|
Vegetable Dumpling posted:My current theory is that I've got a clogged pilot circuit You have basically solved it already -- it's a clogged pilot jet in the cylinder that misses. The fact that it runs fine at moderate and full throttle but stumbles on idle points directly at the pilot circuit. If there was a bit of o-ring jammed in one part of the carb, that means that the o-ring itself disintegrated, and there are quite possibly more bits of it inside in places you haven't yet found. So there isn't really any need to think beyond the pilot jet until you have opened up your carbs and cleaned every passage squeaky clean with xylene and wire.
|
#
¿
Apr 1, 2012 23:21
|
|
|
|
| # ¿ May 16, 2024 07:41 |
|
|
From your description I'd guess that a piece of the o-ring broke off the pilot jet and was sucked up into the internal passages that lead to the pilot fuel hole thing (depending on the specific design of your carbs of course). It's still stuck inside there and the only way to get it out is picking with stiff but narrow wire, or possibly compressed air. Xylene will loosen up anything based on gasoline or natural rubber. Does a decent job with waxes as well. Won't affect o-rings made of viton or nitrile as far as I know. By the way, is it just the one idle screw you have to adjust? I can't imagine what it would be like having to actually go in and mess with four separate screws every time you ride the bike, but if it's just the one that pretty much seals it as a carb issue.
|
|
#
¿
Apr 1, 2012 23:43
|
|
|
henne posted:What do you do with the dead gas from flushing a tank? Don't dump it in the ground like what's his name says. It's bad for the planet, but more importantly if some nosy neighbor sees you doing it and reports it, you could be in for a world of pain. Besides the punitive fine, you'll have to pay to have it cleaned up, which basically means "dig out all the dirt in the area to a depth of five or ten feet and treat it as hazardous waste". I know a family who had the diesel line to their furnace burst and pour about twenty gallons into their basement, and the cleanup and environmental remediation fee (insurance, luckily) was slightly less than a quarter million dollars. Yes. Ergo, if you don't have/don't want to deal with a HAZMAT place, what you should do with old gasoline is BURN IT 
|
|
#
¿
Apr 2, 2012 04:33
|
|
|
Safety Dance posted:Can't you take it to the auto parts store and dump it in with the used motor oil? I suppose technically you could, but they'll get pissy if you do it. The reason that those places accept oil for free is because they can sell it back to the refineries for recycling and get some small amount of money. If people pour in other chemicals (paint, chlorinated hydrocarbons, weed killer) it can ruin the whole batch. I don't think gasoline would actually affect the batch that much, since it's a refining product anyway, but make sure no one sees you doing it.
|
|
#
¿
Apr 2, 2012 04:47
|
|
|
Weird question, but: are you allowed to take a motorcycle chain on a plane? I'm in the States right now and I've found a bunch of parts I need for much cheaper than they are back in Canada, but I don't have any checked luggage and paying the extra 25 bucks to do so would negate most of the cost savings. I figured they would be okay with a set of taillights, but a chain seems like maybe it could be a "weapon"?
|
|
#
¿
Apr 4, 2012 07:45
|
|
|
At my MSF it was actually required that you do the slalom at a constant speed (40km/h I believe, yes). If you accelerated or decelerated in the middle you'd fail it. The point was to teach that if you need to suddenly turn tighter, you don't hit the brakes, you lean more.
|
|
#
¿
Apr 5, 2012 16:36
|
|
|
It rained the entire weekend of my MSF, which was actually pretty good because after having to do emergency stops on wet pavement, no one was terrified of the idea of water on the roads.
|
|
#
¿
Apr 5, 2012 18:06
|
|
|
I wonder if you could do the same thing to get the tire off without irons, provided you could snake the straps under the beads? This guy has a good strategy: quote:I actually prefer unscrewing the valve stem and using the torch to fill the tire with oxy/acetylene, then I jam a lit non-filter cig in the stem and walk away. Since the tires explode outward the rim is spared.
