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Red Robin Hood posted:OK so I guess my question is: if the bike hasn't been driven in about a year or so should I charge the battery first? You might need to replace it. Do you have a multimeter? The rule of thumb told to me by the guy who owns the motorcycle shop I go to is that, if a battery's voltage drops below 10v, there's really no use in charging it. I had a battery at about 7v after sitting for a few months. I popped it on a charger for a few days, and it hovered around 9v. I used it as a doorstop and got a new one.
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Jul 10, 2012 23:35
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Red Robin Hood posted:OK so I guess my question is: if the bike hasn't been driven in about a year or so should I charge the battery first? Your bike is pretty interesting and you seem to need a lot of help with it, you should start your own thread and show the progress with it.
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Jul 10, 2012 23:39
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I'd bet the SX250 in question here has 6-volt electrics, so ideally the battery should always produce under 10 volts. It will probably start with a dead battery but it can't hurt to charge it up. Re: below, Seafoam is cool stuff. I got a Yamaha 175 2-stroke last winter that barely ran. A couple tanks of seafoam-treated fuel run through it had it doing 50mph uphill. clutchpuck fucked around with this message at 23:42 on Jul 10, 2012 |
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Jul 10, 2012 23:40
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Xovaan posted:It's always a good place to start. Seafoam in the carbs/tank never hurts either. The reviews on that poo poo are insane. Can I use it in my truck as well? I have an '89 Mazda B2200 that I feel should run better. Should I slosh some of this in the gas tank? I need to stop buying poo poo that is older than I am  nsaP posted:Your bike is pretty interesting and you seem to need a lot of help with it, you should start your own thread and show the progress with it. Thank you! I wasn't sure if that would be appropriate. I'll start something up later tonight and post the link here.
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Jul 10, 2012 23:40
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Red Robin Hood posted:The reviews on that poo poo are insane. Can I use it in my truck as well? I have an '89 Mazda B2200 that I feel should run better. Should I slosh some of this in the gas tank? Yeah, totally. It is just an engine cleaner/fuel stabilizer but it is great at cleaning out bad gas as well.
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Jul 11, 2012 00:09
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Red Robin Hood posted:The reviews on that poo poo are insane. Can I use it in my truck as well? I have an '89 Mazda B2200 that I feel should run better. Should I slosh some of this in the gas tank? You can also suck the Seafoam into the intake by removing a vacuum hose and putting it into the Seafoam bottle while the car is idling. I did this on one of my older cars (you can guess the make and model) and it make the car run much better.
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Jul 11, 2012 00:39
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clutchpuck posted:You want resistance at the lever, a freshly bled brake is going to feel real firm. Is the brake dragging excessively? With the wheel off the ground, give it a solid spin by hand. If it goes around once or so before stopping on its own and if it stops immediately with a quick pull of the brake lever, it's looking good. The rotor will push the pads open a little as the bike rolls. It started rolling easier as I went, but it's still a bitch to push after a 20 minute warm up ride. I feel like the carbs may need to be balanced (or something). The performance is really iffy. I'll get through 2nd gear and onto 3rd and the bike will be at 5k rpm going 45. It might just be that my throttle/clutch control is poo poo though. Also the bike was definitely smoking a bit after I parked it. I'm attributing it to burning all the grease off the engine that it's been sitting in for the past few years. In any case the first ride was awesome. I can't wait to put some real distance on the bike, but maybe not until I got to a vacant parking lot and practice for a few hours.
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Jul 11, 2012 00:40
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Boru posted:I'll get through 2nd gear and onto 3rd and the bike will be at 5k rpm going 45. Are you sure this is a problem? Sounds about right to me.
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Jul 11, 2012 00:54
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clutchpuck posted:Are you sure this is a problem? Sounds about right to me. The more I think about it, the more I think you're right. I just have to get used to my bloated Honda's performance, I guess. V  V
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Jul 11, 2012 01:12
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I helped a friend buy a cx500 last summer and it seemed a little pokey at first but once he got used to riding it, it was fine. Don't be afraid to approach redline, what little power it has lives there.
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Jul 11, 2012 02:18
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Alright. I'm going to practice shifting closer to the red. It redlines at like 9k I think, and once it gets to 5k it starts really screaming, so that's a little unnerving. It HAS been sitting in a garage for a few years, so it probably needs some good flogging to work out the cobwebs. Literally, I found cobwebs in the air filter.
