The Bikeshite Thread

[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.

[bezzabsa]

I'm awaiting a rear tyre being fitted to my Chinese XV535 rip off in 400cc variety...

also re wiring the rear indicators that PO had wired OUTSIDE the bike so wires dangling all over!!!

this is her , few years back..now has wrapped pipes and a bit more dirt!!!

 

[They_all_do_that_sir]

I'm awaiting a rear tyre being fitted to my Chinese XV535 rip off in 400cc variety...

also re wiring the rear indicators that PO had wired OUTSIDE the bike so wires dangling all over!!!

this is her , few years back..now has wrapped pipes and a bit more dirt!!!

 

That's an interesting bike, how does the quality compare with the traditional Chinese offerings at the 125cc end?

 

Sent from my F3211 using Tapatalk

[bezzabsa]

That's an interesting bike, how does the quality compare with the traditional Chinese offerings at the 125cc end?

 

Sent from my F3211 using Tapatalk

quality is on par with jap stuff.....its a 2010 where as Japan stopped the 535 late 90's IIRC so not exactly cutting edge, but no rust to speak of, gearbox and shaft drive are as tight as a new bike..rides , and sounds, great..

 

had smaller chink stuff and If i'm honest , if you remember to check nuts n bolts and actually treat them to some love they are a decent cheap way into biking..only when certain members of the nation get hold of them , thrash them, and treat them as disposable items....I admit the Early chink bikes were a tad on the iffy side...but then again so were the japs at first!!! 

[Guest Hooli]

As per the news thread - I've spent the afternoon & evening in my neighbour's workshop. I now have two out of three welding jobs done on my Bonnie & the frame is still there for the other one to get one when he gets the chance. This means I'll have a Triumph that doesn't leak out out of the frame, has all the engine mounts in place & doesn't lean over so far on the side stand it looks like it's falling over.

 

With added pictures.

 

Degreasing the oil tank

 

 

Clean enough to weld

 

 

Neighbour's workbench

 

[yellowperil]

 

I wrote an essay on this, but lost it.

 

I got her started, but had a massive fuel leak which I think was coming from the floatbowl.

 

I am getting confused by two separate fuel taps.

[DodgeRover]

I hope it was nobody you knew who put that dint in the tank,

 

Have seen worse fester on a 2 year old 500mile Spanish built Honda....

[gtd2000]

I hope it was nobody you knew who put that dint in the tank,

 

Have seen worse fester on a 2 year old 500mile Spanish built Honda....

 

Must have had the proverbial balls of steel!

[PiperCub]

quality is on par with jap stuff.....its a 2010 where as Japan stopped the 535 late 90's IIRC so not exactly cutting edge, but no rust to speak of, gearbox and shaft drive are as tight as a new bike..rides , and sounds, great..

 

had smaller chink stuff and If i'm honest , if you remember to check nuts n bolts and actually treat them to some love they are a decent cheap way into biking..only when certain members of the nation get hold of them , thrash them, and treat them as disposable items....I admit the Early chink bikes were a tad on the iffy side...but then again so were the japs at first!!! 

 

Exactly, the Jap stuff in the early 60's was the same, my dad told me folk used to say the same things back then, 'They don't last', 'Can't get the parts', 'Fragile, made of scrap metal', 'Crap to work on', etc. and 'You can't beat Brit bikes'-type statements - so that didn't turn out so well did it! 

 

In another ten years at most the Chinese bike industry will be where the Japs were about a decade or so ago and owning a Chinese bike will neither be rare nor considered strange. 

[pilninggas]

17 years.

 

I've had my FZR1000RU for 17 years and today riding it felt like an old romance rekindled!

 

I mot'd it last year after it had been off the road for 8 years. i replaced tyres, chain all that sort of stuff, i even put new stanchions on the old ones being corroded from it being sat in my parents garden for years, but when i rode it was a pig, a total pig. The rear shock being the main culprit.

 

I moved house last summer, so it was put on the back burner. Now having sold my FZ1S, i decided that i'd get it back on the road. So last week put it through the MOT, fail on rear shock, quelle surprise.

 

So I ordered a new YSS shock and fitted it. MOT passed Saturday.

