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Sir: The Prime Minister's ill ease while meeting the Taoiseach in Dublin was not entirely unprecedented in 800 years as Fintan O'Toole suggested (Letter from Dublin, 14 September). In 1940 [...]

SAVAGE LEAK Q: MY WIFE HAS A 2001 SUZUKI 650 SAVAGE WITH 6,500 MILES. JUST PRIOR TO THE 4,000-MILE SERVICE IT DEVELOPED A SMALL LEAK AROUND ONE OF THE CYLINDER [...]

Q: I recently got back into motorcycling after a 13-year absence. The '83 Suzuki GS650L with 16,000 miles on it that I picked up is perfect for my two-hour loops [...]

Q: The petcock on my 2003 Honda Spirit 750 keeps shifting from the on to off position while I'm riding. Because of the close proximity of the petcock to the [...]

Q: I purchased a Yamaha Road Star new in July of '99. A fairly loud noise comes from the lower rear of the bike whenever I hit a bump or [...]

Q: In the past you have written about the backfiring problem sometimes found in mid '90s 1500 Kawasaki V-twins. Would just blocking the vacuum line to the air pump with [...]

I would guess that when most people think of southern Arizona in the wintertime, they think of 18 holes of golf while dressed in shorts. Well, not where I ride. [...]

Q: Two years ago I purchased a 1992 750 Kawasaki. Since then I have had to replace the alternator twice due to it shorting to ground internally and burning up. [...]

Q I have a 1987 Honda CBR1000F Hurricane with 24,000 miles on it. The engine pulls harder at 90 percent open throttle than it does at wide open throttle. From [...]

Boxer Cats Q As an avid follower of your column, I noted the Surging Beemer Q&A (November 2000) about adding the potentiometer and removing or installing the cat-code plug in [...]

Q My 1986 Kawasaki Voyager XII developed a fairly serious oil leak at 35,000 miles. It appears to be coming from behind the water pump. This is the first problem [...]

Red Toolboxes It's always a pleasant experience for me to drop in on the Valley of the Kings. No, I'm not talking about that trackless desert in Egypt, but rather [...]

By no means is this book a definitive work on the history of Honda Gold Wings--its skimpy 70 pages guarantee that. What author Darwin Holmstrom has done with Honda Gold [...]

Q I recently changed the coolant in my 1986 BMW K75, which has 54,000 miles on it. After draining all of the fluid into a container, I noticed that there [...]

Q I have a 1999 Honda VTR1000 with 4,500 fun-filled miles on the clock. Thc bike has always run perfectly until I subjected it to some very hard practice stops [...]

Q: Well, talk about dumb. Today as I started out from my parking spot on my 2000 Suzuki Bandit 1200 I came to an abrupt stop. I forgot to remove [...]

Q: I've been a Harley rider for more than 30 years, but until about a year ago, I had never run a Mikuni carburetor on my bike. If the past [...]

Q: I recently purchased a 2000 BMW R1100RT with 57,000 miles from a BMW dealer who assured me that its service department goes over used bikes before they go out [...]

Q: I have a 2002 BMW R1150R with ABS. This is my second fuel-injected BMW, and I appreciate that the system has both benefits and burdens. It seems like throttle [...]

Q: I own a '98 Honda GL1500 Gold Wing that I bought two years ago with 180 miles on it. Yes, that's correct, 180 miles. It was owned by an [...]

Q: I HAVE A 2002 HONDA 750 SHADOW ACE (TWO-INTO-ONE EXHAUST) THAT'S BACKFIRING ON DECELERATION. I HAVE HEARD THAT THE SHADOW 750s WITH THE STAGGERED DUAL EXHAUST (LIKE THE SPIRIT) [...]

COBRA STREAK Q: I HAVE A 2002 KAWASAKI MEAN STREAK, AND I'M THINKING OF BUYING A COBRA FI2000 DIGITAL FUEL PROCESSOR FOR IT. I WOULD LIKE TO KNOW YOUR OPINION [...]

Q: I have a 2000 Honda Shadow Sabre with about 15,500 miles on it. During the last couple of weeks, the engine has been making some odd noises when it's [...]

Q: I HAVE A 1998 HARLEY-DAVIDSON ROAD GLIDE. THE ORIGINAL BATTERY DIED A SUDDEN DEATH AFTER ABOUT THREE YEARS OR SO. THERE WAS NO WARNING OF ANY KIND. WHEN I [...]

