray some WD40 or similar in to the controls, and now given this morning I am not sure it is related to the battery at all. Final resort is to drop it off at a mechanich I suppose, but thought I'd ask here first if anyone has come across anything like this.Thanks
21
« on: 18 June 2016, 09:48:05 pm »
Hi everyone. Got an urgent request I hope someone can help with.
Have a European trip starting on Monday 20th June and a friend who has an FZ6-N, 05 plate, has a threaded sprocket nut. :-(
Is there anyone in/around London or Milton Keynes or anywhere in between that has one of each that can help out?
Or do you have any recommendations for dealers who might stock these parts? We plan to leave early Monday morning, so pickup on Sunday 19th would be preferable.
Thanks!
22
« on: 14 June 2016, 01:24:22 pm »
and
23
« on: 27 May 2016, 09:26:30 am »
Ive seen these too, but Ive been trying to work out how exactly they work.
I also have grip puppies on my bars, and Ive been wondering whether they'll either get damaged, or prevent something like this from taking proper hold.
24
« on: 26 May 2016, 11:46:25 pm »
Ive been looking for one for quite a while too.
Pref in red, but could also get it re-sprayed I guess.
25
« on: 26 May 2016, 10:28:29 pm »
I have a medium size Aqatex with a bulge at the back for a topbox, fits perfectly over my FZS600 with a small Givi top box (30L or thereabouts.) Unfortunately I dont think they do the Stormtex with provision for a top box, which I prefer to leave on my bike rather than take it on and off, so the Aquatex works quite well for me.
[/size]
[/size]Like others have said, its quite thin. Mine has got a couple of rips in it after less than a year (and I dont think Ive been particularly rough with it), and also the strap that goes under the belly (which stops it blowing off the bike in wind) has come detached on one side. Guess I should sew it back on, or maybe hit Oxford up about a replacement since it only lasted about 6 months before that happened...
[/size]
And being so thin, any part that comes in to contact with the bike will likely result in moisture seeping through, just like a tent, so beware if theres anything that needs particular protection from moisture.
Can be tricky to put on in wind because it likes to blow up like a parachute and go where ever it wants. Otherwise its nice and light and goes on and off quickly. Basically, does what it says on the tin.
[/size]I dont have a garage or anywhere undercover to keep my bike, so it gets the full weather treatment, and I do have concerns about the longevity of it. So far its holding up (just.)
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