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alnilam posted:New rider here! Update on this below. I'm now trying to piece together what exactly happened out of curiosity. Any thoughts? 2-3 weeks ago, I tipped my kawa vulcan 500 over in the parking lot and the oil lights were on when I started it back up. The tip-over was to the right side; the oil sensor is on the left side. It seemed to be running fine, so I rode it home (<1 mile). This weekend, I started it up for the first time since then (weather kept me off it). Long story short, the oil lights were still on even at cold startup, I ran a test, and then I rode it a few miles and finally they went off and the engine seemed to be running fine. My oil level is fine and if anything a little high. I ran a test suggested by my repair manual: I disconnected the wire from the oil sensor and shorted it to the chassis. This did trigger the lights on and off while the key was on, but the engine off. That means the light circuit itself is fine, and according to the book, "the oil pressure switch is defective." At that point I figured, I'm 95% sure my oil system is fine and the sensor is just broken or acting up (it was giving an oil temp warning on a cold engine!), so maybe I should try to ride it a few miles close to home. The engine seemed to be running fine, and it didn't feel overly hot when I held my hand close, and then later I noticed the lights had finally gone off. Hooray! So what happened? Did the tip-over physically introduce an air bubble to the oil sensor or something? Would that be enough to make the sensor believe it has failed? Even 2-3 cold weeks later?
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Nov 5, 2012 16:49
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Pham Nuwen posted:At the start of October, I went on a 1500 mile ride on my 2010 Bonneville. I rode it to work twice shortly after getting back, then between one thing and another didn't ride at all for around 3 weeks. Don't rule out the starter motor as well. My bike did the clicking thing too, starter motor was the culprit.
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Nov 5, 2012 18:19
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alnilam posted:Update on this below. I'm now trying to piece together what exactly happened out of curiosity. Any thoughts? More likely that the bump when the bike fell over broke it, IMO. Is it a particularly tricky/expensive repair? It's one of those weird things that on some bikes is 20 seconds work and on others is a complete engine strip down and rebuild.
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Nov 5, 2012 18:22
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Frankston posted:Don't rule out the starter motor as well. My bike did the clicking thing too, starter motor was the culprit. The clicking thing is the starter motor relay - it also makes that noise when the bike starts but obviously it's obscured by the sound of the starter motor. All it means is that the starter motor circuit is working but the starter motor is unable to turn the bike over. This can be for a multitude of problems from a malfunctioning immobiliser, to a flat battery, through a stalled sprag clutch, to a burnt-out starter motor, all the way to a fully-seized engine. As always, you test and fix in order of easiest to hardest, so first ignition off and on to check the immobiliser (also arm and disarm the alarm if you have one), then rock the bike in gear to rule out a seized engine, stalled sprag or stalled starter. Then put a multimeter on the battery and try and start it, if at any point you get less than 11 volts time to start looking for a new battery at the very least (but if it doesn't drop at all it's new starter motor time), beyond that it's probably time to call the recovery company.
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Nov 5, 2012 18:30
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North California peeps! I'm pretty sure I asked this before, but my memory is poo poo so I'm doing it again. Sometime soon I'm gonna be taking MSF classes. Are there any highly recommended ones around the SF/Bay Area?
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Nov 5, 2012 18:45
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My friends have had positive reports from the Alameda one, but it varies depending on instructor, etc. They're all pretty solid, I'd just go with the one that'll get you in first.goddamnedtwisto posted:Then put a multimeter on the battery and try and start it, if at any point you get less than 11 volts time to start looking for a new battery at the very least (but if it doesn't drop at all it's new starter motor time), beyond that it's probably time to call the recovery company. I'd just add if it's sitting and it's under 12v, it needs to be charged at the least.
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Nov 5, 2012 18:54
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I just regged for Alameda Nov 21/24/25, there are still a lot of slots for this month.
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Nov 5, 2012 19:17
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Is this the care2ride place?
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Nov 5, 2012 19:23
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Frankston posted:Don't rule out the starter motor as well. My bike did the clicking thing too, starter motor was the culprit. Just an FYI, Triumphs have known issues with flimsy sprag clutches that can fail if there's a problem with the starter or (far more likely) the battery isn't charged enough. At least the triples are, dunno about the parallel twins. Replacing a sprag clutch is a heckuva lot more time and money than replacing a battery or R/R so in the future if you hear it really struggling or sounding weak while cranking, don't keep chugging at it.
