The "Today I did something to my bike" thread

newmember2

H_Lime wrote: »

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?

Resting voltage for the battery should be around 12.8V so as far as I can remember, once the charger has it fully charged, it just sends a pulse every so often to maintain it at 12.8V.

zubair

ronanc15 wrote: »

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.

Worth the effort. IMO clean downpipes really make a difference to how a bike looks. You see some sparkly bikes out there with crusty looking downpipes, ruins it.

ronanc15

zubair wrote: »

Worth the effort. IMO clean downpipes really make a difference to how a bike looks. You see some sparkly bikes out there with crusty looking downpipes, ruins it.

Too true. It's kind of like lifting the bonnet of a car and seeing it's regularly cleaned underneath. Its not essential but its a decent measure of how much TLC has been applied.

zubair

flashinthepan wrote: »

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

Harpic power plus for people like you and I, let it sit for 3 or 4 minutes, then hose it down. Autosol on a rag afterwards to bring up the shine, minimal effort, shiny pipes.

It goes without saying really to avoid getting the bleach on anything but the downpipes, including yourself,

flashinthepan

zubair wrote: »

Harpic power plus for people like you and I, let it sit for 3 or 4 minutes, then hose it down. Autosol on a rag afterwards to bring up the shine, minimal effort, shiny pipes.

It goes without saying really to avoid getting the bleach on anything but the downpipes, including yourself,

Cheers will pick some up and give it go :-) only 2 pipes so should be able to manage it
Hopefully

CJhaughey

zubair wrote: »

Harpic power plus for people like you and I, let it sit for 3 or 4 minutes, then hose it down. Autosol on a rag afterwards to bring up the shine, minimal effort, shiny pipes.

It goes without saying really to avoid getting the bleach on anything but the downpipes, including yourself,

Its actually acid, despite being called Harpic its not a bleach, and as such should not be used on bare alloy..

zubair

CJhaughey wrote: »

Its actually acid, despite being called Harpic its not a bleach, and as such should not be used on bare alloy..

Yes it contains acid. Not sure you're suggesting it shouldn't be put on my or anyone else's exhaust though. Most stock exhausts are stainless.

I've done this on all my bikes and never seen any negatives to it, they don't rust any faster afterwards or crumble away after using harpic. Usually I bleach and polish my downpipes once a year and could probably get away with 1.5 or 2 years before they really need it. Used daily, 4 seasons.

H_Lime

zubair wrote: »

I bleach and polish my downpipes once a year

Hey live and live I say!:D
Have you preferred pronouns we should refer to you by?

CJhaughey

zubair wrote: »

Yes it contains acid. Not sure you're suggesting it shouldn't be put on my or anyone else's exhaust though. Most stock exhausts are stainless.

I've done this on all my bikes and never seen any negatives to it, they don't rust any faster afterwards or crumble away after using harpic. Usually I bleach and polish my downpipes once a year and could probably get away with 1.5 or 2 years before they really need it. Used daily, 4 seasons.

No I am not suggesting that you don't use it on downpipes, I am just making others aware that it may react badly with alloy if it comes in contact with it, just in case people think it is bleach and not acid based.
I'm all for making life easier but like a lot of powerful cleaners you have to be careful with them, including the alkaline cleaners that are also commonplace.
Alloy is much more prone to damage and a small bit spilt on a footrest hangar can do a lot of harm to the finish.

D3V!L

Decided to check the air filter on my 990 SM before it goes in for remapping with mototuning next week. Had to strip off the side panels and tank to get to it. All looked good and even found that the SAS had previously been deleted, so win win

zubair

D3V!L wrote: »

Decided to check the air filter on my 990 SM before it goes in for remapping with mototuning next week. Had to strip off the side panels and tank to get to it. All looked good and even found that the SAS had previously been deleted, so win win

Was chatting with gary today and he said he just mapped another MT09 today, the SMs and MTs must keep him in business.

