Chrissb6

Keep cool, as said my friend, patients is what’s needed. Walney has already said, there’s not a chance of fitting an engine with the carbs rubbers mounted on the engine, l entirely go along with that view. Check the rubbers are in good condition and dry – free from any grease or lubricant. You might also want to check that the rubbers sockets don’t have any offsets on them. What l mean by this is, that some rubbers are not quite parallel, turning them ever so slightly will either make them fit easy or put tension on the socket resulting in when you get the last one on, one or more of the others pops off. They have to go on and fit without any lateral tension. You should in theory be able to fit all the rubbers in place without tightening any of the clamps, me l just nip them up as l go along, and tighten up completely when all are in place; you should certainly not be forcing the rubbers into position. Best of luck

Good to hear you got it fixed, it would suggest though that, finding a tight spot on the head bearing might indicate the beginning of a flat spot on one of the ball bearings in the head bearing. You will have to monitor and keep an eye on it. On that note, your learning quick, if the bike does not feel right don't ignore it investigate, this is known as preventive maintenance, this will save you in the long run at lot of time, pain and money. Stay safe

I would suggest that if the key turns free and easy to the ignition – start position , then the problem would have to be in the steering lock locking pin sticking. Have a look for the pin and pin housing on the steering head stock. It’s probable that this is gummed up in grit and grime. Give it a good clean out with muck off or the like then give it a shot of lubricant; chain lub should be ok for this job. Hope this helps

Your right, there not that easy! I found the only way is to remove the fuel tank and everything back from the carb rubbers ie, the filter houseing, this allowes you more space to get your fingers in refitting these carb rubbers. Would not recommend using any lub on the rubbers as this causes them to pop off again very easierly. The rubbers all need to go back snug with no strain on the rubbers, failing to do this, will result in one popping off and you being back to square one. Take you time don't fight it, you'll know when its right. As suggested fit new rubber clamps "those spring clips do look tired" make sure you get the clamp tightening screws in such a position as to allow you to get to tighten them up.

You might need to check the valves and drive train, particulary the cam chain tensioner, if you did'nt notice the noise before, something is not quite right. Take strange noises as warnings. Hope you sort it soon.

Thats quite possible, if this is the case just give the starter button a quick stab to turn the motor before committing to starting the engine, but for sure do not rev the engine excessively from cold. In the good old days 2 to 3 swings on the kick start was always needed before you went for a start. I've stood on a kick start on a cold morning and the motor not even budged. The joys of having a button world!

When the temperature drops big demands is put on the oil and cooling systems. If the motor is kept outside in a cold climate the initial start up is critical. Give the motor a few turns with the kill switch off, this will break the friction and help pump some of the thick cold – high viscous oil up from the sump to the top of the engine. Revving a cold engine with cold oil can and will cause cavitations of the oil pump starving the top of the engine of oil, hence the rattles. Be gentle, look after your motor and it will look after you.

It take a big bang to knock your bikes steering out to the point of forks and wheels being damage, dow't if you had stayed on if that had happened, as others have said, give the wheels a spin and check there in true, you might also want to check that the balance weights are still in place.

Well its about time l put some pic's up of the toy box Bimota SB6R 02 Kawasaki ZX10 89 Gas Gas 400 Enduro 02 Suzuki Hayabusa 2011 K8 Bimota SB6R Brand new from bankrupt stock stole it! Kawasaki ZX10 Cost me a grand this 6yrs ago 20,000mls later still good to go anywhere any time. Gas Gas 400 Enduro Took to the dirt 4yrs ago, best fun ever during the winter Suzuki Hayabusa K8 Always wanted one, not dissapointed

You might want to check the fuel flow line. It might be the case of fuel starvation as if the engine is hunting for fuel, ie the revs are going up and down, as the fuel flow slows down the mixture will run week making the motor run fast and then die. This could be due part due to a block fuel line. Check the fuel tap and strainer and make sure you have a good flow. As Colin and others have mentioned also check the tank breather this might be a pipe or a pin hole in or around the filler cap this sometimes get choked in polish and crud. Sounds so much to me like a fueling problem. Best of luck as it sounds like you covered all the corners

Totally With Colin and the rest on this one, how you managed to ride it to the point that the chain came off on a road bike beggers belief. Count yourself very very lucky it happened when it did. Think of what could of happened if it had come off whilst you were in top gear on a busy road Chain off, rapped around your back wheel locking it up, your a lucky lad! The other side is the chain snapping smashing the engine casing and taking a lump out of your foot "not a nice thought". And yes over the years l have seen and heard of all these things happening. Sorry for the lecture matey, but you really was that lucky. Do ya checks Stay safe

Usefull link here with all the info you need for looking after your battery http://www.powerstream.com/SLA.htm

Sorry Kev if you thought l came over all wrong. But yes there are some right numptys who will try anything once, and for some its only once!! I heard of fingers being lost in fly wheels and chains the list goes on!! and yes one lad in the village years ago tried to cure a brake prob with WD40

And just like Mike Tyson, it will be a woman that brings him down.

