Motorcycle and Scooter appreciation

That was my hunch, I get the impression sports touring tyres have come a long way in the last decade or so. I've heard the Ron Haslam race school apparently use bridgestone T30 but have no proof.

You'll be fine mate. Just remember they tend to lose grip / get greasy as they get hot...If it's a very warm day and you're pushing on, ease off a bit from time to time. It's not the leaning that stresses the tyres, it's the stopping and going...

Cant be bothered to change them if they'll do the job, will most likely reconsider once they need replacing. I've had a rear tyre move sideways when driving out of a corner before, so just want to avoid that sphincter-tightening experience if possible. It's still fresh.

I'd check the date code and have a good look at the profile. Running worn road tyres fucks with handling big time, which if you're paying a few hundred quid for the day, is a shame.

A little slidey-slidey action can be fun....'tis a fine line though. :)

Will check them, but they look in good nick. The slide probably looked impressive but I shit myself.

It's probably the kind of bike that you can wheelie out of a corner with the back wheel sliding and it's all good. Once you get to know it properly obvs. I've had that with smaller lightweight bikes. You do have a point about the power though, it could go wrong pretty fast on the edge of the handling.

@Jung @Airhead This was the 'moment' @1:05. Probably doesn't look like much:
https://youtu.be/oRTOI4pHkyM

That's a healthy looking black line there! Definitely worth one in the pants to match. Good going....

Eh? That feeling is the best feeling...

Edit - just watched the video, you didn’t like that did you!

Right, my bike is ill. It’s been running absolutely fine until this past week. Revs sound loads more raspy and the engine sounds proper rattley on the right hand side.
The whole front of the engine is oily so I thought maybe it had a leak and it’s running low on oil but the sight glass says the level is fine albeit very black oil.
Can’t see how it would be fine one day and not the very next day though. I’ll get the oil changed but I suspect something else wrong. Any ideas? Bike feels fine to ride, just sounds terrible

I'd have a butchers at the camchain tensioner. For the oil leak, you'll have to completely clean it, then run it somewhere clean so you can track it down.

Don't have anything valuable to add other than as said already, clean everything and let the engine tell you what's wrong when it leaks? If it's not obvious take it to a garage as they probably won't be busy this time of year. Fingers crossed!

Paddock stands are amazing, going to make maintenance a lot easier I think.

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I’m sure that’s simple but I’ve not a clue what I’m doing so garage might be the way forward. Would a worn timing chain be a cause? Valve clearance?
These are things I’m seeing with a quick google.
Bike is 21k miles old. 2007

Take it to a shop.

It's great and all to rip things apart, but if you don't have the tooling, the time or the right space to examine things in a non pressured way, it's a right fucking ballache.

At least a Garden/Shed. If it's out on the street, whilst it can still run, take it in.

There’s a Yamaha specialist down the road, that might have to do. Haven’t seen any Kawasaki places around

Valve clearance might need checking, but it won’t make a lot of noise. A weak camchain tensioner definitely does - if the camchain is on the right side of the engine that’s probably it. You normally have to lift the tank and pull the airbox to get at them so if you’ve no where comfortable to do it, shop time. It’s a very easy fix though if you do have a shed.

Yeah I believe it’s on the right side. Nope nowhere to do it, bike lives on the road. Might as well have them change the oil and filter too I suppose

Doesn't have to be a specialist, just a decent shop.

I go nowhere but Burwins now. Every bike I've taken has come back working, for low cost, very quickly, and with great advice on top.

Look at this guy riding in short sleeves and no pants.

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Yep - probably cam chain tension has dropped out a touch - really easy fix with a manual adjuster. Oil weep probably minor too, bolts need nipping up ( hopefully ).

Had a Yam XT660X that started making a horrible noise like this. It just started while I was riding through England to get to Dover. Like 1 minute not noisy next minute noisy. I still rode it all the way to Belgium and then back to Glasgow.

Took it to the stealer when I got back and they were all like "ooh it's gonna spit a rod, don't ride it any further" and wanted something daft like £90ph to investigate.

Took it home, bought a cdrom manual on ebay and lifted the engine out myself. Opened up the casings on the noisy side and the nut on the end of the driveshaft(?) (shaft that come out the bottom of the engine and had gears on it to run gearbox, waterpump etc) had come loose.

Cost me about a tenner in gaskets and the same again to replace a fancy lock washer under the nut.

I'd never done anything more advanced than an oil change on an engine before that.

Anyone able to ID this Yamaha?

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I'm putting money on a US flat-track frame and xs650 engine with genny removed.
If that's right or wrong, it still looks "the bollox" !

There I was thinking one could be picked up on eBay for cheap thrills/tinkering... Agreed looks so much fun.