Well first of all I have to say it's still fuckin' awesome.. 

got about 1400 miles on the clock now so really starting to have a nice feeling when riding it.. 

Got the suspension set up by Mark of MH Racing a couple of weeks ago and it's so different to ride now, like learning a new bike again but with the standard set up it was to choppy at the front and to soft at the back and, ignoring the amount of power it has, would push the front and/or wheelie way to easily as the back end squatted down gassing it out of corners.  but that's now resolved..

Also fitted the Yamaha option quick shifter today and even just on a short blast it builds speed so much faster just flat shifting through the gears..  it's a bit clumsy at lower speeds but on WOT it's stunning..  In fact I'd go as far to say it's the best money I've spent on the bike after the suspension set up..

Traction is either off or on 1 now I'm more confident on the bike and with my right hand but still only using STD engine mode as 1 and 2 are way to snatchy for anything other than flat out attack.

so all in all very happy with my purchase.. The only thing I'm gonna have an issue with I think is keeping to the 3000 miles p/a on my PCP agreement.. 

Well I've gone and done it after all the chat about 'super nakeds' in the other thread..

pushed the buy it now button on this..

Excuse the crap pics. Some better ones will be posted soon after I've taken delivery of it..







TBH it was not my first choice of colour but the waiting time for any colours was about 4 months and they this one unsold in the show room.. 

Rode the demo again today just to make my mind up and what a machine it is..

Hopefully getting it this weekend and then they will fit my Akro end can at the 600 mile service in a couple of weeks.. 

It's a bit of a marmite bike in terms of looks but I actually quite like it and you can't see it once you on the move..

There are a few things I have in mind such as a rad guard and a tail tidy but those things will get done as and when. Next couple of days will be spent returning my FZ8 to it's standard form before selling off all the stuff and that will pay for some goodies.. 

Can't friggin' wait now..  and insurance is a pretty reasonable £250 fuly comp..  bonus.. 

Well after 5 weeks waiting for the frenchies to sort themselves out with delivering my Shark I finally gave up.

So I took a trip to J&S in Oxford to try on some HJC helmets and ended up buying this one.

It's an HJC R-PHA ST. Quality and fit are great IMO, it's pretty quiet and stable too when on my naked bike and it has good vents. It even has an internal sun visor just like the Speed R so I'm really pleased with it so far with the 30 miles or so I've already done in it.







You can see the metal flake in the black in the last pic.

And yes it has pink on it..  get over it.. I think it looks great..   

cheers

PS :  the pin locks have already been treated to some gloss black paint...

hi,

anyone got an Airoh helmet or know anyone who has that can comment on quality, availability etc ?

Thanks to those wonderful french port workers      it looks like it's gonna be ages before I can get my new Shark helmet.

I quite like Dovi's helmet design and after searching for it found the GP500 'first' design which i like in black / white.

just after a few opinions really..  Think I might have a hard time finding one in the uk to try before I buy.. 

cheers

Hi all,

finally got my bike over to DWR in Alyesbury to get the PCIII fitted and a custom map written..

What can I say other than what a great service I got from Dave and his team..  They are all a bunch of genuine guys and Dave clearly knows his onions when it comes to mapping.  I was there for the best part of three hours chatting and making tea...  and at some point during all this we fitted the power commander and then Dave mapped my bike on his in house Dyno.

As for the results....

well in terms of numbers we got to 115bhp at the crank, about 106 at the rear wheel which is +6 over stock. Its also got another 6 lbs/ft of torque. Neither of these figures are earth shattering increases but the bike rides so much nicer now. Everything is just better everywhere, throttle response, pick up from lower revs etc.  I would never have said the FZ8 was 'snatchy' but it fuels much better now which is the main point of the PCIII I suppose..

Anyway, if you need anything doing to your bike, servicing or tuning I'd have no hesitation recommending DWR..

http://www.davewoodracing.com/

So I'm declaring the FZ8 finished now.. 

It now looks, handles and goes like I want it..

Just need to get my new lid and gloves then I'll be finished too..   

2004 ZX10r with a 'noisey' engine on Ebay..

Starting at £2k.. but still 6 days to go..

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Kawasaki-ZX10R-C1H-2004-noisy-engine-to-clear-/231580406045?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_3&hash=item35eb44911d

Hi,

Just made a small and relatively cheap mod to my FZ8 and I am so pleased at the difference it's made to riding the bike..

