The "Today I did something to my bike" thread

zubair

zubair wrote: »

I miss freezing my fingers off on my miserable Jan/ Feb commute.

I kind of actually do tbh, I can't justify mine at all without commuting every day on it. May aswell be burning money every day

robbie_63

I've been commuting to work on mine since I bought it in October, Only days I leave it at home is when there is Ice \ bad storm.

I could count on one hand the number of days I've had a normal dry spin in daylight.

I'm out the door in the morning at 6am and working until 5.30, so its nearly always pitch dark.

nigeldaniel

I got my Z7 back on the road after some work last Saturday it was nice to just hear the bike humming again. A short trip to fill the tank and visit the pharmacy was actually nice. I don't normally like visits to the chemists! but heck the reasons for travel now have never been more strange. I think I will even write a book about the last 12 months!!!

PS the XVS is still bagged up and I am thinking of declaring it off the road for the year. That is to save on the insurance more than the road tax.

Fabio

Zaiden Fit Schoolmarm wrote: »

I kind of actually do tbh, I can't justify mine at all without commuting every day on it. May aswell be burning money every day

I miss mine terribly. It's not an exciting commute but it's therapy for me.

That being said, I don't think I ever want to go back to 5 days a week in the office again...

flashinthepan

Fabio wrote: »

I miss mine terribly. It's not an exciting commute but it's therapy for me.

That being said, I don't think I ever want to go back to 5 days a week in the office again...

I have not been back to the office since the first lockdown
Been working from home :-)
Bought the bike so I wouldn't have to go on the bus
Did the IBT about June or July and put up about 4.5K
If the weather is permitting I try to get out on the bike at lunchtime to clear my head :-)

zubair

Zaiden Fit Schoolmarm wrote: »

I kind of actually do tbh, I can't justify mine at all without commuting every day on it. May aswell be burning money every day

This is it, I was riding 5 or 6 days a week. Now, like you, the bike is just sitting there, I'm officially a fair weather biker now. 1 positive, this is the longest a tyre has ever lasted me.

Fabio wrote: »

I miss mine terribly. It's not an exciting commute but it's therapy for me.

That being said, I don't think I ever want to go back to 5 days a week in the office again...

I'm with you there, during lockdown 2, I was going into the office twice a week to do the paper work, which suited me perfectly.

Hotblack Desiato

nigeldaniel wrote: »

PS the XVS is still bagged up and I am thinking of declaring it off the road for the year. That is to save on the insurance more than the road tax.

just take it off the policy then at renewal time, you don't have to have declared it off the road unless you don't renew the tax (I'm presuming that you still have some tax left to go when your insurance is up.)

If you still have other bike(s) insured then you don't have to worry about losing your NCB.

Depending on the bike, taking it off the policy mid-policy could well cost you more in admin fees than you'd get in a refund.

Hotblack Desiato

Waa7 wrote: »

I think the original issue may have occurred a few months back when I was coming back from Wexford and the tank was on empty and it cut out so I had to switch it to reserve. Hope this might help another biker.

If reserve is never used, it fills up with crap and dumps that into the fuel filter/carbs when you do need to use it. I always used to use reserve for a few miles on each tankful before filling up to keep the tap and lines clean. Just don't forget to switch back to normal when you fill up.

Did you remove the tank and flush out any crap from the bottom of the tank? Any rust?

Been years since I've ridden a carbed bike...

zubair

zubair wrote: »

This is it, I was riding 5 or 6 days a week. Now, like you, the bike is just sitting there, I'm officially a fair weather biker now. 1 positive, this is the longest a tyre has ever lasted me.



I'm with you there, during lockdown 2, I was going into the office twice a week to do the paper work, which suited me perfectly.

To be fair I suppose with covid it is unique, like even if you got a nice day on a weekend not as if you can go anywhere. well unless your Japcati who doesn't give 5uck by the looks of posts

Waa7

Has anyone any rust issues? A few weeks back I tried scrunched up Tin foil and warm water. Well it worked an absolute treat. Small tip but it looks unreal since I done it. The picture below was full of rust like the top part but look how brilliant it’s come out. PS: forgot to take before n after pics Ooops. Doesn’t leave scratch marks or anything.

goblin59

Waa7 wrote: »

Has anyone any rust issues? A few weeks back I tried scrunched up Tin foil and warm water. Well it worked an absolute treat. Small tip but it looks unreal since I done it. The picture below was full of rust like the top part but look how brilliant it’s come out. PS: forgot to take before n after pics Ooops. Doesn’t leave scratch marks or anything.

havnt heard the tin foil and hot water trick before.
How does that work?

flashinthepan

goblin59 wrote: »

havnt heard the tin foil and hot water trick before.
How does that work?

