Tinkicker

Not having a pop at you Stu. I only quoted you because you brought it up and I could jump in with some relevant comments. My intention was to point out the vested interests of the manufacturers in recommending replacing them every time and everyone else, from third party service manual authors to motoring journalists slavishly following the party line, leading to people spending cash they do not need to. Sure, it is best practice to replace them every time. No argument there. On the other hand, a waste of ever dwindling planetary resources and cash. At the end of the day it is a plug, a mating surface and a gasket. The cost benefit analysis is not complex. Fit plug and tighten. Does it leak? No. Great, a couple of quid saved ( dealer price). The vast majority of cases. Yes it has a slow drip. Spend a couple of quid on a new washer, remove plug, put finger over hole to keep oil in, put new washer on plug and screw it back in. Cost over price of new washer, a few pence worth of lost oil. A very rare case. I cannot recall it ever happening. In my case this is a good thing. Holding back 40 gallons of engine oil with the palm of the hand leads to very soggy overall sleeves. One drain plug washer I would always replace every time is one on a Skydrol oil tank. That stuff is proper nasty.

Change the washer! In 40 years of pissing around with changing the oil on everything from mopeds to 200 tonne dump trucks, this includes my own vehices, I have not changed a good condition sump plug washer once. How many leaks have I experienced from reusing a visually undamaged washer? Zero. Another £2.59 goes into the dealers pocket for replacing a perfectly servceable sump washer. When you are dealing with 27,000 commercial vehicles nationwide, with an average of 3 oil changes a year, do the math*.. If its not leaking after an hour of tightening it and warming the motor, it is not going to leak. Changing sump washers every oil change is not a thing on large fleets. It is done "on condition". There is a lot of dodgy info out there, mostly put out to part the customer with his hard earned cash or as a tick box measure. If a crush washer has not been tightened enough to severely deform it, it can be reused with care on LOW pressure applications like sump plugs and checked for leaks afterwards. Dowty washers can be felt for correct protrusion and hardness of the insert. Some washers are shaped to deform and lose their new appearance on tightening due to "sealing ridges" that have been stamped in getting flattened out. Consider changing one of this style to a different style that can be reused at the next oil change if possible. As an aside a valuable lesson while we are talking drain plugs. A plug should only ever have two positions. In and correctly tightened, or completely removed. It should never be put back loosely " for now". Plugs using O rings. Provided that the O ring has not taken on a conical shape and is still flexible, it can be reused provided when screwing the plug in finger tight, the plug stops and requires a spanner at least one full turn before being fully home and tightened. * 27000 x 3 x £2. £162,000 annually is a lot of money for sump plug washers! You can see why manufacturers " recommend" changing them at every oil change!

Git.

No harm whatsoever. Takes a tad longer and may leave a miniscule amount more of old oil in than hot, but otherwise no difference at all.

Thats a PAIR valve. It is not a fuel pump. It pumps air into the exhaust headers to burn off any excess hydrocarbons.

Perhaps I was a little ungenerous. I suspected we were being taken for fools esp after he apparently has enough knowledge to change other parts of the bike as detailed. It would have been nice to know that it was a simple vacuum operated fuel tap... I dunno how he managed to "remove" a non existent fuel pump though. Anyways. Pull off fuel hose from tap to carb at tap end. Place tap on PRI or prime. If fuel comes out, it is not a problem in the tank or tap. Reconnect hose. Pull hose from carb inlet end. Turn fuel on prime. If fuel comes gushing out of the end, it is not a blocked hose or fuel filter if fitted. I dunno if yours has a filter but if it has, change it "just because". Undo a float bowl drain screw and drain the bowl. Turn fuel on prime. If fuel starts to resume pouring out the float drain tube, there is no blockage in the fuel manifold between the carbs. Replace the fuel which if old has gone bad. Remove the plugs and clean them of excess "fuel" so you know they are able to give a good spark. Rejoice in the thrum of your 600. Put the fuel tap to the on position. If bike cuts out again a few miniutes later, you either have a vacuum leak between the carb the vac line is connected to and the tap, or the tap diaphragm itself is faulty If no fuel comes out the carb overflow on prime, you will have to strip the carbs.

I am completely lost. You mention fuel pumps and then mention the book says gravity feed to the carbs. Looking back at your original post, you say Suzuki bandit mk 2, 2003. No mention of engine size or anything else. How can we be expected to help if you are so reticent with absolutely required info. We do not even know what size your engine is. Sorry. I am done.

