Xmas prezzies!

I hope everyone had a great Christmas and is looking forward to the New Year. Had a mildly bitter sweet Christmas, I was given an Autocom system and a Grip-Lock for my motorbike. Of course I am overjoyed to have them, but it did remind me that I don't have my bike yet, something I am hoping to hear about on Tuesday. Still I am looking forward to being able to use them. As soon as they have been used a few times I will be putting up some reviews on them.

3D Bike

If anyone out there has some 3D Anaglyph (Red/Cyan) glasses then here is a 3D picture of my old GS500 I took. First one is of the bike itself and the second is where I tried to get a little 'arty' with the engine cooling fins.

Dynomaster

Why is it I find things to play with on my bike when I don't seem to have it?! Quite by accident I discovered a program for my Android phone called Dynomaster by Trackaroo (click title to go to website). In short it is a program for dyno-testing your vehicle, bike, car, truck you name it. Seeing as I don't have my bike back yet I can't run this on it. Even more annoying is I can't even test the software with my hire bike; as my road is currently sheet ice from all the snow we have had recently.

Currently the software is at version 0.3 and isn't available to buy in the UK. That means you are stuck with an 18 day trial version. I wish programmers would put this sort of information on the apps description. Otherwise I would have waited until I got my bike back or was able to get out on the hire one.

Still it has an interesting amount of options. Able to give you 60ft, 1/4mile and 1/8mile speeds. It seems that once you have done a run you can also input your own Elapsed Time (ET) to determine other information such as your 0-60 time. The data can then be outputted to Twitter, Google Earth or as a XLS spreadsheet for use in Excel or OpenOffice. Within the program you are able to view graphs for you crank power, wheel power and speed. Another graphic will show you your G levels in any given direction.

Possibly one of the more interesting abilities of this software is that it is able to speak the speed and time information to you. Granted not the most amazing feature but as a biker you can't see the screen so this, as long as you have a way to hear it in your helmet, is a great way to know when to start and stop.

That main reason that some people may want to use this for is, as its name suggests, to find out what your vehicles power is. Anyone who has been on a 'proper' dyno may well ask how can this figure it out if it isn't actually connected to the bike. Not that I will be able to tell you in detail, but with the information provided as you set up the software, it can mathematically figure out what the power is based on speed, distance, time taken etc.

Once I am able to get onto a bike without the risk of sliding off it on my ice rink, er, road, I'll try to give a more complete review of using Dynomaster.

[UPDATE]
The program has now gone to version 0.4 and has reset the number of days to 30 when I downloaded the update.

Click Here for details on the V0.4 update.

New theme and update

Have update to what I hope is a more pleasing theme for the blog.

Last Monday I was involved in an RTI (Road Traffic Incident) as the police would say, my first one too. I don't what to go into details yet, but suffice to say the bike has suffered damage as have I. Bike is currently off getting fixed so have a hire bike, a Suzuki GSF650. Its an okay bike, but can't wait to have mine back again. I'll write a review on the bike soon.

Hoping to get my old GS500 apart to do some maintenance on that as well, getting it ready for sale next year.

500 Miles!

Bike is booked in this Wednesday for its first service. So looking forward to being able to have a few more RPM's. Hopefully this means that I will be able to accelerate a bit more to be able to get out of some of the tight spots car drivers cause!

Half way there

Well, I am now half way through the run-in period of my ER6F standing at 270 in a week, most I have ever done I think! So far the bike is going well, the only issues thus far have been the mirrors, where you can't see behind you easily, and being stuck at 55mph! It is so embarrassing being on dual carriageways that I have taken to completely avoiding them. Not really a bad thing as such, there are some great roads out there, but sometimes I just want to get home via the quickest route possible.

Still hoping to cover about 100 miles over the weekend, maybe more then I hope to have it ready for first service by Wednesday.

Got it!

After a tension filled two weeks I have finally taken receipt of my ER6F from ADT Kawasaki. Big thanks to the guys there, everything has been great. The only annoying thing is the 4000rpm limit I have on the bike, which gives me a whopping top speed of about 55mph, good for the engine and probably fuel economy, bad for my right hand ;)

Some pictures:


And a little movie of the start up sequence, the noise you hear is apparently the fuel pump priming:

Oops

On Tuesday I got the call from ADT about the registration plate of my bike. I wrote it down and later that evening I went online to get the insurance. The problem came when I had got the documents. as requested I emailed a copy of the insurance to ADT it wasn't until I got home I noticed that the reg-plate had a wrong letter. Thankfully I was able to phone the insurance the next day and get it changed. Sent the new one off to ADT. Hopefully the bike should turn up today and I'll get it on Saturday. Fingers crossed, I'm not sure I'll be able to put up with the broken nights sleep much longer!

