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MetaJew
Apr 14, 2006
Gather round, one and all, and thrill to my turgid tales of underwhelming misadventure!

Phat_Albert posted:

I owned an 05 DRZ as my like 28th bike. Anyway, it was a barrel of fun, and its one of the few bikes I regret selling.

They are so flickable and smooth. The suspension is great, the engine is great the brakes are great, and I could go on. I wish I had the foresight to buy a good superslab bike AND hang on to the DRZ, but unfortunately it was one or the other for me at the time.

I'll get another DRZ some day.

How terribly impractical are these things? I'm torn between thinking an SV650 would be a good first bike, and the DRZ. The problems I see with the DRZ is that you probably never would want to take one on the freeway, and their minuscule gas tanks lead to a very short range. Am I right in thinking this?

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MetaJew
Apr 14, 2006
Gather round, one and all, and thrill to my turgid tales of underwhelming misadventure!

Chill_Bebop posted:

I dunno if its really helpful on a SM, but Clarke Manufacturing has told customers that most DR Desert Tanks will fit onto a DRZ with some minor fitting. Would ruin the lines but would probably be useful.

This guy has been trying to sell his DRZ with a larger aftermarket tank for quite a while now. I don't think his price has changed much though.
http://houston.craigslist.org/mcy/1427360588.html

Craigslist posted:

2007 Suzuki DRZ400SM, 2100 miles, great shape, modified - $4200 (Tomball)
Date: 2009-10-18, 6:58PM CDT
Reply to: sale-gr76e-1427360588@craigslist.org [Errors when replying to ads?]

I have for sale a 2007 Suzuki DRZ400SM supermoto. Street legal dirtbike!! It has 2100 miles and runs great. It is in great shape and always starts right away. It has a clear title and is ready to ride. This is the most fun street motorcycle you will ever own!! Gets about 60 mpg!

The bike has the following mods:

FCR39MX 39mm carburetor, jetted

3x3 airbox mod

1 baffle removed from exhaust

SDG aftermarket seat

Clarke 3.2 gal see thru gas tank w/ non vacuum fuel petcock

Black Billet Aluminum Gas Cap with Vent

Aftermarket white plastics

Clear front turn signals

Custom rear brake light and license bracket


New parts:

Brand new chain

Brand new bigger rear tire

Brand new Yuasa battery

Oil changed twice already w/ Motul synthetic


I have the clear title in hand ready to sell. You can contact me at anytime at 281-732-2630 if you have any questions or to come check it out, please leave a message if I dont answer. Also feel free to email me if you like.


keywords: suzuki, drz, 400, sm, motard, supermoto, drz400, 400sm

* Location: Tomball
* it's NOT ok to contact this poster with services or other commercial interests




Edit: Sorry that I've sort of been spamming the thread, but I have one more question.

There's a Husky SM610 that's been for sale locally for several weeks now. What's the general opinion on this bike? If I wanted to go the Sumo route for a first bike would the DRZ be a better choice? I do recall reading the some of the European sumos (KTM, Aprilia, etc) are fairly high maintenance with respect to the DRZ. What's the general consensus?

MetaJew fucked around with this message at 21:21 on Oct 23, 2009

MetaJew
Apr 14, 2006
Gather round, one and all, and thrill to my turgid tales of underwhelming misadventure!

Z3n posted:

Middle for knee down antics, towards the back for wheelie antics, and up on the tank for foot out/stoppie antics.

Use your knees to grip the tank when you're riding 2 up, and don't mash the poo poo out of the brakes and you shouldn't have too many issues with your passengers sliding forward on you. Or you could install a grippier seat.

edit:

MetaJew fucked around with this message at 06:43 on Oct 15, 2010

MetaJew
Apr 14, 2006
Gather round, one and all, and thrill to my turgid tales of underwhelming misadventure!
DRZ Guys, I need your advice.

I just found this listing. The owner replied to my emails promptly, says the title is "completely clean" and that it "runs great", and that he's kept up on maintenance for the chain and oil. But $2500 about $700 less than trade in, and much cheaper than I've ever seen one of these for.

