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2ndclasscitizen posted:No, it's a wheel. It is symmetrical. However, a Road 2CT is directional, and the wheel is balanced in that direction. I always figured a wheel was the sum of a rim and a tire. So the arrow is pointing in the wrong direction? I thought I screwed up my first tire change when the tread patterns on front and rear were pointing in different directions, turns out that's how it's supposed to be.
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Nov 23, 2010 00:44
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Ola posted:I always figured a wheel was the sum of a rim and a tire. So the arrow is pointing in the wrong direction? I thought I screwed up my first tire change when the tread patterns on front and rear were pointing in different directions, turns out that's how it's supposed to be. Yep. Some bike tyres (particularly Pilots) have tread patterns that look like they're the wrong way round.
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Nov 23, 2010 08:39
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My GS500 was cranking a bit weakly after I got off work, it was super cold out here in the bay area, the battery just didn't have it in it after a few tries. I managed to bump start it, rode it 28 miles home, I just checked the battery voltage, I guess 12.2 volts is on the weak side (ignition off) Ordered an AGM battery to replace the old acid filled one.
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Nov 23, 2010 09:30
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Finally finished registering it! Now my lazy rear end is all that's keeping me from riding again (painting my new $50 helmet instead of just loving wearing it). Maybe by 2011 I'll be able to enjoy the SV.
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Nov 24, 2010 03:16
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Crossposting from the moped thread. A few notes for the uninitiated, a PA50, aka Honda Hobbit, is a dual-variated moped made from 1978 to 1983. It's basically scooter tech, with a front variator that "shifts" with roller weights spinning and a rear pulley, so you are always in a good "gear". PA50's are probably the best bikes for all-around power due to their immense powerband, but they don't reach the top speeds of some of the other bikes for a few reasons. The fastest domestic PA50's, running 70ccish kits, are in the low 60's while some of the Puch tuners with 80cc kits are into the 70s. A lot of the speed in PA50's comes from the sheer "amount" of variation up front, so people modify the stock drive face to allow the weights to move farther out, resulting in a higher top "gear", or replace the variator with something else that fits and also allows for a higher top speed. Then you have to dial in the variator weights so they make the bike variate at the right RPMs, so you stay in your pipes powerband. So onto the post: I got a 1983 PA50 on Craigslist for $120, not running, but pretty drat clean. I love the black Hobbits with the triple tank stripe and black paint, too, so it was a great foundation to work with. Soon after I got it I realized the previous owner was a moron, there was one busted case stud in the case, and one of the stud holes was stripped out. So I had some work to do. My plans include: Appearance: - Simplification of wiring, removing keyed ignition and turn signals. I'd like to get it down to the point where I don't need the stock controls at all. (Potentially. The turn signals are growing on me for some sort of ironic reason.) - Removing busted head light, replacing with something else mounted with these nice and low - Put on Pug bars, which are exactly the same as Hobbit bars, just about 1/2 the height - New seat of some sort, probably a stock PA-50 1 seat (smaller, flatter) Performance: - Pull engine, re-tap stripped case screw hole - Install new performance crank and bearings - 71ish cc Athena kit (this and the crank are actually already purchased, so this ain't just pie in the sky) - Motomatic N8P (or maybe a Motion Left pipe, but N8P is proven on this setup) - Pull the notched and ramped stock variator from my DR setup, eventually use a TJT perhaps and some Polini weights? ($$$) - 2,000 RPM scooter clutch springs - 19 PHBG race clone carb outside the subframe, all tubed mounted up to a stock intake bored out to 19mm - Boyesen Mod dual-stage power reeds - New rubber, probably stick with the usual IRC NR53’s I like to run Luckily, a friend of mine who is/was waaay into Hobbits has a bunch of expensive stuff for me to borrow for testing: Motomatic Destroyer pipe, TJT variator, and a 6-roller Camino variator. I can test the 3 variators I have against each other and use the Destroyer to see how I like things and how I want to shape the powerband with a new pipe. OK, so first step was to disassemble the Hobbit's engine. Remove engine from subframe, check. Remove head, cylinder, piston, check. Insert rod through crankshaft wrist pin opening to stop it from moving, check. (Probably should have just used a piston stop while the head was still on.. whatever). Remove the nut that holds on the variator and clutch bell, pop off the clutch with a clutch puller: side 1 done. Remove the nut that holds the flywheel on, use a 2-jaw puller to remove the flywheel guide thing, unbolt stator, side 2 done. Remove 4 hex bolts under stator, done. Attempt to separate case halves. Use rubber mallet to pound them apart. Mistakenly believe they are just really freaking stuck. Use big crescent wrench to attempt to pry the halves apart using the engine mount "ears". Cry a little as you break off one of the engine mounts.... You see, there are two more screws/bolts that hold the case halves together. They are pretty obvious, too, when you look for them. I just wasn't paying attention and screwed things up. So