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My bike was making clinkity noises for the past couple of weeks, and I found out it was probably the cam chain tensioner needing adjustment. I looked it up and performed the surprisingly simple operation, and now the noise is gone. My question is: should I be planning to do something to my cam chain soon? Or am I safe as long as the noise is gone? I ride a Kawasaki EN450 if it helps.
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May 9, 2013 02:49
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| # ? May 17, 2024 02:17 |
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Should be fine now that the noise is gone, just keep an ear out for it, but the adjuster should automatically keep it all sweet.
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May 9, 2013 03:31
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nsaP posted:The wiki page I went to only has periodic emission inspections listed for Illinois, nothing on safety or VIN inspections. Easiest way to find out is to phone up the DMV tho. Add Oregon to that list - the only inspections are emissions tests, and those only if you live in the Portland or Medford metro areas (and only for four-wheelers, bikes are exempt).
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May 9, 2013 04:20
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I'm about as freedom-lovin' as they come and I can see the value of a VIN check, if nothing else to keep from plating stolen bikes.
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May 9, 2013 04:44
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Why the hell you tryin' to infringe on my right to steal bikes, yankee?
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May 9, 2013 04:54
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clutchpuck posted:Hell I am not very far off, technology-wise, from those fighter planes. Sounds like a P-47, too. Feels good. Given the Merlin had a 6:1 compression ratio, redlined at 3,500 rpm and only made 45bhp/litre, even Harleys have more sophisticated engines. The Merlin even had carbs (and so was reliant on the wonderfully-named "Mrs. Shilling's Orifice" in order to not stall under negative g). (Yes, yes, I know the Merlin was supercharged and even turbosupercharged, so the compression ratio is pretty irrelevant)
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May 9, 2013 09:26
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I live in Kansas and've never had any type of vehicle inspection (five motorcycles, five cars.) I think they only do a vin check if you bring in something from out of state.
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May 9, 2013 15:24
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I have a question. Hypothetical situation. (That I've hit twice this year) Bike has sat long enough to have the bowls empty. Bike has vacuum operated petcock with ON-PRI-RES. How long typically should it be left on prime to fill four (  ) bowls?(GSF600N)
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May 9, 2013 16:02
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Ziploc posted:I have a question. A couple of seconds will be more than enough.
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May 9, 2013 16:21
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goddamnedtwisto posted:Given the Merlin had a 6:1 compression ratio, redlined at 3,500 rpm and only made 45bhp/litre, even Harleys have more sophisticated engines. The Merlin even had carbs (and so was reliant on the wonderfully-named "Mrs. Shilling's Orifice" in order to not stall under negative g). I was wondering the other day just how hard it would be to make a little baby inertia starter for a motorcycle. I loooooove the sound of those things.
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May 9, 2013 18:23
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KozmoNaut posted:A couple of seconds will be more than enough.
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May 9, 2013 19:12
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Xovaan posted:You can always justify it as being one of the reasons you were capable of getting 22,000 miles out of a 690 without catastrophic engine failure. I mean, it makes as much sense as using their specific oil, right? Early engines had excessive wear on the roller rockers, that's the only problem I know about. I'm not sure why everyone thinks they're time bombs.
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May 9, 2013 19:58
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More long trip questions! I know it's probably not the most advisable thing in the world, but has anyone ridden with earbuds or earphones? Is this a reasonable idea for music listening? I've always just sang to myself, but 8 hours is a long time 
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May 9, 2013 20:01
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alnilam posted:More long trip questions! I'm almost certain the vast majority of posters here do. At least I do. If I'm not wearing earbuds I'm wearing ear plugs.
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May 9, 2013 20:04
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alnilam posted:More long trip questions! Although I don't like not being able to hear my engine as well (shifting), for longer trips earplugs are a must unless you dig tinnitus. In-ear headphones work fine for music listening.
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May 9, 2013 20:06
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alnilam posted:More long trip questions! I do it every day, but it's reportedly legal here. I keep the volume low though so you can hear things around you. I don't think my rides around town would be nearly as enjoyable without some music to listen to along the way.
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May 9, 2013 20:06
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8 hours of music takes some battery life. If you're piping it through the bluetooth piece you're also using for nav directions it probably won't last. I recommend you save your phone battery for emergency calls unless you have an on-bike charging setup.
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May 9, 2013 20:10
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Shimrod posted:Should be fine now that the noise is gone, just keep an ear out for it, but the adjuster should automatically keep it all sweet. Ah, thanks. I was a little paranoid that I'd have to replace the cam chain or something. I'm getting better and better about being afraid of mechanical jobs, but I doubt I'll ever get rid that small niggling feeling that I forgot something. Which today was totally justified, as I realized half-way home I forgot to plug in the radiator fan motor  .