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Nov 5, 2012 19:32
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goddamnedtwisto posted:More likely that the bump when the bike fell over broke it, IMO. Is it a particularly tricky/expensive repair? It's one of those weird things that on some bikes is 20 seconds work and on others is a complete engine strip down and rebuild. But then why did the lights turn off again later? And in a separate tip-over months ago, the same thing happened, but then the lights were off (back to normal) the next time I started it up a few days later. As for replacing it, it seems pretty easy - it just screws out of the oil pan. I'd just need to find where the hell to buy a vulcan 500 oil sensor.* But I'm not convinced I need to replace it. If a sensor fails, it should fail to the "warning" position. Which means, if my oil lights are not lit, it should indicate that my sensor is not broken and that my oil is doing fine. Right? edit: found on bikebandit, #796690, $27 alnilam fucked around with this message at 22:23 on Nov 5, 2012 |
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Nov 5, 2012 20:02
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So Honda no longer makes the rubber o-ring style gasket for my transfer case cover, and the original tore itself apart when I removed the cover. None of the ebay gasket kits seem to have this one in them. I could just use a really thick bead of ATV sealant, but is there a better way? Mr. Eric Praline fucked around with this message at 21:51 on Nov 5, 2012 |
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Nov 5, 2012 21:47
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You should still be able to find it, look up the part number and do a search. This site tends to carry common things like that.
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Nov 5, 2012 22:04
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Ashex posted:This site tends to carry common things like that. http://nwvintagecycleparts.com posted:We ship instantly to many countries. They've discovered wormholes 
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Nov 5, 2012 22:10
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Mr. Eric Praline posted:I could just use a really thick bead of ATV sealant, but is there a better way? Yes, every way is better. There is no worse way. I have a box of assorted o-rings I got at Harbor Freight that has come in handy for this kind of stuff.
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Nov 5, 2012 22:36
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clutchpuck posted:Yes, every way is better. There is no worse way. Yeah, I'm aware that RTV is bad. This isn't just a circle o-ring, but a large ring of rubber shaped like the gear case cover. #3 on this fiche. http://www.powersportsplus.com/parts/search/Honda/Motorcycle/1980/CB900C+A/FINAL+GEAR+CASE+COVER/parts.html
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Nov 6, 2012 00:15
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alnilam posted:But then why did the lights turn off again later? I thought the problem was that it kept coming on? Suggests at least an intermittent fault and it's not unheard of for things to fail unsafe, so if it's a simple job for the cost of a DVD you might as well go for it.
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Nov 6, 2012 00:20
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Mr. Eric Praline posted:Yeah, I'm aware that RTV is bad. This isn't just a circle o-ring, but a large ring of rubber shaped like the gear case cover. Email their customer service with the part number and ask if it's in stock. I went directly to the product page and it was in stock.
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Nov 6, 2012 00:52
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Yeah.. it did allow me to add it to the cart.
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Nov 6, 2012 01:07
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Wulframn posted:Ok, cycle goons, time for a second opinion before I begin work. Ok guys, so check it out: I have new symptoms to add to our mysterious issue with the bike. When I unplug my right-side spark plug my engine runs strong with no coughing or sputtering. When I unplug my left-side spark plug my engine turns over then immediately dies. I tried reading the battery and it appears to be OK. Hints, tips, suggestions? Edit: It is dark here and, looking inside the plug boots, the left-side boot is throwing a powerful, brilliant spark. The right-side boot is barely throwing any spark. Wulframn fucked around with this message at 02:28 on Nov 6, 2012 |
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Nov 6, 2012 02:24
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Together we can get this bike to stop loving stalling every time I stop in first! 
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Ah, your right-side coil is blown. Swap the plug wires and see if the dead plug switches sides to be sure. Get a new coil.
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Nov 6, 2012 03:33
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Sagebrush posted:Ah, your right-side coil is blown. Swap the plug wires and see if the dead plug switches sides to be sure. I'll swap them first thing in the morning. If that is it I'll get a new one. If that fixes the problem I will update asap.
