So I bought a motorbike.

[Dave-]

Suzuki fxr150.

I'm Dave, 19 (going on 20! AHHH!), in chch, opinionated, and sick of the unique smell of urine, vomit, and disqualified boyracer that seems to linger at the back of every bus, cars are too expensive to run, i dont need 3 and a half other seats, my imaginary friends all live in my pockets anyway.

I talked to a few salesmen (heh, I'm in retail so i saw it comming) and a few mates of mates (ya know that thing where you realise you dont know anyone who knows anything about motorbikes?) and decided a nice small 150 will do me fine for the first 18 months of what is to hopefully be, a long biking career.

Havent got my lisense yet, at this stage I'm booked in 2 weeks from now at mainland (thats the only free time i can do it) but i might book asap type thing and pull a sickie at work (might as well take the day off and sit the lisense as well)

also need to get a helmet (tomorrow when the stores are open) but untill then i used my downhill mountain bike helmet and took her (maggie) for a crawl up and down the drive, went easily enough, bike starts and sounds great.

so I guess I'll be reading through these forums from time to time, soaking up the advice, asking all the stupid questions "when should i use 1/2 on the fuel tap?" I'm a quick learner and hope to be a member of your...not so wee...community here.

(203069 members if my calculations are correct -1 for admin account, +/- 29 for the last page in the member list.)

[Jorja]

Welcome and congrats on the new bike.

there are a heap of people on here willing to offer advice to newbies like us. Good luck with your course.

[far queue]

Welcome aboard. Feel free to ask dumb questions, we've all been there.

[Wasp]

Hey man, if you need any help with the fxr i'd talk to phoenixgtr - he just moved down to chch and sold his before he left

[hitch]

welcome to kb, good luck with the test you will find anything you need to know on this site. :scooter:

[MyGSXF]

Welcome to the mad house!! :Punk:

There's a good crowd in ChCh if ya wanna hook up & pick their brains!

Jen :rockon:

[Boob Johnson]

Welcome Dave, learn fast, ride safe :scooter:

[crazybigal]

hey nice one bro:Punk:
good little bike, i think a few mods can be done to it, prob a few people one here with them.
enjoy your riding and dont take any shit from people on here!

[Nasty]

FXRs rule for learners .. great bike .. and good choice :) Welcome aboard:yes:

[Winter]

Hey man, welcome along. Looks like we are in a similar boat - though im in auckland, and my 20th birthday is infact today!

[Macktheknife]

Welcome along to KB, good luck with the bike and enjoy the riding.
Might pay to check out the KB mentors in your area to get your skills up.

[Trudes]

Welcome along Dave.

[dnos]

Haha, nice introduction.
Congrats on the new bike mate, once ya get that license you will be pulling even more sickies to go riding.
Welcome to KB

[Roj]

Welcome to the mad house,

There is no shortage of opinions and advice, you just need to work out which is which...:dodge:

and my opinion on buying a helmet, buy the best you can afford

[u4ea]

welcome aboard !!!! enjoy your steed and listen to ya gut instincs...ride like every car wants to kill you and watch out for scumdog!!!!!!!:dodge:

[SDU]

Welcome to the nuthouse!
Shop around town for a good fitting helmet & gear.
Good luck for your test, Mainland is good way to go & learn.
There are plenty of locals around to talk to & looking for others to ride with.

[Midge]

Sup mate and if you ever want to go for a random cruzie where ever im always keen giz a bell!

[Dave-]

ok popped along to budget motorcycle thinger today and got helmet, boots (which im wearing in now) and gloves (which i cant type with)

the gloves are a little bit tight, tried on heaps but at the end of the day too tight is betetr than too loose with extra finger and palm.

boots are oxford, damn comfy, lovely and warm (might use em as slippers too) as is helmet.

also got the change of ownership papers sorted, she's mine now :)

aaaand i just got off the phone she's covered too

edit: and im booked in for the practicle thing on thursday morning, ill pull a sickie (dont tell my work)

[Indiana_Jones]

If your FXR has stock tyres. Take them off and burn them and then put on some decent ones lol.

They are shite in the wet.

Apart from that, the FXr is a wicked bike to learn on :niceone:

oh and welcome :D

-Indy

[Toaster]

Welcome and enjoy riding safe and smart - that way you get to be old, safe and smart.

[Quartermile]

Yea FXR's are kick ass, I had one for my first bike,bloody loooooved it go da Fixxers!!