|
|
#
¿
Apr 11, 2012 01:55
|
|
|
MotoMind posted:It almost sounds like Sagebrush was suggesting removing the tire, explosively. Yeah, they were talking about "quick and easy" ways of getting the tire off in the first place. The first suggestion was a hacksaw, which I'd imagine would work really well if the tires were shot anyway. I think that literally blowing the tyre up was a joke, though. I think.
|
|
#
¿
Apr 11, 2012 04:20
|
|
|
Mr. Wiggles posted:So when they build those Goldwing and what have you trikes, what do they do for differentials? Does anybody know? Depending on how much of a hack-job it is, it is common to see "nothing" or "only drive one wheel".
|
|
#
¿
Apr 11, 2012 05:34
|
|
|
In the best case, all you'll need to do is clean the carburetors, change the oil and put in new gas, and it'll fire right up. In the worst case, the pistons will have rusted to the inside of the cylinders and the entire engine will need to be taken apart, sent out for machining, and rebuilt. Are you getting the bike for free? [e] if it looks anything like the bike in this thread, run away
|
|
#
¿
Apr 12, 2012 20:25
|
|
|
Meister Otter posted:Yep, bike's free. neighbor just wants to clean up some space in his garage. And alright, that seems pretty good, actually. I'll have to pull it all apart to check to make sure the pistons haven't rusted out though? You can check that the engine isn't seized by operating the kick starter a few times -- if it goes around without any horrible grinding noises (it will go putt-putt though) then that's good news. You want to check the compression too, by taking out the spark plug(s) and putting your finger over the hole and cranking the engine, and making sure that it pushes your finger off with a loud pop. [e]: I don't know if this technique works with 2-stroke engines and I don't know if what you're looking at is a 2t or 4t, so someone else will have to confirm that. Basically if the engine turns over and has acceptable compression, it's likely that it will start up without anything more than a good cleaning. If either of those are bad then you're looking at a rebuild. the walkin dude posted:He says that it's the new ($10 from eBay) starter relay flaking out again. Is there any advice anyone could give me? I have a multimeter but its batteries are dead. Curses! Does the relay make a clicking noise when you press the button?
|
|
#
¿
Apr 12, 2012 20:34
|
|
|
Meister Otter posted:Here's a few pics of the bike, ipod quality though, sorry. Looks restorable to me -- I definitely would take it if it's free. And that's a two-stroke, so you don't actually have engine oil to deal with; it's mixed with the gasoline. Unless that particular model has oil injection, in which case it's a separate tank, but you still don't have "oil changes" and such. Perhaps Sir Cornelius can help you out? He seems to know a lot about two-stroke Yamahas. It'll be a lot of fun, though. Get some of the strawberry-scented oil. Ring-a-dinga-dinga-ding [e] also cmon dude, it totally says 175 right there on the side Sagebrush fucked around with this message at 20:44 on Apr 12, 2012 |
|
#
¿
Apr 12, 2012 20:42
|
|
|
Safety Dance posted:How is the gearbox lubed on those? Separate gear oil? I think there's still an oil pan/reservoir/something for the gearbox and clutch, but it's separate from the crankcase, yeah. @ Meister Otter: just think, this could be you! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q7Xopc_Nwlo#t=13s Sagebrush fucked around with this message at 20:49 on Apr 12, 2012 |
|
#
¿
Apr 12, 2012 20:46
|
|
|
The battery only shows 12.1 volts? Sounds like either the alternator or the R/R is dead. That should be getting up around 14v when you rev the engine.
