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Surprisingly a lot of gas pumps in Nebraska seem to have an ethanol-free option. I say surprisingly because Nebraska has a good claim for being corn capital of the world. Here in my end of Denver I know where to get ethanol-free but it’s probably in less than 1% of stations.
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Mar 23, 2020 23:50
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| # ? May 16, 2024 08:27 |
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Ulf posted:Surprisingly a lot of gas pumps in Nebraska seem to have an ethanol-free option. I say surprisingly because Nebraska has a good claim for being corn capital of the world. I know you've heard this before but #4: never get high on your own supply
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Mar 24, 2020 21:47
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What qualifies an unsafe tire pressure? Pulled the bike out of the shed today for good and rear is 32/45 and front is 30/42. Is this unsafe to do a two minute ride down to the gas station to air up, or is it a “keep your distance drive slow and you’re ok” situation? E: Oh never mind, the tire is the max cold PSI. The swingarm sticker says 32f 36r so I think I’m good. some kinda jackal fucked around with this message at 21:31 on Mar 25, 2020 |
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Mar 25, 2020 21:26
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Just don’t try to wheelie there
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Mar 25, 2020 21:29
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i dont know what those numbers mean but i've ridden to the gas station on 10 psi and as long as you dont try to rip a wheelie your valve stem will probably be ok (tubed tire)
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Mar 25, 2020 21:31
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Jim Silly-Balls posted:Just don’t try to wheelie there But I bought the GoPro and everything  Razzled posted:i dont know what those numbers mean but i've ridden to the gas station on 10 psi and as long as you dont try to rip a wheelie your valve stem will probably be ok (tubed tire) So noted!
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Mar 25, 2020 21:32
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Buy a bicycle pump.
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Mar 25, 2020 21:39
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If you don't have an air compressor, buy yourself a basic bicycle tire pump and a tire plug kit. If you ever pick up a nail on the way home, you can plug the tire and get enough air in it to get you down the street to the gas station.
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Mar 25, 2020 21:39
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Jim Silly-Balls posted:Just don’t try to wheelie there 
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Mar 25, 2020 21:42
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Martytoof posted:What qualifies an unsafe tire pressure? Pulled the bike out of the shed today for good and rear is 32/45 and front is 30/42. Is this unsafe to do a two minute ride down to the gas station to air up, or is it a “keep your distance drive slow and you’re ok” situation? I think those /45 numbers are the ones you're reading off the sidewall? Those are the maximum safe pressure for the tire, not the ones you should be riding with. Don't blow them up that far. Read the ones off the sticker on the frame or swingarm; those are what's recommended for the bike. 32-ish PSI is normal or just a little low for the average bike. Not a problem to ride to the gas station. e: looks like you figured it out but yea
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Mar 25, 2020 21:44
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So actually additional question then. I’m presuming that the swingarm sticker is for the OEM tires. Would those numbers differ with non-OEM fitted tires? I don’t mean different width, just makes. My gut instinct is that it’s a “it’ll be close enough so just use the sticker value” thing. My 650 has OEM tires but my 250 hasn’t had anything OEM in quite a few owners I imagine. PO had a 150 or 160 on the rear which I swapped back to an OEM-sized but not OEM-make 130.
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Mar 25, 2020 22:36
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Martytoof posted:So actually additional question then. I’m presuming that the swingarm sticker is for the OEM tires. Would those numbers differ with non-OEM fitted tires? I don’t mean different width, just makes. My gut instinct is that it’s a “it’ll be close enough so just use the sticker value” thing. My 650 has OEM tires but my 250 hasn’t had anything OEM in quite a few owners I imagine. PO had a 150 or 160 on the rear which I swapped back to an OEM-sized but not OEM-make 130. Different makes of tyre won't need different pressures if they're the same size. Just use the figures on the swingarm. Also thirding advice to get a bicycle pump, if you shop around you should be able to find a decently cheap one with a gauge on it (which won't be accurate but will get you in the ballpark so you only have to get the good pressure gauge out once).