Me too I have not heard of that
interested if it works :-)

GBX

https://wd40.co.uk/tips-and-tricks/how-to-remove-rust/

goblin59

GBX wrote: »

https://wd40.co.uk/tips-and-tricks/how-to-remove-rust/

Skimming through the website, I seen this
HOW TO REMOVE RUST WITH DISH SOAP AND A POTATO:


seems very appropriate for us

CJhaughey

If you want to remove rust spots from chrome, use 0000 grade steel wool and WD40 or a similar lubricant, any light oil really.
This will restore chrome without scratching it.

blade1

Only got around to fitting an Oberon clutch slave that I got around Xmas to my Tuono
today.
That's 3 Oberon slaves fitted to my 3 Apes.
Got a spin in as well.

IrishGrimReaper

Put barkbusters on and a new exhuast.

The quality on that exhaust is amazing the welds are perfect and I think it's the best sounding aftermarket option for the bike. Didn't have a tool to take the baffle out but even with it in it's nearly too loud :pac:

Waa7

goblin59 wrote: »

havnt heard the tin foil and hot water trick before.
How does that work?

flashinthepan wrote: »

Me too I have not heard of that
interested if it works :-)

Absolutely does work, wish I’d have taken there before n after pics. Try it on something that’s chrome n Rusty if you don’t believe me, I put Autosol polish on after and it comes up great.

flashinthepan

Been a miserable couple of days so I decided to tackle the grubby looking petrol cap
Bit of silver paint and painted the heads of the screws black they were silver





I will give the black piece a clean when the weather clears up

omerin

Washed the bike at the weekend and applied acf 50, cleaned and adjusted the chain, fitted a custom brake cap, removed the tax holder, will carry disc with me, (anyone ever pulled on it?) spray painted the bash plate. Contemplating removing the handrail and rear pegs

Zebbedee

omerin wrote: »

removed the tax holder, will carry disc with me, (anyone ever pulled on it?)

I've had my tax disc on my key ring for a long long time.
This was because tax discs used to get robbed years ago.
I've never had an issue but bear in mind some jobs worth may give you a ticket for non display of the tax disc while parked up.

Cienciano

I had 2 stolen so just carried it in my pocket. Never an issue. Even going through tax checkpoints they didn't even look. Might be an issue if you parked on a footpath somewhere like king street regularly.

goblin59

I keep a photocopy of my tax disc in the holder and keep the original on file at home.
I also have a PDF on google documents of the tax and insurance so I can show them as needed without having to search

Waa7

What would everyone’s tips be on learning and becoming a bike mechanic? Is there any particular courses needed? etc, thanks for help in advance. I’m really interested in learning as I see a gap in the market in the next few years in Waterford especially having talked to Marcus Doherty n I know Hilton only takes appointments now. Seems there’s plenty of bikes to repair but not enough mechanics in the city they seem to be overwhelmed.

goblin59

Waa7 wrote: »

What would everyone’s tips be on learning and becoming a bike mechanic? Is there any particular courses needed? etc, thanks for help in advance. I’m really interested in learning as I see a gap in the market in the next few years in Waterford especially having talked to Marcus Doherty n I know Hilton only takes appointments now. Seems there’s plenty of bikes to repair but not enough mechanics in the city they seem to be overwhelmed.

A friend of mine did a mechanics course and then apprenticed for a bit before getting work in a Garage.

I found building that DR from parts off the internet was a good way to learn some mechanic skills.

Do a welders course too, being able to weld decently makes a huge difference on your portfolio.

Waa7

goblin59 wrote: »

A friend of mine did a mechanics course and then apprenticed for a bit before getting work in a Garage.

I found building that DR from parts off the internet was a good way to learn some mechanic skills.

Do a welders course too, being able to weld decently makes a huge difference on your portfolio.

What’s the DR? The welders course sounds like a great idea, thanks.

goblin59

Waa7 wrote: »

What’s the DR? The welders course sounds like a great idea, thanks.

