Fiddlesticks Posted March 3 Posted March 3 MOT passed for another year on the Tiger Explorer. Just over 13k miles since the last one. Booked it in for a valve clearance check next week. 8 Quote
Fish Posted March 3 Posted March 3 Had a set of S23's fitted to the XSR. Just got to ride it for a wee while to scrub them in. 6 Quote
bud Posted March 3 Posted March 3 The nut on the oil filter is really only for removal. They should be done hand tight really. Quote
daveinlim Posted March 3 Posted March 3 Cleaned my cbr or more accurately transferred the dirt from it to me. It's such a shame that you can't just bring your bike to a place for a quick clean like you can a car rather than expensive detailers 1 Quote
curlylegend Posted March 3 Posted March 3 All started the other week when I got round to replacing my rear chain. Found that the gearbox sprocket nut was a bit loose although the security tabs were still in place. Turned out the nut was partially stripped and wouldn't take the required torque setting. So new nut and a bottle of Loctite 638 ordered up. So while waiting decided to give the exhaust a bit of a fettle. Actually made a pretty good job of painting the downpipes with a high quality heatproof paint, but in a fit of extravagance ordered up a new set of Delkevic stainless ones. Chain installed, new gearbox sprocket locked into place with Loctite 638 and new nut torqued to 69Nm and lock tabbed. After taking a rest in Paris over the weekend, the Delkevic downpipes arrived and were fitted...temporarily ! with spacing washers and ordinary hex nuts. The supplied spacers were unfortunately too long, but no problem, correct ones on their way. At the moment I'm kind of running on three out of four cylinders so I'm trying to organise a few hours free from dental checks, blood tests , mri scans and pre-op examinations to get a decent run in. And trying to avoid a bunch of relatives here to "support" me, but in actual fact to make sure the will has been signed ! 8 1 Quote
Simon Davey Posted March 4 Posted March 4 8 hours ago, curlylegend said: All started the other week when I got round to replacing my rear chain. Found that the gearbox sprocket nut was a bit loose although the security tabs were still in place. Turned out the nut was partially stripped and wouldn't take the required torque setting. So new nut and a bottle of Loctite 638 ordered up. So while waiting decided to give the exhaust a bit of a fettle. Actually made a pretty good job of painting the downpipes with a high quality heatproof paint, but in a fit of extravagance ordered up a new set of Delkevic stainless ones. Chain installed, new gearbox sprocket locked into place with Loctite 638 and new nut torqued to 69Nm and lock tabbed. After taking a rest in Paris over the weekend, the Delkevic downpipes arrived and were fitted...temporarily ! with spacing washers and ordinary hex nuts. The supplied spacers were unfortunately too long, but no problem, correct ones on their way. At the moment I'm kind of running on three out of four cylinders so I'm trying to organise a few hours free from dental checks, blood tests , mri scans and pre-op examinations to get a decent run in. And trying to avoid a bunch of relatives here to "support" me, but in actual fact to make sure the will has been signed ! Gotta love stainless pipework! Hope the health is easily repaired.. 3 Quote
ChrisBiggsUK Posted March 4 Posted March 4 New front tyre now on and run in. Guess I can now tell you all what the production code was on the one that was removed... 06/05 That's right boys and girls, it was a near as makes no difference 20 year old tyre that I had been riding around on, blissfully unaware (until recently) of things such as rubber life and such. Still had loads of tread left, but I think we can all agree that getting it replaced was for the best. So what's that now since buying the bike? New front and rear tyres (which were both originals from when the bike was made) by a workshop, new battery to replace the one that had been in there since the bike was made, replaced the starter motor as the old one had died, changed the 20 year old oil, flushed our and replaced the old brake fluid, put in a new air filter too with everything (bar the tyres) done by me. At this rate, my bike is going to end up being the bike equivalent of the ship of Theseus! 5 3 Quote
ChrisBiggsUK Posted March 6 Posted March 6 Cant go for a ride as I'm down with either a really bad cold, flu, plague or some form of zombie virus. Hard to tell which, but I feel really grotty. As such, no riding but I instead decided to 'get some fresh air' by taking the footpegs and kickstand off the humble little CG so that I could get access to remove the gear shifter and adjust its positioning slightly* so as to (hopefully) alleviate my gear shifting issues. Though the shifting issues themselves are resolved for the most part, and only happening roughly 5% of the time I shift now (yes, I'm so pedantic as to count), I still thought it best to adjust the position of the shifter slightly so as to allow my over-sized man-feet to fit, and shift, more naturally. Don't know whether my adjustment has made a difference as I'm down with the sickness as it were, so shall have to wait for a few days until I (hopefully) feel better. Trust me to be sick while there is a beautiful blue sky and positively tropical 14c temperatures! Why couldn't I have been sick when it was raining, or cold, or windy, or generally miserable? Stupid sickness. Stupid immune system. Stupid everything! *Tried adjusting the shifter with footpegs still in-situ, but it would not slide off the little cranky bit (on the CG it isn't a rod that can be adjusted by twicting some nuts, rather it is attached directly to a sort of funkiy cranky cog type thing) and so footpegs (and kickstand as being on the same bit of metal) had to come off. Should have given the whole thing a thorough clean while I was at it but I'm not well enough. And if my prior record of cleaning is anything to go by, my being not well enough to clean REALLY means I'm not well! 5 Quote
