leener

Random generated numbers... Makes sense. The number format wasn't familiar. Luckily, my other half knows exactly what a scam is, if she answered. But, she won't pick up to any unknown numbers. I won't either, unless I'm expecting it. There are so many doing the rounds these days. Mostly, we get the little guys that are in India or Pakistan in the call centres, pretending to be calling from Microsoft. I work in an IT department (of sorts) and we sometimes get them ringing up. It's a good chance to wind them up a bit - especially if you know a few tricks. But, they spoof, or use 020 numbers, don't they? These 9 digit 07 numbers are very strange.

I zonk to Cheltenham every day, from Bristol. And, gym, and shops. All in, my bike hauls me around 100 miles a day on weekdays. Usually, the fuel is around £13 a day. I might try to fix it this weekend, if I can find something to drain the fuel into.

Fuel gauge doesn't work because (as I found when I decided to mechanic my own bike) that one of the wires was out of the bottom of the sender, under the tank. As in, the psychical sender component that should have its usual two wires that protrude from out of the rubber, underneath - one came out. You would need to either be a soldering magician to re-attach them without destroying the sender, or replace the entire component. And, as I'm a cheapskate, I left it. The bike was sold to me with the problem, so I learnt the hard way. I was used to commuting in my car, doing nearly 100 miles a day, and filling up ever few days, or so... The bike doesn't quite have the same range as my diesel car, so entirely my fault. I tried three days of commuting on a tank (note - you can't tell how much fuel is in the bike... You rely on the "oh sh*t" light, which now stays on because of the fault). Stuck on the M5 near Stroud at 8:30am wasn't funny... unless you are one of my colleagues, who found it hilarious!!! Could have been worse... It was summer and a nice sunny day. Now I fill up £10 every morning before I go up the M5. That way, I never run out. The garage staff get worried if I don't turn up. That's my theory on why the fuel pump may be a problem. You let them run dry then they can die. And, even if it isn't - the bike is getting on and I should change it as a matter of course. This bike has to carry my fat bottom for tens of thousands of miles a year, and it has to be up to the job. Fuel pump is in the post (£20), so as soon as that turns up then I will be fitting it. ... Should really get a filter, too... Hopefully, this can turn into a "nice" diary, soon. But, my days of old bikes are through. And, if I do take another one as my steed of choice, it will be a beautiful 900RR classic, which I will go over every nut and bolt before I use it regularly. Riding the Sprint feels a bit like Russian roulette. Maybe I'll get home, and maybe I won't.

I'm wondering if anybody here can shed any light on this strange occurrence. My other half has had a missed call from these two numbers: 077426139 and 070497121. When you call back (and I know you shouldn't), it says something along the lines of, "this number is not in service". Can't find any trace of them, anywhere. Anybody had the same thing? Who calls on a 9 digit 07 number?

No more old bikes... I had a kwak that was a million times worse, that I got for £400, only because the entire loom was rigged with problems (as I found out after I butchered it)... And a Honda Fireblade 900RR that somebody decided to "rebuild", which was £1000... That thing was rigged with more problems than I can mention. I'll be going for something much newer next time.

The Triumph Sprint saga continues. Never again will I ever purchase another Triumph - at least of over ten years old. So far, it has been an ongoing issue with various running symptoms. APRIL 2017: - I purchased the 955i RS with the glorious 120hp triple engine, for just over £1k. It ran "okay" but not perfect. - With the (gratefully received) help from Tango, we worked out that the fuel map was incorrect. I now have the correct fuel map loaded. JUNE 2017: - Bike continued to run seemingly well, although fuel gauge doesn't work. MAY 2017: - Ran out of fuel on the M5. AUGUST 2017: - I found issues with a low idle and the bike cutting out a few times when dis-engaging the clutch, while riding. Idle would go below 1000rpm, before rising gradually - if it didn't cut out. SEPTEMBER 2017: - The bike's stator failed and I replaced it. I suspected the low idle and cutting out was related as symptoms had worsened. - Battery and charging system perfect, but noticing it get harder to start in the mornings, plus still having idle issues. - Read up about tight valves and couldn't find any evidence of valve clearances in the service history. OCTOBER-NOVEMBER 2017: - Checked valve clearances, with some helpful advice from megawatt. Clearances were well in spec, but found oil leak in cylinder 1's spark plug tower. - Suspect oil was coming from top of spark plug tower, so replaced rocker gasket and plug tower seals. - Compression tested all three: 1 = 170, 2 = 190, 3 = 160 (from memory, it was something like that) - Rode it to work this morning and idle is horribly low, and was a nightmare to start. It hasn't cut out while riding, today. - Need to check if the oil is again pooling in the spark plug chambers, as could result in having to check valve stem seals, and further leak-down tests - I started suspecting that the fuel pump or injectors were a likely cause. - Remembered running out of fuel on the M5 and that is when the problems seemed to start happening... Next up - replace the fuel pump: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Fuel-Pump-Triumph-Sprint-955i/dp/B01AW946X0

I have just made my own heated grips up. You'll need a relay, which are only a few quid. Just a standard 4-pin 30A, whatever will do. From top of my head : Pin 30 - connect to your battery live. Pin 87 - to the grips Pin 85 - negative of whatever you are using as your switch (ignition) - stuck mine to negative on the battery Pin 86 - switch live I just popped the wire for 86 to ignition live. It's a fiddly job, but if you do it right, it's worth it. Your hands will thank you.

