What did you do to your ride: forensic welding

The Something Awful Forums > Discussion > Automotive Insanity > Cycle Asylum > What did you do to your ride: forensic welding

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builds character: Jan 16, 2008; Keep at it.

Iridium spark plugs. The engine is far smoother now. Whether that's because it has Aprilia electronics and iridium sparks at lower voltage or it's just new spark plugs or it's the fact that they're projected tips, I don't know but whatever it is, it's great. It would have been nice to not have to take the airbox off to replace the spark plugs though.

# ¿ May 22, 2015 15:22

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# ¿ May 14, 2024 21:55

builds character: Jan 16, 2008; Keep at it.

Supradog posted:

Installed the adventure mirrors. They seemed very sturdy, and alot easier to adjust. Now just to fiddle with it for a year trying to find the perfect angle..

Stock:

Doubletake Adventure:

I just did this last night too! They're so much better (based on one hour of riding).

# ¿ Jun 5, 2015 14:37

builds character: Jan 16, 2008; Keep at it.

Put on a new tail light and pivot pegz after my friend looped it.

Pivot pegz are pretty great though. Huge foot peg that pivots forward just a little. I went for a ride for about an hour last night on them and so far they're much better than I thought they'd be. Being able to angle your foot forward while still being on the peg is great.

# ¿ Jun 11, 2015 15:28

builds character: Jan 16, 2008; Keep at it.

Geirskogul posted:

Shhh, the bike is sleeping.

It's trying to figure out what's wrong with that jeep.

"Hmm, looks like you've got some fluid coming out of the differential there. Probably blew a gasket."

"You're not really a mechanic, are you?"

*honks sadly*

# ¿ Jun 30, 2015 15:01

builds character: Jan 16, 2008; Keep at it.

Ripoff posted:

My first Italian bike experience, ruined not by the factory but by the PO. Yay.

It's the 1100DS motor, and unfortunately I am 100% sure that it was the two lines to the carbon canister, numbers 9 & 13. The photo I showed you was the end of #5. I pulled the hoses off yesterday and replaced the hose with some cheap vacuum caps from the auto parts store - I was trying to find a stainless hex screw that would go in but they were all too long as you need something like a M6x1.0 thread that's 8mm long or less.

The only positive thing I have going for me is that Slavvy is right in that the leaks themselves were minor. I'm gonna go out and get a photo of the holes in the #22 union and they are small enough that a sewing needle wouldn't be able to make its way through . I'm guessing the factory decided that it only needs a super tiny amount of vacuum to keep suction on such a small gas tank.

I'm kind of infatuated with the bike and I want to keep it - it's been my favorite so far in that it has a big-boy suspension and the motor is just incredible from 4-7k which is where I do 99% of my riding on the street. It needs the valves adjusted in 800 miles which is like 4 weekend runs up to the mountains, so I'm going to have the guy at the Ducshop do the valve adjustments and give me an opinion on the valves, etc. while he has it apart.

Edit: 10 hours later, WELCOME TO SPERGVILLE, POPULATION: RIPOFF

The hole is slightly less than 1mm in diameter, give-or-take, so yeah bigger than what I was expecting but not exactly "big". I put a quarter there because I'm a goony gently caress. As for the bike, I'm guessing it's "slightly hosed" and not "horribly hosed" but if anyone could be so kind as to give me an opinion I'd love to have it. I was planning on running the bike the next 500-700 miles before taking it in for the valve service but if this is "uh bro you're gonna grenade your motor soon" territory then I might just take it in now.

Why would you not just take it in now? 400 miles isn't a huge amount either way and better safe than sorry, no?

How's it running? Any indication you're hosed?

# ¿ Jul 6, 2015 03:58

builds character: Jan 16, 2008; Keep at it.

Ripoff posted:

If it blows up, so be it, it's a good excuse to go into debt and get a big-bore kit.

Can't argue with this.

# ¿ Jul 7, 2015 15:09

builds character: Jan 16, 2008; Keep at it.

Hunting for an oil leak, thought it was a gasket I needed to replace so I ordered that and then I discovered the bolts holding the engine case together were loose. Like, easily unscrew by hand loose for one of them and unscrew by hand loose for three more. :wtc:

At least now I have a spare gasket, I guess? Speaking of RTV, is there a reason not to use that instead of buying gaskets?

# ¿ Jul 30, 2015 13:48

builds character: Jan 16, 2008; Keep at it.

Broke off the barkbusters. :sigh:

# ¿ Aug 17, 2015 01:07

builds character: Jan 16, 2008; Keep at it.

cursedshitbox posted:

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Sold the klr last night. Goodbye you fucker, now I have a little more shop space for my next victim.

