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Ola posted:What's a good webshop for bike parts in the UK? The pound has dropped nicely lately, maybe I can save a little. http://www.wemoto.com/ Someone posted that a while back for some parts I was looking for.
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Dec 29, 2008 14:56
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Looks good, thanks!
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Dec 29, 2008 18:24
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So who has been relatively accident free on their bike? I know the saying. "It's not if it's when." and all that jazz. I've done all one can do to prepare to ride a bike. And I'm wearing the right gear. I know many motorcycle accidents are tragic. And everyone knows someone who is paralyzed or this and that. But hell. I'm just tired of the same lecture from every single person. I know what I'm getting into. I know the risks. I know there are dumb drivers out there. So how about some motorcycle success stories for a change? Like that you've been riding for 30 years accident free?
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Dec 29, 2008 20:41
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Christoff posted:So who has been relatively accident free on their bike? I know the saying. "It's not if it's when." and all that jazz. I've done all one can do to prepare to ride a bike. And I'm wearing the right gear. I can't give you 30 years accident free. But I can give you 4 years of riding, 10 bikes, 100k or so miles, and no serious injuries, thanks to gear and good training/mentors. I've had 4 notable accidents; one highside being an idiot (30mph), one lowside after being left turned (30mph), and 2 track crashes. Thanks to good gear and martial arts training (not doing anything stupid when I fall), I've never had anything more serious than some scrapes and a concussion on my highside. Most of that 100k was spent on pleasure riding, twisties on weekends, track, etc. I've done roughly 4000 track miles. I have friends who have been riding for decades without any serious injuries, although a few spills here or there. I have more scars from bicycles than motorcycles. If you don't ride drunk, if you wear a helmet, if you get some decent training, your chances of being in a fatal accident plummit. Things to note from the Hurt Report, which is getting old but is still one of the better comprehensive studies: http://www.clarity.net/~adam/hurt-report.html quote:The median pre-crash speed was 29.8 mph, and the median crash speed was 21.5 mph, and the one-in-a-thousand crash speed is approximately 86 mph. Honestly, it's pretty rare that you'll fall off the motorcycle and be paralized or even seriously injured. Most motorcycle accidents occur at sub 30mph, which is easily dealt with by modern gear. The concern is falling in such a fashion that you get injured, or getting hit by a car/running into a solid object. Gear is how I can tuck the front midcorner on the track at 80mph and get up and walk away with nothing more than a bruise on my rear end. You may very well crash and fall over in the future. Especially if you're inclined to go fast. If you don't ride fast, if that's not why you like riding, you can ride carefully, safely, within your limits, and go tens of thousands of miles and never crash. If you're a more aggressive rider, you will crash at some point if you ride long enough because your behavior will expose you to more risk. It's up to you to make the decisions about your riding. This isn't something to take lightly...your choices of how you ride create or minimize your risk. End of story. Don't ride like an idiot, respect your limits and the limits of the conditions, and you can ride for a long time without ever having a pavement encounter.
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Dec 29, 2008 21:04
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About 4 years and 30,000 miles here without an accident. I lowsided in a parking lot while practicing on an old bike, but that's all. I wear full gear, all the time. My bike, on the other hand, has had thousands of dollars in damage thanks to vandalism and idiots who knock it over in parking lots. My bike's been hosed up, no exaggeration, at least 12 times, and not a single person has left information (thanks college aged kids). edit: I forgot was ran off the road once into gravel once, bike had very minor scratches. That would have been a pretty bad wreck if it happened anywhere else. hayden. fucked around with this message at 00:38 on Dec 30, 2008 |
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Dec 30, 2008 00:35
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I'm still working on it, but so far, 3 months, 1850 miles, no (real) accidents. I dropped the bike offroad once (let off the throttle on a hill, ~0.5mph) and in a parking lot once (DURING MY loving LICENSE TEST). Still got the license, have a bent rear brake pedal I should fix at some point.
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Dec 30, 2008 03:40
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I used seafoam to try and clean out the pilot jets so the power surging on my bike would go away. It starts up faster and the idling is pretty even, but the power surging almost seems worse at low throttle. I haven't had a chance to really test riding around with half+ throttle on steady yet. What else could cause power surging at steady low throttle? Do I just need to take the carbs off and properly clean them?