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May 9, 2013 20:18
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For those that listen to music via earbuds...how do you get them to stay in your ears after putting on your helmet? The neckhole of any fullface helmet I've used is pretty tiny, and it knocks out any earbuds I attempt to wear.
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May 9, 2013 20:34
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alnilam posted:More long trip questions! IF you envision yourself on long rides repeatedly: Get a set of Bluetooth helmet speakers and a phone power adapter for your bike. If you ride any kind of boring long distance it is easily the best money you'll spend after a seat (if necessary), enables you to hear gps directions without staring at the screen, and you can still wear real foam earplugs underneath for wind noise protection.
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May 9, 2013 20:35
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Grab your helmet straps with your hands and use your thumbs on both sides to push the earbuds in while you pull the helmet down over your head. This should help keep them in. Also, pull some slack up above your collar so that when you move around your shirt / jacket won't be pulling them out.
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May 9, 2013 20:37
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epalm posted:For those that listen to music via earbuds...how do you get them to stay in your ears after putting on your helmet? The neckhole of any fullface helmet I've used is pretty tiny, and it knocks out any earbuds I attempt to wear. Use your thumbs to squish the helmet pads so there's like a channel leading to the ear spaces in the helmet. Pull apart a bit, and it should slide on without grabbing the buds. Make sure you've got some slack in the wire, or it'll pull them out when you head check while riding.
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May 9, 2013 20:59
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I put some holes thru earplugs that I cut a bit shorter and have been using those. As long as there's a hole all the way thru the sound comes out well. A soldering iron or hot nail on one end make a smooth hole that can wrap around the headphone end. I do that first, then drilled the hole thru the rest of it. As for them falling out, the foam helps that for one, but I tuck mine thru my helmet strap. After I feed the strap thru both buckles I put the cable in between both buckles, then finish threading the strap thru. When you pull on the cable it tends to just pull on the neck strap. 
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May 9, 2013 21:01
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Also make sure you're using in-ear-canal type earbuds, with a silicone or squashy foam tip, and not the type that typically comes with your phone and just lodges in the outside part of your ear. The latter type won't do poo poo to reduce exterior noise and you'll have to crank the music to hear anything, which just means more cochlear damage for you. And, the former doesn't pull out as easy if you get a set with a good fit.
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May 9, 2013 21:03
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I've been pimping old-school Nokias as bike-use phone/GPS/music players for a while now, but now I can update my recommendation to include the new Lumia 520 - GPS (but no compass), free turn-by-turn navigation, somehow a capacitive touchscreen that works with gloves (or maybe it's just the best resistive touchscreen ever), and pretty good battery life (2 hours with music player playing and GPS navigating dropped the battery indicator by 15%), and you can get it handset-only for £130. On a related note - someone, I think it was here, posted a little circuit suitable for underseat mounting that you could use for charging a phone, but I can't find it any more - anyone remember who and where it was?
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May 9, 2013 21:10
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For real if any of you are riding without ear protection of some sort, stop it now. I have pretty bad tinnitus from a childhood of riding 2-stroke dirtbikes with no ear protection. It sucks
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May 9, 2013 21:13
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Jim Silly-Balls posted:For real if any of you are riding without ear protection of some sort, stop it now. I have pretty bad tinnitus from a childhood of riding 2-stroke dirtbikes with no ear protection. It sucks I can still hear my exhaust (which of course is legally restricted to below the danger level for long-term exposure) at 100mph, so maybe my crash helmet is just extra-quiet or something. (My hearing's hosed thanks to a not-at-all-misspent youth at stupidly loud gigs anyway so IDGAF)
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May 9, 2013 21:19
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It's not like hearing gets bad to a point and then stops tho. It keeps progressing. My dad and my friends dad are both starting to lose their hearing and neither one of them will put in loving earplugs. It's pretty infuriating because I'm the one that has to repeat myself when he DGAF.
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May 9, 2013 21:45
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Thanks for earbud tips! Good to hear  Snowdens Secret posted:8 hours of music takes some battery life. If you're piping it through the bluetooth piece you're also using for nav directions it probably won't last. I recommend you save your phone battery for emergency calls unless you have an on-bike charging setup. I have a separate mp3 player that I often use for long trips, but thanks for pointing this out, I might almost have forgotten it among all the other things I have to consider for this trip.
