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There's also http://www.dansmc.com/mc_repaircourse.htm, if you don't mind 90's era web design and the odd Bible verse.
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Apr 24, 2014 23:16
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Razzled posted:All I know now is to steer him away from buying something like a Goldwing for his first bike. He probably wants something that my mom can comfortably ride pillion on too. He might want to wait a while before he takes a passenger. In Japan I had to wait a year, and it'd be another two years after that before I could take one on the highway (latter seems silly, highway riding is way easier and less dangerous IMO). Pretty drat annoying at the time, probably a good idea though.
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May 10, 2014 01:31
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Slavvy posted:The front and rear blinkers are never in series; that would mean that blowing a bulb takes out both blinkers on that side, which is something I've never seen any bike being wired to do. He has blown a fuse or multiple fuses by being a dumbass and shorting wires together. I could be talking about something else here, but when the connectors to my rear blinker get disconnected on my 92 XLR Baja (replaced it after a lowside in January, really need to borrow some crimpers from work and fix the connection properly), the front one will no longer blink, just stays solid.
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May 11, 2014 13:23
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My XLR is getting really hard to kick start. Sometimes it'll start right up, other times no amount of kicking will get it to turn over (have to push-start it). Seems to be a little stuttery at lower RPMs accelerating from a stop sometimes. Wondering if carbs are due for a cleaning? Last time was something like 10-15k kms ago, I think.
Pompous Rhombus fucked around with this message at 03:37 on May 23, 2014 |
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May 23, 2014 03:33
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Sagebrush posted:Unless your tank is full of rust, your gas is awful and old or the bike's been sitting for a while, you shouldn't really have to clean the carburetors at all. The varnish deposits that gasoline can leave behind are dissolved very well by, surprise, gasoline. If you have some flow through all the jets and there aren't little sand grains or rust particles or paint chips floating around, all the important parts should stay clean automatically. No battery!
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May 23, 2014 07:04
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Chichevache posted:There is a very real possibility that the engine burned off too much oil and I checked it incorrectly. How I learned: you want it on the center stand (or balanced against a wall or something so it's level if you don't have one of those, like me), and warmed up... say run for about ~5 minutes or so if you haven't been riding it already. I'm really paranoid about checking my oil because my bike leaks (hardline broke 7 months ago, mechanic couldn't TIG weld it back together or find a replacement, so used some metal tubing that weeps oil at either end).
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Jun 3, 2014 01:04
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I bought a $25 rear stand off Amazon.co.jp and it works fine on my bike. Granted, only a 250 though. Supradog posted:How silly does a motorcycle look with front and back wheel in different rim colours? I need to replace both of my transalp rims thanks to the dreaded transalp wheel rot. But I can only source new gold fronts and new silver backs. Ouch, that sucks. I was originally going to go for a Transalp 400 until I had my XLR fall in my lap, glad I never had that happen.
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Jun 10, 2014 11:11
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Pete Carroll posted:While I'm doing all this- and waiting for my new engine to arrive- is there any harm in wiping clean every piece of the bike that I take off? I'm a little worried since the thing hasn't been cleaned in ages and I half expect rust to be the only thing holding bits together. What did you wind up going with for the new engine? Also, if it's any consolation, reading your story is going to have me checking oil quite frequently (on my buzzy 250) on my trip next month 
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Jun 30, 2014 02:21
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Pete Carroll posted:I'm pulling the engine on the DRZ right now and it looks like I need to pull the swingarm bolt. What is the easiest and cheapest way to do that? Can also lift the bike (best with a friend's help) and rest the middle on something like a sturdy bucket, etc. Used a pair of car wheels stacked on each other when I needed one. You can also get the rear wheel off the ground using the side stand + a chunk of wood on the other side of the bike. You can buy a little metal stick for $20-25 that fulfils this same function (popular with offroad riders whose bikes lack a centre stand), can't remember who makes it or what it's called unfortunately.
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Jul 1, 2014 02:26
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Got my bike back from the shop last week. Running OK... seems a little bit stuttery sometimes at mid-rpms (no tach, but especially holding it around ~50kph in... 4th?) or sometimes will start to bog down a bit going from a stop, but otherwise OK. Asked the mechanic to look at it and he didn't seem to see any problems. He also changed my oil for me (forgot to tell him I was gonna do it myself, whups). Was riding to work in the rain today (was going through some water every now and then but nothing deeper than the axles), bike was acting more or less normal. Blew some smoke off the exhaust and stuff when I started it up but kinda used to that, it had an oil leak before (which mechanic just patched, seemed to be successful, no oil under it the last few days) and rain will sometimes move it to the hot bits of the bike. I got to the higher speed road and switched lanes + started accelerating to pass some rear end in a top hat merging into mine, when the bike lost power. Engine was still running but bike wouldn't accelerate, I got back over in the left lane and pulled over. Let it idle in neutral for a minute or two, went to start out again and it was riding normally. Saw a bit of oil under it in the rain before I pulled out again but entire bottom of the frame was covered in leaked-out oil until mechanic patched the oil line recently, figured it was just a spot of old stuff he'd missed. I got on the second to last turn before work, slowed way down to make it, and the bike just died, did not want to kick back on. Got it under a covered area but there was nowhere to prop it up and check the oil properly, so I poured maybe 2-300mL in. Still didn't want to start. Walked it to work, went inside to change (really hot and sweaty in all my gear, flirting with heat stroke most likely), then back down the hill to get the bike. Noticed the killswitch was off (I'd hosed with it at my last stop, probably brushed it while pushing the bike), switched it back to ON and the bike kicked right up and ran normally. 
