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M42 posted:Tire suggestions for drz400sm? Not ultra pricy like pr5 pls. Haven’t had a sumo so not sure what’s good. Shinko 705? Not street performance but I don’t notice them on pavement and they’re pretty ok on gravel.
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Jul 10, 2019 02:28
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| # ? May 16, 2024 22:53 |
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The local supermoto school only uses Dunlop Q3+ on their drzs. I thought the dirt section would be really lovely with them on, but they felt great (for my first time on dirt, so take that with a grain of salt).
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Jul 10, 2019 02:36
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Best practice for storing a motor for a few months during winter? Looking to repaint the frame but realistically I have a feeling it'll sit for a good while before I get the time to get it back on the bike. Should I drain the old oil or leave it in? FWIW it's a kickstart so wouldn't be able to start it up once it's off the bike. Motor is currently running and I'd like to keep it that way, plan is to remove it as a whole unit and jam shop towels in exhaust intake/exhaust ports, then put a few bin liners around it to keep out dust/spiders etc. While I've got it off the bike, I'd like to try and restore the surfaces if it's feasible, any suggestions? Not looking for showroom quality or anything, just an improvement. Currently breaded in a coat of light corrosion:  I'm also curious what I could use for the silver paint type stuff that's peeling on the CDI and crank cover you can kinda see in this pic. Ethics_Gradient fucked around with this message at 05:00 on Jul 10, 2019 |
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Jul 10, 2019 04:57
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Soda blast it. I'd leave the oil in it, it's not gonna hurt it, just change it before you run it in the future.
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Jul 10, 2019 05:35
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Z3n posted:Soda blast it. Yup. Just kick it over once in a while so the bearings don't rust in place, chuck a few drops of two stroke oil down the plug hole and stuff the ports with rags.
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Jul 10, 2019 05:54
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Yep, soda blasting works best for aluminum. It won't polish it up nicely or anything but it will take all the crud off and leave you with something gray and metallic, and it won't hurt the substrate. If you want it to be shiny afterwards, you can sand and polish it like any other metal part. Note: do not polish cooling fins. Media blasting is fine but no mirror finishes. They work better when they're dull and rough, because they have more surface area and they create more turbulence. The last thing you want in a cooling fin is a beautiful polished laminar-flow surface that barely interacts with the air at all.
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Jul 10, 2019 05:58
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That all makes sense, thanks! Don't think I can hire a dedicated soda blaster here and buying one would be like $300 on eBay, would something like this + a rented air compressor work?
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Jul 10, 2019 09:08
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Ktm 525 rfs motor. How do I find tdc and make sure that I'm not 180 out? I need to check the valves on this thing.
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Jul 10, 2019 13:08
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New bike owner checking in. My mechanical experience is limited, though I’ve felt pretty comfortable wrenching on my bike. Nothing complicated, but I replaced rearset, did some minor electrical work, etc. I’m going to need to replace my rear sprocket soon, and based on every video I’ve watched it’s a fairly straightforward process. Break my chain, pull the wheel, do the replacement, torque everything down, reinstall. Is there anything I need to consider as a newb? I’m a little worried about wheel alignment after the replacement. Chain tensioning seems easy enough. I also need to replace my rear tire so it may be easier to just take it somewhere to have both done as I don’t plan to do the tire swap myself either way. I’m willing to learn though.
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Jul 10, 2019 15:53
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You don't need to break the chain to replace the rear sprocket, you just move move the adjusters all the way in to get enough chain slack to remove the rear wheel. Otherwise you'd have to break the chain every time you needed a new tire. That said, if you're replacing the rear sprocket on a new to you beater bike should probably replace the front and the chain too (unless you know they're new) so they can wear in as a set. Take a look at the front sprocket and check the wear on it, same with the chain. A worn chain will have visible kinks/tight spots/loose spots as you rotate the rear wheel in neutral with the bike turned off, they're usually super rusty, etc. FYI, removing the retaining nut on the front sprocket can be a bitch if you don't have an impact driver.
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Jul 10, 2019 17:44
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Ethics_Gradient posted:That all makes sense, thanks! Something like this cheapo media gun https://www.harborfreight.com/1-liter-abrasive-blast-gun-92857.html and this bag of media https://www.harborfreight.com/50-lbs-medium-grade-armex-soda-blast-media-65929.html will work fine for your purposes. You do need an air compressor that can keep up with the gun. Volume (cfm) is more important than pressure (psi). e: oh, i guess you're in one of those OTHER countries that uses dollars. Well either way, yeah, any el cheapo blaster gun will work for this. Normally you'd do this in a cabinet, but blasting soda is water-soluble so just do it outside and wash it away afterwards. If you do it indoors everything will look like scarface's penthouse. Also you can't reuse the media like you can with sand; the cleaning action comes from the soda grains exploding into tiny shrapnel when they hit the surface, and once they've exploded they can't do it again. If you sweep up the stuff on the ground and reload it you'll notice it hardly works at all (and you'll load up other dirt and gravel and sticks that will clog the nozzle anyway). Just accept that it's a consumable. Sagebrush fucked around with this message at 17:56 on Jul 10, 2019 |
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Jul 10, 2019 17:54
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Sorry, should have been more specific -- chain is new, rear sprocket is very worn, front sprocket is a mystery but I already ordered a replacement for both. Impact driver is available so hopefully that doesn't turn into too much of a pain. Thanks for the insight!
