What did you do to your bike today?

[smallfrowne]

On 25/02/2024 at 19:00, Mississippi Bullfrog said:

I like to support local retailers whenever I can so I didn't order fork oil online. After all, J&S is just round the corner.

 

But no, they don't stock 10W fork oil, only 5W. Why?

 

Halfrords it is then. But oh dear, they only have 1 500ml bottle in stock, enough for one fork. That's not much good. 

 

So it's back to ebay and a litre bottle is on the way. 

Shit, I've found 3 litres of Motul 10W fork oil on the shelf and I don't really know why I've got so much of it. All unopened.

 

I'm nearly done with the KTM. Shims have all been adjusted and clearances rechecked, all good. Then all the guts that had to be taken off or moved, unclipped etc. is all back in place, which took some thinking, pictures would have been a help but still it's all a bit of mess in there above the engine.

Also changed the thermostat cover from the original to its updated part, which is known to cause a bit of leakage apparently due to its ovalness, but maybe also due to ham fisted tightening of the hose clamp. Thought I'd do it whilst I was in the area to save time later, though you shouldn't go changing things that aren't broken so that will probably come back to get me. 

 

Fresh bit of coolant. Fresh bit of oil. Just need the tank on now and a few more plastic bits. And maybe a wash, the old dead flies have started to grow.

 

 

[Mississippi Bullfrog]

Good job I decided to overhaul the forks whilst they were off the bike. This one had got water into it. I replaced the oil 2022 but it had turned into emulsion. No sign of any oil leaking so the forks looked fine. But same again, some clot had used a screwdriver to install the seal so it was in a poor state. 

[Simon Davey]

1 hour ago, Mississippi Bullfrog said:

Good job I decided to overhaul the forks whilst they were off the bike. This one had got water into it. I replaced the oil 2022 but it had turned into emulsion. No sign of any oil leaking so the forks looked fine. But same again, some clot had used a screwdriver to install the seal so it was in a poor state. 

 

That's got to be so satisfying....

 

 

[Mississippi Bullfrog]

5 hours ago, Simon Davey said:

 

That's got to be so satisfying....

 

 

What was particularly satisfying was getting the head bearing back together and reconnecting all the loom connections that have to be stripped off....and then finding it fired first time with all the electrics working. 

 

But yes....very glad I decided to overhaul the forks whilst they are off because externally there was no sign of a problem.  If I'd have left them that side would have been damaged by the water. 

[RideWithStyles]

Ahhhh the good old Haynes manual book for reference MB.

so your forks were working on the jelly for damping and not the fluid, the jelly was holding what fluid as already in (like grease) ready to turn it more so.

 after that they will be working well but will they be very soft, wonder...

[Mississippi Bullfrog]

53 minutes ago, RideWithStyles said:

Ahhhh the good old Haynes manual book for reference MB.

so your forks were working on the jelly for damping and not the fluid, the jelly was holding what fluid as already in (like grease) ready to turn it more so.

 after that they will be working well but will they be very soft, wonder...

I am old school - the first thing I do when I buy anything is to get the Haynes for it. Most of the time I take things to bits and then read the manual. One of my Bobber friends recently found out the hard way that you really should read the manual first. He dismantled his TPS and then read the bit that said DO NOT DISMANTLE THE TPS. It has a factory set spring internally that cannot be replaced once dismantled. It cost him a lot of money to put that right. ($2,200)!

 

I find it makes a handy checklist to spot the bits left over before you have put it all back together again.

 

I have a long shelf of Haynes which are mostly oil stained and grubby. But there are a lot of good memories and occasional bloodstains in them.

Edited February 29, 2024 by Mississippi Bullfrog

[geofferz]

Moved it to my girlfriend's communal cycle store in her apartment block. Let's hope no one complainans! Or steals it. 

[Mississippi Bullfrog]

What was I saying about not reading the manual.....its usually the bits left over which cause me to check. In this case it was the bit not left over.

 

I rebuilt the front end and found the steering lock was out of line. Much headscratching later I realised I hadn't measured the new head bearings. They were slightly deeper. So having meticulously laid out all the bits that came off....and then refitted in reverse order.....there was a spacer that I should have omitted. 

 

And yes, the manual does show that. 

 

So, second time round

 

 

[Throttled]

Not the bike, the sat nav. Got it updated, which takes 3 hours. Plus, I worked out why it could not find many addresses, as it had defaulted to searching local area only.

[smallfrowne]

The Duke is back in business, nearly. It's off the stand anyway. Just need to check the oil level and run it a bit to let the coolant sort itself out. By the book you should crack the bleed valve on the rad, but it's got a thick coat of factory paint all over it so I don't think anyone has ever touched it and I'm not going to either. 

 

Booked in at the dealer(!) next week because apparently it has the "akra map" despite having the standard can on it. I'm trying to get the ECU flashed (by non dealer) but the guy can only work off a standard map. It's a bit via the back door because they aren't meant to be reprogrammable, so it's a bit of a hack. He noticed some of the values were off and it normally means it's had the dealer option akrapovich can and map. Anyway. I've got to get the dealer to flash it to standard then send it back to the guy. So far I haven't paid him anything and he has insisted I don't pay him for it being sent back to me, and that was a few weeks ago. He must be used to faffing about. 