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Jul 3, 2014 02:24
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Just got bike ('92 XLR 250) back from the mechanic about 2 weeks ago, but it's still acting kinda squirrely. It's pretty much fine at low and high RPM, but stutters and burbles a fair bit at mid RPMs (around 50% throttle), and when starting from a stop. Not so bad when first turned on, gets more pronounced after 2-3 minutes of riding. Any ideas? Hoping the typhoon tomorrow doesn't wreck its poo poo  Gonna ratchet strap it to a concrete pillar and hope for the best.
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Jul 8, 2014 00:49
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Pompous Rhombus posted:Just got bike ('92 XLR 250) back from the mechanic about 2 weeks ago, but it's still acting kinda squirrely. Think I might have (potentially) found my problem: I'm too dumb to get the sparkplug out to check that (also don't want to pull the gas tank while at work), so decided to get the low hanging fruit and check the airbox. Filter is still relatively clean (replaced it several months ago) and has the lubricating stuff in it, but I also noticed a little bit of water along the bottom edge of the airbox. Taking the filter out and prodding it, bottom seemed more moist (water?) than the top (still a bit sticky from the lubricating stuff I soaked the filter in before installing it). Checked behind the side over on the other side and it looks like a seal along the top is starting to rot away. My bike is parked in a non-covered area, so it gets rained on frequently (actually just wrapping up rainy season now-ish). My guess is that a little bit of water has been able to enter the airbox, it collects in the bottom, and some of it is absorbed into the filter, restricting airflow. From internet reading, very possible this has caused the sparkplug to become fouled too (will check that when I can figure out how to get it out, or have access to someone who can lend me a hand). Does this make sense? edit: nope! took it to friend, he thought air filter was a little dirty and wouldn't hurt to clean, but shouldn't be problem. Said fuel filter might be it. Took it to the mechanic closest to me (who kinda overcharged me on a rear tyre change last year, haven't been back to him since, but is the only bet locally), who poked around and tried a few quick fixes. Pulled the sparkplug out and it was pretty black. Poked around some more, couldn't figure it out, said I'd probably need to get the carb rebuilt, like I'd feared. So I left the bike with him. Doubt that will cost less than $300, and I was only expecting to get $700 for the bike (if nothing else terrible happened to it) when I sell it next month, and I just got the loving thing back from a pre-trip overhaul that cost me $300 and was supposed to last me the rest of my time with the bike  Leaving for my trip in 2 weeks and leaving the country a month after that, so I have little choice but to throw good money after bad at this point. My loving Minsk let me down less. I don't know if this is my fault, my other mechanic's, or just bad luck... just really pissed off at the universe right now. At least my engine didn't blow up (yet)
Pompous Rhombus fucked around with this message at 11:38 on Jul 8, 2014 |
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Jul 8, 2014 08:05
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This is an extreme longshot, but does anyone with more knowledge of parts places have a line on where I can get a CDI unit for a Honda XLR Baja (KZ9, it's the MD-22 platform)? It shares a lot of parts with the regular XR/XL250's, but apparently the CDI is specific to the Baja, and thus made of unicorn. Supposed to leave on my roadtrip 7/24, not looking too likely... Mechanic thinks that might be the cause of my bike's stutter, but there are no loving replacements to be had anywhere in Japan so far: it's a 22 year old bike, and many were exported to Southeast Asia grey market. I found one place here that had one but sold it on Yahoo Auctions probably 2 years ago, one place in Thailand selling one in a year old post (sent them a message [about the only time learning Thai has ever paid off since leaving Bangkok, heh], and a shop I know in Vietnam that has a few Baja's, but they're all basically moonshots. Google hasn't led me to anything else. THIS IS WHY YOU DON'T BUY AN OLD BIKE WITH lovely PARTS AVAILABILITY 
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Jul 18, 2014 03:05
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Bugdrvr posted:Can you open it up and have a look at the innards? My GS had a cylinder dropping out (which I'm guessing would be a stutter if it didn't have 3 extras) due to a bad solder joint on one leg of one of the power transistors. I reflowed it and it's been perfect for the past 5 years. I think it takes a dremel (and I am poo poo at electrical issues). The guy I had lined up to buy it just got back to me (sent him a "sorry, this doesn't look good..." email this morning) and apparently he repairs stuff like old CDI's in his spare time. Might even have an old one (gave it to someone he sold another bike to, is looking into getting it back now), he also suggested the same thing. Will ask the mechanic about it, might be able to take it by my technical high school and ask an EE teacher to take a look at it. Fingers crossed. But yeah, as cool as the Baja is, it was a really terrible choice for a first bike, at least as far as maintenance goes. There is basically zero info on it in English (they weren't widely sold outside of Japan, I think Europe got some), and the aforementioned unicorn parts can really cause you to tear your hair out. One of the oil hardlines rattled apart last November and my mechanic spent 2 weeks calling places all over the country trying to find a replacement, in the end had to bodge something together out of tubing (couldn't TIG weld the old one back) that has a slow leak. Next bike is going to be something like a pre-08 KLR, where parts are plentiful and there are tons of tutorials/information available in English.
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Jul 18, 2014 06:28
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| # ¿ May 15, 2024 13:42 |
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Fender posted:My Guzzi V7 has started to do something odd. I'm hoping that someone can point me in the right direction as to what I should be checking out.  (I remember your restoration thread from a few years ago)
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Apr 24, 2018 08:22
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