I just feel so much more connected having got rid of the rubbery, ugly OE pegs. Really chuffed and only £25.

..........................

I have fitted some billet alloy foot pegs and they feel great under my feet and no vibes because the pegs are still rubber mounted on the frame.



and here's the ebay link to the items I bought. They came from far east but I've had no issues at all and the delivery was about 10 days.

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Black-Rider-Motorcycle-Foot-Pegs-Rests-Custom-fit-Yamaha-FZ8-S-FAZER-2010-2014-/311282347251?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_3&hash=item4879dfacf3

There are UK based versions but they are nearly twice the price..

thanks for reading...

Want to get a PC for my FZ8 to get rid o the annoying 'emissions' flat spot around 4.5k in the rev range and make the most of my K&N air filter and Exhaust can.

Is there any great benefit in having a PC5 over the older PC3 USB version ?

Been trying to find the relative specs and options of each but not having alot of luck finding the PC3 USB specs to compare the PC5 with.

Anyone upgraded from 3 to 5 ?  I'm assuming that there are more features on the 5 with increased adjustment ranges just thinking is it worth it for a standard road bike ?

Any input welcome..

ta

I was in my local dealer on Saturday and he mentioned that they were one of few dealers getting one of these bikes as a demonstrator and subsequently I am booked for a test ride at the end of April..   

I love the looks of it and with the GSX R engine from 2008 it should be 'entertaining'

http://www.mcnews.com.au/suzuki-gsx-s1000-naked/

Now lets hope the company bonus pays out this year..    or they have some good 0% deals.. 

The Dealer is called Pro Bike in Newbury and the time they have the bike is Monday 27th April until Thursday the 30th April.. 

Plenty of spaces left at the moment if you're local and fancy a test ride..




a few choice mods and it'll look even better IMO....

Roll on end of April..   

With another birthday looming I am in the market for another lid. My OGK FF4 is knocking on 10 y/o now so due for replacement..

I like the look of some of the X-lite lids and I am aware they are a side shoot of Nolan so would like to think the quality would be pretty decent. I am yet to actually get one on my head to see what fit and comfort are like but just wanted to ask if anyone has one or has had one to get an idea of the longer term use, road noise etc compared to the main brands. It's the 802r model that I'm specifically looking at.

At this point my top choice for fit, comfort and looks is a Shark Speed R (Sauer model) but there are plenty of other makes out there and I fancy getting something a bit different to the usual Arai and Shoei..

Lorenzo was not available for comment today so I thought I'd ask you lot..   

ta

Hi,

I want to sort out the throttle response on my FZ8, remove the emissions 'flat spot' around 4500 rpm and the torque limits that I am led to believe exist in the first 2 gears.

Two options that I can see open to me are either install a Power Commander 5 or get the ECU re-flashed.

Either way I'd like to get a bespoke map made up instead of just d/l a gereric map for my bike with x, y and z mods done, hence the need for somewhere with a Dyno and some good experience to do a live map.

Only place I've used locally (ish) was Road and Track in Aylesbury but this was a few years ago and I can't seem to find a website for him so not sure if he's still in business, hence the question to you lovely, helpful people..

ta

Hi,

What battery optimisers are you guys using to look after your bike while they are wrapped up through the winter months ?

It's been ages since I've bought one.  Is it still all about Opitmate or are there other good ones out there now ?

ta

Hi,

For sale.. 

The item is in brand new condition. I bought it a couple of years ago when I had my ZX6R to fix the CCT issue but managed to resolve it so I never used it in the end.

Orient Express manual cam chain tensioner to suit the following bikes :

ZX6R 96 to 07
ZX7R all years
ZX9R 94 to 97
ZX12R 00 to 05



This item is pretty much the same as the APE item and pretty good quality..

I've even made a little gasket for it too...

Asking £35 delivered to your door. (APE are £55 delivered on Ebay)

Payment by Paypal or BACS or cash on collection..

PM if interested

Thanks

Got these tyres on my FZ8, probably the original fitment since the bike has done less than 3k miles..

Rear is starting to square off a little, still plenty of tread left but are they generally as crap as I'm finding ??

I know it's cold and not really nice conditions but I was out on Sat early afternoon and the sun was up with plenty of miles ridden to warm things up but the rear tyre was just spinning up all over the place, even in a straight line acceleration. I've ridden bikes year round and in these conditions before but never really experienced anything like it and it's not like the FZ8 is some lightweight rocket ship with 150 bhp at the rear wheel..