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Nov 6, 2012 03:42
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Ashex posted:Email their customer service with the part number and ask if it's in stock. I went directly to the product page and it was in stock. Called on the phone, not in stock.
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Nov 6, 2012 03:42
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Mr. Eric Praline posted:Called on the phone, not in stock. Ouch, hate when they leave the item up on their site. Time to start hunting! There are a few other sites that stock it, you'll have to do the same thing with them.
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Nov 6, 2012 03:49
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Mr. Eric Praline posted:Called on the phone, not in stock. Buy some gasket paper (or rubber sheet if it needs to be rubber specifically), a good sharp scalpel or hobby knife and some nice sticky gasket sealer like Hylomar blue. Fully cover the mating surface of the casing with the sealant, press the casing down onto the gasket paper, it should stick quite nicely. Leave it dry a while and then with the scalpel carefully trim around the casing and inside. Bolt holes are the trickiest and it helps to have a very small blade. Once neatly trimmed, apply gasket sealant to the uncoated side, bolt on.
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Nov 6, 2012 13:16
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ReelBigLizard posted:Buy some gasket paper (or rubber sheet if it needs to be rubber specifically), a good sharp scalpel or hobby knife and some nice sticky gasket sealer like Hylomar blue. I've heard of people, for non-pressure seals, using cereal boxes as gasket material (using the technique you've just described to form them). as it's the sealant that does the actual work, it's just a matter of getting the right thickness and apparently cereal boxes are it.
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Nov 6, 2012 13:52
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goddamnedtwisto posted:I've heard of people, for non-pressure seals, using cereal boxes as gasket material (using the technique you've just described to form them). as it's the sealant that does the actual work, it's just a matter of getting the right thickness and apparently cereal boxes are it. Yeah, my Dad has used cereal boxes to make gaskets for cars over the years.
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Nov 6, 2012 14:23
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Yeah, I've seen it done with various scrap card before, figured I'd get 'sperged on for suggesting it though. I did my water pump cover with scrap card and hylomar. sealed like a champ.
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Nov 6, 2012 15:41
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ReelBigLizard posted:Fully cover the mating surface of the casing with the sealant, press the casing down onto the gasket paper, it should stick quite nicely. Leave it dry a while and then with the scalpel carefully trim around the casing and inside. Bolt holes are the trickiest and it helps to have a very small blade. The reason I've been hoping for a better solution is that the mating surface will actually be just 2 3mm surfaces vs a larger flat one like most paper gaskets have. The OEM gasket sits in a groove that's 4-5mm wide. I kinda fear that oil is gonna pool in there, and then leak through, since the groove edges aren't machined cleanly. ----------- Edit: And after 2 weeks, I found a place in Wisconsin with 10 of them in stock. Mr. Eric Praline fucked around with this message at 21:11 on Nov 6, 2012 |
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Nov 6, 2012 19:17
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ReelBigLizard posted:If you wrote a Dromedary-idiom-based motorcycle troubleshooting/service guide I'd buy it. Maybe some sort of RPG-quest-themed troubleshooting guide would sell. The Venn diagram of "role playing nerds" and "DIY motorcyclist" overlaps very well in this forum. Visualizing the air/fuel path as some sort of dungeon to be traversed would probably work. Seafoam is healing potion. Your tires have +2 traction, but -4 longevity. And so on.
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Nov 6, 2012 22:39
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Anyone ever had to repair a bent header flange? 2/4 of the flangers are bent inwards from the prior owner and I neglected to notice this until I was home after I bought them. I tried this: http://roadstarclinic.com/content/view/229/1/ with very little success. It's a good idea in principle but I found the flanges were pretty resilient and hard to bend back. I will probably try again just to be sure but I figured I'd ask here. This is on a newer R6 thus none of the flanges are removeable. I'm reluctant to use any sort of heat on them for fear of weakening them for the future and running into this same problem. When installing them there is a small exhaust leak even though I added in some high temp RTV to help seal the area. I did purchase new copper crush gaskets - that is not the problem before anyone asks. The header nuts are torqued to spec (and I even went under-spec to see if that helped. No dice.)
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Nov 6, 2012 22:44
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"You have been eaten by a
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Nov 6, 2012 22:45
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JP Money posted:Anyone ever had to repair a bent header flange? 2/4 of the flangers are bent inwards from the prior owner and I neglected to notice this until I was home after I bought them. Try torqueing them a bit over spec. Figure out which one is leaking, and tighten that one.
