The Bikeshite Thread

[Cavcraft]

On that subject, my fuel light flashed as soon as I got on the bypass today. Was going go peel off and go to the BP garage, but last time I put their E5 in one of the bikes, it ran like a pile of shit, so I carried on another few miles and put Shell (E5) in as I've never had a problem with that.

 

164.9 per litre though

[catsinthewelder]

4 hours ago, tom13 said:

Just got a Benelli TNT as I always wanted a Grom and this was the cheaper alternative.

Fuck me it's expensive to insure a 125. Any tips or tricks to get it down.

I paid about £80-90 to insure mine (riding on a CBT) but I can't remember if that was 3rd party or TPFT.  It's worth £fuck all and lives outside although I doubt I told the insurance either of those things.

[hairnet]

On 15/06/2025 at 09:08, Dave_Q said:

I managed to sell my Vespa so am on the lookout for the next heap.

What I really want is what the cool kids had when I was at school which is Gilera Runner, Aprilia SR, or an Italjet Dragster.

Just posting in case anyone has some prime 90s/00s italo-ped shite stashed, not too fussed if 50 or 125.

🤣

gorilla on a bicycle

[hairnet]

6 hours ago, tom13 said:

Just got a Benelli TNT as I always wanted a Grom and this was the cheaper alternative.

Fuck me it's expensive to insure a 125. Any tips or tricks to get it down.

buy something thats not a 125

[scdan4]

6 hours ago, tom13 said:

Just got a Benelli TNT as I always wanted a Grom and this was the cheaper alternative.

Fuck me it's expensive to insure a 125. Any tips or tricks to get it down.

Own it for more than a year without crashing it or having it nicked, second year will be noticeably cheaper 

[tom13]

19 minutes ago, scdan4 said:

Own it for more than a year without crashing it or having it nicked, second year will be noticeably cheaper 

I have no claims already. My 600 was way cheaper to insure.

You are right though. The longer you own a bike the cheaper it gets. 

[Barry Cade]

6 hours ago, MrGTI6 said:

The previous time I filled up the Sprint, I used E10 for the first time. Not out of choice; it was the only option at the garage I was at and I didn't fancy chancing going to the next place due to the temperamental fuel gauge. 

The plan was to chuck a few quid in and top up with E5 later, but auto-pilot kicked in and I ended up brimming the tank. This was last week. 

It seemed happy enough for the rest of the day and indeed the following day. But fast forward to this morning and I could tell it wasn't running quite right.

Nothing horrendous, and the triple clatters a bit on tickover by design anyway. But it seemed particularly grumpy below 2500rpm-ish

It felt particularly hesitant/stuttery when pulling away and the easiest workaround was to slip the clutch a bit which I generally try to avoid doing. It cut out a couple of times while waiting at a junction then at a busy roundabout. Restarted absolutely fine on both occasions.

So I topped it up with E5 and within a couple of miles it seemed a lot happier and continued to improve until eventually it felt normal again. The lumpiness on tickover has gone and the stuttering at low revs seems to have completely disappeared. 

Although it's fuel-injected, it's still a 26-year-old bike and as expected it much prefers the expensive stuff.

I think you need to get it on tune ECU. Never had an issue with E5 on Trumpets or any bike ?

Just redid a 98 speed triple and an updated mp smoothed it right out.

[Barry Cade]

Just sold this wee thing. Bought it as a non runner project, it had done 1200 miles and has never been motd.. ridden for a year then dry stored. Insurance was 80% of my Tiger 1050! 

I got 38mph out of it and I was giggling my head off 😆. Most fun I've had on 2 wheels in ages..  until I went on the big roads.

F*ck that!

 

[MrGTI6]

21 minutes ago, Barry Cade said:

I think you need to get it on tune ECU. Never had an issue with E5 on Trumpets or any bike ?

 

Apologies, perhaps my last post was unclear. It runs perfectly on E5. It seemed less happy on E10 but there is reference to a re-map somewhere in amongst all the paperwork. Perhaps the lower octane rating didn't agree with it?

