what did you wrench on today??

[GregT]

Are you allowed and/or recommend something like Water Wetter for a track bike?
I know a track day with a street bike is a different ballgame i was just wondering if you thought distilled water would be good enough.

Water wetter is legal I think. I've always just used tap water. Coolant must be non lubricating - so glycol is out.

I've heard today of a case of burst/frozen pipes in a house in Christchurch - downhill from me - it must be a much colder than usual winter here
as when i grew up in ChCh you never heard of burst pipes that close to sea level.

 

[Joe H]

Not quite ready to claim victory, but, I think the new clutch hub may have finally cured my engine rattle.

I chased a rattle for a long time when I first got my 1150, finally gave up rode it for a few years. Then I rebuilt the motor, the only part inside with any real bad wear was the clutch basket, lose as a goose and the splines on the inner hub were wore bad. Cured the rattle.
I am actually on my second new inner hub now, I had my rockers fail and in the issuing clean up I pulled the clutch basket and the inner was all sloppy again, maybe now that I'm a bit older this one will last.

 

[Joe H]

That's a perky little beast! Nice....

Good use of language! Its perky and Its little! Poor thing probably hates me 290 and 6'-3" ..I will be doing NO touring on this one, just mild flogging. The power bands on these are a hoot you better be hanging on when the tach moves to 6000 rpm and be ready to shift!

Just got done measuring the run out in the outer clutch hub, its at .017. Seems like a lot considering it drives the whole bike.
I have been told .020 to .040 is acceptable , I may still take the hub to the local machinist and see if he can make a new bushing for a tighter fit. The manual says any perceivable movement well .017 is very perceivable.

 

[Grimly]

Replaced the two blown tail / brake bulbs in the XJ and discovered there seems to be a vibe problem common to many XJs that causes tail light bulbs to blow. I suspect it's more prevalent on bikes that spend a lot of time on high-speed routes where the vibe-buzz band is dipped into a lot. The presence of bloody great bar-end weights sort of confirms there must be a slight annoyance from that, sufficient for the factory to have fitted them in the first place.
Done that, then had a look at the under-seat wiring nerve centre - it says a lot for the reliability of this bike that the PO had never had to take apart and clean any of the connections, but it's just as well I did today, as all of them were crusty and would, sooner or later, have caused me a roadside pita moment or hour.
The original toolkit was still there, too. That's unusual on a 23 year old bike.

And just because I like showing it off;

That is very nicely done. I can almost hear and smell it from here.

 

[cowboyup3371]

Added on a lighted license plate frame (turn signals and brake light) that I bought from www.radiantz.com. The wiring is still a bit of a mess as I didn't have enough connectors for the pigtails I had to create; ordered more from Cycle Recycle II and should be able to finish that up by Wednesday.



Video of the testing afterwards; the brake light is not on until I touch the handle yet the taillight is so bright that it looks like it.

 

[GregT]

Greg I'd be very interested in seeing your build! I would like the bike to be a bit of a fire breather. It's snappy but would like it to be quick. I hear the brakes are more then adequate if paired with modern master cylinders and stainless lines. They actually are pretty decent as is... Their design seems to create an odd wear to the pads (a diagonal wear across the pad).

Please shoot me a link or PM.

Thanks for you share!

It's the Yamaha triples.org forum, the thread (a long one...) is XS racebike, by Redman.

 

[edgeofvamp]

So, found a leak in the '85 550's fuel crossover pipe. This is what my dining room table looked like and the new hardware after having to use a pair of vice grips to remove all the stripped screw heads. Hope you guys like the orderly breakdown and the black hardware.

 

[Jedz123]

It's the Yamaha triples.org forum, the thread (a long one...) is XS racebike, by Redman.

I've been doing some research, apparently pretty easy and Cheap(ish) to get the bike into the 900cc realm. Winter project... Maybe, I think the exhaust on the Connie is going to come first...

So, found a leak in the '85 550's fuel crossover pipe. This is what my dining room table looked like and the new hardware after having to use a pair of vice grips to remove all the stripped screw heads. Hope you guys like the orderly breakdown and the black hardware.

These carbs look very much like the carbs on a KZ1300... Didn't know the were found on a GS550...

Did more work on the XS. Changed the rear and center diff oil then detailed the back, swapped the brake pads and painted some of the bits... Looking good!!!

Next step is fork seals, fork oil change, fork boots, front tire and detail clean... She's coming along!

 

[Guest]

Ya it is where the problems will show up quickly, but the lowly middle cylinder gets a bad rap for taking on the problems of the other two. In general a well tuned triple will not show big middle cylinder temp differences but they will when there is a problem. If you own a triple 2 stroke it needs a bit of attention and most guys monitor the cylinder temp periodically or regularly. When there is a rise in any cylinder temp it means theres a problem and all the over jetting and over boring that has been done to the middle cylinder is only a bandaid. I too have been monitoring regularly and can say the difference so far no matter how hard I beat it is about 15 deg. Some guys show well under that. I have been told 50 deg difference is where the concern really starts to get big.

Might be the reason that Suzuki GT's ram air system grabbed more in the center than on the side cylinders.

 

[Joe H]

Ya it is where the problems will show up quickly, but the lowly middle cylinder gets a bad rap for taking on the problems of the other two. In general a well tuned triple will not show big middle cylinder temp differences but they will when there is a problem. If you own a triple 2 stroke it needs a bit of attention and most guys monitor the cylinder temp periodically or regularly. When there is a rise in any cylinder temp it means theres a problem and all the over jetting and over boring that has been done to the middle cylinder is only a bandaid. I too have been monitoring regularly and can say the difference so far no matter how hard I beat it is about 15 deg. Some guys show well under that. I have been told 50 deg difference is where the concern really starts to get big.

