Newby from Northern UK

Greetings from the UK

Currently run a Yamaha Diversion 600 but, subject to the weather improving, I will be collecting a nice shiny 2008 Silverwing next Friday

Probably not the best time to buy a scooter but the dealer has offered oodles of £££'s for my part exchange, so why not

Welcome to this fine forum! I am not familiar with the Diversion, but I'm sure you'll like the Silverwing as much as those on this forum do. I'm a fairly recent convert, but long time two wheel enthusiast. My Swing has renewed my enthusiasm for riding and even for life in general.

midlifecrisis wrote:

Greetings from the UK

Currently run a Yamaha Diversion 600 but, subject to the weather improving, I will be collecting a nice shiny 2008 Silverwing next Friday

Probably not the best time to buy a scooter but the dealer has offered oodles of £££'s for my part exchange, so why not

Welcome to the friendliest Silverwing forum ... and soon to be Silverwing world.

I am curious which was your midlifecrisis ... the Yamaha Diversion 600 or the Honda Silvering

Hello and welcome.

MikeO wrote:

Hello and welcome.

I made over to this one as well Mike, looks like my trip to Belgium in 2012 will be on a scoot

Welcome mate, Im in sunny manchester, great weather were having eh, I might try and organise a s/wing ride out for north-west owners early in the new year ,if your up for it?? ( when the weather improves).

marco wrote:

Welcome mate, Im in sunny manchester, great weather were having eh, I might try and organise a s/wing ride out for north-west owners early in the new year ,if your up for it?? ( when the weather improves).

As long as you permit those from "over the pennines"

Riding over here's good as many car drivers started young on scooters so are more aware and considerate although everyone drives a bit closer than in the UK.

MikeO wrote:

Riding over here's good as many car drivers started young on scooters so are more aware and considerate although everyone drives a bit closer than in the UK.

Mike, that counts me in then

A belayed welcome from me, (a southern softie)!! Tis a mere minus 4 C right now. No snow though.

Not Wing riding weather at all, the roads are very slippery at the moment. I actually chickened out at the last minute tonight when I looked at the forecast temps overnight. So I drove into work - wimp!

"over the pennines" no problem, we could head over to Settle/kirby longsdale.

Waspie wrote:

A belayed welcome from me, (a southern softie)!! Tis a mere minus 4 C right now. No snow though.

Not Wing riding weather at all, the roads are very slippery at the moment. I actually chickened out at the last minute tonight when I looked at the forecast temps overnight. So I drove into work - wimp!

Hi Doug, thanks for the greeting, was a mere -9.5 whan I left work in Wetherby tonoight, positively sub-tropical now at -7c, BRING ON THE SHORTS

marco wrote:

"over the pennines" no problem, we could head over to Settle/kirby longsdale.

Excellent, nice ride out to there, we could upset all the sports bike riders at Devils Bridge

sounds good to me , keep in touch.

marco wrote:

sounds good to me , keep in touch.

Will do, we need it to warm up a bit now, currently -12 outside

Welcome to the forum - enjoy the ride.

Hello Been out and about over the last few days and missed this log in by another UK rider

Great to see a 'tuther ern find us!!!! You will find this bunch (on both sides of the Atlantic) more than helpful. Not much that isn't known about the bikes here to help you cover every aspect of riding, modification and maintenance, plus a bit of banter in between.

I'm Skippy. Based in Exeter, originally from Lancashire, so I supposed that gives me the offical location title of 'confused' LOL.

Anyway, as I said - great to see you logging in and hope to see you out on the road some day!

Skippy wrote:

Hello Been out and about over the last few days and missed this log in by another UK rider

Great to see a 'tuther ern find us!!!! You will find this bunch (on both sides of the Atlantic) more than helpful. Not much that isn't known about the bikes here to help you cover every aspect of riding, modification and maintenance, plus a bit of banter in between.

