Bill_on_a_bike

The ones that are supposed to be there will be in places where water will settle and are also perfect round drilled holes. Other holes are rarely as neat

What do you mean by "It settled in position"?

Before we go stuffing gum in to exhaust pipes, are we sure this isn't a little hole in an elbow joint or in the bottom of a can to stop water accumulating?

Don't get bast*rd yamaha dealerships to do anything, or any other dealership unless you're buying brand new or trying to keep a service book looking smart. I know several very good local garages, who all charge atleast half what a dealership would, and any decent mechanic could fit a scotoiler. Maintaining your chain isn't that hard tbh, if its a communal carpark and you're doing it out there make sure you put something down to catch the oil/parafin or whatever you're using to clean it off, because it does stain. And get a breathable cover! Mine's got vents in the top corners that go over the mirrors that holds the whole thing open and makes sure condensation can escape.

If you've got a multimeter you can test glow plug, just check for an ohm reading. It starts on a bump though, which makes me think maybe the starter's a bit weak, does it turn it over fast enough? Easy start is useful stuff but it can and will damage things if its used excessively.

by strip, how far in to the engine do you want to go? If it was me, unless it had an issue I wouldn't bother. If you want to strip the top that's probably a fair amount of work to be worrying about. But an engine like that it's going to be a right fiddle. If you wanna learn how to do it though I completely understand, you'll definitely need a haynes manual and any diagrams on the internet will help. If I were you, I'd read though the relevant bits of the haynes manual over and over until you've got it as clear as you can what the order of events is, and roughly how it all fits together. You are gonna have ALOT of bits that need to be kept safe or in order, worth organizing lots of containers and post-it notes. Cylinder head studs, get an old pizza box, and stab as many holes are there are studs through both sides, in the shape that they appear on the engine, mark one side of the box "front" and put all the studs in their corresponding holes. Keep lots of news paper and rag to hand, things often seem to have oil in them in places you didn't even know were there, and as soon as you tip them up, out it comes all over something important no doubt. I hung my cylinder head over a bowl for about 10 minutes to let the oil drain out. Some specialist tools are an absolute must, a valve spring compressor for example. And a torque wrench. I've only done this with a single cylinder engine on my old 125, and learnt ALOT. The VFRs gonna have 2 cam shafts per bank to worry about, and 2 cam chains, which are buried in the middle of the barrels. Obviously it's possible but it'll be a fiddle i'd imagine. I wish I had a grand and the time to do this kinda thing, i'd love to do it just for the learning curve. And if at the end of the day you're too big for the bike, trust me, when that engine fires up after you've stripped it down and rebuilt it, you won't care. Just sell it on, mentioning that it's got fresh pistons/rings or whatever you've managed to polish up.

prop the front end?? Chocks under the folk ends? WD-40 on everything sounds like a plan, stop the corrosion a bit. Lube on chain's a must aswell

Yeah center stand for definite Dan. Changing the oil's gotta be a good idea, maybe a dab of oil in the pots too.

So I'm buggering off to Uni on sunday and for the time being i'm not taking the bike. I'm going to store it in my grandma's garage which she doesn't use. Anyway, my plan was to drop the fuel out of the tank and the carbs, take the air filter off and shoot some carb cleaner in there to stop jets blocking up ect. I was also going to get the battery out and keep it in the house to stop it getting too cold. The GS it seems has a different fueling system to the SR though, I have "on" "prime" and "off" , prime as opposed to off. I'm not sure what prime does but I imagine i'd set it there when I refil the with fuel at christmas. How do I stop fuel coming out of the tank, long enough for me to get the fuel hose off the carb and pointed at a container so I can get the fuel out of the tank? Also, is there anything else I should consider doing storing the bikes for about 2 months in dry, but potentially cold conditions?

My regular mechanic (NOT a dealer) picked the bike up for £10 when I was in the same situation. Seemed safest as technically you can't ride it atall. It is the equivilant of you driving a car on a bike licence.

Start basic, read an explanation of how a 4 stroke works, all the words / theorys /ideas you don't get, go and look up, and look up all the stuff you don't know in that one too. Pretty much anything you want to know can be found on google.

from experience, you'll struggle to get a dent that pointed out.

If you're happy to do a bit of light dismantling, seat off, tank off, carbs out, check for plates, and back together again.

Sym joyride looks like a twist and go? Do you mean the size of the centrifugal clutch?

Put a hacksaw across the head, cut a line right across the middle fairly deep, when it's deep enough get the longest flat head screw driver blade you can find and hammer it in there. That's about the only way I can think of to get purchase on it. Good old fashioned WD-40 will probably help loosen it up too.

oh yeah i've heard of this, logic tells me it's a bad idea, can't help but feel it's a tad wreckless. Can't be good for piston rings can it?

It's 50cc and 30mph for a reason. If you can't keep up on bigger roads, don't use them. 50cc machines on dual carriage ways are supposed to keep left anyway to let people overtake. If you're that worried, use the bus until you're 17 and can get a 125 which won't struggle as much.

seeing as how the links gone can you tell us what you're on about?

It turning it over fast enough? Making a fast enough wizzing noise when you hit the button? Just wondered if your battery was a tad low again. Odd for it not to start V easily once hot like that though.

Check the routing of throttle cable, make sure nothing's pulling it tight. I put my tank back on over mine once and it revved like hell.

About 1.5 turns is said to be about right. You're supposed to adjust it according to tick over speed and how it responds to revving.

Definately the kill switch What word from honda?

Well a 555 timing chip is a complicated piece of kit, overkill for indicators. Stu's explanation makes sence, and if he's a nerd then i'm a super geek for asking the question. Still not quite clear on why all flasher relays i've bought only have 2 terminals

Always wonderd this, what's the circuit behind indicators flashing? How would you set it up, stand alone? cant find any answered on google atall. Just plain curiosity.

I hear an inpact wrench is the tool for the job getting the front sprocket off. Don't know about brake lines, physically changing them over doesn't sound too difficult, just refilling/bleeding and stuff sounds like a bit of a chor. Would like to get braided lines myself one day.