Aerodyll

I don't think you can open the plastic block to bypass them. If there is another way I'm afraid I don't know how to do it. Anyway, I bought the new bike, so will just replace the switch, see if it's fixed and move it on I reckon. Curious to see how much I can get for it once I clean it up and get it running again. Thanks for your help. B

Hi guys, Thanks for the advice. In retrospect I wish I hadn't used WD40, but wasn't really thinking. Funnily enough though after letting it dry for a day I tried it and it worked perfectly. This lasted for a few days as it tried to buck me off on a slip road off the M1 today. I don't know if this is to do with the sidestand switch, clutch switch or even (the bucking me off while riding at slow speed specifically) something to do with the gears. I am going to replace the two switches and see how it goes. If this doesn't work I guess I'll just have to bite the bullet and get a new Versys 650. I'm sure I could learn to live with it...

So guys, little update. Apologies for my terminology here, it's quite hard to explain this clearly. So I disconnected the sidestand switch. Pulled the two plastic blocks apart. I squirted some WD40 in there and scrubbed it with a toothbrush. Let it dry for a bit then reconnected it and tried to start the bike. It starts up fine, I let it warm up then clutch in and selected first gear. As soon as I select first gear before I release the clutch it dies. It does this every time without fail now. My next move is to remove the connectors from the plastic blocks and give them a wipe and hope I haven' f'ed things up permanently. I didn't do this originally as the manual didn't really show you how to do this so I just kind of smushed advice from here with what I had on hand and I think in retrospect did something a bit daft. I found some new info online that shows how to get the connectors out of the block so I will give that a go next. Just out of curiosity, the way it is dying now before I release the clutch, do you reckon it is still just the kickstand switch? Thanks,

Cheers guys, will update you after the weekend when I've had a look at it.

Hi guys, So recently when I get on the bike first thing it just won't engage first gear. I start it up, let it warm up, clutch in, first gear selected then when I release the clutch while applying some throttle it cuts out. It does this three or four times generally before it will actually engage gear properly. It has also done this when I have travelled ten miles down the road and stopped at traffic lights, when I try to set off again it cuts out as if the kickstand is down. Today it has started doing this when I am moving too, I will set off in first, change up to second and then the bike will jerk violently as if I have opened the kickstand or something. Most of the time when it does this it won't stall just do a big jerk then back to normal but it has once done this and stalled and I ended up coasting the bike to the side of the road. I assumed that when it wouldn't engage first gear it was just the kickstand switch that was either sticking or broken but now it is jerking when moving slowly it makes me wonder. What do you guys think? Cheers, A

It must be the seal, it wasn't a bubble more like something moving under the surface so probably the seal. Anyway its still working so that should hopefully be sorted. Another issue I am having which I have asked before but have to ask again. My bike hates being at 20mph. As in in first its screaming (By screaming I mean at 6k rpm out of about max of 10k) and dragging and in second its raring to go and twitchy. Its like 20mph is between the gears and it just hates it. What do you guys reckon this could be? The bike runs fine, starts fine, and under 15mph and over 25 its fine. In second gear its like the slightest twitch on the throttle and I am off and in first it feels like I am pushing it too hard. Am I overthinking this? Thanks Ben

I got it sorted yesterday. Bled the brakes and now they are much tighter. There was a little air in the system but not loads. It has been suggested to me that I may have a faulty valve on the actual brake fluid cap. So when I squeeze the brake the valve lets a little fluid back in instead of pumping it out. When I bled the brakes with the cap top off it did do a little bloop and splash a tiny bit when I squeezed the brake. Not sure if that's an issue or not. I will see if my brakes resort to how they where originally then I need to look for another cause. Thanks Ben

Nah, no way around it, its practically the drive way to work. It will probably be fine if I just coast down it in first with no throttle. Im just timid about stalling at the moment. Another update on the madness of a new bike! My front brake is almost nonexistent and doesn't trigger the brake light when used. Squeezed it progressively harder today until it was at maximum at 40 mph and it didn't do anything. I have asked my soon to be father in law to have a look at it and show me how to fix it this weekend but until then i'll be going even slower. I am just glad I got him to tighten up the back brake as originally that was useless too. Exciting!

Thanks guys. An FZ6 Foxy? That's what I trained on. Really liked it once id gotten used to it. Another question for you guys to save me making a thread everytime. There's a very steep cobbled road outside my office. It's full of leaves and mud n stuff and about 40 /60 feet long with a T junction at the end. Atm I struggle to ride down it as I put gas on to stop engine stalling but as it's steep downhill any throttle feels like to much as it's not long enough. So. How should I handle this? It's very hard to control the bike atm n that surface. Can I leave the throttle and clutch alone and ride down in first gear on tickover and just focus on breaking? Today I almost ended up in the middle of the road I went too fast. Thanks Ben

Chears guys. I don't really want to ask this but should I get P's for my bike? As I am slow at junctions and sometimes slow down when changing gear. I don't want to cause a nuisance to anyone. Not to mention yesterday while filtering a transit van deliberately started weaving side to side in his lane to screw with me and as a biker I don't like that and as a new biker it was really not what I needed. Don't really want P's but just a thought . Cheers Ben