Its an old Suzuki bike, probably the longest running production bike at the moment, 1990 - 2021
I was building one from parts off eBay

they're a very simple single cylinder bike, so was a good project to learn about engine maintenance, tappets, truing wheels, oil changing, wiring (did the entire loom from scratch)

previously I'd only done oil, sprockets, Dot4 and chain maintenance

Waa7

goblin59 wrote: »

Its an old Suzuki bike, probably the longest running production bike at the moment, 1990 - 2021
I was building one from parts off eBay

they're a very simple single cylinder bike, so was a good project to learn about engine maintenance, tappets, truing wheels, oil changing, wiring (did the entire loom from scratch)

previously I'd only done oil, sprockets, Dot4 and chain maintenance

Brilliant, I’ll try what I can on my own bike to whatever comes up. Once things open I’ll go do a welding course.

Hotblack Desiato

Waa7 wrote: »

What would everyone’s tips be on learning and becoming a bike mechanic? Is there any particular courses needed? etc, thanks for help in advance. I’m really interested in learning as I see a gap in the market in the next few years in Waterford especially having talked to Marcus Doherty n I know Hilton only takes appointments now. Seems there’s plenty of bikes to repair but not enough mechanics in the city they seem to be overwhelmed.

In Ireland, you have to learn how to gunter in bolts as tight as possible just short of snapping them without any grease :rolleyes:

Adding random scratches in places the owner won't notice til later is also a skill

Sir Galahad

Waa7 wrote: »

What would everyone’s tips be on learning and becoming a bike mechanic? Is there any particular courses needed? etc, thanks for help in advance. I’m really interested in learning as I see a gap in the market in the next few years in Waterford especially having talked to Marcus Doherty n I know Hilton only takes appointments now. Seems there’s plenty of bikes to repair but not enough mechanics in the city they seem to be overwhelmed.

I had two customers about ten years ago that were "state employees" and rode motorcycles for a living and both did a course in Kevin Street or similar college to become a mechanic. They got transferred back to the country and set up as bike mechanics and make a nice income. If you can do it you will definitely be busy. My mechanic has stopped servicing bikes and opened a bicycle shop. His business is now booming. There's a shortage of good mechanics in Dublin.

H_Lime

What's the craic with these lidl chargers??
I cycle the button to the motorcycle icon and it will charge the battery with I'm guessing a pre determined mix of voltages. But........why does it float charge (as in maintaining a steady voltage after going through its initial cycle) at such a low voltage???
Both of mine that I bought wk before last allow the battery run down to like 12.7/12.8v which is imo not a winner. I'd like to see a steady 14v as I would with my other chargers or have I missed a trick with them?

newmember2

H_Lime wrote: »

What's the craic with these lidl chargers??
I cycle the button to the motorcycle icon and it will charge the battery with I'm guessing a pre determined mix of voltages. But........why does it float charge (as in maintaining a steady voltage after going through its initial cycle) at such a low voltage???
Both of mine that I bought wk before last allow the battery run down to like 12.7/12.8v which is imo not a winner. I'd like to see a steady 14v as I would with my other chargers or have I missed a trick with them?

Your other chargers float charge the battery at 14V??

H_Lime

newmember? wrote: »

Your other chargers float charge the battery at 14V??

Yah, one at round 13.8 and other at 14. All my bikes have voltmeters fitted. I'm no expert on it but I took it to be the norm, you differ with that?

Hotblack Desiato

14V is only half a volt (or less) than what you'd get when charging or riding it, all functioning well

So it'd be charging the battery all the time, not just maintaining it.

I haven't needed to leave the Lidl one hooked up continuously but afaik it's monitoring the voltage at 12.7/12.8V and when it drops below that it charges up to 14.4 and then goes back into monitoring mode again.

What do the instructions say?

Also you could try disconnecting it for a minute when it's at the maintenance voltage level, reconnect it, set it to charge and see how long it takes to hit full charge - should only be 5 or 10 minutes.

H_Lime

Hotblack Desiato wrote: »

14V is only half a volt (or less) than what you'd get when charging or riding it, all functioning well

So it'd be charging the battery all the time, not just maintaining it.

I haven't left the Lidl one hooked up continuously but afaik it's monitoring the voltage at 12.7/12.8V and when it drops below that it charges up to 14.4 and then goes back into monitoring mode again.

What do the instructions say?

