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Or just an enclosed chain like the XV920 and a few other bikes I can’t remember.
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Sep 7, 2021 12:43
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Just stick with the shaft drives they already have.
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Sep 7, 2021 12:54
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Brake system flush and fluid change on the DRZ. The existing fluid was super dark. Never seen it that bad before but honestly my experience is one old bike, one factory bike, and now the DRZ. Last time I did a fluid change was on my old Ninja 250 and I bought a cheapo hand vacuum pump bleeder system to help. Definitely helped a lot with the draining, but when it came time to work the bleeder valve and pump the air out of the system I had a hell of a bad time keeping the tubing from slipping off the bleed nipple. I tried both the prefab’d rubber “attachments” and just bare silicon hose — both were super fiddly. Very frustrating. Eventually I went down to the basement and fished out an older/smaller bleed kit that came with a little plastic needle-type end that I actually jammed INTO the bleed nipple, not onto. That did the trick. I had no problems after that. The DRZ actually bled super quickly. Suspiciously quickly, I’d say. I was sure there was no way I’d put enough liquid in the system to fill the hose and caliper but I wasn’t getting any air out the other end and the brakes felt great. I’m still not 100% confident and these are my front brakes so I might do a bit of extra bleeding tomorrow. Back brake was so much easier because the caliper and bleeder are on the same side as the pedal, and not a giant stretch away if you’re doing it by yourself. I also designed and 3D printed some cheapo amazon turn signal blocker plates for the front fork. If I was smart I would have checked to see whether it’s a common dimension across other Suzuki bikes because it looks like the SV650 has the same style cavity and others have already done the design work for me. some kinda jackal fucked around with this message at 00:16 on Sep 8, 2021 |
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Sep 8, 2021 00:12
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Martytoof posted:I also designed and 3D printed some cheapo amazon turn signal blocker plates for the front fork. If I was smart I would have checked to see whether it’s a common dimension across other Suzuki bikes because it looks like the SV650 has the same style cavity and others have already done the design work for me. The PO on my old DRZ just drilled holes in the headlight mount sticking off the fork tubes. Honestly doesn’t look too bad, wonder why that’s not the default position for them.
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Sep 8, 2021 05:44
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Horse Clocks posted:The PO on my old DRZ just drilled holes in the headlight mount sticking off the fork tubes. I think maybe there's some legal definition of how far they have to stick out and the existing brackets seem to do a heckuva job throwing them out there, but that location actually makes sense from a "annoying thing I have to deal with" perspective 
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Sep 8, 2021 13:17
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Yes that “sorta diamond shape” that the turn signals use is defacto Suzuki. It’s on at least the Drz, SV, GSXR, Bandit and I’m sure some others as well
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Sep 8, 2021 13:48
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I should just pony up for an actual set of DRZ turn signals but the amazon china specials for $20-4pack are too hard to pass up when you're trying to spend as little as possible. Maybe next time. The only annoyance about the amazon ones are that it's super hard to find something that isn't sequentially animated. It takes longer for them to sequentially animate than the relay is engaged so in reality they only animate out 3/4 of the way. I finally lucked into some shorter ones that JUST finish as the relay snaps off. All this because I cracked one of the lenses on the OEM signals when I dropped it on day two. It looks like the 2001 K1 DRZ has different styles that no one really sells replacements for so it was just cheaper to go aftermarket. I'll keep an eye out though.
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Sep 8, 2021 14:29
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Martytoof posted:I think maybe there's some legal definition of how far they have to stick out FMVSS says the front turn signals have to be laterally at least eight inches away from the headlight.
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Sep 8, 2021 16:12
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think I caught a cicada / dirt or something on my forks cause I blew a seal loving around offroad  luckily WP 48mm forks are simple and I swapped in some replacement SKF seals after work. also luckily I managed to not get any oil on my rotors / slightly new EBC pads 
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Sep 9, 2021 03:47
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Changing fork seals is easy enough that anybody going off-road would benefit knowing how to do. When I bought my wr, I waited way too long before I rebuilt my forks. I had no idea what I was missing it on. It was a night and day change. They felt infinitely better and the seals were the easiest part of the whole deal.
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Sep 9, 2021 08:55
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With any new to me bike I change the fork oil asap. It's never a thing people do so it's usually ancient.
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Sep 9, 2021 10:22
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So now I have a top box on my CBR300R. I bought a small 30 liter Givi box and base plate previously owned though seemingly unused for peanuts, and the mount kit that arrived today was cake to bolt on. It seems well built and sturdy. I'll try it out tomorrow. Maybe it looks a bit weird with a box on a small bike with sporty ambitions at least aesthetically but what can you do. More practicality means more riding so it's a Good Thing I think.
