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Today i got out the can of vaseline spray and gave my SV a liberal helping of grease to protect all the metal bits from pitting from road salt. For the last two weeks it's been freezing at night, so whenever i ride, i find a fine layer of salty crap afterwards. So far the SV seems to hold up well like this, but drat - i really wanna clean it because it looks dirty, but if i do, it loses the protective coating of vaseline and chain lube splatter... Oh well. Guess i'll wash it next spring.
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Dec 12, 2020 22:29
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Today i painted my bar end weights. They were getting a bit rusty. Took a whole lot of effort to get one of them off, cause the screw was oxidised badly. I got some more painting to do (some flakey parts on my mirror stems) but i haven't bothered yet with that, cause i may wanna ride tomorrow and it'll take some time to dry.
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May 9, 2021 15:52
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I've been fooling around with replacing handle bars + crown plate on my fzr600. The current sumo bars are too high and wide to fit the fairing. Crown plate has cutouts to fit the sumo bars so it has to go, it looks silly with clipons. Annoyingly, this includes replacing the ignition barrel, which can't be detached from the crown plate, and that means peering into the 7th level of hell that may be the wiring loom of the bike. Which was butchered 2 owners ago, reportedly fixed by the previous owner, but i have no clue if he went through the effort to put the original multiconnectors back into the wiring loom. We'll find out soon what horrors lie below the plastic tank cover...
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Jun 4, 2021 12:32
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Well yeah, but the heads are shorn off. I'd have to drill them out or something. Idk if the hole pattern matches the current ignition barrel. I got all new locks anyway, with a real Yamaha branded ignition key  which is neat.
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Jun 4, 2021 12:57
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I managed to stuff the big GSXR brake cylinder/lever onto the handle bars of the FZR600. It sorta kinda fits - at full lock the brake lever bumps into the speedometer and pushes it in a few millimeter (just enough to make the brake light light up, but nothing more) so it isn't great, but but good enough to ride to a parts place/bike scrapyard with. The little extendo pipe to convert a radial to an axial pump could easily be removed, and now the brake line is attached directly to the pump. I'm annoyed that this turns out to be more work than expected cause i really wanted to ride the bike this summer...
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Jul 4, 2021 13:05
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 I managed to hook up the front brake in a safe and functional way! Also the first time i ever bled brakes. It's still not ideal - i am quite sure that once it has a fairing again, that it'll bump into the plastic. But i can ride it to a bike scrapyard like this, and
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Jul 7, 2021 21:39
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 Bike has a complete subframe to carry its fairings again! This also means... MIRRORS! Without the windshield and the fairing, they look quite idiotic, but once the rest of the plastics are in place it'll be fine At the very least it's a lot more functional than the single tiny mirror mounted on the left handle bar.
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Aug 14, 2021 15:00
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Yeah, the dual rounds are one of the main reasons why i got this thing. There are quite a lot of FZR600's available here, almost all under €1500, but the dual round version is not as easy to find. Also, you see that round hole in the chassis, behind the hole for the coolant hose? A RAM AIR DUCT IS GONNA GO IN THERE! Abolutely 100% pointless, it does not suck any air into there at all, but i'm probably gonna shell out 30 bucks for those hoses anyway because oh gently caress yeaaaaa this is a 90s bike that goes nyoom.
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Aug 14, 2021 22:33
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Try laquer cutting/polishing compound. Something like Commandant Cleaner no. 4. You might be able to polish through the glue layer, with the rest of the paint being only very slightly affected. Some 1200 or 2000 grain wet sand paper does the same thing.
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Aug 29, 2021 16:18
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Ulf posted:That’s great and all but I still want to park my Zero on a downslope, and can’t because the kickstand doesn’t lock. Do you actually have a Zero? If yes: there are little straps you can put over the brake lever to keep it squeezed slightly. Should be Zero who actually think up a good solution, but this will work in a pinch. 