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Jul 10, 2019 17:55
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Martytoof posted:Sorry, should have been more specific -- chain is new, rear sprocket is very worn, front sprocket is a mystery but I already ordered a replacement for both. In response to your other question/concern - wheel alignment is either really really hard, involving rulers, bits of string, and much swearing, or an absolute piece of piss and the difference is a cheap tool - cheaper ones are available and are probably fine because it's such a simple object. You clamp the thing onto the sprocket, straddling - but not touching - the chain (top is slightly easier but the exact layout of your swingarm might make the bottom simpler) with the rod pointing towards the front sprocket. Squint down the length of the rod (fnarr) and if it lines up with your chain rollers you're sorted. It's so quick and simple that it's worth doing every time you set your chain tension no matter how careful you are at counting turns.
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Jul 10, 2019 18:20
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Jazzzzz posted:FYI, removing the retaining nut on the front sprocket can be a bitch if you don't have an impact driver. I'll be trying this out this weekend: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UxD3qdD7LhE&t=705s
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Jul 10, 2019 19:00
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goddamnedtwisto posted:In response to your other question/concern - wheel alignment is either really really hard, involving rulers, bits of string, and much swearing, or an absolute piece of piss and the difference is a cheap tool - cheaper ones are available and are probably fine because it's such a simple object. Or buy one of those laser pointers with a flat side parallel with the laser, place against sprocket and trace chain with the laser dot.
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Jul 10, 2019 19:47
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stgdz posted:Ktm 525 rfs motor. Screwdriver down the plug hole, tdc is just after the intake rocker stops moving. If you get it bang on middle you'll avoid the auto decomp. There's no other way to measure it on the rfs, KTM in their wisdom expect you to have a TDC setting bolt you thread into the crank case, feel free to google it if you want to go the super laborious and not particularly accurate route. For doing the clearances themselves, don't bother with a feeler gauge etc. Just turn them till they touch, then back off 1/6th of a turn and tighten the lock nut. The thread pitch means that gives you gaps right on the spec.
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Jul 10, 2019 19:58
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pun pundit posted:Or buy one of those laser pointers with a flat side parallel with the laser, place against sprocket and trace chain with the laser dot. They're way too expensive and really tricky to see in any kind of sunlight (why yes, I did buy the flashier more expensive tool first, why do you ask?)
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Jul 10, 2019 20:00
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Revvik posted:Question on old Hondas in general and the 1978 Goldwing specifically: with the killswitch off, is the starter supposed to crank over? If so, why. Why would they do this. I keep going to start it with the killswitch off and it’s not good for it. My 2018 Husky does this too, I've dropped it numerous times in races, picked it up in a flood of adrenaline, smashed the starter button, cursed that I had somehow broken my bike, then realized I had smacked the kill switch when I dropped or picked it up. I'm an idiot. Iirc all my Suzukis would crank with the kill switch off, and my Yamaha won't. Re: front sprocket nuts, I put a breaker bar on there, then stand on the rear brake and lever it off, then do whatever other drivetrain maintenance I need to, installation last.
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Jul 10, 2019 20:17
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Also pop the front sprocket before you dismount the rear. The friction should help, and I personally don't like transmitting impact into the transmission.
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Jul 10, 2019 20:49
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pun pundit posted:Or buy one of those laser pointers with a flat side parallel with the laser, place against sprocket and trace chain with the laser dot. Do this only if the laser pointer is cheap and/or you need it for something else. There are a lot of axes and measurement errors to account for. A good role of thumb is that if you can't see it with a piece of string, it doesn't matter.
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Jul 10, 2019 21:31
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So I have a ktm rfs 525 in my atv. It came with a Yoshi rs5 racing exhaust that is on obnoxiously loud and has a kn air filter in it. I got the stock exhaust but no spark arrestor for it. I see that I can get a.spark arrestor for the Yoshi kit relatively cheap and am considering an unifilter as I ride dusty trails. If I go back to a Yoshi pipe will I see any performance with a jet increase or just noise and do I need to increase jetting for the unifilter?
