The Bikeshite Thread

[srad34]

I stick with halfrauds oil as all other others cause more rattles & the gearbox seems rougher. I guess it suits my bike.

I use the halfords oil in all my bikes including trackday racer, its good stuff.

I only stray if I get a better deal on a branded oil like Petronas which is a little cheaper with a Halfords trade card atm

[Jerzy Woking]

today

 

fuck

 

apart from petrol in kings lynn and 20 mins for food

 

one go

 

Bloody Hell-you started off this morning 4 miles from where I live. Enjoy your ride!

[Jerzy Woking]

It comes from the Netherlands, they dont tend to invest in the tat like Blighty (Thank the lord) and they dont use any salt on the roads! - Its going back to '93 spec, have a bit of paintwork to tidy it up and strip clean. It will take a few weeks but worth it

 

My mate has a paint shop and has had an increasing number of bikes to do as a few of his friends have made a business out of buying 80's Jap bikes from Belgium, Holland and Central Italy for just this reason. Most they buy just need a little bit of paintwork doing to the main parts of the bikes (tank, fairings, seat panels,) as the frames are usually rust free and need no work. Most of those I've seen that he has had there still have the original exhaust systems on them (including the three Honda CX650 Turbo's he has done).

[pilninggas]

Took my NC for a lap of Glamorgan. Generally really nice and much warmer than the weekend, with the odd heavy shower. Need to put a new front tyre on, so ordered a maxxis ST (£40 del). Will fit once it arrives. Need to service the NC soon, i buy oil and filters bulk, so no expense incurred, just need to do it when I do the tyre.

 

Awaiting a new shock for my FZR1000, it failed the mot last week, on sod all rear damping [counldnt argue with my local mot guy]. Also ordered the lower linkage rose-joint, as that is sloppy - the oem yamaha part is £45! so managed to find a generic bearing that will fit on ebay for 1/5 price. Will be good to get it back on the road and actually handling this time.

 

 

[srad34]

My mate has a paint shop and has had an increasing number of bikes to do as a few of his friends have made a business out of buying 80's Jap bikes from Belgium, Holland and Central Italy for just this reason. Most they buy just need a little bit of paintwork doing to the main parts of the bikes (tank, fairings, seat panels,) as the frames are usually rust free and need no work. Most of those I've seen that he has had there still have the original exhaust systems on them (including the three Honda CX650 Turbo's he has done).

Totally,

We usually restore early Honda Fireblades but the home markets have cottoned on to the values and they are increasing there too much to find at a decent price, hence looking at YZF750's, same period and I think the values will be on the up.

Jim Moore from Practical Sportsbikes has just bought the pink/white one that came over with this one and anything featured tends to get folk looking for them!   

[They_all_do_that_sir]

Off with the kids this week so decided to finally fire the carbs back together, and with no one to say otherwise I done it in the warmth of the dining room

 

Credit to Wifey she didn't complain about the petrol smell when she came home, keeper!

 

Float levels all in tolerance, set pilots to slightly richer than stock and then had a look at how the rubber trumpets are mounted.... Seems they weren't on properly with some air gaps especially on no. 4 carb.

I've always struggled with problems around the pilot end of the rev range, could never get it nailed down so hoping this is it....

 

Left the rubbers to soak in Nice hot water and I'll use the hair dryer to soften them tomorrow before refitting properly.

 

Ill get them back on, balanced, and then ill have a play with the pilot screws. Bit of a faff with 4 carbs but weaken them till they run badly, richen till they run badly the other way and go for somewhere in the middle. We shall see.....

 

Sent from my F3211 using Tapatalk

[hairnet]

slag ye

 

petrol always a better smell than feart (bai)

[Jazoli]

400 mile day today on the FZ1, had a ride into N Wales with a mate, had a go on his 11k mile 18 year old thundercat, its alright apart from having shit brakes (which it shouldn't have),  mega sore arse now though, is there a bike out there with a comfy seat? I've not had one yet and I've had a few bikes

 

[Guest Hooli]

My 14 has a comfy seat, but I seem to recall you think they are like riding a bus?

[Jerzy Woking]

RC8 has a comfortable seat - little in the way of padding, so nothing to compress, and just the right shape, at least for a 300 mile run I did.

 

Riding it to Slovakia next month so will find out if it is as good after 2,500 miles.

 

The new Kawasaki Z1000SX I rode for 150 miles today was uncomfortable after the first 100, no fun at all.

[Jazoli]

My 14 has a comfy seat, but I seem to recall you think they are like riding a bus?

 

Nope never said that as I've never ridden one so I can't comment, I have had dozens of bikes over the last 10 years and I can safely say apart from the old ZZR1100 I've not had one that does not become uncomfortable after an hour, I even have an airhawk cushion thing and that doesn't help much at all for a full days riding, I think I just have an awkward arse.

[John F]

My bollocks get slightly squashed when riding the CBX750F at legal speeds. Officer.

[andy18s]

My most comfy bike so far

Nice upright position,wide bars for easy handling and went like a stabbed rat..

(Full power Tl1000 engine,Power Commander and a pair of Termi's)

[Jerzy Woking]

^^^Nice-not seen one of those for a long time.

 

My Guzzi 1200 Sport is comfortable for distances-sit in it rather than on it, and it suits my arm/body/leg sizes.

 

I also use sheepskin on my seats when doing any distance. Makes a huge difference to comfort, not that many people believe me.

