DSK

2 miles!!!! thats should not be the reason to buy a motorbike or a Ninja at that! why not just get a scooter? A few things you need to appreciate. Firstly motorcycling is a completely different game to driving! On bikes, you are more vunerable, you have pretty much all the odds stacked against you, you have no aids to prevent you crashing or over cooking it. First, as mentioned, you need to do a CBT. This will give you a vaugue idea if motorcycling is for you or not. After this do a Direct Access course over time, take a month, 2 months etc but don't do the 3-5day intensive courses, its just too much to take in for a newbie and its setting you up for trouble IMO. By all means, get a 600cc but, trust me on this, you NEED to respect it and allow yourself a lot of time to get to grips with motorcycling. The moment you get cocky coupled with a lack of skill & experience you are going to regret it! Take it easy, ride well within yourself and you will be fine. This is mine and owned since new not showing the modifications; I have kept this as IMO, it works a treat as a sports bike for the road. Decent ergonomics and practical too with excellent performance. Keep wanting to get 1000cc but the Ninja is still doing everything well. May try a ZX12R or new Firebalde/Hyabusa in a year or two. Are they cheap to run? Fuel wise they don't cost much at all but, consumables like chains & sprockets, tyres, bearings, brakes, shocks etc are expensive. Servicing isn't bad at all but do be aware that you will have occasional issues that need addressing such as road dirt clogging the gear linkage etc. Insurance & Security Insurance wise bikes aren't bad at all from my experience and for me they have always been very cheap! Bike theft is a big issue and you have to ensure your bike is well secured either at home or away with alarm/immobiliser, good quality chains, d-locks etc. Clothing You must invest in good quality leathers, 2 piece are easier and more versatile, a good fitting helmet, quality goves and boots are a must. This lot can easily come to around £800-£1K so budget for this! I also wear a back protector which cost £90. You can never cover yourself enough and its always the day you are not in protective clothing that you will regret not wear ing it. Invest in it - Wear It! Downsides - Motorists are generally oblivious to bikes so its easy to have a nut in a car take you out. - You have to factor in getting kitted up before setting off and getting out of the kit once you get to your destination and storing your clothing etc! - Carrying security chains/locks etc (I wrap mine around the rear of the bikes and through the grab handles). - You're always wandering if the bike is OK and not being nicked! - diesel spills can be a f*cking nightmare - I enjoy riding in the snow/rain/winter but this seriously is dangerous as other motorists are even worse in these conditons! - Cops don't like you - Too easy to get done for speeding

To be honest, I'd say a well cared for TT or a TT supporting BPU should be more than satisfactory. I loved my TT as it was, drove it up and down the country with pleasure. Then I went BPU, love the speed but its harder and not so pleasant to use in adverse conditions due to the the way the power kicks in at 4,000rpm. To be honest, for road use a well sorted BPU Supra is MORE than enough! I have never been in a single, so camn't comment but I would assume, as for driving one regularly on the road, I can't help but think a TT/TT BPu is the way to go.

I be t it was fun but I would look aty the 1.35 bar from a reliability aspect as I think that usual BPU mods are only suitable for about 1.2bar.

I will discuss this matter in a day or so when I pay switch companies and pay for the renewal.

No, no written statements. I will have to discuss that further.

I declared, the exhaust, BPU & wheels. They calculated this in the price.

In a word.... NO. If you have a performance car, its best to use a quality tyre. If you have a banger that you just use for getting from A to B, I can appreacite why many would like something cheap & cheerful. However you can get cheap and reasonable for this purpose but you need to know what brands are OK and what brands are just plain poor and IMO, dangerous! We sell Hankooks as budget tyres, never had any customer issues with them and here and there they seem to do OK. However, you will notice a difference in performance between lower end tyres and premium tyres, so you must bear this in mind when driving. Do not expect your car to perform amazingly with regards to tyres if you have budgets fitted. Personally I'd say you can do better. Go for Falken's, they are pretty damn impressive and still at attractive prices. (IIRC Falken are increasing thier prices across the board by 13% this year but you should be able to get then at the older prices). The likes of Falken are very good performers yet only cost a few pounds literally more than a poor budget.

Thats with everything legitimate and as for the value at this stage its just market value but I have declared the car's value at £10,500. Nice to know that from time to time you have to step away from big insurers and change. Its a shame but if they can't appreciate good custom over time then its a kick up the backside for us to shop around and for them to perhaps loose a few customers this way.