So, I had told the owner I'd come buy it tomorrow, but now I'm having second doubts and don't want to drive out of my way for something that's going to turn out to have some severe issue. Am I making the right decision here by backing out, or should I go buy it?

http://sanantonio.craigslist.org/mcy/3196477091.html

MetaJew
Apr 14, 2006
Gather round, one and all, and thrill to my turgid tales of underwhelming misadventure!
Well it's too far of a drive to go check it out now, and I don't have a trailer or second person to go down with me to work out transporting it. My concern would be something like what happened to my friend. He found an R6 for about a $1k less than every other bike that was being sold. It turned out that the current owner never transferred the title into his name and the bike had been in an accident or somehow bent the triple clamp. My friend then had to track down the previous owner and get him to sign the paperwork.

Edit: And it's sold.

MetaJew fucked around with this message at 19:37 on Aug 11, 2012

MetaJew
Apr 14, 2006
Gather round, one and all, and thrill to my turgid tales of underwhelming misadventure!
My brother has a trailer and SUV we could've towed with, but his family was going out of town today and so didn't have the time to drive down to SA and back. I still think the price was probably too good to be true.

Back to scouring craigslist. There's an 09 Aprilia Dorsoduro 750 for $6600 locally, but that's a bit much for a first bike and I'm not sure if it would have too much torque/power-- although I'm fairly responsible.

MetaJew
Apr 14, 2006
Gather round, one and all, and thrill to my turgid tales of underwhelming misadventure!
What can you guys tell me about the KTM 625 SMC? For a responsible individual is this an awful first bike? The weight seems very low (awesome!), and the power from what I've read seems like it would be manageable. There's a local guy selling his with 13,100 miles and several mods for $3900. I've pasted a screen shot of the ad below. Should I jump on this, or is he asking too much?

What's maintenance like on these? Anything else I should be weary of?

MetaJew
Apr 14, 2006
Gather round, one and all, and thrill to my turgid tales of underwhelming misadventure!
Does anyone else have some input before I go check it out?

MetaJew
Apr 14, 2006
Gather round, one and all, and thrill to my turgid tales of underwhelming misadventure!
I'm gonna go check out the ktm tomorrow. Can anyone help me form an offer price? I don't need the Pirelli Dragon rain tires, and if the current tires will have to replaced soon, I can probably take a few bucks off for that. I'm not sure if $3500 would be too low for the seller.

As someone mentioned, this would just be a weekend toy. I live close enough to work that I walk or bike in, so I wouldn't put too much mileage on this, not to mention the hilariously small gas tank. (5 gallon tank swap in my future?)

Another thought I have been researching is if it would be safe and worth it to do some sort of tubeless modification to the wheels when I change the tires.

MetaJew fucked around with this message at 21:43 on Aug 21, 2012

MetaJew
Apr 14, 2006
Gather round, one and all, and thrill to my turgid tales of underwhelming misadventure!
Please don't snipe it. :/ Sorry I don't have a platinum acct, so no PMs at the moment. You can email me at my username at gmail.

He has all of the original parts and they're included in the sale. Including fenders, the OEM subframe, etc.

I'll give the $3300 offer a shot and maybe cap it at $3500. I think I'd be happy with that.

MetaJew
Apr 14, 2006
Gather round, one and all, and thrill to my turgid tales of underwhelming misadventure!
Will do. I think I would want to put some hand/lever guards on as well. How do you pick a good pair of those?

Are these basically frame sliders for super motos?

MetaJew
Apr 14, 2006
Gather round, one and all, and thrill to my turgid tales of underwhelming misadventure!

JP Money posted:

Yeah if you have handguards they typically hit the ground before any plastic does. It looks like it has swingarm sliders/spools too which should help. They also keep a little cold air off your hands but it doesn't really get all that cold around here and it's not a huge help. You can get an Acerbis pair or whatever you like that will fit the bars. Just make sure they have the solid metal bar inside otherwise they are just easily breakable plastic fins basically.

Cool, thanks for the info. Out of curiosity, why would I go swapping the levers other than if they're damaged or bent?

MetaJew
Apr 14, 2006
Gather round, one and all, and thrill to my turgid tales of underwhelming misadventure!
I went back and looked through some listings on SupermotoJunkie for 625 SMCs and the prices were all over the place, but generally high. Asking prices ranged from $4500-$5500, with mileage anywhere from <2k miles to 20k+. The only ebay listing I could find was for a 2004 model with 21k miles, a rebuilt engine, and generally rough condition-- it sold for $3100.

