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Rik398

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Everything posted by Rik398

  1. Thanks FastBob, At this point, I am half considering just taking it to a garage and saying "sort it". May cost but then at least it is done and I can sip coffee while waiting. Moved from somewhere with a garage to somewhere without recently (big mistake!) think I am done with standing in a driveway in the rain trying to sort stuff out (it was dry when I bled the system, no water!) At least with stuff like chain and sprockets its on and done, but this could turn into a bottomless pit of testing. Will give it a crack on the weekend but after that, I shall have to succumb. Saved enough other the years to give a garage a shot! Will report back should anything odd be the cause. May save some people some pain.
  2. Was considering that as a possibility. The pistons could be pushing in ok because of the angle of the seal, but then be being retracted to much because of a tight fit caused by some dirt. Looked fairly clean at the point of doing it, but pulling the pistons shouldn't be too tricky now as they move a lot easier so no harm in a double check. Before that though, I was thinking of putting a square bit of wood in there and seeing if problem persists. If it stops, then it would point to some oddly worn pads which may knock pistons back unevenly. Don't look bad enough to do that at first glance though.
  3. Thanks for the replies. Hoping it is not air, as the garage charged 60 quid to bleed the system and swore blind there was no air in there. I did think it was air when I originally took it to them. Will get some more fluid and maybe crack the banjo at the master cylinder. I don't believe it to be in the calipers or lines, partly due to the pure volume of fluid I put though and did the tie break lever down, tapping lines, calipers off the bike etc. Pads are the ones that were in there before the rebuild, just possibly in different caliper / position than they were when they were taken out. Seals are OEM suzuki from Fowlers. Seal kit included the one that links the caliper halves.
  4. Morning All, After rebuilding my front calipers, I now have a odd lever feel. The seals are square for this particular bike and fit in an angled groove, so they are installed right. There is no air in the system, which was my initial concern, as the local bike shop bled the system for me to confirm. And the master cylinder feels right, as in the lever doesn't sink to the bar. The pistons move freely, moving forward and back, and will push in happily by hand. I cant see that there are any fluid leaks anywhere while applying pressure. What is happening, is the first pull of the lever has much more travel than the second. The brakes are strong and working, its just that the first pull has more travel. The garage have speculated that, if the pads have gone back in the calipers in a different configuration to what they were before, then because the pads are not mated to the surface of the disk, they will sit further out until they are bedded in, and that is why the lever travels more on the first pull, because it is moving the piston more, and on the second pull, the piston hasn't had chance to move back, so less travel. At the moment, to me, that explanation sort of makes sense and i am happy to do a few miles to bed pads in (brakes are operable). However, if this is not the case, what else could this be? Anything else likely to cause excessive piston retraction or the above lever symptoms?
  5. Rik398

    Fork Seals

    Thanks for replies, I did consider the bushings and probably should have just done them (not massively expensive it seems) but bike only has 20k on it and I am fairly sure the seals just went because the dust covers went dodgy and it gets ridden fairly regardless of weather in all the lanes and stuff so does get filthy. So fork oil leak is more or less an all or nothing approach then. If its not everywhere, then your fine? Just paranoid as there is no before or after shot in my head like there usually would be!
  6. Congrats on the advance. I would recommend the blood bikes, you can try it and see as most groups want you to do a bit of volunteering before riding, and often they have stands at bike nights and car shows and things which can be a cool way to spend the day. Other times it's just holding a bucket at a supermarket but surprisingly fun as most people involved seem fairly sound. Yeah hopefully I can use my own bike and be covered by my own insurance in the interim. I do think having a minimum age of 30 is a little harsh, they're are a few people I know who are interested but probably won't get involved now which is a shame. But then I works day that as in our group it only affects me!
  7. Rik398