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Sep 26, 2021 09:52
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Jesus tittyfucking christ. Scariest ride in quite a while. So i made an appointment to get some tires put on. I've been putting it off for weeks because of work and such, so i could plan it in my vacation. The day comes, and it is very windy and very rainy and somewhat cold. Nothing i haven't dealt with before. The Michelin Pilot Road that were on the bike are very good in the rain and cold. Now, the ride back home was a whole different story. The rain stopped, but the wind got even worse. And with still soaking wet roads, strong crosswinds and very slick brand new tires, the ride back home was dreadful. I got blown all over the place, barely daring to lean into the wind because new tires on wet road. I thought i was gonna lose traction and be blown sideways off the road. Certainly felt like i was constantly on the verge of losing traction. Next time it's this bad weather and i gotta get new tires put on, i might consider just postponing it. Got some Battlax T32 on the SV650s now. They come with 2 years of puncture 'warranty' - if you get a puncture within 2 years, they give you back your money (or a fraction of it, depending on the thread depth remaining). Sounded pretty attractive to me since i already had punctures twice within 2 years of buying the tire. Also some fresh brake pads. Dragging a bit more than i like, i suspect that the calipers might need some refreshing too but i'll see after running them in for a few hundred km. LimaBiker fucked around with this message at 22:18 on Oct 23, 2021 |
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Oct 23, 2021 22:14
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helno posted:Changed the gear oil in the Bantam. Pulled the side cover to take a look at the primary chain and it looks brand new. Ooh, is that the spring you wind up to make it go?
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Oct 31, 2021 14:27
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Riding on Christmas day is nice. Almost nobody on the road, industial estates completely empty so you can hoon around to your heart's delight. I'd prefer a white christmas, but bombing around on empty roads while the cops are inside definitely is a fun way to spend christmas too
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Nov 12, 2021 20:58
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Depends on the type of emission targeted. With higher temperatures, more nitrogen oxides are generated. By making the fueling richer, the temperature goes down and the nitrogen oxide emissions get lower. Perhaps there are also other ways to cool down the combustion temperature but i'm no engineer. If you go for lower CO2 and unburnt fuel emissions, then you want a combustion as lean and hot as possible. This reduces CO2 but increases NOx.
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Feb 24, 2022 13:35
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Did my first oil change today. Easy and a fraction of the cost of having a garage do it.
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Mar 27, 2022 15:45
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I also printed the service manual, at least for my SV. I tried using my laptop, but putting and balancing a laptop in a pile of parts and tools is just really annoying. I don't care about putting some stuff on top of the binder with the manual, but my laptop is much more delicate. Whatever you do, make a local copy of any manual you use. They randomly disappear from ancient forums when some old server in a musty forgotten corner of a data centre is finally shut down when someone notices 'Hey, that one over there, what's running on that? - Oh, idk, it's been there since before i worked here, i just left it running'. LimaBiker fucked around with this message at 13:38 on Mar 28, 2022 |
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Mar 28, 2022 13:36
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I'm currently in the process of replacing the rubber seals on the rear brake of my fzr. One piston was easy to remove with air pressure like the shop manual said, but the other is stuck in there really tight. Any advice? Tried a plumber's wrench covered in the core of a toilet roll to avoid marring the piston surface, but i can't put enough sideways force on it without it slipping off. I haven't split the caliper yet. Also this brake fluid stinks and my skin is cursing me for not getting some rubber gloves
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May 2, 2022 14:42
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Does that still work when one piston is already out? I assume there is a fluid path between both cylinders, and it'll just find its way to the other (now open) cylinder. I don't have a grease gun so i gotta know for sure before i go find one. E: i'm gonna try one more time with a plumber's wrench, and if that doesn't work i guess i gotta split the caliper. And then i'll use a wedge to wedge two half circles of wood in there and then i think i can pull on the wood pretty hard. E2: split the caliper. Managed to seal the fluid passage between the halves with a rubber glove, then used air pressure to get it out. It worked! Am proud of myself for doing the kind of things i wouldn't have dreamt of 10 years ago
LimaBiker fucked around with this message at 15:31 on May 2, 2022 |
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May 2, 2022 14:56
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Slavvy posted:It is exactly what I picture when I say things like 'a good Harley' or 'a sportster done right', just perfect. Exactly this. By far the coolest Harley i've ever seen and i'd love to ride something like that.