Update so far : Checked the inlet and outlet ports, and saw some pretty clean valves nested in there. No sign of oil, very little deposit. Cleaned out the throttle body, replaced cam chain tensioner spring + washer, put new rocker gasket on, and seated the rocker cover on, not torqued on... I am waiting on the right sized adaptor to fit the compression tester and need to find new washers to sit on top of the spark plug towers. Those looked very worn, as did the gasket that I removed. I'm hoping that these are the culprit for the oil pooling. I didn't realise that T1261337 didn't include these... I have no idea what the part number I need is. Bike is still in bits and will just have to wait until the compression kit arrives, and I find these damned rubber seals. Update: found and ordered new seals.

Shall I send you a message through here? I'll be getting the tool kit out again, shortly, and making another go at it. If I can find the source of the oil leak then I'll be able hopefully work out what needs doing. But, will need an idea of the process. The last thing I want to do is knacker this engine.

Thanks for the replies. It was used daily until last week. I had a mechanic look at it a couple of months ago, and he said there was a lot of oil in cylinder one. He put it down to the fact that the spark plug had no compression ring on it... Yeah... He even called me in to show me, and said that cylinder one had poor compression... How could this be the spark plug? Seeing as one needs the plug out, first. I just needed it to run, and didn't have time to investigate, until now. With the info you guys gave me, I'll pop the exhaust manifolds out and the throttle body, hopefully tomorrow. And, then I'll inspect the valves for oil. Following that, if no signs of oil are present then I'll invest in a compression tester, and work out if the rings need replacing. Might as well replace the pistons and hone it, while I'm in there. This is territory that I have never been to. I have the rum flowing already. All I need is a working bike. On the bright side, at least nobody can steal it, in its current state. I hope the block isn't warped.... New update, hopefully tomorrow. Cheers, guys.

And could be valve stem seals... Oh, lordy, lord.

It looks like my clearances are in check, anyway. So, the root cause of my starting and running issues are looking at cylinder number one. The head gasket is my next suspect. So need to check the pistons and rings, too. I took the plugs out first, before I took off the rocket cover, just to have a look. The barrel was at least one centimetre deep in oil, and the plug was covered, all over. Anyone got any advice for taking the head off? Before I cry myself to sleep... Trust me to own a bike with this issue.

Sorry to hijack the thread... I managed to do it, myself, so far. I have the head off, and got the clearances. But, can't do any more because it's raining... Again! So, as it will be dark in an hour, I'll get the cams off tomorrow. The thing that really worries me is that when I got the plugs out, 3 and 2 are OK... 1 was soaked in oil. The barrel was swimming. Now I'm worried.

You can look at taking the baffle out, which will certainly change the sound of the bike, and maybe add more decibel... But, on a 125? Wouldn't bother. You could end up with slight running performance change, maybe for the worse. Don't know until you try it. If it's too loud then you could end up given a ticking off by the plod, and made to get it fixed. Also, could fail an MOT, I would think. I tried to get the baffle out of my stock exhaust for my Triumph, but failed. So, I ended up with a Blue Flame exhaust with the baffles already removed off an old bike. Then, I suffered some performance issues, and ended up messing around with the fuel settings to get it right, using TuneECU. Eventually, after six months of p*ssing about with it - it runs great! (Aside from the valves being too tight, as I type this). It's loud enough for people to hear me approaching, but no totally deafening. When I pass the plod, I tend to clutch it to keep the revs low - just in case. The guy who does my MOT doesn't care about it. He didn't even care that the horn didn't work. Still passed with no advisories. Personally, I would wait until you pass your test and get a bigger bike before toying with the exhaust.

What megawatt said. No fuel = potential for crud to enter the carbs. As for petrol in the engine - definitely change the oil. I had this once and nearly had a wrecked engine. Get those carbs off and cleaned.

Thanks for the encouragement and words of wisdom. I'll try to tackle it soon, if the weather allows it. I have a new cam chain tensioner spring and rocker gasket, so it's ready to happen. I have my heated grips (home made ones) ready to go on, so can do that at the same time. Hopefully, this cures the issues I had. Issue being loss of power and when cold starting, it struggles to catch the revs and build up to the fast idle for warming up. Often, it takes two or three goes to finally start.

