Tinkicker

Not dangerous. It is just high frequency vibration by the pads rattling in their mounts. It may go away if the pads are new and bedding in.

From the box by the kitchen window. Mum and Dad have absolutely no problems with us moving about in the kitchen, just business as usual, in and out like clockwork feeding their babies. Rescued one of the parents from the spare bedroom the other day, heard a commotion in there and went to investigate. Adult Robin flew onto the bed and sat watching as I opened a window. As soon as I opened it and held back the curtain for it to be able to fly past, it was away to freedom. It did not show seem to show fear, just the expectation that I was going to let it out. We keep the back door open for the dogs to wander in and out, so it must have got in there, flown through the house and up the stairs. Earlier this afternoon, much fluttering and commotion coming from the box and one fledgling appeared in the opening, sat for 15 minutes and took the leap of faith. It cannot fly and Mum is feeding it seeds from a dish the missus puts on the lawn every morning. A second one has appeared in the opening and has promptly fallen asleep. It has not moved in a half hour. Must have expended its energy flying up to the opening. Of course the way of it is, the battery is dead in my Nikon camera with zoom telephoto lens, so I had only my phone to take a crappy pic. Let me sleep, I will get around to it when I am good and ready.

Certainly the parts are a bit The parts are certainly easier to see in my day job. The pic below is titled "this is what happens when a 900hp diesel engine is driving a transmission with no lubrication". The gears melt. Transmission oil distribution pump failed. Customer ended up with a £50,000 bill after the repair. Big toys come with big ticket repairs.

Appropos the post about magnetic fields caused by houshold objects. I restore mechanical vintage watches and the missus has two tissots bought as non runners. The white strapped one modelled in a tasteful manner on my hairy arm was stripped, cleaned, serviced and regulated abot 2 years ago. The second, even smaller blue strapped one was restored about two months ago. I spend about a week regulating them on the timegrapher after a service to get them to within a couple of seconds a day or better and once reassembled, they are always wound daily. I do not believe in allowing mechanical watches to rest. Both watches have stayed absolutely synched with my master watch for the last two months, requiring only very minor adjustment, maybe 30 seconds at most every couple of months. They live on the missuses side bedside cabinet so I do not forget to wind them each morning. I am one of the few that specialise in restoring ladies watches, most won't get involved with them because they are too small and fiddly. A service at a service centre often involved just removing and scrapping the old movement and fitting a new one as the most cost and time efficient way. I do ladies watches because non runners are 25% the cost of mens size watches and it is not a disaster if it all goes horribly wrong.. Tiny movements. Cannot get any better than those readings. You expect those in a very high end chronometer... Earlier in the week, I noticed the white one suddenly losing 10 minutes a day and the blue gaining 15 minutes. On enquiring what had been going on at the bedside cabinet yesterday, I was given a puzzled look. Nothing, all I did was charge my tablet... Upstairs? Yes. You normally charge stuff in the kitchen... I was charging my phone on the downstairs charger so charged the tablet upstairs.. On the bedside cabinet? Yes. On top of the watches? Yes..oh! Suddenly moist eyes. She loves those watches. Mystery solved. I am going to have to degauss them and regulate again, not something I do lightly. Degaussing can in rare cases go horribly wrong.

My backside is howling in protest at the mere thought. Respect.

Subscribed..

In case you have no idea. Toyah needs needs no introduction. My mouth is watering... Fripp is the head of King Crimson, a huge prog rock band. Not necessarily my cup of tea, being more of a maiden fan. However they did a lot of good stuff. Fripp is a seriously cool guy and I love his style... Fripp in his more serious mode....

Very likely. AGM batteries often display good volts and insufficient cranking amps when they fail.

Always a laugh.

Took out the 175 this afternoon. Did a 40 mile or so loop, taking in my fairly local Breighton Airfield and thereby nicely combining two of my passions, bike and aviation. Breighton is a renowned vintage aircraft field and often Spitfires will visit. It was once home to a mk2 Hurricane and a P51 too, but I think they moved on. There are signs at the entrance gate saying no public allowed, but I think the airfield changed hands and as long as you buy a coffee and a sausage roll/ slice of cake in the clubhouse restaurant, they do not mind you rocking up. It is far friendlier than of old. I suppose they just do not want to be rammed by hundreds of joe public with their kids running around the place. Airfields are dangerous places. Mature bikers sipping coffee at the tables, watching the planes 20ft away are no problem. In fact as I was leaving, two guys were stood by their bikes at the gate, a triumph and a velocette I believe. The sign was putting them off entering. I put them right and they were going in for a coffee when I left. So if you are looking for a destination somewhere different, Breighton is the place. Delightful rural ride involving fast A roads and winding country lanes through picturesque villages too. https://www.realaero.com/ DT having a rest. Tiger Moth. J3 Piper Cub. Bucher Jungmester. Bye.