 

Well i really cant believe how brilliant it feels. Just brilliant. Fuelling has always been an issue, but when i sorted last year, I put replacement emulsion tubes in. Last week I set the idle jet mixtures. Not only does it start cold with choke, hot without, it idles nicely and pulls like a fucking train to the redline. I forgotten how good it is. The FZ1 would eat it alive above 8000rpm, but between 5-8k the FZR would smash it.

 

Handles now too, even in the piss rain.

 

I've had a lot of bikes in the last 17 years, in that time the FZR has been to the Alps, been dropped, ran like a pig and handled like one too. Today it felt like new machine. Bliss.

[Jazoli]

They are great bikes, the bike I owned the longest and did the most miles on, was also my first litre bike.

[PiperCub]

17 years.

 

I've had my FZR1000RU for 17 years and today riding it felt like an old romance rekindled!

 

I mot'd it last year after it had been off the road for 8 years. i replaced tyres, chain all that sort of stuff, i even put new stanchions on the old ones being corroded from it being sat in my parents garden for years, but when i rode it was a pig, a total pig. The rear shock being the main culprit.

 

I moved house last summer, so it was put on the back burner. Now having sold my FZ1S, i decided that i'd get it back on the road. So last week put it through the MOT, fail on rear shock, quelle surprise.

 

So I ordered a new YSS shock and fitted it. MOT passed Saturday.

 

Well i really cant believe how brilliant it feels. Just brilliant. Fuelling has always been an issue, but when i sorted last year, I put replacement emulsion tubes in. Last week I set the idle jet mixtures. Not only does it start cold with choke, hot without, it idles nicely and pulls like a fucking train to the redline. I forgotten how good it is. The FZ1 would eat it alive above 8000rpm, but between 5-8k the FZR would smash it.

 

Handles now too, even in the piss rain.

 

I've had a lot of bikes in the last 17 years, in that time the FZR has been to the Alps, been dropped, ran like a pig and handled like one too. Today it felt like new machine. Bliss.

 

Had my Yam LC for 26 years! Never intended to keep it that long, it just worked out that way. 

[strangeangel]

In another ten years at most the Chinese bike industry will be where the Japs were about a decade or so ago and owning a Chinese bike will neither be rare nor considered strange. 

 

IMO the Chinese are already there, to be fair - they build stuff under licence for 'premium' manufacturers (Yamaha, BMW and Victory amongst others) to as good as standard as anyone else.

 

The machines we deride as 'Chinese crap' are crap because the price is part of the specification - if you want a 50cc scooter that costs £500 delivered in a crate they will build you one. Obviously it won't be any good, but that's because you only paid for shit materials and no QC, not because China is inherently worse than anyone else at building bikes.

 

The spares issue is a real problem, though - Chinese bikes have been arriving here for - what - 20 years now? And yet none of the big factories has managed to establish a dealer network that's lasted more than 5 minutes. I suspect most riders of the type of machines they sell (CG clones/small scooters/L-plater cruisers etc.) just want to get their machine serviced at the garage, as opposed to DIY, and most of the shops I'm acquainted avoid working on them; the chap who does my MOTs won't touch any Chinese bike.

[DodgeRover]

The not working on Chinese stuff also comes down to parts availability (or lack of) you don't want a bike in bits in the workshop taking up space for a month while you send back a succession of incorrect parts that "should fit because all Chinese bikes use CG125 Brazil copy engines". All the time the customer gets more irate and starts slagging you off on social media as incompetent - much easier just to say no.

Things like the time/ skill to true up wheels have gone by the wayside too.

[PiperCub]

^^ Plus from what I've read/been told, poor quality fastners, castings, plastics mean that working on them can sometimes be very trying and can lead to additional parts being broken or damaged when they are removed/adjusted in order to sort the original problem. That's probably another of the main reasons most bike shops won't touch them as they'd be liable for the cost of this 'collateral' damage. 

[Mudster]

^^ Plus from what I've read/been told, poor quality fastners, castings, plastics mean that working on them can sometimes be very trying and can lead to additional parts being broken or damaged when they are removed/adjusted in order to sort the original problem. That's probably another of the main reasons most bike shops won't touch them as they'd be liable for the cost of this 'collateral' damage.

