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shaitan posted:When you park your bike, do you leave it in gear or neutral? I see a lot of people starting their bike just by hitting the starter, so I assume they leave it in neutral. In gear. Orange Someone posted:I use this wierd pink stuff to clean my visor, and it keeps it clear of the rain and the fog. I've since smelt paraffin and guessed it's some sort of paraffin wax. If it's just coloured paraffin wax I'm going to be mighty annoyed. Sounds like the same stuff you can get to prevent fogging on eyeglasses. Doctor Zero posted:So in reading this article it seems that this was a true accident. For the sake of discussion, is there anything this poor guy could have done to avoid this, or do you suppose it was the rare case of simply bad luck? Nothing other than staying away from big trucks which isn't always possible, especially at night. MrKatharsis posted:If you have your own insurance, they should be handling this for you. Generally your own insurance company will only get involved if the other company refuses to pay. In that situation my company, GEICO, will pay me and then go after the other company. sectoidman posted:What I'm wondering is, how long is it typically supposed to take for the insurance company to send a settlement offer? I'm feeling like I'm getting screwed here. Hopefully soon. I hate to mention this but I used to work for a large corporation and when one of our drivers was at fault in a accident, it could sometimes take weeks and in one case, months (but that was because the guy wouldn't accept a reasonable settlement). They are probably searching for an angle to get out of paying you, Allstate is particularly a cock about paying.
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Jul 28, 2009 22:09
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So how hard would it be for someone with little mechanical experience to tear down and rebuild an engine? An impossible task? A Sunday walk in the park? I'm going to be trolling around, see if I can't find an engine is not-half-bad shape that maybe could be stuck in there. My guy did a little work and now he thinks that someone took the whole engine apart and didn't put it back together right.
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Jul 28, 2009 23:34
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Chairon posted:So how hard would it be for someone with little mechanical experience to tear down and rebuild an engine? An impossible task? A Sunday walk in the park? I consider my knowledge to by up there in regards to working with car/motorcycle engines, and I would say a good few days of dedicated work for a newbie. That is if you can even get to all the stuff without any special tools. Have you looked at the service manual to see what you are in for yet?
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Jul 29, 2009 01:40
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dietcokefiend posted:I consider my knowledge to by up there in regards to working with car/motorcycle engines, and I would say a good few days of dedicated work for a newbie. That is if you can even get to all the stuff without any special tools. Have you looked at the service manual to see what you are in for yet? Nah, the mechanic has the service manual. He can fix it, yeah, but it seems like he won't be done until next year with how long hes had it already and the little progress thats been made. If I do, should I just buy a whole new set of Engine gaskets and replace them as I go?
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Jul 29, 2009 02:13
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Well, two 90cc bikes were stolen from our garage last night. We heard them finish loading them up around 3 AM but they were gone before we could get downstairs. The police said they would look into it but it seems unlikely that they will be able to do anything. Neither is street legal, and one is only good for street use so we don't know what the hell they are going to do with them. Neither is worth anything other than the scrap value. Should I just give up hope and move on? One of the bikes they stole was a one-of-a-kind bike my father loves and it kills me to know that some gently caress will destroy it or let it rust because he can't sell it and he doesn't give a drat about it. Nyyen fucked around with this message at 03:30 on Jul 29, 2009 |
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Jul 29, 2009 03:27
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Nyyen posted:Fuckin theiving scrotes nicked our bikes Pretty bad stealing bikes from inside a garage. Must be the UK, where you apparently have to lock your bike inside to a huge anchor embedded in the floor. Someone stole a little Suzuki JR50 but that's what happens when you leave it unattended outside all summer between rides. That sucks anyway.
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Jul 29, 2009 04:56
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How difficult is it to intall a nozzle needle and a carburator cover?
