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I thought by now this is becoming a serious project and it deserves its own thread This magnificant piece of almost-scrap i bought two years ago for the princely sum of €650. I've always wanted one of the unfiltered 1980s/1990s inline 4 sportbieks with dual round headlights. So when i found a running one for a laughable price, i jumped on it. It has an interesting history. The previous owner bought it in non running condition from a self proclaimed street fighter builder who absolutely butchered the gently caress out of the bike. The mirror/fairing mounts were hacksawed off and wrapped in some black electrical tape. The previous owner, as part of a 'Buy and restore a bike for €500' forums challenge did a shitton of work on it, to get it ridable again. Such as cleaning the carbs, adjusting them as good as possible, sourcing a new rubber boot that goes between the 4 carbs and the air filter (apparently really hard to find, the original one was cracked beyond repair), rebuiling the COMPLETE electronics system because the 'street figher builder' had destroyed it integrally. The concept behind the challenge is to spend a maximum of 500 euro. Who ends up with the nicest bike wins. Safety critical things like brake parts and tires do not count for the 500 euro limit, so the bike was on passable tires and has a mashup of GSXR and R6 front brake bits (which works really well, but actually sucks because the front brake lever/pump will not fit the fairing, but that's a thing i'll figure out later and then hate myself for it) To make it forums challenge worthy, he sourced some Hyperpro suspension bits, mounted some pretty decent LED head lights, and a larger rear sprocket to make it more hoonable. He also sourced an original muffler because the original looks and sounds fine, and whatever aftermarket muffler was on there did not really muffle all that much. And in a densely populated country, not muffling your exhaust results in road closures and that sucks for everyone. Eventually he got bored of it (already having 3 or 4 other bikes, mostly SVs in various states of upgradedness) and his plans on using this as a track bike fell through. That's when i bought it, with the intention of finding some random color fairings and slapping them on it. I sourced a new unhacksawed headlight/front fairing frame, original handle bars to replace the supermoto style bars that were on there, and then rode around on it for about a year. Last winter, everything ground to a halt a bit because the brakes started seizing and dragging more and more. While i have the money to get stuff done by the bike shop by now, i grabbed the opportunity to learn how to work on a bike myself. Since the SV is dead reliable i can afford to have the FZR in non ridable condition for some time. Most probably have already read the things i did to the rear brake caliper (replace seals, clean stuff up, discover there was crud in the brake cylinder again, take apart, clean again, assemble again...) and now i'm figuring out where all the crud comes from. I think i found it. This is the hose and elbow coming from the brake fluid reservoir going to the master cylinder. The whole inside of the matching connector (with the two little fluid ports) was also completely covered in gunk. It is likely that this is where a lot of the issues came from. Someone already suggested that the return port might have been blocked, preventing the brake pistons from returning to their relaxed position, and that could very well have been the case.  I reckon the MC is also full of this kind of crud, some tinier flakes come out of the port if i pump the brake. Not a lot, but still... So i figure i'm gonna have to take apart the MC and put in the revision kit i bought while i'm at it. Thougths? Opinions? Can i just not take the MC apart and still be fine? LimaBiker fucked around with this message at 13:16 on Jun 11, 2022 |
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Jun 11, 2022 12:37
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LimaBiker posted:I thought by now this is becoming a serious project and it deserves its own thread 1. dual round headlights  2. Don’t gently caress around with your brakes. Just take the MC apart and clean it out. You don’t want to hit it and have it not work because you didn’t clean it even though you knew there was garbage in there.
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Jun 11, 2022 14:38
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LimaBiker posted:Thougths? Opinions?
