sumshiftyguy

Car's been sat for a little over 2mths now with clutch problems. Managed to sort that but needed to jump the car each time to get it in/out of the garage. Took it for a 40min drive today and when I got home tried testing the battery by simply restarting the engine and it's still flat as a pancake. I would think that with a 40min drive it should have taken some charge! Not sure why but would this be pointing to a new battery. Thus one's had no problems whatsoever since I put it in about 4+ years ago. Can anyone recommend a place to get a battery? Also - can anyone remind me of the spec we need as I can't find the paperwork at the moment! On a related note - I had the Anti-Lock light come on during the test drive - never had this before. Brake fluid is still full so presume it's a sensor fault - searched on here and found the ABS diagnostic so will try that once I can get the engine started again!

Cheers buddy. It went to the garage today so waiting to hear back from them...

I think I may need to find some friends like that! :devil:

It's not something I know as fact. Just something that I heard can happen so have always made sure not to park with the brake applied. Coincidentally the bike broke down on me last night and left me at the side of the road for 90mins. No idea what's wrong with it - developed a grumbling engine note that was reminiscent of a misfire. Started stalling at low revs before finally giving up the ghost and refusing to even start up anymore. Electrics looked good and no leaks or anything else obvious. It's heading to the bike shop tomorrow - hopefully it's nothing major. Not a great start...only had it for 3weeks!

Similar to putting on the centre stand I assume? Good tip on the front brake but I would also think for prolonged periods, this would start warping the brake disc? That's good about not needing the bobbins though - I'd be interested to see some pics. Tadley isn't a million miles away from me either but will take collection into consideration before I decide as I'm a little short on time over the next few weeks.

I may be interested but mine doesn't have crash bobbins fitted (and I don't plan on fitting any). Would they still be ok to use?

Ebay suggests cheapies go for as little as £10 and expensive ones are coming in closer to £50-60 so I assume £25-30 should land me a decent one? Thanks for the reply though - exactly what I was looking for!

A few quick questions for the bikers - how do paddock stands work? Do they hold the bike at the axle or do I need to fit additional 'bobbins'? And is it best to use both front and rear or is one usually enough in which case is front/rear better than the other? Last question - are the specific to the bike or are they generally a one size fits all? I've been riding my new bike every few days but just thinking about the periods of time when I might not take it out as often I wasn't sure if leaving it on the side stand was good for it. It's permanently covered but is living outside so thought about getting some paddock stands. Cheers!

That's a lot of bikes in just a year! Cheers for the track tip...definitely something I need to look into. Edit: Just checked Brands and they don't have any bike track days on a weekend...at all. Don't know what people do for a living that allows them to just head to the track during the week but clearly keeping these guys in business!

Lol....:confused1: I've already bought the Fireblade! Took it out for a proper ride today for about an hour...very interesting ride!

I may look into it over the summer Joel but I'd be torn between taking the bike and the Zed!! Shame I can't chuck the bike in the boot! Lol

Brands Hatch is very close indeed. Hadn't even crossed my mind! I'm still recovering from shoulder surgery so don't want to push it too much just yet (me or the bike) but certainly something to bear in mind over the summer! I managed to take a couple more pics before the sun went down last night...

Because in summary of what I wrote above the largest bike I've ridden to date is a CBR600F so figured I'd get told off for going too large too soon! Took it out for another quick spin today and my smile is even bigger..if that's even possible!

Thanks guys..and I will be careful, for sure!!

So...the update - I've bought a bike! I know I'll probably get flamed for my choice of bike but I'd like to start off by saying I'm well aware of the potential of the bike and I respect it. I won't be hooning around and pulling wheelies (not for a while anyway! lol)... I went for a '97 Honda CBR900RR Fireblade. Got it for a decent price with a few little extras thrown in (locks, rain cover, etc). Came with a pretty good, though incomplete Service History but most of all, it was in fantastic condition for a '97 bike with only 21k miles on it. Almost everything has been anodised, chromed or braided and there's not a spec of rust on it. A bit of laquer damage on the tank but nothing serious. I rode it home last night and loved every second of it! I can't wait for the rain to subside and to get it out of London! Here's some pics...(apologies for the poor quality/size). They're the only ones I have at the moment.

My girlfriend works with her daughter and was with her when she received the news....sad times indeed. Been getting calls from papers for quotes ever since!

Fantastic club spirit!! Very glad to see this. From the little I know (but from experience) it did sound like the PTU might be the culprit. Hope it's an easy fix...sounds like a pain to get to!

I'd be up for one as well if you decide to make more mate!

That engine bay....:tt1:

They're contracted with you separately and with their own sub-contractors separately. I would expect them to provide you with a discount for breaking contract terms and recoup any loss from their sub-contractors. Not your problem if they sub-contract and it goes wrong. That's what business insurance is for.

I'm not sure what you mean re time limits. There aren't time limits with any traded assets except for bonds, options and futures (there are some others but I won't go into that). There's certainly no expiration/time limit with spread betting. The terminology is the same with all investments (long/short) but these are forms of derivative trading as your gain/loss is dependant on the price move of an underlying asset and not like a simple stock investment where your gain/loss is dependant on the move in price of that specific asset. Also remember that with derivative trading your potential loss is not limited to the value of your investment! This also ties into the tax status you mention as you are not physically taking control of any asset so you are outside of the CGT net. In simple terms you are gambling which falls completely outside of UK tax. If you do go ahead, where available make full use of caps and floors to limit your risk to loss. Yes it can also limit your gains but it's all about your risk appetite which you should define ahead of time. I have dabbled with spread betting for about 3yrs, mostly on the FTSE and the FX Markets. I wouldn't same I'm massively up, it's always just been a bit of fun. Short term trading, such as the kind I think you are saying you want to get involved in, takes a lot of commitment and a lot of investment to make material gains. For example, in a day the GBP/EUR may typically move 1.2098 - 1.2099 but spread betting would involve you betting X amount on a basis point move. You'd be lucky to get 10 or even 5 basis point fluctuations on a typical day for a major currency pair so to make any decent money off it you'd be betting big but if it goes the wrong way, you'd be losing the amount you thought you'd gain. It's not for the feint hearted!! I haven't done it for a while but my last job was working on the trading floor in an IB so I was 'close to the action' so could afford the time and effort to be constantly monitoring Bloomberg and Reuters feeds. Nowadays I'm a long investor which is a comparatively much simpler task. As I recall, IG Index have some good tutorials you can run through for free which do a good job of explaining the basics. Good luck!

I use IG Index for spread betting - they are very good and reputable in the City. Otherwise I use TD Waterhouse for all my stocks and funds trading - also very good but much more self-managed so only as good as you are. I've not had any experience of CFDs specifically but it looks very similar to spread betting. I would say it works on similar principles - always do your research and always have a trading strategy defined and stick to it!

Ah ok, well not sure I'll be able to do that by myself this weekend as I won't be able to get the car back in the garage. PITA unfortunately.

No idea how to even check that I'm afraid. As mentioned, I'll be trying to look at it this weekend but will struggle with it in the garage :thumbdown:

If that's as simple as checking the pot for fluid then I did that as soon as it broke down and seemed fine. Though it was night time and has been a week so will be the first thing I check no Sat when I get out to it. At least I can do that with the car in the garage!