CoPilot Live 8 for Android

Having brought an Android phone (the HTC Magic) I was keen to find a replacement for the satnav software I had on my old N95 for use on my bike. The only option it seems is ALK Technologies CoPilot Live 8. Searching Android Market I came across it in two flavours, UK maps and full European maps priced at around £25 and £55 respectively. Quite a good price overall for what promises to be a full satnav program. Unfortunately it does come with some caveats but before we get to them lets look at some of the more positive aspects. Firstly it is cheap so it can be forgiven for some of the problems. The actual rendered display is actually very good with full anti-aliasing giving a nice smooth appearance, with a good layout. Menus are reasonably clear, although we now start to go downhill from here on in.


The menu structure is very confusing. Although the buttons are large and describe themselves well, there are just too many layers and it is hard to remember how you reached a certain options later. It can also be very unresponsive if there is anything running in the background. So much so that I recommend that you download TaskKiller so that you can get rid of everything else running beforehand. Instructions come through very clearly with the included female voice, even more so when using headphones. The instructions themselves aren't always that clear in terms of their directions. Quite often you will hear a 'keep left' (or right) instruction when in reality it is a turn you need to do. However one of the biggest issues with instruction clarity has to be roundabouts. As I am on the bike I can't see the screen and rely on clear vocal guidance, something CoPilot isn't good at. Approaching one roundabout I was told to take the 7th exit, not an issue as I have seen large ones before with many exits. This particular one only had three exits, not including the one I was entering from. The roundabout in question is the Crooked Billet on the A30 by Staines. The A30 goes across the middle of it and the system seems to have counted the entrance points to the 'fly through'. As I couldn't see the screen so had no idea which junction it actually meant, I also couldn't pull over to get it out to look so took a best guess (got it wrong too!). After a small trip through and around Staines I ended back at the roundabout with CoPilot telling me another exit that doesn't exist. This time I could stop and pull over to see on the map that I actually needed.

Probably the biggest issue I have with the instructions is the distances that you are told about the upcoming change. They are preset at 2 miles, 1 mile and 500 yards. These are way too far unless you are on a motorway. I mean, how many side roads in a town can you pass in 1 mile? Or even 500 yards? Quite a few it seems. Then it will sometimes tell you as you are almost on the junction (normally when you are at speed) that you need to turn, or it will tell you almost straight after the 500 yard warning. Another problem with having these preset distances is if you have one manoeuvre straight after the previous one within 500 yards. Once again it will sometimes says “do this, then do that” but most often it will tell you nothing until you hit the “ahead do this”. Which can be too late if you say at a roundabout that you need to go right on and stuck in the left lane. As a last problem with this is the time difference the distances are depending on the speed you are going. A 1 mile warning at 60mph is a minute in time, but at 30mph it is 2 minutes and that is just too long. The system needs to either have finer gradings on the distances, I would say 50, 200, 500 yards and a mile, or be time based so that you would get a 1 minute warning, 30 and 15 seconds and maybe a 2 second warning as you approach the turning. The advantage of the time system is that the distance would change depending on the current speed (or the average speed from the last minute or so). Another plus side for time based warnings is that it doesn't matter if it is miles or kilometers.

If you are expecting to run this off of the phones battery be prepared to need a recharge soon. It will last about 4 hours then you'll need to find power. To be fair this seems to be true of any phone with satnav with the GPS sucking power and the screen being on all the time. You can change a setting that will adjust when and where the screen is on for to help conserve the battery. Otherwise pluging it in is the best option. One of the more annoying aspects is when the battery does start to get low and Android wants to warn you about it, CoPilot crashes and quits. The same is true if someone tries to call while you are navigating. This may be due to the lack of memory and Android kills tasks to free memory up. However maybe CoPilot is using a little too much memory and resources. If, like me, you want to be able to listen to music while you ride then you can't with your phone while navigating, it just stutters and stalls. This could well be from the memory problems mentioned above, but I can't see any reason why CoPilot couldn't integrate with Android's built in media player to be able to play music which then pauses as navigation instructions are played.