BACKFIRING SABRE Q: MY ONLY COMPLAINT WITH MY 2003 HONDA SABRE 1100 V-TWIN IS BACKFIRING THROUGH THE CARBURETORS WHEN BLIPPING THE THROTTLE FOR A DOWNSHIFT. IT ONLY HAPPENS OCCASIONALLY, BUT [...]

Q: IS THERE ANY HARM IN SKIPPING THE CHAIN-LUBING PART OF REGULAR MAINTENANCE ON MY DUAL-SPORT? IT SEEMS LIKE RIDING OFF-ROAD, OIL WOULD JUST ATTRACT DIRT AND PROMOTE WEAR. AFTER [...]

Q: It's time for an oil and filter change on my BMW R1100RT. A Valvoline VO-25 filter appears to be a direct replacement for the BMW unit. Will switching to [...]

Q: I sold a 1981 Yamaha 650 Midnight Maxim to a friend who is now having a problem finding parts for it. He says the alternator is bad and none [...]

Q: I have a '99 Honda 1100 Shadow Spirit. Bought it from a kid who lost interest in it. It was stored well, and when I got it, I did [...]

Q: I bought a Honda VTX1800 Retro last July. I wanted to have aftermarket pipes put on it but the only ones available for the Retro at that time were [...]

Q: I have a 1996 Triumph 900 Adventurer with a K&N air filter and DynoJet kit. It also has the factory 'off-road' mufflers. The problem is that under severe braking, [...]

Q: I have a problem with my 2002 Harley-Davidson FXST. I know you can't be here to listen to it, but the rear brake makes a moaning sound when the [...]

Q: I recently bought a new Yamaha FZ-1. When I took the bike to the dealer for its 600-mile service, they changed the oil. I am going to change the [...]

Q: I ride a 2001 Harley-Davidson FXD Super Glide equipped with factory-original Dunlop tires. When I purchased the bike, I had the stock rims replaced with H-D custom wheels. After [...]

Q: It's a beautiful, cool evening here in Colorado Springs. I just came off a 'Cruise the Avenue' ride with my wife on our BMW K1200LT, and I am S000 [...]

Q: I purchased a new 2002 Honda GL1800 Gold Wing three months ago. I only have about 1,500 miles on it, but have noticed a very strange problem. Sometimes after [...]

Q: I have a 1997 Honda Shadow Spirit 1100 that I purchased used with 2,132 miles on it. After the second oil change (about 6,000 miles), it developed a noise [...]

Q: Have you ever replaced the transmission shift forks in a Honda GL1500 Gold Wing? It is quite a job. Any suggestions? Ray Carter Shreveport, Louisiana A: After working on [...]

The one-piece Aerostich Roadcrafter suit--a 'Stich to those who fancy the versatile but expensive garment--is a marvel of ingenuity, convenience and protection. Constructed of 500-denier Cordura nylon with a multilayer [...]

Q: I have a fuel-injected 2000 Kawasaki 1500 Nomad with about 20,000 miles on it. It has developed a rattle under load that my Kawasaki dealer says is probably piston [...]

Q: A friend and I both own 1982 Honda 1100 Gold Wings, and we're having the same problem with their turn signals. They won't turn on when you first start [...]

Q: I have a 1990 Kawasaki Ninja ZX-10 with about 24,000 miles on it. The bike overheats every time I ride in town or let it idle more than 15-20 [...]

I recently acquired a 1981 Honda CB900 Custom with 25,000 miles on the clock. The bike runs and rides great, but needs some TLC. It has a knock at idle [...]

Q I am replacing the carburetor float-bowl seals on a 1984 Kawasaki ZN700 and would like to know what I can use for an adhesive to make the round rubber [...]

Q I have a 1986 Harley-Davidson Tour Glide Classic with factory sidecar which I have owned since it was new. It has always had a history of breaking clutch release [...]

In the May 7 'Good news' column, you applaud the Conservatives' plan to revamp Employment Insurance benefits, forcing workers to apply for jobs otherwise going to temporary foreign workers ('Nice [...]

Sir: Mary Wakefield ('Who cares about abortion?', 10 September) bravely argues that Britain needs a rational and reasoned debate about our abortion laws. Since 1967 there have been seven million [...]

Sir: Matthew Parris has decided to sing yet another chorus of the same sad atheistical song (Another Voice, 23 July). What is the basis of his comment that 'religion often [...]

From Virginia Price Evans Sir: It is interesting how people reveal their prejudices by the words they use. So, to A.N. Wilson ('Holy Sage', 18/25 December) those who oppose homosexuals [...]

Q: I have a 2003 fuel-injected Harley-Davidson Road King that to me runs so badly I'm thinking of getting rid of it. At city speeds, it bucks and jerks so [...]