    Fork Seals

    Hi folks, So, put the bike in the dealership for a new tyre, and the health check that they do pointed out I had leaking fork seals. Obviously with the price difference, and generally doing maintenance myself I put new seals in. Now, the next bit will sound odd. Because I didn't really look at the forms when they were bad because diagnosis came from the garage, I am not entirely sure what bad seals look like. So, this also means that I don't know if the new seals are working or not. They're is a very faint line left on the tube when compressed, but it's so faint out could be just funny bits of dirt pushed up by dust seal. If I wipe a finger under this line, it feels no more slippery then above the line / further up the tube so no residue as such. Presumably, if the fork seal is leaking, then after a week or so, if I pop the dust seal off there would be a pooling of oil on top of the oil seal and that would be the best way to tell?
  8. Hey Folks, Been a while and I like to try and update these things with an end result. So, after a few lessons, and a bit of a wait to get a test date, I have now passed the advance. Was a bit worried on test date because a) I knew of I failed a retreat would be happening December at some point by the time it got arranged and b) it was in Plymouth, some police incident was on and Marsh Mills roundabout is generally a pain in the ass but all was well. Enjoyable experience and good riding. Do I feel safer? Possibly not, but I feel work a fair amount of experience you get to know what hazards to look for, but I do feel much smother and quicker through extending the view etc. As for blood bikes, unfortunately, on the same week I passed they change their insurance so the age limit went from 25 to 30. Still doing the fundraising though, and talks are happening around whether I can use my own bike while waiting.
  9. Thanks for all the suggestions. Good to be back on here, been a while. Massive work commitments at the moment. I am more than happy to pay me money and get stuck in. Either way it will be informative I am sure. Just with a masters going on, and work development assessments I am a little test weary at the moment but this being different as something I want to do. Sounds like observer opinions will vary. I like the idea of pretending to be filmed, just looking for an overall objective to keep in mind to keep my head right. Also sounds more like adaptability and open mindedness over 'difficulty'?
  10. Hey Folks, So, been riding for a while now (10 years) and until the last year motorbikes were the only way to get around. After a change in career (teaching to QS) I have had 2 issues. 1) less time on the bike due to be lumbered with a company car. I still take the bike in when commuting, but get some serious frowns if I use it to go from office to office 2) Though I like the new job, and seems to be a good fit for me with a decent promotional ladder etc, being a bean counter in a construction company has left me slightly unfulfilled in terms of what I do in wider society. As a result, I have decided that I want to join the local blood bike group. Just to give back a bit and get on the bike more again. Obviously, this requires advance riding qualification, and I am planning the IAM route, through recommendation of my local group, and I had considered it with them before a something to do in a summer. Question being, has anyone done this? How difficult is it to pass? From an observational perspective I feel I have good observation and am constantly looking around, but it seems an area which may be a bit grey at this stage is positioning. Positioning for the best view, but not compromising safety seems like it could be a matter of opinion in some cases. Are the observers generally looking for all round safety and some evidence of intentional positional change, or is it a much more strict, prescribed methodology than this? And other things, like at what point would you be expected to make an overtake. I understand making progress, but if we are in a 60 zone and the guy in front is hovering around 50/55, personally in a test situation I wouldn't really consider this a massive hindrance to my progress as such. Appreciate your thoughts.
  11. Just as an update - It was water in the connection. Not sure how water got in there in the first place as it is the side that facing the ground when on its stand but sorted it anyway.
  12. Yes, the stator could be fried - It is worth looking. You can remove the cover without loosing all the oil. Some oil will come out (about half a cup) as the stator sits in a bath of oil. To confuse things further with the daytona 600 in particular, I have also heard it said that the rotor (the spinning magnet surrounding the stator) is too powerful and fries the stators, to the point where I have seen a kit for sale which has both the stator and the rotor. I have only heard this from one source though, which happens to be the shop selling the kit. Personally, I think this is potentially confusing the issue, and would focus on checking that the stator is ok and sorting out the RR. If the stator is dead, you can do an exchange re - wind service. The OEM stator is available as a part from triumph, but is horrifically expensive. If you go on triumph rat, you can see that you can test the stator without removing the cover.
  13. Found what I believe to be the speedo cable. Tracing the wire was a pain and I only got so far without having to take off an unproportional amount of stuff. But combining this with pictures of the connector online I think I found it. Some water came out when I pulled the connection apart, so have sprayed some wd 40 in there and have left the connection open to dry for a bit. Hoping that this was the issue. Definitely water in there and sensor itself, and clocks themselves working fine. Thanks for the tip about harness no 2. Not sure the power is being interrupted though as time and trip remain unchanged so hopefully this is it, otherwise plan B.
  14. I had the same issue with mine. Essentially, the fix involves upgrading the rr. The one on there is a shunt type, and you can buy, or source from a Yamaha r1 I believe, a much better mosfet unit. You can also get a wiring harness to make this very much plug and play. The second part of the fix is to directly wire the output from the rear to the battery, which eliminates all of the potential inefficiencies in the wiring harness. It's all on the Triumph rat site. There is a wizard on there who figured everything out. The ticking in the bike, as said is the starter relay. When battery is low and you try and start, it will struggle to turn the starter. Ideally, you want to be putting more like 14 to the battery. Some guys also stuck a volt meter on as part of the upgrade to keep an eye on things.
  15. Gsf1250 - everything else on the clocks works fine, no flickering and no loss of function anywhere else, just that occasionally the speedometer says 0 mph it's Intermittent but more 0 than actually registering a speed. I have had the speed sensor out and cleared out the godly mess that the front sprocket area tends to get but problem persists. Sensor itself not damaged or anything. Next step will be the trace the wiring to the clocks and see if anything is loose. Any known tips or tricks here. Am I right to assume that the clocks themselves are probably fine, and that the sensor is fine in that it occasionally registers something? Thanks folks. Electrical stuff annoys me.
  16. Rik398

