rosszx9r

what makes you think the bike is running lean? is it standard? (i.e. exhaust/ air filter) they are supposed to be biscuit colour. see extract from haynes manual

the calipers were completely siezed so i had to strip them anyway. (only had 1 out out of 8 pitsons that moved !) I thought this would be a 5 minute job to make them look half decent again well this is how it looks at present and i don't think i'll be putting back on the bike like this the paint gave a really good smooth finish it's just the black streaks that spoil it. i've mixed the paint as much as i can so i can only conclude it's cr@p paint! not too bad if your painting a car caliper that is mostly obscured. i don't fancy anodizing them as it will affect the internal surface of the brake cylinder and i'd have to polish it up before hand.... now that would be hard work i'll probably buy one of those custom bike mags like frankie suggested and trawl the adds to see if any specialist paint is available. i can't believe there is no demand for the paint as the calipers must get a fair amount of abuse from road dirt on any bike...

Well, i found a link on youtube to help me out with polishing my wheels up but i'm having no luck finding a wax coating for the polished alloy wheel or gold heat resistant paint for my brake calipers i ordered some gold paint that i found on the internet but it looks like smooth hamerite and comes up with dark streeks through it i'm looking for a heat resistant paint that may come in an aerosol form so i can get a thin layer of paint just like the origonal ones. anyone any ideas on the paint and the wax?

ahh now that's just not fair.... i won't be out on mine 'til the summer at this rate

make sure the exahst is cold and soak the bolt heads again in WD40. leave it 1/2hr and spray more WD40 on them. i use allen key sockets so you get more leverage on the bolt with a socket wrench than a straight forward allen key. brute force and ignorance is probably nessesary

it was pretty damp this morning. maybe water in the electrics made it run on one cylender....... WD40

just dug out my old haynes manual for the 400n, it states that engine fade under load is due to preignition and typically faulty plugs. it's listed as an explicit example in the fault finding section i also looked at the alternator part. the cdi pickup is integrated with the alternator but it makes no reference to there being two parts opperating at different RPM (it would be odd if there were). what you do have is the cdi pickup in the alternator operating the ignition advance device. i would suggest you check/replace plugs, check the state of your HT with a spark gap tester (checking for a spark on the end of a plug isn't enough). then double check the cdi pickup connector on the alternator (make sure the spade connectors aren't corroded or pushed back inside the connector housing and that the pickup is mounted securely) (remember, you would of disconnected the HT when taking the rocker cover off. it's possible you bent an HT lead and the insulation cracked or the connection came loose at the coil or plug cap ends. the HT lead just screws into the connector!) if all that is ok, should check/replace the cdi pickup. haynes doesn't even list a test method. just says change if thought to be faulty. if you have access to a timing strobe, you can check it quite easily i'd of thought. hope that helps...

thanks for the help. i'll do a little digging around and see who's closest to home and give them a go. TVAM sounds worth a visit too. thanks.

the HT rating of the paint means it can withstand high temperature not that it 'needs' the high temperature it can take quite a while to fully cure and to be honest, smooth hammerite would look much better and wouldn't get chiped.

Hi, i'm looking into doing my advanced motorcycle test. can anyone give me advise on training groups (Oxford area) and how long i can expect it to take to complete the training and be ready for the test? i've seen a few posts refering to rospa and AIM. is there a recomended agency for motorcyclists? thanks, Ross

well i think you've prooved it's a fuel issue already. i'm not sure brake cleaner is the stuff to using on the carb though... i'd suggest you get some proper carb cleaner and do it again. you may of disturbed the pilot jet position so get a manual and verify the settings. it's usually 1 to 1.5 turns out from fully closed. it could also be the carb not fitted correctly to the cylender or the rubber mounting may have cracks in it (lets air in without going via the carb)

i used braided hoses on an old restoration project i had (RD400e) it did make the brakes work better but then that was comapared with 20 year old rubber hoses! i found the feel to be rather wooden. no give at all in the lever. i am about to replace the hoses on my zx9r but i think i'll go for braided hose only from the header and keep the section from the master cylender to header as standard to give a little flex and retain some feel. i think it really depends how you like your brakes to feel. you can adjust the feel with braided lines but maybe new fluid gives you all you want.... you can also go for hard pads but i would reserve that for track days...