Might be the reason that Suzuki GT's ram air system grabbed more in the center than on the side cylinders.

I saw one guy who put scopes like that on the Kawi, I wonder how good it worked.

Anyone ever monitor our 4 cly to see how different they are? I know stock Suzuki had different jets middle left and middle right and you would sync them slightly different on the center two. Does anyone do this with the Dyna jet or Factory pro kits. I know I don't, but I also never did a temp reading?

I am on track to have the temps into the 10 deg range, the closer I get the jetting the better it gets, and its a real pain in the arse to sync and then balance the carbs on the H2, the tinyiest t bit out and there WAY off and you can tell it will idle for crap.
I have been thinking of drilling in some holes on the carbs so I can use my carb sticks. Im still doing it the old fashioned way with idle rpms and drill bits as gauges. The problem is if one cylinder is pulling more than the other it gets tricky, might buy one of these and try it out;
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Redline-Web...EW-/281684328651?_trksid=p2141725.m3641.l6368

 

[steve murdoch]

Spent a couple hours cleaning because my little homemade paint booth didn't work and i got overspray on a couple bikes.
What a maroon.

 

[Ray916MN]

1997 Bimota DB2

Was planning on putting on a set of Dymag CF wheels I ordered 2.5 months ago, Brembo cast iron full floating rotors and 41mm Keihin FCR carbs.

Fortunately before pulling the stock wheels, unfortunately discovered that the front wheel will not fit

Further measuring showed that the hub is about 1" too narrow too.

Carbs got mounted

Unfortunately the stock throttle cables and air filters that were on the bike won't work, so they got ordered.

Ninja 1000 (Z1000SX) in the background of the first pic got new front and rear tires.

 

[sinkankan]

Learnt the hard way, before trying to paint polished aluminium you must etch prime it. Otherwise the paint just peels off as you take the masking tape off. This is a aircraft spinner recycled and cut in half to form up a tail for the BSA, which is having a minor makeover for the Distingushed Gentlemans Ride coming up soon.
The tail piece will have the "chromed" panel showing though the silver paint that's matched to the tank colors. And then a fine
red pinstrip around it.
You can see the silver color on the toolbox on the side, this was matched from some auto touch up paints bought at the local hardware disposals for $2 a can, the spinner came out of my mates hotrod shop, he does metal spinning part time.

 

[steve murdoch]

Ray, there is a guy near me with a DB1.
A gorgeous bike and tiny.
Have you ever weighed your beauty?
Disregard if i have asked this previously.

 

[Grimly]

Molished up a mount for a dimpled alloy suitcase, to match it to the Givi side rack mount. Found the perfect mounting plate material in the form of some engineering plastic from a local stockholder.

The tongue of the Givi bracket pokes through the mount plate and the case, and is secured by a spring snap-ring pin inside. Anybody trying to nick this will have to destroy it to get it off.

The width of the case is perfect - exactly the same as the tip of the bar.

Hammer for scale

Oh, and the 'engineering plastic' found in the kitchen place was a chopping board of 8mm thick HDPE...

One down; one to go, and I might make others up for at least one other bike. For this one, I need to find another dimpled case, as it's very tough construction, whereas the normal mainstream ally cases are composite (ally sheathed plywood) and not all that weatherproof.

 

[Buffalo Bill]

Kinda cool but, with those aluminum cases, you'll look like some kind of repair tech or photographer on a bike.
I like em.
PS: I see no water seal on the edges, better keep your stuff in plastic bags when you use them.

 

[Grimly]

This one is showerproof but there will be nothing important going inside it that can't stand a bit of damp, or at the very least will be in a plastic bag. Its main function is for shopping trips, where the rear box and another box strapped onto the pillion seat normally suffice, but doing that on the XJ left some marks on the seat, so I was spurred into making this pannier up sooner than I had intended to.
By the addition of a second side box and the main rear box, there will be enough carrying capacity for all I need. Of course, the additional benefit is having more of the weight lower down.
I think I've found a matching case for the other side, too.

 

[gordinho80]

Went to do an oil change... drained the pan and then removed the filter. All good until I went to put the drain plug back in. Threads on the pan are stripped!! Should I tap it for a new drain plug or should I buy a replacement pan? Suggestions for where I should get replacement from? New? Used?

 

[Guest]

Went to do an oil change... drained the pan and then removed the filter. All good until I went to put the drain plug back in. Threads on the pan are stripped!! Should I tap it for a new drain plug or should I buy a replacement pan? Suggestions for where I should get replacement from? New? Used?

Pull your oil pan, clean it good ( order a new oil pan gasket) and install ( you can do this or have a trusted dealer or machine shop do it for you) a steel threaded insert into the oil drain hole. Make sure the insert is flush with the bottom of the drain hole on the out side. On the inside of the pan, cut out two small notches in the insert (why? the insert will be slightly taller on the inside) so all the oil can drain out, then go to a NAPA parts store or what ever one you like and find a drain plug to fit and a a copper crush ( get spares) washer. Reinstall the pan and new gasket (no need for any sealant of any type) using the proper torque specs and you'll never have to worry about a stripped drain hole again. No new pan and no more weak threads. This is THE fix for it.

 

[Guest]

Changed the fork oil in my forks and resized my preload spacers, discovered I had cut them a bit short the first time. New Bel Rey 10w fork oil and spacers and we be good now.