Well, now that you've said you have had an off into some gravel, there's a good chance there's some grit got in between the pads and dis'c. And yes, this would make the noise your talking about. Best to way would be to give the brake caliper and pads a good cleaning. pay attension to make sure ther's no grit inbeded in the pads as this grit will damage - score the disc on the brake.

Well the cars are back to Silverstone. So what happens to this circuit now? Last l heard it was going to be modified and set up to run specialy for the bikes. Whats the betting this is going to go tits up bike wise regarding bike viewing - racing and safty issues. Straw bales for bikes anyone? You just know we, "the bikers" are going to get the a raw deal again.

Get the bike wheels off the ground and give each one of them a good looking at. Check that the wheels turn free with little or no drag. Have a look at the disc's and pads check for free movement and for any scoring on the disc's, it might be there's a small stone stuck in one of the calipers. Drive chains will whistle but normally not make the sort of noise your talking about. Another corner to look at is, it might be you have a dry or damaged wheel bearing. If the noise was not there before, it needs to found and sorted. Stay safe

There are some kids that come on here looking for advise and could take that last comment seriously. This pitstop section is here to help!!

Well if you've got sparks my friend next step is to check the fuel system. Just looking at this web site below, l note that the fuel lines are coupled to the carbs each side of the of the engine. Next step, I would turn off the fuel tap and remove the fuel line at each carbs then open the tap and see if the the fuel is getting to each carb. If the fuel is there at each of the carbs then, l would suggest putting it all back together and try and start the motor on the 2 working pots for a short moment, feel for the exhaust getting warm you will then know which cylinders are giving you trouble. You might then want to have to have a look inside the carbs and check the floats. Its just one step at a time till you find it. Best of luck mate. http://www.racingsm.org/evo500.php Some good pic's here

Quick test, whip out the plugs and rest them in there leads against the the engine casing turn the engine over and see if there's a spark at the plugs, trace fault back if you have any plugs with no spark, this is a quick way to check the plugs. If these are all working ok you might have a fuel problem, check the fuel strainer in the fuel tap to see if any of the fuel lines are blocked. Hope you find a simple cure.

On all the carb bikes i've had, from cold all i've done is as followes: Full choke, do not touch the trottle just hit the starter button, "opening the throttle at this point is almost certain to flood the engine". The motor should start and run up on a fast idle, after a few moments you should notice the motor start to choke itself ie, the engine slows down and begines almost to splutter, at this point move the choke lever to half way and slowly blip the trottle open and continue to warm up the engine. after a few moment of this the motor should be warmed up enough to let the choke completly off, the engine should then rev up clean and run at its normal tick over. If you are experiencing miss fires or backfires from cold, this would be a firm pointer to the electrical problems. You might want to check you have the right grade plugs in, from there give the H/T coils and leads a good spraying of ignition sealant. Hope this helps Best of luck

It could be your starting technique, or a problem with the choke circuit on the carbs. Would not advise reving a cold engine, more damage is done to a engine in not giving it the chance to warm up and lub up the motor and warm the oil , particularly with you saying your keeping it outside. Start on full choke then run up for couple of minutes on a fast tickover before trying to reving up the motor. Carb freezing these days is not common, the cooling system is now normally routed around the carb manifolds to stop this happening, so again warm the engine up before setting off. Optimate chargers are a good call this time of the year as running the bike with the lights on all the time puts a lot of strain on the battery and charging circuits, the optermate will give you the best chance of getting started. From a safty point of view, there's nothing worse or dangerous than a stuttering cold motor. Stay safe

Happy to hear your sorted, It payes big time to do some investigating, no need to jump in the deep end keep it simple. Spare spark plugs was always part of the tool kit in the old days on 2 strokes, new oils suppose to rid plugs of fowling, but all said and done your burning oil! Trust is a big ask of a machanic the work carried out no matter what price you pay is only as good as the guy doing it. I heared a real horror story the other day, where a good friend of my daughter was quoted over £2,000 to change a head gasget on a ford kia

Hi, as you first said you ran the bike on choke, it could well be something simple that you have gone and wet - fowled the spark plug. This would be my first port of call, very easy to check. Tempreture gauge will be reading the coolant - water not the oil. Also check the manual as to what spec of 2 stroke oil you should run on and see if that might cause the problem. l would be surprised if it did to be honest.

Sorry - update, only just opened up you pic's. The same rules applies for seized nuts. Wire brush the area and clean the stud threads as best you can. Give the the threads a good soaking of anti seizure oil. Again its the nut that you need to heat up and expand, a fine flame is needed to heat up the nut only, no need again to get it red hot. Have a suitable socket and wrench at hand to fit the nut. Do not over heat the stud at all cost, the metal will go soft, your then on your way to a real drama. Take your time you will win Best of luck