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Z3n posted:Sounds like the wires might have gotten pinched or mangled somewhere are are making a connection when they shouldn't. Start by looking for damage to the wiring harness or fusebox. Thanks! That doesn't sound too bad, the wires all look pretty easy to get at when the plastics are off. Will have a go at it on the weekend.
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Apr 11, 2011 09:37
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Z3n posted:Ammanas, Voltage stayed the same when revving the bike, around 14v.
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Apr 11, 2011 21:17
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I'm thinking about moving the rectifier on my Monster from under the seat to below the frame, out of the way. Any downsides to this? I'm tired of it cooking my junk on long rides. I see on some Ducati forums it's a common thing to do I've just never moved one before.
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Apr 11, 2011 21:34
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Ammanas posted:Voltage stayed the same when revving the bike, around 14v. Charging system should be ok then... Has the problem showed up since then?
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Apr 11, 2011 21:38
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I have a KLR 250. It has horrible front brakes. I can pull the lever all the way to the bar and still almost push the bike around. I have bleed the system lots of times, changed pads, changed fluid. When you squeeze the lever, it doesn't get easier to hold down like the master cylinder is leaking internally, and there isn't any fluid getting out. So there is probably air in the system. How do I get it out? I have a mityvac bleeder that I have run a quart of fluid through as fast as I could to try and push the bubbles down. I have tryed pumping the lever and squishing it out. It might get a little better for a while so its sort of ridable, but eventually it goes mushy again. The brake line visibly moves a bit when holding the brake, but the little flex in the rubber lines can't make the brake unusable, can it? I have a brake setup from my parts bike, but it was converted to dirt only a long time ago or the m/c came off another bike as i couldn't see a way of adding a brake light switch to it. What can I do to get safe brakes?
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Apr 11, 2011 22:11
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Rev. Dr. Moses P. Lester posted:Pretty sure brake pads should not really move around at all in the caliper. The spring/bracket things in there should put pressure on them and keep them mostly stationary. Sounds like that might be the issue. Are the spring/brackets all there? Are they in the right spot, oriented the right way? Sometimes it's hard to tell just by looking at them which way they go in. If you have a repair manual, check in there for a diagram showing that stuff. Some designs will move forward or backward a bit. The pads on my Bandit click back a little when you're rolling backwards and hit the brakes.
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Apr 12, 2011 01:58
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Phat_Albert posted:Some designs will move forward or backward a bit. The pads on my Bandit click back a little when you're rolling backwards and hit the brakes. My Gixxer does the same.
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Apr 12, 2011 02:01
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blindjoe posted:I have a KLR 250. It has horrible front brakes. I can pull the lever all the way to the bar and still almost push the bike around. If you can pull the brake lever all the way in and still push the bike then you have an unsafe to ride bike. Even my 1977 Honda's lovely single piston first generation disc brake works better than that. My guess is that it's time to rebuild the front brake caliper. I've only worked on 70's and 80's bikes but I can't imagine it's any harder on a modern bike. Basically you remove the caliper, disassemble it, clean it like crazy, and replace all the rubber bits.
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Apr 12, 2011 02:14
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Crayvex posted:If you can pull the brake lever all the way in and still push the bike then you have an unsafe to ride bike. Even my 1977 Honda's lovely single piston first generation disc brake works better than that. It's a KLR250 though. Blindjoe, how does it work on dirt? Can you lock up the front? Stoppies? Could just be dirt bike brake syndrome.
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Apr 12, 2011 09:18
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blindjoe posted:The brake line visibly moves a bit when holding the brake, but the little flex in the rubber lines can't make the brake unusable, can it? Can't hurt to replace the line anyway, even an upgrade to a braided line isn't expensive. I'd pull the caliper at the same time and do as Crayvex suggested.