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Nov 6, 2012 23:00
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The problem is they're already bent into a v-shape slightly thus they don't seal well. With how easy they probably bent before I'm not really wanting to crank down on them even harder. I think that's going to lead to either a more bent flange or a bent stud if they're too tight on there.
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Nov 6, 2012 23:11
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Spec for those is usually only like 20-25 foot pounds...with them bent, you're going to need more torque to get them to seat. So your options are either replace them or torque them down more. I've had to deal with quite a few bent ones and usually a little more torque sorts it out. Also, did you make sure they seated well and tighten them down from the outside in or the inside out? Especially if they're bent, it's easy for them to hang up and not seat properly.
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Nov 6, 2012 23:39
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When I installed them this time I went from the inside towards the outside as the rad brace is a pain in the rear end unless you remove it completely on these bikes. It makes getting to one of the bolts kind of a pain without a rather thin extension. I believe torque is 18ft/lb on them which is basically hand tight. I'll try going to ~24 or so to diagnose if that helps. I guess at worst it will just bend them back to where they were before I fixed them. My first inclination was to just crank them on but I figured that was what caused this problem in the first place. I'll reseat the headers and then try one more time tonight.
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Nov 6, 2012 23:54
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ReelBigLizard posted:Yeah, I've seen it done with various scrap card before, figured I'd get 'sperged on for suggesting it though. I did my water pump cover with scrap card and hylomar. sealed like a champ. Huh. I've got a laser cutter, and I thought about sticking some engine parts into my scanner to get the size right, then cutting some replacement gaskets out of the sheets you can buy, but I worried about what would happen if I overheated (burned right up, actually) the chemicals that most gasket paper is treated with. Whatever those are. But if you can just use boxboard, well...
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Nov 7, 2012 04:26
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Ola posted:Maybe some sort of RPG-quest-themed troubleshooting guide would sell. The Venn diagram of "role playing nerds" and "DIY motorcyclist" overlaps very well in this forum. Visualizing the air/fuel path as some sort of dungeon to be traversed would probably work. Seafoam is healing potion. Your tires have +2 traction, but -4 longevity. And so on. The best way to troubleshoot is have a working knowledge. When I was a kid the library was throwing this book out and I grabbed a copy. It honestly has been the best primer to anything mechanical I've ever come across. The boys' book of engines, motors & turbines. http://www.amazon.com/boys-book-engines-motors-turbines/dp/B0007HSWOC It explains the basic concepts of just about anything you'd need to know to fix just about anything on a motor. Amazing how much kids were able to accomplish with decent instructions. The book has plans to build your own steam engine from scratch. The sad part is I have rescued 2 other copies of this book from libraries discarding them over the years. On a positive note, according to wikipedia the author wrote several other books I'm going to have to track down. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alfred_Powell_Morgan
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Nov 7, 2012 04:44
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Sagebrush posted:Huh. I've got a laser cutter, and I thought about sticking some engine parts into my scanner to get the size right, then cutting some replacement gaskets out of the sheets you can buy, but I worried about what would happen if I overheated (burned right up, actually) the chemicals that most gasket paper is treated with. Whatever those are. I'm not sure the time to scan, clean, vectorise and cut a gasket would be worth it unless you were doing a whole bunch of them though. On the other hand, lasers (and cutting things with them) is really cool, so I guess that's reason enough. I think you'd be fine with a laser on gasket stock too. The stock is only thin and the laser very fine so the amount of stuff that actually burns would be very small. I can't think it would be any worse than cutting plastic like polycarb, fume wise. Pubic Lair posted:The boys' book of engines, motors & turbines. http://www.amazon.com/boys-book-engines-motors-turbines/dp/B0007HSWOC Please do the world a favour and scan it 
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Nov 7, 2012 17:20
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An observer posted:Is this the care2ride place? Yep.
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Nov 7, 2012 17:27
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If I'm tucking my bike away for the winter (which I'm not, but I definitely won't be riding it nearly as much), is it better to do an oil change now and let it sit with fresh oil, or to wait until spring?
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Nov 7, 2012 19:59
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