I'm still set on my budget, but I can't quite figure out the going price for these bikes.

MetaJew
Apr 14, 2006
Gather round, one and all, and thrill to my turgid tales of underwhelming misadventure!
Eventually I'd just like to do track days, but I need to get some street riding under my belt, first.

And I think you're right about it not having a slipper clutch. That sure would be nice to have.

MetaJew fucked around with this message at 16:41 on Aug 22, 2012

MetaJew
Apr 14, 2006
Gather round, one and all, and thrill to my turgid tales of underwhelming misadventure!
GUYS. I DID A THING.




I THOUGHT I WAS BETTER AT MANAGING MY MONEY, BUT THIS THING IS AWESOME. ($3600, but I'm mostly okay with that. I found a few people in Texas that purchased similar models for $4k+.)

I'll take better pics when I have a chance and it's not midnight.

Edit:
There are some things I need to fix, but I have all the parts:
1) Replace the rear brake pads. The seller gave me two or three packs of EBC pads.
2) Reinstall the ignition lock, starter, and find a bigger battery and fabricate a new battery box since two owners ago it was decided it would be kickstart only and a really tiny battery would be used.
3) Install the signal indicators and buy a pair of handguards and probably mirrors. (What mirrors should I buy?)
4) Go play around in a parking lot, a lot.

Oh, and eventually change the fork oil and tires.

The same owner who removed the starter and put in the "custom" subframe also did the "ghetto" tubeless mod. to the wheels. I am considering switching back to using innertubes when I change the tires. Do only particular street tires accept innertubes? Is there any reason to, at this point?

Edit: Edit: Did I mention that the kickstart makes me feel awesome and accomplished? Because it does.

MetaJew fucked around with this message at 08:05 on Aug 23, 2012

MetaJew
Apr 14, 2006
Gather round, one and all, and thrill to my turgid tales of underwhelming misadventure!
Kickstart-only update: gently caress kickstarts!

I stopped to fill it up with gas on the way to my brother's house where we'll be fixing it up. It started up easily enough at my apartment. After trying to carefully fill the ridiculously small tank without splashing fuel everywhere, I go to to start it and it would occasionally sputter, but not turn on. Of course I began to get incredibly claustrophobic in my leathers and helmet, took a break, had a harley riderr ask if I need a jump, and then finally got it running. Then on my way to my destination I must've let out the clutch a little too abruptly and stalled it in a residential neighborhood. Trying to start it again was an awful experience. Fortunately I wasn't too far from where I was going, and I was brought some water. After a break I finally got it running again.

I'm not sure what the trick is since I've been doing the same thing every time. Bring it to top dead center with some help from the compression release, push the crank just slightly past top dead center, and then kick it. We'll see if I can perfect it anymore. But now, priority number one and two are to get a new set of tires (at least the rear since the chain looks like it's rubbed) and pick up an Li-Ion battery and reinstall the starter.

And I've probably sweat my entire body weight in water today.

MetaJew
Apr 14, 2006
Gather round, one and all, and thrill to my turgid tales of underwhelming misadventure!
I think it might be a hotstart issue with the carb. I'm going to pull the plug tomorrow and see if it's running too rich.

Don't get me wrong, kickstarts are cool... When they work.

MetaJew
Apr 14, 2006
Gather round, one and all, and thrill to my turgid tales of underwhelming misadventure!
Well, I did a bit of a discovery tear down yesterday and discovered that I didn't so much buy a bike as I bought a project. A few things:
  • The current chain uses a clip-style master link instead of a riveted on master link. See next point.

  • The slack in the chain seems excessive, but I won't know how far out of spec it is until I check to see if I have/buy a 27mm nut to loosen the rear axle. I'm not sure if I should go ahead and replace the chain and sprockets at this time, or if I can get away with just putting in a proper master-link.

  • The chain has rubbed against the rear tire. I do not like this. It has 160-series Pilot Roads which was much wider than 160mm when measured. Even though one of the owners did a "tubeless" conversion to the wheels, I think I am going to go back to running inner-tubes front and rear. Do you guys know which tubes are best, if you can run tubes inside of the Pilot Power 2ct, and if the PP2CTs will rub against my chain? The Sumo guys on other forums seem to be fine with this, but this seems like additional tire and chain wear and something that would not pass tech inspection at a track day. Also, dangerous.

