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New windscreen came today! Which also happened to be carb clean day yay!  Also, before anyone asks, yes my fairing is sitting on a sportster.
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May 23, 2014 21:19
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| # ? May 21, 2024 21:42 |
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  Was attempting to troubleshoot why the fork mounted LED market lights installed by the previous owner stopped working, tuns out that the wires ripped out of the circuit board of the LED  Not sure how (or if) I'm going to fix it. Might as well change oil/inspect air filter while it's apart! Wheeee!
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May 24, 2014 09:43
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Crap I put on my 919 today: Renthal low road bars Cheapo bar ends Cheapo turn signals (they still look waaaaay better than the ridiculously huge stock ones) Progrip 719s (Never having a bike without these again)
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May 24, 2014 10:25
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Wicaeed posted:
Should take about 10 minutes with a soldering iron, if that.
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May 24, 2014 18:33
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Had my first go at any sort of wrenching. My bike's been making an ugly noise past week or so, common consensus says this is the problem: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HHNicser7YU Fix seems easy enough, just tighten that nut. I bought a Haynes manual to guide me through removing the side cover to get to the nut. It says the cover can be removed with the engine still in the frame and gives it a difficulty of 2/5. Should be a snap. I follow the instructions, drain the oil/coolant, disconnect the clutch cable, disconnect the hoses for the water pump, take the water pump cover off, I can move the prop (the right term?) in the water pump back and forth, which I don't think I should be able to do as it's connected to the gears in the video, which shouldn't be able to move independently of the crankshaft. Moving on, sure that the loose nut actually is the problem, I remove the water pump, remove the rear brake pedal, take off the clutch cover, get down to the banjo bolts and encounter this:   I can't take this bolt off with that FWD bar in the way. The Haynes manual doesn't mention this bar at all. This banjo bolt is literally the last thing stopping me from taking the side cover off. Perhaps I can remove this bar? I don't think I can, one end is connected to the frame the other end is connected to where the rear suspension connects to the frame:  I don't think I can remove this without the suspension unloading? I don't know, but I have no way to re-compress the spring. I also need to get some new gaskets for both the side cover (if I do ever get it off) and the clutch cover, which looks like this after I took it off:  So now I can't even ride it the 5 minutes to my closest bike mechanic to take care of it until I get a new gasket. I don't think I even needed to take the clutch cover off, it would have come off along with the rest of the side cover. VV In the picture, the left arrow points right at where the bar connects to the frame on that side, the bar is visible if you view the image full size. As for the other side, that's a bit harder to explain. This diagram I found might help, although it's still obscured: 
ArcticZombie fucked around with this message at 21:23 on May 24, 2014 |
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May 24, 2014 20:43
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Im a little vague on what that bar connects to, but If you put weight on the seat does that change the position of the bar? Alternately if you jack up the rear and let the swingarm hang free does that get you more room?
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May 24, 2014 20:57
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ArcticZombie posted:Had my first go at any sort of wrenching. My bike's been making an ugly noise past week or so, common consensus says this is the problem: Just take the shock out. The suspension won't 'decompress', the bike will just squat down with the tail section resting on the rear wheel. So put a block of wood or something underneath so that you don't have to struggle through lifting the bike up again to reinstall the shock. The shock is entirely self-contained and you will have no difficulty jimmying the bike up/down to line the mounting holes up again after removal. You're one of the lucky few with an externally mounted shock with no linkage; now is the time to reap the benefits of this blessing. edit: as for those gaskets, buy some RTV an d lay down a very thin (I'm talking 1mm or less) layer on the gasket surface, after cleaning off the remaining bits of gasket. Reassemble the cover down tight, then quickly use a rag to wipe off the excess that will be forced out around the edges. You won't be able to tell the difference visually once it dries. Slavvy fucked around with this message at 21:34 on May 24, 2014 |
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May 24, 2014 21:31
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I did buy some instant gasket stuff which I think is the same thing. I thought I could clean the excess on the outside, but I wouldn't be able to clean the excess on the inside and that would cause problems?