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Jun 11, 2022 15:34
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Cleaned the master cylinder succesfully! Bloody hell. When i peeled that   I wirewheeled them gently, and it cleaned up alright.  The inside was better. The cylinder bore wasn't corroded except for the bit before the first rubber ring (not really visible on the picture). That first bit wasn't too bad, a few wipes with some fine steel wool and it's good again. Some gellified and caked on brake fluid was in there. I cleaned everything out with brake cleaner and a rag on a stick.  The piston was dirty too. After removing the rubber parts i brushed it with a nylon brush, cleaned the dust off of it and reassembled it with new rubber bits. I'm done for today. Tomorrow i'll put it back on the bike. All in all this was a less complicated job than i anticipated, though some things were a bit annoying to get out of/onto the other bits. I'm pretty happy, a few years ago i'd have said 'Brakes? Hell no, not gonna touch those!' LimaBiker fucked around with this message at 20:35 on Jun 11, 2022 |
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Jun 11, 2022 20:25
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Nicely done.
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Jun 12, 2022 02:46
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LimaBiker posted:I cleaned everything out with brake cleaner and a rag on a stick. 
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Jun 12, 2022 04:56
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Hell yeah I love these bikes.
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Jun 12, 2022 11:55
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All is assembled and in working order again. The pedal feel is a lot smoother and a bit harder, though brake force didn't actually improve much at all. Final thing i'm gonna do with the brakes is replace the brake pads. They have worn slightly asymmetrically from the seized piston, and one is missing a tiny chunk right at the edge of the pad. Not a big piece, perhaps 5 by 5 millimeter or so. Probably happened when it took a while before i noticed how heavily the brake was dragging at first and they heated up till the point of being able to smell them at a traffic light. Also coming up next: fresh battery and some more rust busting. The battery is so dead that after a week, it can turn over the engine maybe 5 times at a too low speed to catch. But this bike is so hilariously easy to start, that i can literally get my 12v 7ah UPS battery that's already 10 years old, and hook it up with some crocodile clip leads (beefed up with standard mains wiring though). It'll then start in 1 or 2 revolutions of the engine. There are quite a few rusty spots on the front subframe that carries the lights and fairings. On the bottom side of the rear swingarm the paint was also blistering like crazy. But the rust under the paint was thankfully superficial. I also want a new throttle cable. The one that's on there is not exactly the right length and also not operating too smooth. Smooth enough to snap closed reliably, but i have to be a lot more concious about my throttle inputs than on the SV.
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Jun 12, 2022 15:47
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Good work. If you can't find an exact size cable due to aftermarket parts you can solder barrels and nipples on from dime city cycles on a universal stainless one. Use a good flux. 60/40 tin lead solder will do, or specialty solder. Ruby fluid flux is great.
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Jun 21, 2022 00:11
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This is why i needed the new throttle cables:  Firstly, there is only one of them. There should be two, one to open and one to close. Secondly, the one there is has a lot of friction and has splits in the jacket. I bought both open and close (together just 25 euro), no idea if the throttle grip is the original one though. With a 650 euro bike, you never know... (Yes, i am aware the grip is not mounted far enough to the centre, this is because the aftermarket GSXR brake lever/pump interferes with the subframe that will carry the fairings. I already sourced a new old brake lever/pump, but i kinda just gonna ride it as is as soon as i get this work done) Now i'm cursing. Because i gotta remove the airbox (easy). But later i will have to put the airbox back which took me a whole hour last time. The rubber boots that go over the 4 carburetors just did NOT want to go on them without a fight. Sometimes the ones on one side will slide into place but the others will just bend or buckle. Sometimes i get them all aligned correctly, push down and they just do what rubber things do when you press on them. Ugh. Oh well. Don't really have a choice. Aside from that, here's where the ram air hose goes, if it had fairings  There are no intake holes in the airbox, except for the one on top pointing backwards. Were those ram air hoses really just for show? I thought someone here said they were supposed to go into the airbox. Edit:  So that's where the throttle cables go. How the gently caress am i gonna get my fingers in there to remove/put them back. This really is gonna suck. Sexy row of carbs though. If the bike dies, i'm gonna keep them and put them somewhere as decoration. LimaBiker fucked around with this message at 14:05 on Jul 9, 2022 |
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Jul 9, 2022 12:34
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LimaBiker posted:The rubber boots that go over the 4 carburetors just did NOT want to go on them without a fight. Sometimes the ones on one side will slide into place but the others will just bend or buckle. Sometimes i get them all aligned correctly, push down and they just do what rubber things do when you press on them.