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Jul 30, 2009 08:10
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Hooray, I have a question and a long story. Went out for a ride today, and after 20 minutes in stop & go traffic, I hit a faster road that I could get up to 70km/h on. This road leads to a hill that also had stop & go traffic on it (Bayview south of Moore for the T.O. goons). While on the hill, my bike started to act strangely: I would go to let out the clutch to creep up the hill, and the engine would bog down. So I'd give it some gas and the engine would race to catch up, and at that point I'd let the clutch out a bit to try to keep moving forward. Cue maybe 5 minutes of this as I try to creep up the hill without stalling out completely, and then once I was up the hill and back on level streets, I hit a red light. I had switched over to Reserve on the tank while still on the hill just in case, even though I was sure I had enough gas in the tank. I made it through the left-hand turn and over to the nearest gas station, where I immediately shut 'er down. I let the bike cool down for 10-15 minutes, at which point I checked the oil (now that the crankcase had cooled down) and found that, like 2 nights ago, the level was fine: right in the middle of the marks. I tried starting it up: no go. It would crank, so the battery was still OK, but no start. I tried a few more times, and managed to get it going once by giving it a handful of gas, but it wouldn't stay running. I let it cool down about 10 minutes longer, and figured I'd put a couple bucks' worth of gas in, just in case. Walked it to and from the pumps, and tried again: no start. On a whim I decided to pull the spark plug wires just to see if anything was amiss, and one of the wires came right out when I pulled a bit on the boot by accident! It looked rather corroded (green), so I screwed it back on and check the other; same story. So having done that, I went to start it again, and it came to life on the first go! It seemed to be idling OK, without any of the coughing from before, so I gave up on my travel plans and just went home. No drama on the way home either. Here are pics of the wires:   I had a similar thing happen when I was taking it to the shop back in May, after about an hour of city traffic. I am still a bit of a noobie, so my first idea is that being an air-cooled twin, it was just overheating in the traffic. I've done a few short rides in the city, as well as a few longer runs out to my parents' place (2.5 hours), and a 2 hour ride two nights ago on the main roads without any problem since that first time it gave me the problem. Should I replace the wires altogether, or strip out the corroded ends and re-attach? Is this indicative of another problem? Bike is a 1980 Honda CB400T, just over 21,000 km. EDIT: was the engine just leaning out because of the hill? The last (and only other) time it happened I was pretty much on even ground. Chris Knight fucked around with this message at 06:28 on Jul 31, 2009 |
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Jul 30, 2009 23:46
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Phat_Albert posted:Nothing really, I wanted something different, and thought I would try this, plus it added some neat features that I didnt have. Have you looked at this brand any? http://www.electrosport.com/street/speedometers.php
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Jul 31, 2009 02:04
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Chris Knight posted:Should I replace the wires altogether, or strip out the corroded ends and re-attach? Is this indicative of another problem? Bike is a 1980 Honda CB400T, just over 21,000 km. Replace them if you can without having to buy new coils. Otherwise cut as much of the corroded wire off that you can without making them too short. I don't think I've ever seen stranded copper spark plug wires like that. I mean my 82 vf750 has stranded plug wires but they still have shielding/brading like a normal plug wire. obso fucked around with this message at 03:54 on Jul 31, 2009 |
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Jul 31, 2009 03:50
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niethan posted:How difficult is it to intall a nozzle needle and a carburator cover? whowhatwhere? Nozzle needle... could that be a slide needle? or a pilot needle? Carburator cover.. maybe that's the top cap? or air filter?
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Jul 31, 2009 06:19
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obso posted:Replace them if you can without having to buy new coils. Otherwise cut as much of the corroded wire off that you can without making them too short. Oh, it still has the boots that fit over the plugs, I was just seeing what was underneath.
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Jul 31, 2009 06:32
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Nerobro posted:whowhatwhere? Nozzle needle... could that be a slide needle? or a pilot needle? Carburator cover.. maybe that's the top cap? or air filter? Yeah sorry I just translated the german names directly I think what i meant was the top cap of the carb and nozzle needle is 2 here the needle that determines how much fuel gets in the engine 
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Jul 31, 2009 09:21
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both are very easy jobs.
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Jul 31, 2009 15:35
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Chris Knight posted:Oh, it still has the boots that fit over the plugs, I was just seeing what was underneath. Yeah I was talking about the construction of the wire. I took a closer look at mine and they are basically the same except with 2 colors of insulation (white on the inside black outside). Guess it was just the macro picture that made it look different.