It will most likely only supply 12v when the engine is turning. My VFR needs to see an output from the crank sensor before it will switch on the pump.

Tempted, but not quite sure yet. I have a lot of expensive planes that I hardly ever fly. Probably the only ones I am current on are the A10C hog, the MK9 Spitfire, the Mossie, the UH1H Huey copter, fast becoming very inexpert in the FA18 Hornet and barely competent to fly the F15 Strike Eagle. The Northrop F5 and the F86 Sabre are complete hangar queens, cobweb encrusted, with dead batteries and sat on flat tyres. Poor Sabre. F5 is really down on its luck. F4E.

No sirree bob. Getting into an oil thread is like swimming in a pool of crocodiles.

Ooh goody. An oil thread.

And he never even bothered to come back for the advice... Far too much of that happening, which is why I do not get too involved with single post newbies.

And there you go. You simply cannot get better advice than this. Its the equivalent of winning the advice jackpot.

I did a bit of research into this risk score thingy, the doctor was bleating about. Turns out that my risk is on the low end of "moderate". A score of 10 is considered in the normal range and a score of 11 - 20 is moderate. Of course, I can see the need to reduce my cholesterol down to 10 or below and will continue with my tying the missus to the bed and other " adjustments" to my lifestyle, but I can see no reason why doctors try to put the fear of god into you for slightly above the norm readings. I am more concerned about my blood pressure. I was no stranger to emergency rooms in my youth as yet another high speed stunt went crashingly wrong and my blood pressure was always around 118/70. To find it to be 138/88 was a bit disconcerting.

Did not have a say in the matter. Who wants to live forever in a doctors and dieticians world. I never expected to see 30 the way I used to do the most dangerous stuff for fun. Hitting 60 is a bonus.

I have had the misfortune to get in the tight grasp of the medical profession since my bout of pneumonia. The buggers are not willing to let me go, now I have been within their orbit. I have been "appointed" to take a battery of tests with more booked in the future. I have been hooked up to a heart monitor, lung function machine, blood pressure, much blood taken. Ordered back to the quacks surgery to get my time honoured kick up the backside... Heart OK. Lungs OK. I have better function than the average, despite being an asthmatic. No sign of diabetes. Blood pressure 138/88 as an average over the week. My target is 135/85 for my age. Cholesterol. Hmm. He said I had a QRisk score of 13 whatever that means. He said he was considering drug intervention. No sirree bob, says I. No way am I taking statins. Quack got a bit sniffy over this statement, but then then discussed lifestyle changes. Not going mad with it, but: Reducing my added sugar intake by half by having the one sugar in my coffee instead of two. This will cut 4 spoons of sugar a day. Alcohol. 18 440ml cans of lager per week, friday to Sunday. No alteration. I have never smoked or done drugs. I need some vice. Cutting out red meat completely, not that I eat much of it, my favourite meat is chicken. I do enjoy the occasional bacon and sausage butty. Cutting out much processed foods. Replacing all my best butter with Benecol cholesterol reducing spreads. Drinking Benecol one a day bottles of yoghurt. Being more active. I have already explained to the missus that allowing me to tie her to the bedposts is good for my heart and surely this can only be a good thing... Oh and more walking/ cycling. The quack still peeved, thought carefully for his revenge. I have been booked in for more blood to be taken because he wants to test it for signs of prostrate problems. I am not looking to the "review" appointment. Dunno why, I can see no need of it. No change in the way I piss or other problems. Pure revenge. Now TK. If you would care to drop your trousers"... I trust you are not allergic to latex hmm"?

If you are a regular all day rider, I think it is fairly important that the arms are as thin and springy as possible. What may feel fine in the shop when trying them out can often be agonising after a 8 hour ride.

Thank you kind sir. I retire in 5 years and it will see the use it has been rebuilt for then. Just now it is just marking time with a couple of hundred miles a year.

Finished refitting the VFR bodywork this morning. A slight delay caused by the need to order and replace some perished rubber grommets. Also replaced some of the duller fairing "button" bilts with titanium ones. Should last a bit longer than the plating on the 4 year old OEM ones.

This site does not seem to like ebay links so.. eBay item number:256465725755 Original speedo and tach cluster.

