WD-40

I think electric bicycles will become one of the main modes of transport in the next few years. A friend had one and he let me use it a few times. It was bloody brilliant, zipping along with no effort and no noise. His one did about 20mph. That was plenty fast. If you get the chance you should have a go on one. You will be surprised how good they are.

Cheers @Tiggie The £50 is in the post I'm going to nominate @gymwitch for man of the year for stripping and rebuilding the carbs on her CBR400 and getting the bike running sweet after it was parked for a long time. It's not easy to get a carb rebuild right if it's your first time doing it!

Yes could be a bad connection, usually a bad ground but can also be on the 12V side. Low battery voltage usually shows as slow crank or no crank and a clicking starter relay.

It's just to increase the chance that a sleepy commuter knows that I'm there and I wouldn't say it's loud, it's just louder than the average car. It's not easy to see a bike when you're in a car. Especially if you're half asleep and the heat is on and there's a good song on the radio and your mind isn't on the road

The answer to this is obvious. You need a third bike Something that no one would bother stealing. (Insert joke here). And park the other two with a friend or family member

Bit of an unusual one. As Mississippi Bullfrog said the starter solenoid should be open so no current should be able to flow through the starter motor. I would check if there is voltage between the starter motor terminal and ground. If there is voltage on the starter motor terminal there is a problem in the starter circuit because there should be no voltage there until you press the starter switch. So connect the motorbike's battery back up. Put your meter to DC volts. Put the red probe on the starter motor terminal and the black probe on battery negative. On a normal working bike you would see 0V on the meter. If you see voltage that is the problem. A faulty starter solenoid would be the most likely cause. To test it you could disconnect the battery, unplug connector going to the solenoid and unbolt the larger connections so that the solenoid is completely removed from the bike. Put your meter to ohms and check for continuity across the bolted contacts switched contacts. On a fully working bike the meter would show OL which means no continuity. If your meter shows a resistance it means there is a connection across the bolted contacts and that is the fault. Maybe corrosion in the solenoid is causing a contact.

I agree 100%. People sitting in long lines of traffic are half asleep. You have to make a bit of noise or they don't see you.

Try this, it might help. If you're doing a u turn to the right shift your ass all the way to the left side of the seat. If you're doing a u turn to the left shift your ass all the way to the right. It'll keep your body more upright and let you turn the bars further without feeling like the bike is going to drop. And always look ahead in the direction you want to go.

Yeah common problem on them. I think the only problem really. I think the CBR600 is a bike that certainly deserves the title bullet proof.

Try unplugging the connector going to the regulator/rectifier and check if the meter drops to 0A when it's unplugged. If it does it means a diode has shorted in the regulator/rectifier and current is flowing the wrong way back into the stator. You would need a new regulator/rectifier

Here's a good one for CV carbs

A common area where wires rub through is around the headstock. The headstock is the part of the frame that the handlebars and front suspension pivot on. The wiring loom gets pulled because of the handlebars turning and that causes the wires to rub against the frame and wears away the insulation. Have a close look at the wires in that area for any signs of rubbing.

There's a very clear and easy to follow test procedure in the Honda cbr600 f4 workshop manual that goes through checking for current leakage and checking the charging system

One thing I would say about doing DIY mechanics is there's some people that would like to give it a go but they don't because they're worried they will damage their bike which is a shame. If you really want to give it a go buy the cheapest pile of scrap you can find and a workshop manual and take it to bits. Even if it never runs you'll learn a lot from doing it and get a bit of confidence that you can do it.

The great thing about bikes is there's something in it for every personality type. Do the bit you enjoy and f what anyone else thinks.

Yeah I agree. If the main fuse is blowing, a main 12V wire must be touching ground. Either touching the frame or touching a ground wire. Usually a wire rubs through it's insulation and touches the frame, but it can also happen inside a connector where there's a bad connection and that causes the connector to melt and two pins can touch. You can check visually or you can use a multimeter. You can get a multimeter for less than £10 so worth getting one. If you use the multimeter, disconnect the bike's battery, take the fuse that's blowing out. Put the multimeter on continuity (the beeping sound), or put it on resistance. Connect one of the probe to the negative battery wire. Connect the other probe each sides of the fuse holder where you took the blown fuse out of. There will be continuity on one side of the fuse holder. The side that has continuity is where the problem is. When you know what side the problem is on follow the wire and look for damaged insulation

Check the drain holes between the fins. They can get block with dirt. Then water collects around spark plug 3 and 4 when the bike is on the side stand.

If you click themotorbikeforum logo at the top of the page, it takes you to the main page. Now click the button that's on the left of the "start new topic" button. The button you're clicking on is called "fluid". It gives all the threads on a long list, you just tick the box on the right for whatever forums you want on the list.

A cat can kill a rat. We had a male cat that would bring back half eaten rats

Have a look at the workshop on youtube. He has a few videos on this topic https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BOQ_FZ6Wgmw

You could check the connections on the starter relay. The bolted ones. Make sure they're tight. In your first post you said "I can even get the bike to start cranking over but it wont fully turn over". What did you mean by it wont fully turn over? I understood it to mean that the starter motor was turning slower than normal. Is that what you meant? Has putting the good battery in changed that or is it still doing the same thing as before?

Check the voltage across the battery when the bike is running. If the charging system is good it should be around 13V at idle rising to 15V at 5000RPM.

@Stu your head must be done in from all these questions

Might make more sense to pick a bike that came out a few years ago like a Honda Rebel. Then compare the clearance on the original 1985 Rebel to the 2020 Rebel and see what the differences are. From what I've seen new bikes tend to have smaller clearance and tighter tolerance compared to older bikes. I'd guess it's because now they have to meet stricter emissions.

Do any manufactures of bikes, cars, brake systems or brake fluid recommend flushing with alcohol? Any workshop manuals that show it being done? If you take your bike, car, truck etc to a proper mechanic do they flush with alcohol or anything other than brake fluid? Are they all doing it wrong?