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Apr 12, 2011 10:08
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I brought this problem to you guys a few weeks ago, and now I've got a related question. My 05 Ducati Monster 620 has been having fuel pump issues. It'll occasionally die out either while riding or while idling and occasionally when I turn the key I won't hear the pump turn on. I took the pump out to inspect the wiring and everything looked fine. I was thinking electrical issue since whenever the pump is actually working, it works fine, i don't get any performance issues. While I was inspecting the pump I looked at the relays and both were "clicking" on and off as they should. So yesterday I was trying to get it to repeat the problem so I could try and direct wire the pump from the battery to prove once and for all if it's the pump or a wiring issue and of course I couldn't get it to shut off. While enjoying the longest ride the bike has given me in awhile, I noticed that the tachometer was behaving oddly. It still registered the engine speed, but it would bottom out as if the engine was off when idling. So it'd sweep up when I gave it gas, but wouldn't show that it was idling at 1k, it'd just drop all the way to the bottom. This got me thinking that I had occasionally had the instrument cluster behave oddly when I shut the bike off. The LCD displays would remain on for a second, and the right turn signal would flash for a bit before everything finally shut off. So my question is this: Since I know that the fuel pump and the instrument cluster both use the relays, and I've been having both instrument cluster and fuel pump issues, is it possible that the relays can be malfunctioning in some other way even though they're still "clicking" on and off as they should?
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Apr 12, 2011 14:26
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Saga posted:It's a KLR250 though. What the Hell does that mean? If I pull the front brake in all the way on my bicycle, I can't push the bike forward. If you can still roll the front tire with the front brake lever fully compressed then something is up. (Unless bad brakes are intentional on offroad bikes): 1) Air in the brake line. (Pump the gently caress out of the brake lever and then push the bike. Can you still roll it? If not, then there is air in the system or your master cylinder needs to be rebuilt) 2) Caliper is hosed up and the piston(s) aren't moving their entire length of travel. (Gunked up piston seals or piston is froze) Once again, I'm a 70's/80's bike guy but I can't imagine brakes have gotten worse on modern bikes.
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Apr 12, 2011 15:34
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Crayvex posted:What the Hell does that mean? If I pull the front brake in all the way on my bicycle, I can't push the bike forward. If you can still roll the front tire with the front brake lever fully compressed then something is up. (Unless bad brakes are intentional on offroad bikes): It means dirt bikes don't have strong front brakes by road standards? This helps you not dump it as soon as you touch the front brake. My KDX's front brake is basically a fork compression device on the road, not so much a brake. But it will stop you very effectively off road. If it's just bad period, then clearly yes, the caliper should be stripped and cleaned, the seals checked, and the whole system should be refilled and rebled. Reverse bleeding it may help get rid of persistent airlocks that don't respond to conventional methods.
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Apr 12, 2011 16:09
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I dunno what it is like on dirt, I don't feel like riding it more then around my culdesac. I was thinking I should pull the caliper off and put it up higher than the master for the next bleeding. I also will rebuild my spare caliper and replace the one I have. Where is the best place to get caliper rebuild kits? Where are braided lines cheap? I have been buying everything for this bike from bikebandit, they seem ok I guess. Because its a KLR250 and no one else wants one, its hard to get aftermarket stuff and I have to buy fancy kawasaki stuff. I couldnt' find the top fork seal, nor could I get it out without mangling it, so I got to buy new kawasaki parts instead. blindjoe fucked around with this message at 17:51 on Apr 12, 2011 |
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Apr 12, 2011 17:49
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The SV has a hydraulic-actuated clutch. I was dumb and set it down at the end of my driveway, breaking the end of the clutch lever off. It kind of looks like there's a sort of adapter to make the lever action push on the hydraulic piston on the inside of the pivot instead of pull a cable on the outside. Is it going to be difficult finding a replacement or is my assumption about the adapter more or less accurate and I can use pretty much any lever?
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Apr 12, 2011 19:34
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Have you looked into how much a replacement lever costs? Those are generally designed to break off if you even look at them funny, so they're generally designed to be easy to replace as well.
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Apr 12, 2011 19:52
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blindjoe posted:I dunno what it is like on dirt, I don't feel like riding it more then around my culdesac. Fork seals are removed by pumping 80PSI of air into the fork air valves. Drain the fork oil and wrap the area with a rag unless you want fork oil aerosol on everything. When you bleed the front brake no part of the brake hose should be higher than the master cylinder. Raise it up.
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Apr 12, 2011 20:28
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Offroad brakes are a total bitch to bleed, thanks to the really, really long hose. Tips I have are to make sure there's no high point in the line, between the MC and the caliper. Rotate the banjo down if you need to in order to get the hose pointing down, rather than up. Also, it can be helpful to bleed the banjo bolts, sometimes air will get stuck in there. Just squeeze the brake lever, crack the banjo loose, and retighten it before the lever hits the bar. If there's air in the line, it'll hiss and spit as it gets forced out.