[mstriumph]

Hi
Welcome
Nice intro
You and your imaginary friends should fit right in here - we are all - erm - 'non-standard' :yes:

[Dave-]

dont tell my work but i pulled a "doctors appointment" and accidently got my lisence (i swear i have no idea how it happened)

just got back from my first rides.

ride 1: out the drive, down the road, round the corner....where's my lisence?....oops...turn around and get home, rush in the door and grab lisence.

ride 2: out drive, round corner and go down road into 70k area, big long chch straights, come out from behind some trees and catch the wind, whoa, it wobbled me a bit but i was good, got to the round about, did a 360 and went back down the same road and home again.

things i learnt:

my rear brake pedal needs adjusting, its too high.

the fxr150 wing mirrors are actually completly useless (unless i want to write memos to myself and post them on my elbows "hmm, must remember deoderant") ive asked at 2 places now about aftermarket mirrors for the fxr but both have claimed they dont really exist, bollocks i say, there's thousands of these bikes in the world, anyone who doesnt make a wing mirror for these is missing out on a huge market of people wider than your average malaysian.

can drop down gears now quite happily.

you push the button in to stop indicating...."OHHH" says the crowd

found that power step in the revs...about the 8-9k i think (was too busy watching the road) WHOOM the bike springs to life

[mark247]

dont tell my work but i pulled a "doctors appointment" and accidently got my lisence (i swear i have no idea how it happened)

just got back from my first rides.

ride 1: out the drive, down the road, round the corner....where's my lisence?....oops...turn around and get home, rush in the door and grab lisence.

ride 2: out drive, round corner and go down road into 70k area, big long chch straights, come out from behind some trees and catch the wind, whoa, it wobbled me a bit but i was good, got to the round about, did a 360 and went back down the same road and home again.

things i learnt:

my rear brake pedal needs adjusting, its too high.

the fxr150 wing mirrors are actually completly useless (unless i want to write memos to myself and post them on my elbows "hmm, must remember deoderant") ive asked at 2 places now about aftermarket mirrors for the fxr but both have claimed they dont really exist, bollocks i say, there's thousands of these bikes in the world, anyone who doesnt make a wing mirror for these is missing out on a huge market of people wider than your average malaysian.

can drop down gears now quite happily.

you push the button in to stop indicating...."OHHH" says the crowd

found that power step in the revs...about the 8-9k i think (was too busy watching the road) WHOOM the bike springs to life

Wouldnt any aftermarket generic mirrors fit on it? Dont they just screw on or bolt on or something?

[Indiana_Jones]

Oh yea, forgot to mention the mirrors lol.

I've seen one or two FXR's that have extentioners on the mirrors which makes the stick out furher, I have no idea where you get them from, or if it's home made.

But I'm sure you'll find a solution to ur problem.

for the meantime, tuck ur arm in to see, and headcheck. which you should always be doing anyways :)

-Indy

[j_redley]

Once my legs healed totally and I can bend my foot enough to reach the back brake again, I'l definatly be keen to get out for a ride. There's some awesome riding to be had around the port hills, even on little 150 bikes like ours.

My advice though, definatly try and get yourself fully geared up, my jacket took the brunt of the sliding tarmac, though the jeans I was wearing had a big hole in, as did my knee. So keep it upright where ever possible. :-p

[Dave-]

just got back from a ride, popped into town to see how long it tales to get to work.

i got there and realised in my estatic joy of riding (and the fact i was still alive) that I had totally forgotten to time it...

so i head home again, once again forgetting to see how long it takes....

oh well, had an awesome ride, can feel myself getting better with gears etc, only stalled once :) practised looking over my shoulder while keeping the bike straight etc, got my wing mirrors sorted (helps if you were a tighter fitting jacket, neither of my leathers are proper riding jackets, but untill my pockets rejuvinate they'll have todo.)

[Dave-]

ok i went into work yesturday (timed how long it took, 11 mins in 15 home) as i was leaving my bike had some problems idling, i pulled the choke out and she went sweet, gave her a min to warm up with the choke out, took the choke off idle dropped and the engine cut out.

there was a hose that had dropped off when i first got the bike, the original hose had fuel hardened and wouldnt go back on so i dug around and got a new one, fitted it and was sweet, upon checking this hose when i got home i found it had melted on the exhaust and blocked, could this be a problem? there's no liquid in the hose and the fact there's a hose there suggests its a liquid and not some sort of compression outlet.

the engine was also missing a bit too, I wound up the idle-throttle nut thing and its idling and running sweet now but im still a bit worried that i had todo it in the first place, im gonna go into a suzuki dealer and have a chat.