True, that. Okay, I think I'll need to at least give it a bash. I'll need to find the correct gasket for the thing... seeing as I'm ordering it myself, I might as well do the rest. So, a walk through of what I expect to do... - Get the bike apart, tank off, airbox off, no SAI to remove, and get the rocker cover out, removing the bolts in the correct sequence. - Carefully, unbolt the ladder - Get the feelers in there and write down each check on a bit of paper - Work out how bad the clearances are - Have a cry - Make a cuppa - Take up smoking again - Get the engine cranked to TDC - Take out the CCT - Release the holding arms on the chain, and the bracket - Loosen off the cam-chain and hang it up on something so it doesn't fall in - Get the cams out, lay them so you don't get them back in wrong, or work out where the markings are for EX and IN. - Use a magnetic stick (want of better words) to get the buckets out, and lay them out in order of where they were - Get each shim out, one at a time, and measure them - Swear as you drop one down the cam chain chamber - Awkwardly try to fish it out with the magnet stick - Bang your head on the frame - Swear for a bit - Continue measuring shims, and write them all down on the bit of paper - Put the shims back - Put the buckets back - Fiddle with the cams, trying to get the friggin' chain back on, only to eventually work out that the best way is to put the exhaust cam on first... Then the intake cam. - Put the arms back on the cams to hold them in - Put the CCT in - Put the bracket back on in the top of the chain - Shove the rocker back on and leave the bolts in lose, but not to allow crap to get in - Realise that the ladder is still out - Swear for a few minutes and take the rocker off again... Got to go home now, so will continue this later

Just found him: https://www.facebook.com/CarterBikes?fref=ts Seems legit, to me. What I find annoying is when they go, "Yeah, £100 for this, £50 for that, and £20... Plus VAT... That's £4,285,495, please". Are you somehow suggesting that I take on this wonderful task, myself? If I get the procedure right, it should be ok. I know, and understand every step involved, but what worries me is that I don't have a micrometre, so need to pick one up first, and second, the risk of the weather, and no cover. I'm actually tempted... TNR Motorcycles of Bristol... slowbusa... TNR doesn't... I went in there once for an oil filter, and it's a proper grotty place. Don't have a card machine, so all cash in hand.

He says about £6 each, so was guessing how many he might need to replace. Well, it's a place up here called 'Carters Bikes', he says... No sign of him on Google maps. Unit 12, BS15 4PW... Yeah... No idea, until I see him. Sounds a bit "iffy" to me, too. Only reason I spoke with him was because I rang up TNR Motorcycles in Bristol to ask for a rough est, and the guy there said, "Oh, no. I don't do things like that (valve clearances), here... But, I'll put you onto a man who does. He's here at my workshop... I'll just put you on". No idea if he's legit, yet. I'm certain they need doing. It's 34k and no evidence of the 24k one, anywhere. I brought it at 28k and now it's getting hard to start. Got nearly new plugs, air filter is clean, good fuel, no error codes, runs fine when engine is going, but just a pig to start.

They'll definitely be different to mine. Even the manual I have is probably different, so I have a big Haynes manual for the triple Sprint and Tiger 955i. A guy up the road says he'll check the clearances - £100 Replace the shims, just the cost of the shims, and a bit of labour - he reckons maybe £40 for the shims, then whatever else. New seal - £30, and I have a new CCT spring for it. Saves me awkwardly trying to do it in the cold and wet.

I'm in Bristol, Mangotsfield area. I was going to take the bike apart anyway, to start cleaning it up a bit, and fit the heated grips. But can almost guarantee that it'll rain. I watched a long tutorial on someone doing a Tiger 1050 engine, which looks more or less the same, in terms of what to do.

I'm about to do mine (or try to) on my Sprint RS. Never touched anything this technical before on any bike that I can remember, so will be fun. Where do you even get the shims from? I was going to order from a supplier on eBay. The bit that bothers me is that I have to leave the bike temporarily disassembled, maybe even for days until the new shims arrive, leaving it all sitting loose (half assembled), in the front garden. At least it can't get nicked for a joy ride, in that state. Yup, I have no garage.

So, who is doing it? https://www.facebook.com/groups/257757597660420/?fref=nf I'm hoping to do it, this year. The last one I went on was in 2006, in Leicester. I had a great time and got to meet a few awesome dudes in the area. This year, I'll be doing the Bristol one (if I don't mess the valve clearance job up).

Assuming that you want to DIY - Time to get the toolkit out. Could be coils, leads, or plugs... One thing I did with my ZZR: Tank off, spark plugs out (all of 'em). Put one plug back in a lead, ground it to the frame, and try to turn it over. Do you see a spark? Repeat for each plug and lead. Another thing I would do is use a multimeter to test the resistance through each lead to the coil. It's quite easy to diagnose a dodgy coil, but I wouldn't do this until I knew each plug was fine. This would be my first series of checks.

Congrats, mate. Hope to see some new stuff on here soon. I always wanted to do this with my own bikes, but never had any time. Barely have time to fit heated grips.