Question Thread: Apply throttle directly to forehead

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Rev. Dr. Moses P. Lester: Oct 3, 2000

Dumb idea question: anybody out there (Slavvy?) spent enough time playing with Power Commanders to know if it's feasible to modify one to work on a bike it wasn't designed for?

I got an old Ducati ST2, which they don't make PC for anymore, and I noticed some PC models from later bikes have connectors for the injectors which look identical to mine. If it can plug into the injector connectors, that's really all it needs isn't it? The default map may be off but I can just dyno and tweak it. Are there other connections it needs, aside from +/-?

# ¿ Aug 7, 2021 01:45

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# ¿ May 15, 2024 16:16

Rev. Dr. Moses P. Lester: Oct 3, 2000

Ulf posted:

Are aftermarket TPMS (either internal or external, something like bluetooth to a phone app) worth looking into?

Having used a BT phone app one ("BLU") I can say that no they're not really worth it. The software on this one is annoying and the electronic cap makes it difficult to add air if you're using it correctly with its locknut etc. and they force you to add silly amounts of weight to the wheel to balance it.

# ¿ Aug 14, 2021 15:29

Rev. Dr. Moses P. Lester: Oct 3, 2000

Slavvy posted:

I have never seen a 'good' digital gauge but I'm open to the possiblity that they exist and nobody sells one. I don't know that much about electronics, but if I were manufacturing one today I would try to make it as visually appealing to an IT guy as possible while having north korean built internals. I have never seen two digital gauges agree with each other.

A high quality oil filled analogue gauge will last literally forever and has no electronics or batteries, so that's my pick.

Truth here, I currently have a Snapon electronic and if I had it to buy again I'd get an analog. I've never used an electronic that was as easy to use as an analog. The big thing for me, using them all day long, is that it's just a nuisance to have to wake them up by hitting a button. And then if I want to let a little air out of a tire, on an analog I can just partially lift the analog chuck off the valve stem and then push it back on and I went down 1psi and I instantly get a new reading. Electronic ones have to usually be removed entirely or woken up again with a button to get a new reading. What's the point of all this? So I can read half psi accuracy? Who does that?

# ¿ Aug 15, 2021 03:35

Rev. Dr. Moses P. Lester: Oct 3, 2000

BrownieVK posted:

I figured I would update you guys on my bike delivery.
Surprise! It's a HUGE Italian bagger that shouldn't exist lol

Shipping guy sucked. Delivered away from my house with a dead battery and scuffs on the bags, he didn't help at all and just left. Rode it home in the rain with no plate or temp tags after jump starting it. The delivery driver thought the bleeders on the handlebars was to put air in the shocks (I really hope he didn't try it)

The big issue is the bike has the ABS and traction light steady on. There is a system called MGCT that let's you adjust the traction control levels on the modern Guzzis. The lights are supposed to flash and go out. I can't re-enable the MGCT as the right handgrip mode button won't move left or right on mine. I'm completely lost on this thing lol

Dealer has been no help and is all the way in NV I am north of Pittsburgh. There's no dealers around me even if I wanted to pay out of pocket to diagnose it.

Oh yeah I still can't legally ride it. No plates or paperwork was ready with the bike.

Welcome to Guzzi ownership! I think TuneECU works on modern Guzzis?

# ¿ Aug 29, 2021 04:00

Rev. Dr. Moses P. Lester: Oct 3, 2000

Slavvy posted:

Worth pointing out no modern sportbike runs a dry sump system afaik, because their layout makes it possible to have a dagger shaped sump right at the bottom that's unaffected by cornering forces and well away from any moving parts.

I worked on my first RSV1000 recently and discovered that it has a dry sump with a steel oil tank mounted below and in front of the engine. Like, right where the engine case is. Why not just put the oil in the loving engine case?

# ¿ Sep 7, 2021 20:46

Rev. Dr. Moses P. Lester: Oct 3, 2000

Jim Silly-Balls posted:

out, not in. Only on two strokes does turning the pilot screw in richen the mixture.

Not strictly true, some old (1960s and earlier) Bings and maybe Amals have mixture screws that allow air in as you open them up. On the Bings of 1955-69, the screw lets in unfiltered air from around the screw itself. Cause why not?

# ¿ Oct 31, 2021 16:53

Rev. Dr. Moses P. Lester: Oct 3, 2000

Slavvy posted:

Afaik the trick to identifying which is which is that fuel screws tend to be all over the place but air screws are always on the side of the bellmouth, while fuel screws never are.

Well, again, that's not strictly true if you go back far enough in time. The Bings I referenced have the mixture screw on the engine-side of the slide, but they're "air" screws. In that if you screw them out, they let more air in. Opposite of almost all Keihin/Mikuni/Hitachi/whatevers of the modern era. We think of the "fuel screw"/"air screw" as being the obvious two distinctions but there's other (dumb) ways to design the things.

