Took the FJ 1200 out for a run around Souh Leics & Northants this afternoon, while the sun shone. Put a bottle of Forte Moto Power 1 in the tank when I filled up and put another 15 miles on it to run some through. Hopefully it helps keep the dreaded fuel-gunge from forming in the carbs over the quiet winter months !! I'll be taking the Fazer's out over the next week or so and doing the same thing when I fill them up too.


Couldn't resist taking some pics of the old girl in the sun though  .

It doesn't really work on my iPad, Unfazed - but, is that a link to "Gearingcommander.com" ?.

That's the site I use for checking out changes resulting from sprocket and tyre swaps with different teeth and wheel sizes etc.

Agreed, as long as the rubber doesn't foul against the casing when the sprocket is in place (but if it's been made right it shouldn't).

Holy crap !!


I just imagined millions of these tiny little electricity gremlins running from the plus terminal on my battery, through my wiring, round to the negative one. If there's a break, or a missing connection in the wires, then the gremlins can't make it.


The wiring diagram is the road atlas the gremlins use to find their way around my bike, to each of the electrical components.


I don't know where the gremlins come from, or what they eat, but I'm happy they're there 


Seriously though, it'll be nice to get to the science behind all of this - so thanks for the info 

I already find the bike mirrors don't give a good enough view of what's behind (especially because of elbows), so to fit blindspot mrrors in the bit of the current mirror that's actually useful, seems counter-intuitive......at the moment.

I think they're a great idea - and would love some, if the current mirrors made the practical - but for the time being will stick with regular mirror glances and life-savers.

My only worry would be riders who stopped doing their life-savers because they had blind-spot mirrors. Car drivers have already stopped doing the look-over-the-shoulder, before manoeuvring and now rely almost entirely on mirrors/camera's - especially in newer cars with the little amber and red arrows that light up on the door mirror when the car "detects" something coming up alongside (they were bloody annoying on my Evoque).

Couldn't make it to Stafford as we're in the USA, but as luck would have it, a brand new museum opened this weekend - the New England Motorcycle Museum - just 15 mins from where the family live. The opening "event" had live bands, stunt shows (a bit basic and all on Harley's, but good none-the-less).


All in all, a decent substitute, on a beautiful, sunny, autumn day. Will have to host photo's to put up here so will do that later. Just one for now.

Hope you're not in northern Florida.

LOL - nope, up in  Connecticut (about 2 hours due north of New York). Florida is flat and has no bends (other than the left turns at Daytona), so there's nothing there of interest to me 

When your repair is claimed against another party (even another Amiral customer) Admiral do provide a like-for-like car, size/configuration wise. But when it's an at fault claim, their policy is different

Because my wife was the "at fault" driver, Admiral's policy when I took the car in for repair is to provide the smallest possible car - they call it a "class A" car - irrespective of what your car is.

I must say, that when Admiral are claiming against another driver, they are fantastic - but when it's your fault, they do everything they can to get out of giving you anything. To cap it all off, I paid for their "protected no claims bonus" so that if we had an accident, our premium wouldn't skyrocket - what a Swizz that was. Our renewal price more than doubled. When I queried that they told me I was still getting my full no claims discount %, but because of the claim, our premium had basically doubled because of the accident (as a simplified explanation example, assuming our first premium was £1000, but with a 55% NCD it went down to £450, then our renewal premium went up to £2,000, but with the 55% protected NCD it went down to £900).

Either way, I paid for "protected NCD", so they just loaded the headline premium instead. They just fix it so there is no risk to them (they don't give you your money back in a claim free year, but want every penny back the following year when you do have a claim).

We've just had a terrible time with Admiral over our car insurances - the tiniest tip of the iceberg being that when he renewed his insurance with them, No one realised we he had to tell them that he had changed jobs (and they never asked) - even though he worked in the same office at the same building (he'd gone from being a Customer Service Agent, to being a Copywriter). When someone ran into his parked car and he notified Admiral, they asked him what his job was and he simply told the truth "I'm a copy writer". A short while later, we get a note from Admiral saying that because he failed to declare his change of job, which could have invalidated his insurance, they were issuing a penalty charge and increasing his premium - because according to Admiral's risk data, which is commercially confidential so they can't give out any details - a Copywriter is a higher risk job for car insurance than a Customer Service Agent. We have had a lot of other issues with these people - such as not telling us that standard insurance cover doesn't include for commuting to work - you have to specify that you're going to use your car for commuting FFS !!

It seems like every question the ask and that every bit of information they don't tell you when giving you a quote, is designed to give them an excuse to refuse any claim you make.

The other minor issue we had is that when my car was damaged (which I use for work as I'm self employed) and Admiral arranged the repairs, they provided a courtesy car, as expected. Now, I drive a Volvo V70 for a reason - I drive long distances, carry lots of baggage and usually have passengers (sometime scustomers) - and I had specifically requested cover to include for my business use. Imagine my surprise when my "business use" courtesy car turned out to be a Smart car. Admiral refused to accept that this unacceptable and told me that a courtesy car was ther to enable me to go about my daily life - I asked what that included and they said, getting to work, doing the shopping etc. They would not accept that their courtesy vehicle should allow me to carry on my daily business - and they wouldn't budge, not one inch. When I told them I had specifically requested business cover and identified I used my V70 for business, they said that was irrelevant, business cover only meant that I was covered legally in case of an issue. Luckily, the repair garage understood my situation and gave me a 5 door Astra which at least meant I could carry my luggage and the 2 (large/overweight) passengers I was taking with me on a 500 mile round-trip.

Needless to say, we will never use Admiral again and generally advise any of our family/friends to avoid them like the plague.

I've watched a few friends fall off fixed wheel bikes at the track - when they forget that it doesn't freewheeland they lock up the back wheel and then fall off. Lots of scraped thighs, knees and bruises - and that's on a smooth indoor track with one way traffic, no cars/buses and no pedestrians or animals.


To ride a fixed wheel bike on the street is daft, to ride one without having your feet clipped into the pedals is asking for broken feet and shins......in my opinion.


I love riding a specialist fixed wheel bike at the track, but would never ride a bike with no freewheel capability or decent brakes on the road in commuter traffic.

As you need 4 seats, how about a CLK Mercedes, quite a few engine options and trim levels. Also plenty of independent Merc specialists for servicing etc.

+1 for the CLK from a practicality and reliability point. Also, there are plenty about for not stupid money.


Some good friends bought one new in 2005 and still have it today - they love it and it's  been as reliable as a stone. It lives under a cover when it's not being driven, not in a garage, as its used as a "second" car - but it's still got over 70k miles on it.

Quote from: Millietant on 20 September 2018, 10:46:18 pm

If Stevie doesn't want it, I'll take it Col - just pm me when you know.

Sorry Stevie has confirmed he'll take it.

OK - glad it's sold