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Jul 11, 2012 02:57
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Un-bookmarking this thread, moving my poo poo here: http://forums.somethingawful.com/showthread.php?threadid=3495223
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Jul 11, 2012 04:38
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Boru posted:Alright. I'm going to practice shifting closer to the red. It redlines at like 9k I think, and once it gets to 5k it starts really screaming, so that's a little unnerving. I got my 350 up to redline for the first time a couple days ago and, well, Honda wasn't kidding when they said the power peaks at the very top of the tachometer. I'd heard that Soichiro's engines were made to be revved up to the moon, but drat, it behaves like a whole different bike when you ride everywhere above 7k. Yeah yeah it's just an old 350 but I only have a few months of experience so far. Downshifting into 4th at 70 miles an hour, booting it up to 9000 RPM and accelerating with the throttle wide open still feels like warp 10 to me. 
Sagebrush fucked around with this message at 06:14 on Jul 11, 2012 |
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Jul 11, 2012 06:11
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Z3n posted:Not the case. Idle adjustment is a very small opening in the carbs, probably about 1/25th of total opening. It's common for a high idle to get the RPMs up to 4k when the bike has no load on it with minimal throttle, but have it run relatively normally when cruising. It might run on a small amount, but it's not going to be all that noticeable unless you know what you're looking for, it's going to show up more as a drop in engine braking than anything else. That's interesting, I'll pay more attention when I ride as at some points it felt like the idle did plateau but they may have just been terrain. Tamir Lenk posted:You may be able to pull the carbs off in the parking lot and bring them inside to clean them up. It will be tricky to test and synch them in a parking lot though. Synching them is the biggest challenge in a parking lot. Like I said I'm really hoping that if it's dirty carbs that seafoam will take care of it or buy me some time. I'll be checking for any leaks later this week.
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Jul 11, 2012 13:48
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Ok so this question begins with a story of noobery and woe. Go ahead and skip down to the TL;DR if you just want to get to the problem I'm having. Tonight I got back from work, ate dinner with the wife, and ran right out to get some more road time. I have a community college a few miles up the road, so I was psyched to go tool around in their (mostly vacant) commuter lot to flog some performance out of my bike. My first portent to turn around should have been when my boot lace snapped. "No matter," thought I, "I'll just wear my gaudy ebay MX boots!" Boots on, I wheeled (difficultly, as mentioned above) my bike to the edge of my back yard, turned my bike on, and put it in gear. My second message to stop should of been when I had the bike in gear, had it reving at 5k, but I wasn't going anywhere and the wheels remained stationary. Being the that I am I though, "No matter, it must be due to starting in the grass that my bike won't move!" Eventually my bike did click into gear and grudgingly rolled off. Now the road I live on is a main thoroughfare (45 mph posted, most do 65+) surrounded by farm land and back streets. I went on the main road, was enjoying the wind, enjoying the engine, hell: enjoying life! Then, in 3rd gear, I began to loose power. Huh. I upshifted, lower revs, still no power. I down shifted to first and signaled to the shoulder (second smart thing I did tonight, with the first being my usual full safety gear). Sitting on the shoulder I tried to do an assisted roll forward. Nada. I carefully let the clutch out and revved to 5k. Still nothing. I shut my bike off, around a quarter mile from my house on a grassy hill: stuck. drat. I tried turning my bike off and on (too many years of IT I guess) and starting my bike off in 2nd, both to no avail. Now I was getting heated. I lost my helmet and gloves, and started checking out my clutch cable: it was actuating fine. Now I called my buddy. After a few tries I got a hold of him, whereupon he told me I was screwed. drat. I sat there for awhile, not looking forward to pushing my bike that quarter mile, especially when it did not like to move in neutral at all. Then my buddy called back. He walked me through screwing the clutch cable screw on tighter. I did so, shut of the bike, shifted into first, turned the bike on, let the clutch out, revved and . . . I was off! It was at this point that a big bearded dude on a full dress Harley (wearing a green hi-viz safety vest and no helmet.  ) rolled by in the opposite lane real slow and asked if I needed help. If that was you Marv, thanks, but at that point I was ready to limp home.  I babied my bike to one of those side arterial roads (phew!) got to a stop sign . . . and my bike cut out on its own. drat! I restarted the bike in first, rolled the throttle, and the engine cut off immediately. This happened 3 or so times, with the engine cutting out at first rev. I shifted into neutral, reved to 5k, dropped it into 1st gear, and got under way with a half-assed burn out. At least I was moving. I cruised the back roads at this point, getting mildly lost and having to turn around in a fire station parking lot (whereupon I accidentally honked my horn and then tore rear end out of there out of fear of fire brigade reprisal), and then made it to the busy intersection that my house sits off of. I was nervous now because the stop lights were blinking. Great. I made it into the intersection, panicked when my power cut out and went straight through the intersection when I should have turned left to go home. I turned around AGAIN, and then finally babied it home. The crazy thing is, when I finally pulled into my backyard parking spot and turned off the bike: the thing pushed forward and back fine in neutral. Welp. Glad *that* problem is sorted at least.  TL;DR: I'm having a clutch issue where my bike will rev and rev, but won't click into gear. When I do go into gear my bike will intermittently shut off in 1st gear when I try to rev my throttle. I was about ready to quit motorcycling after this. But when I was babying my bike home, feeling that road . . . poo poo. I'm hopelessly addicted and have a temperamental bike; please help.