    Exhaust Change?

    Evening Folks, I have been riding 10 years, and have been doing all my own work on bike maintenance and repair the whole time, which makes this rather an odd question. I have never changed an exhaust on a bike. All the bikes I have had have come with after market exhausts. My new to me bandit 1250 came with the stock, and after a while of giving it a go, I have finally decided that it will not do. Is the general rule of thumb (perhaps specially with this bike) that I can change the end can alone, without having to worry about ecu / dyno time? I am not looking to get more power from the bike at this stage, just fell a little too vulnerable filtering traffic with my lower noise levels. Thanks folks
  17. Jb weld, or you can also buy aluminium brazing rods, looked into them a while back but never went for them.
  18. As said already, better a little loose if anything. Alignment wise, just take the chain guard off and do it by combination of eye and using the notches. Can measure between edge if the axel and back of swingarm if paranoid, Tension wise, it will often say in the manual. You want to measure at the centre point of the chain, as in centre between the two sprockets, not centre of the swingarm. Generally, if you follow the above and it's not making an odd noise it's all good.
  19. brush on? Potential option but spray can will go in the nooks better and give a more even finish. But then with brushing you avoid spaying too much and having runs, I would spray though. And i depends how flaky the old paint is. The worst of it should come off as you are scuffing up the surface. Essentially, you just keep gong until you have a smooth, slightly scuffed up clean surface. You are using the old paint as a primer, and some areas you may go too far back and get to metal because of flakyness, but thats fine. 2-3 thin coats should do it. And engine wont start overheating like that.
  20. Nit sure on what paint to use. I used hycote engine enamel and it stayed on well and made quite a good finish. Scuffing the existing paint up on the engine will be enough. Scuff it up enough just to key it, and make sure it is as clean as possible. Spray it on while engine is warm (though not hot). As far as drying the paint, I leff mine overnight and most of the following day, and then ran engine up to tempt. It will dry fine as engine will get hot and you sprayed i on there while it was warm.
  21. What might also be useful here, depending on you use, would be to put iferror(then the formula you have)folowed by ””. This would mean that in the event of there being nothing in the cell the formula is looking at, it will display nothing, rather than showing an error. This would mean you could make a template for next time, and it not look strange when it is not filled in.
  22. I had that bike, and had the exact same problem. Due to it being Fuel Injected, the dying battery will cause problems. It is worth testing the battery, as it COULD just be the battery, but, as has already been mentioned, these bike are notorious for charging system problems (I know right... you only hear about that once you have had one) At the end of this will be a link to a few of the things that I used at the time. Essentially, the below is a summary of the situation. So, the charging system consists of 1) The stator / alternator 2) The regulator / rectifier 3) The connections between these components Chances are it is the charging system, and there are many tests that you can do, which I will link you to in this post. Essentially, the only way out with this particular bike, to be fully confident it doesn't happen again (I went through 3 stators learning this) is to replace the whole lot and upgrade it as you do so. 1) The regulator / rectifier. There are many porblems with this on this bike. Firstly, it is a shunt type system. These are not as efficient as the new MOSFET type systems, which generally work a lot more efficiently and produce less heat, and are overall less likely to fail. You can buy a MOSFET regulator and put it in place. Literally plug and play in most cases. I believe you can use them from a CBR600 or similar. Secondly, the location of the regulator / rectifier. This is in a fairly bad place in this bike, right with all the heat if the engine. It is worth considering re-locating it where it can get some air, or at least be away from all that heat. 2) The connections between components. Essentially, the stator is wired into the battery to charge it, and the battery is wired into the bike. Except thats not quite how it is when it comes out the factory. From the factory, the stator is connected to the loom, which means the voltage the stator produces to charge the battery has a much more conveluted journey, and has many potential dodgy connections to go through. As part of the upgrade process, wire the stator directly to the battery, with better quality wiring. This ensures a direct solid connection, and bypasses any potential issues that may or may not be else where. 3) The stator. This is a slightly more tricky one. It could burn out because of the above two issues. There is also rhumour that the magnetic rotor that surrounds it, is to powerful for the stock wiring, and therefore burns out the stator. As a result, you will see a stator and rotor kit online, which claims to prevent the rotor from burning out. Now, this could be the case, it could also be a load of rubbish, as really there are too many vairables for the average diyer to test it. And you will have to DIY this, as if you take it to a dealer and they decide to use stock component, you are looking at mega ££. High 3 figures. LINKS http://www.triumphrat.net/triumph-super ... ssues.html I reccomend that you start there. On the same site, there is a full on guide to fixing it, but this is where I started and talks about some of the checks etc. I will also mention, that I did all of the above, and still had issues. It was much, much improved, but as bike is my only form of transport, it had to go. It was sad, as mechanically, they are sound and as reliable as you will get, but clearly not suited to freezing winter mornings at the best of times.
  23. Rik398