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Jul 9, 2022 14:12
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I feel you. I bought a random box of RM250 parts just for the flat slide carb that was in it, with plans to use it as a desk decoration.
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Jul 9, 2022 19:22
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The new throttle cables are in place! Slightly weirded out by the 'close' cable, because it is essentially non adjustable. The bit that goes into the throttle grip is threaded so to adjust, you need to unhook the whole cable. But okay, everything's working now. It was easier than expected. Despite the cramped appereance, i could hook the new cables in without much cursing. There's one thing i need some help with. The shop manual says 'lube the throttle cables'. I actually did that with the old one (when it was already bad and up for replacement) to limp it along for a few months just by squirting some motor oil into it with a syringe. But is it actually necessary for new cables? Which oil, available on the EU market, would be a good choice? There are so many types and brands that i have no idea which are good, and won't gum up or get sticky after a few years. Oh, it now also has fresh brake pads on the rear, and a new battery. Instant starting without grabbing my trusty UPS backup battery. By god, this bike might actually become a good bike, and not just 'a good bike for the price'! LimaBiker fucked around with this message at 20:43 on Jul 9, 2022 |
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Jul 9, 2022 20:36
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LimaBiker posted:The new throttle cables are in place! Slightly weirded out by the 'close' cable, because it is essentially non adjustable. The bit that goes into the throttle grip is threaded so to adjust, you need to unhook the whole cable. But okay, everything's working now. Anything specifically labelled as cable lube or chain oil, as long as it isn't a solvent like WD40. Lubing a new cable likely won't make it feel any different but it will protect the cable against moisture and it will last longer. The cables seem to come dry from the factory.
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Jul 10, 2022 12:20
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Alright, will do. Am now absolutely going MENTAL from trying to get the inlet boots onto the carbs again. I can get one on at a time. Either the leftmost or the rightmost. Whenever i try get more on, the other will pop loose, even when the clamp's tightened down. AAAAARGH. Godfuckingdamnit. Soaking the whole assembly in hot water did not work well, the rubber was cold by the time i reached the bike. I can pull the rubber boots out of the airbox and mount them all individually of each other and they go on just fine with a bit of a push. But then i have 4 boots that have to go back into the airbox. I think i might be able to loop a string around the bit that's not yet slid into the airbox and pull it in. If that doesn't work i'm gonna boil out those rubber boots with some detergent (the strategy of choice for tape recorder repairsmen to make a hardened pinch roller usable again). They're not as supple as factory fresh rubber, but you can squeeze them without cracks appearing so they're not too old either. I can't just go Hulk on them, because the carbs itself seem to be only mounted to the engine with 4 other rubber boots and i have no idea how fresh those are and if putting my body weight onto those, is gonna crack them. I am very close to riding it to a garage without the air filter on and letting someone do it for me. I managed to do it before, i think i ended up resorting to just leaning on it with my full body weight but i can see the carbs jiggle around when i try and do that. Ugh. E: i did it.  Simmered them for 10 minutes with some dish washing detergent. I had some skewers on the bottom of the pan so the rubber wouldn't touch the bottom of the pan and potentially get scorched. So 'heat' as someone already said was the way to go. I just needed much more heat than i could get with a bowl of hot tap water that i put them in. LimaBiker fucked around with this message at 14:51 on Jul 10, 2022 |
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Jul 10, 2022 13:48
