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Odette posted:I'm assuming it would be best to let some mechanic replace the sprockets/chain on my motorcycle considering I don't have any tools? You SHOULD have some tools, since you own a bike. This might be a good time to start your collection. That said, you can get a chain breaker/riveter, but most people do leave it to the professionals (at least with street bikes) with rivet links, as if you rivet up the new chain incorrectly, you run a real risk of it breaking on you. If you're using a snap link (the kind that doesn't require you to rivet it up) with the chain, you don't have that issue, but you probably still want a chain breaker to get the old one off. Alternatively a dremel or an angle grinder can work for removal purposes. Izumi chains IIRC usually come with both links so you have the option. If the front sprocket has a lockwasher or a tab washer, replace it. Torque all the bolts to spec using your torque wrench and use some loctite, at least on the rear sprocket nuts.
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| # ? Sep 29, 2011 08:14 |
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| # ? May 22, 2013 16:58 |
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Alright, I have a horrible habit I need help breaking and want to know the best way to go about doing it. I've noticed that when I take turns (low speed) I have a habit of disengaging my clutch. For whatever reason, it almost feels like my safety net, holding the clutch lever in, which I know its not. I distinctly remember taking the MSF course and being told to "STOP HOLDING THE CLUTCH!" in the corners. So obviously, clutch in corners = bad. Now, whats the easiest way to break myself of this habit?
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| # ? Sep 29, 2011 13:00 |
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EZipperelli posted:
Let go of the left bar, completely. Obviously at comfortable speeds on a road you know, but it's good for refreshing your muscle memory.
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| # ? Sep 29, 2011 13:17 |
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I was told the exact opposite in my MSF course at very low speeds - pulling the clutch is the only way to keep from lugging the engine in the slowest points. I don't know how low you're talking, or how sharp, but for a very low speed u-turn situation, it's fine. If it's faster than say, what you could pull the handlebars completely to the stops on temporarily, then you're probably going to want to just roll on the throttle a bit more as you turn.
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| # ? Sep 29, 2011 13:21 |
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Dalrain posted:I don't know how low you're talking, or how sharp... Hypothetically, coming up to make a left turn, light is green but I need to slow down because there's 2 or 3 cars ahead of me. I slow, look through the turn, and yet instead of totally letting the clutch go as I go through the turn, I have a tendency to hold it and let it out AFTER completing the corner.
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| # ? Sep 29, 2011 13:37 |
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EZipperelli posted:Hypothetically, coming up to make a left turn, light is green but I need to slow down because there's 2 or 3 cars ahead of me. I slow, look through the turn, and yet instead of totally letting the clutch go as I go through the turn, I have a tendency to hold it and let it out AFTER completing the corner. Work on downshifting earlier so you don't have to worry about low revs?
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| # ? Sep 29, 2011 15:32 |
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How dangerous are flattened popcans and waterbottles to motorcycles? While turning/braking for example.
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| # ? Sep 29, 2011 15:34 |
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Odette posted:I'm assuming it would be best to let some mechanic replace the sprockets/chain on my motorcycle considering I don't have any tools? Front sprocket nuts are a pain to remove if you have the kind that has a single big nut on it. Some sort of powered impact wrench is a really, really, really good idea if you want to remove it. If it were me, I'd take it to a mechanic if you don't have an electric or air impact wrench available. You can do it with hand tools but it generally takes 2 people. Ziploc posted:How dangerous are flattened popcans and waterbottles to motorcycles? While turning/braking for example. Don't aim for them, but as long as you let the wheels keep turning (ie, don't be on the brakes as you hit one), it's going to cause the front to slide a bit and it should recover. You probably won't crash as long as you're on the throttle midcorner or off the brakes on deceleration.
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| # ? Sep 29, 2011 16:14 |
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Dalrain posted:I was told the exact opposite in my MSF course at very low speeds - pulling the clutch is the only way to keep from lugging the engine in the slowest points. I don't know how low you're talking, or how sharp, but for a very low speed u-turn situation, it's fine. If it's faster than say, what you could pull the handlebars completely to the stops on temporarily, then you're probably going to want to just roll on the throttle a bit more as you turn. You feather it, not pull it in completely. You're basically not in control when you do that. Doing a slow turn like that unpowered the bike can easily fall into it, you can ofcourse save it (and likely go wide) by giving gas and engaging the clutch but if you give it the correct amount of power constantly you won't have the problem in the first place. edit: Not to poo poo on MSF instructors, but this is exactly what my instructor told me and we are required to do four u-turns in a row on our test, with no room for mistakes anywhere in the exam. The figure eight is the hardest part and everyone needs a ton of practice to get it right, I would never have been able to pass if I did what your instructor told you. shimmy fucked around with this message at Sep 29, 2011 around 17:27 |
| # ? Sep 29, 2011 17:21 |
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TheLarson posted:clutch clutch clutch
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| # ? Sep 29, 2011 18:51 |
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http://hamilton.kijiji.ca/c-cars-ve...QAdIdZ318041082 This seems awfully cheap for what looks like an F3 Interphone. Seller says that it doesn't do intercom (not that I need it but I thought they all did Intercom?) I kinda wanted to hold out for A2DP but this seams so cheap...