    Tricky Puncture

    Hey Folks, Walking to my bike after work, spotted a screw in the tyre. In a way I was rather happy about the situation, due to mu puncture repair kit that has been unused until this point. I unscrewed the screw from the tyre, waiting for the air to come out, and... nothing. The 'puncture' is on the edge of the tyre, but not the very edge, or the sidewall. It was a fairly big screw, but must have gone in at an angle and not actually punctured the tyre. So, what to do now? Soap test reveals no air coming out at all, so assuming the pressures remain constant, what would you do? My thoughts are 1) push a hole all the way through and plug it. 2) replace it 3) not punctured so do nothing. I literally use the bike for commuting at the moment, no hard weekend riding at the moment. The tyre has a fair amount of tred left on it. Due to it being Thursday, it is possible that the tyre may not be ordered in time to be fitted over the weekend. At the moment, at the very least I will run it until next weekend, but is it possible its fine? Normally I would replace, but it looks as though its gone along the face of the tyre, rather than in it as such. Thoughts?
  24. Head gasket would probably mean smoking, and milky looking oil. If it sounds like a twin, it could be running on 3 instead of 4 cylinders or something. After its been running for a while, see if all the down pipes are of similar temperature. Spray water on or something. If one of them is cold, it aint working. Check all the spark plugs are functioning and that the leads are secure on top of them. Thats what I would start with.
  25. I used to use paraffin. Works a treat, but recently I have been using the new version of the Muc Off chain cleaner. Works just as well, brings it up every time, and it smells of bubblegum. As for oiling, I did the old school painting on engine oil thing, but again the new muc off stuff is so much better than the old stuff (which was okay anyway), so that's where I go now. The regularity in which you do it is more important than what you use. Which is why I am thinking of Scotoiler, get rid of the ritual of getting covered in oil EVERY weekend.
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