CJhaughey wrote: »

No I am not suggesting that you don't use it on downpipes, I am just making others aware that it may react badly with alloy if it comes in contact with it, just in case people think it is bleach and not acid based.
I'm all for making life easier but like a lot of powerful cleaners you have to be careful with them, including the alkaline cleaners that are also commonplace.
Alloy is much more prone to damage and a small bit spilt on a footrest hangar can do a lot of harm to the finish.

I hear ya.

heliguyheliguy

New Leather seat, with extra padding, please excuse the dirt I commute.

MojoMaker

Nice. Is that a factory replacement or a custom seat?

zubair

heliguyheliguy wrote: »

New Leather seat, with extra padding, please excuse the dirt I commute.

Gotta look after them buns.

heliguyheliguy

MojoMaker wrote: »

Nice. Is that a factory replacement or a custom seat?

It's recovered in the factory pattern but with a few layers of extra foam. Looks and feels really plush.

well overdue.[IMG][/img]

MojoMaker

Lovely job. Where did you get it done?

heliguyheliguy

MojoMaker wrote: »

Lovely job. Where did you get it done?

A bloke on adverts advertises for recovering car seats (burghezu)

No Affiliation, he's close enough to me for the covid travel restrictions so I asked if he would do it and he said yes. I am very pleased with the results.:)

cantdecide

Fazer below not fully done but it's looking done. She's running like a top and shake down mileage is the next milestone

My first 'proper' paint job went pretty well, I think. Happy with the finish, just to de-nib, polish and ceramic coat it now.

goblin59

cantdecide wrote: »

Fazer below not fully done but it's looking done. She's running like a top and shake down mileage is the next milestone

My first 'proper' paint job went pretty well, I think. Happy with the finish, just to de-nib, polish and ceramic coat it now.

Never seen a hatchet used like that before xD

blade1

goblin59 wrote: »

Never seen a hatchet used like that before xD

He wanted a chopper!

cantdecide

goblin59 wrote: »

Never seen a hatchet used like that before xD

It might be a hatchet job but it's all about improvisation in my shed!!

H_Lime

cantdecide wrote: »

Fazer below not fully done but it's looking done. She's running like a top and shake down mileage is the next milestone

My first 'proper' paint job went pretty well, I think. Happy with the finish, just to de-nib, polish and ceramic coat it now.

Lookin Well!!
Did you post a vid on your painting?

lennymc

did very little in quite a while, went to start the fazer a couple of weeks ago after a good while sitting up, and it was dead. Charged battery, but it wasnt holding, so new battery. test ride around the block, and it was riding rough as a box of frogs, and eventually died. New battery was dead, recharged, left it for a few days and came back to 6 volts. Charged, put a meter across it, and <12 volts at5k rpm. new regulator ordered and fit, so its now back in spec at 5k rpm. Battery fully charged now, so will get out for a spin around the block later, see how it's riding, and monitor battery level over next few days to make sure that there is no drain. The joys of parking things up. Stupid covid.

H_Lime

lennymc wrote: »

did very little in quite a while, went to start the fazer a couple of weeks ago after a good while sitting up, and it was dead. Charged battery, but it wasnt holding, so new battery. test ride around the block, and it was riding rough as a box of frogs, and eventually died. New battery was dead, recharged, left it for a few days and came back to 6 volts. Charged, put a meter across it, and <12 volts at5k rpm. new regulator ordered and fit, so its now back in spec at 5k rpm. Battery fully charged now, so will get out for a spin around the block later, see how it's riding, and monitor battery level over next few days to make sure that there is no drain. The joys of parking things up. Stupid covid.

Glad to hear you're whippin her back into shape Lenny.
A dash mounted v meters a great idea.

lennymc

H_Lime wrote: »

Glad to hear you're whippin her back into shape Lenny.
A dash mounted v meters a great idea.

not going that far - ill hook upa battery tender charge point, and use that for measuring the V.

still need to fit my lights, scottoiler and heated grips.....

no need to use the bike now with wfh etc, but will hopefully get out for some sort of a spin this week/end

goblin59

tried to upgrade the rotor on the DR over the weekend from a 290mm to a 320mm, should have spent the extra cash and gone EBC, damn KKE rotor was too thick and wheel wouldn't spin, even with the pads sanded down.