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Dec 30, 2008 05:52
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Lawn posted:I used seafoam to try and clean out the pilot jets so the power surging on my bike would go away. It starts up faster and the idling is pretty even, but the power surging almost seems worse at low throttle. I haven't had a chance to really test riding around with half+ throttle on steady yet. What else could cause power surging at steady low throttle? Do I just need to take the carbs off and properly clean them? As mentioned previously, it could be that you've just rearranged the gunk and you need to get in there and force it out. But I should also mention my similar issues which turned out to be air delivery. It happened at low revs and mostly on low throttle. If I opened wide it might backfire but would pull fine, if I opened gradually it would nudge and surge until it hit 4K, then it would be completely normal. Start and idle was fine. That was simply a tiny snorkel sitting on top of the airbox. When you look at the thing it doesn't seem like it's doing anything at all so it was quite surprising the effect it had. So the easiest thing to check is air supply, all stock bits intact, air filter clean (and oiled if needed) and no leaks either up- or downstream of the carb rack.
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Dec 30, 2008 07:11
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Lawn posted:It's also fairly hard to start cold. A friend of mine thinks it's a clogged pilot jet. I was wondering if seafoam or some other additive is likely to clean that out or if I should take the carbs apart and clean them. It's a waste of time to try seafoam, or any other fuel cleaner if you're having trouble already. Pull the carbs, clean the pilot jet, clean and reset the pilot screws, and ride on knowing you saved yourself days of trouble. EDIT: wow, this reply has been sitting in my browser for a long while. Yet it still rings true.
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Dec 30, 2008 07:34
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I don't know if this question should go here or in the CV carb thread, but here goes: I've got a '93 Ducati 900SS with 38mm Mikumi CV carbs. The bike has off brand carbon slip-ons and I suspect has been jetted. Recently I've been having a hanging idle once the bike gets good and hot. Other than this the bike runs extremely well under all conditions. Once hot, if I pull in the clutch the revs will rise to 2000 and stay there until I blip the throttle, at which point they'll drop down where they should be at about 1250-1300. I don't see any signs of a sticky throttle cable, but I haven't completely convinced myself that it isn't the culprit. I do know that I haven't lubed the cables in the 4000 miles I've had the bike since April, so it is about time. Some other data points - The bike's run so well since I got it that all I've done is change the oil, lube the suspension, work on the brakes, adjust the valves, and change the belts. I got a Morgan Carbtune last week and haven't tried it yet, so who knows if they're synched. I also have a LM-1 wideband O2 meter I bought for my 911 that I've never used. The bike smells very rich at idle, which on a standard carb can cause a hanging idle. It doesn't smoke or backfire, so I didn't think it was too rich. I also get decent mileage, about 47-50 on the freeway or the low 40s in town which kind of suggests against the too rich theory. I've been told that a partially clogged pilot jet can be responsible for a high idle, but it doesn't really make sense to me given how I think that circuit operates. Plus, the bike runs great and has really good throttle response. Can any of the bike experts here help diagnose or chime in with suggestions? My plans at the moment are to address the cables first, check the synch, and then try and see what's going on with the mixture. I'm also wondering if the carbs might need a cleaning since the bike's pushing 18000 miles.
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Dec 30, 2008 08:20
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I was kind of thinking/afraid it might be something to do with air flow too. My bike is a CA model which the previous owner removed CA-emissions related stuff. I have tubes leading to nowhere, tubes connected to bypass the removed emissions parts, and no tubes where there should be tubes. It's not even set up exactly like a 49 state model, so maybe I'll look into at least doing that if I can. I'm not really sure which is more daunting though, that or having to take the carbs off.
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Dec 30, 2008 08:36
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Bruinator posted:*My bike holds on to rpms* Lawn posted:I'm not really sure which is more daunting though, that or having to take the carbs off.
