R1 Streetfighter - What'll She Do Mister?

WOW!

Considering the old tyres, this bike impresses immediately. Admittedly a little bit wary on roundabouts because the tyres are as hard as wood - but as they clean up a little, it starts to inspire a little bit more confidence. (They will get changed for Rosso II's soon, I just wanted to make sure everything else was going to hold together before lashing out on new boots.)

Suspension is nice, sublime, stiff but supple, and doesn't pound you like the Bandit or older bikes. Old, conventional forks don't caress you in the slightest, they can leave you feeling tired and drained after a few hours. Modern (we're talking twenty-year-old modern) forks can deal with the shit underneath, and leave you feeling pretty bloody rested in fairness.

The naked R1's biggest attribute? It's absolutely bloody solid! 

A massive difference when compared to a frame with some flex. And with the ProTaper bars, you're pulled forward enough to be in a slightly racer-like position, which is much more comfortable for me than sitting dead upright. This oozes quality, and you can feel how capable a bike like this is straight away. If it was the faired bike you would expect it, but the handlebars make you think differently.

Now the engine feels harsh at lower RPM (wear/issues?), but as the power winds on, oh so nicely, it smoothes out. In any gear, a quick blast up to the ton is a walk in the park, like any sportsbike should be. I think this is a much better hooligan tool than the fully-faired bike, and I look forward to getting a few lessons.

I've not done enough miles yet...

I'll be back with more soon, but I really like it.  It's quick, and it wheelies much too readily when you give it large. Yeah, this will be a fun bike. It inspires enough confidence to let you know that it will look after you whatever happens on the road, but is going to throw your bollocks in a bush if you start taking the piss. 

On that note, here's a video of it sat still, where it can't do any harm.

RPM Moto Nerang — New Chain and Sprockets for the GS550E.

Suzuki GS550E — I'm attached to this little bike.
It's nowhere near restored or concourse, and likely never will be, but looks pretty good considering the condition it came to me in. I'm always doing little jobs on it, and enjoy the odd ride out even if the seat is as hard as wood.

The chain and sprockets were well worn, in fact the chain I was using came off my Gixer1000 years ago. So when I saw a NOS standard rear sprocket for next to nothing on eBay, I snapped it up (obviously a fifty tooth sprocket for a GS550 is not a common item now). The gearing on the 550 was way over the top before, and was fitted with a 43T on the back. I'd always thought it had the wrong chain guard on it because of the huge gap underneath, but that wasn't the case. Standard size was seven teeth bigger.

So now I needed a front sprocket and an O-ring chain to go with it. A quick look on eBay and there was a shop selling both, with different sized fronts if need be. I decided to go for a 16T to give the GS a sightly more relaxed time (15T is standard). The prices were superb, and with a little more investigation I found out they were actually on the Gold Coast.

So I popped in...

Suzuki Bandit 1200 — Fuel Gauge Not Reading Correctly?

Rusty Tanks? Sounds like a Blues singer.
And if you leave the rust to spread, the blues is what you'll be singing.

Takes me back to when I was 18 or 19, riding a '58 Triumph Speedtwin. My mate and I were on our way into Hereford, the traffic was backed up a bit from the roundabout and we were busy swerving our way through when he came alongside me, on his Stan Stephen's Stage-3 tuned, RD350 YPVS, to tell me that I had a water leak.

My initial response was "F#ck, where from?"

It dawned pretty quickly that there is no water in a pre-unit Triumph! The tank had split and petrol was absolutely pissing out all over the head and barrels! I killed the engine, which helped a little because the vibration stopped, and calmly pushed (very quickly) it over to the bike shop that used to be on that very roundabout. A mechanic there gave me a tray to put under it, and my mate gave me a lift back home where I borrowed a Transit from work to pick up the old Trumpet. Job's a fish.

But I digress, as usual, because we're now in Bandit country. One of the first things I noticed about the Bandit was the fuel gauge, and it didn't move as Suzuki intended. There was also rust visible in the tank. 
A quick test of the fuel gauge goes as follows: unplug the tank sender unit, rear right of the petrol tank on the Bandit, and insert a wire into both terminals of the loom. This is basically returning 12v to the gauge (or mimicking a full tank). The gauge went to the full position so happy days. Time to pull out the tap and fuel sender.

 

Changing Fork Seals — 2011 - 2013 Honda CBR600RR

One at a time...
So I was going for the approach here of "If it ain't broke, don't fix it".