Sorry to start ANOTHER insurance thread. However, I just thought I'd inform fellow members about this experience so several hours this afternoon....... Firstly, I am not one for changing to a different insurer every year... I like to find a decent one and stick with them even if they are not the cheapest, I don't mind an exra 20-£50 here and there. My renewal is up in a few days, currently with Tesco, who have served me well and offer respectable cover. I am 30, 9 yrs NCB, SP30 / 3 points. Tesco renewal = £766 (tpf&t) or £980 (f/c). After a lengthy phone call asking them to just do the right thing and give a better price, they offered £680 (tpf&t) and £820 (f/c) respectively for being a loyal customer Tried gocompare.com and only admiral came up cheaper at £561 (fully comp). Got out the yellow pages and car magazines such as EVO, phoned several companies only to get quotes in excess of my exisiting renewal ... ah well, thats life. Phoned Admiral, dsicussed the Gocompare quote and they confirmed all was correct. So I set about giving them a hard time, nit picking the policy and couldn't fault it. Lower excess, full european cover, uninsured driver protection, NCB protection etc all included in £561...... I then tried their multi-car and that, for me, works out well and its actually very easy to put in place at any time and insuring 2 of my cars with them is cheaper than me paying for 2 separate policies as I am currently doing. Doing this brings my Supra down to £398! So after another several years I am now moving to another insurer, it pays to shop around the old fashioned way, use the net as a guide and always deal direct on the phone at the final stage.

Sorry to hear this. I can sympathise with how you feel (happened to me years ago). Hope you have windscreen cover with your insurance. Best of luck getting it sorted.

My bad, I was going on information I knew about from a few years back when some of my family were sorting their trade insurance etc.

IIRC correctly, for a trader to do this, I think the car has to be registered to them in the first instance. If I am correct, then that means your V5 will be in the traders name........ To be honest I doubt this will be an option for you. Looks like you will just have to phone pretty much every insurance company until you find one that will cover you.

Well done. Glad you have got another Supra that's making grin AshBhp of Garage786 is a top, honest and straight forward chap. He now looks after my Supra and also did my BPU conversion. Can't recommend him highly enough.

Congrats on your new car! Nice little write up and glad to hear you are happy with it, certainly looks good on the pictures. Hope you stick around on the Supra forum though!

As mentioned, click the bpu highlight that appears for further info. IIRC what you need in addition to a cat back s/s exhaust; - restrictor ring - uprated intercooler (front mount or side mount) - double de-cat - fuel cut defender - boost controller - uprated fuel pump - colder grade spark plugs - oil change to Silkolene 10w50 is advised Fwiw, I got all of my parts from Paul Whiffin at Garagewhifbitz, one of our resident authorised traders. http://garagewhifbitz.co.uk/index.php?option=com_virtuemart&page=shop.browse&category_id=40&Itemid=53&vmcchk=1&Itemid=53. Whifbitz is alaos your closest port of call for both parts and services. Garage786, an authorised forum Supra specialist did the install along with some repairs and fully tested all the boost valves and sequential system for correct operation. In addition they fully set up my boost controller with the aid of some computer gadets to ensure correct boost and safe boost levels. Many thanks again for repeat, consistent quality work. Costs wise, I'm not sure where people get the idea of £500 from, its more like £1K in reality and even thats modest! FYI, here's what my costs (roughly off the top off my head) looked like; - Whifbitz uprated SMIC £460 - Whifbitz double de-cat £220 - Greddy Fuel Cut Defender £85 - Gizmo boost controller £220 + £150 for on-road set up - NGK grade 7 Iridium spark plugs £60 - 10w50 Silkolene oil service £110 (2 tubs of oil + OE filter) On top of all this..... add some £££ for labour and other things like a restrictor ring and a fuel pump that you will need on a Jspec.

There was 1 UK spec advertised in emerald green not so long ago and I saw 1 import advertised last year. Seen about 2 others and that just in the UK.

now go and buy them anyway, fit them and don't tell us you've done it

yep, good info, not something I have come across before.

My cousin who lives and works in Italy (product manager for Fiat) told me that I would have issues with my Supra's emissions (supporting double-decat) with regards to italian legislation. I think you should just double check that a modified Supra will be ok with regards to any italian legislation and if it is, the options you have of getting round it.

Welcome, I don't think we have any members currently from Italy? Lovely country that I like to visit (Torino and Reggio are the places I usually go). As mentioned, Jurgen our resident trader sources fine Supras and has also supplied many vehicles to forum members both here in the UK and abroad with exceptional consistent feedback. Best of luck with your search.

Glad to hear its not just round my end then as our local roads wre fine -ish just before the worst of the weather and now its clearning I'm seeing ntohign but pot holes that are simply like mini craters

welcome, as Supra owner, the best £10 you can ever spend is paying to be a full member here, as mentioned above, this is the only forum I have ever paid for and £10 is very fair for what you get

congrats on the new car, looks like its in good condition

Yes I went for the; ProPlus, 35W, 6000K option. PROMOTYION CODE TO USE WITH HIDS4U.CO.UK My aunt was so impressed with the HIDS4U kit that we removed a HID kit from her car and installed a new HIDS4U kit was was far superior. When purchasing her kit, we used the promotion code 'toyotagt and got about £23 off the £98 price tag that I paid

I went there as I was having trouble finding a car, they had a nice looking J-spec car come in. Spoke well initially on the phone, when I drove up there, they refused a test drive unless I paid a deposit to buy (despite offering this on the phone - how can you put down a desposit without negotiating a deal first etc), harsh attitude and the car was crap, scuffs all over the place, over priced considering all the work that needed doing + UK conversions, dangerously low engine & auto box oil levels etc. In the end I kept looking on here and eventually after 1 year got a members car.