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May 20, 2022 14:26
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 Trying out some chemical rust remover. The paint on the weld was blistering. Wirewheeled most of the paint and rust off, now applies the rust goop and we'll see where this goes. Got some vaguely color similar Hammerite waiting for when the rust is gone
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May 28, 2022 15:15
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Gotta write that down! Perhaps some day i'll disassemble a considerable part of the bike to make it actually look good again. For now, i'll have to make do with treating the blistering paint with a wirewheel, derusting gel and some silver hammerite. It makes me kinda sad that it's not gonna be pretty anytime soon, there are just too many edges and corners where rust is starting on the structural parts. I don't have time or energy to do it properly, but i can't not do it because it will just continue to rot and get worse...
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May 28, 2022 18:25
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Energicas have oil drain plugs too.
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May 31, 2022 17:38
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I washed my Zuki and then rode it for 3 hours It was filthy. Lots of that sticky sugary stuff that certain insects excrete. The engine should be cooled off enough to mount the bottom fairing. Then it'll look perfect (for a well used 23 year old bike that is) again. The bottom fairing was off to paint some paint chipping caused by rocks hitting the very front bit of it, and some big scratches because i overestimated my ground clearance once. SV is not a supermoto.
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Jun 3, 2022 15:40
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Work on my FZR600 continues. Got a new brake line, and cleaned out the rear brake cylinders again. Used a nylon wire brush on the dremel this time. Without the seals in, the pistons now move smoothly enough to drop in place by gravity - after messing around for a minute to get them aligned perfectly straight above the bore. Now putting the seals in place and reassembling the whole thing. I also bought a master cylinder rebuild kit just in case because they're cheap. Will see if any crud comes out of the MC fluid port before attaching the new brake line. E: always wear safety glasses when doing anything that involves fluids, pressures and pistons/cylinders. I was pushing the cylinder in, now with the seals in place. There was some brake fluid in there to lubricate the whole thing. And right at the last moment i thought 'Well... That could shoot out of the little port' so i put on my safety glasses. And indeed, some fluid/air/droplets shot out of there and over my trousers and shirt. It didn't get onto my safety glasses, it wouldn't have gotten into my eyes... This time. In a parallel universe, another LimaBiker is doing the same job with the assembly angled just a bit differently, and there it did happen to get into his eyes. Same goes when you flush out stuff with brake cleaner. That stuff HURTS like a motherfucker. E2: continuing the saga of the almost scrapped FZR in a separate thread. LimaBiker fucked around with this message at 13:25 on Jun 11, 2022 |
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Jun 11, 2022 10:51
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I used to have RON 102 fuel a couple of years ago, nearby. Occasionally bought it for the princely sum of 2 euro per liter because it smelled so drat good. Carbureted, non catalyzed exhaust. It had a vague sweet scent to it. Usually just chucked in RON 95 though. But that definitely smelled less good. Especially Shell's gasoline, which somehow smelled sour. Now lowly 95 with 10 percent ethanol is already 2,30 or so, and 2,50 for anything with 5 percent or less ethanol (which is pretty much always ron 98 which i don't need, i just want some low ethanol fuel...) I still avoid Shell V Power because of the sour smell. Bleh.
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Jun 23, 2022 16:31
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Still regularly smell it because there are still a bunch of Puch mopeds roaming around the cycle paths here, owned by kids who use them to commute to school. Not my favorite smell tbh.
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Jun 25, 2022 11:01
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So despite having been replaced 2 years ago, the front brake fluid of the SV650 was already getting pretty nasty looking. So out with the old... In with the new 
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Jul 9, 2022 20:57
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Rocking is one way. Veeeeery gently letting out the clutch is also an option but that's more for when you are in neutral, and having a hard time shifting into first. It's normal, some bikes are easier to shift into neutral than others. Hard shifting can also be an indicator of old oil. Just before my 1000km overdue (so not too badly overdue) oil change i found myself in false neutrals more and more often, having to put deliberately move the shift lever rather than gently pushing on it and letting it snap in place by itself (sooooo satisfying, it never gets old)
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Jul 11, 2022 16:36
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I actually rode my FZR today  It ran like poo poo when i finished the work but after a couple hundred meter it smoothed right out. Throttle feels much much smoother with the new cable. I'm so happy i can ride it again. What's left is to make it semi pretty again by smacking on those delicious 1990s plastics
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Jul 12, 2022 16:44
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I 'properly' rode the FZR600 for the first time in almost a year today. It's so nice. It's a bitch to ride in slow traffic but on some medium speed twisties it's lovely. I'm now committing to buying a set of fresh tires for it Now to decide which ones. I think i'll just get the same battlax t32 that are on my SV.