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Jul 12, 2012 01:11
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First - what bike? Second: Check that your clutch cable is adjusted correctly. Third: quote:I did so, shut of the bike, shifted into first, turned the bike on, let the clutch out, revved and . . . I was off! You're supposed to rev the bike THEN let the clutch out. Have you done MSF? It sounds like your carbs need to be cleaned or you have some kind of fuel delivery issue - faulty petcock on the like.
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Jul 12, 2012 01:20
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Z3n posted:It sounds like your carbs need to be cleaned or you have some kind of fuel delivery issue - faulty petcock on the like. Seconded. Air/fuel delivery issues can be a huge pain in the butt, and incredibly discouraging to a new rider who has no mental model what the gently caress. Don't give up hope. They're usually sorted once and for good, and then riding is much more enjoyable.
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Jul 12, 2012 02:34
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It's a 1981 Honda CX500C. The guy I got it from did an engine rebuild, but I suppose that doesn't rule out faulty carb problems. I guess I'll start simple and check out the clutch cable first. Hopefully it isn't the clutch itself. And I have taken the MSF. I did really well on the test too, I only got points off for not tapping my front brakes going into a turn (dumb of me, I know) and aced the rest. I guess I should have worded it "I put the bike in gear, and let the clutch out with some throttle."
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Jul 12, 2012 03:13
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Is it normal to break off spikes on the sprockets? My buddy's bike had like 4 spikes left on his sprocket and it was worn to poo poo after just a year.
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Jul 12, 2012 03:36
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revmoo posted:Is it normal to break off spikes on the sprockets? My buddy's bike had like 4 spikes left on his sprocket and it was worn to poo poo after just a year. Are we talking teeth here? How many miles?
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Jul 12, 2012 03:47
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Is it advisable to wear headphones while riding? How the hell do you guys route the wire? I put the Zune (that's right) in my inner jacket pocket and run the wire up through the neck hole, but my buds fall out almost immediately after I leave the driveway. 
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Jul 12, 2012 04:21
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revmoo posted:Is it normal to break off spikes on the sprockets? My buddy's bike had like 4 spikes left on his sprocket and it was worn to poo poo after just a year. Do you mean teeth? And I'm assuming you mean the front sprocket, but either way what the gently caress  No, it isn't normal at all. If even one tooth breaks off you should replace it. If it took him one year to do that I would guess that his chain was massively loose, and every time he accelerated it took up the slack and snapped the chain hard against the teeth, fatiguing the metal until eventually they snapped. Or maybe a too-tight chain could do the same thing, I dunno. Either way it's extremely abnormal and extremely dangerous -- I read a post here some months ago from a guy who had his chain snap at high speed and slice right through his engine side cover like butter. You don't want that.
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Jul 12, 2012 04:30
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Fifty Three posted:Is it advisable to wear headphones while riding? How the hell do you guys route the wire? I put the Zune (that's right) in my inner jacket pocket and run the wire up through the neck hole, but my buds fall out almost immediately after I leave the driveway. Just keep the volume low enough were you can both hear the music and traffic noises. If I'm on the interstate I feel comfortable enough to turn the volume up a bit more. What kind of headphones are you using? I've never had problems with mine falling out.
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Jul 12, 2012 05:00
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So I'm looking at replacing the none-baffled lovely Viper race can my bike (naked SV650 K4) came with before I go permanently deaf. I've been looking around and there doesn't seems to be any serious reviews or comparison of the different manufacturers other than the standard "It are loud I love it " reviews by people on the various owners forums.So I guess I'd like to know who on here rocks an aftermarket can and what your opinion of it is and how you came about choosing it. If anyone has any idea of how the different manufacturers rank up that'd be nice too. For reference I've been looking at a couple of Delkevic and Scorpion cans but have no idea if these would be an improvement on the noisy bugger I've got on there at the moment - well other than actually having a baffle
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Jul 12, 2012 12:05
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xd posted:Just keep the volume low enough were you can both hear the music and traffic noises. If I'm on the interstate I feel comfortable enough to turn the volume up a bit more. What kind of headphones are you using? I've never had problems with mine falling out. 
