GazW

Seeing if anyone would be interested? Probably the 13/14/15 April weekend, heading up from Manchester way. Maybe a few challenge 100 slight detours, either hotel/camping overnight Saturday or friday/Saturday then travel back Sunday. I really want to get away as I chef in a pub with sky sports so euros are going to be hell this year!

I bought this CG over a year ago and swapped the engine and wiring loom for one from a 2003 bike with electric start and 6k miles. It was pretty straightforward and you wont find a cheaper/easier bike to work on. I used a mikuni carb instead of the Keihin one and uprated the jets because I removed the PAIR valve (pulsed air injection, recirculates air from the exhaust through the carb to reduce emissions) and it wouldn't run right on the keihin. I might have a haynes knocking about for it somewhere if you cover the postage, give us a shout if want. That exhaust I found on E-bay for £20 it was immaculate, I paid about £140 for a pair of michelin Pilot sportys and it was probably the best money I spend on the bike, Transformed the handling of it.

Found this whilest struggling with limited tyre choices for my GPZ may be use to fellow 500 riders http://www.ex-500.com/wiki/index.php/Tire_Comparison

I cut down a flat bit of sheet metal to the size of my reg plate, but cut long enough to stick a flimsy magnetic L plate on, used the two holes from the reg as a guideto drill the metal, bolted through the metal, reg and fixed to the mounting bracket. Never broke and lasted till I sold the bike.

If you go to a friendly garage, they can use the probe they use to measure exhaust emissions to check for gasses escaping out the top of the header tank, this will eliminate HGF, if the thermostat isn't opening then you are drastically reducing the efficiency of your cooling system as coolant isn't flowing, find where it's located, pull it out, chuck it in a pan of boiling water and a valve should open. If it doesnt then that's kerput. Start simple, the thermostat removal will drain your cooling system as it will be submerged in it, so buy some antifreeze before hand. If your head gasket has gone you will normally notice other things, check the dipstick/sight glass for a 'Mayo' style build up emulsified oil/coolant mix. Google rover HGF and go on images to get an idea of what it looks like. Good luck!

Check the two lines match on your throttle linkage where it joins the carb, (throttle open iirc) clean the air filter, check the plug (colour and gap, it should be a nice light brown, if it's wet your running rich if it's White and blistered your running lean) check the valve clearences (google the tolerances, you need a feeler gauge) and if it's points (pre 97) check the timing...

Thermostat?

http://www.ninjette.org/wiki/New_gen_tire_options Not a very interesting read but the jist is that they only make crossply's in my sizes, not radials. Says some people put 160/60's on but I don't wanna Pisa about with sizes

I need to get a new set of tyres on the GPZ, they are 130/70/17 and a 110/70/17. Doesn't seem to be a massive amount of choice, either BT45's but I have read about uneven wear being an issue, Avon roadriders, continetal contitwists, or Michelin pilot activ's. They are all roughly the same price, with the michelins being slighty more expensive at just the right side of £200. Just wondered if anyone has ridden any of the above on a commuter style bike and had any input. I ride every day, in all weathers and wouldn't mind decent mileage, well performing in the wet and hopefully confidence inspiring enough to ride twistys when the weather takes a turn for the better.. In an ideal world lol. I find myself shying away from the bridgestones, I don't know if it's in my head but I feel like you can feel the grip change when you come off the soft outside of the tyre onto the hard middle and have had a couple of snakey moments on the current BT45 that's on when I have ridden hard.

I'll get some pictures later, its stuck to the glass, with the engine off the sight glass is full of oil, when its running this level drops drastically, the gunk is still there.

I know some vauxhalls can show fake signs of HGF with frequent short journeys. Does this apply to bikes aswell? The oil itself looks of even consistancy, no 'mayo' on the dipstick, just a patch of white gunk on the inside of the sight glass. The coolant level has remained the same, is this purely from short journeys? Haven't really ridden much further than ten miles in one go for a fair few weeks. Hope its just condensation, should I be worried? Bike is a Gpz500s

Would appreciate if someone could add me to the list, I'm on my phone and can't copy and paste

Definatly not. A 33bhp bike can still reach 100mph, fall off at that speed on anywhere but a track and its almost certainly death. The minority that pass DAS get a ridiculous bike and ride like they think they are invincible, have a blatant disregard for their own safety, will probably still ride a restricted bike with little or no thought for themselves or any other road users. If anything the idea of a restriction may make them think the bike is 'beneath' them and make them worse still. The majority of new riders have respect for their machines, the fact they are so vunerable, and a twist of the wrist in the wrong place could be death. I passed my DAS and bought a 500. Yeah its over 33bhp, but I haven't done anything stupid, I don't intend getting rid of this for an R-1, I may get a CBR600. I respect the fact if I ride like a pillock, that I could quite easily kill myself or others around me, I believe this is what makes me want to be a better rider, and a safer rider. I like being alive, its quite enjoyable, I have ridden at around 85 on the motorway and had the thought 'If I'm off now I'm dead' run through my head. Hopefully that part of my brain will keep me alive

All else fails, if your uni has an engineering department, ask to borrow a blowtorch, gently heat the nut. Or ask if they have an impact driver.

advertise your engine as a non runner on ebay and you might claw 50-100 back..

full engine with 27k out of a 98 on E-bay, £300 best bet I'm afraid. Get a manual, tools and it shouldnt be too major a job to swap the engine, unbolt ancileries, drop engine, replace engine, reconnect everything up. Change oil, filter and plugs and away you go. The fact its air cooled is in your favour!