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| # ? Sep 29, 2011 19:07 |
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EZipperelli posted:Alright, I have a horrible habit I need help breaking and want to know the best way to go about doing it. Keep conscious of it and work on developing the proper routine. That said, my Vstar is geared pretty tall/wide with some stupid-lean EPA fueling; it's easy to lug and it has wicked throttle snatch so I almost always have to go around tight corners in 2nd with the clutch feathered and the engine spinning past it. Don't have to do it on the wife's BMW which is fueled more reasonably with a closer 6speed. So depending on the bike, you just may have to work the clutch some.
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| # ? Sep 29, 2011 22:31 |
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EZipperelli posted:Alright, I have a horrible habit I need help breaking and want to know the best way to go about doing it.
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| # ? Sep 30, 2011 00:32 |
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When you're practicing feathering the clutch, keep engine revs up a bit more and try putting a little on the rear brake, it can stabilize the bike some.
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| # ? Sep 30, 2011 00:40 |
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How do you guys handle riding at night, with every other vehicle coming over crests in the road blinding you completely for half a second? Not to mention if there are 4-5 cars at the time, totalt blindness for multiple seconds. Do you just keep your eyes fixed on the right side of your own lane and suck it up? I find that it's much worse than when I'm in my car, even though I'm higher up on the bike.
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| # ? Sep 30, 2011 06:52 |
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KozmoNaut posted:How do you guys handle riding at night, with every other vehicle coming over crests in the road blinding you completely for half a second? Not to mention if there are 4-5 cars at the time, totalt blindness for multiple seconds. Like you said, those white lines on the side of most roads are there for you to look at (well, and to tell you where the edge of the road is, but you get my point). When a car comes by, just guide yourself with those lines. Geirskogul fucked around with this message at Sep 30, 2011 around 07:28 |
| # ? Sep 30, 2011 07:24 |
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KozmoNaut posted:How do you guys handle riding at night, with every other vehicle coming over crests in the road blinding you completely for half a second? Not to mention if there are 4-5 cars at the time, totalt blindness for multiple seconds. Keep the visor as clean as possible to help against glare, apply anti-fog if necessary (I find it fogs more at night). Dim your instruments if possible (I can't, but I switch off my GPS if I don't need it right away). And then as mentioned, look away from the oncoming traffic. If it's bad I'll look at the right edge (or slightly past it) with my right eye while closing my left eye as the cars are passing. When they've passed the left eye is opened with better night vision than the right. It's a bit disconcerting to not only look away from the road but with half the FOV and without depth perception as well, but as long as the road is lined with white lines is not difficult to get position references. My worst night riding experience was across Vikafjellet north east of Bergen. Blinding oncoming traffic, fogging helmet, road edges had gravel and mud instead of white lines, tailgated by a crazy person in a rusty van, cold and rain. I was a moron for not pulling over.
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| # ? Sep 30, 2011 08:25 |
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I've always kept my bike garaged, but I recently moved to a garage-less building in the middle of DC. Since I ride it year-round (its my only vehicle), I don't need a place to store it per-se, but a place to keep it for a few weeks in the winter when it gets icy and wet in January/February. I'm in the middle of finding a solution to this problem, but I'm wondering about just getting a nice cover and keeping it on the street. Is that as bad for the bike as it sounds?
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| # ? Sep 30, 2011 17:50 |
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AhhYes posted:I've always kept my bike garaged, but I recently moved to a garage-less building in the middle of DC. comprehensive insurance
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| # ? Sep 30, 2011 18:54 |
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Is it odd for spark plugs to go bad in a year? My 636 has been getting harder to start everyday both in the cold mornings and hot afternoons and I just replaced the plugs last winter. First I turned the idle up, now I have to open the throttle to start it, even when it's 70+ degrees. I've noticed a few odd things going on with it as well, a kind of rumbling when letting the clutch out in first (usually when it's cold), running hotter on the highway and bubbling gas out of the tank keyhole.
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| # ? Sep 30, 2011 20:34 |
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I think it depends on how much you ride it, your air/fuel mixture, and condition of your piston rings and valve seals. The wife replaced hers at the beginning of the year and is going to replace them again this weekend... of course she rode something like 15k mi so far this year. I think she's well past the recommended interval.
