Snod Blatter

He's replaced the engine! Who knows what it could be after that kind of work though, maybe something hasn't been reconnected..

Really difficult to say without being there.. Is there fuel? Does the spark plug get wet? Is the spark plug sparking well when outside the engine?

Would you consider a used original item instead? Sure would be helpful if they stated what mileage it had done, mind..

What kind of doddery old man rides an RS125?? Maybe he just couldn't face the return journey!

Bloke at work has got a Black Widow can on his 600 gixxer, not only does it sound awful but it's also ludicrously loud which means I still get to laugh at him long after he's left the car park. He doesn't like it either, but it was on the bike when he bought it and it barely gets used so he's not bothered to replace it.

I can recommend Kyoto or Rhino for this! Weirdly the no-name Chinese jobbies I've tried have had significantly more bite than those two brands..

I wholeheartedly approve of this message but I'd still have a CB400SS out of the lot

Have you tried revving it a bit with the clutch lever pulled in?

I do generally use ebay, though I now mostly use https://www.sparkplugs.co.uk/ for plugs as I hear there are a lot of fakes starting to turn up on ebay and sparkplugs.co.uk is often cheaper anyway! The last lot of oil I bought was from GSF as they were having a 50% off sale as they are now actually but it seems 10w40 is no longer part of the car scene and therefore no longer cheap. I'm hesitant to try the 5w40, it may have the dreaded friction modifiers.. As for seals, usually ebay but try and get the proper manufacturer's part - at least then you know it'll fit and be good quality. I love some new old stock I don't really like kits, I've had experience where bits weren't quite right or obviously really cheap.

I'm just going to mention that this is happening again on Sunday, should anyone fancy it..

Given that it isn't a standard plunger style tensioner I think not, but really why would you bother? The original never gave any trouble, the chain never made any noise and yet it hasn't been stretched to oblivion so I'd say it works absolutely perfectly. Now if a manufacturer can find a way to tension a final drive chain in the same manner and bother to fit hydraulic buckets for automatic valve clearance adjustment then we'll be set!

The oval holes have been thought about and I have a plan, but for now I've still got all this incredibly boring gasket scraping to get on with. The only interesting thing I can report is that I've replaced the cam chain and this was made strangely difficult because the carrier for the middle bearing had actually slid off the bearing and wouldn't let me get the chain out or take the tensioner off its pin! It took me a while to figure this out, the crank wouldn't even go round..! I can only guess this must have happened when I malleted the crank out of the left case. It was nothing a few blows with a wooden mallet couldn't sort, once the carrier was moved back (upwards in that shot) there was enough room to get everything off. In the interest of science, here are the new and old chains side by side: The new one is at the top, if that isn't clear. So the old one is slightly worn and a little bit stretched, I guess this would put the cam timing out a few degrees but considering a new Morse chain was £36 I'd rather see a more dramatic difference! Considering this chain has done 93K I'd suggest most of these engines will never need a new chain. More interesting updates coming soon, promise.

Is the bolt supposed to go all the way through and hold everything, even the fuel tank, in place? Are you sure you're trying to use the right bolts? Can we have any pictures??

Did indeed, and managed to meet Gerontious so all went to plan. It was much busier than I was expecting! Can't imagine how packed it'll be on warmer, longer nights - I'll have to take a smaller bike

So this is tomorrow, slated for 7-9PM. Anyone else still planning on going?

Clean it up, preferably with brake cleaner or something that will evaporate completely, and thumb a little chemical metal into the crack. Job jobbed, no biggie. I wouldn't faff about replacing it, you'll have all the old gasket to clean off along with all the stator gubbins to swap.. Nah.

I bet it did change the beam.. Not to be "that guy" but MOT rules are becoming stricter around headlights fitted with the incorrect bulbs that spaff light all over the place. If you put a different kind of bulb into a reflector headlight then the beam pattern from the lamp will be different and the reflector will reflect it all over the place, much to the annoyance of everyone. If you're looking to fit it into a projector style headlight then no problem, carry on. If you want more light you could do it properly by wiring in a relay to feed the bulb straight from the battery, reducing the resistance of the circuit and therefore getting far more light out of the bulb. If you want reliability then frankly I've found halogen bulbs to be obscenely reliable, I don't think I've replaced one yet!