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Jul 31, 2009 17:09
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So I bought a street triple about a month ago. Everything was awesome until yesterday I dropped the bike in my garage  . The front left indicator light was broken. I never liked the way the front indicators looked anyway so both front indicators were removed. They were removed at the insertion point. I'm concerned that because the other connector to the battery is open, the electrical system might be damaged in rain or any kind of water. Is this a valid conern? If it is, where can I buy or make endcaps for the connectors? Uhhh.. sorry for the large image. forgot to resize before uploading How the hell do I remove an image? lostleaf fucked around with this message at 04:35 on Aug 1, 2009 |
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Aug 1, 2009 04:29
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lostleaf posted:So I bought a street triple about a month ago. Everything was awesome until yesterday I dropped the bike in my garage I would just wrap them in electrical tape and stick them in an out of the way place. As long as they are behind body work, they shouldn't get too wet, but I'd be concerned about them shorting out on something.
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Aug 1, 2009 05:13
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Whoever decided to use playdough screws on the EX250's center fairing is a complete rear end in a top hat. If the screw is completely stripped is there any way using hand tools to remove it? I've tried an impact driver, but that just stripped it even more. Edit* It's a slightly recessed bolt so I can't just get a pair of pliers and clamp down on it. I did manage to get it a little of the way out before stripping it completely. Also, I tried to start the EX250 today and it turns over but doesn't start. The bike was sort of in running condition when I bought it. It started when jumped, but didn't run well at all. I replaced the battery, did an oil change, and added new gas to the gas tank. When it didn't start I figured it had to be the carbs and so I'm now in the process of pulling them for cleaning. After I started disassembling the bike, though, I suddenly had the thought that if I had given it a little throttle it may have started? I tried it with the choke all the way in and all the way out with no luck. Any ideas? NoCleverName fucked around with this message at 16:13 on Aug 1, 2009 |
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Aug 1, 2009 16:11
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NoCleverName posted:Whoever decided to use playdough screws on the EX250's center fairing is a complete rear end in a top hat. If the screw is completely stripped is there any way using hand tools to remove it? I've tried an impact driver, but that just stripped it even more. The choke isn't an on or off thing, it's a range. They tend to be closed for the first 70% or so of the travel, and go from no choke to full choke in 70-90%, and then are full on for the last 10%. You'll have to play with it a little bit to get it going. Also, when you say it "won't start"...is the engine turning over but the bike isn't firing?
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Aug 1, 2009 18:20
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NoCleverName posted:Whoever decided to use playdough screws on the EX250's center fairing is a complete rear end in a top hat. If the screw is completely stripped is there any way using hand tools to remove it? I've tried an impact driver, but that just stripped it even more. Craftsman (and I'm sure others) make special bits that will dig in and let you back out stripped screws. I haven't had to use one yet (knock on wood), but I hear good things about them.
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Aug 1, 2009 18:27
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Z3n posted:The choke isn't an on or off thing, it's a range. They tend to be closed for the first 70% or so of the travel, and go from no choke to full choke in 70-90%, and then are full on for the last 10%. You'll have to play with it a little bit to get it going. I pulled the choke all the way out, could that have been too much? I'm not 100% sure what the bike is doing, but I think it's like you said. Would that be a sparkplug issue maybe? It was at least running with a jump 2 weeks ago when I bought it, not sure what could have gone wrong. I'm cleaning the carbs right now, they weren't too dirty and I don't see anything blocking either jet. I'm going to run it through some carb cleaner anyways, but now I kind of doubt the carbs were the problem. There was, however, a ton of very brown gas that came out of the carbs when I pulled them off and as I was working on them. Doctor Zero posted:Craftsman (and I'm sure others) make special bits that will dig in and let you back out stripped screws. I haven't had to use one yet (knock on wood), but I hear good things about them. I'll have to look for these, I don't think there's any way I'm going to get that fairing off without something like that. Edit2* So I've got a question about my carbs. I took out the main jets and there was another piece under them. It's a silver metal tube with a ring around the middle. One end is a little longer and thinner than the other. I have no idea which end was pointing down in the hole for the main jet. If I put the longer end down, a little bit of the metal hangs out into the primary 'chamber' of the carb. If I go the other way there's nothing hanging out, but that end doesn't line up as well with the jet. I've included some pictures because I can't explain what it looks like at all. The piece:  Click here for the full 1000x750 image. How it lines up with the main jet:  Click here for the full 1000x750 image. How it hangs down into the main chamber when I put it in one way:  Click here for the full 1000x750 image. Edit3* And one more question, may as well throw them all in one post. I pseudo-stripped some of the screws that cover the float valve end of the carbs. Is there any reason I can't replace them with stainless steel versions (same size screw)? The originals were some other metal, maybe brass, gold colored and they stripped like crazy. NoCleverName fucked around with this message at 23:27 on Aug 1, 2009 |
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Aug 1, 2009 21:32
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Sounds like bad gas more than anything else. I'm not sure on that silver piece or if you can replace the brass internal screws with non-brass ones, I'd wait for Nero or one of our other CADL guys to chime in. I think that bit should be hanging into the carb passage/throat, but I'm not positive.