there are a number of things this could be on an old honda.... carb ballance (as you said) cam chain tension drive chain tension or wear low oil level rear cush drive worn and of course, a knackered clutch or gearbox apart from the last one, there is nothing expensive or difficult to check. you'd need a haynes manual if you fancy a stab at it yourself otherwise, just ask the mechanic to check these items specifically when you book it in for a service. the noise comes from components in the drive mechanism bumping into each other when there is little or no load on the engine. think of riding a push bike but pedling slower than you need to to drive the bike foward. then pedling harder, you'll hear a clonck as the gears engage and you start to drive the bike with the pedals again. it's made worse on old bikes because various items in the drive mechanism wear so the extra movement exagerates this problem.

it's comon because you need to take it off for certain service checks like valve clearances so because it gets distrurbed, there is a chance it will leak. it shouldn't and it will only leak if it's been damaged or fitted incorrectly. it's a really easy thing to fix. usually 6 or 8 bolts hold the cover on. no need to do anything special and certainly don't need to drain the engine oil.

i wouldn't get too worried about it. if it's an oily stain then clean it off for now and see if it gets worse. you should have around 5 litres of oil in your engine so unless you're loosing it by the cupful every day, it'll be fine until you have time to take a closer look you'll need to look close to see if it's the head gasket or the rocker cover gasket. it's most likely the later and in this case is easily fixed and cheap to do (~£5 for new gasket) if you can send a photo of the leak, it would help...

well i'd rather polish the wheels occationally than leave them scuffed and scratched like they are now. i guess i'll bite the bullet and strip all the paint off. i'm sure i can lacquer them to keep the shine. thanks anyway

Hi, i've got the front end of my ZX9r stripped down at present to overhaul the forks (chromes knackered) and thought i'd have a go at polishing the wheels up a bit. used solvent to degrease but then thought the alloy wheel would look better if i polish a few blemishes out. t-cut seemed like a fine abrasive liquid to use but very quickly i found out that the rims appear to be painted!!! the grey finish to the wheel is starting to come off and exposing a white surface. the rims on the wheel are smooth and the spokes rough cast. it's only the rims that are affected. can anyone tell me if bike wheels are painted and if so, how best to polish them up (i.e. do i have to strip all the paint off to the metal and start again?) i just assumed they would be solid metal

really... there is fair chance your right you may also of dislodged an electrical connection. either way, you'll have to lift the tank and airbox off to check so you'll be able to check the state of the coil connections as well as whip the carbs out for a once over. you won't need to strip the carbs down completly just take all the bowls off and see they are all the same hieght.

if you'd put all this detail in the last post, it would of helped if it's 7 months old, stop messing about and take it back to the dealers. thats the whole point of the warranty if you tamper with it much more you're likely to invalidate the warranty

same strategy as finding software bugs, work your way through the processes.... fuel electrical mechanical as far as i can make out your still on the first! what happened with the air filter removed?

you've misaligned the needle jet! take the cap off again and remove the tube with needle, make sure the needle isn't bent, then carefully replace it. there should only be light pressure on the spring under the cap so don't force it. there is a small screw at the bottom of the carb that is used to drain it. shouldn't be any need to take it out at this stage.

why would you want to change them? they should be good for 50k miles especially on a 125 bearings are normally sealed for life types and unless you're having problems with the bearings you don't change them. you can check them with the bike on a centre stand. try tilting the wheel while holding the top and bottom of the wheel. move firmly to see if you feel any movement in the bearing. you shouldn't. it should feel pretty solid.

how do you know you have power to the coils? if you've measured it with a volt meter or some sort of tester, you won't have nessesarily proven the earth connections. have you got points or electronic ignition?

sounds like you've crossed the threads. take the bars off and try putting the bolt in straight. if that doesn't work and you have access to the rear of the hole, put the bolt in from the rear to fix the threads then try again.