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Martytoof posted:Uh so maybe this was answered when I brought up the dry sump thing before but now that I"m staring at an oil-less engine I'm not exactly sure I still understand: Everything retains a thin coating of oil pretty much indefinitely in a sealed engine. Draining the oil for a change or for working inside it does not remove that thin film. Look at your clutch pieces, they're all coated in oil. They will still be when you put em back in. When the parts are cool, there's a tiny bit more tolerance between them than when they're at operating temperature. The sump goes to work and oils everything long before the engine comes up to operating temperature. Just don't start it and immediately pin the throttle.
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Nov 3, 2021 02:28
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Yeah the load on the moving parts when cranking at ~800rpm is pretty much nil and the oil film is enough to do the job. Japanese bikes have extremely efficient oiling systems so by the time it actually fires up oil is everywhere. By the time you've gotten around to putting it in gear and setting off it's circulated completely. If you're putting together an engine from scratch you use assembly lube or thick oil from a dripper on all the contact parts and that serves the same purpose. Air cooled Ducatis take about two minutes to get oil up in the rear cylinder head so they're one of the only bikes where you really need to let it idle for a while before setting off on a cold engine. I've lost count of how many beaten up top cylinder rocker arms I've replaced because of this; EFI has made the situation worse cause there's no reason you can't just set off immediately, at least with carbs it'll be a bit reluctant at first.
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Nov 3, 2021 02:43
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Cool cool ok I think I got it. Razzled posted:when is this bike supposed to make you a better rider if it's spending all its time splaying its guts across your garage When I'm not riding it because it's cold? 
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Nov 3, 2021 02:49
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How clean is clean enough for an engine case gasket mating surface? The gasket that was there basically kind of disintegrated up top and left a bunch of residue. I’ve been going at it with bamboo skewers for the past twenty minutes but I’m making decreasingly little forward progress. I’ve avoided anything that can leave gouges but if there’s a better way to get rid of this crap I’m all ears…   Also not sure what to think about this … gouge? If that’s not a machining mark then I’m not sure how else it gets in here because everything else looks pretty great? 
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Nov 3, 2021 21:44
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That is a machining mark. Brass bristle brush, razor blade, carefully applied scotchbrite.
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Nov 3, 2021 21:47
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:justride:
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Nov 3, 2021 21:52
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You can also get some aircraft paint remover, spray (CAREFULLY) a small amount into a little aluminum, glass, or ceramic cup (NOT PLASTIC), and carefully paint it onto the old bits of sealant/gasket with a q tip. As slavvy said, you can also use a razor or exacto blade but be careful to not gouge.
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Nov 3, 2021 22:33
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A little gouging right on the edges is acceptable so long as none of them go all the way across the gasket face.
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Nov 3, 2021 23:07
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Also, with those graphite paper gaskets on side covers you can have like a 1mm deep gouge and it will still seal no problems, tiny micro scratches don't matter. Remember it's not holding any pressure and doesn't do anything structural, the clamping pressure from the bolts is small, it's just not a sensitive gasket surface compared to a cylinder head or carb bowl.
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Nov 3, 2021 23:15
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Slavvy posted:the clamping pressure from the bolts is small Oh yeah, remember to torque these bolts properly. They do not take as much as you might think and I hear they snap easily.
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Nov 3, 2021 23:48
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I’m calling it a night. The kickstarter gears are installed and the clutch is back together and I’m not exaggerating when I say that removing this loving gasket is the most difficult thing I’ve encountered in this mini project so far. I cleaned the engine mating surface and then I was all — oh hey, I’m sure the gasket will come off cleanly from the actual case cover right? Fuckin lol     If I didn’t need to replace the water pump gasket and clutch cover gaskets too I’d just take the whole thing apart and soak it in hot water for like a week. As it is my scraping is doing OK, I just ran out of steam. Just going to keep gently scraping flat until I see magnesium.
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Nov 3, 2021 23:52
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If it's taking you hours and hours you're being way too gentle. Just grab a scraper and go to town. It's a fifteen minute job and I don't know anything you don't, just sack up and go for it. You have to be seriously, desperately moronic to gouge it enough to matter. I find you can get large chunks to peel up using a razor blade, then just scrape the last chunks off with speed and power.
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Nov 4, 2021 02:16
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That’s what I needed to hear. Took me five minutes with a fresh razor after I stopped like.. gliding across the surface. I went to lie down for the night but it ended up eating me up so I just finished the job. The case cover mating surface looks like it comes painted from Suzuki on the 01 400. I’ve got pieces where it’s down to the paint (no gasket left) and pieces where it’s down to magnesium. Do I need to worry or is that micron of paint going to make zero difference in the long run. Based on what I’m reading above I’m inferring probably not.
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Nov 4, 2021 02:43
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It's not going to matter at all, I'm amazed Suzuki spent the cash to coat both sides tbh. Fwiw, I remember a guy from a powder coating specialist telling me modern powdercoat is so thin that they were able to coat Harley cases and then assemble them without scrubbing back the machined surface the cylinder base bolts to, an area notorious for leaking.