Some kind of BBQ-scooter hybrid?

# ¿ Aug 20, 2015 13:41

builds character: Jan 16, 2008; Keep at it.

goddamnedtwisto posted:

That'd be the Tracer, not the Tracker (great branding there Yamaha). The Tracer is sort-of-dual-sport-shaped, the Tracker is sort-of-60s-MX-bike-shaped.

I don't think they're actually aiming to directly compete with those bikes any more than the base MT-09 is aiming to compete with the Striple or the Monster (or that their cruisers are aiming to compete with Harley-Davidson), they're aiming to differentiate from and compete with the other Japanese manufacturers. There's obviously inspiration (or plagiarism depending on your outlook) from those bikes but they're aiming at a completely different and much broader market sector of "Wants a Japanese bike that doesn't look too Japanese" rather than the "Wants something not-Japanese" sector that European and American manufacturers have comfortably settled into since the 80s.

I'll leave the exact definition of "Japanese" there up to the reader.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IWWwM2wwMww

Slavvy posted:

I have a bike mag with a lengthy article about Yamaha's resurgence, with interviews with various staff. One guy (responsible for the MT bikes) said that, prior to this, they were building direct equivalents to competitor bikes and assuming people will buy them because they have a Yamaha badge.. Now they're attempting to build bikes people actually want.

Seems like it's working out pretty well for them.

# ¿ Aug 25, 2015 19:50

builds character: Jan 16, 2008; Keep at it.

Revvik posted:

Crossposted, probably in a better thread for it. Goddamn this bolt will turn to liquid before it will turn a millimeter.

Did you use some penetrating oil? I found that helped a lot.

Worst case, have someone weld another bolt on top and you can use that to turn it out. Or just get an impact driver like slavvy said. Or take it to someone with one.

# ¿ Sep 2, 2015 15:43

builds character: Jan 16, 2008; Keep at it.

Z3n posted:

It smooths out the initial on throttle response. If it's a G3 setup, the most aggressive cam is perfect - just enough to blunt the initial roll on, but doesn't add enough twist that it's difficult to get to WOT.

KTM used a super aggressive cam on the throttle bodies on the older 690s so just fixing that makes the bike a lot easier to ride.

I didn't like it because it just made me do wheelies all the time. Just forced me to do them. Every day.

Shhhhh. You're safe now. You can talk about it here. And post pics. Video too.

# ¿ Sep 4, 2015 01:44

builds character: Jan 16, 2008; Keep at it.

Chris Knight posted:

There, I fixed it�

Actually not, because the exhaust bracket that connects to the downpipe is so loving corroded that I have to replace it. Oy.

You know they make stainless steel zip ties, right?

# ¿ Sep 8, 2015 01:57

builds character: Jan 16, 2008; Keep at it.

Chichevache posted:

at the new av. I'll keep it for a week to humor whoever bought it. Tip though: provide a link in the av next time so people can read about the "fraud". I always hate red texts about some drama that I can't read about. It is really disappointing.

As far as what actually happened:
Saturday night on my way to work my bike died on 101. My AAA coverage had lapsed, so I couldn't have them tow it. I pushed the bike off 101 and into a small neighborhood, where I made sure it was parked legally. Sunday morning I went out to the bike with a new battery and tried starting it up. No luck.

Monday morning, after I got off work (I am on the grave shift), I went to pick up the bike. When I arrived the bike was still there. The person who was supposed to meet me there with a pickup truck flaked out on me, so we agreed to come back that night to pick it up. 12 hours later we arrived and the motorcycle was missing. I called the police and filed a report with them. I have not yet claimed the bike with insurance, as I am making sure my bike wasn't towed instead.

If we have any lawyers here, let me know what exactly was fraudulent about this. I told the police exactly what happened and they didn't seem to have a problem with it. When I call my insurance they can make sure everything is kosher too. Hopefully they find my bike instead though, so I can fix and sell it.

It behaved exactly like the last time it seized. if the cops recover it I will let you know what ended up happening.

Wait... you're supposed to put stuff in the engine?

Honest answer: I don't know. I literally had just put fresh oil in an hour before it quit on me. Maybe the engine wasn't seized and the problem was something else. I don't know. I didn't get to finish diagnosing it before it was stolen.

So you plan on committing fraud then?

Esurance.

Edit:
And I just paid for registration and a new license plate last Friday.