Simon Davey Posted March 6 Posted March 6 Get well soon @ChrisBiggsUK, hope you're back on the bike quickly. 2 Quote
Tinkicker Posted March 8 Posted March 8 Toddled into Selby to check if my tyres had arrived. Yes and no. The front had, but the rear was on backorder and arrived at the wholesalers on Thursday, so delivery early next week. Of course, the wheel I had dropped off at the shop was the rear.... So next weekend is when I get to refit the rear and take the front out. Did I ever mention how my luck goes? Time to see if my September draining of fuel tanks, filling them with aspen two stroke mix, running the carbs dry and draining off the two stroke mix again worked. No visible rust spots in tanks, so the two stroke oil film has done its job and protected them. But will they start easily, or be the usual pain in the ass after their long winter sleep. Little yeller is to be the first to try. Refitted the battery, refilled the tank with fresh fuel. Away she went second kick. I will call that a success. I will bring the VFR back to life when I get the wheels refitted, then taxed 1st April. Then it is just the DT175mx to bring back to life. Job done. 5 Quote
Throttled Posted March 12 Posted March 12 First wash of the year, getting rid of all the winter crud. The ACF50 valet I got at the start of the winter has worked, with only some minor corrosion reappearing on one small part of the rear frame. 3 Quote
ChrisBiggsUK Posted March 12 Posted March 12 Checked valve clearances, they were still spot on 0.08 as per the fancy guide book, so left them as is and recorded it in my little black book of 'things what I did to the bike'. Then put everything back together, and then went for a ride. Got a little electrical project this afternoon, that being putting a USB charging port on the handlebars. Not quite sure whether I'm going to need to take the tank off to tuck wires away on the way to the battery, but if I am going to have to, it'll have to wait for another day as my tank is full and there is no way on earth I'm going to take the tank off while it is filled with petrol as knowing my luck there will end up being some sort of eyebrow, beard and chest hair singeing fireball. If anyone can create a fireball without a source of ignition, it's me. Hopefully I can find a way to run the wires from the handlebars to the battery without any tank related nonsense. Should be able to as the battery is tucked under a panel on the same side of the bike as I'll be putting the charger, so in theory it should be a simple case of 'tuck wires behind things, secure with zip ties, attach to battery, put panel back in place, press ignition, plug device into charger, see if anything explodes'. If explosion - step back, re-evaluate, repair and reattempt. If no explosion - declare victory and once again proclaim self as god-like super mechanic. I'm going to acquire coffee and then go and stare at the bike quite intently and figure out my next steps. 4 2 Quote
RideWithStyles Posted March 12 Posted March 12 Removing the tank would be the best way, give yourself room to work around plus you want to hide the wires from normal view so putting them along the frame, between the tank/engine would be best. at 100+ mpg it’s gonna take you at least a few hundred miles to run the little tank dryish. if you bought a small plastic fuel tank like ones at garage - they are about 5ltrs (it’s optimistic) but certainly enough for remove most of a fuel out for you, handy for when you want to drain or add in at anytime. A small cheap hand pump and pipe to syphon out (one linked below is good) and see what the fuel is like (contaminants and water) aswell including sat at the bottom of the tank as you move the pipe. tipping tanks and containers is a chance of it going wrong. https://www.screwfix.com/p/hilka-pro-craft-fuel-transfer-siphon-tool-10mm/219PG?tc=CA8&gclsrc=aw.ds&gad_source=1&gbraid=0AAAAAD8IdPyQ95jpcz_aJ2bH0zReHav1N&gclid=Cj0KCQjw4cS-BhDGARIsABg4_J08IJMy3-HmcQE9F1j2gJCByjKoIYdEuXXMPGXgAB1k_sLEKxT2hu0aAimdEALw_wcB ive got a 20ltr metal one (I’ve had one bike with over 19ltr tank and my current one at 19ltr) and a 5ltr plastic one which I used for both mine and wife’s last bike. 1 Quote
Hairsy Posted March 12 Posted March 12 (edited) 3 hours ago, ChrisBiggsUK said: Hopefully I can find a way to run the wires from the handlebars to the battery without any tank related nonsense. There's nothing you're not prepared to do now! Can I just offer one bit of advice - if you're running the feed directly from the battery then please fit an inline fuse to the positive - as close as possible to the battery (ideally 4-5 cm) and definitely before the cable passes anything metallic. If you don't then you've potentially created your source of ignition. e.g. This Link Edited March 12 by Hairsy 3 Quote
ChrisBiggsUK Posted March 12 Posted March 12 Red sparky cable has a fuse in this black bit. Hopefully this will mean no boom. 1 Quote
