Hi from the UK as well

[foxxy]

Hi everybody I am from the UK (Beds) am 47 yrs old and started riding at 17 . I have always had a bike of some description (ie no time out) and even had a spell for a couple of years where I had 3 at once ( though wife/kids put a stop to that little jaunt ! ). I have been reading the English setion for a short while now trying to pick up some tips as I was considering getting a Bulldog. Well I picked it up yesterday and was grinning all the way home

I have a couple of questions but will post them later once I have worked out which section to ask them in

Bye for now just got to nip out to admire her again ! er I mean the wife of course ( phew do you think she noticed ) Foxxy.

[BiteMe]

Hello Foxxy

Wellcome in the forum ..... have fun with your new bike.

Greatings from Austria
Georg

[Dry Floey]

WELCOME ON THE BOARD

and......... you will find answers for every question... whatever you seek.

if there is something open.... ask??
.... ` the famous people here, will help you....


greetings......... Ulli

[Blubber]

Hi Foxxy,

welcome here at the very best motobikeforum in the world.

That grinning will come back every time you start the wonderful V2 from your Bulldog.
Always have a safe ride and hopefully we meet you at one of the international meetings.

Blubber

[hotdog]

Hello Foxxy,

Welcome in the forum.

Greatings from Holland.

[Axman]

Hello there, Foxxy..

Welcome to the best- and only - Bulldog-forum.
There should be quite a few Bulldog-riders in the UK..and even here in the forum..although..now thinking about it...we haven´t heard of them for quite some time...

Anyway, should you have any technical questions...fire away... there are several modifications that let the Bulldog live up to its full potential..engine- and suspension-wise..

Hope to hear from you soon (and it really doesn´t matter, where you place your questions..)

greets

Axman

[Paolo]

Hello Foxxy,

welcome here to the forum.

You have made all right when you bought a bulldog. I think it is an excellent bike.
Wish you a good and accidentfree season 2010.
I hope we meet us at one of the international meetings in the next years.

Grettings, Paolo

[spark76x]

Welcome to the Unite.

[foxxy]

Hi and thankyou all for your kind welcome.
Out of interest how many UK owners has this forum come across ?
Thanks again and I look forward to chatting with you.
Foxxy.

[WullDee]

Hi there
.. and a very warm welcome from Lower Saxony.

Out of interest how many UK owners has this forum come across ?

I'll bet on at least two UK Bulldog owners (Mr John "John_W" Westlake and "QuickMick" (Mick_P)).
They are every years guest at the "Int'l Bulldog Meeting", in 2010 held in the Germany (Eifel area). Maybe you like to join them on their journey this year.
Looking forward to seeing you in Monschau ...

[foxxy]

Hi. I won't be able to make the Int rally this year but maybe for the future.

I have ordered and got some parts for my Bulldog, SW motech centrestand, Givi rack, fenda extender, tank pad etc so now I can start fitting them .
I am thinking of getting some crash bars, I spoke to Yamaha UK and unfortunately it would seem Yamaha have deleted a fair few of the official addons including the crash bars. Hepco and Becker seem to be the only make I can find that list some. What are your views on these please ?
I thought about crash mushrooms but it looks to me that where you could mount them is so high up I 'm not sure they would protect the engine much ?

Whilst talking to Yamaha UKs tech dept he brought the subject up of power upgrade kits, as in Jack Allens and the Topham kits etc. He reckoned these spoilt the power delivery and charcter of the bike, I am not sure how having more torque is going to spoilt it !?
You guys seem to rate them so I am somewhat bemused as to why he would say this as the Bulldog has been deleted form Yamaha s UK range so I don't see what difference it would make to them ?

I am thinking of some oval stainless steel exhaust cans with removeable baffles in a bit (2-3 months)
more so for some better noise but any extra power/torque is welcome
Then possibly 6-12 months down the line maybe I will think about a carb/airbox top upgrade kit.
Will having just the different exhaust cans make any difference power wise or will it be just a fruitier noise I will get ?

Not that I need one but what do you guys and girls do re rear shock absorbers as I haven't as yet found an aftermarket one ?
New Yamaha original or rebuild I guess ?

Regards Foxxy.

[ronald53]

Hello Foxxy,

Welcome to the Forum. Both my son and I have GSG crashpads: http://www.gsg-mototechnik.de/.
I have Laser Duotech cans. They can be fitted with the legal inserts (dB killers), the sport inserts, or with no inserts (open exhaust). I have tried them in all three versions, I like the sport inserts best, they give me sufficient noise. I have the carb stoppers and AIS removed, TDM 850 airbox and K&F filter. Main jets are 132 (Dynojet).

regards,
Ronald

[moppedwolf]

Hi foxxy,
welcome at BOC.