I don't think this is fraud. Hilarious and dumb, yes. But not fraud. I will be curious to see what the insurance payout is on your bike, but it would be incredibly stupid to suggest to them that the engine was seized when you don't have any basis for knowing that's what happened (ex. you said the light went out like a dead battery which suggests, you know, a dead battery vs. a seized engine). My understanding is that you were riding and the bike stopped and you don't know what was wrong but suspected the battery was dead. Then you got a friend to help you haul it back so you could look at it not on the side of the highway. By the time you got back, the bike was gone.

You are not a mechanic (or you're the world's worst mechanic) and I do not think it is a good idea for you to speculate about what the problem was to the insurance company. They will ask you many questions which you should answer truthfully but don't be an idiot and say "well, one time my engine seized and this was sort of like that even though it was a little different and more like another problem so I think probably the engine on it seized."

Chichevache posted:

I realized I may have inadvertently misled some of you. While I may not be committing fraud here, I have committed it in the past. When I was 16 I viewed a porn site after I clicked the button declaring I was actually over the age of 18, and thus illegally watched an adult video. I hope the statute of limitations is up.

Did this video include a DRZ?

# ¿ Sep 23, 2015 17:01

builds character: Jan 16, 2008; Keep at it.

Chichevache posted:

I need AAA for a free tow. When it is close to midnight and I am trying to get to work I am not about to pay some cutthroat towing company $10 a mile to drive my bike 30 miles when I can do it for free on my own with some friends. Besides, I left my bike for 12 hours, not 2 days. I originally attempted to fix it the very next morning. I didn't expect to have that much trouble getting ahold of a truck.

and I left the bike on the curb in a suburb, very much like the area I currently live and park in. It might as well have been stolen from in front of my own house.

AAA doesn't cover bikes.

# ¿ Sep 23, 2015 18:26

builds character: Jan 16, 2008; Keep at it.

GnarlyCharlie4u posted:

perfect. I know where to get the cylinders bored and heads ported.

If you do the research and figure out what springs you need, I'll help you install them and get your suspension sorted out as best as I can.
I'm not a suspension god like VonDari was... but I'm capable.

M42- buy this man beer.

# ¿ Sep 25, 2015 16:10

builds character: Jan 16, 2008; Keep at it.

Chichevache posted:

Lol.

How'd it go with insurance?

# ¿ Sep 28, 2015 16:31

builds character: Jan 16, 2008; Keep at it.

TW200.

# ¿ Oct 21, 2015 04:14

builds character: Jan 16, 2008; Keep at it.

KARMA! posted:

[chooses another model & make that is on the curated list of "funny" motorcycles] * 10

Come back to me when you've been to the North Pole like the noble TW200. :iia:

# ¿ Oct 21, 2015 16:11

builds character: Jan 16, 2008; Keep at it.

HenryJLittlefinger posted:

I really like this: http://www.iwt.com.au/mikunicarb.htm

While it's specific to Mikunis (don't know what's on your bike), the theory generally holds true for most (all?) carbs. It really helped me fix mine for altitude and solve richness issues real quick.

on that note, I found this helpful: http://advrider.com/index.php?threads/the-bst-40-bible.347184/

# ¿ Oct 28, 2015 22:22

builds character: Jan 16, 2008; Keep at it.

cursedshitbox posted:

new rear dirt tire, oil change and swap over to sm wheels.

rear dirt tires lasting 2500 miles.
Rolled 3000mi on the engine. ~1000mi/mo is alright imo.

What kind of tire?

# ¿ Nov 2, 2015 13:22

builds character: Jan 16, 2008; Keep at it.

cursedshitbox posted:

Michelin T63. I installed a d606

Have you used d606s before? If yes, how do you like them? If not, want to come back and let us know how you like them?

# ¿ Nov 2, 2015 16:07

builds character: Jan 16, 2008; Keep at it.

cursedshitbox posted:

gently caress, I killed it.

CSB STRIKES AGAIN.

E: D606 does good. would do better if I didnt forget my proper tire gauge. Hill climbs good in soft muddy bullshit.

Nice to hear about the d606 anyway.

You should buy a nice, indestructible 650.

# ¿ Nov 6, 2015 04:57

builds character: Jan 16, 2008; Keep at it.

makka-setan posted:

I replaced the tail/brake light bulb on the DR350. Not that that is anything special or hardly even worth mentioning, but this is the first bulb I have had to replace ever. Over five years, three bikes and 50000 km I have gone through chains, sprockets, batteries, brake pads and tires, but never a light bulb.

Maybe try crashing on the side on big rocks more? That's usually a good way to have to replace turn signal bulbs.