|
|
#
¿
Apr 12, 2012 21:39
|
|
|
If the engine won't turn over, then at the very least you are looking at new piston rings and a cylinder hone (not cheap). It could be worse than that, though, in which case you'll need to get the cylinder bored oversize and a new piston as well (even less cheap). On top of that, the main reason that engines seize after sitting is rust; that means that water got into the cylinder somehow and there could be a whole lot of other serious problems. Nearly anything is repairable given the time and money, but I sure wouldn't pick a bike with a seized engine as your first. That CT90 looks sweet though. More scooter than motorcycle, but they're cool nevertheless. It has a 4-speed transmission and everything. If it's free, absolutely pick it up, and then I'll buy it from you for 200 bucks. VVVVVVVVV If it turns over and the carb isn't completely shot, I can pretty much guarantee that you'll be able to get it running. My old Honda sat without running for thirty-two years and it only took a month of on-and-off work, including waiting for parts in the mail, to get it fired up again. Sagebrush fucked around with this message at 22:06 on Apr 12, 2012 |
|
#
¿
Apr 12, 2012 21:56
|
|
|
Splizwarf posted:I keep waffling between the CA advice of "don't get a first bike that needs work" and "but I'm jazzed about the work" My first bike was/is a non-runner, and I'm having a great time cleaning it up and putting it back together. I took a risk getting one that didn't run, but the engine turned smoothly and had solid compression, and as it turns out it does run without having to tear into the cylinders themselves. At the end of the process I'll definitely have spent more money than if I just bought a running bike to begin with, but to me it's worth it to have a bike that I have personally resurrected from the dead. If you truly do enjoy the work and can tolerate not riding for some number of weeks or months while you do it, then I'd say go ahead! It worked for me.
|
|
#
¿
Apr 12, 2012 22:33
|
|
|
AncientTV posted:On the topic, will regular use of engine braking have noticeable effects on engine wear? Say there was one person who always downshifted + braked to slow down, and then another who always just clutched in and braked, how much longer would the non-downshifter's engine last? I don't think that would affect your engine much if at all, but the guy who uses his brakes more is going to have to replace them more frequently. Which is fine, because they're wear parts...don't try and use your clutch to replace your brakes. Ultimately, though, the reason you want to keep downshifting and staying in gear is because that way you have control over the power delivery in case of an emergency. Engine longevity shouldn't enter into it.
|
|
#
¿
Apr 13, 2012 01:45
|
|
|
I wore an old pair of combat boots for mine -- you can get those for like 30 bucks at just about any army surplus place. If you're going to go out and buy something new, might as well splurge a little more and get motorcycle-specific stuff.
|
|
#
¿
Apr 15, 2012 18:27
|
|
|
My local place has two brand-new orange and white CBR250s on the floor, assembled, and the last time I was there poking around at one of them the sales guy came up and said "oh, you don't want THAT thing." This dumb city is about 85% bagger cruisers, 10% liter bikes and 5% anything cool and different.
|
|
#
¿
Apr 18, 2012 04:24
|
|
|
JP Money posted:Why would a salesman working off commission sell you a 250 for 4 thousand when he could sell you at least a 600 for 10k++? Well, had I been interested in buying the CBR250, he would have sold me neither because I would have driven 2 hours to a dealership that doesn't act like they know better what the customer wants.
|
|
#
¿
Apr 18, 2012 05:04
|
|
|
Olde Weird Tip posted:According to this, I apparently dont have brushes, so thats one thing off the list You'll only have brushes if you have a generator -- they're part of the commutator, which is basically a mechanical rectifier. All alternator systems use a solid-state rectifier to accomplish the same thing with no moving parts. Incidentally that also means that you won't have a discrete rectifier if you have a generator (but both systems will have a regulator). Incidentally, yes that flowchart should work if you just cut all the voltages in half. A maximum voltage of 14.8v means that you should be seeing no higher than 7.4, for instance. And yes, you can get away with a Radio Shack rectifier, as long as it's rated for the proper amount of power...it's a simple part and there's not a whole lot of variation in design. You can even build one yourself with four power diodes if you like.