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Mar 25, 2020 22:54
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Just get a foot pump and a digital pressure reader. Saves you a few 50p coins at the garages.
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Mar 25, 2020 22:58
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I have a good bike pump, I just remembered, but I converted the end to a quick-connector/disconnector for my road bike and I can’t remember if it’s presta only or not. I’ll have to see if it’ll still do scrader valves.
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Mar 26, 2020 00:06
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I took an ERC course from an ex-MotoGP guy last year, and he said max sidewall pressure minus something but I can’t recall what. Max - 4 psi, maybe? It surprised me because it was higher than I’m used to running.
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Mar 26, 2020 01:16
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Whatever the owner's manual says is probably a good start, if you take into account on some bikes they anticipate two-up more often and give you higher pressures. I'm not going to look it up now, but I thought there was a general rule that you wanted your pressure after riding to be 3 to 4 psi higher than it was cold (but look those numbers up before you make any changes on that). Which may also mean you want different pressures commuting to work vs riding the canyons. Dave Moss had a recommendation of starting a lot higher than normal and then just going down a few psi each day and see what feels best / works for you, but I've never tried that and I would be shocked to find out something like 22psi is going to be better for me than 32.
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Mar 26, 2020 01:22
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MomJeans420 posted:Whatever the owner's manual says is probably a good start, if you take into account on some bikes they anticipate two-up more often and give you higher pressures. I'm not going to look it up now, but I thought there was a general rule that you wanted your pressure after riding to be 3 to 4 psi higher than it was cold (but look those numbers up before you make any changes on that). Which may also mean you want different pressures commuting to work vs riding the canyons. Yeah, I went to 36 in the front (32 recommended) on the suggestion of a mate who's generally pretty clued up and it did make a surprisingly positive difference, the suspension feels like it's more comfortable over bumps mid-corner which is actually the opposite of what I'd expect. I wonder if that's just because I ride mostly in the city so my tyres just don't get as hot as if I were out carving up back roads?
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Mar 26, 2020 01:38
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Martytoof posted:I have a good bike pump, I just remembered, but I converted the end to a quick-connector/disconnector for my road bike and I can’t remember if it’s presta only or not. I’ll have to see if it’ll still do scrader valves. Canadian tire will usually put a little 12v air pump on discount for less than 20 bucks
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Mar 26, 2020 03:15
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HenryJLittlefinger posted:Buying gas with too high of an octane rating for your engine just because it’s ethanol free is pretty pointless. Any money you save on replacing a couple rubber bits in your carbs or tanks occasionally is lost in the extra cost of the high octane, which benefits you in no way. Maybe your carbs come out easier, but I'd say not having to wrestle mine out any more than is absolutely necessary is a big benefit.
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Mar 26, 2020 06:32
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Noticed the speedo on my KLR650 acting up - mostly it didn't work, but would sometimes flick up and bob around at the correct speed before dropping back down to zero. On inspection I found a little hole worn in the cable where it hangs off the front fork. Could this be repaired (some kind of tape, removing it from the speedo housing and re-lubricating) for a short term fix, or is it stuffed? I'm in Australia and Gen1 KLR parts are a bit thin on the ground here, so I'll have to order from America and that's usually 3 weeks in the best of times, which we are decidedly not in.
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Mar 26, 2020 10:22
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Gear-driven speedo cables are a fairly standard part iirc, any aftermarket cable for a 90s kawasaki should work. Should have a slot on one end and a square nub on the other.
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Mar 26, 2020 12:33
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Check that it's screwed in all the way at the front hub. My KLR did this and the issue was just that it wasn't engaging the square drive up there.