yeah, busted case half, either needed to weld or find more halves. Luckily, a friend down in Toledo had a bunch of extra parts he wouldn't really use very soon, or ever, and let me come down to snag an engine case. The case halves on my friend's engine were held together with philips head screws, which I believe is the case for most years. Time to pray. 2 screws came out, 2 screws stripped out, and 2 screws (the ones easier to access) required cutting a big notch into with a dremel and removing with a beastly flathead screwdriver and vice grips. We first tried to use an ez-out to remove the stuck screw, but it just broke off into the screw. My buddy then busted out his 18v Dewalt cordless drill and went to town on the screwheads. After removing them, the cases came apart, and we used vice grips to remove the screw bodies. Phew. During the day down there, I also opened up my stock intake to 19mm all the way through, to match up with a Puch exhaust header another friend was nice enough to donate to my cause. Round high-speed cutter, mid-grade sandpaper wheel, hand-sand 400 grit:   The Puch exhaust header matches this thing PERFECTLY, it's like it was made for it. The cases were pretty gnarly, so I spent some time sanding down surface rust and weird residue. I used a sharp paring knife to cut off the leftover gasket bits, as well. I then took the Athena's base gasket, cut it down to match the Athena's transfers, then used it to see what I needed to cut off the cases to get a decent case match. About 1-2mm all around the transfer, really. Used a high-speed round cutting bit, a mid-grade sandpaper wheel, then hand sanded with 400 grit. With the cases apart, grinding out the transfers was so easy and I was able to get all the way back into the case:  I then cleaned up the cases in some Simple green and hot water. Just enough to get the worst stuff off, this is an engine, after all. So then I got the parts all together. 77 crank, bearings, seals, case halves:  Following some advice from a Hobbit guru, the crank goes in the freezer:  and the bearings go in the toaster oven at 250F:  This contracts the metal in the crank and expands the metal in the bearings, hopefully making it easier for the bearings to slide down onto the crank. After the crank had been in the freezer for 45 minutes or so, and the bearings in the toaster oven for a half hour or so, I attempted to drop the bearing on, and assumed it would just drop down into place. Nope. Not even close. I took my bicycle seat post and rubber mallet and attempted to pound the inner race of the bearing, but it didn't want to get on there. I stuck the crank back in the freezer, bearings in the oven, and waited a bit. The next time I took a real hammer and whacked the end of the seat post as soon as the hot bearing hit the crank. Success. After a few hard hits the bearings were seated into place:  Tossed that into the freezer to prepare for the next step, which is placing the whole assembly into hot engine case halves. Crank and bearings in the freezer, yup. Tossed one of the case halves in the oven, heated it up for a half hour. Remove case half, place it on something heat resistant and with a place for the crank to go. I found this worked well. Duct tape on a nalgene:  Triple check you are putting the crank in the right way and drop it straight in. It should slide right into place. If it gets stuck, chill and heat longer, then try again. Use a hair dryer or something to chill out the case half enough to handle, then put the entire thing in the freezer for awhile. Heat up the other case half. When you remove it, place it on your stand, put your 2-stroke oiled gasket in place, and drop the crank/case half assembly down onto the other half. I had to tap mine down a bit to make it seat completely. Quickly start hand-tightening the hex-head screws to secure the case halves together. Then tighten them in some sort of criss-cross pattern with a socket driver. Use a blow dryer or something to cool everything down. Done. Next step is pressing in the crank oil seals, which is pretty easy. I lubed up the hard rubber seals with some 2-stroke and simply pushed them in until they stopped, using some needle nose pliers.  Note that the other one goes in deeper. So yeah, engine cases together:  Pulled the woodruff key off my old crank, put it on the new one, ran the stator wires through that dumb rubber boot (hard as hell), secured the stator, placed the flywheel holder in place around the woodruff, tightened down the flywheel. Done. 2k clutch springs are in my clutch, which is waiting for a variator setup. Intake ready. Boyesen 2-stage reeds in the reed plate. This thing should be running the week after Thanksgiving. ShaneB fucked around with this message at 17:00 on Nov 24, 2010 |
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Nov 24, 2010 16:41
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ShaneB, that's freaking awesome. I changed the oil on the ninjette. I spilled a lot. There were little curly metal shavings in the filter, and I forgot to check the screen before I added oil again.  When I was torquing the filter cover back on, I knocked the bike over, which broke the new turn signal I put on last week and bent the clutch lever a lot. And bent the shifter. I kinda bent the shifter back (it looks like a wavy noodle from all the times my poor bike has been dropped), but the clutch is hosed, and the left handlebar is also a little hosed. Now I'm trying to decide if I should replace the bar and the clutch lever, and maybe the shifter lever. I don't know how much  I want to put into the bike, as long as it's safe-ish to ride and keeps getting me to work & back.Also, I can't figure out if the filter cover and the drain plug are torqued right. 14.5 ft. lbs. seems like a lot - at that setting I can't even turn the torque wrench hard enough for it to slip.