Either way it seems fine now. I'm keen to avoid E10 anyway because the fuel tanks are prone to corrosion on these. The higher the ethanol content the more moisture will be absorbed, or at least that's my understanding.

I'll monitor it going forward but hoping that sticking to E5 will keep it running smoothly. Fingers crossed!

[Barry Cade]

45 minutes ago, MrGTI6 said:

Apologies, perhaps my last post was unclear. It runs perfectly on E5. It seemed less happy on E10 but there is reference to a re-map somewhere in amongst all the paperwork. Perhaps the lower octane rating didn't agree with it?

Either way it seems fine now. I'm keen to avoid E10 anyway because the fuel tanks are prone to corrosion on these. The higher the ethanol content the more moisture will be absorbed, or at least that's my understanding.

I'll monitor it going forward but hoping that sticking to E5 will keep it running smoothly. Fingers crossed!

Sorry, I meant E10!  The plastic tanks have a real problem with bubbling and blistering, not sure if e5 or e10 makes any difference. 

I've never noticed the slightest bit of difference in any of my bikes with any type of fuel. Asda or Shell optimax.  Maybe it's just me!

[hairnet]

ffs thats a long time ago............

[Mudster]

I bought this little PCX125 back in 2016 to get to the office. Saved me about 45 minutes a day and £80 a month in fuel compared to the car. 

Of course we then had the great work from home reset and the poor thing has mostly been tucked up in the garage, but I just couldn’t bear to part with it. It’s done about 200 miles in the last 5 years so I faced up to it and did the only logical thing. Bought a bigger one.

So it’s goodbye PCX

 

And it’s hello Burgman 400

First impressions are it’s happy to cruise up to 60-65mph and gets a bit vibratey after that. Suits me as I got it for something to chill out and cruise around on.

Front brakes feel wooden and need a good pull (don’t we all?) but rear is demon. Breathe on the rear lever and ABS kicks in.

Will have a proper look if the front sliders are still sliding and threaten it with some fresh fluid. 
 

Overall pretty happy - insurance even came down from £100 to £80. Go figure.

[DeanH]

Just been out for a bimble blast on the CT125. Almost FTP'd but managed to nurse it home again. Seemed to develop a misfire, initially at full throttle but by the time I got home it was barely rideable.

I'm fairly sure it's unrelated to my recent attempt at a clutch change. I think it's just become apparent because previously I wasn't able to give it full throttle.

What does everyone reckon to this plug? 

[bangernomics]

Looks very haynes manual brown to me but apparently I am colour blind when it comes to paint and furniture.

[DeanH]

3 minutes ago, bangernomics said:

Looks very haynes manual brown to me but apparently I am colour blind when it comes to paint and furniture.

Brown = ok?

[bangernomics]

Brown good

[Stinkwheel]

3 minutes ago, bangernomics said:

Brown good

I was really disappointed when Haynes stopped putting that into the manuals

[DeanH]

I'm thinking it's fuel related rather than ignition.

I don't think it's the spark deteriorating under heat/load because if I dipped the clutch it idled nicely.

I'll see whether the issue is the same from cold today. If it is I suspect the main jet could be blocked.

[DeanH]

Ran really nice from cold today.

But FTP'd at exactly the same spot as yesterday.

Thought I was in for a long push but 5 minutes of tapping the carb and wiggling wires got it going again.

Ran fine after that.

[Stinkwheel]

41 minutes ago, DeanH said:

Ran really nice from cold today.

But FTP'd at exactly the same spot as yesterday.

Thought I was in for a long push but 5 minutes of tapping the carb and wiggling wires got it going again.

Ran fine after that.

Interesting that it did it in the same place, makes me thing a couple of things,

a) Is your float height low and a blast along a good straight stretch is emptying your float bowl before the gravity flow from fuel tap can fill it up again ? (or a combination of slightly blocked filter at tap in tank and low float height etc leading to same problem)

b) Is this the first time youve ridden it when its this hot outside? If so coil could be overheating possibly, seen that a couple of times on single cylinder bikes.