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Jul 15, 2022 16:26
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 More will eventually show up in the thread about the bike, once i find and buy fairings: https://forums.somethingawful.com/showthread.php?threadid=4004324
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Jul 16, 2022 14:20
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 When replacing the tank petcock seal, i discovered a rusty spot where the mounting bracket was welded to the tank. It still was superficial rust, but definitely of the kind that when left untreated for 5 years, it'll cause a pinhole leak. So i slapped some primer on it. I'll paint it black later, even though it's in an invisible spot.
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Aug 8, 2022 15:42
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Although it is not a lot of weight, it is really high up (it catches some wind) and also really far back. Just the top case by itself is unnoticeable to me. But when i filled it with 6kg of stuff (more than the maximum of 3kg lol), and also had some camp gear strapped to the bike, it definitely felt more tippy when alread in a corner. But just the top case? Riding without protective gear has a much bigger influence on the feeling of the bike imho.
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Aug 10, 2022 18:34
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I don't know the rating of my rack, but i think i pressed down onto it with about 20kgf and it didn't do anything weird. But you do want a good safety margin, you don't want any of the bolts to shear off when you accidentally hit the bump stops on a speed hump or whatever. My Givi top case has a super annoying lock and key. I actively have to hold the lock open (keep the key twisted) because the key has some kind of sideways part that hooks onto your key ring, and because it's sideways and not in the centre, it'll turn the latch halfway between open and locked - meaning the latch won't latch properly if you just leave your keys hanging while latching. But it was cheap, got it 2nd hand for not a lot of money. I have no issues clicking the thing onto the mounting plate. But it's old, perhaps the bit of wear means it latches in place easier. LimaBiker fucked around with this message at 19:22 on Aug 10, 2022 |
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Aug 10, 2022 19:15
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Put stuff in it like a reflective vest, an extra shirt, stuff like that.
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Aug 11, 2022 13:14
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nonononononono please don't.  Sigh. At first i thought it was just some overspray from vaseline that i used to keep some exposed electrics from corroding too badly, but nope. Oil. I don't have the heart to scrap my old FZR, though this is it's second 'saved from the scrap heap' already. But the for seals are going and the scratches in the piston/rod make me think that even if i get them replaced, it won't be long before the new ones start leaking again. The scratches are every bit as bad as they look in the picture. What's your thoughts on how many km new seals could last? If it's another 40.000km i'm fine with it. That'll easily be 8 years considering i don't ride the FZR a whole lot. If it's more like 10.000, i'm gonna shed a tear cause i don't think i want to invest even more into getting a whole new fork for it. I have no idea if the seals have been replaced by the PO. I do know the scratches were already there when i bought it - but i didn't care much. I'm at a watershed moment because i was right at the moment that i'd buy new tires and start ordering the missing plastics. I love it, but for me this is essentially a bike to have fun with until i find a 400cc bike with dual round headlights. But... Ugh. Those small sportsbikes are extremely rare here, and since C19 also not exactly priced in such a way that i'd just buy one for the occasional joy ride. LimaBiker fucked around with this message at 18:39 on Aug 23, 2022 |
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Aug 23, 2022 18:06
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I'm a pretty gentle rider, courtesy of traffic cops and cyclists on every twisty road. But not a ride goes by without encountering a bunch of speed humps. It's good to know the ridges can be polished out. That definitely makes it not a death sentence anymore. It seems like i need this kind of stand: https://www.motea.com/nl/stuurkop-stand-motorfiets-constands-classic-5-pin-stuurkop-montage-standaard-zwart-193662-0 Is there such a thing as bad and good stands like that, or are they all just fine?
