Did my CBT today - Direct Access soon...

steve auvache says...

You may be more aware of the risks than I am <thinks> yeah, you
probably are. Still, I like to be comfortable which is why I'm
usually in jeans and trainers.

I find it quite a different bike when I wear boots. My arthritic
toes manage ok with trainers, I appreciate that you have a number of
decades on my so you might need a bit more padding.

 

Ben wrote

Dunno. Apart from the price of the extra special plugs, whatever they
are, my bindit 600 has cheaper and less frequent services than my
previous mid range technology 500 machine what preceded it.

I haven't had it for anywhere near long enough to accurately assess
routine service and maintenance cost but I have a suspicion I shall be
sniggering slightly as the season for such threads grows apace.

 

I might be wrong, but don't the valve clearances on those engines need
checking at every service? - I know they do in the GSXF range, and given
that they share engines, I'd have thought that the Bandit needs the
same.

For something in that class of bike, that's shocking, and if you can't /
don't have time to do them yourself, then it adds a considerable amount
to the running costs.

 

SteveH says...

Screw and locknut tappets on Bandit 600s. It took me half an hour to do
the ones on Steve's Bandit just before Adie collected it. If the average
home mechanic can't do the valve clearances on a Bandit 600 then they
really shouldn't attempt to do anything that may be safety related, they
really are that simple.

 

Heh. I'm sure even I could manage that (can't be harder to do than a
cambelt and waterpump change)...... however, it'd be a right PITA to do
'em at every oil change - every 6 weeks of my mileage.

 

The one and only time I replaced the plugs on my old B6, I remember
paying the princely sum of £8 for the set, genuine NGK from my local
(and currently closed due to flooding) Suzuki dealer.

Two weeks later some bloke in a Renault pulled out from a side road, and
the rest, like my old B6, is history.

 

This was based on insuring in Milton Keynes. Renewal came through for
£400 based on that postcode this week, but I've since managed to get it
down to £296 for both bikes, fully comp.

As I've said, I was a bit OTT, but I know I paid £160 fitted for one at
short notice last time I needed one. Didn't have time for mail order and
National Tyres were the only place who could do one the same day
locally.

I'll check the handbook again, but I'm _sure_ the VFR800 is on 8k oil
changes. Not that it matters, 'cos I do them twice a year anyway, at the
same time as stripping and cleaning the inside of the fairing / engine
etc.

 

Still not cheap - but better.

Probably explains it - non-bike specific places are likely to charge
more of a mark up, but make up for it be being able to do it without a
fortnights notice.

The Pan is 8k - but I tend to do them both at 4000 - not doing any harm
if it's not doing any good and I have a use for the old oil.

 

Cardiff postcode doesn't help, neither does my age. I'm not 'young' at
30, but it's still not old enough to get really cheap insurance.

I get royally shafted on the car, but that's due to my declared mileage.

 

Apart from being utterly terrified for most of yesterday, I haven't
had a proper scare yet. I hope that I can avoid one for as long as
possible, and I hope that the fear of one will stick in my mind for as
long as I'm riding so I don't get over-confident.

I hope so too.

Seperate from a normal bike insurance, I assume?

The kind of stuff you see saying "We'll pay you if you can't work for
x months" kinda thing?

--Nick.

 

Your Bandit was ok petrol wise. I forget exactly the MPG figure but it
used to do about 130 miles to a tenner and most of that was stop, start,
cane it in first and second, then stop and start again. Most of that was
done without getting more than a couple of hundred yards at the most.
Brake pads (EBCs) used to last 3 - 4 weeks.

If there's one bike I've had that I'll annoy kids about in 20 or 30
years, it'll most likely be that one.

 

I thank everyone for their attention to my sig and my name. I have
taken all of your thoughts on board, but it is unlikely that I will
change the "--Nick." at the end of my posts as I've been at it for
over a decade and haven't had any complaints up until now. It's just
how I type my name. Think of it as a signature, I just don't feel
ending a post "Nick." is actually me.

Take care all,
--Nick.

 

That sort of thing. I've got a hospitalisation policy - if I spend any
time in a hospital, I get X quid a day.

I took it out when I was despatch riding, which was nearly 25 years ago.
It's like a puncture repair kit - if I have it, I know I'll never need
it, but if I decide I can do without it....

 

On Sun, 30 Jan 2005 21:47:02 +0000,

Who is your policy with, out of interest and how much am I likely to
pay?

--Nick.

 

Simon Atkinson was seen penning the following ode to ... whatever:

Pans are seriously cheap to insure, especially if you stick to TPFT.

 

It was somewhere around Barstow, on the edge of the desert, when the

Yep.

--

Dave

GS 850 x2 / SE 6a
SbS#6 DIAABTCOD#16 APOSTLE#6 FUB#3
FUB KotL OSOS#12? UKRMMA#19 COSOC#10

 

SteveH wrote

I dunno without reading the book.

Actually not true I do know but I seem to have lost track of the exact
detail of that particular memory, I would need to refresh my memory
either with experience or by reading the book again. I have got a book
and I have read it and I remember almost nothing of it. I actually
haven't read all of it, I have read most of it and paid attention during
the more relevant bits and looked at all the pictures. Nearly all the
pictures. I am not sure but I doubt I paid attention to the wiring
diagrams, I usually don't unless I have to and if I have to it is time
for an expert to be doing it.

 

You've obviously been hanging around the wrong kind of joints. Now
you've started posting here you'll get 10 years worth of complaints in
the next three weeks.

 

Nick wrote

Yebbut you are human and we quickly forget the last fear. This is why
it is so terribly important (when riding your motorcycle) to refresh the
memory, in a manner of speaking, every so often.

Oh yuss and welcome to our world.

I was thinking more air ambulance as it goes but whatever, think long
term by all means.

 

Whinging Courier wrote

I ride a similar pattern to that but with miles, or sizeable fractions
of them, in between the stops. And not for 8 hours a day mind. I am
going out about twice a week for an hour of 10 minute sessions of riding
in 4 hours of whatevering right now.

Brakes last me forever.

Not a bad little toy really.