[RideWithStyles]

the reason of the akra map is a bit extra fuelling used as the std is toon lean to get pass EU bull shitterry

. so if your bike is a bit snatchy and hot running  throughout the rev range and your happy with dealer spec service then keep to it, if you guy can map for your bike as individual with its aftermarket parts too (ie with a rolling road full custome map them id do that over the dealer especially if toy have to pay for the dealer to do.

[Blackholesun]

Wouldn't start this morning bloody thing although now I'm wondering whether I mistakingly flicked the kill switch...was dark and I was rushing about as was gonna be late....pulled the old bicycle out to get me to work

[Joe85]

Fitted the SC Project Exhaust.

 

 

[Simon Davey]

13 minutes ago, Joe85 said:

Fitted the SC Project Exhaust.

 

 

 

Flippin' 'eck, that's sweet.

Not sure I'd trust myself to go near it, from fear of smudging that shine.

 

[Mississippi Bullfrog]

1 hour ago, Joe85 said:

Fitted the SC Project Exhaust.

 

 

That's a belting exhaust note. They've done a good job with that. 

[Joe85]

1 hour ago, Simon Davey said:

 

Flippin' 'eck, that's sweet.

Not sure I'd trust myself to go near it, from fear of smudging that shine.

 

 

I put a PPF film on all the painted parts and head light. (And it’s just been cleaned). 
 

Taking it back to the installer tomorrow because some areas haven’t taken too well. Unfortunately the PPF is printed in sections for each pa el, rather than being a ‘wrap’, which is what I’d have preferred.

 

[Simon Davey]

1 hour ago, Joe85 said:

 

I put a PPF film on all the painted parts and head light. (And it’s just been cleaned). 
 

Taking it back to the installer tomorrow because some areas haven’t taken too well. Unfortunately the PPF is printed in sections for each pa el, rather than being a ‘wrap’, which is what I’d have preferred.

 

 

I don't blame you, that's a gorgeous machine. Hope it serves you well.

[bonio]

6 hours ago, Joe85 said:

Fitted the SC Project Exhaust.

 

 

That made me weep a bit.

[Mississippi Bullfrog]

11 hours ago, bonio said:

That made me weep a bit.

Which end?

[Fiddlesticks]

Today I took the Explorer for its MOT. As I was starting it up, Mrs. Fiddlesticks noticed one of the headlight bulbs out. (She is a mechanical genius, btw, unlike myself who tends to reach for the hammer in 9/10 cases).

Anyway, rummaged around in the box of spares for a replacement. Half as bright as the working one, but needs must. Took off the cap to fit it and noticed a lot of moisture in the headlight assembly. (I do get a little overenthusiastic with the snow foam.)

Out with the blower, dry it all off. Scrape knuckles fitting the new bulb.

Had a quick look online for better bulbs. Osram Nighbreakers £19.99 a pair at the local motor factors. Great, I'll make that my next stop after the test and replace them both. They do the same mileage, after all.

MOT passed with an advisory for rear brake pads. (No mention of the "dangerously squared off" rear tyre from a recent traffic stop).

£29.50. Bargain. I pocketed the 50p change on autopilot, thinking afterwards that maybe I should have left it as a tip. No matter.

Round to pick up the bulbs. "That's £20.40, mate". Hmm. They're £19.99 online. Cheeky buggers. Fortunately I have 50p in my back pocket...

There will be more knuckle scraping, but I'll probably do that on Saturday when Mrs Fiddlesticks is getting her hair done.

 

[Simon Davey]

Good to hear good news,glad it passed. 

[Mickly]

Zippys centre stand wasn’t folding as freely as it should and as I’d read somewhere that the pivot bolts are prone to corrosion and snapping I thought I’d take the stand off and grease things off … a 20min job … like Fcuk was it, after much cursing, squirting of penetrating oil & hammering I finally got the bloody things out … good job I did, look at the state of this … after being wire brushed 

Getting new bolts tomorrow.

 

[Simon Davey]

26 minutes ago, Mickly said:

Zippys centre stand wasn’t folding as freely as it should and as I’d read somewhere that the pivot bolts are prone to corrosion and snapping I thought I’d take the stand off and grease things off … a 20min job … like Fcuk was it, after much cursing, squirting of penetrating oil & hammering I finally got the bloody things out … good job I did, look at the state of this … after being wire brushed 

Getting new bolts tomorrow.

 

 

Strewth! 

Glad to see they used stainless

[Simon Davey]

As it happens, I removed my risers bars (cable tension) and went to my local bolt shop. 

Just needed 4 off M8 Allen bolts, proper chuffed to be offered stainless as well as alloy or steel. 

[Mickly]

46 minutes ago, Simon Davey said:

As it happens, I removed my risers bars (cable tension) and went to my local bolt shop. 

Just needed 4 off M8 Allen bolts, proper chuffed to be offered stainless as well as alloy or steel. 

Being in the Midlands I had a huge choice of materials & finishes available to me locally, I mean, bolts … that what we do best