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Nov 24, 2010 23:25
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Are you sure you have the torque wrench set correctly? 14.5 foot pounds is not very much at all, just barely past snug. It seems like there isn't a good solution to this, but almost every case of someone cracking an oil pan seems to be related to overtorquing the drain plug, even with a torque wrench. I'm not sure how that's done. I'm almost hitting the point where I'm hesitant to say that people should even use torque wrenches on drain plugs, because of how often people way overdo it.
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Nov 24, 2010 23:42
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Z3n posted:Are you sure you have the torque wrench set correctly? 14.5 foot pounds is not very much at all, just barely past snug. I way overdid it. Threads stripped, oil everywhere. I also recommend not using a torque wrench on drain plugs. I'm a loving idiot. 
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Nov 25, 2010 01:35
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Frances B Cat posted:I way overdid it. Threads stripped, oil everywhere. I also recommend not using a torque wrench on drain plugs. I'm a loving idiot. Did you use a new crush washer? I find that I really torque down drain plugs if I use the old flattened washer, yet if I use a new one, it snugs down with lots of feel. Kind of like an old vs new spark plug.
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Nov 25, 2010 02:25
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MrZig posted:Did you use a new crush washer? I find that I really torque down drain plugs if I use the old flattened washer, yet if I use a new one, it snugs down with lots of feel. Kind of like an old vs new spark plug. I did - I must have just gone at it with the strength of ten apes. I have no finesse at all.
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Nov 25, 2010 03:03
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So far *fingers crossed* I've never stripped the oil pan bolt. I've twisted off other bolts while still in the bore, but never the oil pan. Maybe it's cause I've got weak little noodle arms. I got a process: Is it tight? Yes. Could it go tighter? Quick check - Yes. Does it feel like an honest tighter or does it feel like you're gonna have an expensive bout of swearing? Either. GET THE gently caress AWAY FROM THAT BOLT YOU GORILLA IT'S TIGHT ENOUGH. Anyway I got the Strom away for the winter, though I'll want to locate some gas to throw in the tank. Battery's unhooked, I've learned that lesson :[
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Nov 25, 2010 05:32
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 Argh I pulled the ZX6 out of the garage to take to work today and noticed my right turn signal is missing >  I hadn't ridden it since last week, I thought i'd maybe knocked it off against something, but i was no where to be seen on the floor of the garage... I guess some jerkbag stole it? But who the gently caress steals a stock ugly turn signal? Well I ordered a pair of flushmounts anyways.
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Nov 25, 2010 09:42
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gently caress me, I just broke an extractor bit trying to replace the peg on my shifter pedal. Looks like I'll just have to replace the whole pedal now.
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Nov 28, 2010 20:37
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Changed the Ninja 500's dirty air filter, replacing it with a K&N bought mostly for the washable/reusable aspect and less for the questionable performance increase. A twenty mile test ride later and I can't attest to it actually increasing horsepower. Surprisingly the local dealership offered the best price on the filter, and on the way out I had to force myself to stop looking longingly at the shiny new ZX-6.
