Fozzie

Something like this, but probably the single banana seat version so I can take pillions more easily. And carry more luggage. Across the somewhere in the region of 30 bikes I've owned, I've had 5 CBR600F's. The carbed version, the F-sport, and the brief 2013 iteration. But the best one was always the 2001-2007 run injected version. 3 of the 5 ended up being crashed into. But my later 2 survived 3 years each. I need something that is just faithful, can be used for practically anything, and let me do my projects, or even own along side something I use as a Sunday best. This is the only bike I've owned that I feel lets me do that.

Good afternoon! Had some time off and a long weekend for the girlfriends birthday, on a short week before going away at the end of this week to Anglesey. Got the get the Blackbird serviced up, and sold next week, as I'm trying to go back to a 600cc.

Thanks for the offer, we will have to sort something. I'd ordered the thermostat pipes, and valve cover before my post. But do I spot PAIR delete blanking plates? I'll be chatting to you soon about getting those (Will take whole thing if you don't want to part it out), and the exhaust side cam shaft. You don't happen to have a spare starter motor you'd be willing to sell? Mine came out, and then each bolt holding it together gave up very easily, and the insides don't look too happy. Large, thick deposits, felt like clay. I can see why its been jamming up. The reason for the engine being dropped, to drill out and remove the starter. These gave no fight at all, I gently rocked the bolt back and forth, gave it a light turn, and snap... Long, rusted, thin bolts are irritating. Not sure if this is something I can salvage, a new starter motor is £160 on eBay. Used ones appear for £50, might be better to use my rebuild kit on one of those, and give it a lick of paint.

That looks consistent with what I'm seeing. The oil I dropped out was a bit on the thin side as well, or so it looked. If the bike was stood a while, that could also explain it, that first start on an old engine can wreak havoc. I did see the engines on eBay, and I'd go for the 18k miles one for £350. The guy keeps sending me an offer to buy it, the lowest being £270. So I might just pick that up and guarantee myself an easier time of it. But part of me likes how difficult this bike has been, so I'm tempted to persevere. It will be a scrambler style bike when I'm done, so I can just ride it until I kill it, and chop in a new engine then.

The 600mm pry bar had to be used, and it still took an hour. There were consequences, and possibly a bad discovery. The offending article, the thermostat housing. I removed the gubbins around it and it wouldn't move. After 3 days of WD-40 baths, heat, and finally a vinegar solution to dissolve the internal rust (can't leave it in too long, it eats alluminum, and had to be flushed with deionised water) I had enough. And decided it was coming off, regardless of the force required. With the below being the result, a 600mm pry bar. I still can't get my head around how tight that was in there. Evidenced from the bent metal work, I tried my best to keep it square as it lifted. In the end the right leg popped out first. With the left giving up quickly after that. The consequence, I've cracked the valve cover, and marked the jackets either side of the cover. All will need to be replaced. Luckily, they tend to come as one part on eBay. But... There's a possible problem. After a quick inspection, there was some pretty big damage to one of the cam lobes. I can only guess at what did it. Is this normal wear? A sign of previous poor lubrication? Or is the clearance too big and its accelerated the wear? This needs to be answered before I go any further. As at the moment, this engine could be a dud. Any suggestions welcome!

Depends on the ice cream, but I get to biting pretty quick. Always draws complaints as I should "enjoy" my food. I do, that's why I'm eating it quickly. If I want to enjoy it for a long time, I'll go and get more.

I've asked, they said no I'm finding uses for it, like helping my parents out at their place in Anglesey. The old man tore his bicep last year, so his lifting ability has been knocked, so I'm now doing jobs as penance as it was me who detached it (Birthday arm wrestle).

Good morning! I'm not working a full week until May, and then I have a week off mid-May... Trying to burn 8 weeks of holiday before August when it resets. I was allowed unlimited carry over from the pandemic, which meant I carried all 5 weeks I'm normally allowed. Can't seem to get rid of them, and I don't like doing too much time off! More first world problems I guess

I filled up just short of the drain holes, but it does vanish quite quickly. But evenly at least! I'd be worried if I had a puddle in just one. If it was just in one, I'd worry that the spark plug threads were damaged on one side. I noticed scuffs on the valve cover before I started prying, if I had to guess, someone has had a go at this with the engine in the bike, and failed. It is quite "tappy" sounding when it last ran, so I do think its never had the clearances done. Spares seem readily available, worst case it will be a replacement engine (this has 52k on it, so hard to do worse).