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Nov 4, 2021 04:30
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The gasket more than makes up for the nanometer gap created by the paint. I used to apply grease to the mating surfaces to keep the gasket from welding itself to the cases but I’ve also never owned a bike long enough to have to tear it down twice to find out if that works
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Nov 4, 2021 13:16
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That's my goal for today. Going to grease the gasket on, install the kickstart lever, then crack the stator side to check that one of the POs did the stator bolt locktite fix. Presumably yes if the stator hasn't grenaded the engine after 40K km but if I don't check it'll be in my head until the end of eternity. Then oil and coolant back in, take the opportunity to replace the lovely oil filter o'ring, replace the leaky crush washers I reused last time I did an oil change for all the oil fittings and brap it around for a few days before it gets to snowing, if it's not too cold. I suspect suzuki painting the mating edge isn't a case of "bothering to", but more a "it's more effort not to just spray the whole loving thing" thing. Then again, the INSIDE doesn't look painted, only the mating surface, so I don't really know. I think they stopped painting the cases that dingy dark grey after the 2001 MY anyway, though I'm not sure if the engine cases on newer models are still painted but just a more metallic colour, or whether they're raw magnesium or something. And I just looked it up and the water pump has an o'ring gasket so I could easily have removed that before I started working on the cover without needing to buy a new gasket. Lessons learned but not going to fiddle with it now. some kinda jackal fucked around with this message at 13:27 on Nov 4, 2021 |
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Nov 4, 2021 13:24
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Jim Silly-Balls posted:The gasket more than makes up for the nanometer gap created by the paint. Never heard of this, I picture it working well with paper gaskets but not so much the graphite coated type.
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Nov 4, 2021 20:53
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Jim Silly-Balls posted:I used to apply grease to the mating surfaces to keep the gasket from welding itself to the cases but I’ve also never owned a bike long enough to have to tear it down twice to find out if that works
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Nov 6, 2021 01:38
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I have a VRLA GT4B-5 battery in my SR400 and its dead. It doesn't have standard leads on it, it uses an adapter. Can I just buy any old battery tender/charger and hook it up the the weird prong leads anyhow? Any suggestions?
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Nov 13, 2021 20:01
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Get the little Battery Tender Jr. that's like 20 dollars and it will do fine. Not sure what weird prong leads mean but the battery tender should come with clamps that fit anything.
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Nov 13, 2021 20:19
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Sagebrush posted:Get the little Battery Tender Jr. that's like 20 dollars and it will do fine. Not sure what weird prong leads mean but the battery tender should come with clamps that fit anything.  This is what the battery looks like. So it has those weird prongs instead of typical terminals. It has a clip in adapter to connect to the bike. The battery tender jr isn't on amazon, oddly enough, would any store have it like walmart?
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Nov 13, 2021 20:24
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Skyarb posted:I have a VRLA GT4B-5 battery in my SR400 and its dead. It doesn't have standard leads on it, it uses an adapter. Can I just buy any old battery tender/charger and hook it up the the weird prong leads anyhow? Any suggestions? You can absolutely use any suitable charger i.e. a charger that can charge motorcycle batteries and similar small stuff. Dumb chargers exclusively meant for car-sized batteries will destroy smaller batteries. Cases become puffy and inflated, acid gets hot. How you go about connecting the charger to the battery is entirely up to you. Splice into the existing wires in your bike and install a charge port, or remove the bike's cables and adapt your charger with some flat female cable terminators that fit (these can be bought in various sizes wherever automotive electric stuff is sold, buying a crimp tool for them helps too but you can stick them to cables without this in a pinch). Or you can use alligator clips of suitable size (this is what I would do for a once-off), or wrap your charger leads around some old bent nails or something and just sort of jam them into the terminals so they don't lose contact. Depends how fancy/convenient you want to do it and how often you intend to charge, but anything metal making contact between your charger and the battery will work fine as long as you don't mess up the polarity. You are unlikely to burn your house down even if you do something a little bit janky. Just don't short circuit the two battery poles with anything that isn't fused whatever you do. Lots of current there so if it happens things can get really hot and fiery in a hurry.
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Nov 13, 2021 20:32
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Skyarb posted:
Those are blade terminals, and the cable clamps should be able to connect to them. Unless something weird is happening, you can pull off whatever wiring is connected and then push it back on when done.
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Nov 13, 2021 21:51
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Invalido posted:Or you can use alligator clips of suitable size (this is what I would do for a once-off), Big word of caution: pre made alligator clip leads often are made with copper clad steel wire, that are poorly "crimped" (more like squished against its own isolation) onto the clips. Those are genuinely useless and dangerous because at just 1 ampere they will heat up, and at a handful they'll melt and burn. Often the poor crimp means they go open circuit before they burn, but be careful. If you get them, try two things: 1. Get a strong magnet and see if the wire is attracted by the magnet. 2. Pull back the little insulating sleeve of the clip, and see if the leads are soldered. I can't imagine life without clip leads, but i just buy a bunch of clips and then solder those to nice bits of computer PSU wire myself. If space and safety (as in 'it won't short out against a biek part) allows, you can also use these instead of the connectors that now attach to the battery, and use another pair of standard faston connectors on the charger cable: 
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Nov 13, 2021 23:47
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I finally looked at my '14 636 that's been sitting in my driveway all year unused and felt sorry for it... and myself... and put a battery tender on it. Needs a few things and I would like opinions: 1. Windscreen is looking a bit yellow (and there's a dead moth in there I cant get out) so it's going to get replaced so recommendations on something that kicks a bit more air for freeway riding? 2. The chain is original and looking a bit rusty, it might clean off but I'd feel better replacing it, any preferred brands? 3. I am tossing around the idea of getting a different seat and a pillion cover/rear delete... opinions? Pic for fun 
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Nov 14, 2021 00:50
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Spray some lube on the chain, put some fresh gas in it, and go ride it.