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May 24, 2014 23:31
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If you only apply a very, very thin layer, the excess will only stick out by like a millimeter. After doing it, leave it overnight to dry so that fragments don't come loose and you'll be ok. I've successfully done this several times. FWIW modern car engines are assembled this way from the factory, and their application of sealer goo is far more sloppy and has far more excess goo than you'll have. Automotive engines stopped using paper gaskets about twenty years ago without issue.
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May 24, 2014 23:41
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Put on my techspecs and let it sit for a bunch hours then took it for a ride. Feels good.
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May 24, 2014 23:50
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drat those look really good. That is the hottest bike ever.
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May 25, 2014 00:07
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n'thing what Elvis said. Nothing sexier than some properly-fitting (and properly-applied) Techspecs, although I went with Stompgrips on my current bike.
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May 25, 2014 01:09
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Put brand new and charged battery in, went for a ~2.5 hour ride.  Also, Digital_Jesus, that is some hot looking machinery there.
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May 25, 2014 01:16
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Broke it. gently caress. Those two threaded studs are basically what the entire headlight assembly uses to hang off of the frame of the bike. I was being a bit overzealous with the tightening of the bolts since during disassembly I noticed a few of the bolts weren't even finger tight.  I didn't read the recommended torque specs properly :facepalm: Turns out 67 N-m of torque is NOT equal to 67 lbs-ft. Each headlight assembly is 250 dollars to buy brand new. I don't suppose it's possible to set new studs in that fitting Wicaeed fucked around with this message at 04:41 on May 25, 2014 |
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May 25, 2014 04:38
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I'm not sure how it is on your lights but a lot of the time studs like that will have the fine threads (that you broke off) on one side of the fat spot and course threads on the other for screwing into the plastic. I'd try to see if you can get the remainder of the studs unscrewed. Where you'll find replacements I have no idea.
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May 25, 2014 05:28
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Plastex can be used to make threads in plastic. Or repair plastic bits. Im sure you could figure something out with it.
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May 25, 2014 07:35
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It's a Kawasaki, isn't it? They have a history of idiotic fairing attachment systems; all (yes, I mean all) first gen ZX-10's are destined to break their ram-air tube because kawasaki thought a tubular piece of plastic was an appropriate way of holding the entire instrument cluster, headlight and the alloy structure to support those, as well as forming the upper support for the fairing. So you have to design and make little braces to hold everything together. My condolences, in my experience those studs tend to be moulded into the plastic.
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May 25, 2014 07:35
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2002 Honda VFR. The bolts are moulded into the plastic I tried loosening them with a gigantic pair of channel locks to no avail.All of the local salvage places are probably closed for the long weekend. Looks like I'm not going to be able to ride during this awesome memorial day
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May 25, 2014 07:42
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Apply zip ties, go ride.
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May 25, 2014 07:48
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Z3n posted:Apply zip ties, go ride. True, as long as they're black. Gotta color coordinate 
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May 25, 2014 08:11
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I always thought green zip ties are best, though. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yVViJZ640yM&t=157s
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May 25, 2014 08:33
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Maybe drill the stud out, and epoxy a nut in their? It'd be pretty ghetto but....
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May 25, 2014 09:28
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Wicaeed posted:True, as long as they're black. Gotta color coordinate Also im pretty sure that torque spec should be 67 inch pounds, not n-m.
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May 25, 2014 16:51
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Got the tech specs last night, left them and the bike out in the sun for a bit so they'd get warm as per the instructions. Was going to leave them for 12 hours like it also says but everyone decided today was a ride day, so I decided to test it. They stayed on the entire 5+ hour ride so I'd say it's a win: 
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May 25, 2014 23:36
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Changed the oil and filter, lubed the chain, hit one corner on the ride home that didn't make me feel like a complete rusty bozo. This is the first time changing a filter that I've ever had to stab it with a screwdriver to get it started turning.
