manxie49

I agree with @husoi their statement is based on what scientific evidence? And is indeed pish!! That said, it didn't stop them blaming off road motorcyclists over here and closing down some old mine trails that off roaders used to use (see the article), they reckoned that contaminants were leaching from the ground, due to the motorcycling activity in the area, and contaminating a marina that was miles away! The evidence that they bandied around was shown to be floored, it didn't stop them closing the area down though. For an island with such a rich motorcycling heritage, it sadly appears to becoming anti everything with an engine in it, the same as a lot of other places are now. They'll search out whatever excuse they can to get things that don't fit in with their narrative banned. https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-isle-of-man-51843612

That was pretty much how I found out about it, a mate used it on his boat trailer, that was a few years ago and the trailer is still going strong. You don't get much harsher an environment than the sea, it's a good advert for it.

Historically I've always used Fertan products and found them to be excellent. I've used their product range on everything from bikes to metal garden railings and I've never had any issues. They do a full range of products available here in the UK. Not cheap, but they do seem to work.

Having had, what I would consider anyway, as two significant off's over the years, then I can hand on heart say that I will not be removing any of my armour. IMHO, the armour I had in at that time saved me from injuries that could potentially have been a lot more serious, had it not have been present. I think he's entitled to his opinion, but as for me, I personally don't agree with him.

I often just change the end can on my bikes, as I have done with the one I have now. It gives a nicer, but not to obnoxious note, and gave me a weight saving off over 3kg. I've never had any running issues with changing an end can. However, I did a full system change on a Fireblade, decat, remap, the full works, and ended up having nothing but trouble, so much so I'd never do it again. As for an end can, and this is just my opinion, I see it as just an extension, if you're leaving the bread box alone and not doing a full system, I can't see what issues it could cause. A bike will actually run fine without an end can, I know that as fact, someone over here up at the Creg had his end can nicked last TT, He rode it down South to the dealer like that without any issues. I find on a lot of these owner specific forums you tend to get some very self righteous individuals, that do have a tendency to piss you off if you let them, thats why I dropped the BMW forum.

Came up on my mates F/B Page, just in case anyone is still looking for accommodation, I know finding anywhere at this late stage is pretty much impossible.

Happy Birthday @Pie man

I would personally, if it was me, save the expense and heartache of trying to make it ULEZ compliant, and invest my pennies in buying a commuter bike that's already ULEZ compliant. Sadly the bike doesn't fall into the classic exemption category (I believe that covers classic bikes over 40yrs old, although could be wrong). IMHO trying to tweak the emissions could potentially make it unridable. Then, after you've done whatever you need to do, you have to have it emissions tested and certified as compliant, which again isn't cheap. Sad f------g world we're moving into, where some decent older machines are being slowly but surely forced off the road! May be worth having a chat with a local garage, see what advice they can give, if any. As an afterthought, you could just keep your fingers crossed that Khan gets voted out in May, I hear his opponents keep saying that they will at least scrap the ULEZ expansion scheme, although as with most politicians, I wouldn't hold my breath. Whatever you do with it, good luck, I certainly don't envy you living in London,

Done

I think, after a while, you'll find it just becomes second nature, and you probably already do it a lot of the time without even consciously thinking about it. Off siding was a skill I was taught, that at first felt a bit alien, I do it all the time now "obviously when it's safe and legal to do so", comes in really handy on the narrow country roads I find, especially over here. As Simon said, counter steering is another useful skill, that skill didn't really make sense to me till I started doing track days, but it makes a massive difference to your cornering ability and stability.

I've been using road 5's, in all weathers, I ride year round. Excellent tyres, on dry and wet roads. Newer version out now, Road 6's, which I hear are as good if not better.

Nothing much has changed, I hate getting my tyres changed! I take it easy for the first 100 -150 miles, no heavy acceleration or braking, and gently easing over into the leans until I get the edges scrubbed in. That one is pretty important, especially if most of your riding is done on straight roads with limited bendy bits. Heard stories of people having new tyres fitted, using the bike to ride from home to work and back again, on what are predominantly straight roads, going out for the weekend blast with mates and forgetting about the edges, then wondering why they low side on a tyre they thought was by now bedded in. I have had a couple of arse twitchy moments on new tyres, usually on wet roads. I have heard of people who scrub them off with sand paper, never done that myself personally.

I only have experience of using a BMW forum which I was on for about two weeks! No disrespect to BMW riders, I ride one myself, but it was an eye opener, and I can certainly see why some BMW riders get the reputation they have. Some guy went on to ask about torque settings for his exhaust, and F--k me, he got berated as though he was some incompetent fool! That was just one example. I thought, this just aint for me and left the forum. Thankfully not all Beamer riders have that attitude, but it seems like a lot of them appear to hang out on the bike specific forums, although in their defence, I would say it's probably a minority giving the majority a bad rep, as usual.

Always stay sat on the bike when I fill up, always have always will. Particularly useful if it's pay at the pump. Having the side stand down, as @S-Westerly said, is a good idea though. I do that when allowing a pillion to get on and off the bike as well.

Surely not with nobbly tyres?? I rode off roaders for years, and nobblies, especially on wet tarmac, were twitchy as f---. Brilliant in the mud though.