# ¿ Nov 8, 2015 17:53

builds character: Jan 16, 2008; Keep at it.

Sagebrush posted:

Made a new key for the CL350.

The guy who sells old-stock Honda keys online didn't have any of mine, and obviously you can't really get blanks for a 45-year-old motorcycle, but the one key I have is kind of bent so it doesn't sit perfectly straight in the lock, and with the metal fatigue I don't want to worry about breaking it (or just losing it).

So I measured the existing one, built a SolidWorks model, CNC-milled a new blank out of brass stock, and filed the teeth into shape. Works perfectly.

Machining was a bit of a mess because the only endmills I had that were small enough weren't really ideal for brass. Some filing and fine work with a jeweler's saw cleaned it up nicely, though. The funny camouflage finish is the remnants of the superglue that I had holding the stock to the machine bed. No pics of the finished model because then you guys might duplicate the key and come steal my bike

That's awesome, but why not just hook up your ignition cylinder electronics to a switch and then hide the switch while leaving the ignition cylinder on? Not like it's really going to make your bike more stealable.

# ¿ Nov 22, 2015 04:28

builds character: Jan 16, 2008; Keep at it.

cursedshitbox posted:

I ran out on 580 the other day at 93 miles. Sorry to the guy behind me, cause it let one hell of a backfire out.

sooo since I got the yellow body work the tank has had an internal rattle form the evap breather tube.

yeah it loving broke off at some point when I was low on fuel.

cue me going to work and groggily filling it up, only to look down and see that I'm dumping fuel on my boots.

yep. knew right away. fucker.

quickly rode home and patched it in the parkinglot to get to work.

whatever, fuckit. It'll last till I get a plastic tank.

The proper attitude for a drz.

# ¿ Nov 27, 2015 13:16

builds character: Jan 16, 2008; Keep at it.

BlackMK4 posted:

Stuffed a Rekluse in the YZ450F yesterday and spent 4hr on it today. Worth every drat penny - it made the bike easier to ride in the technical stuff and made me stop fearing steep hills at all.

Have any video of it in action?

# ¿ Dec 14, 2015 03:07

builds character: Jan 16, 2008; Keep at it.

Renaissance Robot posted:

Use this one awesome tricks goons don't know about : get a friend to help you

What, uh, what's a "friend?"

# ¿ Jan 18, 2016 23:33

builds character: Jan 16, 2008; Keep at it.

Here4DaGangBang posted:

So, my preliminary findings on the question of "will Cyclops 3800 lumen LED headlights drop into a 2013-onward Street Triple and give a beam pattern that's the same as stock?" could be summed up with "LOL nope", despite the manufacturer's advice that it should be no problem. To be fair, given most of his clients are ADV peeps or just people who don't really care much if light is spraying everywhere, he probably wouldn't know if there are problems.

With the deepest shim installed the cutoff is not as lumpy as straight out of the box, but it's still not great, and I can't tell whether the light spill in other areas is worse because of the design of the bulb or just the fact that it's brighter. I'll be doing some more intensive testing, probably with the lights off the bike and mounted to something so that I can power them artificially (otherwise the bike has to be running) and dick with them in real time to see what can be done to improve the beam. Shielding the underside of the low beam emitter will be top priority, I reckon that will solve 95% of the riddle.

Also, it's a bitch fitting everything in the bucket without stuff fouling and blocking the lens assembly when you try to seat it back in place on this bike. Another reason experimenting on the bike is extremely painful.

/anal retentiveness

My brother, have you tried the superduke?

# ¿ Jan 28, 2016 13:45

builds character: Jan 16, 2008; Keep at it.

High Protein posted:

I ordered a black front fender for my 690 Duke, it arrived all scratched up. Shop ordered another one, again scratched in the same way from the factory, due to improper packaging. Now they're going to figure out how to get KTM to send one without it being damaged. Just KTM Things.

subtle effort to get you to switch to the orange one

# ¿ Feb 3, 2016 18:58

builds character: Jan 16, 2008; Keep at it.

GnarlyCharlie4u posted:

either

or

or if you're fancy like me

I've changed a few hundred tires, maybe a third of them were tubes, and only ever pinched one tube.

Also, waterbottles make great rim-savers

How does the no-mar compare to baby powder?

# ¿ Feb 25, 2016 16:15

builds character: Jan 16, 2008; Keep at it.

clutchpuck posted:

Put brake fluid in the wife's bike today. She got a new set of pretty red stainless braided front brake lines to we spent like a half hour pumping her lever introducing DOT4 to the whole shebang. Didn't see any leaks, banjo bolts are magic (it's not a trick it's an illusion).