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May 26, 2014 02:51
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I'm not a huge K&N fan, but the built in nuts on the filter are really nice for that.
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May 26, 2014 04:28
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I've never had problems with a filter I've installed being stuck to the point where I had to resort to a screwdriver through the filter, but I have with filters others (loving Jiffy Lube  ) have put on. I've always done the following: 1) apply some fresh oil to the gasket with my finger before installing. 2) hand-tighten just until decently snug; never try to crank it on with all your strength. 3) use a strap-wrench to remove it. Or an old leather belt if you're too cheap to spend $10 on a pair of cheap strap-wrenches at Harbor Freight. The factory-brand filters for my bike are made with a crown shaped for a special Yamaha filter wrench socket, but with the filter being tucked behind the headers, it's easier to get it from the side with a strap-wrench than it is to fit the bulky filter socket and breaker bar in the one-inch gap between the filter and the headers. It'd be similarly hard to get at the hex nut on top of a K&N filter.
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May 26, 2014 17:43
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Don't stick a screw driver through a filter to get the thing off... ever. I worked at JL for a couple of years in highschool and probably did over 10k oil changes working lower bay - screwdriver method for a STUCK filter is a good way to end up tearing the filter apart leaving it jagged with little room to get anything on it to actually take it off. A strap wrench will never fail you if it fits the filter right and you position it at the base of the filter rather than mid/top where if the filter is ultra tight you're going to just crush the filter.
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May 26, 2014 17:51
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BlackMK4 posted:A strap wrench will never fail you if it fits the filter right and you position it at the base of the filter rather than mid/top where if the filter is ultra tight you're going to just crush the filter. Yeah, that was the problem. I've changed my own oil on this bike since I bought it, just this time I was working with borrowed tools in the shop at work 'cause I couldn't find my own strap wrench and filter socket. The rubber strap wrench I was using, I had a hard time getting it all the way down the filter, so I ended up crushing the nose of it just like you say. So I stabbed it and got like ten degrees of turn out of it, then worked it off the rest of the way with the strap wrench. The nut on the K&N would actually work really great here, as the SV/Vstrom motor sticks the filter right out the front into clear air. Also, Suzuki's spec for the OEM filters is bugnut tight. "Make contact with the filter's o-ring against the seat, then give the filter two full turns."
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May 26, 2014 18:37
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I've never had to resort to any tricks to remove any of the filters I've worked on. At the worst moments I had to go get my filter wrench and apply a lot of lateral pressure to get it to stick. With that said, I've always thought this bit was ingenious: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vEevfUBibhM
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May 26, 2014 20:55
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That's pretty smart. I've also used those jar-opener pieces of silicone rubber too, the kinds that are about 6" or so in dia and are often given away as promos or cost like $1 at a dollar store. The filter and your hand need to be super clean though obviously.
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May 26, 2014 21:08
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Tighten to approximately "it's not going to fall off" newtonmeters.
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May 26, 2014 21:25
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Saturday: A nice productive day... Pulled the BS34 carbs off the KZ1000 LTD, gave em a basic cleaning (jets, float bowls, spray the passages, check the pistons for binding), successfully re-installed them (a helluva lot easier with newish rubber boots and carb holders!), cleaned out the airbox, checked the air filter, swapped in a fresh set of spark plugs, and capped a vacuum port that apparently had been left unplugged somehow. And when all of this was done, by some mechanical miracle the BIKE STILL RUNS, and better than it was before! I'm getting dangerously competent at this crap. Sunday: Run a couple errands to get the bike warmed up, then I clean the hideously rusty chain (I guess winter riding will do that to ya, I forgot to clean it once and it's a total mess), and double-check the carb synch just for fun since I finally have all the tools to do it properly, then take her out for a proper thrash around Essex County. Running great! Monday: Spit & polish - going for inspection on Wednesday, so want her to look presentable. I had cleaned the underside of the engine when I adjusted the valves and fixed the oil leaks last fall, but never thought to touch the centerstand. Blech. 32 years of sludge, muck, chain lube and christ knows what else stuck to that thing. Simple Green is my friend. Realize the pressure-sensing valve caps I have are useless if you don't know how to read the colors on them. Oops, a real gauge reads only 21 PSI in the front? Ummm, poo poo. PSSSSHHHHHHHHH. Better. Next weekend: fresh brake pads on the LTD and finally finish rebuilding the carbs for the KZ1000J.