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Aug 23, 2022 19:13
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It currently doesn't have much bodywork. That's the last thing i am gonna put on it after all mechanical stuff is sorted. Which it actually was until i found this problem. I'm not opposed to doing the work myself, but i'm struggling with space to put stuff that doesn't fit a tool case. I'll have to have a good think if i wanna commit to getting the stand, or have it done at the garage where i'm gonna get the tires done anyway. I'm sure i can rig something up with wood and tie down straps to keep it in the air and upright but i don't feel like setting up the camera and editing the footage when it goes wrong.
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Aug 23, 2022 19:45
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Amazon is essentially Aliexpress with local distribution centres. A lot of what you find on Amazon, is also available on Ali/Ebay/Wish/Dealextreme/whatever. If you live in the EU, then you can search on Ali for products that are stocked at the warehouses in Poland, for instance. That cuts down on delivery time a lot. There are many more warehouses, it's to look into it to see if there's one in your (or your neighboring) country. Amazon doesn't have a distro centre in my country because they tried to influence our national law makers to cut back on employee rights. Employees in our existing distro centres (for instance the ones of https://www.bol.com or https://www.bax-shop.nl) are already absolutely miserable, but Bezos thought they weren't miserable enough yet. I don't know what the exact things Amazon wanted to change, but probably change laws that currently say that a worker needs to receive their schedule a week in advance, is entitled to 12 hours of rest between work days so you can't schedule a day shift right after a night shift and stuff like that. Luckily, for now, our law makers didn't bend, and if you want amazon crap, you can just get it from Aliexpress and the polish warehouse, or from Amazon Germany. LimaBiker fucked around with this message at 10:18 on Oct 1, 2022 |
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Oct 1, 2022 10:11
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| # ¿ Apr 28, 2024 23:36 |
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Pegged at 16 means the battery acts like it's intermittently open circuit, and the bike's voltage stabilizer has to cope with tremendous load variations. Not all stabilizers can cope with that. It can be that a battery terminal was not tightened enough and physically interrupting the charge current, but it can also be that some protection circuit in the battery opened the circuit, making all electrics run on generator power alone without having the stabilizing and smoothing effect of the battery that can both sink and source current. One thing to keep into account is that they're very specifically starter batteries. More often than not, they are specified 'to replace 14Ah' lead acid batteries, implying something like 200 cold cranking amperes. You can already get those 200 CCA from a 5Ah lithium pack. So a 'Replaces 14 Ah' battery might very well be just 5Ah. And that means that leaving big loads turned on with the engine not running (or if it doesn't generate enough electrical power on idle) that you can easily empty the battery. This also goes for when you have a small parasitic power draw such as an alarm system, GPS tracker, a phone charger on standby and things like that. Those will deplete the lithium 'Replaces X amp hours' battery faster than they will drain the original one. The lead acid, however, will sustain damage from deep cycles. The lithium won't because it will simply act like it's not there anymore when it's close to its 'too deeply discharged to work' voltage until you charge it again. You're also not supposed to use all the 14 Ah of a bike lead acid battery because of deep cycle issues, but you can do it. The low weight of the new battery tech doesn't say much about whether it's good or not. But i have no problems with lead acid batteries and for me the difference in mass is completely irrelevant. What i dislike is the concept of charging a lithium battery pack with a system that's designed for lead acid charging. The lead acid battery can just float at 13,8 to 14,4v, always having a stabilizing effect. A lithium pack has to follow a very specific charging regime. It can only source current once it's full, not sink it (overcharging it) like you can do with a lead acid battery (even though that's not great to do, they will handle limited overcharging). Also, if there's 'smart' circuitery in it, it is very likely to not agree with me on what actually is smart. That said, if they design a bike to use a lithium starter battery from the start, i think it would be wonderful. There's no reason why *that* should be unreliable, because you can factor in all the things like how to keep the 12v bus stable when the battery is already 100% charged, how to deal with a jump start with a completely flat and locked out lithium battery (once you disconnect the jumper cables, voltage could again shoot up to unsafe levels) etc etc. LimaBiker fucked around with this message at 22:51 on Dec 4, 2022 |
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Dec 4, 2022 22:47
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