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Apr 12, 2011 20:34
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sirbeefalot posted:The SV has a hydraulic-actuated clutch. I was dumb and set it down at the end of my driveway, breaking the end of the clutch lever off. It kind of looks like there's a sort of adapter to make the lever action push on the hydraulic piston on the inside of the pivot instead of pull a cable on the outside. Is it going to be difficult finding a replacement or is my assumption about the adapter more or less accurate and I can use pretty much any lever? Does it look kind of like this? If so make sure you save it. The ones Ducati use have a little shoulder to actuate a clutch lever sensor, and loving Ducati will not sell one without buying a whole new lever for super expensive. Be really careful taking it apart, sometimes they used loctite on the little grub screws and they are easy to strip out.
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Apr 12, 2011 21:05
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So the most common advice I read before buying my bike was that as a new rider: 1) Don't buy new for your first bike 2) You will crash your first 3) Buy small(ish) I've followed this and am not only happy with my purchase but am learning a ton and don't feel at all that I have "too much bike". However as a rue of thumb when will I "graduate", so to speak, to the next level of motorcycle? It it a mileage thing? (I have 2,000 miles logged on a scooter and about 500 miles on my current motorcycle). It it a time thing, like 1-2 years?
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Apr 12, 2011 22:42
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If you're still having fun on it, what's the problem?
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Apr 12, 2011 22:54
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Bukanza posted:However as a rue of thumb when will I "graduate", so to speak, to the next level of motorcycle? It it a mileage thing? (I have 2,000 miles logged on a scooter and about 500 miles on my current motorcycle). It it a time thing, like 1-2 years?
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Apr 12, 2011 22:59
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edit
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Apr 12, 2011 23:01
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When you have more 'Oof! That could've gone wrong if I did not see that one coming!' then 'Oof! I almost crashed, better not do that again...' moments.
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Apr 12, 2011 23:01
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SlightlyMadman posted:If you're still having fun on it, what's the problem? cryst posted:It's when you get bored with your first bike, and/or want a bike that can do things that your first bike can't. That, and I'm a taller guy and have a somewhat smaller bike. I think I'd be slightly more comfortable on a larger machine. I don't know - I think I'm going to stick with what I have until next spring. There's no rush.
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Apr 12, 2011 23:36
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Bukanza posted:However as a rue of thumb when will I "graduate", so to speak, to the next level of motorcycle? Once you know what you really want in a motorcycle. Also probably what other people said too.
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Apr 13, 2011 02:31
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Other than a garage, how do you guys secure your bikes to prevent theft? EDIT: http://faq.ninja250.org/wiki/First_days:_Living_with_a_motorcycle Man this site has a lot of info... Sorry for the dumbass questions I throw out every couple of days. I've got no bike, no license and lots of daydreams. DadWilly fucked around with this message at 02:57 on Apr 13, 2011 |
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Apr 13, 2011 02:37
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Maybe it's the fact that San Diego looooves their stop signs on the 101, or that lane sharing is legal here. But I don't really mind the freeway. I'd rather be on a fun road but it's also fun to just blow by parking lot traffic on the 5 laughing too.
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Apr 13, 2011 02:47
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Bukanza posted:I'm not necessarily bored with the current bike, but I find myself taking longer and longer rides and being relegated to the smaller roads as this 250cc is not super happy with the Interstate. Not that I *want* to drive on the interstate mind you, but sometimes it's a great time saver. You'd be the perfect candidate for a Ninja 500 or a similar 500cc two-cylinder. It's the logical progression if you like your 250, but want a bit more oomph. House Party 4 posted:Other than a garage, how do you guys secure your bikes to prevent theft? I have no garage, so I street park my bike with a disc lock, a chain through the rear wheel and a cover.
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Apr 13, 2011 10:04
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Same here, I park my bike on the street with a disc lock in the front, and a lock on the rear attached to a chain around a lamp post. When I take the bike out, I leave one of the locks behind to keep the chain around the lamp post (people will steal anything), and take one with me to use as a disc lock when I park it.
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Apr 13, 2011 16:20
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House Party 4 posted:Other than a garage, how do you guys secure your bikes to prevent theft? Theft insurance! 