Lastly we move onto the PC software that supports the device. Firstly when you connect to the PC you do not need to have CoPilot running. In fact you can actually remove the card from your phone, insert it into a card reader and the software will pick it up. This wasn't something that was particularly clear. Once you have it connected you have access to all the additional POIs, voices and maps etc. Aside from the map section you can expect tons of nothing in the rest of the areas. There is nothing there, at all, nada. I tried to add the camera database from PocketGPS which the software said it had sorted and sent to the card. Upon running CoPilot again it came up saying it was integrating the POIs, took ages doing it, then I couldn't find them in the POI list.

As a cheap satnav for a phone you already have it is okay, not great and certainly not brilliant. It does what it needs to do without any bells or whistles you may have come to expect from the likes of TomTom. In a pinch it will do, but you do need to be able to see the screen to make sure the instructions even make sense and you will need to plug it in if you plan a long trip. Visually and auditory it is great, the graphics are very clear and look good. The voice quality is very good and the voice comes through clearly, so you can clearly hear a bad instruction! The supporting PC software is lacking in content and doesn't seem to really do anything that you can't actually do on the device anyway. POIs, other then the built in ones, don't seem to work at all.

Overall it is a cheap and cheerful satnav that is full of problems but does what it needs to do... After a fashion.

Finance done

Been to ADT again today to finish off the finance. Hopefully bike should be there Tuesday and I will be able then to pick it up Saturday week. Waiting now for the call to tell me the registration plate then I can get insurance sorted ready fpr pickup.

Only a week to go! Yay!

Finance gone through

Well thankfully all the finance jaw gone through on the bike. Now the long wait for delivery. Oh, and I'll need to go back and do some signing of paperwork to finish it all off.

Test ride of ER6F

I'll admit that I have lusting after the ER-6F ever since I saw its refreshed looks back at the 2008 NEC show. Today I finally got my chance to ride one. I arrived at ADT Kawasaki after having got a little lost and stuck in roadworks in Southampton. Before being allowed to take the bike out I had to sign a disclaimer saying I'd pay the excess of the insurance should I damage the bike. After that given the once over with the controls and the "if this light comes on don't got any further" talk. Finally I was able to get out onto the road.

The first thing that should be said is that I do not know Southampton at all well, in fact I don't know it at all other then the roads I came in on. After heading out I just went where the roads took me. Initial thoughts on the bike were really good, the acceleration was excellent and most importantly the brakes worked so much better then the GS'. The problem was the traffic, it was a nice sunny day and everyone was out. However as my confidence grew with the bike I started to do a little filtering. One of the comments that I remember reading about the ER6F is that the mirrors show nothing other then your elbows. Not something the I noticed, yes there was a large view of mine, but once adjusted wasn't any more of a problem then I have with my GS.

Bimbling along at 30mph one thing I did notice is the vibration from the engine. My GS being air-cooled has tons of vibration due to the lack of water to dampen it, but I was surprised how much there is on the ER6F. Considering that this new '09 model has the rubber mounted engine etc. I expected much less then I got. The riding position did make up for some of that vibes that I got, it was an excellent posture for riding around town in all the weight of my body feeling shared across the pressure points (bum, shoulders and wrists).

Eventually I somehow ended up on the M27, not sure how but I did. This was the first opportunity that I had to really open her up. Pulling onto the motorway I was stuck behind a car doing 60mph, as soon as I could I checked and pulled out into the middle lane and opened the throttle. The grin that was plastered to my face was immense. I am the first to admit that I have not been on many powerful bikes, I haven't ridden any. My most powerful bike to-date has been my little GS500. If this is what 70 odd BHP feels like, I am glad I have yet to ride a superbike. I was doing a large amount of speed before I realised what I had done! Quickly I backed off the throttle, got the bike into sixth gear and cruised at 70mph. You notice when you are doing 70mph on my GS, even with the little fly screen which takes a brunt of the force, you know you are at speed. The ER6F's fairing done its job at keeping most of the wind away from me, to the point where the speed was creeping up and I hadn't noticed because I wasn't being hit by the wind. Again the vibrations were becoming noticeable again at certain speeds. It is almost as if there is a number of revolutions the engine has to do and it sets up a minor resonance though the bike.