3rd attempt today. I've filled the plug recesses with WD40 for the third time, but unclear where it is draining to (seems too fast for evaporation). It might be going by the sparkplugs, but not sure. The engine is sat on a cardboard mat, and no sign of any residue. I'm going to try a mix of white vinegar, and distilled water, and fill up the engine blocks coolant jackets with a mix. Try to dissolve the rust from the inside, and then free the pipes. If that doesn't work with my biggest pry bar, it goes to my old man to have a go at his place. If that doesn't work, it then goes to a friend with an engine repair shop, and if he can't get it out, I'll chop the connecting piece off the top of the pipes, cut slots into the pipes for a bar to fit in there, and force them to rotate to break the rust, and finally then hopefully pull out. Or the engine is scrap

Staying home until you're better is how you treat a common cold. But remember, things like measles, mumps, or rubella all present with cold like symptoms, fevers etc. Before the vaccines for these things existed, getting what looked like a cold meant you could be in big trouble. So when you say "before we lost the ability to think for ourselves", there's a bit of irony there. As for decades now, we haven't had to think, if it looked like a cold it was. That's no longer the case. I wouldn't ride if I had the option if feeling ill with a cold. Same with covid, you're not going to be as sharp to respond to things. Especially given the deterioration I've seen in peoples ability to drive after lockdowns.

Cheers, I’ve tried again last night. I got a spanner around each pipe under top part connecting the two and pried at it. Didn’t budge. Videos I’ve seen online seem to show it wobbling when the bolts are off. Mine is frozen solid, you have to really pry hard to get any movement. Fairly resigned to the idea of having to get a second hand one now. This one will be toast. The coolant that came out was just rusty sludge, so the previous owner used plain water rather than proper coolant. So these pipes might crack the valve cover before they release.

That's pretty poor timing! How are you feeling with it? I'm hearing it's less of a coughing fit spree, and more a head cold now from those around me. Know a couple who woke up with a fever, having some weird hallucinations. I got away with just the room spinning when I came down with it. Not a good mix for riding on the bike, but hopefully the cold snap this week is just a snap. There's always next week

I was wondering about this yesterday. In interviews Hamilton seems to like having a more developmental role in sorting the car. So it is possible he went for a different setup that didn't pay off for him... Or he's not getting what he wants, so he's giving half a result. But these are things I want to think, as the idea of him getting too old, or disheartened from last year is fairly irreparable stuff. And I want him to get the 8th world title.

Ive tried gently rocking it, wobbling, a bit of twisting, some heat, and a bit of gentle prying with a screwdriver. It hasn’t budged a millimetre, and some sources online suggest it really seizes in tight. I’m using two spanner’s around the lower legs to try and lever it out, but it’s not even rocking. The entire engine moves and jostles about. I’ve only put a couple of hours into it, but I’m a couple away from getting a pry bar in there and jumping on it

I found it, it looked too small to be anything but scrap when I scanned the floor. But it fit on the airbox fine. I cracked on today, and got the engine out. The exhaust came off relatively easily, the middle mount wasn't even attached to the frame properly. And it's looking suspect with these botchy repairs. Two of the studs came out, which is good as I need them out. I think a couple of M8 nuts on here and some heat should see them free off. Ready for new ones. It was going reasonably well, until the final engine mount bolt put up a massive fight. Taking over an hour, and one of my 14mm sockets down with it. Had to use the sockets designed for rounded off nuts. Got the engine lined up to drop out, and slide over to clear the frame. It was actually quite a painful process, and putting it back is going to be even worse. But in the end, it found its way onto my bench. Not sure about the radiator filler built into the head, I undid the bolts but it wouldn't move a bit. So might need to whip off the valve cover with it still attached if I can. Or get a big pry bar... Which I don't really like doing, as brute force is only really best for parts you don't want to reuse. Hopefully get some spare time this weekend and in the week. I'm busy for the next few weekends, so doing as much as I can now. Hopefully I have this back in the bike by the end of next week, but I'm reliant on parts arriving. Seems like everything takes 5 days to get here, even 1st class mail these days, I blame the sunny weather and beer gardens.

What's with the sky being blue? This is England, the sky is filled with clouds. Always has been. Or feels like it.

About ready to drop the engine, just need to pinch my platform jack off my dad tonight (left it in his workshop thinking I'd be doing this there!). Got the fuel tank, air box, carbs, and radiator removed. It all gave up without too much of a fight, but the bottom of the tank is looking rusty, just as well I was going to send it off and have it properly restored/painted. Long term the bike will be staying blue, not ER5 blue, but candy plasma blue used on the later ER6F. A much deeper tone, with a metallic shine to it. That canister (assuming crank/oil breather of some sort), didn't have a pipe attached to it. Might be one for @fastbob to answer if you remember? Is that meant to have a pipe going somewhere? Some bikes link it to the airbox. While I had the carbs off, I decided they needed a good clean up, and a tidy up of the bowls. Thankfully, no one has been in these carbs before, the JIS bolts are untouched, and unmolested by a Phillips screwdriver. The carb pre-heat circuit had a filter that was full of garbage, so will be cleaned and replaced in due course. One bowl was very clean, but the other... Can't say I've ever seen green residue like this before? I've not seen petrol congeal into something like this before. I gave it a good clean, along with all the jets and reassembled. Then gave the carb bodies a good blast with carb cleaner. Tomorrow I drop the engine, and hopefully have the starter out in no time. Get it looked at, and rebuilt, with fresh bolts back on in the places that need it. I'll be doing the valve clearances as well, and an inspection of the bores. Hopefully not too far out as I'd like to get the engine back in and the bike riding, the heavy duty work can come later.