Only the RH fork seal is leaking on the little CBR, but it's long overdue (just like tutorials on this blog). Well, no more! I haven't been riding as much because of it. I seriously needed a kick up the arse.

KTM690 SMC-R — Review, Test and Smiles.

For the good lord said unto them... "Tell me what it is you want." 

And the fools they cried, "We want power. Great power, over people." 

But the wise, more importantly, asked of power from a different source. A device that could invoke feelings like no other. A mechanical device, designed by the hands and minds of humans... an engine. An engine that could deliver oodles of power from low revs, and induce wheelies at the slightest provocation. And the diligent were patient, and they duly received.

Four-stroke singles. Word.
Unheard horsepower from a mid-sized single is a great feat. For years they were  dull, docile, heavy lumps that were dependable but, essentially, boring. Then they got quick, lightweight, scared the shit out of us, but were slightly unreliable. Because great power comes at great expense...

In time though, we got it all. Including 10,000km service intervals from a single cylinder midsize, pushing out around 66BHP. Stone the crows cobber, I think we're onto something.

The 690 SMC-R.

With great power comes great responsibility. 

Oil Filters — Part Deux.

Where are we at?
OK, so I've changed the oil twice since doing the original oil and filter change when I first got the bike. For those that remember, the filter fitted had no manufacturer's markings on it and, when I cut it up, found it to be absolute crap. 

I fitted a genuine Honda one, and since then just dropped the oil a couple of times to try and get everything running clean inside again. Today I put another flush in the engine and changed it all again. And this, my very bored friends, is how it went down.

2011 CBR600RR
Really like this bike, the paint, the shape, its agility... it's awesome. But someone decided it was a good idea to hide the oil filler cap behind that black fairing panel. Doesn't make sense that to top up the engine oil, or check the filler cap for tightness (as they do before you enter the racetrack), you have to remove part of the fairing.

Kawasaki Versys — from the Latin phrase...

Stone me guv'nor, what a bike!
Does any Japanese motorcycle manufacturer make a bad bike anymore? Like sports bike tyres, there are great ones, and superb ones, but not many crap ones. And so it is with today's test mule.

The Kawasaki Versys 650L ABS
I've been a big fan of the ER6-N for a while, mainly because I liked how the shock was mounted on the side. No, I haven't ridden one, but did try to lose one on the road a long time ago. And after I worked hard through a series of tight mountain bends, I managed to drop him a few metres... on a GSXR1000. So I thought it must be a pretty capable bike. It is, and the Versys?

Well, having been a big fan of the Paris Dakar inspired trailies from years ago, the Africa Twins, Super Tenere's and DR BIG's all left a lasting impression so I do like these current trail/sport bike configurations. Sat up high, in comfort, with all the important whirly bits working away metres below you. A bit like the Titanic in its heyday, ok maybe a different cruise liner, but you get the drift.

GS550E Paint — And Now The Lacquer.

2000 Grit Wet & Dry
After a good flatting with soapy water and the old P2000 grit, the paintwork was looking smooth and, well, dull. Taking care on the curves and edges not to rub through the red, you're aiming for paint that is uniform all over without any orange peel. 
The scary part is taking your nice shiny paint finish and ruining it. 
But if it worries you, just run water over the paint and watch how it shines again — that's what the lacquer will do.

Crap You Need To Know When Buying A Secondhand Motorcycle.

The BikeTech7 Guide to being a Punter.
Here's a collection of abbreviations and descriptions to help you out when you're buying, or have already bought, a secondhand motorbike.

P.O. — Previous Owner. 
Will very likely soon be known as butcher, bodger, tosser, or worse once you begin to work on your newly-purchased motorcycle. They probably talked the talk at the P.O.S., but unfortunately very few have walked the walk, and those little intricacies only show up once you get it home. Marvellous.

P.O.S — Point Of Sale.
This is usually a point of great happiness for the new owner, and a point of utter elation for the P.O. He will be struggling to hold a straight face as he counts out the readies and dreams about getting down to the pub for a couple of swift halves. Once you ride that bike out of his driveway, any previous mention of warranty, help or even basic friendship is null and void. You are now on your Jack Jones.

P.O.S. — Pile Of Shit.
Yes, it's a clever abbreviation this one and could mean two things. Right after the first P.O.S., you become familiar with P.O.S. number two. Riding out of the driveway and there's a nagging doubt in your mind as you become familiar with a braking system unfit for a pushbike, and the steering ability of a shopping trolley run over by a cement truck. But it all fades to oblivion because "the rebuilt motor has got some go in it". Whoop!