Eventually I managed to find my way off of the M27 and back onto the streets of Southampton. Another item that I soon realised compared to the GS is how stable it is at lower speeds, walking pace. I find with the GS I am having to make constant corrections if I am doing anything less then about 10mph, but the ER6 was letting me go along at almost walking pace with no problems. Due to its narrow frame and seat gripping the tank was easy and provided a surprising amount of grip. Seeing as I was back to low speeds, the engine has a great purr to it and a double thump noise from the exhaust, most importantly the engine has tons of low end grunt. With that it made getting away at lights a simple matter, not something to be worked at as with the GS.

I am sure I am going to find flaws with the ER6 eventually as I did with my GS. I love my GS, it is my first bike, let along my first big bike. It has done the unenviable job of taking a very green rider, and all the problems what go with that, in its stride. It has been restricted, dropped, knocked over and come away saying "is that all you've got?". For the most part it has been a dependable workhorse that I will be sad to see go. Still I don't have enough room for two bikes so it will have to go!

All that is left to do know is wait for the call on Monday to say that the finance has gone through and then wait for the bike to turn up. This may be the longest ten days of my life!

On to ADT Kawasaki

So after calling George White to find out what was happening and not getting the promised return phone call, I am now going to be going to ADT Kawasaki in Southampton on Saturday for a test ride. Hopefully a report and pictures tomorrow.

Booking in for test ride

Just a quick one today, pending a phone call tomorrow from George White Swindon, I hope to be going for a test ride on an ER-6F this comming Saturday. I really hope that they still have the bike available to ride!

Going for it

Well went to George Whites today to have another look at my 3 contenders for a new bike (ER6F, GSX650F and XJ6 Divvy). Okay I was a little bit of a chicken as I took the car, although glad I did as it hammered it down for a while there and back. Given the 100 mile round trip I wasn't unhappy that I didn't get drenched and then had to walk about wet. My comeuppance was that I forgot to take my kit with me and couldn't get out on the bike to test ride. Sitting on each though gave me a chance to reflect on them.

The GSX650F is a very nice bike, looks good and has a whopping great bike exhaust bolted on the side. My problem with it is when my feet are on the ground part of the faring rubs against my leg. Not a deal breaker, after all how long do you spend like that on a bike? But when I lifted my knees into a riding position they rested on part of the tank, which could cause a problem if there was any vibration. The seat was very comfortable and I could imagine being able to sit on it for quite some time. The Divvy again, very nice although I think it is lighter then the GSX it felt much heavier when bringing it up from its side stand. One thing the Divvy had which neither of the other too seemed to, was a center stand. Although not the most glamorous if biking accessories, it does make working on the bike easier. The seat though felt rock hard when sitting on it, which was weird as poking it with a finger felt really soft. Defiantly one for a test ride. My biggest 'issue' with the Divvy is the front lamp suite. I have no idea what Yamaha were thinking when they put that 'jewel' for a running lamp on top of the main lamp! The red it comes in though is stunning.

Last is my favourite, the ER6F. It feels nice and light and like the other two has a good riding position. My body shape wraps around the bike with little or no problems that I noticed and despite the latest edition of Bike saying the ER6F had the most cramped riding position of these three (they also had the Aprilla Shiva but I am not interested in that bike), I actually felt the GSX was more cramped. Again that could simply be because of my body shape. I'll admit I am a little bias with the little Kawasaki, I have long lusted after it, however I am hoping to have a test ride next weekend to see if it rides as well as it looks to me!

In-helmet headphones

Some time ago I brought the SHS-300 helmet headset by Midland. These are Velcro backed speakers that sit inside your helmet just about where you ears go. Aside from the obvious function of pumping music into your ears while you ride, they also allow you to still your earplugs to block out potentially damaging wind noise. As said the speakers Velcro to the inside of your helmet, and you can run the cable out to the socket under the padding. If you have removable padding then the wire can be routed around to where ever you want the socket. Should you not have removable padding, like me, then you should be able to tuck it into the folds of the foam or carefully pull the padding up to push it behind. The socket that connects to the lead to your MP3 player isn't a standard connector, or rather, isn't your usual 3.5mm jack. Instead it uses a 6 pin "mini-din" plug/socket. I assume this is because it is the same connector used in Midland's full headset/microphones for PMR radios and the like.