Starter motor might have blown too, so going to spend the day looking at the engine to see why.

worse case, I'm going to borrow the starter off the CCM R30 and then refurbish my starter

H_Lime

goblin59 wrote: »

tried to upgrade the rotor on the DR over the weekend from a 290mm to a 320mm, should have spent the extra cash and gone EBC, damn KKE rotor was too thick and wheel wouldn't spin, even with the pads sanded down.

Starter motor might have blown too, so going to spend the day looking at the engine to see why.

worse case, I'm going to borrow the starter off the CCM R30 and then refurbish my starter

Bummer, hate when stuff like that happens but safety first with the anchors.
"but its 5.15mm thick and the factory max spec is 4.2mm"
That's a thick disc!
Is the ebc 4.2mm?

Other than the usual problems associated with starter motors failing I did once use a spurious genny gasket which bound the starter gears to the sprag clutch as it was marginally thinner. Basically it meant the starter motor was mega sluggish and sounded like it was dieing, took ages to figure that one out.
Good that you have a spare.

KildareMan

Sun shining so the long way to work. 60km of bliss via the Sally Gap, Cruagh etc. Glorious.

D3V!L

KildareMan wrote: »

Sun shining so the long way to work. 60km of bliss via the Sally Gap, Cruagh etc. Glorious.

Sounds like an awful commute :pac:

KildareMan

D3V!L wrote: »

Sounds like an awful commute :pac:

Someone has to do it. Double my "normal" commute. The Tiger seemed to enjoy it.

goblin59

H_Lime wrote: »

Bummer, hate when stuff like that happens but safety first with the anchors.
"but its 5.15mm thick and the factory max spec is 4.2mm"
That's a thick disc!
Is the ebc 4.2mm?

Other than the usual problems associated with starter motors failing I did once use a spurious genny gasket which bound the starter gears to the sprag clutch as it was marginally thinner. Basically it meant the starter motor was mega sluggish and sounded like it was dieing, took ages to figure that one out.
Good that you have a spare.

looking online, the EBC is 4mm thick.
Insane that 1mm makes a difference!

Yeah, Im glad Dad doesn't mind me robbing the CCM's engine! who reason he bought the bike was for spares xD it's a supermoto with a XF650 engine in it and KTM 640 suspension.


My plan now is drain the carb, remove one of the spark plugs and see can i manually turn the crank.
If that fixes it happy days. If not, organ robbing time

cantdecide

H_Lime wrote: »

Lookin Well!!
Did you post a vid on your painting?

Thank you muchly! I'll stick one more up once the bike is running and riding. I've decided to repaint the tank because there was room for improvement. I'll save the tank repaint for after the shakedown though. I'll be glad to be finished with it!!

H_Lime

goblin59 wrote: »

looking online, the EBC is 4mm thick.
Insane that 1mm makes a difference!

Yeah, Im glad Dad doesn't mind me robbing the CCM's engine! who reason he bought the bike was for spares xD it's a supermoto with a XF650 engine in it and KTM 640 suspension.


My plan now is drain the carb, remove one of the spark plugs and see can i manually turn the crank.
If that fixes it happy days. If not, organ robbing time

I suppose its over 18% bigger being .95mm oversize. Modifying pads to suit is a bit of a bodge, your doing the right thing replacing imo. You could bring it to an engineering firm and have it resurfaced to 4.2 if they won't take it back.

Is the starter cranking at all or is it dead? Give it a tapitty tap tap of a hammer and try again. If she's dead dead try bypassing the loom and feed it 12v direct and see if she spins? Failing that open it up, clean it out, grease the bearing and try again.

cantdecide wrote: »

Thank you muchly! I'll stick one more up once the bike is running and riding. I've decided to repaint the tank because there was room for improvement. I'll save the tank repaint for after the shakedown though. I'll be glad to be finished with it!!

