Weebl

I have just had exactly the same with mine mate, although my bike was sat for a few years so it was more than just a few little patches! As you probably know, the GPZ500s does not have a fuel filter as standard other than the screen filters attached to the petcock inside the tank. I can say with confidence, you won't knacker the engine, for the simple reason that the carbs will clog up with rust and the bike will stop running when rust flakes off and starts going down the fuel feed line. I am not sure why yours has started to rust if it is full of fuel though? (or has fuel in it anyway) Perhaps you have a load of water in there too? To clean it all out, the cheap and effective thing to do is drain the fuel out (put a bit, maybe half a litre in a clear plastic container and leave it for a day or so, water will settle out to the bottom and you will be able to see it) take the tank off and put some water and some stones in. Shake the buggery out of it, change the water often. when all the rust has been knocked off by the stones, you then empty all the water and stones out and leave the tank to dry (it needs to be immaculately dry, I left mine overnight in a warm room and also periodically used a commercial quality hair dryer down the filler neck) You also need to take the petcock off and apart to make sure it is clean. Might be a handy time to have the carbs off and see if the float bowls are full of crap too? Top tips for filling with stones and swirling, use small sharp stones. Preferably make sure they will go in (and therefore out) the petcock hole, as if not they are a bitch to get out of the filler hole, you will have to bounce it around until you get lucky. You need to refit the filler and petcock for some of the time to make sure you are swirling all the way round the top, bottom and sides of the tank. Once it is nice and clean, always keep some petrol in it to stop it happening again. I also fitted a little inline filter in. It goes in the fuel in fitting on the carbs and is from a different Kawasaki but fits a treat with a little gentle persuasion. Part number 49019-1085 Less then a fiver. Having just done all this, only in the last few days, if you need anything else or if my explanation is a bit flakey, just ask

I have just had to take the carbs apart on mine for a second time. Full of crap again, even with the inline filter I put in I am right now in the process of taking 15 odd litres out of the tank, Dunno if I can do anything with it but it looks a manky orange. I have ordered a ZZR600 OEM fuel filter which apparently fits in the fuel in fitting on the carb, but I am going to have to give the inside of the tank a damn good cleaning and then put fresh fuel in. I also have one of the pilot screw 'O' rings missing and when I took the tank off first I also have one of the little round tank dampers missing. All ordered. If you are giving her a good servicing, then now would be a good time to do the valve clearances If you do, watch the 2 little metal dowels that fit between the rocker cover and the head. You don't want to drop one of those down the engine

Oh well, looks like the last option 'do nothing and see if it is ok' is the winner. Just did 80 odd miles this morning, mix of riding, and she did not miss a beat. Big grin again

Fill it and flat it before you start painting, Even filler primer won't cover much more than a paint transition, and has no hope of covering nicks and chips.

Cheers. I did not specifically check this but as I was riding and doing a bit of 'hot fault diagnosis' I gave the choke a tweak (and the engine bogged immediately) and then pushed it straight off and she picked straight back up again. It may well have been the initial issue though so I will ignore that symptom for now and concentrate on the rest I have just thought of another issue though Going right back to basics I checked the NGK website for the recommended plug for my bike to make sure I had got the right one. I did, but then remembered my bike seems to have a later engine in, which is specced for a different plug, but it has an 8 in, and the later engine is specced for a 9. so colder, which would make any fouling at low revs problems worse?