I heard the jet for idle is notorious for getting dirty as well, is this possible? the bike is running sweet otherwise though, im told the idle jet isnt used when the bike gets going which suggests its a jet issue.

where's a good suzuki mechanic in chch?

[mark247]

ok i went into work yesturday (timed how long it took, 11 mins in 15 home) as i was leaving my bike had some problems idling, i pulled the choke out and she went sweet, gave her a min to warm up with the choke out, took the choke off idle dropped and the engine cut out.

there was a hose that had dropped off when i first got the bike, the original hose had fuel hardened and wouldnt go back on so i dug around and got a new one, fitted it and was sweet, upon checking this hose when i got home i found it had melted on the exhaust and blocked, could this be a problem? there's no liquid in the hose and the fact there's a hose there suggests its a liquid and not some sort of compression outlet.

the engine was also missing a bit too, I wound up the idle-throttle nut thing and its idling and running sweet now but im still a bit worried that i had todo it in the first place, im gonna go into a suzuki dealer and have a chat.

I heard the jet for idle is notorious for getting dirty as well, is this possible? the bike is running sweet otherwise though, im told the idle jet isnt used when the bike gets going which suggests its a jet issue.

where's a good suzuki mechanic in chch?

That could be the problem, the hose may be a vacuum hose for the fuel and because it is melted the carbs are not getting enough fuel. Just possibly.

[Dave-]

well i took the hose completly off then took it for a spin and it hasent helped.

went and spoke to the mechanic at sports zone suzuki, gonna book it in sometime after easter, but in the mean time he suggested i look at the mixture tap, reckoned it was usually 2 and a half turns off.

[phoenixgtr]

Hey man, if you need any help with the fxr i'd talk to phoenixgtr - he just moved down to chch and sold his before he left

What he said

[mark247]

This hose that melted off and you have now disconnected, is it just an overflow or did it actually connect on to somewhere? Do you know what the hose actually is for?

[phoenixgtr]

i pulled the choke out and she went sweet, gave her a min to warm up with the choke out, took the choke off idle dropped and the engine cut out.



This is typical. With my FXR if you took the choke off too early it would die and be a real prick to get started again. You have to let it warm up fully before you take the choke off.

Where did this tube come from? If it goes nowhere then it's just an overflow and nothing to worry about

[Grub]

Our solution for Nasty's FXR was to get bar-end mirrors as they were all that was available. They worked magic. The downside is that they replace the dampers so you get a little more bar-buzz. Hell, seeng behind you was so much better than a little buzz.

What a great bike, loved it through the twisties, was interesting against a Welly norwester and the headlight is crap but I understand it can take a brighter bulb. Check that with the shop though because you don't want a melted headlight lens.

Brett

[Dave-]

yeah its just an overflow, it comes from the carburator just above the started motor, the hose twisted down and under the bike where it stopped.

[mark247]

yeah its just an overflow, it comes from the carburator just above the started motor, the hose twisted down and under the bike where it stopped.

oh ok, so its not that causing the problem at all. The shop will find the problem in a few minutes if they know the bikes well.

[okeh]

Wouldnt any aftermarket generic mirrors fit on it? Dont they just screw on or bolt on or something?

Hey johnson, havent seen you in awhile

[Dave-]

aparently the wing mirrors on the fxr are something....exolved....no it was something similar....ununiform or something...means they're specific to the fxr and their specific shape is not copied.

[Grub]

aparently the wing mirrors on the fxr are something....exolved....no it was something similar....ununiform or something...means they're specific to the fxr and their specific shape is not copied.

That's true but ve haff vays of seeink behind us. I made blanking plates for the old mounting points as they helped secure the fairing so you could do the same and mount a different type of mirror to them.

A solution I have since seen is the mounting of long-stalk type black mirrors into the original mounting holes, using blanks as I have described above

[Xtat1k]

Welcome along mate.

[stanko]

Have a look at some rg150 mirrors, the stalks may be longer. If they are what you want PM Oyster here at KB he might have some as he has done a few RG150 race conversions.

[Dave-]

heh jammed the brakeson a bit hard today and locked the back wheel....

luckily my years of mountain bike experience kicked in, I stood up on the pedals as the back of the bike started to slide in one direction I moved against it and kept it upright, while easing off the break and getting the wheels moving again.

was touch and go for a second but alot easier to control than I had thought....dont get me wrong...i certainly wont be doing that again....

leson learnt: pump the breaks (which i usually do but for some reason i didnt...)