Rebuilt Motors.
There is a fair chance the P.O. was being completely honest at this point. The engine, or motor guv'nor, has indeed been taken to pieces and then rebuilt. 
However, no parts were changed during this transaction because it would've cost an arm, leg and probably his old boy too, so it was slung back together with the old parts and flogged on to the next unsuspecting punter. Hopefully, and if you're very lucky, it'll get you home... this week.

"I'll bloody kill meself on it!"
This guy is fast, and should've been racing. He's had more police chases than you've had underwear and needs to sell it before... he bloody kills himself. A quick look at the tyres will give you some indication of his incredible pace. They'll be fucked... in the middle.

"Not for the faint hearted."
It was once a quick bike... twenty years ago, but time hasn't been kind to this fella. Under delusions of something, he will harp on about how fast it was and how he can still overtake an R1 on the back wheel without even using the clutch. It was pushing out 147BHP at the wheel, back in the day, but he just can't put his hands on the dyno sheets.

"The parts are here somewhere."
Sometimes a bike comes with spares — awesome! 
You really want the oojamaflop valve to put back on at a later date, and he's adamant it's in the garage. "It'll show up and I'll send it on" he says reassuringly... you will never see that valve. He will throw it in a skip rather than send it to you. Forget about the valve, it's gone.

"Only selling due to family commitments."
His three-legged dog has to go in for its fourth hernia operation, the wife wants a new car or the kids have an expensive drug habit. Whatever transpires at this point will probably be a lie. Best not to ask. Put your hand up to his face, say I'm not interested and try to check out the bike as best you can. 
If, as you ride away, a bandaged-up, three-legged dog strolls by with two lines of coke on his back being chased by some fucked-up kids, you might've picked a good bike after all. Happy days.

"I tuned it myself, it'll pull one-sixty."
It wouldn't pull a pram. He's banged on a Chinese K&N air filter but left the jetting standard. The "race can" is just the original with its internals removed by jack hammer, but it will run fine on choke... for a while... until the valves burn out.

"It's all there, just needs putting together."
It's not all there, and some of the parts that are have been damaged beyond repair. Very often used in conjunction with another little gem we call "Easy restoration". This, of course, is utter bollocks. It would be easier, and more pleasurable, to chop off your old boy, whack it in a slice of bread and call it a sausage sizzle.

"Perfect for learner rider."
It doesn't go quite as well as it should, in fact the engine is knackered. Grandma is pulling better standing quarters on her invalid carriage, and looks better getting there.

"Regretful sale."
The only regret here is gonna be yours.

"Serviced regularly" or "Over-serviced"
Of course it was. It's had a couple of oil changes and the plugs were out once. The sump plug threads are only stretched because the P.O. had no idea how to tighten a bolt. But he did insist on using genuine supermarket oil "because they're all the same".

"Must sell, moving interstate."
Because as soon as this little beauty is sold, he's going to put as much distance between him and it as is humanly possible. It could also be a double bluff so you don't come back to his house asking for a refund.

"Always garaged."
On February 29th... without fail.


So there you have the, slightly tongue in cheek, sceptical guide to buying bikes. Buyer beware people. 
Now who wants to buy a mint, one-owner GSX750ESD with low miles and fully-rebuilt set of carbs? And it ain't for the faint hearted.

DANGER! Scared Of Using Engine Flush?

Skeptical, or concerned?

You will find different opinions on using engine flush from every mechanic out there. Some say never use it no matter what. Others put it in at every oil change.

So why the difference in opinion? What are the pros and cons?

Valvoline detergent-based engine flush.

Greasing The Suzuki Speedo Drive.

Funnily enough... grease dries out and goes hard after thirty years of getting mashed in a worm drive, but how do you get the speedo drive apart without ruining the seal? Once they're put together, it's nigh on impossible to remove it — and you can't buy the drive complete now, let alone get the right seal! 

So, after a lot of messing around with a spare one I have, I decided to have a stab at getting it apart with minimal damage. I came to the conclusion that a 2.5mm hole drilled through the body of the drive itself would allow access for a small punch to tap out the seal. If all goes to plan, a small dab of silicone in the hole will seal it up once finished. Job jobbed.

Symptoms.
Just turning the tabbed washer will tell you how bad it is. If it stops, gets stuck and generally feels tight, it needs to be stripped, cleaned and greased. Leave it and the tabbed washer will fail, maybe even the worm drive and gear itself. The drive in my ESD has had the tabs brazed back on at some stage. And this spare drive has quite a bit of wear on the inner tabs where it fits into the gear.