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Apr 13, 2011 17:39
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House Party 4 posted:Other than a garage, how do you guys secure your bikes to prevent theft? Wow, that site is amazing and I really wish I'd known of it after I got my first bike.
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Apr 13, 2011 17:51
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Out here in San Diego, they just throw your bike inside a minivan and drive off in like forty five seconds. So I don't even bother with disc locks or chains unless it is going to be parked a long time. Then I'd just use a chain big enough to not be cut easily, and a cover. For the most part (I live in a building downtown with a secured parking garage), I just have good insurance and a lojack.
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Apr 13, 2011 18:01
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I had my motorcycle out for a quick errand earlier and everything ran totally fine, no issues at all. I just tried to fire it up again no more than 2 hours later, and when I press the ignition switch absolutely nothing happens. My first thought was that the battery is dead, but when I turn the key my neutral light comes on which I don't think would happen with no battery. Anything else simple I should check or is it probably the battery?
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Apr 13, 2011 18:14
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Any opinions on something like Maxima chain wax vs. the 90W gear oil I've been using? The Street Triple flings lube onto the exhaust can, and it's a pain to clean. I dislike most of the spray stuff cause it seems to just collect dirt, which means I need to actually clean the chain more often.
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Apr 13, 2011 18:23
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Z3n posted:Theft insurance! This
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Apr 13, 2011 18:24
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"[panic posted:"] It doesn't require a lot of power to light the gauges. The real question is...why did it die? Old battery is a possibility, but charging system problems is a possibility too. You also could have accidentally left it in the parking light mode (ie, battery drain mode). Charge the battery up, and check with a multimeter that when the bike is on and running and reved to about 1/3rd of total RPM, you're getting at ~14v DC at the battery. chryst posted:Any opinions on something like Maxima chain wax vs. the 90W gear oil I've been using? The Street Triple flings lube onto the exhaust can, and it's a pain to clean. I dislike most of the spray stuff cause it seems to just collect dirt, which means I need to actually clean the chain more often. Your choices are flings or collects dirt...I'd probably try and lube it when the chain is hot and wipe off as much excess as possible and then let it sit to minimize fling off with the 90W. Comedy option: BBQ paint the exhaust!
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Apr 13, 2011 18:31
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chryst posted:Any opinions on something like Maxima chain wax vs. the 90W gear oil I've been using? The Street Triple flings lube onto the exhaust can, and it's a pain to clean. I dislike most of the spray stuff cause it seems to just collect dirt, which means I need to actually clean the chain more often. I've switched from gear oil to chain wax because I got tired of the insane amount of fling off. Two weeks of riding would turn my wheels black. One thing to keep in mind about chain wax is that you need to clean the chain in between wax applications, otherwise the gunk never comes off and the wax keeps building up. You can either use a purpose-built chain cleaner or plain old WD-40 for cleaning. I've found the WD works well enough but a purpose-built chain cleaner does a very thorough job, so I use it occasionally (about once a month). Gear oil is probably the best chain lubricant you can use (in non-sandy/dirty conditions) but my bike had so much residue and oil gunk flung everywhere that I eventually gave up on it. The entire left side of my bike, and my boots, had a layer of oil poo poo on it from the chain. I always tried wiping it off the best I could after applying the gear oil but it didn't help much.
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Apr 13, 2011 18:34
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Z3n posted:Your choices are flings or collects dirt...I'd probably try and lube it when the chain is hot and wipe off as much excess as possible and then let it sit to minimize fling off with the 90W. My own comedy option was to duct tape popsicle sticks to the chain guard, since Triumph's stock one is about 1" too short to catch the flung oil. FuzzyWuzzyBear posted:One thing to keep in mind about chain wax is that you need to clean the chain in between wax applications, otherwise the gunk never comes off and the wax keeps building up. Sounds like I should stick with what I've got, but thanks for the tips. Mr. Eric Praline fucked around with this message at 18:39 on Apr 13, 2011 |
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Apr 13, 2011 18:35
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Z3n posted:It doesn't require a lot of power to light the gauges. The real question is...why did it die? Old battery is a possibility, but charging system problems is a possibility too. Can I jump it from a car or do I need something else?
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Apr 13, 2011 18:37
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