I suppose they are more a 'touring' tyre than 'sports' but still they shouldnt be losing grip like that IMO..

Opinions, anyone else find BT021's the same or are my tyres just past their best due to age ?   Don't know what the actual date stamps are but would imagine they are 09 or 10 since they are on a Sept 2010 reg'd bike..

thanks

Might as well start a project topic on this one..

After finally getting my new bike on Friday and riding it home in the pissing rain I was keen to give it a bit of a clean up and get my new bits fitted, well most of them as it turned out..

This is the starting point..



and after the wet ride home she was in a bit of a state but the aim of the day was to get rid of all this stuff



and fit my new bits and get the bike set up for me, lever positions, throttle and clutch etc..

Started by striping the rack and old numberplate hanger off.. looking better already.



Then came the mirrors. got to love the left hand thread on the offside... 



Then it was off with the old exhaust.  yes I did and yes it was loud..   



Now time to start fitting things back on..



and finally left with this.  much improved IMO..




Unfortunately the exhaust hanger I bought only fits with the standard can so the foot peg stays for now. The hanger will go back and I'll get the one from the same place I bought the exhaust..

After this last picture I removed the white part of the rear seat unit as you can see it's got holes in it to fit round the rack so there is a new unit on order along with a 8x6 plate (dont want to go too silly), bar end mirrors, some plastic bungs to go into the old mirror holes and also a set of adapters for my Abba stand..

For the record the exhaust and link pipe are from SP Engineering and the tail tidy is the Evotech item.

Hopefully the final new bits will be here mid week so by next weekend it should all be done ready to enjoy..

hope you like..

almost..  not picking it up for a week while it's serviced MOT'd and cleaned up..   

after looking around at naked bikes for a coupe of weeks, mostly Street Triples and Tounos I found something that really ticked all my boxes so I am (or will be soon) the owner of a '60 plate Yamaha FZ8.. 

It's white with gold wheels and completely standard at the moment but I already have an exhaust, exhaust hanger and tail tidy ready to order once it arrives which really tidies it up alot as the standard can is just horrendous and massive and probably weighs a ton.

No decent pics right now but this is a pic from the advert to give you an idea if you've never seen or heard of it.



The rack for the back box will be removed right away closely followed by the addition of an SP Engineering carbon can, Evotech tail tidy and exhaust hanger..

I just love the way it looks and (like it or not) the wheels will be changing to white next year once the crappy weather has passed..

Most of the reviews I have read have been positive with most comments around slightly soft suspension and a flat spot in the fueling at around 4k. Nothing that cannot be sorted easily enough but for the time being I'm just gonna make the changes I've planned already and ride it as much as possible..  I'm not expecting it to set my pants on fire performance wise but should be quick enough to be good fun.

Will post up more pics when I get it home and as I start adding my own touches.. future plans may include a single seat cowl, flat bars and bar end mirrors then maybe a filter and PC to sort out the fueling issue and one tooth of the front sprocket to liven it up a bit if I deem it necessary....

Martyn

Looking at a 2007 Tuono R tomorrow..

anything I need to know ? 

I had a 2000 Mille R a few years ago and just wondered if the common issues on the original bikes had been fixed on the later versions..

poor electrics
small batteries that have to be kept on an optimate
Sprag clutch on the starter
Rear brake master cylinder being cooked by the exhaust
Too high gearing so too much clutch slipping needed in town

I presume not much has changed on the engines, still dry sump'd, 60deg V twin..  twin sparks in each cylinder..


Anyone owned one, what are they like to live with ?  Will be a weekend toy rather than a daily commuter..

thanks
Martyn

Hi, going to look at a 2010 Street Triple this weekend but I'm stuggling to see past those goping, standard exhaust cans..

been looking at alternatives but even the carbon underseat replacements seem to be just as big and I can't make my mind up on the Arrow 'low boy' design and that's a complete system at around £900 as opposed to a couple of end cans

the best I've seen as some MotoGP style underseat cans, Danmoto I think. They looks good 'cause they are slim but guessing they will be pretty loud even with DB killers in and they are from the US so likey to get stung for importing them on top of the asking price..


I know there are plenty of owners / ex owners on here so looking for options / opinions and pics of different set up if possible.. 

thanks

Martyn