  • When I had the rear end lifted and rotated the wheel to clean the chain, I noticed that there was a sticky point. Loooking closely at the rear brake pads I noticed that the gap between the pads and the rotor changed as the wheel rotated. I don't know if this means I have warped rear disk or if the spokes are out of true.

  • The rear end in a top hat who removed my starter also removed all of the internal gears (free wheel, etc.) I am going to have to order a bunch of gaskets, change the oil, and so on when I go to reinstall the starter. I also need to test the starter with a car battery or something to make sure it is even functional. Do any of you guys know if the LC4 likes Rotella 5w40 synthetic, or do I really need to run 15w50?

  • The owner who streetfightered my bike just cut wires instead of doing a neat removal. This includes things like cutting the ignition lock straight off, wires for turn signals, etc. I'm not sure how hard it is going to be to find these wires again and put everything back together.

  • At some point, the threaded holes on the gas tank for the left plastic wing/fairng were stripped out/broken free so now I can't remove those plastics. The bolts just spin in place. I'm going to keep my eyes peeled for a spare tank for sale-- or potentially investigate getting the 18L tank at some point. This isn't critical, but it's a little concerning.

  • At 13k miles I might send the rear shock out to be rebuilt and re-spring it for my weight. I need to look up what the spring on it right now is for. It's labeled "WP 70-260".

  • I'm not sure what the smallest Li-Ion battery is that I can run. I've been looking on Shorai's website a bit, and compared specs, but I don't know what the minimum Ah's and CCAs are to turn the engine over and run electrics reliably.

  • There appears to be some oil leaking from the drain plug. Does the LC4 use a crush washer here, or is it possible that the bolt is just undertorqued? Something else?

  • The bike's still hard to start and backfired when I tried to kick start it. I think switching to an iridium plug might be a good idea. I don't know if the hard-start issue could be related to a faulty ignition module, flooded engine, or something else.

  • I think I will flush the coolant system during this process. I need to find a new, appropriate radiator cap and thermostat.

  • Still need to pick out some handguards. Are the Acerbis sumo guards worth the money?
[/Rant]

That sums it up, for now. Hopefully.

Probably Hates You posted:

My thoughts exactly. What sold me was actually looking at his business webpage. He definitely strikes me as one of those people willing to meticulously put a professional effort into what they're doing and I can respect that.

I'd probably be pretty hard-pressed to find a bike that would come with more ease of mind that something isn't wrong with it.
A lot of what can be found Here he did except for the brake pads and gearing changes which will save me a considerable amount of time.

Any 625 riders here know how simple it is to check valve clearances?

The tutorials that I've found on supermotojunkie/advrider seem like it's not too challenging (http://www.advrider.com/forums/showthread.php?t=55445) but it still looks like you might as well flush out your coolant system and all that jazz while you're at it.

MetaJew
Apr 14, 2006
Gather round, one and all, and thrill to my turgid tales of underwhelming misadventure!
Do you guys have any strong opinions on inner tubes? I'm thinking about ordering a set of the Michelin Supermoto Tubes from Motostrano, but I was wondering if there was something better out there, and maybe cheaper while we're at it. Bonus points if it's a tube stocked by Motosport.com and I get an answer before 4 pm PST so that I can try to tack it onto the order I made for my tires-- and get free shipping.

I just ordered a set of Bridgestone 003rs's 120/70 front and 150/60 rear. I went with the 150 rear (instead of the 160 which was the oem tire size) because of the variation in widths I've seen between different brands and even models from the same brand-- I'd also like to avoid added wear to the tire and chain that occurs when they rub.

I also ordered a bunch of gaskets and crush washers in order to reinstall my starter, do an oil change, and replace the oem plug with a new iridium spark plug.

Left on my list are a set of handguards, mirrors, and some sort of front turn signal. I'm thinking of killing to birds with one stone and going with these guards:
http://www.highwaydirtbikes.com/HDB_Shop/index.php?app=ccp0&ns=catshow&ref=handguards
Here's a review showing the mirrors and turn signals:
http://www.supermotojunkie.com/showthread.php?114393-Highway-Dirt-Bike-Handguards-on-a-KTM-625-SMC!!-%28PICS%29

MetaJew
Apr 14, 2006
Gather round, one and all, and thrill to my turgid tales of underwhelming misadventure!
I ordered a set of Bridgestone "radial" inner tubes. Hopefully they work out well.