 

[Dave_Q]

On 15/06/2025 at 09:08, Dave_Q said:

I managed to sell my Vespa so am on the lookout for the next heap.

What I really want is what the cool kids had when I was at school which is Gilera Runner, Aprilia SR, or an Italjet Dragster.

Just posting in case anyone has some prime 90s/00s italo-ped shite stashed, not too fussed if 50 or 125.

Further to this I reckon I've got my heart set on a Dragster but I'm not finding much at the moment that isn't a mint/modded 125 for £££. 

Did find this though, should I buy or should I buy?

https://www.facebook.com/marketplace/item/10018539134931690/

On 16/06/2025 at 20:58, hairnet said:

🤣

gorilla on a bicycle

Me, earlier

[Stinkwheel]

Probably best to buy it, that way an decent priced runner/dragster is bound to turn up shortly afterwards 😁

[DeanH]

25 minutes ago, Stinkwheel said:

Interesting that it did it in the same place, makes me thing a couple of things,

a) Is your float height low and a blast along a good straight stretch is emptying your float bowl before the gravity flow from fuel tap can fill it up again ? (or a combination of slightly blocked filter at tap in tank and low float height etc leading to same problem)

b) Is this the first time youve ridden it when its this hot outside? If so coil could be overheating possibly, seen that a couple of times on single cylinder bikes.

 

The float height could definitely be wrong. Fuel was previously overflowing out of the centre tube on the carb so I bent it back a bit to stop that.

I don't think the filter is blocked, I can see it from the filling spout and it's clean as a whistle.

Yes it's the first summer I've had it so B is a possibility.

 

Today it cut out totally rather than yesterday's hiccup. Really I need to go for another ride with some tools so I can check for spark when it dies.

[hairnet]

30 minutes ago, Dave_Q said:

 

 

 

no.

[DeanH]

Success. 

The old rear tyre was a 3.00 rather than the recommended 3.50, looks much better for being the right size.

[Stinkwheel]

26 minutes ago, DeanH said:

Success. 

The old rear tyre was a 3.00 rather than the recommended 3.50, looks much better for being the right size.

The right size tyres for a bike are essential, anything over or under sized can really change how it feels on the road.

 

Also, I'm sharing with you a link to a new front brake lever in a rather pushy way, as the one on the bike cannot be easy to get a full 4 finger pull on with its banana shape and with a drum that small, you really need to be able to grab it with all you got sometimes  

https://ebay.us/m/O0USdH

[DeanH]

29 minutes ago, Stinkwheel said:

The right size tyres for a bike are essential, anything over or under sized can really change how it feels on the road.

 

Also, I'm sharing with you a link to a new front brake lever in a rather pushy way, as the one on the bike cannot be easy to get a full 4 finger pull on with its banana shape and with a drum that small, you really need to be able to grab it with all you got sometimes  

https://ebay.us/m/O0USdH

The brakes on this are surprisingly keen. But thank you.

[scdan4]

On 19/06/2025 at 13:08, DeanH said:

Ran really nice from cold today.

But FTP'd at exactly the same spot as yesterday.

Thought I was in for a long push but 5 minutes of tapping the carb and wiggling wires got it going again.

Ran fine after that.

Is the fuel cap/tank breather clear?

[Bren]

Some new gloves

And a new cover

[Cavcraft]

On 19/06/2025 at 14:11, Dave_Q said:

Further to this I reckon I've got my heart set on a Dragster but I'm not finding much at the moment that isn't a mint/modded 125 for £££. 

Did find this though, should I buy or should I buy?

https://www.facebook.com/marketplace/item/10018539134931690/

Me, earlier

Looks like it's too much hassle for the money, IMHO. I'd be willing to bet you'd find a running one for the same money, or very little more.