Whatever happens, it would be good to take a look inside and see what can be fixed. With a centre pop first, and then very slowly with the drill I had enough room for a small punch to tap on the back of the seal.

Gasket Paper.

Doing It The Old Fashioned Way.
Because my brand new, fitted two years ago, gasket broke when removing the clutch cover, I needed a new one. No longer available from Suzuki, you can find quite a few New-Old-Stock ones for sale on eBay - for the price of an aftermarket gasket set! Seriously, are they gold impregnated?

Being careful with my funds, I shot down to Repco for a sheet of the old oil resistant stuff. Just under twenty bucks, plus a further 30% discount that weekend for being an RACQ member, and I was the proud owner of a roll of Flexoid gasket paper. 

Made in England!
That's refreshing, should be good then.

Copying the original gasket, and with a little help from Stanley's knife, and Snap-On's hole punch set, I soon had something that resembled the first one. Even the bloody holes lined up!

With all that done, I had to hear it running again. It's been a while, and I want to be able to run a flush through the engine. So loom was laid on the bike and bits connected where they should be. This loom is a mess! I need to have a big clean up and remove the rubbish repairs from previous bodges. 
With battery connected, I checked for spark - all good. I filled the syringe with fuel until the float bowls were all full and gave it a whirl on the starter. The odd firing occurred and then she was away!

Untidy Wiring? Recovering Could Be The Answer.

You can put the insulation tape away too!
It maybe considered pedantic, considering the rest of the bike at the moment, but I didn't like the white, heat resistant (?) sheathing on the wiring from the signal generator. It was torn in places, fraying and looked scruffy - not really the look I was going for (for the wiring at least).
So, with a little bit of looking around on the dock of the eBay, I found some Techflex. A plastic braided sleeve which expands when you push it together so that you can get it over various looms, hoses or cables etc. When it goes back to its original length, it tightens back up and looks great. Worth a shot of anyone's money I thought.

Here's the old covering looking a bit dilapidated. I'd cleaned it up as best I could, but some things have their limits.

Refitting HT Leads Into Nippon Denso Coils.

Misfire in the Wet? Weak Spark?
Sat under the tank, they tend to get forgotten. But the leads that take the all important spark to the plugs need to be fully-insulated. If moisture gets in where the coil makes contact with the copper-cored plug lead, your 40,000 volts will probably make its way down the side to earth, rather than putting a spark across your plug electrodes. Why? Because it's lazy and wants the easy path. Wouldn't we all?
If you've ever touched a distributor cap, or lead, on an engine with a misfire, you might have felt the same sort of kick. It's easier to find a path to earth through you, than fire a spark across two metal points that are 0.75mm or more apart, especially in a cylinder containing high pressure air/fuel mixture.
The same can be said for the other end where your plug caps are. The rubber sealing boots are falling apart on the GSX's caps, so I'm putting new NGK's on it. For the price of them, it's not worth taking chances.

So what's that got to do with the price of fish?
Well, the original retaining clips for the plug leads had long since made for the hills. When the bike came to me the HT leads were hanging in by the fact that they were completely rigid and couldn't move, and a bit of good luck thrown in. Don't get me wrong, the bike ran fine, but it would have been different in rain.

Later coils did away with the clips altogether, and came factory sealed with a resin of some sort. As much as I would like them to go back together as Mr Denso wanted, without new clips, I'm going to have to seal them in semi-permanently too.

The Mighty GSX250... Runs!

Considering the state of it, that's pretty impressive. 
With water ingress obvious - the carb tops have almost rusted through, the exhaust pipes have rotted out, and the engine is severely corroded, I wasn't expecting too much from the little twin. The inlet rubbers had come away from the alloy plates that mount to the head, which made it a little hard to get it running.
But today I decided to check the compression to get some idea on the internals, it wasn't pretty. 50psi was about as good as it got. That's why, in my opinion, it's better to get an engine running before strip down, but each to their own.  Once it's running, it'll clear out a lot of the crap hanging round inside (and there was a lot of rubbish in the ports!). It puts pressure on the prison rings, which start to scrape the bores properly. Fuel/air mixture going through helps to clean valve stems and seats. All of this should help the low compression and, if it runs, gives you some idea on the bottom end. If you pull apart an engine without having heard it, you'll probably end up replacing every component inside for peace of mind.

New Bits, Missing Bits And Dodgy Bits!