So back in the days of the motorcycle activity center, I was summoned from my lair to see to a caller looking to sell a brace of new Honda XR50 clones. Said caller was Nick Jeffries and he had a couple of bikes in the back of the van. Not to be rude, but adopting a sceptical countenance, I bade him remove one of said motorcycles from van and start it up. They were fresh from the crate, so required we supply a pint of fuel for the demonstration. Luckily, they had engine oil. Fuel in, kick, kick, kick, thrum. He got it warmed up enough to idle and our little circle spent a pleasant five minutes or so, hands in pockets, enjoying the bright sunshine and observing said little bike idling away. What was particularly pleasing was the way all the lovely, shiny, loose, nuts, bolts and screws prettily twinkled and caught the sunlight as they slowly unscrewed themselves... Plop, first to hit the floor was one of the chain adjuster nuts, but it was a close race between that and a front brake lever bolt locknut. I wanted the locknut to win, but it was just pipped at the post by the adjuster nut. Various bodywork screws were giving their all, but in the end ran out of steam before they came right out. A cough, a scratch of the nose and a tiny, almost imperceptable headshake was enough to see said pile of poor quality components, loosely flying in formation back in the van, never to be seen again. It was certainly no Honda, that was for sure.

Are you sure all the linkage springs between the carbs are still in place? Also have you had the carbs balanced since they were apart? The little rubber slip on boots/ screws on the intake stubs used to block off the balancing ports, are they still in place? Does it spit through the exhaust when opening the throttle?

#112 main jet. Kawasaki part number 920631117 around £8.50 ea. #35 pilot jet. Kawasaki part number 920641101 £10.50 or thereabouts. Applicable for European model GPX750R from 1987 to 89. Do not be tempted by cheapo aftermarket jets. Get genuine. Often an aftermarket jet is not an identical jet to OEM. Don't ask me how I know this... It was a very expensive lesson to learn..

A four into one exhaust if less restrictive, will certainly cause it to run leaner. What market is your manual for? Different markets often had different carb settings. What is supplied in the US is often different to Europe or Oceana. The only way to be clear is to have a manual specific to the UK model. Does your carbs have accellerator pumps fitted? If so and they are faulty, that would cause the bogging as would restricted pilot jets. Are the carb slides free and able to open to their full extent? It certainly sounds lean to me. Of course, these are only generalisations. A diagnosis is impossible over the internet.

As said. I have probably done a few thousand miles with motorcycles strapped to the back of my car. Can you say the same or is it merely opinion?

A couple of pushbikes? Really. I have actually done a few thousand miles with motorcycles strapped to the back of my car without issue. Can you actually say the same, or is it merely opinion? Not my pic btw. For illustrative purposes only.

I usually kick myself up and down for being a knob every day. Thats OK because it focuses the mind on being better tomorrow.. Simple matter is that life decrees.. If you do not feel like a knob now and are feeling pleased with yourself, fate will laugh and turn you into a complete bellend tomorrow.

Or a motorcycle rack. I carried my trusty Bultaco SherpaT 350 many miles sat over the rear bumper of my Ford Escort mk3 back in the day.

Apropos this thread. This very day, Black Belt Barrister released a vid about filtering.

Long awaited week off work this week. Really looking forward to getting the VFR out and putting a few miles on her in the warm sunshine. Could not wait for last week to end. The grim reality. Wind, rain, cloud and cold. To cap it off, the missus started with a cough, sore throat and joint aches on Saturday. I started on Monday.... Great holiday. Have I mentioned how lucky I am?

Agree with the point that tyre bead is not seated correctly on the rim.

You changed the coils. Are you absolutely certain you have got the HT leads going to the correct cylinders?