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Mar 26, 2020 18:32
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I've changed the final drive ratio of my Fz6 but there's no way to calibrate the speedo to accommodate this, and the reading is taken from the front sprocket. I could buy a thing that fixes this but it costs £60. I'm going to take a shot at making an arduino do this heavy lifting for £10 before I give up and put in a universal speedometer worth £20, because hell am I paying 60 quid for a blob of hot glue and some electronics! Has anyone here made this or know of someone who has done this before? I'm confident I could figure this out eventually, but it's always easier to follow in someone's footsteps. Edit: to be clear, I'm intending to create something that reads the signal from the speed sensor, counting its frequency, while outputting a signal that is at a frequency which is a variable multiplier to the counted frequency. Azza Bamboo fucked around with this message at 18:44 on Mar 27, 2020 |
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Mar 27, 2020 17:29
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Azza Bamboo posted:I've changed the final drive ratio of my Fz6 but there's no way to calibrate the speedo to accommodate this, and the reading is taken from the front sprocket. I could buy a thing that fixes this but it costs £60. I'm going to take a shot at making an arduino do this heavy lifting for £10 before I give up and put in a universal speedometer worth £20, because hell am I paying 60 quid for a blob of hot glue and some electronics! I'll probably sound like a dick asking, but why did you change the final drive ratio on an FZ6? Also if you put on a cheap universal speedometer, it'll probably affect your resale value a lot more than £40.
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Mar 27, 2020 20:02
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This vehicle is a beater I intend to drive into the ground. I changed the final drive ratio because this machine had nothing at the low end. Except now it can actually pull. Azza Bamboo fucked around with this message at 20:51 on Mar 27, 2020 |
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Mar 27, 2020 20:45
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What are some specific things to look out for when purchasing a 6 year old (fuel injected) bike with only 2,500 miles on it?
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Mar 28, 2020 02:38
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Tyres, chain, fork seals, condensation in the oil, brake fluid weeping/crusting. Just go in assuming you'll need to do all the fluids and stick new tires on.
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Mar 28, 2020 03:40
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When you're checking valve clearances, does the cylinder you're working on have to be exactly TDC? If you've got it between the compression and expansion strokes, both valves* should be fully shut and not moving for a fair way either side of TDC, right? Asking because the timing window on this bike is stuck so I'm going to have to eyeball TDC by either watching the valve movements or peering down the spark plug hole. *talking about a 2 valve single here
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Mar 29, 2020 09:46
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Renaissance Robot posted:When you're checking valve clearances, does the cylinder you're working on have to be exactly TDC? If you've got it between the compression and expansion strokes, both valves* should be fully shut and not moving for a fair way either side of TDC, right? There is some slack but remember the rocker arms are actuated before and after the valve actually closes, so you want to measure the clearance when the rocker arm is not actuated at all. You can probably see that the rocker arm isn't moving if you jiggle the crank a little bit. Aren't there some marks on the cams as well?
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Mar 29, 2020 11:00
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GriszledMelkaba posted:I know you've heard this before but #4: never get high on your own supply You are seen.
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Mar 29, 2020 11:14
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Put a wooden dowel down the spark plug hole and when it’s highest is tdc. Crank it over by hand to find it or you’ll have wooden dowel in your cylinder.
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Mar 29, 2020 14:09
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Did a combo of watching the rockers and shining a torch down the spark plug hole. The engine seemed to turn over in quite clunky steps so it wasn't as finicky as I was expecting. Valves seem to be ~0.03mm on the loose side, so they're not the reason it struggles to run just after starting. Not going to tighten them today because it does still run and I'd rather not break it. Overall this was extremely easy compared to what I was expecting.