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This summer i replaced/repaired the rear brake bits, the battery and the throttle cables. I was happy! Ready to ride the howling banshee of a bike. Then i found out the fork seals were leaky. FFFffuuuuck. Oh well. Ride the other bike it is.  After crying about it in another thread, trying one of those sealmate tools was adviced. So i made one from some thin plastic.  Good lord, that's a lot of crap behind the dust boot. Dust boot's kinda cracking too. Used the tool. Went for a ride of like 20 minutes highway, 20 minutes of bumpy, speed hump laden Amsterdam canal area. Please excuse the wiring mess, one of the LED indicators decided to quit working.  After ride: one is completely clean.  The other has a few faint oil rings left on it. I'll see if those are just from the seals re-seating themselves, or whether it's a tiny leak. I'm genuinely surprised as to how well this seems to work, at least as a short term fix. I did not expect it to work at all. This at least shifted doing the seals a bit further into the future. First spend a couple hundred on fresh tires. There's not much tread left on these, and they're too old. I'm considering giving it new seals and oil anyway, but i can now - with new tires - at least first have some actual fun on it, which i haven't had in the past 12 months. Also, with all mechanical and safety things now sorted, i feel like i can finally start looking for new fairings! That's something i postponed month after month till i fixed all the technical things. I wouldn't say it's perfect - it's jerky at low throttle/low revs, someone here already suggested it might benefit from setting the pilot jets a bit richer. But that's something i don't feel like tackling before giving the bike some fresh plastics. Hell, might not even do that myself. Though learning to adjust carburetors does seem like a valuable skill to have. I know how to align superheterodyne radios by adjusting trimmer screws and looking at meters, i reckon i can learn carburetors too. LimaBiker fucked around with this message at 17:32 on Sep 30, 2022 |
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Sep 30, 2022 17:29
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Since it won't start at all, not even a cough on ether, and i figured out that the spark plugs are BLACK, i'm gonna replace them. Some shadetree mechanics tell me to clean them - but new ones are cheap. The one thing keeping me from accessing the spark plugs, was the wires going to the horn that one of the previous owners hung from the radiator. Gotta move the radiator aside to get access to the plugs. Gotta vacuum out those holes to avoid spider nests and assorted dirt falling into the cylinders. The organic material isn't the worst, but still... 
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Dec 26, 2022 12:22
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Problem: After letting the bike sit for half a year, only starting it to idle for a couple of minutes to pull fresh fuel through the carbs, the bike completely refuses to start. Even with ether, sprayed into the carbs, it didn't even give one single cough. Fuel delivery seemed fine. Spark visible with a clip lead pushed into the spark plug wire, so also fine. What remained were the plugs themselves.  That... That should not be rusty. Clearly i have a moisture intrusion problem. Cleaned it up, attempted to start one final time on the old plugs, no dice. Did it just out of curiousity and so i could check if the plugs got wet from fuel.  Wet from a starting attempt (and wd40 but they all came out easily) So at least the fuel delivery is fine. Black from idling too much, probably, and perhaps just being OLD. Rusty from the 'up side' of the bike apparently collecting water. I will check in a couple of rides if the new ones stay the correct color or that the bike is running too rich. I also have to figure out better weather protection because obviously the cover is letting in way too much water spray. By now it's really time to get the fairings, though! That will probably help a bunch. Also, one of them is not like the others. I replaced them all with the -EK version (the 2 pronged one) because the shop where i bought them specifically said -EK for the 3HE fzr600. https://imgur.com/XcHYYkV It works! Sounds atrocious in the video. But after a lap around the block and mounting the air box, everything's perfectly fine again! Except for the tires, the rear locks up way too easily so i really wanna plan the tire change for a sunny dry day. LimaBiker fucked around with this message at 14:16 on Dec 26, 2022 |
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Dec 26, 2022 13:49
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 It ran flawlessly on a trip to get fresh fuel and to see if it starts and runs reliably again, so i can make an appointment with the tire shop. Very happy with it. The new spark plugs made a big difference in how the engine picks up at low revs. For the first time since i bought it, i can comfortably ride through 30km/h zones without the lurching 'WubWubWub' effect it had before. At 3000rpm in 2nd gear (so about 30km/h) it will still have a bit of a hunting sound, but i think that's completely normal for running a sports bike at such low revs. In first, i can sit behind a bicycle again without constantly needing to slip the clutch which makes such a big difference in narrow city streets! In a couple hundred km i will check if the spark plugs aren't turning black again.