JRH Posted March 12 Posted March 12 4 hours ago, ChrisBiggsUK said: Checked valve clearances, they were still spot on 0.08 as per the fancy guide book, so left them as is and recorded it in my little black book of 'things what I did to the bike'. Then put everything back together, and then went for a ride. Got a little electrical project this afternoon, that being putting a USB charging port on the handlebars. Not quite sure whether I'm going to need to take the tank off to tuck wires away on the way to the battery, but if I am going to have to, it'll have to wait for another day as my tank is full and there is no way on earth I'm going to take the tank off while it is filled with petrol as knowing my luck there will end up being some sort of eyebrow, beard and chest hair singeing fireball. If anyone can create a fireball without a source of ignition, it's me. Hopefully I can find a way to run the wires from the handlebars to the battery without any tank related nonsense. Should be able to as the battery is tucked under a panel on the same side of the bike as I'll be putting the charger, so in theory it should be a simple case of 'tuck wires behind things, secure with zip ties, attach to battery, put panel back in place, press ignition, plug device into charger, see if anything explodes'. If explosion - step back, re-evaluate, repair and reattempt. If no explosion - declare victory and once again proclaim self as god-like super mechanic. I'm going to acquire coffee and then go and stare at the bike quite intently and figure out my next steps. Ideally the USB port should be fed from an ignition controlled feed. This is because the USB port will cause a parasitic drain on the battery even when nothing is connected to the USB port. Depending on the capacity of the battery this parasitic drain could, if the bike is not ridden every day, cause the battery to go flat. 3 Quote
ChrisBiggsUK Posted March 12 Posted March 12 13 minutes ago, JRH said: Ideally the USB port should be fed from an ignition controlled feed. This is because the USB port will cause a parasitic drain on the battery even when nothing is connected to the USB port. Depending on the capacity of the battery this parasitic drain could, if the bike is not ridden every day, cause the battery to go flat. At the moment, I'm riding every day so hopefully it shouldn't be too much of an issue. Likewise when I won't be riding, I can unplug the usb from the battery and plug a trickle charger right in to the cable that the usb was attached to, if that makes sense? As for wiring something to the ignition, that is beyond my capabilities at the moment, (can it even be done on a CG125?) but give me a few more months and I'm sure that given everything else I have managed to do myself, I'll probably give that a go too! Quote
JRH Posted March 12 Posted March 12 1 minute ago, ChrisBiggsUK said: At the moment, I'm riding every day so hopefully it shouldn't be too much of an issue. Likewise when I won't be riding, I can unplug the usb from the battery and plug a trickle charger right in to the cable that the usb was attached to, if that makes sense? As for wiring something to the ignition, that is beyond my capabilities at the moment, (can it even be done on a CG125?) but give me a few more months and I'm sure that given everything else I have managed to do myself, I'll probably give that a go too! Unplugging does make kinda sense. wiring to an ignition controlled feed is not much more than wiring to the battery. If your lights come on when the ignition is switched on you can take a feed from a light. The rear light is usually the easiest. I must admit that as a retired electrical engineer I don’t get fazed with wiring either automobiles or domestic / industrial. The attached is a typical circuit to provide ignition control to any add on electrical equipment. 1 1 Quote
ChrisBiggsUK Posted March 12 Posted March 12 3 minutes ago, JRH said: Unplugging does make kinda sense. wiring to an ignition controlled feed is not much more than wiring to the battery. If your lights come on when the ignition is switched on you can take a feed from a light. The rear light is usually the easiest. I must admit that as a retired electrical engineer I don’t get fazed with wiring either automobiles or domestic / industrial. The attached is a typical circuit to provide ignition control to any add on electrical equipment. With that diagram, it seems simple enough. I'll come back to this in a couple of months and let you know whether in addition to being a burgeoning god-like super mechanic, I am also a burgeoning electrical super wizard. 1 1 Quote
V650 Posted March 12 Posted March 12 (edited) 30 minutes ago, ChrisBiggsUK said: With that diagram, it seems simple enough. I'll come back to this in a couple of months and let you know whether in addition to being a burgeoning god-like super mechanic, I am also a burgeoning electrical super wizard. Another option is a usb charger with a built in on off switch I had on on my old Versys that had 2 usb ports a volt meter and an on off switch so that it would not drain the battery Something like this one I would consider a SAE connector from the battery and then it could be used for things like a battery charger or a tyre pump when / if the need arises Edited March 12 by V650 4 Quote
smallfrowne Posted March 12 Posted March 12 Stripping down a new to me but used and dirty sigma slipper clutch in front of the telly with a glass of wine. Terrible work. 4 Quote
bonio Posted March 12 Posted March 12 1 hour ago, smallfrowne said: Stripping down a new to me but used and dirty sigma slipper clutch in front of the telly with a glass of wine. Terrible work. Showing us all how it's supposed to be done, mate. 1 Quote
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