One of these bad boys came flying past yesterday, on the A41 at Brent Cross.

It looked great, I’m not sure what the rider was up-to, seemed to be flaffing around a bit.

But hey, I would love to flaff on one too.

But then again, the day before the new black 1198S came past on the back wheel (got all upset by a two-up Fazer overtaking)

You be the judge, I’m voting for the 1198.

Got the bike back from the dealer after another week, 40 miles down the road… stop for petrol…. pay…. back to bike…. guess what. RAC time

But hey this time (please let it be) they seem to have fixed it! *<:-)

After a huge list of spares replaced under warranty (Confirmed with Yamaha Customer Service, who are very helpful in these situations) it turns out to be a fuel pump relay! $%&^ers.

After weeks of £30 per day train tickets for both of us, its been eye watering.

Anyway its Spring/Summer and all is now well.

FZ-1 is back in the shop for the third time for ECU / front wiring loom troubles.

This is getting a bit dull, especially when the dealer takes two weeks to get round to sorting it out. The cheeky feckers lent it out to one of their mechanics! They only confessed when Bro noticed there was half a tank of petrol missing.

I’m starting to realise why so many people commute on BMW’s. They probably get treated with some respect.

Happy Happy.

At least we got a loaner, hopefully it belongs to the dealer.

A lot of you seem to be looking for reviews on the FZ6. As you will see in previous posts (See Yamaha FZ6 Catagory on the right) I had one for about six months last year.

It is a great bike, easy to ride with excellent engine, handling and brakes. The gearbox was very slick on clutchless up changes, as is the FZ1, it can get a bit lost on the down changes from time to time but not often enough to be a pain.

One issue we had riding two-up was the centre stand. During the summer the stand spend most of its time scratching the tarmac.

Any roundabout or sharp righthander resulted in another mill coming off the stand.

The pegs weren’t far behind either, it was very strange having the pegs and stand so low on such a capable bike.

As I’ve mentioned before when I was on the back, being a bit taller than the rider, over 105mph ish I got an uncomfortable amount of lift from the wind, again not present on the FZ1 Fazer.

Having said all that, I think it is an excellent all-rounder one-up, just a shame about the side stand.

It was great this week, it kinda reminds you that one day Spring will be here.

Riding in on dry roads, actually getting the power down during the bends again woo hoo.

Still plenty of crap on the roads, we need a couple of heavy rains to wash it away, then all is good.

Enough snow n ice now, thanks.

On the commute home tonight there was a massive diesel spill from the A1(M) from Welwyn to the Stevenage South turn off.

It runs the whole length of the inside lane and about 6″ wide and runs off up the Stevenage South off ramp.

Nice ha.

I reported it to the police. The number is 0845 33 00 222. Please, aways report spills.

Petition the government to get anti spill devices fitted at their official site…

http://petitions.number10.gov.uk/StopDieselSpills/

Thanks

I noticed this on MCN’s Facebook Group. With my recent mishap (see a couple of posts below) I think I need one of these ……

It’s a snow bike kit! It takes a couple of hours to fit. lol.

http://2moto.com

Video

Ducati Streetfighter - Nice!

How tricked up can a bike be? I’m not a fan of unfaired “street” bikes but is a good looking blinged up piece of kit.

The engine is the 1098 lump and there is an S version with Ohlins and Traction Control for those that still have a credit rating.

Ducati have a lovely, flashy site ….

http://www.streetfighter.ducati.it

PS Ducati, if you want to lend me one to test ride that would be fine

Two up on ice is a bad thing! I came round a corner going through a village this morning, to be greeted by sheet ice followed by one of those traffic calming islands with the curb protruding out on my side of the road. With on coming traffic I had not choice but to turn.

On your own this is a bad situation but with the added weight of a pillion, the back tyre lost grip and it was game off. A very slow spin to the ground.

The FZ-1 took it well the damage was confined mainly to the exhaust, although there was slight damage to the handle bar end and the small plastic radiator cowling and my ego of course. Boo hoo.

UPDATE
The handlebar clamps were also bent at £50 each. That’s not bad, could have been a lot worse.

Man this morning was a nightmare, riding from Baldock to Buntingford (a truly awesome biking road) was real fun! -2 deg’s with random frozen slush and black ice made corning a butt clenching exercise. If I had come off I’m sure the seat would have come with me. Especially heart stopping when an artic comes thundering round the corner from the other direction. It took 10mins of rocking the bike backwards and forwards to get away from the garage.

Still, beats the s£$t out of the train.