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Dec 29, 2022 15:05
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Nice work! Do you have any plans for the fairings/plastics for it? These FZR600's had some of the best graphics. e: I think anything 88-99 should fit unless it's the single headlight ones (why did Yamaha make both at the same time?). I'm just looking around at some aftermarket options and um https://www.ebay.com/itm/266017242852  you should expect some fitment issues. Airtech also makes a kit but doesn't list the prices which means you might not want to ask. Gorson fucked around with this message at 13:59 on Jan 7, 2023 |
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Jan 7, 2023 13:49
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The stock fairings didn't exactly fit together great 20 years on, nevermind another decade later. I ran fiberglass sharkskins on my 400. They were fine enough.
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Jan 7, 2023 19:33
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There's a dutch scrapyard that has a whole bunch of fairings for it. Not cheap, nor are they in good shape, but i think for 200 or 300 euro i can get all i need. Well, i hope they still have them - last time i checked was before all the brake fuckery last year. Perhaps i should just buy them and keep them instead of not ordering them until i can actually mount them. I was working on cleaning out the stock brake pump cylinder today. With great effort i managed to clean it out. It's quite a deep bore, and the gunk was on there pretty badly. Reassembling it - PING! God. loving. Damnit. Circlip gone, and there are no shops open on sunday that sell circlips. I am so loving frustrated now. I need to mount the stock brake, because the aftermarket brake reservoir interferes with the fairing brace that i was planning on mounting today. I don't really see an appropriate place for the reservoir, and the brake lever itself also hits something when you are on full lock, so i'm working on fixing that. Furthermore, the tire guy told me that the tire i wanted to order (Bridgestone BT50r, in the exact stock size) somewhere else are already years out of production. So it's either a scam, or they're selling 5 year old tires. So i still don't have new tires on it. The tire guy suggests mounting 150/70/18 instead of 140/60/18. Currently mounted is 140/70/18. Do you think the tire guy is right and the size he recommends will be just fine, when it comes to fit and handling?
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Jan 7, 2023 20:33
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LimaBiker posted:There's a dutch scrapyard that has a whole bunch of fairings for it. Not cheap, nor are they in good shape, but i think for 200 or 300 euro i can get all i need. Well, i hope they still have them - last time i checked was before all the brake fuckery last year. Perhaps i should just buy them and keep them instead of not ordering them until i can actually mount them. I'd buy them asap, these are one of those things that dry up and when you go back to buy them they're all gone and the price on what's left has tripled. You can fix old ABS plastic and create tabs with liquid plastic; anything you get is probably going to need some repair. LimaBiker posted:I was working on cleaning out the stock brake pump cylinder today. With great effort i managed to clean it out. It's quite a deep bore, and the gunk was on there pretty badly. Reassembling it - PING! What about a master from another bike? Wouldn't have to be a FZR, easiest is anything that has the same mount hole spacing. You also don't really need a reservoir. You can just run a length of tube and cap it, but it should be tube rated for brake fluid, regular vinyl tubing will work but it bleeds through. e: length of tube just needs to be long enough to not overflow when the piston is pushed in (pads are new) and to not suck air into the MC when the caliper piston is fully pushed out (when pads are worn). LimaBiker posted:Furthermore, the tire guy told me that the tire i wanted to order (Bridgestone BT50r, in the exact stock size) somewhere else are already years out of production. So it's either a scam, or they're selling 5 year old tires. So i still don't have new tires on it. Yeah that's not much of a change in size. 18's aren't that common so you might have to take what you get. I doubt you'd notice much handling difference. Gorson fucked around with this message at 01:20 on Jan 10, 2023 |
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Jan 10, 2023 01:13
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Gorson posted:
Thanks for the tire advice. I'm gonna take it. Saves me a lot of hassle and dealing with a not-too-well rated online tire place. LimaBiker fucked around with this message at 01:42 on Jan 10, 2023 |
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Jan 10, 2023 01:39
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LimaBiker posted:There's a GSX-R brake pump on it, as far as i know, with R6 calipers (or the other way round - the calipers are the ones with the purple nuts/covers/thingies on them). I'm replacing the master cylinder by the stock FZR one (hoping that the old FZR pump will be powerful enough for the more modern R6 calipers, but we'll see and learn on the way). Oh this is the front MC, yeah forget what I said about the tube that's for the rear MC. I dislike rebuilding MC's so much I typically just replace em.