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Nov 14, 2021 00:54
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Finger Prince posted:Spray some lube on the chain, put some fresh gas in it, and go ride it. This.
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Nov 14, 2021 03:38
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So I did get a battery tender and now my battery is stong but my bike won't kick. I've let it sit in my garage for over 6 months like an idiot. What are some good steps to get it running again? I've tried kicking it like 30 times. It's one of these stupid kick start but still efi bikes
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Nov 14, 2021 18:37
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Skyarb posted:So I did get a battery tender and now my battery is stong but my bike won't kick. I've let it sit in my garage for over 6 months like an idiot. What are some good steps to get it running again? I've tried kicking it like 30 times. It's one of these stupid kick start but still efi bikes Must be an SR400? Drain the tank and give it fresh fuel.
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Nov 14, 2021 19:08
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Gorson posted:Must be an SR400? Drain the tank and give it fresh fuel. Got any tips for a big idiot like myself? No idea how to do such a thing. Would my owners manual have that info?
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Nov 14, 2021 19:30
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Find the fuel hose that comes from the petcock, pull it off whatever it's connected to at the other end, put it into a gas can, and open the valve.
Sagebrush fucked around with this message at 19:43 on Nov 14, 2021 |
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Nov 14, 2021 19:40
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Skyarb posted:Got any tips for a big idiot like myself? No idea how to do such a thing. Would my owners manual have that info? No, but the shop manual would. I see that the SR400 has a typical left side petcock. That should have at least one tube coming out of it, one of which is the fuel outlet. Set the petcock to "off" or if it's a vacuum petcock and there is no OFF set it to "ON" and hope that the level of fuel is at the reserve level or below. Take the fuel line off. Take a 3-4' length of fuel line, likely either 1/4" or 5/16" inner diameter and hook it up to the outlet on the petcock, stick the other end of the tube in a plastic tank. Turn the petcock to "reserve" on the manual petcock or "prime" on a vacuu-cock and the tank should start draining. Either way have a rag or your tongue ready when you swap the fittings on the outlet because you'll spill a little, more if there is no off setting and the tank is near full. If these fittings are tough to get at you might have to remove the tank which is going to be seat removal and a bolt or two. Alternative B is to find the outlet of the pump which leads to the FI fuel inlet, disconnect it and use the pump itself to pump the fuel out. I like the gravity method better because it is guaranteed.
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Nov 14, 2021 19:52
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Sagebrush posted:Find the fuel hose that comes from the petcock, pull it off whatever it's connected to at the other end, put it into a gas can, and open the valve. An FI bike probably won’t work like that. There will be a pump in the tank Unless the SR400 is even weirder than I realize E: does the SR have a pump outside of the tank? 
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Nov 14, 2021 19:53
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Jim Silly-Balls posted:E: does the SR have a pump outside of the tank? Appears that way and considering the location it might be the easiest place to drain: 
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Nov 14, 2021 20:03
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I would put my money on it being something else, like side stand interlock or immobiliser issues or user error. I doubt 6 months is enough to incapacitate an EFI bike. I would start by taking out the plug and seeing if petrol is actually going in the engine, or having someone else kick while your hand is on the pump to make sure it's actually working, or the same thing but check for spark. In situations like these the basic fuel/spark/air checks are the thing to do or you just end up creating confusion when the easy fix doesn't fix anything while potentially creating more problems if you put something together wrong. Slavvy fucked around with this message at 20:39 on Nov 14, 2021 |
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Nov 14, 2021 20:37
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I have a hunch it's been longer than 6 months  It's worth checking all the boxes: petcock to Prime/Reserve, Ignition to ON, right handle bar switch to ON/RUN, transmission in neutral, kickstand down (try both ways), clutch in (try both ways).
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Nov 14, 2021 21:12
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Do tires care about being stuck in a wheel chock for an extended period of time? Like for the winter?
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Nov 14, 2021 22:16
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epswing posted:Do tires care about being stuck in a wheel chock for an extended period of time? Like for the winter? Yes, I wouldn't.
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Nov 14, 2021 22:27
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I try to get my bikes off the tires for winter. The SV I put on the front and rear stands, the Goldwing I put up on the center stand. Since the center stand doesn’t get the front wheel off the ground, I rotate it once a month or so, just so the weight is on a different spot.
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Nov 14, 2021 22:36
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Best rig up a complicated system of pulleys, cables and monkeys to get both wheels off the ground.
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Nov 15, 2021 03:50
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