FAQ

PLEASE CHECK WITH THIS BEFORE YOU POST A QUERY

This site attempts to save Ixion getting repepepetitititititive. It's a compilation of intelligent(?) answers to frequently asked questions (FAQs) and also contains some other useful nuggets of wisdom.

This site is currently undergoing a revision, and some of the links haven't been updated to their new pages yet.
Check each page individually. (Some are more up to date than others)

Other Ixion FAQs

You may also be interested in the Security FAQ lovingly maintained by Alan Frame
or
Mike Fleming's Huge List of Bike Breakers

Contents

  1. What's Ixion?
  2. Who's Ogri?
  3. Can I search the Ixion archive?
  4. What kind of stuff should I e-mail?
  5. What is the DoD?
  6. What kind of movies should I watch?
  7. What other biking archives and mailing lists are there?
  8. What are all these spoddy three-letter acronyms that I keep seeing?  **Warning - Contains the odd sweary word**
  9. How can I make an Ixion Logo?
  10. How can I let someone know about my event or find out about an event I heard about on Ixion?

Riding Bikes

  1. Are earplugs worth it?
  2. What kind of bike should I get?
  3. What kind of intercoms should I get?
  4. Where can I hire bikes?
  5. Can anyone recommend a decent insurance co.?
  6. How do I deal with steamy visors?
  7. What's this about patch clubs/MC/MCC?
  8. Are the Hell's Angels a misunderstood minority and really quite nice after all?
  9. What's countersteering?
  10. Aren't motorcycles dangerous?
  11. Are power limits A Good Thing?
  12. How do you ride in heavy gusts?
  13. How do I stop the sun getting in my eyes?
  14. How should I pass horses?
  15. How do you do an emergency stop for the bike test?
  16. Does stopping distance increase with a pillion?
  17. How are you supposed to filter?
  18. How are you supposed to filter on the motorway?
  19. How can I corner like a real hero?
  20. How can I overtake like a real hero?
  21. How can I ride safely in London?
  22. How can I avoid running pedestrians over?
  23. How can I keep my hands warm in ultra-cold weather?
  24. How do I join MAG/BMF etc?
  25. How do I spot an ex-racer?
  26. Trackdays. A Good Thing(tm) or not?
  27. How can I prevent my gear being stolen at Rallies?
  28. How do I do low speed "Full Lock" turns?
  29. What should I do in the event of a crash?
  30. A fat IAM observer muses on riding Systems.

Technical Stuff

  1. What's all this 10W-40, SG stuff about oil?
  2. Is it OK to use cheap oil?
  3. Do I need to set the gap on my new sparkplugs?
  4. How can I tell a drive chain is knackered?
  5. How do I sort out a sheared bolt?
  6. Are Scotoilers really that wonderful?
  7. How should I warm up my engine?
  8. How do I sort out a dented tank?
  9. How do I deal with pitted forks?
  10. How do I keep my bike clean?
  11. How do I tackle chains and sprockets?
  12. What's the difference between o-ring and normal chains?
  13. What sort of tools should I go for?
  14. Is that magic additive which prolongs battery life A Good Thing?
  15. How do I put new piston rings on two-strokes?
  16. Any tips for truing spokes?
  17. How do I get my new handlebar grips on?
  18. How do I go about cleaning air-filters?
  19. How do I sort out binding brakes?
  20. What's a good way of oiling my cables?
  21. How do I sort out damaged plastic?
  22. I think my coils are kaput. What's gone wrong?
  23. I've spent lots of money on an electronic ignition. How do I set up the timing?
  24. How can I tell if more powerful lights on my bike will fry my wiring?
  25. How can I tell my starter motor rather than my battery is duff?
  26. Any advice/do's/don'ts on removing old bearings, fitting new ones?
  27. My Suzuki regulator/rectifier unit has fried itself. How do I fix it?
  28. How do wet clutches work?
  29. How do I fault find my electrics?
  30. What is likely to be the cause of a bike not revving out?

Bike Clothes

See Gordon Brown's Great Ixion Product Test for a selection of reviews voluntarily submitted by Ixies. 

  1. What kind of boots should I get?
  2. What sort of motorcycle clothing is there?
  3. How do I treat leathers?
  4. What kind of gloves do you recommend?
  5. What kind of waterproofs are worth it?
  6. What kind of armour is there?
  7. What about Kevlar® instead of leather?
  8. How can I get scratches out of my visor?