|
|
#
¿
Apr 19, 2012 20:21
|
|
|
An "alternator" is a device that uses spinning magnets (rotor) and stationary coils (stator) to produce an alternating current. Well, sometimes you have spinning coils and stationary magnets with a slip ring, but the point is that an alternator produces alternating current from mechanical rotation. Technically, a "generator" is just an alternator combined with a system that converts the AC to DC so that you can charge a battery. This conversion is called "rectification". The modern way do this is with a set of silicon diodes that are arranged to invert half of the AC phase. Connect that unit to an alternator and you have a DC generator. Before solid-state electronics became common, we had to use a mechanical system to perform the rectification. Most commonly this was a commutator, which is a kind of interrupter that switches the polarity of the external contacts as the shaft of the alternator rotates, so you the same kind of half-inverted DC output. Commutators require "brushes" (formerly actual wire brushes, later graphite rods) that slide over contacts on the shaft to do this conversion. The brushes wear down and have to be adjusted and replaced eventually. Since the commutator was combined with the alternator in one unit that produced DC, that whole thing was called a "generator". Now that the tasks are separated into two pieces, we call each piece by what it actually is. Sagebrush fucked around with this message at 20:47 on Apr 19, 2012 |
|
#
¿
Apr 19, 2012 20:45
|
|
|
Splizwarf posted:Well, the reason I'm confused (and wanted to know if this was bike-specific) is the device on my car's called an alternator and has both brushes and a diode-based rectifier. Interesting. Do you have a diagram of it? And is it a fairly heavy-duty unit? I'll bet it's the rotating-coil type -- those still need "brushes" (contactors) for the slip rings that carry the power out from the shaft, but they don't have the split contacts like a commutator does. The only real reason to use rotating coils is for increased cooling, though, because otherwise it's not worth the hassle.
|
|
#
¿
Apr 19, 2012 21:29
|
|
|
Corrupt Cypher posted:Varnishing the carbs isn't a concern? Consider that gasoline varnish is literally dried-out polymerized gasoline...so its primary solvent is also gasoline. If the engine runs, there was little enough varnish that fuel can run through the carb, and that flowing fuel will slowly dissolve any deposits. If the engine *doesn't* run, then you may be looking at something like this  Either way, though, you might have sediment or crumbling o-rings or whatever so you can't really lose by cleaning.
|
|
#
¿
Apr 20, 2012 17:17
|
|
|
Mr. Eric Praline posted:It's about as close as I can get, but this one throttle plate doesn't have a sharp cutoff over the hole like it should. Well, it should probably work fine as soon as the plate is open, but at idle and just off I'd imagine that cylinder would have problems. No way to tell how bad without running it, though. 30 bucks really isn't that much, considering. I quit keeping track of how much I'm spending on my project and it's a lot more fun that way!
|
|
#
¿
Apr 26, 2012 20:33
|
|
|
Mr. Eric Praline posted:I kinda find it more fun to work with what I have rather than buy replacement parts Well, I agree with that, which is why I spent like 6 hours electrolyzing and sanding and polishing and clear-coating 72 old spokes instead of just buying a new set off eBay. And why I spent a week dissolving a sheared-off jammed-in bolt out of the side cover with acid instead of hitting up the junkyard. But carburetor parts are usually so precisely machined, and it's such a critical piece of the bike, that you'd be better off just replacing the broken part. Now, if you had a benchtop mill and lathe and you just made a new throttle plate from a chunk of aluminum, then you'd be operating on a whole other level.
|
|
#
¿
Apr 26, 2012 21:52
|
|
|
KARMA! posted:What are these so called "pot-holes"?  What do you call them?
|
|
#
¿
Apr 27, 2012 19:05
|
|
|
_Dav posted:Should I report this, or is it one of those things that is better left. If there's no visible damage anywhere, no footage of the incident, and no policeman saw it happen, then it's just your word against his. Which means it might as well have never happened. It's even harder now that you've let some time pass instead of calling it in right away. Better to just leave it, as frustrating as that is.
|
|
#
¿
Apr 30, 2012 17:05
|
|
|
MotoMind posted:That's why you should always ride with a sock full of lugnuts. "What? That lug nut that cracked your windshield couldn't possibly have come from my bike, it's clearly for a car of some sort."