Looking forward to it. You have your next project lined up? Any work on yer own bikes?

goblin59

H_Lime wrote: »

I suppose its over 18% bigger being .95mm oversize. Modifying pads to suit is a bit of a bodge, your doing the right thing replacing imo. You could bring it to an engineering firm and have it resurfaced to 4.2 if they won't take it back.

Is the starter cranking at all or is it dead? Give it a tapitty tap tap of a hammer and try again. If she's dead dead try bypassing the loom and feed it 12v direct and see if she spins? Failing that open it up, clean it out, grease the bearing and try again.

It was an ebay purchase, so will just tell ebay this item isn't fit for purpose and get the refund that way.
I can definitly see them trying a you're on your own buddy thing'
I think it would be too expensive to try and get turned, plus its a floating disc, can't see that being an easy thing to resurface or cheap.

I can easily turn the crank by hand, took the bung out of the LHS casing to give it a spin.

A direct feed from the battery didn't turn the motor either.
I've a mate swinging round later to bring it up to his garage and I can pop the motor out there to take apart.
Unfortunatly not in Fermanagh at the moment, so don't have the same space in the apartment garage to be taking off the exhaust, cam chain tensionor and clutch cable and then leave them out for a week while a new part arrives.

The CCM starter uses a slightly different mounting system too. Bastards must have known I'd be cannibalizing it xD

zubair

Today I did something completely different with my bike, I rode it.

Last day with the current job tomorrow so had booked access to the office to clear out my locker. Well the biker gods were on my side, took the scenic route of course, 200km+ covered. Knackered!

ronanc15

zubair wrote: »

Today I did something completely different with my bike, I rode it.

Last day with the current job tomorrow so had booked access to the office to clear out my locker. Well the biker gods were on my side, took the scenic route of course, 200km+ covered. Knackered!

Fair play bud. Finished with my current job Monday. Thursday pencilled in for a day's spin and the weather is looking good. All the best in the new job if you've one lined up!

zubair

Cheers, New job lined up alright, starting next week. Have a few days off in between too. unfortunately I'll be back working when the 5km is lifted. Best of luck to you too :-)

H_Lime

Ehhh....no.
More than I can handle offroad.


She's a tar puppy for sure.

KildareMan

Fixed not 1 but 2 punctures, at the same time coming into work. Fence post staple. Embeded to the "hilt" with the two punctures over a cm apart. No way I can bend the ends apart so shows the energy and mechanics at work when a tyre picks up. Sticky string and compressor under the Tiger's seat so back up and running in 15 minutes.

robbie_63

KildareMan wrote: »

Fixed not 1 but 2 punctures, at the same time coming into work. Fence post staple. Embeded to the "hilt" with the two punctures over a cm apart. No way I can bend the ends apart so shows the energy and mechanics at work when a tyre picks up. Sticky string and compressor under the Tiger's seat so back up and running in 15 minutes.

Fair play I would be still sitting at the side of the road!

What brand Sticky String Kit \ Compressor do you have?

cantdecide

Damage:


Clean up the area:


Make graphics using a carefully removed good piece from a scrap fairing:


et voila. €330 saved - yes, €330 for a bloody decal. Not mistaken; not joking!!


The true solution is a good, used complete fairing which would run €100-€150 but in the absence of one available, this will more that do for now.

cantdecide

H_Lime wrote: »

Looking forward to it. You have your next project lined up? Any work on yer own bikes?

Motivation went through the floor in the New Year and a promise to put me on shift work didn't happen so I've struggled with the mind, energy, and the time to keep after multiple projects.

On one hand, I might take a break after the Fazer and Fireblade are finished. On the other hand, I'm half looking for something to use and abuse ahead of my beloved GSX1400. It's currently declared off the road so I have nothing of my own on the road. I wouldn't mind finding something sports-touring-ish or ideally, something adventure-ish I can do some touring on this year! If it needed fixing up, all the better.