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Sep 9, 2021 17:23
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Soon enough you'll start mentally filtering it out. Matt black plastic is like a roving blind spot for me now.
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Sep 9, 2021 23:24
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I next-day'd a lovely $10 amazon petcock, went to home depot and got some bigger sheetmetal screws and cranked them into the acerbis tank with the stripped threads. I cut them down to size a little because anything wider was also longer, but knock on wood the petcock seems to be rock solid right now. I put a few litres of fuel in a little at a time and no leaks going on 6h. Not entirely certain that it'll stand up to sitting on a big vibrating thumper motorcycle so I still amazon'd some M6 heat-set inserts but I guess I'll just try this for now. What's the worst that can happen, a petcock failure spilling fuel all over a hot engine, right? 
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Sep 10, 2021 02:25
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Supradog posted:With any new to me bike I change the fork oil asap. It's never a thing people do so it's usually ancient. lol the worst part was I literally changed out the fork oil <100mi ago
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Sep 10, 2021 03:29
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Martytoof posted:I next-day'd a lovely $10 amazon petcock, went to home depot and got some bigger sheetmetal screws and cranked them into the acerbis tank with the stripped threads. I cut them down to size a little because anything wider was also longer, but knock on wood the petcock seems to be rock solid right now. I put a few litres of fuel in a little at a time and no leaks going on 6h. I wonder if you was to rough up that bump on the inside of the tank and glob some fuel proof epoxy onto it, would it stave off a crack migrating all the way through to the interior of the tank? Someone who knows chemicals will be along to correct me shortly.
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Sep 10, 2021 03:55
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After months and months of waffling about it, finally synched the carbs. Took me about fifteen minutes in front of my house. (Ok I was at it for two hours but the actual synch process really did take like 15 minutes and I was probably chasing myself around for the last third of that.) By far the largest part of the 2 hrs was setup/cleanup, as well as lubing and tensioning my throttle cables. The return has been loose for a long time so it's nice to get it firmed up again, as the only adjustment for it is under the tank. I also gobbed rust converter on the paint chips along the tank's forward seam, in anticipation of the paint repairs I had planned anyway. Phy fucked around with this message at 04:49 on Sep 10, 2021 |
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Sep 10, 2021 04:46
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HenryJLittlefinger posted:I wonder if you was to rough up that bump on the inside of the tank and glob some fuel proof epoxy onto it, would it stave off a crack migrating all the way through to the interior of the tank? I don't actually think it's cracked at all anywhere, it's just that the threads were ripped out. I'm just GUESSING but I think the previous owner dropped the tank on the petcock on an angle and maybe it tore out or put enough pressure on the screws that they pulled out a bit? Or he overtightened it or something, I dunno. This bike had a weird mix of "bad PO" and "good PO" things so it's really hard to tell. The tank is still like 100% leak proof at the mounting holes, my biggest concern w/r/t leaking is that the screws themselves loosen and don't provide enough pressure for the o'ring to stop a drop or slosh. The more I think about it the more I'll just do the melt-in heat-set inserts once they arrive, probably that it doesn't leak over a hot engine now that I think about it 
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Sep 10, 2021 14:14
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I was whelmed by the performance of the DR-Z400SM, and inspired by the post from someone here about how good the aftermarket for it is, so I went and bought a E airbox, the cheapest Yoshimura full exhaust, and a jet kit. I couldn't bring myself to cut the airbox on a new bike to match the jetting kit, so I found a used E airbox, which looks great, but it required pulling the subframe to install. Everything is now back together, and it feels snappier, but it still feels like a dirt bike, there isn't really a top end. I'm unsure if I'll change to a higher speed sprocket, and if I'll install different cams at the first valve check. Parts for these things are cheap, so I guess it depends on how much time I have to work on it. The new exhaust is pretty quiet, which is a huge relief, maybe the era of obnoxious aftermarket exhausts is ending. The Daytona took a similar amount of work, but it's healthy again. It had a rusty tank when I bought it, so I scrubbed it with scotch brite and acetone, and replaced the fuel pump with an aftermarket pump in the OEM housing. Within a few dozen miles, that pump failed too. I decided to clean the tank again, so I made a paste out of baking soda, scrubbed that everywhere, flushed it out, and just bought an OEM pump. The baking soda flush worked a lot better than acetone and abrasive pads, there's no longer any rust color in the tank. I found someone selling OEM pumps and housings for $300 new, and I took the opportunity to replace the airbox (which had one cracked mounting tab) with another used airbox. I'd tried buying a new OEM tank and skipping all of this, but they are no longer available, and every used tank on ebay has bad crash damage. Used fuel pumps are not much better, Triumph had an obnoxious connector on the pump housing, and it looks like people constantly break it off when removing tanks, so you can't find them used. New is $750, so finding one for $300 was a real score. Next up is the tube-frame Buell (again). I'm not sure if it's got ECU issues, or fuel issues, but parts have really dried up on these, so I'm not looking forward to it.
