Spring is here, the deer are back in the garden scrounging, the air is filled with the sound of baby spadgers squawking for their grub and now the snow has buggered off it was time for my first ride of the year, with my MOT up next week.

Have to say, I had been dreading it (due to age and infirmity taking a grip over winter - the first winter that I didn't even sit on my bike, let alone move it) but once I got over the shock of the freezing tank on my knackers, that huge grin reappeared. It's funny, I keep pondering selling the Fazer, due to aforementioned age and condition (mine, not the bike...) but every time I go for a buzz I just wonder how I could be so stupid as to even consider it.

It's the only bike I've had, where I haven't been wondering how any other bike would be, or yearning after some younger, sexier bit of kit - because there isn't anything sexier than Felicity (my Fazer....). If you ever played Elite: Dangerous (I play it in Virtual Reality and it is gobsmacking) you will know Felicity Farseer, the engineering expert for engines, powerplants and frameshift drives (for warp jumps). Very suitable, I thought.

Unfortunately, there was still a lot of sludge and salt around the roads and the traffic was spraying it all over Felicity - so a very enjoyable ride ended with a back-aching scrub and polish.

This machine is 14 years old - 14! Yet not a single hiccup, from twist of the key to jacking the stand. Yeah, I'm definitely in love all over again.

I wish you all a very happy year on your Fazers - it's time to start your engines 

Bloke on ebay isn't answering his 'phone, so if anyone here has a set and would be willing to post or send via Collect+ I'd be glad to hear from you.

Chars

Anyone know how much of a bind it is to remove the instrument glass?

All of mine have been crappy since I bought it. I can still read the things just fine, but they look shoddy, so would be nice to get them replaced or cleaned. I think the mess is on the inside because nothing I do has any effect on the outside. I can't imagine how they got so bad in the first place.

I'm very happy with my Fazer Thou, but one thing that's annoying me is a strange "nuts and bolts swirling in a bucket" type sound when I'm riding.

At very low speeds it disappears, but from around 20mph it starts and gets a bit louder as the speed increases. It seems pretty loud to me when there's no wind - though a windy day will drown out the noise.

I took it to a mate who is a very experienced professional and his first though echoed mine - wheel bearings. But he checked twice and they seem fine. It doesn't seem to be engine/box related either. I thought it may have been the airflow over the screen but it isn't. Nor airflow around the radiator protector.

We are really puzzled. I thought it may be the clutch, as it makes a similar, if quieter, sound when dropped into neautral at a standstill. My educated friend discounted that, though.

The bike is performing very well and I have zero complaints about anything else on it - the handling is fine and it certainly shows the requisite power on tap.

Suggestions gratefully received.

In excellent condition.

Selling as it was too short for my lanky physique.







On my bike:





Asking £45 posted or £40 collected (near Boston, S.Lincs) ono.

Hulloo chasps, JD here, known around about as Brixmis (or Brix for lazy sods like me).

I have a confession to make - I haven't got my Fazer Thou as yet - I'm testing one on Saturday and barring anything nasty wrong with it, I'll be riding it home. 

I've had all sorts of stuff - did my test on a TZR125 - the only other Yam I've had, though I did have a DT as a courtesy bike once, and it spent 90% of it's time with me at the local dirt track  . Well, when in Rome...

I had a Tiger 900 until 2006 - best bike I've owned and I had it for 5 years, which is unheard of for me. However, I'm disabled and I got so bad that I had to sell it and thought my biking days were over.

In 2012 I was put onto morphine and the pain went away and I turned back to two wheels. As the missus refused point blank to get on anything sporty, I got a big-bore scooter, followed by a GPZ500S, which I'd had in the past and knew she liked. I've had that nearly two years now, and last year I went to test a Triumph Trophy at Webbs of Eye/Peterbohorror. Turned out the swingarm was cracked, but I spotted a 2004 Fazer Thou there and asked to test ride that instead.

Best ride I've ever had. Bar none! I honestly thought the Tiger was the comfiest, best all-round bike in existence, but I reckon the Fazer Thou has it beat hands down. What an amazing experience that test ride was - all 3 hours of it. My bum/back/knees felt like I'd just been down the shops on it. Even the missus is impressed! We've sold the car and I will be getting myself a Fazer Thou. If the one I'm testing on Saturday falls through, there are plenty of others around.

See how you can do it, if you're really sneaky.... Scooter=GPZ=Fazer Thou and what car?  They just think they are cleverer than us! 

Sorry about the life story - I never know what to put in these introduction threads.