|
|
#
¿
Apr 30, 2012 17:58
|
|
|
Radbot posted:It's bullshit This is how you can describe literally everything about how insurance companies operate. It's basically just legalized (legally mandated, for that matter) racketeering.
|
|
#
¿
May 1, 2012 22:23
|
|
|
Tenchrono posted:Would blue grips on a blue bike look weird? The rubber on my right hand grip split so I'm contemplating ordering a new pair. Post a picture of your bike and the grips in question, and I'll photoshop it for you so you can see.
|
|
#
¿
May 2, 2012 06:59
|
|
|
americanzero4128 posted:Yeah, that's pretty much it. I replaced the grips on my bike. I twisted the old ones off and put the new ones on with some spit and elbow grease. I noticed they were still a little loose, so I took them off, wrapped electrical tape around the bar once, then slid them back on. They weren't loose any more. Takes less than five minutes, and no tools required! For future reference, hairspray is really useful for this. Spray down the bar so that it's wet, then slide the grip into place, and when the hairspray dries it'll glue it in place like loctite. You can still get it off with some effort but it totally eliminates looseness and twisting.
|
|
#
¿
May 3, 2012 18:05
|
|
|
I'm guessing the reason that the bikes are so expensive is import tariffs, so no, he probably couldn't. Though for $10,000 you could probably buy an engine, wheels, fork, etc, have an Israeli weld you up a frame, and build something completely from scratch and still come out on top.
|
|
#
¿
May 4, 2012 17:34
|
|
|
My local place charges less (and is quite a bit faster, obviously) if you just bring in the wheels, but I don't know if everybody is that nice.
|
|
#
¿
May 7, 2012 23:06
|
|
|
There are filters in your fuel system for a reason. If you can rinse the tank and the water coming out is clear, and there are no obvious chunks of rust detaching on the inside, it's probably clean enough to use without any sealant at all. And petroleum products like gasoline are effective rust inhibitors. Go for the POR-15 if you want, but if you've already cleaned the inside of the tank of rust, there's really no reason to seal it. Just hit it with a bunch of WD-40 (which is a Water Displacing compound), and trust that the gasoline fumes will keep the inner surface protected in use. If you're just going to pour in the POR-15 over top of existing rust, well, I dunno what to do in that case.
|
|
#
¿
May 11, 2012 06:38
|
|
|
Shimrod posted:.... Yeah, for all the thousand and one uses people have found for it, the stuff was originally developed as a chemical you would spray into electronics to push any moisture out of the connections, preventing short-circuits. Still works great for that today.
|
|
#
¿
May 11, 2012 08:15
|
|
|
I don't think it does, but mixing old and new is supposed to be a bad thing, isn't it? For the same reason (water absorption) that you can't safely use an opened bottle of fluid after some elapsed time period?
|
|
#
¿
May 11, 2012 16:22
|
|
|
I've always had good experiences with these people, but you're still gonna pay 80 bucks. Perhaps if you just want the exhaust to be black you could try header paint? More of a pain to apply, I guess, but it only costs like 15 dollars for a can at Canadian Tire. http://www.siriusconinc.com/pro-detail.php?pid=&product_id=4835 My question: A couple months ago I remember seeing a sad post from someone who watched their CB750 burn up on the side of the road because of a fuel leak. Well, I have a little 1lb fire extinguisher that could solve just such a problem. If I mounted it on the side of the bike, on a scale of 1 to 10, about how many days do you think it would last before some kid sprayed it all over everything? But seriously, any thoughts on fire protection? Do you think painting the extinguisher solid black and camouflaging the gauge and handle with a plastic cover would make any difference to vandalism? What would you do if your bike caught fire while you were riding it?
|
|
#
¿
May 12, 2012 02:22
|
|
|
|
| # ¿ May 16, 2024 07:41 |
|
|
frunksock posted:Or maybe 3/4 spin is normal with brand-new pads that haven't been ridden yet? I wouldn't imagine that to be true for any kind of wheel anywhere.
|
|
#
¿
May 15, 2012 04:30
|
|