# ¿ Nov 1, 2021 01:35

Rev. Dr. Moses P. Lester: Oct 3, 2000

If you think that's bad, I just rode across the country on a Binks carburetor design from the 20s which has a round slide which is split vertically down the middle and each half is operated by a handlebar lever. One half of the slide is referred to as "air" and one is referred to as "throttle".

# ¿ Nov 1, 2021 05:53

Rev. Dr. Moses P. Lester: Oct 3, 2000

I haven't dicked with them much myself but the 20s?-50s Linkert type carburetors are purported to be pretty good. On the Cannonball there was a guy with one of them bolted onto his BMW R52 and he said it was a huge improvement. They're not modern at all but they're very simple and adjustable and reliable I've heard. It's just a butterfly with a couple needle valves like a boat motor, and I think a concentric float.

# ¿ Nov 2, 2021 02:12

Rev. Dr. Moses P. Lester: Oct 3, 2000

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

Can confirm this works great on paper gaskets if you need to be able to dismantle the thing again without major cleaning. Like on a race bike. It might not seal as 100%ly but if you can live with a little weeping leaking it's nice.

# ¿ Nov 6, 2021 01:38

Rev. Dr. Moses P. Lester: Oct 3, 2000

The official Harbor Freight multimeter recommended by MMI to MMI students is this:
https://www.harborfreight.com/5-in-1-digital-multimeter-98674.html
It costs literally a million dollars in Harbor Freight money ($80)
If you're a professional mechanic with electrical training, you'll actually use 2/3 of the functions on that. I use those things, I like them. But lovely $5 ones are fine.

# ¿ Nov 30, 2021 04:49

Rev. Dr. Moses P. Lester: Oct 3, 2000

Verman posted:

Thread title?

I'd rephrase it to "EFI doesn't care about your feelings"

builds character posted:

No, everyone here agrees f1 is trash compared to MotoGP.

Agreed

goddamnedtwisto posted:

I don't see why it's on Slavvy - who is giving the benefit of his years of professional experience completely free of charge - to ensure it's done in the most sugared and dulcet tones. He has the option of just *not* taking his own free time to help a complete stranger on the other side of the world

As a mechanic who [I assume?] has the knowledge to help out in this and many other cases and isn't, I gotta agree with this. I could be reading the posts and maybe contributing but I'm not. Sorry, it's partially laziness. There are other reasons. One is that Slavvy is doing it, god bless him.

# ¿ Dec 16, 2021 13:19

Rev. Dr. Moses P. Lester: Oct 3, 2000

BrownieVK posted:

Lol I my Moto Guzzi is still broke. Just thought you guys would like to lol along with me.

As a former Guzzi owner I did indeed lol at this post

# ¿ Dec 20, 2021 02:31

Rev. Dr. Moses P. Lester: Oct 3, 2000

Slavvy posted:

Is a Grom being painfully slow a problem that needs solving?

I've been thinking a lot lately that a Trail 90 would be one of the greatest all around bikes if it could do the speeds of a 200 scooter. So it would need a 200 engine, but they don't seem to exist. I'm assuming the cylinder stud spacing of those old Honda horizontal engines prevents boring out much beyond 125, cause nobody sells anything bigger. This depresses me.

# ¿ Jan 1, 2022 15:35

Rev. Dr. Moses P. Lester: Oct 3, 2000

Slavvy posted:

I don't think engine power is the problem there, o think Grom geometry is really only good enough for the speed the Grom has, I think you wouldn't be able to use that extra power at all.

Slide Hammer posted:

They Kymco Spade is a Grom-atmosphere descendant. It has a 150cc engine, which gives 70 mph.

Well I think what I'm talking about here is really not Gromesque geometry. Grometry? The frames and wheels are rather different, are they not. I only mentioned that in relation to the Grom because the ancient Honda horizontal single engines are about the same. I would hold out hope that the 17" rims of the Trail would provide some stability at 50mph.

# ¿ Jan 2, 2022 01:14

Rev. Dr. Moses P. Lester: Oct 3, 2000

Well yeah, that's what I mean, a CT110 that's actually a CT200. But not the "CT200" which was actually a 90. Didn't know they made 4v heads, wonder if they put out enough power for 200 speeds. If the gearing were right. I assume that's a racing mod that makes a lot of heat and might melt itself?

# ¿ Jan 2, 2022 05:05

Rev. Dr. Moses P. Lester: Oct 3, 2000

I hate all vintage brake masters that don't have that. Ugh.