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Dec 30, 2008 09:13
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Nerobro posted:Really people, it's not your throttle cables. It's easy to test that. Open the throttle, let go, if it snaps shut, you're 99.995% likely ok in that department. What you're looking at are the classic signs of a leaking carburator boot. It's easy to test. Spray something flamable at the back of the carbs, my favorite is carb cleaner, if the rpms change, there's your culprit. Carb boots are $20-60 each. It could also be the o-ring on the back of the carb, which is $0.50 to $4 each. Either way, it's simple. Thanks Nero, that sounds easy enough to check. Here's hoping it's that simple!
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Dec 30, 2008 16:21
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Bruinator posted:Thanks Nero, that sounds easy enough to check. Here's hoping it's that simple! You could be trying this on a V4 Honda. That isn't nearly as simple as a Duck.
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Dec 30, 2008 16:42
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Gnomad posted:You could be trying this on a V4 Honda. That isn't nearly as simple as a Duck.
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Dec 30, 2008 17:03
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My 2008 250R is due for its 3000 mile maintenance. The dealership I bought it from isn't the most high-brow of places. Does ~$190 for the 3k deal sound okay, or is that too much? There are other places around here, but I don't know if it'd be a good idea to stray from the original dealership.
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Dec 30, 2008 18:59
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I think it's rare to bring a bike to a shop and get it the hell back out for less than $200, even for service/maintenance ... most labor rates go from 70-100 an hour
Datsun Honeybee fucked around with this message at 19:15 on Dec 30, 2008 |
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Dec 30, 2008 19:13
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Anuv posted:My 2008 250R is due for its 3000 mile maintenance. The dealership I bought it from isn't the most high-brow of places. Does ~$190 for the 3k deal sound okay, or is that too much? There are other places around here, but I don't know if it'd be a good idea to stray from the original dealership. What does the 3k cover? If it's an oil change, no. If it's a valve check, oil change, + assorted other maintenence, yes.
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Dec 30, 2008 21:30
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Gnomad posted:You could be trying this on a V4 Honda. That isn't nearly as simple as a Duck. Yeah, so far everything I've done on the Duck has been easy and intuitive, and requires very little disassembly of other components to access things. I'm going to pull the fairings off when I spray check for air leaks, but that's only because I don't want to mess up the paint. I stuck my head around the half fairings and it looks like I could do this without any disassembly if I wanted. There really isn't much to a 2V Ducati.
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Dec 31, 2008 04:06
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I hear that Brad Pitt is driving a Triumph Twin in "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button." Is this true?
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Dec 31, 2008 04:24
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RE: Crash history. I've been riding for about three years now (e: about 30,000 miles mostly on a 2006 Triumph Bonneville with 4,000 on a Ducati Monster 750 and a handful on an old Honda 350 and a 70s BMW airhead) and have lowsided three times at sub-10 mph speeds, all on my Bonneville and all within a three day span. The first spill rattled me and the following two I think were because I was still letting the first one get to me. I've had a few close calls here and there in LA/Orange County/San Diego traffic, but I try to be very defensive and leave a large buffer around myself. Honestly, all of my close calls have turned out fine because I left such a large buffer in front of me/around me.Aegri Somnia posted:I hear that Brad Pitt is driving a Triumph Twin in "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button." Is this true?  
rope kid fucked around with this message at 02:21 on Jan 1, 2009 |
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Jan 1, 2009 02:17
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rope kid posted:RE: Crash history. I've been riding for about three years now (e: about 30,000 miles mostly on a 2006 Triumph Bonneville with 4,000 on a Ducati Monster 750 and a handful on an old Honda 350 and a 70s BMW airhead) and have lowsided three times at sub-10 mph speeds, all on my Bonneville and all within a three day span. The first spill rattled me and the following two I think were because I was still letting the first one get to me. Do you remember them? I went down for the first time earlier in the month - on my '07 Thruxton - and I don't remember anything. I was lane splitting on the 405 (legal in CA), then I was laying on my back looking at the sky. CHP tells me someone swerved at me, didn't make contact, and I went down. I expected to go down at some point, but not being able to remember anything - even where I was on the freeway - is gettin' to me.
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Jan 1, 2009 02:39
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rope kid posted:What a squid.
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Jan 1, 2009 03:34
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OrangeFurious posted:Do you remember them? I went down for the first time earlier in the month - on my '07 Thruxton - and I don't remember anything. I don't remember my first one, I worked out what happened working backwards from the final results, the damage to my bike and the bruises I acquired. I remember my other two though. What gets me is that noone ever stops.