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Mar 29, 2020 16:08
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Ok open ended question: One of my fork seals is weeping fork oil at the dust seal, and I am not sure why. The obvious answer is that the fork seals are old and busted, but I think that this isn't the answer for the following reasons: 1) The bike is not very old. New to me in Jan 2018, 2015 model year, and it began leaking pretty soon back then, when seals were ~3 years old 2) I replaced both fork seals, the old seals were in good condition, the new ones were in good condition, and it still leaks 3) Leakage is only on one side, and it still only leaks from that same side after replacement Replacement seals were Honda OEM seals ordered from Partzilla, so unless I got counterfeits they should be reasonably high quality When I had the forks apart I examined the stanchion and it wasn't perfectly mirror smooth along its whole surface, but there weren't any perceptible gouges or dents or whatever and like I said the old seals appeared not to be torn up or otherwise damaged. I also had the stanchions examined by an actual mechanic at the local DIY garage, and he did not notice anything particularly wrong with them either. Are there other things that can be causing this? Would a bent fork manifest itself as leakage of fork oil from the dust seal area? The bike tracks straight when I let go of the handlebars at speed and sit straight up, so I don't think the frame is catastrophically damaged or anything, but it has been in a ~30 mph accident before so it's not impossible that there is some other type of damage to the fork. Edit: the other possibility I guess: could this be normal behavior from riding over really bad roads? Baltimore roads have some fairly epic potholes, so would hitting one at speed cause the fork to burp fork oil? Shouldn't the bottom out cones prevent that behavior? Editedit: Bike is 2015 CBR300R, forks are a stock cheapo damping rod setup DearSirXNORMadam fucked around with this message at 20:11 on Mar 29, 2020 |
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Mar 29, 2020 20:07
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GriszledMelkaba posted:I know you've heard this before but #4: never get high on your own supply 
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Mar 29, 2020 20:08
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Mirconium posted:Ok open ended question: Most likely scenario is you got the fork oil level wrong or the seals you fitted weren't very good. If your air gap is too small you'll get leakage over really big bumps. Those forks will have a rubber washer as a bottom out system at most I think, if they have anything at all, but that makes no difference to the fork oil which is never under hydraulic pressure, unless the air gap is disappearing entirely when they're bottomed. Second most likely: forks are subtly bent or one has a score/dent somewhere causing the leak. The bike won't have trouble riding straight if the bend is minor, and even tiny stone chips can tear the seal. Rubbing them down with some fine sand paper or a razor blade can fix it. Sometimes the bushes can wear to the point where the play between the two tubes exceeds the seal's ability to cope but that seems unlikely on a relatively new, relatively small and slow bike.
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Mar 29, 2020 20:15
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When I do my next oil change I am probably definitely going to have to put a thread repair in the drain hole. Please talk me into doing this properly by taking the sump off and drilling it on a bench instead of attempting to hold a drill steady while crouched underneath the bike. I'd like to hope that there's enough threads left that I don't need to do this but there's a thin film of oil covering the bottom of the engine aft of the drain plug that doesn't bode well tbh
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Apr 4, 2020 22:17
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Renaissance Robot posted:When I do my next oil change I am probably definitely going to have to put a thread repair in the drain hole. Please talk me into doing this properly by taking the sump off and drilling it on a bench instead of attempting to hold a drill steady while crouched underneath the bike. Does it leak between oil changes? Or just shortly after?
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Apr 4, 2020 22:31
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It didn't leak immediately after the last oil change, but it seems to be leaking now. Not fast, but consistently. Also when I put the plug in it did that thing where it got tighter, and tighter, aaaaand suddenly looser. Only a bit, but enough to make me think I've probably hosed it.
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Apr 4, 2020 22:44
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Renaissance Robot posted:It didn't leak immediately after the last oil change, but it seems to be leaking now. Not fast, but consistently. Yeah, you probably broke it a little bit. It'll keep tight with a good gasket, it will leak with a hot pan, you can easily fix it as you say with taking the pan off. But you will probably cause more problems trying to fix it. It is the problem of motorcycling.
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Apr 4, 2020 23:01
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| # ? May 16, 2024 08:27 |
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Jb weld that bitch n call it a day
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Apr 4, 2020 23:27
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