Float gaskets arrived saturday lunchtime, so fitted those and fitted the carbs back on the bike. Plugged in my remote fuel tank and propped it up high to get a good head of fuel. No leaks and no overflows. Started bike to get fuel pump pressure. No leaks and no overflows. Left remote tank plugged in to keep more head pressure in the system than the bikes own fuel tank, locked shed and had beer. This morning, looked in. Remote tank level had not changed, oil level had not changed and no sign of overflowing float vents. Then calibrated the gauges on cylinder 1 and balanced the carbs. Hate it. Whoever designed that carb rack and adjuster setup is a damnable sadist. You cannot even see the screws, everything has to be done by feel and in a small space, surrounded by sharp, red hot bits of engine. Not a place you want to be sticking your hand in. My right paw is a bit of a burned, bruised mess this afternoon. But carbs are balanced to within specified tolerance. Fuel tank is back on the bike and connected up. Fuel is off. I have discovered that with seat removed and a long JIS screwdriver, you can turn the tap on and off by using the tap lever securing screw to operate the tap. Lesson learned. From now on the default setting for that tap when in the shed is OFF. Carbs now within spec and a nice smooth idle. They were not far out in any case. My initial bench setup worked very well. Always check the calibration of the gauges against each other before starting to synch the carbs.

Got the DT175mx out this morning for her first decent settling down run since her full engine overhaul. Fuel on, ignition on. Kick.... Ding ding a ling. Off she went first kick with aspen fuel in. I can certainly recommend aspen for long term storage. Put about four litres of fresh pump fuel in and set out on a trip around the local towns and villages. In fact the same route she took when she holed the piston. About 40 miles in total. She behaved impeccably, apart from a bit of a buzz through the pegs. I am convinced it is just the chain running over the nylon tensioner block now. Cannot be the motor because everything is brand new. The tensioner lblock is new and unworn, so the chain is riding over the edges on the sideplates rather than on the rollers and the tensioner is mounted directly to the footpeg bar. While taking nice and steady, I have confirmed that she will hit redline in 4th gear and will loft the front wheel briefly off the throttle in first, albeit a pitiful, ill co ordinated attempt on my part. What was once a natural and smooth, co ordinated manouvre is a clumsy and ugly attempt these days. While not caning her, she will hit 55mph with comparitive ease and if I geared her back down a tooth on the front sprocket, she would probably be happier. She does feel a little overgeared in 6th. But first gear with stock gearing is next to useless on the road. You makes your choice... I remember my brand new 1981 DT175 seeing closer to 70mph and being a little bit more perky, but I weighed probably 9 and a bit stone back then, not the close too 16 stone I weigh now. No problems this ride out.

Pulled the carbs off the VFR yet again to change the float needles. No apparent wear or deformation and swabbing the seats out with a cotton bud showed no particles of dirt or even discolouration on the bud. They remained pristine white. However, on re- examining the float bowl gaskets for any signs of flatting off before refitting the bowls, I noticed a new longditudinal hairline crack about 3mm long along the crown of one of the gaskets. Must have happened when I tightened the bowls down last time. It shows they have hardened over the years, and since it is likely the needle tips are the same material, it may be they too had hardened and were not able to deform enough to conform to the seat. Result. One leak, one sump filled with fuel, one cylinder suffering from hydraulic lock and much gnashing of teeth at TK towers. Four Tourmax gaskets (Japan made) ordered. Sodding carbs. Just plain silly not having the means to dump flooding float chamber fuel overboard. Still it was nice working out in the sunshine for once.

Yep. Silly idea. I bought a new CB1300 back in 03. It came with no centerstand and that truly is a bike that requires one. It cost me £120 back then to buy a genuine CB1300 centerstand kit that had everything in it to fit a centerstand. All the required mountings were already on the frame. Just needed to slide the stand pin through and fit the springs. The two bikes bought new previously, 97 VFR750 and 2000 Blackbird, both sports tourers, both had centerstands as standard. Conclusion. Honda found a possible way to get their grubby mits on yet more of our money. Nothing more or less.

Often don't get a choice in the day job. Torque drive or bust. Scary stuff torquing a drive nut down to 22,500 nm with an hydraulic torque driver doing around 0.5rpm with all the creaking and groaning going on. The flight response is very much to the forefront of the mind. Engine stuff is relatively delicate and torque wrench used. Stuff like axles, big air wrenches.