In my opinion, we don't need crashbars.
we had some several crash here of members
but never after the slidderings problems with the engine, almost some scratches, but not real problems.
In 2009 I had a lowsider and a highsider crash, my crashpads should protect my fuel tank, but that doesnt work good.
Okay, it was close but bented so we have to repair the fueltank at both crashes.

Crashbars seem to protect the motor, but when you sliddering the tar the only real good stuff for me was the 10mm "sandro-stopfen" which protect the alternator cover on the left.
http://www.bulldog-bt1100.de/xtcommerce ... ducts_id=7

bye
Wolf

[foxxy]

Thankyou for your replies.
The Laser duotechs look nice but a bit pricey over here.
I am thinking either Scorpions or Fuel cans .

Further reading it would seem the carbs have some kind of restrictors in them.
I guess you guys have talked about this, please could someone direct me to a post about them.
This is probably a daft question but if i find these restrictors and remove them do you have to rejet as well?
I guess this allows the slides to rise further , does this equate to more bhp? (if I don't rejet that is )
sorry If I am being dense here, as my son would call it I have brain fog at the moment .

Foxxy.

[Axman]

Hello Foxxy,

now I read all your questions and have time to answer them :

- about the crashbars : they look ugly and don´t "work" properly in case of a crash. Nearly all of us here have fitted their bikes with crashpads. With them you avoid the very costly dents in the fuel tank, should your bike fall over.. The best ones, by the way, are made by a member here ("Eddie".. just send him a PN) he even fits them with a cushioning insert do avoid damage to the frame.
If you want to avoid scatches to the cases you should fit the engine with the so called "Sandro-Deckel". It replaces the small plastic/chrome-cover on the left side of the engine, is made of aluminum, looks good too and resists even longer slides on the left side (just ask "Moppedwolf"..he tested it the hard way ) You can get it from the "Admin"!

- now to the engine upgrades :first you should replace the airbox-cover with one that flows more air...you can use one from the TDM or the aluminum-one included in the "Topham-Kit" (look at my Album) K&N Airfilters are sometimes recommended but in the Bulldog they have no advantage at all! The standard filter will do fine! The carbs have small plastic inserts in their covers that prevent the slides from being pulled up all the way. They are just clipped into the cover and can be removed by hand. By doing this you increase airflow to the engine which means - as you already noticed - that you would have to rejet the carbs...that´s not a big thing, but you should know what you are doing You get the best performance with jet-size 132 (included in the Topham-Kit or you can get them directly from Mikuni-UK) the needle-clip shoud be put in the second or third groove from the top. (a tip : when removing the float-bowl use a new screwdriver and be careful not to strip the small screws...replace them if possible with better-quality ones) When reinstalling the carbs be careful not to damage the rubber-ducts and to make sure, that the cable of the carb-heating ist properly connected...if not, you´ll have starting problems.

After putting everything together again, synchronise the carbs and adjust the CO-s c r e w so, that you have 4,5%CO +/- 0,5% with disconnected AIS !! Make sure that CO is measured at the proper point at the manifolds and not at the back of the silencers!! (again look at my album) And, very important, adjust your idle to 1.100 +/- 50 rpm not less!
All this applies to pre-05 models without catalysts.

The benefits of all this is an increase of around 7hp but better still and much more important an increase in torque to over 100Nm The engine runs much smoother too and the vibrations between 3.000 und 4.000 rpm are nearly eliminated

And better still : these improvements do not in any way interfere with the Bulldogs reliability and near bulletproof-ness. (Tell the guys at Yamaha-UK to stop b u l l s h i t t i n g you...sorry) My bike, model 02, modified at "Krauses" in Dortmund right off the bat, has now 59.000k´s on the clock and has never needed a valve-adjustment yet!! I inspect it every 10.000k´s but up to now...nothing! And don´t believe that i carry or push my bike around...when visiting my daughter in Hamburg - 400 k´s from here - I´ve already had the Bulldog on the Autobahn at full tilt - touching the rev-limiter in fifth - for two hours without letting off. I know it wasn´t made for that.. ..but I just wanted to find out, what it would do. I only let go of the throttle at a gas-station and guess what...it ticked over just like that..

- about the suspension : what the Bulldog really needs most of all are better fork-springs! The standard ones are way too soft and can cause serious damage to the front exhaust header, the whole bike and you when it touches or rather crashes into the ground in right-handers The best way to avoid this ist to slip in a pair of "Wilbers" progressive wound springs ( http://www.wilbers.de" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; ) with their 10 weight suspension fluid. And if you want to top it all off, slip in their adjustable rear shock, specially made for the Bulldog. This really gives you an unparalleled ride quality..and no, I´m not employed by them and I don´t get any comission
Last but not least : one of the best tyres for the Bulldog ist the Michelin PilotRoad2 Sticks like glue even in the wet and is good for nearly 10.000k´s

Should you still have any questions...fell free to ask

greets

Axman