Also you could try disconnecting it for a minute when it's at the maintenance voltage level, reconnect it, set it to charge and see how long it takes to hit full charge - should only be 5 or 10 minutes.

I scanned the instructions but must have a better read.
The initial cycling of higher volts only lasts a short while which hopefully is because my bat's are in decent shape. It's the 12.7 long term trickling that I'm cautious of but will admit to knowing little of what the ideal voltage is to trickle on longterm. As I say my other chargers are 14v.

Hotblack Desiato

I don't know whether floating the battery at 14V is bad for it, it sounds on the high side but presumably Optimate etc. know what they are doing?

If it only takes a short time on charge to go from the maintenance voltage to fully charged then it's fine.

zubair

Today.... I snapped my chain adjuster bolt.

goblin59

some goodies from America arrived during the week
Got my Tusk topbox and pannier mounts added to the DR.

Pretty Solid set up, came with the brackets to convert ammo tins and pelican cases to quick release hard panniers

omerin

Changed the oil and filter, cleaned and polished 1 of the mufflers.

Some observations
jesus christ but there are some mumpties that over tighten bolts and nuts, filters, etc. Both nuts on the brackets of the exhausts were so over tighten through the years that they were practically rounded. I couldnt get one off without doing more damage. Replace fastners before they deteriorate and use a ****ing torque wrench

Spend a couple hours washing, polishing, waxing and drying the bike but neglect the underside, guilty of this myself. Only really looked at it when i took off the skid plate to spray paint it, but well worth spending some time cleaning

Manufacturers/resellers selling black accessories with silver nuts and bolts, sell black parts ye basterds

Spray painting said bolts and skid plate and the paint chipping off when you tighten the bolts. Del uses Simonize, must try it

flashinthepan

zubair wrote: »

Today.... I snapped my chain adjuster bolt.

Been there done that and bought the tee shirt

Snapped both on the V :-(

Did not bother trying to drill them out I just drilled and tapped a new hole just above the original

But there are kits available if you wanted the bolt to remain in the center
https://www.ebay.ie/itm/Chain-Adjuster-Bolt-Replacement-SAB-20-Swing-Arm-Buddy-2-Bolt-Repair-Kit-Saver-/281956256353

flashinthepan

Usb charger with voltage
came with a handy SAE to SAE extension lead will come in useful for the Air pump I carry in the top box
Before starting the bike voltage was 13v and running fast idle 14.9V

zubair

flashinthepan wrote: »

Been there done that and bought the tee shirt

Snapped both on the V :-(

Did not bother trying to drill them out I just drilled and tapped a new hole just above the original

But there are kits available if you wanted the bolt to remain in the center
https://www.ebay.ie/itm/Chain-Adjuster-Bolt-Replacement-SAB-20-Swing-Arm-Buddy-2-Bolt-Repair-Kit-Saver-/281956256353

Cheers for that, show stoppers like this annoy the F out of me. I just got up, walked inside and rang the garage, I've been dragging out the life of this chain anyway so it's going in to the shop for a new chain and sprocket too.

You've made me feel a bit better about it so thanks for that.

Fox Mulder

I am making some slow progress on the new front end for my Honda CB550. I got the hub I made laced into a black powder coated rim at my local wheel builder. He was able to lace all the spokes on the inside of the hub flange so there is a good amount of clearance between the spokes and the brake callipers which I was concerned about but it has all turned out well. Ideally I wouldn't have designed the fork spacing so wide if I knew I had this clearance but I think it looks OK.

I have started on the lower yoke and completed it apart from some holes for the steering stop which I will hold off on until I have the tank mounted (I bought a Royal Enfield Interceptor tank to replace the Honda one). It still needs to be sanded down, vapour blasted and black anodised. There are some pictures below of it so far.


Most of the machining complete. I will get it anodised black when I know where the steering stops need to be placed along with where I am going to mount the head light.



Started off as block which I rough the profile into. It is bolted from underneath into a fixture plate which I use for most of the machining operations.


Most of the machining on the top done. The bores for the forks and the steering stem are machined with a boring head.


The part is then flipped over onto the fixture plate and the bottom can be machined


Bottom being machined


Trying to orientate the part to machine the pinch bolt pockets and the slit


Using the slitting saw to finish the clamping section.


Test fitting on the forks. Its quite a relief when the callipers line up perfectly with the discs.




Im not a stylist and when on the forks it does look a little plain and boring but hopefully when its anodised it will look better.