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Aug 2, 2009 02:21
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NoCleverName posted:
That is the correct direction for the sleeve to face. It's a guide for the slide needle. And there's no reason you can't replace the float bowl screws. I loving hate those things, they strip all the time.
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Aug 2, 2009 05:40
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Doctor Zero posted:Craftsman (and I'm sure others) make special bits that will dig in and let you back out stripped screws. I haven't had to use one yet (knock on wood), but I hear good things about them. I had to do this today, though not with fairing screws. Mine was one of the screws in the brake reservoir on the handlebar. I tried a Grabit bit first, but it was useless (not small enough). Then I used a small drill bit, thinner than the screw, to drill just slightly into the head. The I used an regular screw extractor to get it out. I ended up using a drill for that part too, but they make T-handles to use with them. This is what worked for me: http://tinyurl.com/nkz4c8
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Aug 2, 2009 07:43
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I had this problem with a Major loving Bolt (upper subframe) on my KLR, it's what kept me sidelined for most of the spring (albeit i am a lazy gently caress), and what ultimately prompted my purchase of the WeeStrom. I ended up entirely drilling the bolt out, and replacing the threads with an appropriately sized keysert. This was after I tried conventional screw extractors.
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Aug 2, 2009 08:51
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I rode to Diz's place today, and to announce my arrival I decided to rev my engine obnoxiously, but after I did this, the engine stalled. Not a big deal, since I was about to turn it off anyway, but what's up with that? Is it some characteristic of carbed engines?
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Aug 2, 2009 13:42
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How big of a pain is it going to be trying to change the oil in my '08 EX250 without a stand? I can't afford a stand for a few weeks but I really need to change my oil. Also, I should be good to switch to synthetic at 3500 miles yeah?
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Aug 2, 2009 13:48
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-Inu- posted:How big of a pain is it going to be trying to change the oil in my '08 EX250 without a stand? I can't afford a stand for a few weeks but I really need to change my oil. Also, I should be good to switch to synthetic at 3500 miles yeah? http://faq.ninja250.org/wiki/J_model_oil_change bam! I didn't know the new models didn't have a centerstand. Seems kind of silly to me, considering how drat useful it is, but whatever.
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Aug 2, 2009 16:24
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Methusulah posted:http://faq.ninja250.org/wiki/J_model_oil_change bam!
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Aug 2, 2009 16:44
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Smirk posted:I rode to Diz's place today, and to announce my arrival I decided to rev my engine obnoxiously, but after I did this, the engine stalled. Not a big deal, since I was about to turn it off anyway, but what's up with that? Is it some characteristic of carbed engines? No it is not.
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Aug 2, 2009 17:03
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Smirk posted:I rode to Diz's place today, and to announce my arrival I decided to rev my engine obnoxiously, but after I did this, the engine stalled. Not a big deal, since I was about to turn it off anyway, but what's up with that? Is it some characteristic of carbed engines? Could possibly be that carbs are giving it too much fuel when its not under a load.
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Aug 2, 2009 18:04
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Smirk posted:I rode to Diz's place today, and to announce my arrival I decided to rev my engine obnoxiously, but after I did this, the engine stalled. Not a big deal, since I was about to turn it off anyway, but what's up with that? Is it some characteristic of carbed engines? It's the anti-douchebag switch engaging. Something I wish more bikes had.