A really stupid question: Now that I've broken off the bolt that was welded onto the "custom" subframe on my bike I'm confused as to how the gas tank is regularly held to the frame on KTMs. I can't seem to find any mention of this, so I'm unsure if the tank is just sort of wedged in place, or if on the factory subframe the stud screws down and clamps the tank against the frame.

MetaJew
Apr 14, 2006
Gather round, one and all, and thrill to my turgid tales of underwhelming misadventure!
Can any of you guys help me locate a wiring diagram for the 05 625 SMC? I'm having a hard time figuring out where the PO cut out the ignition lock and what he shorted together to make it keyless. I have the owner's manual and a printout of the LC4 service manual, but neither of those seem to have what I'm looking for.

MetaJew
Apr 14, 2006
Gather round, one and all, and thrill to my turgid tales of underwhelming misadventure!
Thanks! I may not have looked hard enough, but since the bike is at my brother's place I can't go tinker with it, as easily, whenever I have some free time. I'll try to take a look through my manuals again when I have a spare moment.

Great looking bike, btw!

MetaJew
Apr 14, 2006
Gather round, one and all, and thrill to my turgid tales of underwhelming misadventure!
Those exhaust cans look like they'd be more at home on big rig.

Does KTM have some aversion to single-sided exhausts?

MetaJew fucked around with this message at 07:16 on Sep 6, 2012

MetaJew
Apr 14, 2006
Gather round, one and all, and thrill to my turgid tales of underwhelming misadventure!

Probably Hates You posted:


EDIT:



I'll have to take a look at some of the documents the PO gave me when I bought the bike but I believe a wiring diagram was included in the files. I'll take a look for you tomorrow evening and post what I find out.

Any luck on this? I've asked on Supermoto Junkie and KTMTalk and haven't gotten any responses.

I guess if all else fails I'm gonna dive in blind with my trusty multimeter and try to sort it out on my own.

MetaJew
Apr 14, 2006
Gather round, one and all, and thrill to my turgid tales of underwhelming misadventure!

Probably Hates You posted:

I sent you a PM earlier but I guess you don't have plat. I spent a good 45min to an hour looking through everything and couldn't find it. I'll continue to look but don't hold your breath.

Sorry, no plat, but you can email me at my user name @ gmail.

Edit: I got a snarky response in Supermotojunkie telling me that all of the wiring diagrams were in the back of the "Service Manual". I'm not sure if they mean a 625 SMC specific manual or something else. Are there bike specific FSMs floating around somewhere?

MetaJew fucked around with this message at 09:01 on Sep 8, 2012

MetaJew
Apr 14, 2006
Gather round, one and all, and thrill to my turgid tales of underwhelming misadventure!

Jim Silly-Balls posted:

I think you get banned at SMJ if you provide anything other than a snarky response.

I hate the world.

Also, d'oh! I forgot to buy the gasket for the stator cover. To the KTM dealership, and then hopefully fixing my bike.

I need to make a link pipe and install a new air filter, also. Do any of you guys know of an especially cheap place to buy 2.5" diameter silicone intake pipe/hose , maybe a cylindrical air filter, and something to link those two things together?

MetaJew
Apr 14, 2006
Gather round, one and all, and thrill to my turgid tales of underwhelming misadventure!
Good news everyone! I got my wiring cleaned up, the ignition lock back in, and my starter motor works!

Now, for the fun. I just drained the oil and noticed little shavings in the oil and on the drain plug magnet. People on other forums claim this is normal, as long as they aren't huge. (Horrifying!) Either way, next up is to pull the stator cover, flywheel and get the sprag clutch, freewheel and associated gears back in and hopefully I'll be good to go.

Have any of you lc4 guys cleaned and serviced the carb? I think mine could use a good cleaning.

(I'm really excited that the wiring was intact, for the most part.)

MetaJew
Apr 14, 2006
Gather round, one and all, and thrill to my turgid tales of underwhelming misadventure!

Probably Hates You posted:

Time to get caught up on posts. I've spent the past few days pulling 12-13 hour riding sessions on the new bike and have such a boner right now.