If nothing turns up, I may put the Fazer on the road in the meantime.

KildareMan

robbie_63 wrote: »

Fair play I would be still sitting at the side of the road!

What brand Sticky String Kit \ Compressor do you have?

The compressor is an Airman brand. Works a treat.

The puncture kit I'm not sure but there are plenty on line, although I noticed when looking today for more of the strings that a lot of the kits don't come with the rubber cement.

LLewellen Farquarson

Just picked up an RAC compressor from Argos. €18 so pretty cheap. Took it apart and greased the metal gears and oiled the piston.
Got it as it's the smallest I could find (not much storage space on the bike).
Comes with crocodile clips, SAE and accessory plug.
Tried on wheelbarrow tyres, so it works fine.

KildareMan

Pretty sure I got my Airman here

https://www.nippynormans.com/k1200s/airman-adventure-tour-electric-air-pump-with-extra-attachments-and-bag

Possibly not the best place now with Brexit. It's a compact unit with storage for everything. Fits nicely under the pillion seat of the Tiger

LollipopJimmy

After a few distractions, mostly work shaped I've finally got the finger out.

F4i clocks wired into the F3 and working, need to make brackets now and a temp sensor from a 900RR to make the temp work. Should have it back out on the road in the next couple of weeks

Waiting on rebuild kits for the front calipers and need to reassemble the rest

https://imgur.com/gallery/BxoCBGd

lennymc

lennymc wrote: »

did very little in quite a while, went to start the fazer a couple of weeks ago after a good while sitting up, and it was dead. Charged battery, but it wasnt holding, so new battery. test ride around the block, and it was riding rough as a box of frogs, and eventually died. New battery was dead, recharged, left it for a few days and came back to 6 volts. Charged, put a meter across it, and <12 volts at5k rpm. new regulator ordered and fit, so its now back in spec at 5k rpm. Battery fully charged now, so will get out for a spin around the block later, see how it's riding, and monitor battery level over next few days to make sure that there is no drain. The joys of parking things up. Stupid covid.

Bike is riding fine now, good charge and battery holding charge. Mysterious drain is gone, happy days. Will get around to fitting the lights and heated grips just in time for summer and the longer evenings...

i had actually forgotten how nice it is to ride - does needs lots of revs to get going tho. redline at 14k, nothing below 6k.

I got ordered a pair of Rizoma bar end mirrors yesterday from a bike shop in Genoa, Italy Carpimoto. Rizoma stuff can be hard to find here. Lots of UK shops sell them but stock is intermittent and I didn't want to get stung with brexit charges. They were posted at 5.30pm yesterday, delivered today at 11.30am and on the bike not long after that.




Rain started bucketing down as I was putting them on, flooded my tool box in a few seconds it was so heavy :mad:





A vast improvement over the stock mirrors, now I can see something other than my elbows. Next on the list when I can spare the cash will be black Rizoma handlebars and risers. Then maybe Bonamici rearsets, funds permitting.

blade1

Deleted User wrote: »

I got ordered a pair of Rizoma bar end mirrors yesterday from a bike shop in Genoa, Italy Carpimoto. Rizoma stuff can be hard to find here. Lots of UK shops sell them but stock is intermittent and I didn't want to get stung with brexit charges. They were posted at 5.30pm yesterday, delivered today at 11.30am and on the bike not long after that.




Rain started bucketing down as I was putting them on, flooded my tool box in a few seconds it was so heavy :mad:





A vast improvement over the stock mirrors, now I can see something other than my elbows. Next on the list when I can spare the cash will be black Rizoma handlebars and risers. Then maybe Bonamici rearsets, funds permitting.

Yeah carpi are handy alright and some great prices on some of their stuff.

Anyone have any idea how expensive powder coating is? I was going to swap the bars and risers and rearsets on the MT10 for rizoma or similar but now I'm thinking just powder coat the stock ones instead. I think the bike will look much better with as much of the alloy materials done in black. Is it expensive, take long to get done etc?