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Sep 10, 2021 18:27
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I picked up this poorly modified and sprayed honda last week for a couple hundred bucks and started stripping it down. So I will likely be taking a terribly modified bike and spending a bunch of hours and money turning it into a terribly modified bike.  
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Sep 10, 2021 22:41
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Withnail posted:I picked up this poorly modified and sprayed honda last week for a couple hundred bucks and started stripping it down. What model is it?
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Sep 10, 2021 23:06
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Honda CX500/650. What's going on with the rear suspension, or lack thereof? Those bikes came with twin rear shocks I thought. Is there a monoshock hiding inside that black plastic can? Is that an aftermarket part you can just buy or did the PO fabricate something? It looks kinda nice and clean actually but I'm skeptical of how well it works.
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Sep 10, 2021 23:08
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That is a rare factory monoshock cx. If you wanted a casual project with no consequences you chose very well, just don't hype yourself into thinking it will ever ride well or go fast.
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Sep 10, 2021 23:20
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Yeah it's a GL500 with the monoshock, I think the CX has the 'normal' shocks. E. It's probably good it won't go fast considering it has a single disc brake in front and a drum in back.
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Sep 10, 2021 23:42
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That’s the Silverwing, the baby goldwing that got a bit more tech than the CX did
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Sep 11, 2021 00:39
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Another afternoon wrenching on the DRZ. A few days ago I noticed my throttle was a little sticky at times and this kind of turned into a huge deal where I took the grips off to see if something was binding, and the throttle tube was still sticking and then I disassembled the throttle and there was like some weird foam or glue or something on the handlebar itself, maybe from when the PO tried to .. I can't even imagine. Anyway, I kind of debated cleaning the handlebars but they were overall just really ratty so I replaced them with a set of protapers and motionpro throttle tube I next day'd for a hundred bucks. Yeah I guess I am kind of nickel and diming myself into a DRZ that costs more than expected but whatever, I'm slowly turning this into a really cool (well, cooler) bike. So anyway, I ended up removing all the controls and kind of took the opportunity to untangle the rats nest of a wiring harness behind the dash, unplugged everything and reconnected it in (what I think is) a more sane order, used a soft tie cable wrap to bind individual parts together and now it's a whole lot more manageable. I committed the ultimate sin of not taking enough photos or photos that were too vague and I did have some trouble when it came time to reconnect the clutch safety -- I didn't realize it went in-line between the two yellow cables. I thought those two yellow cables just connected directly together so when I put everything together the clutch safety was the odd-man out and I couldn't figure out what to do with it. I know the clutch start safety is "optional" but until I get around to taking it down for safety I'll leave it in. There's also a weird white cable that I can't identify. There's no corresponding connector and I can't really figure out what it is in the clymers manual:  This is either some kind of option, or something the PO removed? Took the time to clean all the controls while I was at it and I'm glad I did. I don't know what the general advice is regarding lubricating the inside of your controls, like the throttle tube or whatever, but if the answer is NO DON'T DO IT then the PO certainly didn't get that memo. There was so much grease and gunk packed into the throttle assembly that I was surprised it was never NOT stuck. I wasn't brave enough to disassemble the brake lever but I did take the clutch to pieces and it was similarly greasy. So I threw all the things into the sonic wash for 30 minutes and everything is squeaky clean. With the above I'm a little worried about my actual cables. Everything seemed to work fine after I assembled it but now I'm thinking of just spending the $30 and replacing both throttle and clutch, both because I'm worried they're all gunky but also .. I dunno, start with a fresh slate? Be confident that your cables are new? Seems like a good reason to spend thirty bucks as any. My clutch cable also feel really weirdly routed and I'm trying to find OEM references because I'm certain the PO routed it incorrectly. Anyway, I still have to put the grips on the bar and throttle tube but I'll wait until everything else is settled. Oh and I remembered to turn off my petcock halfway through writing this post, probably a good three hours after I last fired up the bike. This is the third time I've forgotten to switch it off in two days and I'm certain I'll have a dry sump full of gas in no time. Part of me is thinking of just swapping the OEM vacuum petcock in for what I have now on the acerbis. Sure there's a chance the vacuum will fail and flood everything. But I've proven that I can't remember to turn it off so which is more likely to cause a flood in the immediate future? 