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May 27, 2014 04:47
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Raised the needles in the carbs on the FZR by one washer height to get rid of a tiny flat spot around 8500rpm. After a 150 miles of riding around between CA67 and Cuyamaca State Park last weekend that's the only thing that jumped out. I went ahead and looked over the rest of the bike for stuff falling off and found that I had only tightened one of my clip on bolts out of the three so, yeah, they are tight now. I...think it's ready. From 15 years in a barn spider filled basket case to a (hopefully) track day ready motorcycle in 7 months and only $1800! A Christmas miracle! EDIT: If anyone was considering buying an infrared temp gun to help set up carbs, I say definitely go get one. Iwas always decent at getting everything set up with the normal way (2.5 turns out, sync carbs, idle screws in until RPMs drop then half out) but with the gun it's so, so much easier and the results are way better. You do the usual up until the fine tuning of the screws where you use the temp gun rather than your ears. I got my pipes to within 10C of each other and holy poo poo does it run smooth compared to before. I did the GS just for the hell of it and it's an absolutely huge difference in how nice the idle is. Well worth the $35 from Harbor Freight. Bugdrvr fucked around with this message at 06:49 on May 27, 2014 |
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May 27, 2014 06:16
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Finished cleaning, wire-wheeling, and repainting the gauge trim and brackets on the 'oldwing. Took everything apart and cleaned off all the rust I could find, sprayed the bracket down with rust-preventative primer and then a couple coats of black enamel, and hit the chrome trim on the gauges with a 'black chrome' two-step spray kit mainly to seal the formerly rusty spots from the elements and keep them from re-rusting. Looks decent, for a rattlecan job, but most importantly it covered everything with several layers of translucent and clearcoat paints to keep water from getting to the pinholes in the chrome. Also fabricated new brackets up to fit the new rear turn signals on, and got those wired in with new marine-grade watertight connectors and heat-shrink on everything. Blinkers still not blinking, so next step after getting the fronts wired up and testing again will probably be replacing the (possibly broken) flasher that's in there now. Could also be the new lights not drawing enough load to trip it (I went with incandescent bulbs, but it may not like that there's only the rears currently hooked up). Got the new choke cable installed and reinstalled the throttle push cable that the DSPO had zip tied to the handlebars, let the bowls on the carb fill up, and fired it up pretty easy., though the idle still wanders a bit, so a good carb cleaning and checking all the seals and lines is still on the agenda.
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May 27, 2014 07:00
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I rode it for the first time in six weeks, since my broken ribs have largely healed. Full disclosure: it was only to work and back about twenty minutes each way, but loving hell did it feel good. I've that to look forward to for the next few weeks, at least.
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May 27, 2014 09:08
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Bugdrvr posted:infrared temp gun Did you use the gun in addition to the carb sync tool/homemade vacuum bottles, or just the gun by itself?
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May 27, 2014 15:13
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My clutch cable finally gave out, but luckily I already had my replacement! Turns out that I was sent the wrong part, though. My bike is not a Suzuki quad, so I'm not sure what Tucker Rocky expected me to do with the cable they sent me. I had to run down to Bent Bike (the only place that carries clutch cables and is open on Sunday) and found a cable that will work while I wait for the right part to show up.
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May 27, 2014 16:38
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 Got some fresh rubber installed on the ninja. Most uncomfortable 15 miles of my life 
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May 27, 2014 18:38
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| # ? May 21, 2024 21:42 |
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hot sauce posted:
Would you say the position you were in was... tiring?
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May 27, 2014 18:41
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