Excellent! Sorry I couldn't have been more help, I just checked the back of my factory repair manual and yep, pages of wiring diagrams! :argh:

Yeah, I found the diagrams in the back of my LC4 manual, upon closer inspection-- but it only goes up to 2003 and doesn't include the 625 smc. The '03 625 SXC was nearly the same as what I saw on my bike and I managed to work from there.

I discovered that I definitely need an impact wrench to get the flywheel nut off of my bike. KTM refers to some random special spanner to hold the crank/flywheel in place, but I'm sure it's $400 and shipped directly from Austria.

Any suggestions on electric impact wrenches? Preferably corded, since battery packs are still garbage. (And don't say Harbor Freight, I bought one of theirs and immediately returned it when it couldn't break free any bolts in the rear suspension on my 240sx.)

MetaJew
Apr 14, 2006
Gather round, one and all, and thrill to my turgid tales of underwhelming misadventure!
Well today I made some sort of good progress. I picked up a corded-electric, Dewalt impact wrench from Home Depot and a set of impact sockets from Harbor Freight and went to town. The impact wrench took off the reverse-threaded flywheel nut without a problem. However, the Motion Pro flywheel puller I ordered turned out to be the incorrect size and did not fit the LC4 despite people telling me otherwise. Hopefully I can return this and get my $20 back.

I ended up using a two jaw puller to remove the flywheel. After a little sketchiness it popped right off. I got the sprag clutch back into the flywheel, the freewheel, reduction gear and associated needle bearings in place, and then put the flywheel back on. Again, I didn't have a special tool to lock the flywheel in place to torque it down, so hopefully a 2-3 count pulse of the impact wrench will hold the flywheel bolt on tight.

I also, dismounted the old rear tire and popped in a fresh tube and a 150 BT-003rs tire, along with a new Galfer rear brake rotor.

Here are some photos, and captions.

Oh dear god, that's a lot of metal:


Ignition and flywheel covers off.


Checking out the stator. There was some wear on the inner surface of the flywheel and the perimeter of the stator. I hope that's normal. :/


Flywheel off and putting everything together.







New rear brake rotor


Fresh tire and chain clearance!

MetaJew fucked around with this message at 09:02 on Sep 10, 2012

MetaJew
Apr 14, 2006
Gather round, one and all, and thrill to my turgid tales of underwhelming misadventure!
I think I'm going to go back to the dual exhaust, for now since the PO's single exhaust setup doesn't fit with the factory subframe. Where can I buy exhaust springs for cheap, because I don't want to pay the dealership $7 per spring. Any chance somewhere like Lowes or Home Depot sells an item that would work? The springs in the parts catalog are 62mm long.

Also, I got the starter and associated gears and clutch all installed and sealed up. I really hope it all works. While doing this I also installed a new chain. Can anyone give me some advice on chain length? I purchased a 120 link X-ring chain 'cause the factory chain in the catalog is apparently 118 links. However, the chain that was on my bike (really stretched, no o-rings, possibly a dirtbike chain?) was cut to 112 links. I could do the same, but I'm really not sure what the best thing to do is.

Mounting a tire with an innertube was surprisingly not that challenging. 60 PSI of nitrogen ( nitrogen because it was in the garage and we used it to purge an AC system several months ago) popped both beads into place no sweat. I'm not sure what tire pressure to run initially. I dropped it down to 35 psi while it's just sitting in the garage. Any help with babbies first biek would be swell.

MetaJew
Apr 14, 2006
Gather round, one and all, and thrill to my turgid tales of underwhelming misadventure!
625 SMC Update:

We got the new chain on and tensioned, and mounted a new tube and BT003rs on the front wheel. HOLYSHIT. Mounting the front tire was about 100 times harder than the rear. We kept having issues with the bead pulling up 180 degs. away from the tool.

I'm not sure what I expected, but I had ordered rim tape to run over the spokes and discovered just how ghetto the tubeless wheel mod was done. I had purchased rim tape for the front and rear wheels, but the rear was still wrapped in duct tape and appeared to be pretty good. I decided to tear the duct tape off the front and here's what I found.



In case you didn't guess, that's some sort of silicone or other caulking material. I tried wrapping rim tape around this, and found that it wasn't sticking very well in all places. So, I then went over the rim tape with some fresh duct tape.


