General chat thread... Links, pictures, banter etc

The QuietMan

Hotblack Desiato wrote: »

Well my RH fork isn't so much leaky as empty! Makes a 'need more lubrication' noise when pumping the suspension at a standstill. I wasn't going to be riding it more than a few km once a week as things stand, but now I won't be riding it at all until I get this sorted. Will be looking at replacing fork bushes as well as the seals and dust seals.

Riding too fast over speed humps blew the rear shock on my previous bike, this is a much cheaper and easier fix, and maybe I'll learn :pac:

If it's only a dribble of oil then it's fine but on mine it splashed all over the place and gave the brake disc on that side a good coating! So I'll be cleaning that off and replacing the pads. Might bite the bullet and just replace the discs as well, they are serviceable but not in the first flush of youth. Then there's the 14 year old brake lines...

A previous bike of mine blew the head gasket and oil got into the coolant. I DIYed the head gasket and flushed out the coolant but didn't realise that the oil had already eaten into the hoses, over the next while they blew one after the other :eek:

When i'm riding over bad surfaces you can really feel it on the front, the roads around me are nearly as bad as those in down town Baghdad :rolleyes:

What shock did you replace it with? YSS?

I did just under 9 miles the other night and the pictures are the result of it all, another 9 and i'll probably have 1 fork emptied of its oil.

Have you gotten a price on getting the whole lot done? I'm mailing a guy tomorrow to see if he can do it, he comes highly recommended down this way :pac:

The head on my blade is fine thank god, the cooling system has been fully replaced with brand new parts. Did you get the head sorted easy enough?

The QuietMan

listermint wrote: »

Motorcycle insurance in Ireland isn't actually that bad tbh. It's quite reasonable.

We used to have a thread for it but it was swiped away off to some insurance sub forum by an eager mod.

AXA effectively control about 90% of the bike insurance market now and 100% of multi bike policies, both Principal & CN are underwritten by AXA.

The QuietMan

blade1 wrote: »

I think it's usually 2 years these days.
Used to be 3.

Yeah 2 years these days, if it's 2 years and 1 day the bonus is gone.

listermint

The QuietMan wrote: »

AXA effectively control about 90% of the bike insurance market now and 100% of multi bike policies, both Principal & CN are underwritten by AXA.

Price wise it's very good though. Multiple times better than car or van insurance. Especially for new entrants.

The QuietMan

listermint wrote: »

Price wise it's very good though. Multiple times better than car or van insurance. Especially for new entrants.

Definitely, i'm on numerous bike groups on facebook including UK ones, they are being fleeced on bikes compared to us, my car policy is up in 2 weeks, renewal quote €680, bike policy due in 6 weeks, impossible to see me paying more on my multi bike policy.

Acquiescence

I'll preface this by saying I'm largely clueless.

Bike flashed an oil warning light this morning and when checked it was proper low.

It was serviced in January and has done about 2000km since, it hasn't previously been burning oil.

Since lock down all I've been doing is a 15km round-trip. Would that short a ride with no long spins be causing it to burn oil?

If so would taking the long way home and adding an extra ten km or so to one or both of the trips be of any use?

I do let it come up to temp for a few minutes as a rule before getting on. I've topped it up anyway and will be more vigilent with checking levels.

H_Lime

Radical idea but tell us what bike, mileage, what oil and was it different from last oil.

Acquiescence

H_Lime wrote: »

Radical idea but tell us what bike, mileage, what oil and was it different from last oil.

Xj6, 28000 miles, do mean brand of oil or weight?

I've no idea what brand was used for the service.

I put motul 10w40 in it today.

Esel

Acquiescence wrote: »

I do let it come up to temp for a few minutes as a rule before getting on. I've topped it up anyway and will be more vigilent with checking levels.

I'm pretty sure it is much better (for the engine) to drive immediately after starting.

H_Lime

Acquiescence wrote: »

Xj6, 28000 miles, do mean brand of oil or weight?

I've no idea what brand was used for the service.

I put motul 10w40 in it today.

First thing first. Adjust oil so its perfectly filled to the upper indicator satisfying the manual stated conditions for this and record the mileage.