I'm Skippy. Based in Exeter, originally from Lancashire, so I supposed that gives me the offical location title of 'confused' LOL.

Anyway, as I said - great to see you logging in and hope to see you out on the road some day!

Hi Skippy

Thanks for that, Yorkshire born and bred, and never really tried to get away

Still hoping to get the scooter delivered on Friday of this week as I have managed to clear the snow from the road to the garage.

I think the first "mod" will be the Givi box and then maybe a mount for my satnav, plenty of time over the winter to do them.

Paul
Oooop North :rendeer:

Hey Paul,

I lived in Leeds for 8 years as a kid and then moved on, only to return to East Yorks 20 years later with the Army........

Thinking of adding a top box?? I'd give yourself a while first before doing that, most of the lads (and lasses) on here seem to have them, but I personally think they add a bit of a top heavy feel to the bike, esp with a pillion and as their is enough room to store to lids under the seats most of the time they seem to me to be a bit of an extraneous accessory. Id much rather have the rack space across the rear of the pillion, esp now I've got a back rest fitted.

BTW if you do want a back rest - Scooter Luggage World sold me mine for £44-50, my local Givi dealers quoted me nearly seventy quid! The item you want is 'Givi TB19'. The same fitting goes on all bikes. You need to drill a couple of holes in the rack plate, having removed it from the bike, but thats dead easy too! Only four bolts. The Givi instructions aren't up to much cop but its pretty much obvious what you need to do!

Dennis has also posted some fine ideas/designs for SatNav mounts on here - the biggest problem will probably be getting hold of the plastic beads, but I'm going to try my local chandlers first!

Skippy

I already have the Givi box so as and when I need it I can get a mount for it. I also have a couple of soft Oxford side panniers that I could utilise. I do fancy one of those bags that go into the footwell, all in good time eh?

With regard to the satnav I usually plan a route in my head, then put it into the satnav, then that goes into my pocket, when things get tricky I usually stop and refer to it then

I will look at the back rest as no doubt "the boss" will want to nip to Skipton for a coffee pretty soon

Another mod that has really enhanced the riding on the 'Wing' is the Givi Airflow wind shield, (Givi AF214). Gives reduced noise around the head and also a moderate amount of protection for the hands too.

Full advice on fitting on this site, way better than Givi's attempt at appeasing all major countries.

Regards the UK, I hailed originally from Newcastle upon Tyne, moved south when I joined the navy in 67 and as per, married a southern lass and settled. Have to say with the current weather, I'm pretty glad I never settled back up there. Still home is home is home. Never forgot my roots but living here on Fraggle Rock, thats Portland has its advantages over the north. Unpolluted air for a kick off. Disadvantages are crap roads and holiday makers clogging them up on good riding days.

Heres hoping you get your Silver Wing on Friday.

Oh, afor I forget, the ignition key, give it a wipe with duck oil or similar, you will find engaging it in the various locks easier.

Also, think about removing the lamp in the luggage space in case of inadvertent non closure of the seat. (I was dubious of this one but after it happened to me once the lamp was removed.)

I can deffo vouch for the 'remove bulb from the boot', esp with the recent fun I've had with a non-locking seat!

Thanks for all the advice chaps, I just have to remember them all. Just had the dealer on checking that all is OK for Friday

Doug, regarding the air quality, its fine here in the Yorkshire Dales, except when I light my wood stove

midlifecrisis wrote:

Doug, regarding the air quality, its fine here in the Yorkshire Dales, except when I light my wood stove

I bet my wife could find something to wheeze and splutter over. Now she really is a southern softie! Nah!!! That's unkind bless her. She can't help having breathing problems.

Having been in the forces we've moved around and here on Fraggle, proves to be the most conducive for her health, so here I, (we), stay.

Mind you! I am on record that if she is the first to depart this mortal coil I'm naffing off up to Ullapool or there abouts. Now there the air is clear and the roads are free, (as in NO traffic).