# ¿ Jan 4, 2022 02:50

Rev. Dr. Moses P. Lester: Oct 3, 2000

Slavvy posted:

- all the weight flops onto the front wheel, making the steering heavy and increasing risk of sudden washouts

This is a big one that it takes a while to get used to, bike steering will feel totally different when on the throttle versus off the throttle. It�ll feel like it doesn�t want to steer when the throttle is closed, it can surprise you.

# ¿ Jan 10, 2022 19:21

Rev. Dr. Moses P. Lester: Oct 3, 2000

Slavvy posted:

Pilot road 5's.

The only good tire. All other tires are fraudulent.

# ¿ Jan 21, 2022 03:58

Rev. Dr. Moses P. Lester: Oct 3, 2000

TotalLossBrain posted:

Having rebuilt both Mikuni and Keihin carbs in watercraft for years, NEVER get anything but OEM parts oh God
The aftermarket diaphragms and orings are poo poo and the needles will start indenting and leaking immediately.

Not my experience on bikes generally. K&L and All Balls make good kits, and even random ebay crap has generally been usable, with some exceptions.

# ¿ Feb 10, 2022 03:12

Rev. Dr. Moses P. Lester: Oct 3, 2000

Jazzzzz posted:

Slavvy has already laid the truth down for you, but if your "very mechanically inclined" uncles-in-law suggested you unrack carbs and scope them out to see if there's crud in the float bowls as the first step in figuring out your bike's issues, they either have absolutely no clue what they're talking about or they're taking the piss

To paraphrase Robert Downey Jr., you never unrack the carbs

# ¿ Feb 11, 2022 03:59

Rev. Dr. Moses P. Lester: Oct 3, 2000

Russian Bear posted:

my hands were freezing along with the rest of me

Step 1 is keep your core warm. If you don't do that, no amount of heat on your fingers will help. Recommend a heated vest first, and then see if you still need help on the hands. I think a lot of the time people (me included) have interpreted cold hands as being a hand problem when it's really a core problem.

# ¿ Feb 20, 2022 03:48

Rev. Dr. Moses P. Lester: Oct 3, 2000

I've seen an engine with a wrist pin with no circlips to hold it in place. Anyone wanna guess what on and how that works exactly? Yes it does actually work. And if you're familiar with buttons, it only has one.

# ¿ Mar 7, 2022 05:13

Rev. Dr. Moses P. Lester: Oct 3, 2000

Slavvy posted:

Blind hole in the piston with a button closing it off?

No and

goddamnedtwisto posted:

If it's the beam engine at the Levant tin mine in Cornwall, it's by sending the boy up to the gallery with a mallet to knock the pin back into place every couple of hours.

No and this engine was of American design although it really ought to have been British morally speaking. It was a 1923 Ner-a-car and it's a 250ish cc 2-stroke engine that revs to 2400rpm max. It has a half a crankshaft, meaning that the crank ends at the connecting rod. There is no other crank web or main bearing on one side of the rod. And the piston was a normalish 2t with a piston port and enormous rings. The wrist pin had a (brass) button on one side and it didn't need it on the other side because the intake (I think) port was on that side so as long as the engine is running there's constantly oiled air pushing the wrist pin toward the other end with the button.

# ¿ Mar 7, 2022 16:39

Rev. Dr. Moses P. Lester: Oct 3, 2000

goddamnedtwisto posted:

Weird, for some reason I always thought the Ner-A-Car *was* British, I suppose just because whenever I see something that weird I assume it came out of the lead-polluted air of the Midlands, but Wikipedia tells me it's American (although license-built in Sheffield)

I've worked extensively on an American one and a late-model British one. It's surprising how different they are despite looking the same. The British wasted vast resources to customize almost every part for no good reason. The original American design, although it had a lot of flaws and shortcomings, was elegantly simple and extremely light. It did make some sense. Can't say that for the late model British one. It's heavy and stupidly complex and unusually difficult to work on.

# ¿ Mar 13, 2022 04:15

Rev. Dr. Moses P. Lester: Oct 3, 2000

HenryJLittlefinger posted:

This triggered me a little bit. I was looking for a muffler-to-header gasket a few years back and had the stupid idea that I could just take the dimensions to the Yamaha dealership and find one that matched. It�s as if they aren�t allowed to even consider the parts beyond the bike model. I even told the dude the model of different bikes that matched close enough but he couldn�t get past the fact that they didn�t have anything for the first bike I mentioned. He wouldn�t even let me take some calipers and look at what they had. Made me wonder if the parts are all locked up in some giant vault and you punch in a part number and it pops out like a vending machine, no parts bins or whatever where you can just look at stuff and say �yeah that�s pretty close� the way you can at a hardware store, and even some auto parts stores.

This is a particularly annoying problem with carburetor jets. There�s only a couple dozen different types of them on earth but there is no chart in existence which tells which jet goes in what bike. Unless you�re very familiar with the bike, you just have to open the carbs up and look.