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Aug 2, 2009 18:08
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-Inu- posted:Oh ho ho thank you kind sir! I had no idea ninja250.org had an article for such a thing. And yeah, I guess they removed the center stand for aesthetics to go along with the supersport styling. No problem. I figured they would have some suggestions on how to change the oil, but I didn't know they had an in depth article on it. Considering the source it's not surprising. In the same vein, is it completely necessary to have a torque wrench to tighten the oil bolts? I haven't had a problem with just going 1/2 to 3/4 tight on the nut the filter and drain plug bolts.
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Aug 2, 2009 18:36
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Methusulah posted:In the same vein, is it completely necessary to have a torque wrench to tighten the oil bolts? I haven't had a problem with just going 1/2 to 3/4 tight on the nut the filter and drain plug bolts. You should, but as long as you aren't tightening it as hard as you can (which you aren't) and as long as it doesn't leak, you should be good. Basically anything with a gasket that shouldn't be compressed too much, or anything that might catastrophically fail or come off (like things that hold your wheel on) if not in tolerance pretty much need a torque wrench. Otherwise you should be good. EDIT: You can get cheap torque wrenches at Harbor Freight which would be fine for oil changes and stuff if you so desire. Doctor Zero fucked around with this message at 18:50 on Aug 2, 2009 |
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Aug 2, 2009 18:47
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So I'm working out a trip in south Texas. Ninja250 for 30 miles on stuff like this. Do-able/crazy/don't even consider it? To me I think that it's doable and I want to try it. Third photo is during my trip out west, and I really didn't have any problems. What do you think guys?  
blugu64 fucked around with this message at 19:55 on Aug 2, 2009 |
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Aug 2, 2009 19:50
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Methusulah posted:In the same vein, is it completely necessary to have a torque wrench to tighten the oil bolts? I haven't had a problem with just going 1/2 to 3/4 tight on the nut the filter and drain plug bolts. I don't know about yours, but I managed to break a bolt on my ex250 today. Admittedly, it was one of the brass (?) bolts that holds the tank in place and I managed to get it out easy enough by unscrewing the other end, but I should have been using my torque wrench. I think the bolts in the oil filter/drain are stainless steel so they'll be a little more forgiving, but it wouldn't be a terrible idea to have one around. On another note, I've got some more questions. I've nearly got my bike reassembled but there are 2 hoses that I can't seem to find a place for. There's an orange hose that comes out of the top of the carbs, I'm pretty sure it's the gas overflow hose. Should I just route this somewhere pointing down so that if stuff comes out it shoots onto the ground or is the other end supposed to go into something? Edit* Think I found the answer to this one, looks like it is the fuel overflow and it just routes the fuel away from the engine block, so nothing at the other end. There's another hose that comes out of the top of the coolant tank. The end not attached to the little coolant tank doesn't hook into anything, but that doesn't mean I didn't just pull it out by accident. Should that loose end go anywhere or just down away from the engine? NoCleverName fucked around with this message at 21:32 on Aug 2, 2009 |
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Aug 2, 2009 21:17
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blugu64 posted:So I'm working out a trip in south Texas. Ninja250 for 30 miles on stuff like this. Do-able/crazy/don't even consider it? To me I think that it's doable and I want to try it. Third photo is during my trip out west, and I really didn't have any problems. What do you think guys? I'm not a big fan of riding through sand, but that's something I wouldn't hesitate riding over on my cruiser. I would imagine a Ninja even easier as you can stand up and move around better than I can on my bike.
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Aug 2, 2009 21:49
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Uthor posted:I'm not a big fan of riding through sand, but that's something I wouldn't hesitate riding over on my cruiser. I would imagine a Ninja even easier as you can stand up and move around better than I can on my bike. sounds like its party time
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Aug 2, 2009 23:56
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NoCleverName posted:I don't know about yours, but I managed to break a bolt on my ex250 today. Admittedly, it was one of the brass (?) bolts that holds the tank in place and I managed to get it out easy enough by unscrewing the other end, but I should have been using my torque wrench. I think the bolts in the oil filter/drain are stainless steel so they'll be a little more forgiving, but it wouldn't be a terrible idea to have one around. The hoses are a fuel overflow and a coolant overflow. Route them so they'll drain to the ground.
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Aug 3, 2009 03:11
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There's a rubber bushing on the frame stay I'm replacing on my KLR that I want to swap to the new part. What the heck do I use to destroy the glue but retain the bushing?
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Aug 3, 2009 04:20
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