The front sprocket won't have any bearing on tight spots in the chain, thats the chain itself... As above, I wouldn't replace anything other than all three at once. If one's on its way out then the rest won't be too far behind.. Tell your mate what the garage said and see what he says. Doubt anyone on here will advise you just changing the front sprocket. Pretty weird that a mechanic would recommend that.only thing I can think is he does this so you think hes a reasonable guy, then he would hope you take your bike to him in future

Depends on what you are getting for that service.... Did you find out exactly what they are going to do? If they are going to be doing valve clearences, plus plug, filter, oil change, and the extras you pointed out it seems steep but not excessively so... If its just a plug + filter + oil change then do it yourself and keep the recipts. Whats the value of the bike? I don't think a service will get you 170 quid on the value of the bike. 125's hold their value pretty well. Have you tried a local independant bike mechanic? Edit; clutch adjusting, how is the clutch on the handlebar adjustment? If it cant be done there, follow it down to the engine casing where the arm is, just before that should be a threaded section of the cable with two nuts, pretty straightforward to adjust. Just need a spanner...

thats because your battery is fully charged, and your electrics work off this. Your battery does nothing to your engine, it is there for your lights + indicators. Your engine generates its own source of electricity for the spark plug by way of the alternator/magneto/points. Hence why your battery died, something on your bike has failed and it isn't charging the battery. Where are you located? You either need someone to help/show you or you need a mechanic, or a manual. Have you tried removing the sparkplug and checking for a spark?

See if you can get a haynes manual for it. They explain things pretty well, the process I described will check if you have a spark, if you do you can eliminate that. If you don't but get one from the bare lead then you know that the problem is after the lead ie; plug/cap. All about trial and error. With it being such an old bike I would buy a manual anyway and change the points and reset the timing, check the valve clearences, change the oil + filter, strip and clean the carb and so on. Not really hard jobs, just labour intensive thats why you pay so much at a garage. Not only will it boost your mechanical confidence but it will give you a greater understanding of how your bike works. Even if you don't do anything other than read the manual it will help you understand how the engine works, which will help you try and pinpoint where things have gone wrong in future. I would say that all three are linked. The battery, indicators, and not starting makes me think its something electrical. If you start at the plug and check everything leading back to the alternator. You will find the problem somewhere...

The lead that comes from under your tank to the spark plug, it is high tension yes, the tension relates to voltage in this case. The part of your engine that has fins on, where the spark plug is situated contains your cylinder. Its irrelevent and bad explanation on my part. Just unscrew the spark plug. Put it back on the lead you would have pulled off it to be able to get a spanner on it, then with a pair of pliers hold the end of the spark plug against one of the fins. Then manually push down on the kickstart with your hand whilest holding the plug against the bare metal. You should see a healthy blue spark on the end of the spark plug. Your ignition has to be on. You will find it much easier to push the kickstart as the spark plug wont be inserted into the engine so there wont be any back pressure.

for future reference mate if you have issues with your bike post them in the pitstop thread. Did you get the charging system sorted? If you unscrew your spark plug connect it to the HT lead and hold the end against your cylinder head and turn the bike over with the kickstart and ignition on do you get a spark? If not then remove the spark plug, unscrew the spark plug cap (it screws into the core of the HT lead) and try again with the bare lead, if you have a spark there, then try trimming a CM off the lead, reassemble, ensuring to screw the cap straight into the core of the lead. Try again, if the bare lead works but this doesn't then get a new spark plug + cap. If the bare lead doesn't work it could be ignition timing (points) or the coil. If the spark plug sparks to begin with then try stripping and cleaning the carb, its just trial and error, ticking things off the list trying the most simple first....

are your indicators the right wattage for your system? 6v system wont power much at all, although I would try and find the problem to your battery before you rectify this as the two are almost certainly linked.

Multimeter across your battery terminals, check your voltage when its running, if its going too low then your alternator isn't charging your battery, if its too high then your reg/rec is boiling your battery. Don't know the voltages for a 6v system, for a 12 it should be around 14 at 5k. Would guess it would be around 7/8 mark. No doubt someone will be along to tell you shortly

Understatement of the year