Ok, quick backstory. Bought a bike recently which has been stood for a long time (circa 5 years) It fired up ok, so sorted the valve clearances, serviced it and MOT done no issues. Rode it then for a day or so but it got progressively worse, stumbling and failing to fire, culminating in a refusal to start. I then realised I had been lazy and because it was running ok, I ignored the fact that the tank was full of crap from where it had been sat. (no fuel filter on a GPZ500) Stripped the carbs out, cleaned them (they were minging) reset the pilot needles, checked the float height, all clean and shiny, put them back in, fired up fairly quick, redid the carb balance, put an inline filter in the fuel line, job done (so I think) sat idling for a while whilst I went and put my kit on, as I got on, the revs rose to 4k (I had fiddled with the idle screw to get the idle sorted while doing the carb balance) Had a little ride to see if it would settle, nope, lowered the idle screw and all set again. Went for a blast, while hammering up and down the dual carriageway no issues what so ever, went like a steam train, big grin. Went into town and had a trickle around, as I came out of town she started missing again. Felt like either fouled plugs or no fuel again. opened the throttle and tried to give her a little spank to clear the plugs while also trying not to drive like a knob in a 40 limit. Cleared after one redline, and rode home again fine? Now according to the temp gauge she runs a little cold, pretty much never going much higher than a quarter of the gauge high (and these bikes have a rep for running very hot?) the engine felt hot enough, not 100% sure if it is just a low reading gauge or is actually cool running. The question is, is it likely I have cocked something up on re-assembly leading to the idle going from 1.25k to 4k and needing winding back down? Is it running too cold, and too rich, which is causing the plugs to foul at low revs? Does it need leaning off or should I put a set of hotter plugs in to compensate for it actually running quite cool? Is it ok and I just need to let it settle for a couple of miles? Sorry for the long post, if I write it all down it helps my thought processes, but any suggestions would be welcome.

A line coming directly from the bottom of the carb float bowl is not an overflow, it is a drain line. There should be a screw right next to it to open and close it off. You may have to remove it, clean it and refit it if it is weeping. If the line is not off the float bowl but from further up, then your float height may be set wrong. Does it still do it if you turn off the fuel at the petrol tap from the tank?

It is not linked from anywhere to be fair. You cannot get to that page from the main URL. Not sure if they have done it on purpose or if it is broken?

Whoohoo. Found it! It was on that site, but hidden with a dead front page. http://www.bikersnite.com/pub-list.php

Thanks mate, but that stops dead at the 2011 meets.

I have read about these on the net, and saw them going on last year, and I believe they still go on this summer, but I will be smacked around the face with a wet skate if I can find anything on the net as regards meeting places this year? Can anybody help, or has this turned into a word of mouth thing only? Ta

Thanks Everyone

Absolutely brilliant advice. I took my MOD 2 yesterday and all of the above is bang on. I indicated to come off a roundabout at the first exit, even though I should have taken the second, I even had a late decision moment when I took the first exit and basically gave a little wobble and then a jerk of the handlebars. That was my one and only minor (for the bars, not for the wrong exit) The examiner even told me he knew why I did it at the debrief and he had no problems with me deliberately not going the way as signposted (It was on the independent ride) As to the speed, I saw all the signs ok, knew which speed I should be going but for some reason I could just not manage it? 40 limit, look down, 37, nudge throttle, 40 lovely, check mirrors, brilliant, glance down, 36. WTF, back up to 40, carry on, look down, 37!!, back up to 40, look down, 42, really?? back down to 40, glance down, 37. AAAAAARGGGH. This happened pretty much all test for all speeds. No idea why it happened other than nerves, I had sticking at speeds no issues all the way there and all the way back He did not even mention it. They know you are nervous, and they do make allowances for it.

Just insured her, she is not MOT'd though, I thought booking that knowing I have to ride to get her to the MOT station was just sticking 2 fingers up at the gods and was a little too presumptuous. Booked for tomorrow lunchtime though

1. No hard and fast rule, you can go round them but of course that depends on what traffic, pedestrians, parked cars, cats etc are also doing at the time, you can ride around if it is safe to do so, if it is not, go over them. 2. No.

Passed Mod 2 this morning, 1 minor. Within 3 minutes of the test starting, independent ride. He told me to follow the signs and approaching the roundabout it was showing as first exit. I indicate left on approach, as I join the roundabout I notice a small road which is actually the first exit. Minor moment of indecision, left it ever so slightly too late but decided to make the minor road so I was going where the indicator said I was. Jerked the bars over to make it and it was not pretty. That was the minor. Apart from that I thought it was the worst ride I have done. I would have picked myself up on so many little things. I even told my instructor as I walked back in I had failed. I honestly thought I had completely buggered it until he actually sat down and said congratulations.