That's an issue I've seen. There are groups of people who think as it's not in the news, it's basically gone away. On the flip side, there are those who still seem to be in denial. Saw someone eat their words when they boasted they'd never caught it, and no one they knew had, and about 2 weeks later the script was flipped, they and "everyone" had it and one suffering badly with it. My nan turns 97 this week, and while she's sharp, physically able etc, I'm not seeing her without a test. As while I'm sure she'd recover, it's not something I'm going to leave just to chance. The psychos online seem to think she should shuffle off, woman worked 2-3 jobs most of her life, and still today leads many events in her area. Very active, and helps the community. Its what I hate most about the pandemic, it reduced some people down to viewing people as just numbers...

Oi! ...At least give us a 20 minute warning so we can loot the silverware...

Covid seems to be going through some kind of quiet resurgence at the moment. As my girlfriends family have it, a load of my friends both in Scotland and London have it, and this comes off the back of people around me here in Manchester having had it. Now I'm reading about it on here more (or feels like it). Hope all recover quickly and without lingering effects. I had several months of long covid, and it was really troublesome at times. The good weather is here as well, so an even bigger shame to be hiding away indoors!

Just blows me away a Russian can leave their country, see the other side, and even if they still hold harsh views of the west, still side entirely with their governments narrative. I've visited a fair few places around the world, largely for work, and always struck by how their media interprets the world. America is the worst, they are the worst I've seen for whipping up their own people into a frenzy. Ukraine received Panzerfaust-3IT anti-tank weapons today. Reportedly able to disable any tank that Russia has in service. Some of the videos I've seen lately show Ukrainians ambushing tank convoys on the road, so this will probably help them do some serious damage. Unfortunately, it will be needed to make someone like Putin give a peace deal worth having.

And for those interested, and with garages that don't have power... Some scavenged A3 pieces of MDF, a relay bank, a volt meter, and some DIN rail/terminals make a apocalyptic looking power control board. At the entrance of the garage is a big push switch triggering a 12V relay, this brings in a 300W inverter, which powers the board and just the lights. The inverter sits with the 95Ah battery in a little enclosure. A Honda generator in the opposite corner of the garage (exhaust plumbed through the wall and outside, with an alarm mounted directly above it) comes on, and triggers the relays, breaking the inverters connection to the board, another relay in the battery enclosure drops out the inverter, as a battery charger automatically goes live 10 seconds after the generator starts. There are also some sockets wired to the wall that are only live when the generator is on, which is mostly powering power tool chargers. In simpler terms, you go in, press a switch and the lights go on but the sockets on the wall are dead. You put the generator on, the lights blink off, then on, and the sockets are all powered, with the battery charging. I was going to tidy it up and simplify (you only need 2 of the 4 relays, I was trying to space the circuit out) but I quite like the bundled together look. Reminds me of the old video games set in post nuclear war times!

Spent the last 2 weeks wiring up the garage with bits and bobs I found lying around, and bought from eBay. With that sorted, I finally thought I'd sort the bike, and... Well... Fixing up the starter motor didn't go as I envisaged. Sprocket cover and generator cover came off easy enough, but a problem soon appeared. The gasket was a real mess, and large parts of it was missing... Someone was in here previously. These are JIS screws, and someone has tried a phillips head on one of them. I managed to get them out with the proper screwdriver, but with difficulty. But someone has clearly had reason to be here before, and I'm hoping it's not because of the starter motor as in my head, what made them turn back and leave it as it was? 2 minutes later, I had my answer. The left starter motor mount bolt came out, and was a bit weird as it did. I held it up and the bolt was bent. I got my socket on the one on the right, and it came loose easy, span twice, and then the head came off leaving the rest of the bolt in the starter motor mount. What looks like corrosion seemed to have a consistency of exhaust paste... Was this bolt glued in? So this week just became a lot more action packed, I'm going to drop the engine and fight the biggest battles with seized bolts now. Get the engine on the bench, drill out the seized bolt, do the valve clearances while I'm there (very tappy). And a full inspection of the engine internals if necessary, I've got a bore scope camera to check out the cylinder walls. It may have 52,000 miles on it, but the oil that came out was decent, and the last owner insisted while it was a training bike, it was regularly serviced, and didn't live a stressful life (apart from the clutch). I was hoping to do the bare essentials to get it roadworthy, and ride it to my dads workshop in Anglesey, but I've not got a great confidence in the bike now, without doing these works.

I'm curious, does he not see the glaring issues in Putin's statements? De-nazifying a place that is run by a jewish president, where the total far right wing vote share in 2019 made up 2%. And what of the extensive coverage of Russian's essentially blind firing rockets into residential areas? It's almost on the level in my mind as Boris Johnson claiming America is under the grip of a secret, extreme socialist regime that needs combating... While Trump was president. I can only assume we are missing something, as there's being mislead by your government/media, and then there's not spotting blatent issues. Are they saying Zelensky is a fake jew?