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Nov 29, 2010 01:00
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Took my Monster to the car wash today, and hit it with the pressure washer (i know) Total waste of time and $3.00 Still looks cruddy, and not the oil sensor light won't go off. (this usually happens when I ride in the rain) lesson learned.
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Nov 29, 2010 01:31
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Just leave a bucket of soapy water next to it, and scantily clad girls will come out of nowhere and wash it for you.
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Nov 29, 2010 01:38
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Slim Pickens posted:Just leave a bucket of soapy water next to it, and scantily clad girls will come out of nowhere and wash it for you. Does that only apply to sport bikes? I have a feeling if I did that with my GZ250, I'd get some horrible trolls to wash it instead. Finally put the bike away for the winter, was going to do it earlier, but the weather has been lovely with either rain, snow, or loving cold the past two weeks. It hit 45 today so it was the best time to fill her up and put some stabil in the tank. Why can't I live somewhere that allows year round riding
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Nov 29, 2010 04:17
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2ndclasscitizen posted:Got the head bearings replaced yesterday, and I'm just about to take it back because they put the front wheel in backwards. Haha "Why does my tire have Vs instead of mountains!?"
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Nov 29, 2010 20:44
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Bought it. New, 2009 Gladius; first bike. I had to drive it home in the rain with a windbreaker that acted like a parachute but I had a huge grin on my face and tons of fun the whole time.
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Nov 30, 2010 03:42
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Winterized my Puch Magnum. A sad day. Sitting in my friend's garage with an empty carb and a full tank of Sta-Bilized fuel, waiting for next season to come around. One of my other, crappier, mopeds will serve as the winter ride.
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Nov 30, 2010 06:11
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Just got my bike serviced, could've done most if not all of it myself but I find sitting in the gutter cleaning my chain painful enough that the thought of sitting in the gutter changing the oil and doing other services just didn't get me too excited.
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Dec 2, 2010 00:09
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Aargh posted:Just got my bike serviced, could've done most if not all of it myself but I find sitting in the gutter cleaning my chain painful enough that the thought of sitting in the gutter changing the oil and doing other services just didn't get me too excited. Why not sit in the driveway and do it?
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Dec 4, 2010 02:39
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Installed the flushmounts! They look pretty slick in blue matching the fairings like that I think. Also removing the side fairings was a bit more complicated than I thought, at least compared to my other bikes.  
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Dec 4, 2010 05:55
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Installed some new foot rugs, added some chrome, cleaned her up. Before:  Click here for the full 1280x960 image. After:  Click here for the full 1280x960 image. I also made a parking decal holder so that I didnt have to put the sticker on the bike.  Click here for the full 1280x960 image.
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Dec 4, 2010 21:06
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Taught a good friend how to ride on it. He's keen to pass his test so I taught him the basics in a big car park this morning. He's had a massive grin on his face all day.
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Dec 5, 2010 21:06
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Phy posted:Battery's unhooked, I've learned that lesson :[ Wait tell me this lesson because I haven't learned it yet and would like to avoid finding out the hard way.
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Dec 6, 2010 04:07
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Installed a new brake rotor and pads. No more ABS feeling when stopping! It's weird to have this shiny new part on a bike that's not in the best of shape...  Click here for the full 2048x1536 image.
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Dec 6, 2010 04:25
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Hope you guys like photos.  Did a lot of work today down in my new workshop area, a warehouse space down in the south of town, along with my buddy who found the space in the first place. Got a lot done in 4 hours. First a quick tour of the space:    The bikes are mostly my friend's, his collection is growing. His Hobbit is apart for some top secret (for now) customizations and I’m not sure any of the others are running. Tons of old post office trays and stuff are there, for some reason. Good for organization, or what amounts to it for mopeds:  Bike at the start of the day:  So, onto some work. My DR bike hadn’t been variating right, variating too early and sticking in too high of a “gear” for too long. It’s currently running a borrowed Camino 6-roller which is pretty fun, but not quite as fast overall. Here’s what causes variation problems:  A broken plastic roller guide is not a good thing (I removed the screw, it wasn’t like that). I was also concerned that my notches weren’t wide enough. So to use this with the Athena build, I widened the notches a little:  and installed the Moped Factory rollers:  These are a really durable hard plastic material and weigh very slightly less than the PA50-1 weights I was running, which should be a good match for the setup. Next I had to widen out the exhaust mount area on the Athena cylinder itself so the Motomatic header could fit. This:  plus this:  equals this:  This was actually the first time the Proxxon bogged down on me. Sanding that much at once. So time to put the engine together. Check out this gorgeous custom squish band cut by Graham Motzing at Moped Factory:  Reinstall the decomp (cool broken fin u guys):  Piston on, base gasket, cylinder in place:  Bottom end together whattup. Don’t forget the head gasket, buddies:  Got the new rubber on the rear wheel and got it back on the subframe, along with the engine:  You know what ain’t gonna work? The intake cut this long:  In fact the more I look at this thing the more afraid I get about making everything fit perfectly. So yeah, still work to do: 
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Dec 6, 2010 16:06
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Sold it! 1993 DR650 is going to a new owner and I'm $1800 richer.