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May 9, 2013 21:48
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nsaP posted:It's not like hearing gets bad to a point and then stops tho. It keeps progressing. My dad and my friends dad are both starting to lose their hearing and neither one of them will put in loving earplugs. It's pretty infuriating because I'm the one that has to repeat myself when he DGAF. Uh yeah, this. Your bad hearing doesnt make you immune to further hearing loss. Oddly enough, my dad has terrible hearing from loading bombs on planes in the air force in vietnam. Apparently one of the last things they would do before the plane took off is load the bombs, so the engines would be started and decently spun up as they were loading, and the air force didnt require hearing protection back then, it was optional 
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May 9, 2013 21:56
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Washed my bike today and noticed that I could hear a hissing sound coming from the gas tank lid once it got wet. Just sounded like it was a slow bubble. Does that mean the cap is not holding the pressure? Is this something that I need to fix?
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May 9, 2013 21:59
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rotaryfun posted:Washed my bike today and noticed that I could hear a hissing sound coming from the gas tank lid once it got wet. Just sounded like it was a slow bubble. Does that mean the cap is not holding the pressure? Is this something that I need to fix? Dunno specifically for your issue, but my bike makes funny whistling noises out of the gas cap when it's cooling down (like right after I turn it off). I found out it's just gas vapours venting, and it's extremely common and normal for my model to make that sound. Maybe your issue is the same, but they designed the vent better so it doesn't whistle,and you're only now noticing it cause you got it wet?
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May 9, 2013 22:19
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nsaP posted:It's not like hearing gets bad to a point and then stops tho. It keeps progressing. My dad and my friends dad are both starting to lose their hearing and neither one of them will put in loving earplugs. It's pretty infuriating because I'm the one that has to repeat myself when he DGAF. You guys wear earbuds every time you ride or just on longer rides? edit: earplugs hot sauce fucked around with this message at 22:23 on May 9, 2013 |
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May 9, 2013 22:20
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If I'm going on the freeway, earplugs every time. If I'm just puttering around town at less than 45mph, I usually skip them.
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May 9, 2013 22:25
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rotaryfun posted:Washed my bike today and noticed that I could hear a hissing sound coming from the gas tank lid once it got wet. Just sounded like it was a slow bubble. Does that mean the cap is not holding the pressure? Is this something that I need to fix? Not sure what kind of bike you have, but on both of mine the 'cap' covers both the sealed tank opening and a drain ring for rain / washing water. There should be a drain hole that goes to a tube that dumps down near the bottom of the bike. That way if you open the cap after a rainstorm it doesn't dump a bunch of water into the tank. Worth a check to make sure this tube isn't clogged with some crap. If it's the old-style screw-on cap then I have no idea, but hosing your bike down is going to cool it off so the tank is more likely to be sucking in air than blowing out fumes. hot sauce posted:You guys wear earbuds every time you ride or just on longer rides? The smart ATGATT answer would be 'every time'. I only remember / bother if I'm going to be on the highway much.
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May 9, 2013 22:27
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hot sauce posted:You guys wear earbuds every time you ride or just on longer rides? 
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May 9, 2013 22:32
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15 minutes of riding on the highway (60mph+) , even with a full face helmet, can cause permanent, measurable hearing damage.
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May 9, 2013 22:33
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alnilam posted:Dunno specifically for your issue, but my bike makes funny whistling noises out of the gas cap when it's cooling down (like right after I turn it off). I found out it's just gas vapours venting, and it's extremely common and normal for my model to make that sound. Maybe your issue is the same, but they designed the vent better so it doesn't whistle,and you're only now noticing it cause you got it wet? I have a ninja 250 and it does this when it's cooling down. Can't offer much advice because I only bought it a few weeks ago, but from searching around on various forums it seems to be normal for this bike. It's actually pretty loud sometimes, like someone making a high pitched humming sound. What kind of bike is it?
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May 9, 2013 22:34
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rotaryfun posted:Washed my bike today and noticed that I could hear a hissing sound coming from the gas tank lid once it got wet. Just sounded like it was a slow bubble. Does that mean the cap is not holding the pressure? Is this something that I need to fix? There's a pressure-relief system built into the gas cap to keep the tank from exploding when it's mostly empty and gets hot and all the vapors expand. No worries.
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May 9, 2013 22:35
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| # ? May 17, 2024 02:17 |
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Geirskogul posted:15 minutes of riding on the highway (60mph+) , even with a full face helmet, can cause permanent, measurable hearing damage. Did not know this and am going to pick up earplugs asap.
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May 9, 2013 22:35
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