H_Lime

Epic as usual.
Can I ask about the caliper clearence issue you mentioned?
Was it that the spokes were originally to be laced so they were anchored inside and laced outside the hub rather inside as it is now?

Ps really wanna kidnap you and all your kit, no homo, but yeah totally keep you in a basement and only feed you when you make me things.

Fox Mulder

H_Lime wrote: »

Epic as usual.
Can I ask about the caliper clearence issue you mentioned?
Was it that the spokes were originally to be laced so they were anchored inside and laced outside the hub rather inside as it is now?

Ps really wanna kidnap you and all your kit, no homo, but yeah totally keep you in a basement and only feed you when you make me things.

Yes, I originally planned having the spokes laced inside and outside. The clearance to the callipers was going to be very tight but I thought I would have approximately 5mm. Its difficult to know as I didn't have access to the exact rim I was going to use. I didn't want to reduce the width between the hub flanges to increase the clearance as I didn't know of any benchmarks that were less than what I had. Usually when designing parts at home I base the design on elements of an existing part so I know it's going to be safe without having to do all of the engineering. When I talked to the people at central wheel components in Birmingham they said they had plenty of experience with wheels spoked only on the inside with a comparable width between the hub flanges so I am happy to trust them. If the rim flies off while I'm riding I will let you know but I'm pretty confident combustion engine vehicles are all gonna be banned by the time I finish this project :-)

Regarding the second part of your post I am calling the police :-) but the good news is you can instead buy yourself a small desktop milling machine and do the same stuff I am doing. It doesn't really take any skill other than patience.

H_Lime

Fox Mulder wrote: »

Yes, I originally planned having the spokes laced inside and outside. The clearance to the callipers was going to be very tight but I thought I would have approximately 5mm. Its difficult to know as I didn't have access to the exact rim I was going to use. I didn't want to reduce the width between the hub flanges to increase the clearance as I didn't know of any benchmarks that were less than what I had. Usually when designing parts at home I base the design on elements of an existing part so I know it's going to be safe without having to do all of the engineering. When I talked to the people at central wheel components in Birmingham they said they had plenty of experience with wheels spoked only on the inside with a comparable width between the hub flanges so I am happy to trust them. If the rim flies off while I'm riding I will let you know but I'm pretty confident combustion engine vehicles are all gonna be banned by the time I finish this project :-)

Regarding the second part of your post I am calling the police :-) but the good news is you can instead buy yourself a small desktop milling machine and do the same stuff I am doing. It doesn't really take any skill other than patience.

Having built two wheels now myself I find this interesting. Thinking about it I reckon the wheel builder may have faced a few challenges with the spokes laced in this fashion.
He may have had more thread showing through the nipple this way and would have had to grind off the excess. The other thing he might have encountered is the tension required to seat the spoke in the nipple. As the spoke bend may not align perfectly it may have required a slight torquing to seat in the nipple.
This is why I rebuilt my wheel as the spokes supplied to me by Central wheel didn't have the correct bend and I was unhappy with this as them being stai less and all.
Either of these musing may not apply as I think about it as if it was built in central wheel (?) they would have altered the spoke bend in their jig.

Ranting aside those are some meaty monoblocks fitted to a spoked rim which is no mean feat, as well I know.
Keep on posting pics of the project its a real treat.

ronanc15

Autosol is some job. Thought my exhaust system was sparkling until I gave it a lash. Unreal.

zubair

ronanc15 wrote: »

Autosol is some job. Thought my exhaust system was sparkling until I gave it a lash. Unreal.

I sometimes wonder if autosol is doing the work or me, cleans up great but you have to use some serious elbow grease too. Harpic should be sold in Halfords for people like me.

ronanc15

zubair wrote: »

I sometimes wonder if autosol is doing the work or me, cleans up great but you have to use some serious elbow grease too. Harpic should be sold in Halfords for people like me.

Ha, that thought definitely crossed my mind yesterday when I was buffing it to death, wondering when the last time I had scrubbed them as much. Answer: never.

flashinthepan

zubair wrote: »

I sometimes wonder if autosol is doing the work or me, cleans up great but you have to use some serious elbow grease too. Harpic should be sold in Halfords for people like me.

The pipes on the V are looking a bit scruffy so I was thinking of giving them a clean but I am a lazy so and so
Is autosol a paste?
would it stay an any kind of a pad in a drill ? on low speed