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Jan 1, 2009 04:11
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I can remember all of mine.. in exquisite detail. not being able to remember is a sign of a good hit on the head.
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Jan 1, 2009 04:51
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I'm lucky enough to have been riding for 6 years now without any incident, I attribute it as well to super defensive riding there's a great article http://www.roadtripamerica.com/DefensiveDriving/Drive-Safe-With-Uncle-Bob.htm <--- here, which is a great read for defensive driving tips. A lot of it is common sense, but if you want to take defensive driving seriously it's still worth it to flip through. Datsun Honeybee fucked around with this message at 05:45 on Jan 1, 2009 |
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Jan 1, 2009 05:41
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I remember my lowside on the street-one moment I'm leaning over and the next moment I'm sliding across the pavement while my bike squirts away like a watermelon seed...and the sound inside a helmet that is scraping on the street. I jumped up, righted the bike, twisted the forks back into something approaching straight and rode off before someone decided to helpfully call the po-pos.
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Jan 1, 2009 06:28
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Zool posted:What a squid. And he's got the throttle on the wrong side, too! I know Chiefs have a suicide shift, do the Scouts have them, too?
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Jan 1, 2009 19:18
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here's a quick question that I'm having a hard time finding the answer to on google ... how many miles/years does a standard motorcycle like a cb750 pull (assuming good maintenace) before it needs something like a top-end rebuild for new piston rings? My bike has 35,000 miles on it and it's a 91, I was assuming something like that would come around at about double that mileage? (my bike doesn't need it, but I'm just curious.. this is the first bike i've owned that I intend to do all the work on myself)
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Jan 1, 2009 20:45
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As long as you keep the basic maintenence going, oil changes and such, double that mileage is very reasonable to expect. CB engines are pretty consevative, they aren't high strung machines straining for that last drop of horsepower (that you hardly get to use on the street anyway) and Honda builds their bikes pretty well. I did have an early SOHC CB750 that was soft in the cylinders but I bought a package deal of 1 bike and three engines and found enough good parts to build up a good motor.
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Jan 1, 2009 21:24
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Nerobro posted:not being able to remember is a sign of a good hit on the head. Judging from my helmet, that was definitely the case.
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Jan 1, 2009 23:18
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OrangeFurious posted:Judging from my helmet, that was definitely the case. My head didn't touch the ground. I impacted right shoulder, then flip over onto left hip then flip onto both knees. My helmet came out of it without a scratch, touch, mar or even the slightest bit of mud, and the state of the road, if it had impacted, there would have been mud. *edit* VVV yeah, adrenaline was what I suggested to my friend when he came off and was describing the wierd sensation of having this gap in his memory, one moment trying to pull onto the main road, the next sprawled on the opposite pavement with the bike lying on the curb next to him. Just completely forgot about it when I was trying to describe what happened to me. Orange Someone fucked around with this message at 01:13 on Jan 2, 2009 |
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Jan 2, 2009 00:57
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Orange Someone posted:My head didn't touch the ground. I impacted right shoulder, then flip over onto left hip then flip onto both knees. My helmet came out of it without a scratch, touch, mar or even the slightest bit of mud, and the state of the road, if it had impacted, there would have been mud. it doesn't always necessarily mean you hit your head. Sometimes, under an adrenaline rush it can be hard to recollect what occurred. I can recall when I dumped the clutch on a small 250cc bike when learning to ride, but the moment from taking the spill to landing on my back are a total blur, and this was low speed with no head-bumping. Things just happen really fast on a bike when you go down, and being totally aware of what you're doing under the influence of epinephrine isn't something innate to everyone, it's my opinion that it either takes training or some kind of predisposition one happens to have.
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Jan 2, 2009 01:04
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The carb in my '82 CM250C is so dirty that it is actually rusty. My bike runs pretty bad because of it. What's the best way to go about cleaning the rust without destroying all my rubber seals in there? Also, a mouse made a nest in my air filter decades ago and it's now hilariously rusty and dry as a bone. I can't find out where to replace it - if I search for air filters all I get are oil filters.