What life has she had and how does she ride? Is she fit?
Does she smoke on start up or when driven on? If so what colour is the smoke?
Is the exhaust tip and fairings around there sooty and stinky?
What servicing and mods done? What do the plugs look like?
Does she drip oil?

Sometimes it's rings but could be stem seals, answers to the above will tell. A change to fully snth and or wrong weight can cause an increase in consumption in some instances too.

H_Lime

Esel wrote: »

I'm pretty sure it is much better (for the engine) to drive immediately after starting.

Ah one of the greats this, up there with wd40 for chain lube and copper slip on pads.

Esel

H_Lime wrote: »

Ah one of the greats this, up there with wd40 for chain lube and copper slip on pads.

I take it you are poo-pooing my post. If so, can you refute it with actual information, please?

Frank Bullitt

listermint wrote: »

Motorcycle insurance in Ireland isn't actually that bad tbh. It's quite reasonable.

We used to have a thread for it but it was swiped away off to some insurance sub forum by an eager mod.

I have been hearing that a lot recently. A friend of mine only started a year or 2 ago and is already on a 1000cc Triumph of sorts.

For ANY returning immigrant, you have to face the fact that the first year back is a financial circus. You basically don't exist to banks etc, so you have to build it all up again.

I tried it before and I fell short and packed up and left again.

Oddly enough, in BC they will honour your experience from abroad, so my irish experience kicked in and I got a decent discount.

Hotblack Desiato

The QuietMan wrote: »

What shock did you replace it with? YSS?

I didn't, I tolerated it for a couple of years. I've always been much more concerned about front end feel, suspension wise, and it behaved given a little backing off over the rougher stuff. By the end of that couple of years, pretty much everything else on the bike was knackered anyway and I scrapped it.

Have you gotten a price on getting the whole lot done? I'm mailing a guy tomorrow to see if he can do it, he comes highly recommended down this way :pac:

The head on my blade is fine thank god, the cooling system has been fully replaced with brand new parts. Did you get the head sorted easy enough?

I'm intending to do the forks myself, I've done it before after all, and time is on my side getting bits - I'll buy special tools too if I have to, but only if I have to. Starting the job is the worst bit. Maybe tomorrow

The head gasket went on my CBR6 at about 60,000 miles, I didn't get the head skimmed or anything just did a straight replacement. Maybe I should have. But I sold the bike within about 2000 miles, didn't have any problems during that apart from the oil-weakened coolant hoses blowing.

Hotblack Desiato

Acquiescence wrote: »

Bike flashed an oil warning light this morning and when checked it was proper low.

Not great, it's a pressure warning light not a level warning light, so potential for damage is already there. If it flashed on for a fraction of a second then you probably got away with it, more than that then there is potential for major engine damage.

Since lock down all I've been doing is a 15km round-trip. Would that short a ride with no long spins be causing it to burn oil?

No.
Some bikes (especially Triumphs) use an oil jet on the back of the pistons to cool them, this leads to oil burning under high load / full throttle conditions but not under light load or normal engine temperature conditions.
Either there's a significant leak, or it wasn't filled up enough at the last service.

I do let it come up to temp for a few minutes as a rule before getting on. I've topped it up anyway and will be more vigilent with checking levels.

On manual choke carb bikes, ride off as soon as it runs with a stable idle with no choke.
On fuel injected bikes, just ride off.
You're just wasting time and petrol otherwise, but do keep the revs and throttle opening below half until it's had a km or two to warm up. Even that, with modern synthetic oils, may not actually be necessary, but no harm getting things circulating as they should before you open it up.

Acquiescence

Light only flashed on for a second, I'm surprised I caught it.

Bike is riding fine, doesn't seem down on power and my current commute literally has no traffic on it so I think I'd have noticed.

No blue smoke or anything on start up or when riding on.

It's always been serviced on or before indicated intervals, it's parked in 2 spots exclusively for the last 6 weeks and I'd definitely have noticed any leak, I'll have a look at the plugs after work.

Once I figure out where they are and what I'm supposed to look at :pac:

H_Lime

How much oil did she take to top up to full?
It's poss she was under filled at last change so nows yer chance to set the level correctly and gauge any consumption.

H_Lime

Esel wrote: »

I take it you are poo-pooing my post. If so, can you refute it with actual information, please?