Brakes work. "Mission Accomplished"

Next up: her lovely li-iron or whateverthefuck battery has poo poo the bed. No worky. "No way I am going back to a heavy battery." OK then. $250 and whatever it costs for the proprietary charger later.... She's gonna get it running so she can take it to the shop for a pre-Alaska check-up.

Then I took the Buell for a ride and had a revelation: the Buell is totally awesome. The Buell is an oil change form ready for Alaska. Unless I break something.

From what I've read, earthx makes the best lifepo battery.

# ¿ Mar 6, 2016 03:09

builds character: Jan 16, 2008; Keep at it.

Razzled posted:

Threw up some new shoes on the dizzer

poo poo it feels loving weird. Bike doesn't want to come back up on its own in turns and it turns in so fast.

Also I don't think the sprocket is the same as my SM wheels cause it feels like it has no power in 1st - 3rd. Although that might be because I've been riding the tuono for the last 2 weeks.

Also in true form I immediately crashed into a tree and almost busted the mirror while attempting a hill climb
lol.

Fun summer up ahead.

Nice! What kind of tires? You can always just count the sprockets. I just went from 14-47 to 15-49 and it's noticeably faster with less low end grunt even though if you look at the ratios it's the smallest change I could really make.

I really like these for mirrors: https://www.doubletakemirror.com The RAM balls deform over time but if you loosen them up and leave them for a few days they go back to a sphere.

# ¿ Mar 21, 2016 01:12

builds character: Jan 16, 2008; Keep at it.

Coydog posted:

HCC- You have good self control. Every vehicle I've bought with the intention to resell I've ended up keeping for longer than I should.

Nah, the vibes are fine, and the wrx is pretty smooth anyway. The risers just magnified any vibes, which was counterproductive. My real problem with them was that they made the bike uncomfortable to use, also counterproductive.

You could try finding some rubber mounts for your bar clamps, that would help too.

# ¿ Mar 30, 2016 16:24

builds character: Jan 16, 2008; Keep at it.

cursedshitbox posted:

Final maintenance item on the drz. steering head bearings getting repacked. they were waterlogged from the recent rain too.
I've officially spun every bolt on this bastard.

So now that you're going to sell it, with what will you start anew?

# ¿ Apr 11, 2016 13:13

builds character: Jan 16, 2008; Keep at it.

cursedshitbox posted:

went ahead and tossed in the big bore. Its now a 470cc drz. Need to rejet, but mein gott in himmel.

http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=HoLs0V8T5AA

# ¿ May 14, 2016 13:25

builds character: Jan 16, 2008; Keep at it.

clutchpuck posted:

gently caress, guys, should I bring a spare clutch cable to Alaska (but really mostly Canada)?

Yes.

# ¿ May 26, 2016 16:12

builds character: Jan 16, 2008; Keep at it.

Jim Silly-Balls posted:

Is there any reasonable way to cover or repair seat cracks that doesn't involve getting adhesive all over your pants? My 250 elite has a couple small holes that I'd like to keep from becoming big holes, but I also don't want to use duct tape and wind up with a sticky mess all over my pants

Stop wearing pants. :smug:

# ¿ May 30, 2016 15:44

builds character: Jan 16, 2008; Keep at it.

Marxalot posted:

Use a flathead and pull on it you pleb.

e: Changed the main fuse in the parkinglot at work. Apparently my DRZ likes to blow fuses now. Not sure why (peak charging voltage is 14.6v so idk).

Do you have a short somewhere? Is it always the same fuse?

# ¿ Jun 18, 2016 04:18

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# ¿ May 14, 2024 21:55

builds character: Jan 16, 2008; Keep at it.

Slavvy posted:

This is what mental illness looks like:

Postmortem of the blown engine:

And after that point I kept taking pictures but the nexus 5's ghastly camera design struck again so it was blinded by engine oil the entire time. The engine was 'rebuilt' by someone who was both blind and on crack; the conrods had caps that were both mismatched and backwards, one piston was backwards, various bearings incorrectly sized etc. It blows my mind that someone with the knowledge to take apart and put together an engine and, presumably, the knowledge of how an engine works, still managed to do something this tragic. Even if the idiot immediately preceding myself didn't decide to run it with no CCT and a hole in the gearbox the engine was 100% doomed from birth.

RIP.

# ¿ Jun 22, 2016 13:20

The Something Awful Forums > Discussion > Automotive Insanity > Cycle Asylum > What did you do to your ride: forensic welding

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