As always for bikes of a certain age there are also tall tales to be read about them over at the UMG blog. If I was buying one I'd certainly like to hear it running before handing over any dosh, a bad Superdream can sound like a proper bag of nails!

Where to start with this thread.. Firstly it's a fact that red frames are the best. A Fact. Secondly the best ones are red framed with white bits, like this: That's one I saw at Rugby Bikefest a couple of years ago, I've also seen a black one on my commute a couple of times - they do exist! The frame looks like a Spondon and is therefore also a thing of beauty even if it makes valve clearance checks annoyingly difficult.. If you don't like it you're in the wrong. Soz. Engine wise it's a Superdream lump but 350cc so spares may be difficult because I don't think that exact motor was used anywhere else. It'll also be worn out at 50K because Superdream. They also seem to suffer poor build quality, I seem to remember they were built in Spain just like later CBX250RS's - thin paint and dodgy electrics were newly found features. Brakes are supposed to be very good for the performance you have to hand. Overall bit slow, surprisingly heavy, not many spares and good brakes.. But if you like the frame you don't have a lot of choice.

So do you change down a gear and not get the gear you were going for (this is a false neutral) or does it slip out of gear into a false neutral on overrun?

Expensive for many things but occasionally well priced, I got a replacement alternator cover for the TRX from them - annoyingly difficult to find one without a hole ground into the bottom but they had one. Good service over the phone too from what I remember. Pics though, come on.

Ahaha I bet they're ever so glad they gave us this extension, we're apparently going to use it to show them the kind of faff they could never hope to comprehend! Anyway Wispas are great. I was proper heartbroken when Cadbury's killed it off, but then seeing it in the shops again a few years later.. Ahh the excitement was all worth it.

no u Moving on.. I was faced with this, the "carrier" for the middle bearing. I undid all the bolts (one was threadlocked, that had to be rattled out!) in the vain hope I could turn the carrier and open up spaces to get the cam chain out. This didn't work. Right, long way round we go.. Alternator cover off: Don't lose the gear that goes on the end of the starter motor! I still can't believe the starter clutch is chain driven, even the '84 CBX250 is gear driven but whatever. Don't faff about. With the bolt out the middle it's time to use a 12.9 bolt to pull the flywheel off. This took quite a bit of doing with tightening, hammering, tightening, hammering, cringing, tightening, hammering, tightening, cringing.. But eventually it gave in! Once loose the flywheel falls off the taper, no problemo. Annoyingly the rollers for the starter clutch a) are covered in rust and b) fell out. This will be a game to put back together, ho ho! I'll stick them in there for now, good job it's magnetic eh? In preparation for crankshaft removal remove the other piston so it'll go past the studs for the cylinders/head.. To try and prove that I'm not always a complete numpty here's proof that I managed to not lose a gudgeon pin clip! So, undo the bolts for the carrier again: And use Thor's leather hammer to persuade the crankshaft out. A few taps and out she comes, lovely. By gum I've got a lot of gasket surfaces to scrape. So, that's the cam chain replacement sorted - now what about those oval holes?? Going to take some thinking about.

Kawasaki Estrella, Honda GB250 (dressed up CBX250RS!!), Yamaha SRV250.. There was probably a Suzuki version as well. They keep all the best stuff for themselves, CB400 Super Four with VTEC also springs to mind. As for the 125s I really have no idea on build quality, Mutt have had issues but all manufacturers seem to have blips in quality at the lower end of the market. Sinnis are a mixed bag, some are good and some bad - it depends who Sinnis are buying the particular model from. As for Bullit I can't remember anyone ever mentioning them..

And that it is the only 2 stroke XR100 ever made.. I imagine people who know about guns must find almost all films completely infuriating, wrong sounds, wrong techniques, wrong reactions.. I'm glad it's just the bike bits I can't believe!