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| # ? Sep 30, 2011 20:48 |
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Gnaghi posted:Is it odd for spark plugs to go bad in a year? My 636 has been getting harder to start everyday both in the cold mornings and hot afternoons and I just replaced the plugs last winter. First I turned the idle up, now I have to open the throttle to start it, even when it's 70+ degrees. Sounds like your tank vents are clogged.
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| # ? Sep 30, 2011 20:49 |
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Z3n posted:Sounds like your tank vents are clogged. I'm familiar with the vent hose, as pinching that causes all kinds of problems and I'm always making sure that it's routed properly. Is there another vent at the keyhole? clutchpuck posted:I think it depends on how much you ride it, your air/fuel mixture, and condition of your piston rings and valve seals. Yeah I've only done about 4k miles this year, so I would think they should still be good even on a 30k bike. Looking through kawiforums hard starting is caused by everything from misadjusted throttle bodies to having to much gas to simply "it's a Kawasaki thing".
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| # ? Sep 30, 2011 20:57 |
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Gnaghi posted:I'm familiar with the vent hose, as pinching that causes all kinds of problems and I'm always making sure that it's routed properly. Is there another vent at the keyhole? There's a vent at the top that can get clogged with poo poo...if it's escaping around your keyhole, either the bike is overfilled or that vent is clogged and not venting to the tube at the back of the tank. Or you've got the hoses hooked up in the wrong order. Depends on if you have a CA or 49 state model how complicated the routing is. Check the vent at the top (you might have to remove the gas cap), and then check the vacuum hose routing.
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| # ? Sep 30, 2011 21:03 |
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Z3n posted:There's a vent at the top that can get clogged with poo poo...if it's escaping around your keyhole, either the bike is overfilled or that vent is clogged and not venting to the tube at the back of the tank. Or you've got the hoses hooked up in the wrong order. Depends on if you have a CA or 49 state model how complicated the routing is. Check the vent at the top (you might have to remove the gas cap), and then check the vacuum hose routing. Ok thanks, I'll check it out this weekend. I have been filling the tank up to the tip-top lately but I would think that'd only be an issue on a full tank?
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| # ? Sep 30, 2011 21:19 |
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Gnaghi posted:Ok thanks, I'll check it out this weekend. I have been filling the tank up to the tip-top lately but I would think that'd only be an issue on a full tank? Should be, yeah. But clogged vents can do weird poo poo.
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| # ? Sep 30, 2011 21:21 |
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It's time to play What the gently caress Happened to This Gas Tank! This thing came off of the 06 GS500 I'm flipping, and I honestly have no idea what to think. The bike was sitting for about 6 months, and other than this, everything else was in good condition. All of the spots on there were like the bubbles you see on the left, but I started to sand away at them to investigate. Housed under those bubbles was some lovely black fluid, and then a hole, ranging in size from a pinhole to a pea-sized monster, that extends all the way into the tank. It only happened on this one side, and it's a drat shame, because the paint and tank are otherwise in awesome condition. So tell me goons, what happened, and can this be salvaged?
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| # ? Oct 2, 2011 16:04 |
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I couldn't tell you exactly what happened, but I had the same thing happen on the Bandit 400 I had for a while. What looked like tiny bubbles of rust ended up being the lower right half of the fuel tank basically coming off. I got a new tank with the same problem to a much lesser degree. I spot sanded the damage, filled the holes with the smallest amount of fuel tank epoxy I could then cleaned and coated the tank with POR15 stuff. After that I lightly sanded the epoxy and applied touch up to the outside of the repair. It was barely noticeable when I was done and totally leak free.
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| # ? Oct 2, 2011 18:03 |
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AncientTV posted:It's time to play What the gently caress Happened to This Gas Tank! Dick Cheney took it duck hunting?
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| # ? Oct 2, 2011 18:49 |
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Sand down the paint around the holes and throw some tape over it, coat the inside with some caswell epoxy (I do that anyway even if tanks aren't damaged), and repaint.
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| # ? Oct 2, 2011 18:54 |
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Geirskogul posted:Sand down the paint around the holes and throw some tape over it, coat the inside with some caswell epoxy (I do that anyway even if tanks aren't damaged), and repaint. Some of the metal around the holes, while still in ok shape, is supremely thin. I don't know how sturdy this tank would be by the time I got the rust out of the inside.