That said though, we have a set of drawers at the shop with ten or twelve different exhaust gaskets you can just pull out and look at and measure :smuggo:

# ¿ May 20, 2022 00:26

Rev. Dr. Moses P. Lester: Oct 3, 2000

If anyone's interested I'll share my views on the topic. I've been a mechanic for about 12 years and I've taught classes on bike fixing. I'm generally willing to let someone watch me work and talk to them about it if they ask and if the job isn't huge. It's a distraction even if you know what you're doing, so I don't want to overload myself. And just watching isn't necessarily helpful, you may not really learn unless someone is explaining what they're doing as they go. Did you even notice when the mechanic stuck her finger into the wheel bearings after taking it off the bike for a tire change? Did you know she was feeling to see if the bearings moved smoothly and she thought they were ok so she didn't do anything with them?

The pay-to-watch-a-mechanic thing is rather rare in my experience, although it's probably a good way to learn if someone offers that service. Most places would not be cool with it, but I think it doesn't hurt to ask. Just be prepared to hear a no.

I'm of a split mind on the "fixing other people's mistakes" thing as Slavvy mentioned. Depending how it goes and what you're expecting and what the pay is, it can be fine or it can be a nightmare, in my experience. Our shop has seen a recent influx of vintage Harleys, which was unusual before, because of other shops in the area closing down I think. We've spent a looot of time on them recently because almost all of them have been fuckwit bikes. Fuckwit bikes with multiple fuckwits over the course of decades. The range of things wrong with them has been just crazy. Sometimes it's a real bitch to deal with and they're mostly not exactly fun to work on. The designs and manufacturing are not great. In contrast to an old BMW or most old Japanese bikes I mean. On the other hand, so far everyone who's brought us these bikes has been fairly easy to deal with and understands that this category of bike can get crazy with repair bills. So like hey, it's my job to fix problems, I'm finding problems and fixing them, as long as the customer and I are on the same page with the whole process, does it matter where the problems originated?

# ¿ May 30, 2022 22:33

Rev. Dr. Moses P. Lester: Oct 3, 2000

I would do what slavvy says and also don�t do this part:

Gorson posted:

3. Attempt to dissolve the rust. I've been hosing it with penetrant, but if there's a way to dissolve some of the rust it should come off. Evapo-rust in a little spray bottle? Muriatic acid? Not sure if these will get down in the splines.

Because I think you�ll dissolve some of the metal of the output shaft and you want to avoid messing up that part as much as is possible. In my experience acid doesn�t really free up stuck parts either, it just kinda sandblasts them.

# ¿ Jun 5, 2022 01:01

Rev. Dr. Moses P. Lester: Oct 3, 2000

some kinda jackal posted:

Apropos of absolutely nothing, why does a single cylinder BMW G650 have twin exhaust cans?

One of them is fake. I think it might act as an extra expansion chamber which makes the system quieter without needing a super enormous can on one side of the bike.

SEKCobra posted:

Hey smartass, the metal part is the rim, tyre and rim together form the wheel

Yeah no, the rim would be the outer part of a multi piece spoked wheel, where the inner part is the hub. Rim is kind of a meaningless word on a cast wheel. The tyre is the tire.

Rev. Dr. Moses P. Lester fucked around with this message at 13:48 on Jun 6, 2022

# ¿ Jun 6, 2022 13:42

Rev. Dr. Moses P. Lester: Oct 3, 2000

Slavvy posted:

Ye olden boiks have all sorts of crazy things I'm not qualified to comment on but preloaded bicycle style bearings are definitely a thing there. Iirc on old bmw's they can literally last forever because the bike can't exert enough load to ever put mechanical wear on the parts, servicing notwithstanding.

Postwar BMWs up through the early 70s used tapered roller bearings on the wheels with a shim-adjustable preload. I just did this job on the rear of my 1956. It's obnoxious work, but someone did a stress test at some point that found that the bearings will last 2 million miles if lubed and shimmed correctly over their lifetime. I assume the ones I had were original and they didn't really wear out that bad, they might have been usable with tighter shims. The rollers and races looked fine, it just had a bit of play.

# ¿ Jul 9, 2022 02:46

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# ¿ May 15, 2024 16:16

Rev. Dr. Moses P. Lester: Oct 3, 2000

I have to say I've ridden a lot of bikes with oil contaminated brake pads and I've never really seen one that was unpredictably bad or really incapable of braking. All the ones I've seen got worse very slowly over time and almost all of them would still be able to do a panic stop if you just grabbed them a lot harder. I've never seen one that was like "oh my god no brakes"

Please do not interpret this as an endorsement of not fixing leaky forks.

# ¿ Jul 22, 2022 02:31

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