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Sep 11, 2021 03:12
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Based on the wire colors that looks like an ignition switched 12v feed for who knows what. B/Y is Suzuki for earth, B/W is Suzuki for generic switched 12v. Handy thing to wire a phone charger in or whatever. Lever perches are meant to be greasy, if you put the levers in dry you'll just grind everything into dust but it's hard to tell what you're meaning. The throttle tube and cable grooves should also be lubed. Try detaching both ends of the cables and work them back and forth while dribbling lube down the sheath, if there's no fraying they're fine. If you want factory cable routing just Google drz workshop manual, I promise you'll find the factory Suzuki manual that has cable and hose routing diagrams in the first chapter. The Suzuki vacuum fuel tap seems designed to fail, my bandit has like 13kkm on the clock and the tap used to drip until I blocked it completely. You're better off with the manual one imo.
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Sep 11, 2021 04:13
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I'll check clymer to see if anything that's just switched 12v exists, thanks. So yeah, I did put everything in dry but I haven't moved much around at all yet so I'll just go back in tomorrow and add some .. grease of some kind? Any recommendations? I've got white lithium, generic load bearing grease, basically anything else I can find in the garage but I'm not sure if there's something specific I should apply to the perches. Where does lubing the throttle tube end? I presume I don't really want any lube between the tube and the bar, right? That sounds like trouble if the grease solidifies. How about the housing that goes over the end of the throttle tube outside of the actual cable grooves? I'm pretty sure this is a super basic question but common sense is failing me. I'll check for fraying tomorrow. Continued thanks as I stumble my way through. I'm going to print out a little sticker and attach it to my ignition switch -- "DID YOU TURN OFF THE FUEL?!"
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Sep 11, 2021 04:21
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White lithium will work fine as will bearing grease or any kind of generic grease. You want to lube literally everything that touches anything else, so that means the lever flats where it goes in the perch, the hole for the perch bolt, the cable eye, the little rod that pushes on the MC piston etc just everything. The throttle is trickier cause you're right, you need something that won't turn gunky. I usually use MX chain wax sprayed on the bar and left to dry, it leaves an excellent slick and fairly dry film, hasn't bound up on any of mine yet. You definitely want lube between the bar and tube, as well as on the cable eyes and channels. The housing that goes around the outside is super loose fitting and doesn't really matter at all, you just need to lube the stuff that rubs. Also my 2c neither here nor there: clymer, Haynes etc are all worthless garbage, the factory manual is the only useful manual for any bike unless all you want is torque figures, and even then they're often wrong.
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Sep 11, 2021 04:48
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Martytoof posted:Oh and I remembered to turn off my petcock halfway through writing this post, probably a good three hours after I last fired up the bike. This is the third time I've forgotten to switch it off in two days and I'm certain I'll have a dry sump full of gas in no time. Part of me is thinking of just swapping the OEM vacuum petcock in for what I have now on the acerbis. Sure there's a chance the vacuum will fail and flood everything. But I've proven that I can't remember to turn it off so which is more likely to cause a flood in the immediate future? I then promptly forgot to turn off (and on) the petcock for an entire year. Trying to leave the mechanic after getting a MOT was an embarrassing moment. You’re probably fine (i think?) if your carbs float valve is in good condition. Which seals the fuel intake when the float is full. Slavvy posted:The throttle is trickier cause you're right, you need something that won't turn gunky. I usually use MX chain wax sprayed on the bar and left to dry, it leaves an excellent slick and fairly dry film, hasn't bound up on any of mine yet. You definitely want lube between the bar and tube, as well as on the cable eyes and channels. The housing that goes around the outside is super loose fitting and doesn't really matter at all, you just need to lube the stuff that rubs. (Please send me a can)
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Sep 11, 2021 11:24
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Ok I’ll dump a ton of white lithium on the control surfaces today and figure out what I want to do for the throttle. I guess for the immediate next few days I can just throw some super thin lithium grease on there too on while I decide what other product would work better. It’s not immutable so I’m probably not going to die, and it’ll still be better than whatever I was living with. I refer to the clymers because that’s what the bike with and didn’t realize the OEM shop manual was drastically different. I’ll definitely see if I can find a paper or PDF copy, thanks. Horse Clocks posted:My vacuum petcock failed a few days after the raptor petcock replacement I ordered in anticipation arrived. Well maybe i’ll get lucky. The carbs are another one of those things that I really should investigate. If for no other reason than to clean them because everything on that engine was well used and caked in layers of grease and dirt when I took possession and I might do that this offseason, but for whatever reason carbs are one of the things that I’m really afraid of cracking open. It’s feels really illogical because they seem like the simplest things to functionally service, but deep down I have zero understanding of what affects what when it comes to adjustments outside of the superficial idle screw, and I have no concept of how air fuel mixtures are supposed to work. This isn’t one of those things that will be explained away. I’ve watched hundreds of youtubes, read hundreds of articles, looked at hundreds of diagrams, taken apart and reassembled simpler carbs when repairing lawnmowers and garden equipment, and still I have this sense of fear that I’m touching somethingI don’t understand. That said, I’ll do it just because it probably needs it and if I can be meticulous enough in taking photos and recording settings I can put it back with enough confidence that it’s “as good as it was” some kinda jackal fucked around with this message at 12:07 on Sep 11, 2021 |
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Sep 11, 2021 12:00
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Martytoof posted:
My way of remembering to turn the fuel off is I do it before shutting the bike off.