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| # ? Oct 2, 2011 21:27 |
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AncientTV posted:Some of the metal around the holes, while still in ok shape, is supremely thin. I don't know how sturdy this tank would be by the time I got the rust out of the inside. Well, the best solution is obviously to get a new tank, but it all depends on cost and time you're willing to put in. Caswell goes on extraordinarily thick, and I personally would be okay with it. But caswell is pretty expensive at $40 a coating. If a new tank is 400 dollars, though, then IMO it's worth it in my book. You can always also do two coatings, though I'll say one coating added enough strength to my indian potmetal tank that I'm happy. It also has a tiny bit of flex after it cures so it doesn't crack off or break apart if the metal flexes a bit.
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| # ? Oct 2, 2011 22:24 |
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Yeah, I was originally just going to buy a used tank, but trying to find one that's in usable condition with the same paint scheme is proving to be a huge pain. I'll update this post with a picture once I finish sanding down all the holes. edit: Yeeeaaah... 
AncientTV fucked around with this message at Oct 2, 2011 around 22:53 |
| # ? Oct 2, 2011 22:36 |
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AncientTV posted:Yeah, I was originally just going to buy a used tank, but trying to find one that's in usable condition with the same paint scheme is proving to be a huge pain. I'll update this post with a picture once I finish sanding down all the holes. You could spend money to have it welded (which would be the proper thing to do) or you could redneck it like I did and cover the holes with masking tape and pour away. Others will chime in to say that I'm crazy, and they're probably right, but when money is in a pinch, people can be creative. I was told to do it with epoxy coatings by a man who restored bikes old enough that there weren't spare tanks to be had. Sometimes the older metals didn't play well with welding, either (not sticking, cracking other parts of the tank due to heat, etc etc). The wonderful thing about phenol novolac-based epoxies is that, after they cure, things like Bondo will stick to them, making the rest of the tank repair go smoothly. It's up to how much time you want to put into it.
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| # ? Oct 2, 2011 23:39 |
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I'll probably call around for painting quotes tomorrow, if that + the Caswell stuff ends up being cheapish compared to buying a used tank, I'll give it a shot. Does the sealer go on thick enough that I wouldn't have to worry about them punching through it when sanding?
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| # ? Oct 3, 2011 00:04 |
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AncientTV posted:I'll probably call around for painting quotes tomorrow, if that + the Caswell stuff ends up being cheapish compared to buying a used tank, I'll give it a shot. Does the sealer go on thick enough that I wouldn't have to worry about them punching through it when sanding? It goes on between 2 and 6mm in thickness depending on the temperature and how active you are in sloshing it about. What I did was mix it in two batches and pour them separately, which gave me a thicker coating overall - even then, it was hot, so I had a bunch end up pooling about 2cm thick in one of the corners of my tank. If you keep rotating it while it sets up (15 minutes or so after pour) then you'll be fine. You can even set the tank down on the rusted parts so if it pools it'll pool over the holes. I don't think there should be a problem of them sanding through the caswell - remember, it's inside the tank, and if they're sanding all the way through the metal then they're not keeping the tank in shape and symmetrical. I don't have experience with paint shops, how much prep do they do? Is it like American Chopper (hate the show, but as an example) where they send the tank in to be painted and the paint guy coats the entire thing with bondo-ish plastic and re-sands it down? Or is it like cheap Maaco paint shops where you have to do all of the prep yourself and they merely spray and bake it? If it's like the latter, you can feel free to build it up with filler yourself - if it's the latter, they'll take care of it?
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| # ? Oct 3, 2011 00:16 |
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I honestly have no idea how my local paint shops do it, I haven't ever had to deal with them. Either way, thanks for the info!
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| # ? Oct 3, 2011 00:20 |
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What is the best way to tell if I have clogged carb or just recently got a lovely tank of gas? I was on I-75 last night and in 5th and 6th gear, my bike would bog down BAD and shudder, hesitate, etc. I had to WOT to get it to move, and even then it wouldn't do so smoothly. I almost felt like I was going to be bucked off a few times. However, once I got done with that nightmare on Interstate and got off at my exit, there was NO problem whatsoever with anything. Almost like it never happened. I went out this morning, went for a ride, and again no problem. It seems to only happen at highway speeds (75-80 was where I got the most problems). So, what would be the most likely cause here? lovely gas, clogged carb or other unforseen problem? EZipperelli fucked around with this message at Oct 3, 2011 around 15:57 |
| # ? Oct 3, 2011 15:55 |
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EZipperelli posted:What is the best way to tell if I have clogged carb or just recently got a lovely tank of gas? lovely gas is extremely unlikely. Unfortunately. Also easily ruled out - drain tank, empty float bowls. Check for a vacuum leak. Any hoses damaged or plain come off?
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| # ? Oct 3, 2011 16:18 |
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| # ? May 22, 2013 16:58 |
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I'd also check tank vents. If it's partially clogged, it could flow ok until you start demanding enough throttle to cruise at speed.
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| # ? Oct 3, 2011 18:05 |
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