Having run a Chinese scooter for 2 years as a commuter, I have to agree. To be fair, I'm happy to get the spanners out and fettle myself and it really was no bother and quite reliable. Never failed to get me to work although i did have to replace regulator and steering bearings at the 3000 miles. The quality isn't the same as the PCX I now use though, which has needed no maintenance beyond routine servicing. The Chinese scooter I ran from almost new and the PCX is now 7 years old. The price difference was huge though and taking that into account, I was quite happy with the Longjia.

[drum]

In between farting about with P38s, Oldsmobiles and trying to build a house (not to mention having to work for a living), I try and squeeze a half hour on the GS650GT.

 

I'd rebuilt the carbs with some new parts and lots of cleaning. Last night I put them on the bike and tried to start it. Btw, what a cunt of a job getting four carbs into the inlet manifold rubbers simultaneously. There must be a method for doing this as I almost gave myself a hernia trying to push them in.

 

I haven't managed to get the petrol tap unclogged yet, so used a bottle to feed fuel to the carbs.

After much faffing I managed to get it to fire, but it only runs for a second then stops. I think it's flooding, although the plugs aren't soaked. Spark seems good.

There's a fair bit of suction on the air intake side of the carbs except for one carb which has none. Does this mean the diaphragm is goosed or is there some other explanation?

 

I haven't really got a clue how these carbs with diaphragms works

, but I'm assuming there's some kind of vacuum that sucks the the fuel out of the float bowl? The sliders don't appear to move unless I cover the intake then they get sucked up and I get petrol on my hand.

 

The two T pieces, connecting each pair of carbs, I've left open as that's what I saw on a GS1000 at the weekend.

 

Any suggestions gratefully received.

[Dave_Q]

There is a set of butterflies inboard of the slider that control the air, connected to the throttle. 

 

Basically the slider things only move under air/vacuum movement when the engine is revved, which pulls up the needle and possibly uncovers more jets or other such carb witchcraft. 

 

Covering the inlet forces the full force of the engine to pull through fuel only, hence wet hand. 

 

No air going into one of the carbs sounds like bad news, I would be checking if the valves etc are working on that cylinder, although I suppose it could also be a diaphragm?

 

Sorry if that's not much help, my carb skillz level is "rudimentary understanding" rather than "guru"

[drum]

It's now running. A bit rough and smokey, but running and all carbs are sucking air in as I assume they should.

 

Only thing is there's fuel running out of the air intakes. Can't tell if it's one or more as it's too dark to see properly and I switched it off as didn't want a fire starting.

 

Would that be float valve(s) not working?

[twosmoke300]

Yeh float stuck or needle valve leaking

[strangeangel]

Having run a Chinese scooter for 2 years as a commuter, I have to agree. To be fair, I'm happy to get the spanners out and fettle myself and it really was no bother and quite reliable. Never failed to get me to work although i did have to replace regulator and steering bearings at the 3000 miles. The quality isn't the same as the PCX I now use though, which has needed no maintenance beyond routine servicing. The Chinese scooter I ran from almost new and the PCX is now 7 years old. The price difference was huge though and taking that into account, I was quite happy with the Longjia.

 

For the likes of us who aren't strangers to the spanners & don't mind a bit of Interweb detective work they can do a job, I absolutely agree. But the majority of folks who buy a generic Chinese 50/125 are the ride-to-work mob who mostly cant be trusted to check the oil, never mind diagnose a split carb diaphragm etc.

[83C]

ZZR finished last night on eBay - £460. To be honest I'm a little disappointed, I suspect it's the old Cornwall Tax hitting it, like everything else in this godforsaken county.

[Jazoli]

ZZR finished last night on eBay - £460. To be honest I'm a little disappointed, I suspect it's the old Cornwall Tax hitting it, like everything else in this godforsaken county.

It's not just that, people pay bottom dollar on ebay, the demographic is ageing so a lot of people buy new bikes on cheap pcp's these days.

 

I have found Facebook groups to be a good place to sell cheap bikes but there's more dickheads on there than on ebay.

[Dave_Q]

As I already mentioned its criminally undervalued at that, if you could afford to tuck it away for a few years it would probably be worth more but they're about as low as they can go now.

 

Its about the going rate on ebay, Cornwall or not, have seen running ZZRs for less than 400 on there.

[castros_bro]

https://www.custojusto.pt/leiria/motos/motorizada-zundapp-turbina-25986847