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Jul 11, 2019 04:07
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Sagebrush posted:Something like this cheapo media gun https://www.harborfreight.com/1-liter-abrasive-blast-gun-92857.html Sweet as. I am gonna see if work has a compressor I can borrow, otherwise the Bunnings hire doesn't look too dear and they're only 20 minutes away. Am having some luck using a copper bristled brush on the chrome wheels (many times more effective than alu foil), although the last 5% or so seems like it may be permanently pitted. I am going to try a vinegar soak overnight on a section and see how that goes - worst case, are there any touch-up products for chrome recommended? My partner is going to in the US in a couple of weeks so if it's not too bulky or hazardous she can bring it back for me.
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Jul 11, 2019 05:30
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So after some evaluation I think I'll just end up not trusting anything the previous owner said about the chain being recent and WILL replace it when I do my sprockets. As far as chains, is there any real reason to buy an expensive o-ring chain versus a budget o-ring chain? I don't really know what feature adds I'd be looking for, or expecting, from something that costs $100+ as opposed to the $60 ($CDN) I'd spend on an O-Ring chain. e: Without overcomplicating my decision by adding o-ring vs x-ring, etc.
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Jul 11, 2019 12:50
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The single most important thing you can do with a chain is keep it oiled. What you use (heavy motor oil, WD40, sticky white spray, wax, etc) and what chain you use it on (o/x/v ring) are all less important than just making sure you don't let the chain dry out, because once it does then water can get in and rust it up, causing stiff links and unnecessary wear. There are marked differences between them, yes, but using any of them frequently and regularly will keep your chain running freely for longer than lax and infrequent use of a supposedly "better" product.
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Jul 11, 2019 15:02
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Speaking of chains, I've heard that chains with a clip master link aren't as reliable. Is this because the clip pops off, or because the master link itself breaks? If the former, can you mitigate this by getting a master link with a cotter clip instead of the spring clip? Seems like being able to take the chain off for thorough cleaning would be a pretty huge benefit to a clip-on master link...
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Jul 11, 2019 16:20
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I broke three clips. First one failed under 7000 miles and I replaced the chain and clip. The replacement failed under 5000 miles roadside and all I could get was a third clip link to replace it. When I got to the shop to have the third clip link replaced with a rivet link, the clip plate was loving gone, 200 miles on it. I will never use a clip link again.
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Jul 11, 2019 16:31
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Martytoof posted:So after some evaluation I think I'll just end up not trusting anything the previous owner said about the chain being recent and WILL replace it when I do my sprockets. O-ring at minimum, get a decent brand like DID, renthal etc Mirconium posted:Speaking of chains, I've heard that chains with a clip master link aren't as reliable. Is this because the clip pops off, or because the master link itself breaks? If the former, can you mitigate this by getting a master link with a cotter clip instead of the spring clip? Seems like being able to take the chain off for thorough cleaning would be a pretty huge benefit to a clip-on master link... They work ok on small bikes but do tend just fly off on the big stuff. The fix is to get a rivet master. Nobody in their right mind takes the chain off to clean it, if lube it properly and regularly it never gets that dirty anyway.
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Jul 11, 2019 20:35
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Slavvy posted:O-ring at minimum, get a decent brand like DID, renthal etc How would you rate JT?
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Jul 11, 2019 20:51
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Renaissance Robot posted:How would you rate JT? I think JT are DID because when I buy a chain kit from my supplier, the JT sprockets come inside the sealed DID box  But then the one time I've fitted an actual JT chain it was structurally different to a DID one so I dunno. The quality looked excellent but it's one ct110 that never gets ridden so my sample size of whether they age well is non-existent.
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Jul 11, 2019 22:11
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JT sprockets and Rotella T6 4lyfe
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Jul 12, 2019 17:03
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Here’s an interesting question: what could cause fuel cutoff / bogging problems at around 6500rpm on a ‘78 Goldwing? When riding like a non-insane person, the bike goes down the road excellent. No complaints. Really get on the gas and it acts like I hit the rev limiter at 6500rpm in every gear, although occasionally it will push past closer to true redline (gauge reads @ 8000rpm). Things I’ve gotten my fingerprints on already: timing belts, throttle cables lubricated, all fluids changed out, air filter swapped, clutch cable lubed and adjusted. Still on my to-do list: driveshaft maintenance, rear shocks, lube down any remaining cables, might seafoam the engine idk, valve clearances. Edit: checking factory specs, redline is listed at 7k so it’s possible there’s nothing really wrong?? I could check for stiction in the tach cable and maybe it’s giving me a low reading.
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Jul 12, 2019 23:43
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Revvik posted:Here’s an interesting question: what could cause fuel cutoff / bogging problems at around 6500rpm on a ‘78 Goldwing? When riding like a non-insane person, the bike goes down the road excellent. No complaints. Really get on the gas and it acts like I hit the rev limiter at 6500rpm in every gear, although occasionally it will push past closer to true redline (gauge reads @ 8000rpm). You're certain it's rpm-related and not throttle? Like if you hit 6500 in different gears at different velocities, same behavior? If it's occurring at the same throttle zone, which is at 3/4-full, and just happens to pass through the 6500 rpm zone, it could be a main jet issue.