The problem has been that since the cable sticks out of the helmet it gets caught by the wind and over time cause the cable to break inside at the plug. If Midland had used a normal 3.5mm jack then there wouldn't have been a problem, as I can go to many stores and get a 3.5mm jack to jack lead for a few quid. As it stands I got my soldering iron out, popped down to Maplin's to get a 3.5mm plug and socket and replaced the mini-din on the headset and lead. One of the other advantages is that the mini-din could only be inserted one way, there are arrows to show you. However if you already had the helmet on and then went to plug it in, you soon found out what a pain it was trying to figure out which way it goes! With my DIY botch job with the jacks I can now insert the plug into the socket without worrying about its orientation.

The sound quality is medium to high. There is enough clarity to be able to hear the music over the road noises and with earplugs in, while still being a good full sound to it. Despite their small size and thinness there is a fair amount of bass and voices come across very well. Of course you don't have to use these just for music, I have used them with my phones SatNav so I can hear the instructions being passed too me, rather then trying to see the screen in broad daylight.

Overall I would definitely recommend these, even with the problems with the cable. If you are happy wielding a soldering iron or know someone who is, I would certainly suggest replacing the mini-din connectors with normal jacks.

New rear tyre

As I was planning on a short trip I thought that given the rear tyre had been brought up as an advisory I would get it changed. A few hours later I was removed of £82 and had a new tyre with nice deep treads. Now all I need to do is just ride carefully to get rid of the release compound.

MOT time again

It has to be one of the more annoying things that being a motorist in the UK requires, the dreaded MOT.

Firstly my horn is pathetic, rarther then a good firm sound it is more: 'peep peep', so maybe an upgrade will be needed. However it got through the test with only the rearwheel close to the legal limit. Now that is done the brought the road tax and now road legal for the next year. The next expense is insurance not until next month though!

Power

Although I have never ridden a powerful bike as such, since taking off the restricter for my bike I can say the bike is much better for it. Firstly it is running much better and smoother, but more importantly it is pulling much better. Before sixth gear was only really for cruising at 70mp, if you opened the throttle in that gear you would only accelerate slowly. Now, although still best to drop a gear, it can actually pull the bike into a faster speed from 60mph. Despite only gaining around 13bhp, it feels like a totally different bike, making over taking much safer.

End of restriction!

Well my 2 years are over and now I can ride any bike I want :D

Given that it has taken time to have some nice(r) weather I have been able to get the bike out and remove the restrictor kit from it. Not only does the engine seem to be running better now, but the increase in power (albeit a small increase the GS500 isn't known for its power) from 33bhp to its native 47bhp. Not much but does enable a far better acceleration curve and is able to maintain its speed even with a strong headwind on the motorway.

Now to look at replacing it!

AA warns bikers of "Road-Rust"

The AA have put up information for riders about the dangers of many "fair weather" riders bringing their bikes out again. Here is the article:

25 March 2009

AA breakdown patrols use motorbikes in some major cities

As thousands of people dust off their motorcycles and take to the road for the first time in months, AA Motorcycle Insurance is advising bikers and other road users to beware of the dangers of 'road rust'.

Many bikers are 'rusty' having not ridden their bikes all winter as are many car drivers who have grown used to having fewer bikes around.
AA comment

Simon Douglas, Director of AA Motorcycle Insurance, says: "We have all heard of road rage, but at this time of year the big danger to bikers is 'road rust' among drivers who have lost the habit of looking out for bikes. The skills of many motorcyclists need polishing too after a long lay-up, so it's important for both to be aware of the risks as the results can be tragic.

"Bikes can be repaired or replaced, but bikers cannot."

Most of Britain's 1.6 million motorbikes will be back on the nation's roads over the next few weeks – a period that normally also sees a big upsurge in accidents. Claims involving motorbikes typically soar by up to 40 per cent in spring, according to analysis by AA Insurance in conjunction with BLD Ltd, the motorcycle accident management specialists.

Longer days and mild weather are set to lure thousands back onto their bikes, as will Easter holiday excursions. But especially hazardous in the lead-up to the holidays are busy rush hour traffic and the school run, which account for a disproportionately high number of accidents.

Mike McMillan of BLD explains: "Fewer than 20 per cent of all motorcycle accidents that involve another party are wholly, or partly, the motorcyclist's fault so it is vital that all road users take extra care – especially in heavy traffic."