Very lucky where i am, minutes from the metropolis and seconds from the open roads.

When the SW arrives I am sure it will be seeking out every nook and cranny

midlifecrisis wrote:

Very lucky where i am, minutes from the metropolis and seconds from the open roads.

When the SW arrives I am sure it will be seeking out every nook and cranny

I envy you, I am minutes from traffic chaos and miles away from anything resembling a city!!

But I still have to contend with the superbike fraternity, and some and repeat SOME think that it is their right to own the roads.....

Thats one of the few things that has always stopped me from moving over to Dorset Doug - the 'communication routes' are awful. I have friends who live in Dorchester and Weymouth and getting over there is a real drag...

Years ago I was stationed at Worthy Down, just outside Winchester and decided one Friday afternoon to drive over to see my girlfriend (now wife) here in Exeter. Usually, I would take the A30 over Salisbury plain, past Stone Henge, through the Black Down Hills etc. But having found that trip boring and tedious on a Friday evening I decided to try the coastal route - BIG Mistake....... It took me twice as long, and nearly twice as much fuel (I was in a car). This is mainly why I ride a bike, esp here in the UK.

As I said, I've always like the county of Dorset and the people, I like Poole and the coastal areas esp, but just couldn't face the hassel of getting out of the place

Skippy, you get no arguments from me on communication links.

It is seriously bad right now with pre Olympic road works in progress, (Weymouth). Most of the major roundabouts are being morphed into 'intelligent' light prioritised junctions. All baring one of the main arterial roads have serious works in progress on them. To travel around the immediate area is manic. Even Dorchester is suffering to a minor degree.

Still post 2012 it will be over and we local will enjoy the debris left behind.

My lad was based down there before he went into Iraq in 2003, he didn't have a problem getting about... In his tank

midlifecrisis wrote:

My lad was based down there before he went into Iraq in 2003, he didn't have a problem getting about... In his tank

If your talking Bovington, it's where I work. Your right they do get a little respect. (Although they normally cause the hold ups). Who's gonna argue with 65 tons of serious hardware!!!!!!

Got it in ONE

Hi from further North in UK.

Roll on Friday.

I have owned a fair number of Maxi scooters over the years but never really gave the SW a second thought (Well maybe a second thought but not a third) because of the price and the fact there never seemed to be any used ones around.

Anyway I stumbled across a demonstrator at a main dealership a couple of months or so ago.

It was first registered in April 2010, had 4000 miles on the clock and I managed to do a deal which I thought seemed reasonable at the time however I am not so sure if it was.

Anyway I really love the SW and wish I had managed to get one before now.

I have found that it delivers that extra / necessary bit of excitement as compared to the other Maxi Scooters I have owned e.g. Burger 650 / Yamaha T Max 500 / Burger 400.

The SW performance is nothing like a sports bike (have had these as well) but is certainly enough to keep me happy

I am a member of a motorcycle club (Only Scooter) and during runs I have had many comments as to how surprised fellow riders are at the Swing's performance.

The standard screen I found was way too noisy for me with a lot of buffeting etc and so I decided to invest in a Givi AF214 screen which, as far as I am concerned, transforms the SW.

I plan to get a rack and top box in the spring - think I will go for a 45 / 46 Ltr. Givi Monolock rather than the Monokey as the Monolock is a lot cheaper although it only carries a few KG as compared to the 10 KG that the Monokey carries.

In the meantime looking forward to hearing how you get on with your SW.

Hi Mitch great to see you logging in I hope you are warm and toasty up there in in snow bound Scotland!!! The news reports aren't that great

The SWing is the only scooter I've ever owned - the wife did have a 50cc Typhoon a few years back, but never rode it more than 8 feet in three years so we sold it....... I think you are right about the screen, I've got an original item fitted to my bike - but you can see where somebody had a 'flip up' attachment fitted as well to avoid the problems you mention. I refuse to pay £76 for the same bit and think I will be giving Givi some business in the new year.