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Jul 12, 2012 12:06
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Fifty Three posted:"iFrogz" or some other Wal-Mart bullshit. I think I just have dumb earholes. http://www.logitech.com/en-au/ue/ue-earphones/UE350 They're basically the new version of the earphones I use (well, they look like it anyway) and they're great - I run them down through my jacket and put my iPod into my pants pocket then just zip that closed along with any excess cord. Never had a problem with them coming out and if I have my iPod at about 60% I can hear everything on the road, etc. as well as the music I have going without it being distracting (any more than a car radio anyway). My last set lasted me about 3 years, and they still work, only reason I replaced them was I lost my last set of silicone ear piece things so they got kind of annoying to wear and I couldn't order the ear parts separately. Current set is at a little over a year now and still like new.
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Jul 12, 2012 12:14
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Etymotic ER6i. Still my fav and my original set I got nearly 4 years ago is still kickin
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Jul 12, 2012 14:53
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ReformedNiceGuy posted:So I'm looking at replacing the none-baffled lovely Viper race can my bike (naked SV650 K4) came with before I go permanently deaf. I have a Delkevic 350mm silencer on my k4 and I love it. It's reasonably cheap, and it's modest compared to the noise of most aftermarket pipes if you keep the baffle installed, which I do. It is definitely throatier and louder than the stock pipe, but not obnoxiously so. For $140 it's a great sounding slip on that looks classy.
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Jul 12, 2012 15:08
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Shimrod posted:My last set lasted me about 3 years, and they still work, only reason I replaced them was I lost my last set of silicone ear piece things so they got kind of annoying to wear and I couldn't order the ear parts separately. Current set is at a little over a year now and still like new.
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Jul 12, 2012 15:22
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bladesamurai posted:I have a Delkevic 350mm silencer on my k4 and I love it. It's reasonably cheap, and it's modest compared to the noise of most aftermarket pipes if you keep the baffle installed, which I do. It is definitely throatier and louder than the stock pipe, but not obnoxiously so. For $140 it's a great sounding slip on that looks classy. Silly question, do you get a lovely burbling and popping noise when rolling off the throttle at speed? One of my particularly childish joys at the moment is riding through a tunnel under the local airport and rolling on and off the throttle like a twelve year old 
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Jul 12, 2012 16:10
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ReformedNiceGuy posted:Silly question, do you get a lovely burbling and popping noise when rolling off the throttle at speed? One of my particularly childish joys at the moment is riding through a tunnel under the local airport and rolling on and off the throttle like a twelve year old It's still there but it's obviously quieter than it is with your current exhaust.
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Jul 12, 2012 16:52
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Collateral Damage posted:FYI, you can get third party silicone buds on amazon and probably in any electronics store, that fit just about any in-ear headphones that normally have simple round buds. Yeah, I discovered that recently on ebay while looking at Bluetooth stuff for my helmet
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Jul 12, 2012 16:55
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needknees posted:Etymotic ER6i. Still my fav and my original set I got nearly 4 years ago is still kickin Seconding this. Been using my pair for four years and they are excellent. I wish they had more bass but hey, you can't complain for the price/quality.
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Jul 12, 2012 21:33
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Fifty Three posted:Is it advisable to wear headphones while riding? How the hell do you guys route the wire? I put the Zune (that's right) in my inner jacket pocket and run the wire up through the neck hole, but my buds fall out almost immediately after I leave the driveway. I believe its illegal in PA to have headphones for anything other than communication.
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Jul 12, 2012 22:13
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Sagebrush posted:Do you mean teeth? And I'm assuming you mean the front sprocket, but either way what the gently caress Nearly all the teeth, yes teeth, were completely gone. He said proper slack is a half-inch which I think is what he had it at. (slightly modded ninja 900) Wish I'd taken a picture of the sprocket, it was crazy.
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Jul 13, 2012 00:28
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One thing I learned a long time ago courtesy of my work in industrial power transmission, is that just like chain, not all sprockets are created equal. It is kind of interesting because everyone (well, that isn't cheap) wants to make sure they've got good chain, but most have no clue as to who made their sprockets let alone if they're good or not.
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Jul 13, 2012 00:31
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Goons with glasses: How the hell do you deal with wearing a full faced helmet with the visor down? My glasses fog up almost immediately...
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Jul 13, 2012 01:19
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LooksLikeABabyRat posted:Goons with glasses: Leave the visor cracked a little bit.
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Jul 13, 2012 01:21
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LooksLikeABabyRat posted:Goons with glasses: Contact lenses. But more seriously, a well ventilated helmet. Also, leaving the visor slightly cracked helps a lot. My Arai can lock the visor in place with a small gap, in addition to being extremely well ventilated.
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Jul 13, 2012 01:32
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I thought I'd seen people posting that contacts were problematic in a helmet. I pretty much gave up trying to get used to mine and went back to glasses when I read that.
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Jul 13, 2012 01:37
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