Took to the road on the VFR this morning with some trepidation. I know I have two venerable old bikes running perfectly. To have three running perfectly is unknown. Always some niggle that needs working out. So kitted up, got her out of the shed and running. Gave her a bit of a warm up as VFRs are notoriously cold blooded. A minute later and she was answering sharp blips of the throttle without bogging and time to open all the gates to get out of Fort Knox. Out on the road, through the village at 30mph and 3000 rpm and no problems. Reached the country lanes, opened the taps a little.. Hard misfire and popping through the exhaust at 5500 rpm. It cleared at 7000 rpm. Aha that must have cleared it Changed up a couple if gears and loaded her up. Hard misfire around 5500 rpm and popping back through the exhaust. Dammit, a plug starting to fail, probably because of all the abuse they suffered under the blowlamp when drying the stale fuel off them. I resolved to take the next left turn back to village and order some plugs. Left turn looming ahead and misfire felt a bit better than before. Do I go home or continue on to the next village? I resolved to continue. The misfire gradually went away over the next two miles and by the time I got to the next village, it was gone completely. Lovely silky smooth engine at all throttle openings and rpms. Must have been fouling due to all the crap they endured during the winter. This winter, I am draining the fuel and carbs and putting in a couple of litres of Aspen fuel in with a splash of two stroke oil in, just to keep things "wet"and corrosion proof. I will never trust pump fuel and those carbs ever again over the winter layup. Enjoyed a 40 or so mile ride on her, filled her up.with fresh Esso 99 premium and as ever on the first ride of the season, marvelled at just how good she is at everything. Of course, chassis being fully rebuilt, she feels like a brand new bike, which she pretty much is. A moment of consternation at the petrol station. Ignition on, pressed the starter button and nothing. What the hell? Five seconds of panic ensued until I noticed that I had inadvertantly knocked off the kill switch. Switch back to run and "ah thank God". It cranked and ran. Turned off the A19 and onto a long straight leading back to the village. Opened her up in first and at 7000 rpm, the front wheel lifted and hovered 6" above the road in that delightful way VFRs do. Second gear, 7000 rpm, sit back on the seat, and up she came again, floating 6" above the road. Very satisfying. Shakedown ride over. I have four days to work, then a week off. I hope the weather is good. The missus and I plan to do some trips out on her this holiday. Resting after an eventful shakedown ride. In my opinion there is no finer bike ever made, it just does everything so well (apart from two up, long distance touring) but then I am a tad biased.

Three bikes.. 1. Taxed VFR750 so it is officially back on the road. Shakedown ride tomorrow. 2. Took DT175 for a 30 mile ride to observe the CHT on the new gauge. Outside air temp 16C. Around the towns and villages at 30 mph ish.. 4th gear and maybe 3500 rpm she was running steady at 155 - 160C. Open road, wide open throttle or close to it, the max I saw was 185C with average around upper 170s. A nice bit below the danger zone. Only thing is the cylinder head is a fair chunk of metal. It takes a good while to heat and a good while to cool. Even with the gauge you have to bear in mind that the piston will heat quicker and run far hotter than the gauge would suggest. Now I can use the throttle without fear of blowing the piston, I am pleased with the way she is running. Crisp in the lower gears, but a tad over geared in 6th. I am thinking of putting her back on stock gearing. Now I am not afraid to let her rev, I think she will be much happier overall and with a higher top speed. Took little yeller out on the same route over 30 miles. By far her longest run so far. I had a big grin on my face the whole way round the route. What a lot of fun that bike is. Lovely crisp and free revving motor, fair chunk of power for its size and can be thrown about like a bicycle. I hit 55mph once, but she must have been at or very close to redlining, she is far happier at 45mph, and maybe 50 at a pinch. She is so small that 40mph feels like 80mph. So 60 two stroke powered miles today. Have not done that many two stroke miles in one day for over 40 years. Both bikes behaved impeccably. Little yeller. Tiny bike with a big heart.

Finally got around to fitting a CHT gauge to the DT175mx. Best looking and easiest way without making a permanent alteration to the bike was to simply cable tie it to the clutch cable where it is supported by the handlebar and chest protector. High temp alarm is set to a conservative 196C (385F) so a bit of headroom to account for gauge lag. Apparently it flashes red when max temp is exceeded and the temp numbers flash also. Danger point is around 225C (440 - 450F) . Would not want to be going much above that. It will be nice to know how hot she runs at various throttle positions. Since I fitted the genuine #130 main as per UK spec, I must admit the plug is a very nice dark tan colour. The gauge unit has no means to be switched off which is odd, but at least the CR2032 battery is easily replaced and the temp reading seems accurate as when I first activated it in the living room, it agreed with the heating thermostat readout. Hopefully no more blown pistons.