I know it is something that Moderators occasionally do on sites where you can go and see 'who's online' otherwise they get PMs every five minutes from people wanting something looking at/an avatar changing/somebody to rant at. I Mod elsewhere but never bother, if somebody wants to see what I am looking at, then they can feel free. I honestly don't see the point, especially on a site like this. People do it I think because it hints at you being a bit secretive and hiding your tracks, which in the modern internet, hiding your tracks is touted as being a good thing. The fact that it hides nothing apart from your name appearing in a box stating you are online seems lost? (And Moderators can see you online anyway, regardless of your hidden status, at least with vBulletin, not 100% sure about phpBB)

You have had the engine apart. You will need to provide more info so people can have a stab at fault diagnosis than 'it won't start' Do the lights come on when you turn the key, does the engine turn over, do you get a spark, are you getting fuel through the carb, what made the piston go bad, did you put it back together properly? do you have compression?

Yep, I think it is around the £20-£25 mark, so not the end of the world, I am just being a bit tight to be honest. I have priced it all up and if she gets me the V5, and it passes the MOT first time, I can get it back on the road, Taxed and MOT'd, including serviced by me for just a smidge over £180, including the purchase price! I have set myself a bit of a challenge to get it done for under £200, which is normally hard enough for me as I am a bit of a perfectionist and will buy 'little bits and pieces' to make it tip top, they might only be a few quid each but it adds up Actually, just thought of a cost I had not added, so a tank of petrol and fill the bike tank with 2 stroke. Another £8-£10?

I picked it up from her house so if it is, I know where to point the Police. Still waiting for that I don't want to spend any money until I know I will be able to get it back on the road.

Senior TT Cancelled

To be fair, that was the scheduled programme, the Senior was not due to be shown till 10 tonight. Mind you it has rained all day so no racing I hope we don't just get another hour of repeating footage we have already seen.

Well that was brilliant! I cannot check online to be absolutely certain (I just know if I Google it I will find the results) but from the sounds of it, because of the rain we only had the TT Zero and the Supersports run later today, with the Sidecars delayed? So why did we have, out of the whole hour coverage today, 45 minutes of repeated action from earlier races that we had already seen, with 15 minutes of the TT Zero (which was good ) and no Supersports? They also made a bit of a cockup at the end by talking about Guy Martin and how he is doing, but then making a big point about not mentioning the Supersports results when pretty much they had just announced how he had done (I am trying to word this without a spoiler so if anybody missed it they still get to watch tomorrow) We only get an hour a day, and to have 75% of that dedicated to repeating footage from earlier in the week was a bit rubbish.

I got lucky and I am pretty sure I have got a good school. It was just luck really, we had just moved house, and my son needed to do a CBT so he could use a moped to get around the new area (it is a bit more rural than where we used to live) It was the closest school, so in we went and booked him up. He enjoyed it, and watching him ride I could see he had been taught properly. I then decided I wanted a full licence so I booked up too. If I had not got lucky, and we had a bit more experience in the area then I would have been asking around, other parents asking them where they sent their kids for CBT, what the experiences were like etc. I bought my own helmet, gloves and jacket. I did not need to, the school would have supplied everything but then when you pass you need to go out and buy it, so I started a bit early and picked up some bargains by being able to shop around with no rush. My advice would be to do the same, you are in no rush, you don't actually need it until you have passed, so you have loads of time to wait for the right deal I guess this depends on your school again, I am paying a fair bit compared to what I know others have paid but I am happy with the value for money. CBT = £130 Conversion lesson to 500cc, 3 hours = £100 Mod 1, full day training, then a 40 mile ride to the test centre and back the next day, fee included = £400 Mod 2, Full day training, again the 2 day split, fee's included = £310 The only other expense on top of that was my theory test fee (not including the new helmet etc) I know this is not the cheap end, but after my Mod 1, waiting for the guy who came with me to do his, another instructor and some students turned up. They were dressed in whatever they turned up in, hoodies and trainers etc and from what he was saying to them as they were waiting, his training had not been very comprehensive beforehand. I bet I paid more than them, but then I bet I have a greater chance of passing and a much better understanding of riding.

It's ridiculous, of all the TV channels there are, most of which show rubbish day after day, they could not find one willing to broadcast the TT live? They must surely be missing a trick here? I know it is on during the week so most of the demographic will be at work, but the advertising revenues to such a focused market must be worth it? I don't know about anybody else, but I find it impossible to watch a sporting event later than it was actually on and not find out the result first, somebody will stick it on Facebook, or the news will decide to announce it in the middle of the weather, or 2 blokes will be chatting about it in the pub as I walk past.