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Sep 11, 2021 13:50
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Like everyone said, it looks like an unused wire that comes off the speedo. I don't think it was used on any other models, so I have no idea what it would be for.  Also I would suggest joining the DRZ400 Owners Facebook group and laughing at the lovely posts. Then maybe look at their files tab.
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Sep 12, 2021 02:25
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Thanks gang. Today: - Inspected the cables and I did see a frayed strand on the clutch. Just going to replace both, bah. - Having a bitch of a time getting the cycra handguards to line up correctly with the supports that mount near the handlebar clamps. If I yank and pull on the handguards so they sit more naturally against those supports, they seem to be off kilter to the bar-end mounts. I like the way they look but I’m getting frustrated and I’ll probably just pull them off for now since I’m not doing any offroad. Would be nice if I drop the bike to not have to worry about my levers though. - I also just happened to prop the bike up by the belly pan to test out my new bike jack and an unwelcome discovery was that I felt the steering “click” dead centre when I moved the bars back and forth so I think my steering bearings need replacing. I’m hoping safety person doesn’t pick it up because I’d like to do that this offseason rather than now. Other than that, just kind of donking around until I call the inspection guys on Monday to make an appointment for safety. I’m just going to ask point blank if I need all the original OEM reflectors on the bike since the letter of the law seems to indicate yes. If I have to have those mounted then gently caress it, I’ll just take the ones I pulled off the Ninja and 3D print some way to mount them to my forks. some kinda jackal fucked around with this message at 03:26 on Sep 12, 2021 |
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Sep 12, 2021 03:22
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Martytoof posted:- I also just happened to prop the bike up by the belly pan to test out my new bike jack and an unwelcome discovery was that I felt the steering “click” dead centre when I moved the bars back and forth so I think my steering bearings need replacing. I’m hoping safety person doesn’t pick it up because I’d like to do that this offseason rather than now. the wheelies giveth and the wheelies taketh away
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Sep 12, 2021 13:28
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Those steering head bearings are more important than any of the poo poo you've done thus far, don't put it off, it makes a massive difference to the handling.
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Sep 12, 2021 19:55
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Dang I guess I’ll order a replacement kit now. I’m hoping I can get away without any of these custom tools I’m reading about to pull or install races. I’m not sure I can rent any of them locally and seems like a huge investment for something I won’t be doing often. Guess I’ll see.
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Sep 12, 2021 20:55
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You don't need anything like that. You need a drift to knock out the old races (an old 1/2 extension you don't care about works well), and something to do the castle nut with, a generic hinged c-spanner works well but so do channel locks in a pinch, or just tapping with a small drift. You remove that inner race from the steering stem using an angle grinder or Dremel to cut a slot, then drive it off with a chisel. Flip the old races upside down and and use them to drive in the new ones. You may need a piece of pipe to drive on the new inner race onto the stem but again, a small drift and patience will work just as well. Hit the bearing lands and the base of the steering stem with sandpaper so they're smooth and clean, use a file to take down any inadvertent high spots on the lower triple that could interfere with the inner race seating.
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Sep 12, 2021 21:44
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Cool thanks. This will either be a disaster or a huge success but either way I'll learn something.
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Sep 12, 2021 22:49
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| # ? May 14, 2024 16:01 |
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Martytoof posted:This will either be a disaster or a huge success but either way I'll learn something. New thread title?
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Sep 13, 2021 16:01
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