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Dec 6, 2010 22:00
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Congrats on your new bike FormatAmerica! And holy poo poo ShaneB, having a workspace like that (in the city?) for fun projects would be amazing.
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Dec 6, 2010 23:03
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SaNChEzZ posted:Why not sit in the driveway and do it? I'd need a driveway to do that too. Unfortunately I live in a townhouse in the inner city - there's nothing but the street (or a friends garage).
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Dec 7, 2010 09:18
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Tried to fix the headlights to no avail. But discovered that the radiator fan is working, it just doesn't come on till 100degrees (i.e. when the engine has gotten really hot already) unless the revs are over 4000rpm  So off to the workshop. Again. EDIT: Success! So it turns out to have been two things. 1) the bulbs were blown, just at the bottom where I couldn't see the filament without removing them  Guy said it was probably due to vibrations because they're hard mounted 2) but the main culprit was the contacts in the starter switch, which were filthy as poo poo and packed with crap.
2ndclasscitizen fucked around with this message at 11:00 on Dec 8, 2010 |
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Dec 7, 2010 10:31
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Finally won the fight with the airbox to carb boots on my ZX600C. It still isn't running great but I finally got to ride it, though it was just down the driveway and back into the garage. I forgot to put the idle adjuster back on the carbs so I think I have to take them back out do put it on. 
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Dec 9, 2010 10:01
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My rear stand and front head lift stand finally showed up today. So I threw my Buell in the air and pulled the tires off. Taking them into town in the morning to get some Dunlop Q2's put on. I really want to get back to riding it instead of the Triumph.
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Dec 11, 2010 08:05
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Pimped my scoot. Blue LED running lights. I think I need more. Click here for the full 720x540 image.
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Dec 12, 2010 02:18
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its like lava posted:Pimped my scoot. Blue LED running lights. I think I need more. I would double check the legality of your scoot pimpage. Blue lights are illegal in a few(most) states.
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Dec 12, 2010 02:54
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Thanks for the heads up. Looks like they are coming off tomorrow. edit: I looked up some statutes in texas and found this. quote:Sec. 547.305. RESTRICTIONS ON USE OF LIGHTS. (a) A motor vehicle lamp or illuminating device, other than a headlamp, spotlamp, auxiliary lamp, turn signal lamp, or emergency vehicle or school bus warning lamp, that projects a beam with an intensity brighter than 300 candlepower shall be directed so that no part of the high-intensity portion of the beam strikes the roadway at a distance of more than 75 feet from the vehicle. Looks like they might be okay if they are not considered beacons. I'm going to give the DPS a call to clarify, if not I'm just going to swap them for some green or orange lights. crunchytacosupreme fucked around with this message at 05:13 on Dec 12, 2010 |
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Dec 12, 2010 04:27
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its like lava posted:Thanks for the heads up. Looks like they are coming off tomorrow. It would be an easy argument to make that those are running lights, not beacons, as they don't flash or otherwise attract attention to themselves.
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Dec 12, 2010 23:21
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Getting ready to sell the kikker, so I put the stock carb back on, made sure valves were good, and had the first possible buyer come check it out today. It was some big-rear end dude with his wife looking for a bike for her to ride, and it looks like they might be interested. Apparently mine's the best-maintained one they've looked at so far.
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Dec 13, 2010 02:34
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Rode it. Well, I did yesterday anyway. Still getting used to it, but I'm finding that for the first 1-2 hours the SS1000 is pure loving magic. The longer I go after that, my bum knee starts complaining more and more about being in a tuck. God, I love this bike though.
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Dec 14, 2010 00:33
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