We finally managed to get the tire mounted by getting the bead over the lip about half way around and then wrapping a tiedown around the rim and tire which prevented the bead from coming off the wheel. Once the tire was on, the bead seated at 40 PSI on both sides almost simultaneously.

MetaJew
Apr 14, 2006
Gather round, one and all, and thrill to my turgid tales of underwhelming misadventure!
I discovered on Friday, as I was removing my carb to clean it, that one of the throttle cables failing. Three of the five strands had been severed. So, $60 and a trip to the KTM dealership later, and I have a fresh pair of throttle cables! I guess it's a good thing that I'm going over every inch of this bike, but my wallet's starting to hurt.

Up next: Figure out how to disassemble and clean the FCR-41; refill the engine with oil (I have to burp it too, apparently); flush and bleed the brakes; make up some brackets to mount the headlight; cut up the airbox in order to fit in a new cone filter; wire in the turn signals; and maybe take a shot at getting the gas tank plastics off and epoxying the threaded inserts back into the tank.

I think it's gonna be a while.

MetaJew
Apr 14, 2006
Gather round, one and all, and thrill to my turgid tales of underwhelming misadventure!

needknees posted:

The 625 oil change is easily the most retarded oil change on the planet. Ever. :saddowns:

Yeah, just draining the oil was a huge mess. A bike with three oil filters, and four points that you have to drain it from. I guess the Austrians really are worse than the Germans?

I wound up spending a lot more time going over the carb and trying to clean it all out as best I could that I didn't get to refilling the oil.

On the one hand, I removed a lot of gunk from the carb. On the other hand, BEFORE I had even really disassembled it, I found an o-ring lying on my counter. It was busted and I couldn't for the life of me figure out where it had come from. WHOOPS! It was pretty big and I didn't see any mating surfaces that it would've connected...

MetaJew
Apr 14, 2006
Gather round, one and all, and thrill to my turgid tales of underwhelming misadventure!

Jim Silly-Balls posted:

:staredog: four drain points????

I get annoyed with the two drain points on the DRZ. Although I did find out why they tell you to take off the oil fill cap before you change the oil with a warm motor. The oil is under pressure! So my last DRZ oil change wound up being a huge mess as well.

I'm exaggerating, but only a little. You have the spin on oil filter, and some oil drains there. Then there is a.drain plug.for the frame. Then there is a transmission/engine cartridge filter. After that, there are two drain plugs on the bottom. One has a screen and magnet that I'm not sure how to clean, and the other is just a magnet.

Apparently, you have to burp the frame oil reservoir, too.

Anyway, so in one oil change you use three crush washers, a spin on filter, a cartridge filter, and a gasket for the cartridge. The PO installed a SS reusable cartridge, but I'm not sure of a good way to clean it and I'm sure the paper cartridge filters better.

MetaJew
Apr 14, 2006
Gather round, one and all, and thrill to my turgid tales of underwhelming misadventure!
I started my biek up for the first time since re-installing the electric starter. I turned it over for a few seconds with the plug out and no fuel to try and get the oil circulating through the system since I had drained it. Then, installed a new iridium plug, ran it for about 20 seconds, oil began to seep out of the frame filler hole, and everything looked fine.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wC3nb5ml60k

:hellyeah:

In this video: Frankenstein exhaust. Both were cut down by the PO, and one was painted black and run as a single exhaust. Also, the threaded inserts on the LHS of the tank are no longer held to the tank so I can't, at this time, get that plastic off.

I still need to flush the brakes, make up a bracket for the headlight, and finish some miscellaneous wiring.

MetaJew fucked around with this message at 07:57 on Sep 23, 2012

MetaJew
Apr 14, 2006
Gather round, one and all, and thrill to my turgid tales of underwhelming misadventure!
I've got nearly everything buttoned up... or at least had enough to take it for a spin around the block! This thing is gonna be tons of fun!

Here are some not-so-great cellphone pics.


I'm 6' tall. Despite the height of the bike, I still feel like I make it look a little small. I love how light weight it is.


Back in the garage.