Another particular hazard this spring is winter's legacy of damaged roads. The AA estimates that icy weather earlier this year caused a 40 per cent increase in road damage, pushing the UK's pothole count up to 1.5 million. Hitting a pothole at speed on a motorcycle can have devastating consequences.
Safety tips for bikers

Safety tips for bikers from the AA's own motorbike-based breakdown patrols and BLD include:

* Make yourself visible – riding with your lights on at all times increases your visibility to others on the roads
* Always wear protective clothing – even for short trips – including a helmet, protective jacket, trousers, boots and gloves
* Slow down as you approach bends – accelerate out, but make sure you keep to the speed limit. Accelerate and brake smoothly and take extra care in the wet
* Constantly monitor your riding and think about your speed, road position and distance from other traffic. Be aware of your environment and potential hazards such as cars pulling out and damaged road surfaces
* Seek feedback from skilled riders, try a BikeSafe assessment or Advanced Rider training course
* Keep your bike maintained – regularly check wheels and tyres, brakes, battery, lights, oil and chain or shaft
* The quality of fuel and oil can deteriorate over time if your bike is not used for lengthy periods – check and replace if necessary before returning to the road

http://www.theaa.com/motoring_advice/news/road-rust-warning-as-spring-heralds-return-of-the-nations-bikers.html

MCN ER-6F Review

MCN have reviewed the ER-6F and seem on the whole to like it (although in the paper they only give it 3 stars despite almost singing its praises?!). Here is the video of the bike 'test'.

Yet more mirrors

Back in September I had to change the mirrors on the bike as the factory ones had stopped being able to hold its position. So I brought some (very) cheap mirrors from Busters. To be honest they are pants. The picture on the right shows what has happened to the arms, the chrome has died and allowed the metal underneath to rust out. This has left it looking rather, well rubbish. Mind you for only £12 they have done better then I really expected, although I wasn't expecting them to fail like this!

So looking at "intobikes" website I found some new ones by Motrax. A little under £15 each, however I was a little confused as to how to order them. The order from Busters to the old ones was simple, it included both mirrors. However intobikes have it listed as "left or right". As I wasn't sure is this meant that I had to specify a left or right mirror I emailed them. To be honest I wasn't impressed with the reply, it came across as slightly terse. As it turns out the mirrors are literally left or right and by spinning the mirror around on the arm, it can be swapped over.

A few days after ordering they turned up and I installed them very quickly and they look great. Much better then the round mirrors it came with as standard.

Mirror mirror on my bike...

Last September I installed some new mirrors as my old ones weren't staying in the correct positions. Well now the new ones, while operating fine, have started to rust and pit on the stalks! I have now ordered some new, and more expensive, ones from 'intobikes.co.uk' and hope that they will not go the same way. More when I have them!

Bike is back

At last I have my GS500 back in my grubby mitts. Finally it is running nicely, hats off to the guys at Nick Robinson. Although I have to go to work tomorrow I am hoping to go for a little ride out at lunch time.

Almost ready

Well I hope anyway! Parts turned up on Saturday and it is going to be installed tomorrow so fingers crossed I should be able to pick the bike up by the end of day.

Don't get me started and woohoo!

So had a call from NR again today. Thanks to their dedicated work the problem with my bike is now known; a sticky valve due to its shim(?) being too tight. I'll admit my knowledge on the components of engines is limited! Anyhow, the bike has been a pain in the proverbial as to gain access to the valve the engine needed to come out. The exhaust bolts are fused to the engine and would need to be drilled out, so to save money they have removed the engine with exhaust attached. Next while gaining access to the innards of the engine one of the engine bolts was badly corroded and snapped, again this will need to be drilled out by the looks of it.

Aside from that problems with corroded and snapping bolts at least the problem is now known and should be fixable. Although not given a time, I am hopeful I will be able to pick the bike up this Friday.

Engine update

Had a call from NR yesterday and it seems there is no compression in cylinder two when cold. The current thought is that it is the exhaust valve so hopefully it is a "simple" as a valve replacment and I am back on the road again.

Fingers crossed and touching wood!!

Broken again

It seems I have nothing but bad luck with this bike. It has gone back in to have its engine checked out as it is only starting on one cylinder, yet when warm runs on both. So far the guys at Nick Robinsons haven't found the cause of it. Here is hoping that when they do find out what it is, it is a cheap fix, though I have a funny feeling it won't be. Just my luck really. If anyone who may read this has any ideas let me know.