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Jul 12, 2019 23:59
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Yeah 6800 sounds awful high RPM for an old wing, but on the other hand, I didn't think those things had rev limiters, so I dunno what would cause a symptom like that. I'd think you'd be on the main jet before you got that high so you'd see the symptom earlier if it was a jetting issue.
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Jul 13, 2019 02:46
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Maybe vacuum leak or airbox gremlin that only appears when air demand is big enough? Like a critical air pressure threshold through leaky boots?
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Jul 13, 2019 05:57
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Has anyone ever used Riders Share? I'm just curious as a renter, I can't imagine loaning a bike out on it unless I just truly didn't give a poo poo about the bike. I'm still waiting on parts for my bike and on a whim was looking at bike rentals to get me to a concert across town tomorrow night. Actual companies with a physical presence are either all harleys, or else $155/day for the sport bike rental place (all sport bikes in the 600ccs). I came across this Aprilia RSV 1000 R with Q4 tires for only $95/day, which seems cheap to me for Q4s and an Italian bike? Maybe I'm overestimating the mileage people put on rental bikes, but it almost seems like a scam to me. Also, anyone know how long their background check takes? I'm not even sure if I could book something tomorrow morning, as a first time rider, for the same day.
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Jul 13, 2019 06:04
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Revvik posted:Here’s an interesting question: what could cause fuel cutoff / bogging problems at around 6500rpm on a ‘78 Goldwing? When riding like a non-insane person, the bike goes down the road excellent. No complaints. Really get on the gas and it acts like I hit the rev limiter at 6500rpm in every gear, although occasionally it will push past closer to true redline (gauge reads @ 8000rpm). according to google your bike has the same kind of diaphragm-less vacuum carburettors as my 81 cb 750, and i suspect that the ignition system is similar as well. my bike acted like yours when i bought it and it is apparently rather common, what caused my bike to misbehave was that 1. those carbs are a bit picky about pressures and resonances both up and downstream so check your valve clearances, balance the carburators and make sure that the airbox is airtight where it is supposed to be and that you are using the right type of air filter ( not the k&n reusable kind) 2 the ignition coils honda used around 1980 does not age with dignity, i changed mine to a set from a 94 cbr 600 (i have no idea what ohms yours are supposed to be, you have to do some research)
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Jul 14, 2019 00:02
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What temperature should a Ninja 250 coolant temperature sensor engage? I have no frame of reference for what a hot bike is so I'm not sure if I should have ever seen my fan come on while idling the bike in my driveway. I haven't had a chance to ride the bike yet so idling is my only engine test so far. Not to mention that I know I shouldn't be idling for more than five minutes so I don't really know if that's enough time for the engine to get hot enough to start radiator cooling. I tested the fan itself by shorting the temperature sensor connector and it works fine, so I just want to get an understanding of when I should be concerned that my temp sensor is failing. I mean, to me the bike feels very hot, but it could be just fine in terms of what it can handle without radiator cooling starting. I'm very new at all this so hopefully this isn't as dumb a question as I'm dreading it may be.
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Jul 14, 2019 01:22
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Motorcycle engines always feel hot to a newbie because they're sitting right between your legs. Small engines like the 250 won't generate as much heat as bigger ones. Some bikes are famous for roasting your nuts like a bonfire any time you slow down. I don't know the exact numbers for a Ninja 250 but a water-cooled engine should be between like 70 and 110C. In my Hawk, the fan comes on around the upper end of that range and rapidly pushes it down, so it cycles on and off. As long as the fan comes on at some point and then shuts off after it's moved some air, I'd say you're fine. 5 minutes at idle from a cold start is not enough to trigger the fan in my experience. If you idle for a long time the engine will get hot eventually, though, both because of the reduced airflow and because your water pump doesn't move much water at those low engine speeds. If you've been riding hard and then sit in traffic for a while with a hot engine and the fan comes on but it doesn't seem to be making a difference, you can paradoxically sometimes get better cooling by revving up for 10 seconds every minute or so. Also, this is part of why motorcycles in California are allowed to split lanes, and why you should aspire to do it if you can Sagebrush fucked around with this message at 01:40 on Jul 14, 2019 |
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Jul 14, 2019 01:37
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Most radiator fans activate around 212F and warning lights at 240F. If I recall, EX250s take quite a while to get that hot.
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Jul 14, 2019 02:21
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I live in N. Florida, and rode an EX500 for two seasons. I think my fan kicked off in traffic twice, maybe three times. They run fairly cool when idling even if it's 100°F outside.
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Jul 14, 2019 13:06
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