Edit: I still need to add another bracket to stabilize the headlight-- since the SMR(?) light that the PO put on here won't fit on the two pegs on the top of the fender. Right now it's aimed way too high and is basically useless, and the high beam goes into the neighbor's second story windows. What's the "correct" way to aim a headlight?

I need to investigate a little more as to which headlight housing I actually have. I think if I'm lucky, I can swap the incandescent bulb that's in there out with one of these:
http://sicassracing.com/store/bulbs/halogen/45_40w_s2_halogen_ktm_upgrade_bulb

MetaJew fucked around with this message at 07:43 on Sep 24, 2012

MetaJew
Apr 14, 2006
Gather round, one and all, and thrill to my turgid tales of underwhelming misadventure!
I basically got everything back together on my 625 SMC. I'm so excited.



Also, the light bulb in this headlight is absolute garbage. I have to find a better replacement.

Edit:
Looking at the part numbers for the shroud and light assembly, it looks like I have:

code:
Part Number: 	78014001000
Description: 	HEAD LIGHT CPL. EXC-EU 08
Retail: 	$73.51
Your Price: 	$62.48   (15% discount) 

Part Number: 	7800800100030
Description: 	HEAD LIGHT MASK BLACK 2005
Retail: 	$24.99
Your Price: 	$21.24   (15% discount) 
The part number on my mask is 780.08.001.000, but this is what shows up on Munn Racing's part search.
However, if the headlight is from an 08, I assume that the mask is also an 08, just black.

So, it looks like this will work:

SicassRacing.com posted:

45/40w S2 Halogen KTM Upgrade Bulb

Fits:
2005-12 KTM XC/XCW
2008-12 KTM EXC
2009-12 Husaberg

DOES NOT FIT:
2007 KTM EXC

MetaJew fucked around with this message at 07:48 on Oct 1, 2012

MetaJew
Apr 14, 2006
Gather round, one and all, and thrill to my turgid tales of underwhelming misadventure!

Orange Someone posted:

Can you not just pull the bulb(s) and take it into a parts store? That's what I always do when I'm not sure about a bulb. Though mine just take H4s now, so I dinnae need to worry so much

*edit* I've even pulled bulbs and other bits in the car park outside the shop. And that bike looks awesome. Rather jealous

I'm not too familiar with headlight bulbs, and I was puzzled by the fact that the bulb in the fixture was just a plain old incandescent light. So, I was not sure if a regular old halogen bulb from the local autoparts store would be compatible.

I already made one bad purchase, thinking that a generic 1.4 bar thermostat at Vatozone would fit. Unfortunately, KTM designed the radiator neck just a little differently, so that option won't work. Now I need to go return a $17 part.

MetaJew
Apr 14, 2006
Gather round, one and all, and thrill to my turgid tales of underwhelming misadventure!
Well poo poo. The sprag clutch that I reinstalled in my 625 SMC is either going out, or really flaky. I was trying to crank it up today after having it sit at my brother's place for a week and it turned over several times, but wouldn't fire up. I attributed it to having barely any fuel in the tank. I filled up the tank a little and tried cranking it again and heard the starter motor spin freely and the engine didn't budge. I then tried kicking it over a few times and got it started.

Later, I was able to get the electric starter to fire up the bike, but dammit do I now know it to be completely unreliable. I'm really upset, and I guess I'll either be trying to replace the sprag clutch spring (see this thread: ADV Rider: Slipping starter clutch (Sprague) investigation and this: LC4 640 starter clutch fix ) or potentially ordering a new sprag clutch, although that is a very expensive part. This must be why the PO removed the electric starter.

In other news, I got my Highway Dirt Bikes handguards, mirrors, and top clamp and they are incredibly light weight. I can't wait to put them on. I also received a new radiator cap and the upgraded halogen headlight bulb I posted earlier.

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MetaJew
Apr 14, 2006
Gather round, one and all, and thrill to my turgid tales of underwhelming misadventure!
Woo, I got my Highway Dirtbike handguards installed along with mirrors, and everything's ready to go. I just need to get the inspection renewed.

Unfortunately, I appear to have broken the Halogen S2 lightbulb that I bought form sicass racing. I put too much pressure on the housing when I installed it. I looked around my local Autozone but I didn't see any S2 bulbs for sale. Do any of you guys know where you could find one?

Here are some pictures.

Highly impractical toy (foreground) highly practical daily driver (background).

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