New parts are rolling in fast.
But some of the old bits seem to have done a bunk! I cleaned, painted (then scratched) a LH handlebar switch last week. Convinced it wasn't the one off this bike, and that it came in a box of Katana bits, I did it anyway. Why didn't I think it was off this GSX? The choke lever is snapped off on the Katana one.
I just went through all the pics I took of the bike and, sure enough, the choke lever is intact on the original switch - but where the f#*k is it?

I had a massive clear-out and general tidy in the garage this weekend and went through all the boxes. The switch and clutch lever have definitely gone AWOL. Oh well, hopefully they'll turn up soon.

In the meantime, new acquisitions have been turning up while I had some spare cash. Needing new master cylinder reservoirs, I went looking on good old eBay. A nice, anodised black, aluminium cylindrical reservoir was found for the princely sum of $7.55 delivered. How could you possibly go wrong? 

Biketech7 - GSXR1000 Fuel Pumps And Filters.

Progress is made...
With the genuine fuel filter, and other bits, quickly delivered from International Moto Parts, and the aftermarket pump from Axiom Performance, I was ready to get back some of the lost power.
So, tank up and fuel line disconnected, I thought I'd try another fuel flow test. No fuel runs out of the tank at all when I disconnect the pipe - which isn't right, it should flow out under gravity. This time, instead of connecting up a separate loom to the pump wiring, I'm just going to turn the ignition on and let the bike run its own priming cycle. That way I can compare fuel amounts before the work, and after. 

Lakeside Track Days, And The Ability To Learn... From Mistakes.

Tyres & Temperatures.
Nowadays, I don't think many riders would dispute the importance of warming a tyre before hard use. Thirty years ago you'd just be glad to see a bit of tread around the entire circumference, you didn't expect them to stick to the road as well - but hell, it was always a nice bonus when they did!
So fast forward, and what do we have? Pretty cool tech that is positively bursting from the race scene. The bike manufacturers now make bikes that are almost impeccable, delivering huge amounts of linear power, quietly, through a frame and swingarm strong enough to hold a tank together... and they are very, very hard to improve on. Where once you chose a JMC swingarm, or Harris frame, for better handling, now you just keep it standard and wonder how you ever managed on the steel cradle, flexi-frames of yesteryear. 
On top of that, the rubber things that transmit everything to the road, or you, are designed with the actual bike in mind, not just a rubber ring forged in the dimensions to suit your wheels. 

And these tyres let you get away with murder...

Brake Judder Problems On Your Bike?

What is it?
If you're getting a bad vibration every time you apply the brakes, there's a good chance you've got a warped disc. But before you order [expensive] new ones, carry out some basic checks first. 

1. Lift the front end of your bike and turn the steering from lock-to-lock slowly, feeling for any roughness or looseness in the steering head bearings. Any play, or harsh movement, and it's time for new bearings. Get that sorted first.
2. Are the brakes binding at all? Spin the wheel. You'll hear the pads rubbing the disc, but it should spin freely, not stop as soon as you let go of the wheel. If they're binding, you need to free up the pistons or overhaul the calipers. Binding brakes run hot and can lead to warped discs.
3. Is there any play in the fork stanchions/sliders? There is always a minute amount of play to allow for easy movement but, if excessive, could cause a juddering through the handlebars. In fairness, this isn't so common and points one and two should be checked out first.

The visual.

It's not always necessary to use a dial test indicator to check for runout. Sometimes you can see by eye how bad the disc is. Check out Bryan's CBR here.

Looking for a Project. Buy Buy Buy!

Just missed out on an old XL250 on ebay. Yes I should have put a higher bid in but sometimes, when you're in two minds, you chance it to fate. It's not exactly a classic BSA or Triumph so I'm not too bothered.

So that leaves me scouring the web pages for restoration projects that are close enough to drive to. Never used to be a problem in the UK, but in Australia, it could be a days travel to get to the next state, let alone the other side of the country!


The post above was the start of BikeTech7.
Not very interesting was it? No pictures, hardly any text. Back then I thought you just wrote something in your blog and everyone was desperate to read the rubbish you churn out. Not actually the way it works, but then you knew that... didn't you?
I started the blog to keep an online account of my projects, and help others who were going through issues of their own and maybe had no prior knowledge. It's all a bit of fun, and hopefully helps you keep your bike on the road, or gets you closer to finishing it. 
Got questions? Just ask, I love to hear from you.

Meanwhile, here's some pics of one of my previous bike projects. It's a 1964 Norton Jubilee. The smallest capacity bike Norton ever built, it's a 250cc parallel twin and, although not completely original, looked pretty good when finished.

Thanks for checking out Biketech7 and I hope you can stick around.