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Jan 10, 2023 01:53
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The rear cylinder was really easy to do. The front one (so on the new stock brake pump)- it was really hard to get the circlip out of its little hidey hole, and then the lovely chinesium circlip pliers just outright bent and the ring pinged away. But with a bit of luck, tomorrow an assortment of rings will arrive. Hope one fits. There's one more potential problem - the hose barb for the little piece of hose to the reservoir, is part of a cap, that covers the main oil passage and the little bleed/return passage. That cap sits in a little hole. And that cap is completely and utterly stuck in place. There's no crud in there it seems, but if the return passage ever clogs up, i won't be able to unclog it and the brakes will slowly start to seize. Bleh.
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Jan 10, 2023 02:25
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Delivery of the oil and oil filter are scheduled for tomorrow! I've ridden it very little since getting it running again because of people's rightful concerns about the oil getting contaminated with unburnt fuel seeping past the rings and in general it barely making it to operating temperature during what mostly amounted to 'Is this thing still functional' and 'please don't stick this time, brakes' test rides. Excited for the thing to be actually in fully rideable condition again, with good brakes, good tires, good fuel and good oil 
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Mar 17, 2023 12:20
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Well loving great. The oil drain plug is screwed down so tightly, that i can literally feel my socket extension act like a torsion spring when i put force on it with an extension bar. Any more and i fear i'll break off a chunk of the engine block, rather than undo the screw. gently caress. Gonna wait a few hours to see of penetrant does anything for it. Idk what else i can do. The thing heat cycles as a part of standard operating temperatures so idk if i should bother getting a torch and heating it up, or whether i should go to a place with a rattle gun right away. EDIT: Whacked the head of the bolt with a hammer. Eventually got it off without an extension bar but did hurt my knuckles because of course. Torque spec is 43Nm. What the gently caress yamaha. I'm hesitant to torque it that tightly. Tightened it to less, if it leaks i'll torque it to spec. Sanded away the lip of the crush washer because of course i didn't think of buying one, and glowed and quenched it. Printer ink manufacturers hate him! This one little trick gets you enough ink for 10 YEARS! https://i.imgur.com/pjMx8GC.mp4 I am glad i took the advice and didn't ride it anymore than necessary to get it to the tire shop. It reeks of fuel. Got fresh synthetic oil and a new filter now Cleaned the chain and OH FOR gently caress'S SAKE https://i.imgur.com/OAb2MkN.mp4 I assume inside the wheel there should be those rubber damping blocks. I think they're shot. The new inline 4 400cc ninja gets more attractive with every time i fool around with the fzr. Will probably send the SV to the shop now to get the brakes done (they're not shot yet, but i can feel that they're in need of revision, i was gonna do it myself) because the FZR is just costing so much energy. LimaBiker fucked around with this message at 14:12 on Mar 19, 2023 |
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Mar 19, 2023 11:07
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Did you say the oil reeks of fuel? So uh, if I was a betting man, I'd say 1) The carb floats are leaking, flooding the engine with gas when it sits for a while 2) Tanks sometimes have a vacuum shutoff that sort of do the same thing as the carbs. It's a cheap part, often on the bottom of the gas tank with a vacuum line running to it. That could also be faulty but functioning carb float valves should stop it...Ninja 250 was bad at this. 3) If you don't want to deal with it, install a manual fuel shutoff valve and use it if the bike is going to sit more than a day or two. Basically gas leaks into the cyls, seeps past the piston rings, and flows to the sump. Definitely 90s bike vibe. Not sure if you did a carb rebuild, that's what I would do first on any unknown bike that has been sitting. Kits are cheap, saves headaches just to replace all the seals, bolts, etc. Slides and springs and junk probably OK, just the seals and bolts I like to do. Also nice to inspect the jets and carb bowl for crud. I am also lazy and hate airboxes as they are annoying to remove, get in the way, etc.  