Howdy guys, passed my test a couple of days ago and due to my insurance being a pain I have no grey area between going from my scooter to my bike so have to jump in at the deep end on the bike for commuting to work. So I am now officially riding my ER-5. I have a few questions regarding riding I would like to ask. Firstly, my bike doesn't feel right at 20mph with the clutch out in first or second gear. It feels like its too high for first gear but not fast enough for second. It jerks around and lurches. What do I do about this/what causes this? It is pretty uncomfortable. Secondly, downshifting. I know its a buzz word and there is a ton of info out there but I am finding it a bit overwhelming. Today I ended up in the wrong gear at junctions as well as downshifting and feeling the vehicle lurch underneath me as it applies a lot of engine braking. When I shift down a gear how do I do it? At the moment its clutch in, throttle off, gear down, clutch out/throttle on. Is this right? I've read about rev matching, engine breaking and so on and its all going round in circles in my head. I know I'm obviously doing something wrong but Im not sure how to fix it. Thanks for any help. Ben

Congratulations Foxy! And no bike shopping for me, I already have an ER 5 in the garage. Tomorrow when I'm not hungover I will be riding it! I'll upload a picture when I'm on my PC later

We are indeed celebrating! I passed with 5 minors and hilariously 4 of which where for going too slow in junctions and roundabouts! One was for one instance of bad positioning being on the right side but turning left. I am mega pleased the test is done and I'm now road legal with no L plates. I was stunned I passed too as I hadn't been on a bike for 2 weeks beforehand and I was bloody dire when I got on it yesterday morning. I was stalling all over the place, it was pissing it down and my visor was covered with rain drops. I was horrid I even asked the instructor if I should just bail on this test as I was clearly not up to it. I messed up so much, I nearly dropped the bike and hurt my wrist saving it, outside the test centre!. At one point I pulled over and told my instructor to take my glasses as they were steaming up with the visor down but covered with rain with it up. After that things began to improve and I slowly got back to my previous skill level. It turns out my eyes are 'just' fine for riding so I also passed without my glasses which makes me happy. I got the nice examiner too he's called Jordi and if you're taking your test at the Rotherham test centre I hope you get him. He is very personable, puts you at your ease and does smile a little bit to show you hes human and makes you feel less like hes out to get you. The test itself had a few funny bits too but nothing dangerous. The route he took me on didn't have any speed signs as far as I could tell so for almost the entire test I didn't know what speed I should be doing so I just guessed. Overall one hell of a day, very odd. But I passed! Now I can relax and get used to my own bike a bit before I swap it out with my old scooter. Thanks for the birthday wishes btw, very unexpected but very kind of you guys. Cheers!

Bhawk: Good luck mate, to both of us! davefly76: I was in the right hand side of my line but was stopped. I just began to say why I thought I screwed up but actually ended up pointing out where I messed up quite accurately. I looked down the road, mirror, signal then as I checked the mirror again I had begun to move already. Only very slightly but still I had begun to move before I had properly checked so that must be it. Silly really. Just thought I would say as my test is tomorrow it has taken all the shine off of my birthday which is today lol. Now I am just nervous!

Hi guys. Thanks for the responses. Calmed down a bit now! I don't think the instructor was an arse or anything just that he decided I was being dangerous. The first was due to my being stuck behind a stack of cars on a dual carriageway leading to a roundabout. The right lane was clear so I indicated and checked mirrors and it was clear. I started to move but as I did so a car came into view and went down the side of me so i stopped. Just bad timing I suppose but it obviously looked bad to him. The second issue was when I entered a roundabout. I was going straight on and cars where coming round going straight on the other way. I decided it was clear but a car came round and indicated going right (so as to go infront of me and take what is to me the first exit if that makes sense). Either they didn't indicate until late or I didn't see it until late as it was quite sunny. Anyway I was now going too fast to stop as I had committed to the maneuver so decided it was far safer to go ahead instead of stopping. I wasn't close to the car and they didn't need to slow down for me. I've been on the road on my 125 scooter and done this and seen others do this many many times. Especially on busy roundabouts if you didn't do this you wouldn't make progress. But this too must have been dangerous to him. I sort of get why the second instance was dangerous especially on a test I should have been careful. But perhaps I think that the real issue is that I was going too fast to begin with as to force me to make snap decisions I should go slower to allow more time to make my mind up. Its funny but as I was so stressed about my mod 1 and got so worked up about it I kind of walked into this test a bit too relaxed. This is the easy bit according to most and my instructors said my riding was fine so I decided not to worry about it and maybe I overshot it and took the advice 'ride for yourself like the examiner isn't there' a bit too literally. I rode safely and confidently but maybe I was a bit too comfortable. Booked in for the 7th of october now, fingers crossed. I think I am going to just slow everything down for the test. Slow right down for roundabouts and put my foot down unless it is clear when I get there and give at least a heartbeat before I indicate,look,move. If I get failed due to hesitation though I may flip a table! Thanks for your comments, Ben