[DodgeRover]

Sheepskin and a gel pad seat if you can get one really help

[Jazoli]

Sheepskin and a gel pad seat if you can get one really help

 

I have one of the super duper airhawk seat pads that cost £lots and which are supposed to be the best but my arse still suffers after a couple of hours, anyway enough about my arse, I went into the garage and the bike was white with salt, so I have just cleaned it again, is winter going to end??

[They_all_do_that_sir]

My ZZR1100 seat is knackered after over 50,000 miles, but still comfy.

 

It's raining again today, which is shit because I really wanted to refit my carbs now they are rebuilt......

 

To make matters worse I left the bike cover off so its getting a bath now....

 

Sent from my F3211 using Tapatalk

[Guest Hooli]

Nope never said that as I've never ridden one so I can't comment, I have had dozens of bikes over the last 10 years and I can safely say apart from the old ZZR1100 I've not had one that does not become uncomfortable after an hour, I even have an airhawk cushion thing and that doesn't help much at all for a full days riding, I think I just have an awkward arse.

 

I had a feeling you'd had a XJR that wasn't nimble enough & they are pretty similar.

[Guest Hooli]

In other news - clean MOT pass for my GSX14 this morning, an appallingly low 6k since last year's test. I will try harder.

[yellowperil]

This week I was able to pick the SRX up from my brother.

It has a bit of a problem, it cuts out intermittently, which I knew about, so I can deal with.

More than a bit pissed off that it has sat in his garden, uncovered, all winter.

 

So rust is seeping out of ever seam, pore, nut and bolt.

 

If it wasn't family i think I would have walked away.

So... Today's plan is to take little un to swimming, then drop her at friends, come home and spend the day fettling.

 

It is a handsome beast though and physically tiny, I will get some photos later.

[doug]

My winter project/money pit is nearly finished. "Just" the electrics to sort out. 

 

[Tamworthbay]

My winter project/money pit is nearly finished. "Just" the electrics to sort out.

 

sr500.jpg

What is that? Saw a neighbour with a very similar looking bike recently. I think his may be a Chinese copy of something like that.

[doug]

Its a 1978 Yamaha SR500. 

[red5]

The sun was out !

 

 

 

 

[srad34]

The sun was out !

 

 

Rf.jpg

 Hell, why not. I cleans and regreased the suspension linkages and fitted new fork seals on the YZF, oh what fun!

[Dave_Q]

Nice RF, do like me a bit of 90s sportsbike.

 

I was looking at RFs and ZZRs etc before I ended up with this SV650.

 

I must say it's a bit of an odd quirk of the bike market, seems like sportsbike buyers in general want the latest and greatest meaning that, other than halo stuff like the Fireblade, some serious tackle is available very cheaply, often even cheaper than learner stuff or commuter sluggers like 500 twins.

 

In car terms, the ZZR600 for sale on here now for less than an equivalent age GPZ500 or CG125 is like a Nissan Micra or Toyota Carina E fetching more 2nd hand than a Skyline or Supra!

 

I guess 90s stuff will have its time as noted by srad34s experience of Fireblades, 80s stuff like FZRs and early GSXRs are well on the up, when 90s children get old enough to squander on the hot bikes of their youth maybe they'll want a Thundercat, ZZR or a CBR F3.

[pilninggas]

Yeah, I like the RFs too. Like the Thunderace and Thundercat, they were brilliant but recieved lukewarm reception from a press that was obsessed with power and from fashion-victim buyers.

 

Another factor in the cheap price of FZRs, RFs, ZZRs, GSXFs etc is that they are relatively complex. This means when they misbehave the repairs, if farmed out, can be expensive. I bought an FZR1000 for £300 a few years ago, it had a seized exup valve and an ignition fault. A few hours spannering and I sold it on for a hefty profit. I find gumtree often has cheap modern stuff that isnt running. Lots of bike 'mechanics' wont take on stuff like that when they stick to safer work. Rightly or wrongly people baulk a £650 repairs on a bike they paid a bag for. I think most of us on here, know that running these things means being handy with the spanners.

 

My long term FZR1000 [17 years next week] passed it's MOT this morning. Need to do a bit of cosmetic finishing off. Runs like a champ.

[Dave_Q]

Yeah that's true, the blade I had that I sold to Billy came cheap because it was jumping out of 2nd.

 

I swapped in a full gearbox from a 900 Hornet for £80 and a few hours spannering, taking a problem like that to a Honda dealer or even an indy place would result in a bill 2 or 3 times what I paid for the whole bike.

[yellowperil]

Today has not gone well...

 

I didn't start working on it until 15:00, then I didn't find my box of gloves until after I had got my hands dirty.

 

First up was the chain, this was according, to the adjustment marks on the swingarm, not very old.

Unfortunately it is covered in rust and has more than one tight spot in it, also it is adjusted far too tight.

 

I oiled it by pushing the bike forward and forward and forward and forward and spraying it.

Because no mainstand.

 

 

 

Next, I moved into trying to start her.

The petrol tank had about a cupfull in it and the oil tank not much more.

 

I went and purchased a brand new sparking plug for her, just so I could see if there was a spark, I should have purchased a plug spanner as well, because none of mine fit.

 

Anyway, no spark was found and work has ground to a halt whilst I decide if I actually want to put any effort into this machine.

 

I may have another go tomorrow, just to get it running.I

 

Quite a few brusque text messages were exchanged between myself and my brother, but I am trying to avoid a falling out, tbh.

[DodgeRover]

Any pictures of this poor neglected beast?

 

On sports bike prices I'm on the look out for sensibly priced unmessed with FZ 600,750 and egg cups but I may have missed the boat already.