I usually throw on cone filters, route air injection to it's own filter and vacuum line if needed. Sometimes the crank engine vent goes to the air box too, that can go to a filter. EVAP canister delete, throw on a check valve to not have fumes venting into air so much, they make generic ones for dirtbikes. People like to delete SAI valves but there's no point, and if you have a cat it would just damage the cat doing that. The shortened air intake path if you do this may negatively impact the bike's performance on the low end and might help on the high end. Will change how the bike feels a little and carbs would be adjusted to accommodate, it's not broken. Airbox better, usually, but annoying. Friend's Ninja 250..the carb is really annoying to get to because of the airbox. Fuel injection is nice.... Edit: Saw you are in the EU. I dunno what kind of emissions inspections they do there. Here in the states they just check for functioning lights. SSH IT ZOMBIE fucked around with this message at 17:10 on Mar 19, 2023 |
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Mar 19, 2023 16:53
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My CL350 has a rubber O-ring on the oil drain bolt and I love it. No loving around with crush washers. Don't stick your fingers in used oil. Fresh oil is pretty benign but used stuff is full of nasty carcinogenic burn products. (I'm sure there's not really any risk unless you're bathing in the stuff, but the first time that a link was recognized between an occupation and cancer was testicular cancer developing in chimney sweeps who spent their days covered in creosote. Be a little careful). See post in other thread about the cush drive. Sagebrush fucked around with this message at 17:44 on Mar 19, 2023 |
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Mar 19, 2023 17:42
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The fuel likely was caused by the many attempts to start the thing. It's seen a LOT of unburnt fuel from having trouble starting it, because of the completely messed up spark plugs. It's the whole reason why it was getting a oil change anyway. Not too worried about that anything being actually wrong with the carbs, it does not behave like it's flooding the cylinders with fuel/starting very rich. It has a manual fuel petcock, though i gotta admit that because it is pretty much trouble free when starting, i've not been using it. My SV has the vacuum fuel shut off. Works fine, just highly annoying if you wanna drain the tank via the existing fuel hose cause you gotta suck on the vacuum hose for it to open. As of yet, there are no MOTs for motorcycles. There are plans for it, but so far it hasn't happened. Emissions tests on the MOT are done according to the regulations from the year the bike was built. I know from some old car owners that in some cases it kinda requires you leaning out your mixture, go to the MOT station with a poo poo running car, getting through the test, and then setting the mixture back up to normal. At the MOT emissions test, they usually measure CO, NO[x], unburnt hydrocarbons and maybe soot. Because both my bikes are pre-injection and pre-catalytic, i'm not gonna get caught out by broken air mass sensors, worn out catalytics etc etc. The airbox on this bike is pretty easy to get onto the carb throats if you heat up the rubber boots in a tray of boiling water beforehand. The crank case vent hose, however, is REALLY hard to get in place because it's located between the airbox and the fuel tank, where you don't have any space for your hands at all. But i'm gonna leave it in place. I wanna gently caress around with it as little as possible. There's no secondary air as far as i know. Haven't found a canister in the crank case vent line. One thing that *has* been removed is the EXUP valve. No idea why and what it's supposed to do. I've heard it's just for noise concerns, but it has the stock exhaust so it's already fairly quiet. LimaBiker fucked around with this message at 19:21 on Mar 19, 2023 |
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Mar 19, 2023 19:10
