Hmmm, mixed bag of responses there. I’m going to assume then that at a component level the new Forza is likely to be ok. As regards fuel going off, I commute most days on the bike so can generally burn through a tank of fuel in a fortnight, so should be okay.
Maybe I need to make sure my last tankful before I lay her up for winter is not E10, although it looks like that may be all that’s available?
Thanks everyone for your advice.

You can still get E5 in the "super" type fuels. Expensive but not too much for the amount you'd put in a bike.

btw all Yamaha PTWs built after 1991 are supposed to be compatible with E10 fuel.

StephenC wrote: Thu Sep 02, 2021 3:18 pm You can still get E5 in the "super" type fuels. Expensive but not too much for the amount you'd put in a bike.

Though labelled on pump as E5 super unleaded does not need to contain any ethanol .
Most do have 5% still .
But Esso is one of the ethanol free super unleaded at the moment

Waldorf wrote: Wed Jul 21, 2021 8:16 pm Thanks, Steve.

It's all to do with allocations; I remeber JT talking about it many years ago.

I guess that if one dealer passes a new bike on to another, it counts as a sale. No doubt they help one another.

Paul reckons Honda have miscalculated as far as popularity of the 350 goes.

He has also sent an e-mail direct to Honda to find out what the score is.

Any news yet Mike…..i was at my Honda dealer yesterday,my Honda heated grips have arrived so the scoot is booked in for the fitting.The dealer is still struggling to get bikes delivered,any model with a DCT seems to be a problem at the moment which he thinks is due to a component shortage,Forza 350’s are giving him a headache to source and he has even sold his demo to satisfy a customer,someone ordered a 750 Forza the same time as me(May)but wanted the blue colour,they are still waiting.

Steve

No, Steve, but I'm in good contact with my dealer and am assured it'll be here in October.
I know he is as anxious to get some 350s as are the customers on the list.
I guess much of the delay is to do with the upset caused by the pandemic; so many empty containers are in the wrong place and you'll know more than I how much the shortage of HGV drivers is affecting this kind of business.
Pleased to hear your grips are in. Does that complete the package?

Stephen wrote: Sun Sep 05, 2021 9:15 am ... any model with a DCT seems to be a problem at the moment which he thinks is due to a component shortage

Steve

Due to the global chip shortage, perhaps? (with Covid and Brexit as well!)

This is about the car side of the business but probably the same for bikes:
https://www.reuters.com/business/autos- ... 021-05-14/

Seiji Kuraishi, Honda's executive vice president, said 100,000 vehicles were affected last year by the chip shortage, and its impact will continue in the first half of the year. "We currently expect all those loss effects on production will be traded off in the end of the year," he said at an online earnings briefing.
Honda, like its global peers, has been struggling to ramp up car production due to the chip shortage, exacerbated by a fire at Renesas Electronic Corp's (6723.T) chip plant in Japan and blackouts in Texas where a number of chipmakers have factories.

Took a drive up to Newcastle Motorcycles this morning specifically to see if the RAM ball I have with the M6 thread will screw into the threaded hole under the cover in the centre of the handlebars.
It does!
At the suggestion of Paul, I'll go up again in a few days time with ball, various RAM arms and my satnav and mount to try it all out.

This is the ball:

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/RAM-1-Tough- ... wNEALw_wcB

Just come across review by the lofty biker a brummie living in Cornwall. He's 6ft 5 so does critise a few things but overall likes it .Quite a way into video he does say has a j300 so used to scooters as well as bikes .It's some blue tooth attachment keeps catching his knee on .

Regarding the RAM ball Mike, will you permanently remove the handle bar cover? Does it just pop off?