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Jan 2, 2009 01:22
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Datsun Honeybee posted:here's a quick question that I'm having a hard time finding the answer to on google ... how many miles/years does a standard motorcycle like a cb750 pull (assuming good maintenace) before it needs something like a top-end rebuild for new piston rings? "when it needs it". I'd expect never in your bikes lifetime. If I had to throw a number out there, I'd think anywhere between 150 and 250,000 miles. FuzzyWuzzyBear posted:The carb in my '82 CM250C is so dirty that it is actually rusty. My bike runs pretty bad because of it. What's the best way to go about cleaning the rust without destroying all my rubber seals in there? Check the CV carb thread. All you need to do is clean out the bowl, the main and pilot jets, and maybe the pilot screw.
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Jan 2, 2009 07:03
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Electrical question: I got a heated vest for xmas. Attached it correctly to the battery, it works fine with the bike off. Turn the bike on and it stops working. During idle, or with a light load on it, or cruising at highway speeds, the vest refuses to work. The little temperature controller thing gives some clues: when the bike is off and it's coming straight from the battery, I can cycle the LEDs through low medium and high. But when I turn the bike on (or even just switch the key over to "on" without actually turning over the engine), the LED flickers for half a second and then goes off, and the elements stop heating. The vest wants a 12v battery and that is what I have; what problem would be causing the battery to supply less than 12v to the vest when the bike is running? There are no other (obvious) indications of a weak battery, but I wouldn't be surprised if it's still the original, much-abused one, as I am the third owner of the bike.
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Jan 2, 2009 21:35
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Nerobro posted:What you're looking at are the classic signs of a leaking carburetor boot. It's easy to test. Spray something flammable at the back of the carbs, my favorite is carb cleaner, if the rpms change, there's your culprit. Turns out it was an air leak in the emissions system. I sprayed starting fluid over the intake manifolds, carb boots, and carburetors with no change in idle speed. I was able to affect the idle speed by moving some emissions hoses around. I traced them from the intake manifolds back to a junction underneath the airbox. Apparently a previous owner had performed some creative modifications on the emissions circuit that included some sort of non fuel rated bypass hose and plugged T-fitting. The hose had rotted out and was causing the air leak. Attaching the carbtune to the intake manifold port cleared the hanging idle. After setting the mixture, synching the carbs, and plugging the intake manifold the bike runs great, idles down, and the exhaust has lost the rich smell at idle. Bruinator fucked around with this message at 03:51 on Jan 3, 2009 |
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Jan 3, 2009 03:43
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Sound Mr. Brown posted:Electrical question Theory GO. Your bike's battery is draining when you are at idle, as it should. The bike's charging system will only give a usable charge at riding rpms, at idle it will drain. The vest controller will detect voltage, if it's over 12 it will heat but if it's below it will shut down until it is reset. You might need to patch it in with a switch so you can switch it on when you're riding at charging rpms.
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Jan 3, 2009 04:09
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Ola posted:Theory GO. Your bike's battery is draining when you are at idle, as it should. The bike's charging system will only give a usable charge at riding rpms, at idle it will drain. The vest controller will detect voltage, if it's over 12 it will heat but if it's below it will shut down until it is reset. You might need to patch it in with a switch so you can switch it on when you're riding at charging rpms. That's the thing though, I don't have a usable voltage at riding rpms. I can be at 55mph and reach down to switch the vest on and it does the same little "LED flashes briefly, then doesn't turn on" thing. I also tried this in lower and higher gears, and at a range of RPMs 
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Jan 3, 2009 05:52
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Mr Brown, tell us exactly how you have it hooked up. :-) Where did you splice into the harness? How old is your battery? If it works with the bike off, i'm willing to bet it's electrical noise from the alternator that's confusing it. A charged battery helps that, and if it's really necessary you can wire in a capacitor. It may also be an indicator of a failing stator, or failing rectifier. Both of those can cause some well and truly evil electrical noise. Bruinator posted:Turns out it was an air leak in the emissions system. Well I was close ;-) I don't think of most bikes as really having emissions systems. But I'm stuck in the 80's with motorcycles. Nerobro fucked around with this message at 08:43 on Jan 3, 2009 |
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Jan 3, 2009 08:35
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