This weekend five of us are riding around Wales  about 600 miles stopping over Saturday night in Gwbert on our way around.

We did it about two years ago and it was great- this time we are going backwards- well the other direction- not litterally backwards- that would be silly!

Forecast isnt too bad and bike fettled ready just needs a good clean but thinking about it maybe I will do it when I get back. I am lucky, my brother in law has a blade!

Last time I went for sponsorship for Wales air Ambulance but this time I am looking for pennies for Thankful Village-

Dont know if you have heard of this but two bikers are starting 27th July for 9 days riding 2500 miles to visit 51 thankful vilages- where all the young soldiers who left for the first world war all came home so they have no war memorial..... some (very few) are double thankful villages in that all that went to the second world war also came home.

Triumph have donated two bikes for the trip- not sure if they can auction them off afterwards- that would be nice... but they are trying to raise £51k for the British legion and I am trying to do my bit

Not an ex soldier but I was in the TA and nowadays - that is the same thing!- before we were SAS.... Saturdays and Sundays and a joke but today around half of the fighting force is volunteers.

Anyway- if you would like to sponsor me go to thankfulvillagesrun.com and pledge a couple of quid in a good cause- I will be getting callouses on my a55 this weekend in their name and riding with them in July for some of the way- the last but one village is four miles from me!

Thanks for reading this

Just a quick update

My ECU failed on my FZ6S2 due to corrosion on the pins with a £600 price tag for an OEM virgin Yamaha replacement

Those nice guys at motomatric.co.uk sold be a second hand ECU that they had fettled to be a virgin ECU and just heard from the bike shop that it is working and my bike is back on the road for £170! 

Who's a happy bunny then!

You might have seen my plaintive laments on my FZ6S2 (2009 with 8k miles on the clock) and how corrosion has eaten the pins off my ECU.
 
I felt that as the ECU is under the tank next to the airbox and out of the general water that failure of said part is a bit premature literally on its third birthday... especially when the initial estimate from the bike shop was £2k and asked Yamaha if they could help with the cost. It did seem an unusual failure as I havent seen it mentioned anywhere else
 
Well after two weeks they tell me that I only need a new ECU and not the replacement key set and that I can order it from my local dealer- and that is it    - hope this information has been of help
 
perhaps I was a little naive in that I thought that Mr Yamaha might help with say half the cost of the unit or as a gesture of goodwill  or replace it free of charge as it is not a serviceable item- but no
 
So- I am searching for a 2009 non ABS ECU although I have seen a 'virgin' ECU on Eaby for £180 guaranteed and I am in contact with them. Also seen American ECU's for about $400 but they are not suitable as they dont have an imobiliser.
 
Not sure what to say to other owners- probably not a good idea to annually take your ECU off the loom and clean the contacts but otherwise how will you know its about to corrode into scrap?
 

Had a problem with my radiator fan on my FZ6S2 - it wouldnt come on- known about it for some time but got reminded on Friday after a 'spirited' ride on a warm afternoon I got caught at some convoy controlled road works.

At 117degC the temperature light came on and the temperature display started to flash- didnt know whether to shut the engine off or way for the convoy to come through. Got to 120 before I could move off and the temperature came straight down with diligent use of the clutch to get the air through.

Use dit since and had no problems. Booked it into the local bike shop (not Yamaha) this morning and rode into toen and dropped it off- no problems

Went to pick up the bike tonight and found that the mechanic couldnt start the bike. He wondered if I had damaged the key dropping it through the letterbox this morning- had my spare key but that made no difference.

Engine turned over but would not fire and the temperature display says HI and flashing although it was fine when I left it.

Mechanic had phoned the local Yamaha garage who suggested holding select and reset while turning on the ignotion gets you into some sort of mechanics test code- move it up to 54 and that starts the fan even if the engine is cold so you can test it.

There it is- engine is imobilised and wont start HISS red flashing light goes off with the igntion. normal washing its face and normal display apart from the temperature display saying HI and flashing. Assuming this is not a cheary greeting any ideas what is wrong?

Brought a set of stainless brake lines for my FZ6 which came as two long lines obviously meant to the joined at the master cylinder and run to each front caliper. Also short on for the rear

Went to get them fixed today in the bike shop and he wouldnt 

The OEM brake line goes from the master cylinder to the nearside caliper where it is bracketed and then over the mudguard with a clip with a short brake line to the offside caliper where it isnt bracketed

He says that if he fits the twin lines the offside one will flop about as there is no bracket and may cause an accident.

Seem to recall when I had them fitted to my old FZS6 they just used a couple of zippy ties to hold the two brake lines together and it was never queried on subsequent MOT's etc

Any advice from bike mechanics out there? 

Any one know if an after market exhaust for an FZ6 04 year- silver frame  will fit the later FZ6S2 09 year black frame bike?

Mine has a cat on the vertical riser and I am not sure if the earlier bike had one

Nice looking after market exhaust on Ebay that I was looking at Damn- you all know its there now dont you- baggsie first!

Anyone know where there is a list of paint colurs for the FZ6?

I have a speckly dark blue one and just looking at some accessories on Ebay that are a different colout so maybe considering a can or three and re-finish them to match the bike

Too late to book now but there will be plenty of stalls and demonstrations and you can watch my 15 minutes of fame on the track around 2pm- nose pressed up against the wire.

I try and do some training every year and Bikesafe assessed ride seems a good start plus this year our IAM group is finally running a few ride outs- havent had an assessment since I passed in 2009

I will be wearing my FZ6.com T shirt as we dont seem to have a Foccers T shirt..... now there is a thought- I would buy one

FOC-U
Foccers do it on a Yamaha
I am a silly Foccer

The list is endless and only limited by your imagination

How do we go about getting a site T shirt and help the finances of the site a little bit?

And if you dont want to go there... last year there must have been 50 police bikes there from Thames Valley, Devon and Cornwall and Avon and Somerset so the roads should be pretty police bike free around the whole south west 

Enjoy

Are your loved ones watching?
Nothing to watch on Saturday usually but at least there is usually holby not even that to watch
I guess you are all watching footsie haven't even got that to watch and 100 miles from home so can't even wash the bugs off the bike

Topical topic!

Went out on Monday night in my so-called waterproof textile jacket and encountered hailstones, torrential rain, drizzle and mud pies left by tractors

I was only out for 1/2 an hour and it took two days for my jacket (Aldi Crown) to dry out. It is over a year old now and has seen some weather but even had wet arms where the rain came through the outer layer and the thermal liner and as for my T shirt- well I rung that out .

It is just out of the washing machine as it was pretty filthy (fluorescent yellow model)

So,....... cut out the middle man and throw it away or treat it with some wonder spray that will stop all future water getting as far as me?

Cant afford a new jacket at the moment so- treat it or go back to my old Weiss jacket that did at least have some semblance of waterproofing or plan B... dont ride when it is raining

  Are you all out riding your bikes and dont have time to post on here?

I