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That'll do it. That's a lot of trying to start 😭
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Mar 19, 2023 20:06
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I'm at a decision point right now. This is all just a bit of writing for myself, but feel free to comment I've always considered this thing as a learning tool. I bought it right when i got my first 'proper' job, still completely operating on the 'every euro counts' mindset of not having enough income. When it comes to learning, it has served me very well. I've done many things i would've never ever considered before. I've also always wanted to experience an analog inline 4 sportbike. And i absolutely enjoy the violent nature of it. It's so incredibly responsive. It does what you tell it to, without any computerized filtering at all. If you gently caress up, you gently caress up. When it's in the powerband, the most minute manipulation of the throttle gives a response. But i have also discovered that there is simply no way to *properly* enjoy this bike for me, here in this country, without having that nagging feeling of 'What if i passed a speed trap and lost my license' because there's just not a whole lot of challenge to getting to those speeds. I can never open it up properly for more than 3 seconds at a time - literally. In whatever gear i am, i reach the license losing speed within 3 seconds. With the new tires, i feel like i can take any corner at highly illegal speeds. It's like a premature orgasm everytime. It builds up and WHOOPS i'm going 50km/h over and gotta let go of the throttle because i risk a €1000 fine and losing my license for anything from 2 weeks to 3 months, and increased scrutiny if i'd get a smaller speeding ticket. So by now, i'm contemplating what i'm gonna do. It needs: - Fork seals - Clutch - Possibly thermostat, it only reaches halfway on the dial when idling after a highway run. It's not cold, i can't touch the radiator itself. But it doesn't give me blisters within a second either. - Cush drive rubbers in the rear wheel - Fairings - And i gotta mount the stock front brake master because the current thing interferes with the fairing brace (not on there yet). Already have that one ready for mounting. Meanwhile, what i actually want is this, but slower. A 400cc 90s sportbike. Which will obviously still be fast, but at least it'll take a bit more effort to make it go that fast. Hell, if i could find a CBR250rr i would absolutely jump on it. All the good noises without all that pesky speed. But that stuff is really rare here, so it'll be a while before i'm able to buy a proper one. I do wanna keep having two bikes for if the Suzuki has issues. After all, that thing is now 24 years old. Another reason is that i've been pretty low energy as of lately. The Suzuki needing much more maintenance than expected, together with the fuel pump failing on the FZR, was a really bad blow to my mental state, and i cannot maintain two bikes myself without starting to feel completely drained. Although i now have the money to get all of the above done, and ever since i got a good job the economic side of things has gotten irrelevant to me, i don't feel like paying the shop to do all of the above things if this isn't gonna be a bike for the next 5 or 10 years. In the end, i think i'm gonna leave it at the fork seals, enjoy it for the rest of the year, and sell it next spring. It'll be running good enough for someone to ride it home without having to trailer it. It'll go to the next guy who needs something low stakes to learn to tinker with. Planning to sell it for €650, the same as what i paid for it But i've gotten kinda emotionally attached to this piece of poo poo. Even with all its worn out bits, it's still just so loving good. God i hate myself for not jumping on the €2750 ZXR-400 (or whatever it was) when i had the chance. It was loving mint. EDIT: Found a few ZXR-400's available for <3000 euro. So far no dual round headlight ones, but i think i'm okay with that. Also a CBR250rr for 6000 euro, but i am a bit too afraid to get it stolen, parking it outside all the time. Not completely sure yet, but there's a pretty good chance that the FZR's going away. LimaBiker fucked around with this message at 12:14 on May 7, 2023 |
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May 7, 2023 09:57
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