Simon Davey

Nice result @Gerontious

Good that you know some eskimo proverbs, they'll probably be useful come 1st week of September. 

No technical expertise needed, that's not good at all.

I don't know why, but I just watched that over and over again, quite hypnotic...

Good luck @Gerontious

1 hour ago, peepae said:

Service  done at BMW dealer - they did a further check

 

- Front brake pads need replacing 

- Headraces very notchy so also need replacing

 

Will go to the local for that as they are wanting to charge me 192 to replace front brake pads and 300 for the headraces.

Jeeeeeezus, that's disgusting, so much for me thinking you took it to the right place. 

Pads take 5 minutes to replace, but admittedly, headrace bearings are a bit of a job.

When you take it to the local, don't ask him to do it, but ask him for his opinion.

Good morning

No need to physically separate, just slide those wires from the terminals. 

Good afternoon

Once you have your voltmeter, I'm pretty sure you want about 27v from the charger, whilst it charges.

12v is the discharged voltage of a battery, you're looking for as near to 13v as possible, or slightly higher when charged.

Assuming you have an "intelligent" bike charger, could you separate them and use it to sort them out?

46 minutes ago, peepae said:

Good morning - dropped the bmw off at the dealership today

 

Didn't have a year on the A license so couldn't get a loaner bike 

The right place to take it, me thinks. 

3 hours ago, Gerontious said:

Not really the weekend as my life is upside down and back to front. It’s almost 3am and I’ve 4 more hours to plough through with a badly hallucinating paranoid schizophrenic. (What a way to make a living!!) he’s currently in bed and I’m spending the night in his room with him as he tries to rest. He’s only attacked me once tonight. I let my guard down for a second and “Boom” got away with just a bit of a graze on my leg. Ho (bloody) hum.

so my “weekend” starts tomorrow. Or today!! And I’ve got to sort bike insurance so I can legally ride (for the fist time in months) to get a new MOT on Wednesday. So looking forward to it as well as not being back here again until 10pm Saturday!!

Best quote is Bennett’s so, probably a lot of time spent on the phone trying to beat that and also get the “extras” I need. Been a while since I’ve done this particular runaround. The things we do.

 

The things we do.

Good luck with getting back on the road, what a feeling that'll be! 

Good morning

37 minutes ago, peepae said:

Nothing to the bike… but I made a slight upgrade to my newly rented council garage - needs 8 more of these sheets but I think it looks good.

 

anyone has any other tips besides more security? This place is pretty filled with insects and spider webs.

I does look good, and more comfortable to kneel on than concrete. 

1 hour ago, KiwiBob said:

 

I'm not sure how I could get a large diameter spring inside a spring with a smaller diameter!

 

They look like these but the inner spring I have is about 5/10mm shorter than the outer.

 

Lol. 

I thought you meant inner spring was inside /underneath the stand , and the outer was outside/to the side? 

Stronger spring to assist pulling the bike up, and the other spring to keep the stand retracted under the bike when not in use? 

I don't understand why you would have one spring inside the other. 

I follow Kimono racing on YouTube (they're awesome) and this is how they do it...

22 minutes ago, KiwiBob said:

Fitted a centre stand but I'm really struggling to get one of the springs(inner) on as it seems much shorter than the outer spring!

Is that outer spring supposed to be the inner spring?

No insult intended, but just a thought....

1 hour ago, Tiggie said:

 

I never even thought/realised that! Makes sense.

Can you tell my missus that I made sense. 

I think their design is to allow emergency vehicles through without bouncing the  vehicles.

No excuse for not marking them though.

Write to the local council saying how dangerous they are when not visible, they can't/shouldn't ignore danger, they'll want to cover their backsides.

1 hour ago, Fozzie said:

It's a sealed system, so it sounds like it's getting out somewhere, but very slowly. 

A torn main seal letting small amounts of fluid by could possibly be obscured by a good dust seal, so you wouldn't see an obvious leak. The pistons get hot with use, which combined with the air flow at speed, might be enough to boil off any that builds up and gets by the dust seal. 

Although a leak does seem obvious, when I pump the brakes, then cable tie the lever over night, it doesn't lose pressure, which it would if there were a leak.

Before I do anything drastic, I'm going to clamp the opposite line to one that I'm bleeding.

Both lines come from a "T" above the mudguard, so clamping one may help.

I know you can buy the plastic clamps that don't damage the hose, but a chap showed me that you could put two small socket on a pair of mole grips so it clamps, but very kindly.

29 minutes ago, Fozzie said:

Is it getting to a good pressure, and then losing it over time? That sounds like a leak. Just to double check you got your banjos snug (about 25nm is usually all they take), and have a copper washer either side of the banjo fitting (Bolt-Washer-Banjo-Washer)? I've dropped the lower washer without noticing in the past. If it stays spongey the whole time, with a long travel on the lever, then it sounds like air in the system. 

Clean the whole assembly down with brake cleaner, and dry it off, inspect for leaks and then pump the brake lever a dozen times. Leave it and then come back an hour later to look for any wet points where the brake fluid might be escaping to check for leaks/air getting into the system.

 

Another tip is if there's no leaks, leave the brake reservoir cap off, with the brake level tied on. Leave it for several hours. As the reservoir is the highest point, trapped air bubbles through the open valve. I often give the calipers several taps with a hammer, and move the brake lines about to encourage any air bubbles to rise up to the reservoir. 

 

I did my brakes on the SV this weekend, and it took 250ml of brake fluid front and back to be fully bled through. I used a one way valve with the pipe fed into a glass jar. They generally work ok with a method of 4-5 pumps of the lever and holding on the last pull, crack the bleed nipple for 1 second, close nipple, release the lever, repeat. I have a vacuum tool but it's shoddy ebay quality. You have to spend some money to get something good, the best being compressor driven.

Cheers @Fozzie

Yes, tried all the above, I'm not actually losing fluid, although it would be difficult to tell as it would be a tiny amount. 

Reason for the caliper rebuild was poor braking, and having to top up twice in 400 miles. 

I've tried the cable tie trick a few times, it works well, but the pressure ebbs away quite quickly. 

I'm going to pull the calipers off to check for leaks around the piston seals, as all the banjos are dry, but I'll leave the brake lines conected. Whilst doing that, I'm going wind the calipers back and open the bleed valve, as there could be air trapped behind the pistons. 

Thanks for the help. 

Good morning

There's no shame in learning. 

We'll just take the piss. 

40 minutes to the hospital from home, had a great ride there and back. 

Slapped on the vintage panniers so I didn't have to drag my clobber to my appointment. 

Totally surprised, and really rather chuffed that the radiographer was concerned that I had a crash helmet, but no jacket, she was delighted I'd stashed it in a pannier and wasn't without protection. 

Free bike parking, under cover in the shade, delightfully civilised. 

That's not my oil leak! 

Looks like a great day out @geofferz

I hope there were a couple of Mk3 Cortina's. 

4 hours ago, peepae said:

My cardo can never  pick up my commands due to the amount of wind noise I think.. does it also work on dual carriageways/motorways for you?

Yes, I have no problem at all. 

Have you got the sponge thingy on the mic? 

No bleed nipple, but I did open the master cylinder banjo to let a little through. 

It turns out I do actually have a local workshop in Haverhill, I had no Idea there was one so close, until I just had a bike chat with a guy at Sainsbury's. 

I'm going to get it in there, I think my front wheel bearing has gone, there's an awful non-engine noise.