I prefer to poo poo at poo pooing in general. Your perceived poo pooing on the particular post was pertinent in particular only to the postulated protracted polemic.
Or... I'm not going there buddy, I have no time to argue with randomers boards style over topics which don't inarest me, ymmv:) Start her up, rev her tits off with coppers lip on her pads, dot 5 in the masters and wd on yer nipples I couldn't care:pac:

blade1

Lads in UK helping out the more vulnerable.
Also getting to ride their bikes!
https://www.bbc.com/news/av/uk-52234129/cornwall-s-coronavirus-bikers-delivering-to-the-vulnerable

H_Lime

blade1 wrote: »

Lads in UK helping out the more vulnerable.
Also getting to ride their bikes!
https://www.bbc.com/news/av/uk-52234129/cornwall-s-coronavirus-bikers-delivering-to-the-vulnerable

Im equal parts cringe and fair play :eek::)
I'd join em only when it's not raining tho haha

blade1

H_Lime wrote: »

Im equal parts cringe and fair play :eek::)
I'd join em only when it's not raining tho haha

One lad on a little Ape.
Surely the most vulnerable of them all. :pac:

Frank Bullitt

Esel wrote: »

I'm pretty sure it is much better (for the engine) to drive immediately after starting.

Would depend on the engine, no?

Esel

Gintonious wrote: »

Would depend on the engine, no?

With a manual choke on, leaving the engine idle is not good for cylinder lubrication imo. With fuel injection, this is may not be so critical, but I still drive soon after starting the engine, rather than wait for it to 'warm up'. Keep the revs low for a few minutes of course.

Maybe The Third Man will enlighten us, but I won't be holding my breath...

quote="H_Lime;113143296" I prefer to poo poo at poo pooing in general. Your perceived poo pooing on the particular post was pertinent in particular only to the postulated protracted polemic.
Or... I'm not going there buddy, I have no time to argue with randomers boards style over topics which don't inarest me, ymmv:) Start her up, rev her tits off with coppers lip on her pads, dot 5 in the masters and wd on yer nipples I couldn't care:pac:

lennymc

about to pull the trigger on a bike - 2007 fz6 s2 from the brother in law. woot.

DelBoy Trotter

LIGHTNING wrote: »

I am looking at 2 stroke 125's. The output of them is a bit hard to find some say they are 15bhp restricted and others saying much higher unrestricted.

When they were very popular back in the day, they used to come restricted so younger people could ride them as far as I remember. Unrestricted they were 28-30bhp

blade1

LIGHTNING wrote: »

I am looking at 2 stroke 125's. The output of them is a bit hard to find some say they are 15bhp restricted and others saying much higher unrestricted.

https://www.subito.it/moto-e-scooter/cagiva-mito-lucky-explorer-sassari-334644965.htm

H_Lime

lennymc wrote: »

about to pull the trigger on a bike - 2007 fz6 s2 from the brother in law. woot.

Good man Lenny, the M1 won't know what hit it:)

lennymc

H_Lime wrote: »

Good man Lenny, the M1 won't know what hit it:)

LOL. Have to find my gear now....

I think i need a new lid, gloves & boots. The rest should be ok as it was new enough when i "retired" the last time.

It's one of these ones. Never had a yamaha before......

H_Lime

They a 20 valve motor or was that just the thou?!
Sweet machine and handy half fairing;)

lennymc

H_Lime wrote: »

They a 20 valve motor or was that just the thou?!
Sweet machine and handy half fairing;)

a what now? LOL.

I genuinely have no idea. It's a 'retuned' r6 motor, with some top end apparently. Im sure it will feel gutless compared to the busas and thousands, but as you said in a previous post, there is a genuine enjoyment in riding a lesser powered yoke harder. One of the best spins I had was on a 94 transalp chasing some guys on twisty roads out to kells road races about 10 yrs ago. It was hilariously epic and bouncy.

I have a few practical plans for it - scottoiler, taller screen, heated grips, luggage, and will see how I get on with it in the meantime. Apparently the shock and forks are not great, so maybe a set of cartridge emulators, springs and good oil for the forks, along with some sort of a good shock at the back (need to see what fits, as apparently they don't use a linkage, and shock is mounted direct to the swingarm). Ill throw up a thread when I get it.

The just ride it like I stole it :eek: