The Bikeshite Thread

[strangeangel]

  looked down upon by Vespa owners 

 

That still happens in some circles, the worst offenders being Comedy Mods. Never mind that Piaggio have been churning out scooters for decades with zero quality control. You've only got to look at all the 8 year old GT/GTS models where the spine has rotted so badly - from the inside out - they're ready to fold in half, and all because it would have cost 20p more per bike to paint the bits you couldn't see. If you go on a Vespa forum, the line now is 'Ah, but they paint them properly now'. Well, I'm not sure they do: there's someone at one of the locations I work at with a 16 plate PX125. There is bubbling rust visible all along the welds where the frame spine is joined to the footboards. 

 

I've only ever seen one Bajaj in the tin, and it wasn't bad in terms of build quality, certainly on a par with LML. As Dave says, being based on the Sprint, parts aren't as plentiful as for the PX-based LML, but it shouldn't be a deal-breaker. I put a '65 Sprint back on the road a few years ago, and was pleasantly surprised by the availability of reasonable pattern parts - indeed, most made their way to me from India!

[andy18s]

Nice winter project.....if you can get the parts

[Guest Hooli]

 I met a lot of people. Most of whom, it has to be said, came across as bellends.

 

 

Simplified that for you.

[John F]

Not sure why Suzuki riders get singled out for special bell-end status tbh, it's just another UJM brand so I don't see how there can be any snobbery there.

[Dave_Q]

https://youtu.be/CXYHKIrtBsA

 

Still a drip from the carbs so I didn't ride it anywhere, I've got 2 sets here so I should be able to make a non-leaky set somehow.

 

Just glad it goes as you never know when you buy something you've never seen running.

 

Top end sounds pretty loud though, is that:

 

A) WILL QUITE DOWN WEN WARM M8

2) Need to check valve clearances?

iii) It's fucked M8?

[Guest Hooli]

Not sure why Suzuki riders get singled out for special bell-end status tbh, it's just another UJM brand so I don't see how there can be any snobbery there.

 

I ride a Suzuki & I'm a bellend...

 

 

Oh hang on, that's wrong

[25v6turbo]

There is an F reg Honda CBR 600 that is accident damaged but useful for spare in an auction house near me if anyone is interested I think it will be cheap,the auction is in a couple of weeks and its just come in....

[John F]

Dave_Q, on 08 Sept 2017 - 5:30 PM, said:

 

Still a drip from the carbs so I didn't ride it anywhere, I've got 2 sets here so I should be able to make a non-leaky set somehow.

 

Just glad it goes as you never know when you buy something you've never seen running.

 

Top end sounds pretty loud though, is that:

 

A) WILL QUITE DOWN WEN WARM M8

2) Need to check valve clearances?

iii) It's fucked M8?

 

That does sound rough tbh.

 

I'd definitely check the valve clearances, and also the camchain tensioner.

[Guest Hooli]

Aye it sounds like a sack of shit where the shits fallen out & been replaced with loose bolts n washers....

 

Cam chain and clearances sounds a good shout to me too.

[UltraWomble]

 

 

Top end sounds pretty loud though, is that:

 

 

Sounds fine to me sonny, bit tappety is all

[John F]

It sounds to me like it's only running on two - have you spat on the downpipes to see if they're all getting properly hot?

[Dave_Q]

Not spat on anything yet, I only ran it for a minute or 2 because fuel leak.

 

Sounded alright to me except the rattling, maybe it's the potatocam sound quality.

 

I'll sort out a non-leaky set of carbs, check the clearances and camchain (and maybe the oil ) and try again.

[John F]

I mentioned that because I saw you swinging on the throttle in order to get it to fire up, and its reluctance to rev instantly.

 

My money's on one of the coils not firing (or one/two of the spark plugs or caps being borked)... I'd check that first, everything might be a bit quieter if all of the cylinders are doing their jobs properly.

[DodgeRover]

Carbs out of balance can make some bikes sound awful at tickover too.

Camera sound can be deceiving too

[Dave_Q]

Cheers all, will probably be Monday before I get another chance to faff with it, will let you know how I get on.

[Guest Hooli]

I've always found a misfire makes a hell of a lot of noise from the clutch basket not the top end. But it's worth a check before doing major stuff.

[UltraWomble]

Would let my ex-Cavcraft Vespa go for £1200 to a nice man like you

Believe me its on my radar is that one. Only the lack of E-Z finance options is deterring me right now.

 

Comedy Mods. 

There were a few of those at Morecambe last weekend.

 

Also on my radar is this Grom replicant from Benelli which could be had for the same price as the LML 2T - not sure which I'd enjoy riding the most.

[Jerzy Woking]

My brother has one of those Benelli TNT'S-looks really well built quality wise. De-cat kit is £65, and the rear seat unit has the appropriate bolts to put a tail tidy straight on to get rid of the rear fender thing and neaten up the back end a lot. He says it's really fun to ride (hoping to have an hour on it next week).

[Jerzy Woking]

Not sure why Suzuki riders get singled out for special bell-end status tbh, it's just another UJM brand so I don't see how there can be any snobbery there.

 

 

I occassionally have the use of a GSX-R 1000. These seem to be deemed as the bike for chavs by other sports bike riders, particularly ZX10R and R1(Crossplane) riders in my experience.

 

Biking snobbery is alive and well.

[warren t claim]

Big capacity muscle bikes like the GSX1400 and ZRX11/1200.

 

What's our opinion on these?

[Guest Hooli]

Big capacity muscle bikes like the GSX1400 and ZRX11/1200.

 

What's our opinion on these?

 

Can't fault my GSX14 in anyway. Had it almost 10 years, been everywhere on it (as far as Prague). It's fun to chuck about, all day comfy & looks better than a plastic rocket to me. 112k on it & the biggest faults have been blocked fuel filters & a faulty TPS, not even had to adjust the valve clearances.

[John F]

Jerzy Woking, on 08 Sept 2017 - 11:33 PM, said:

I occassionally have the use of a GSX-R 1000. These seem to be deemed as the bike for chavs by other sports bike riders, particularly ZX10R and R1(Crossplane) riders in my experience.

 

Biking snobbery is alive and well.

 

So all Suzuki riders are bell-ends because chavs are thought to ride a specific type of modern-ish Suzuki sports bike? Silly buggers, lol.

[Cavcraft]

Was looking at one of those mini Benelli things today in a shop, looked absolutely ace.

 

 

Right, carefully selecting the very best* weather, I went to collect the Scomadi from the garage where it was having the warranty work done this morning. My mate kindly ran me down and was going to let me set the pace coming home by following me, but they hadn't converted the speedo from kph to mph, so I had to follow him because of the speed cameras etc.

It's had a new speedo and a new re-flashed ECU fitted. Could be my imagination, but it seemed to pull cleaner and faster, but still pondering the stage 3 kit at some point.

[Guest Hooli]

Just convert it in your head, 1.6 to 1 mile. So 50k = 30mph, 90k = 56mph 100k=62.4mph etc

[hairnet]

^^ that

 

its not difficult

[Guest Hooli]

Oh & more importantly as it's such a high performance machine, 250k=155mph, 300k=186mph.

[Cavcraft]

Just convert it in your head, 1.6 to 1 mile. So 50k = 30mph, 90k = 56mph 100k=62.4mph etc

 

I knew 100k=62mph, but was struggling to work out the rest as I was going along. There's a reset sequence for it anyway, (didn't know how to until I got home) wo will do that. No way could I ever remember the conversion whilst riding along! 

[Guest Hooli]

TBH I rode a bike for five years with no speedo working at all, or rev counter. I never got done for speeding, although amusingly my ex on a bike with a working speedo did when she followed me through a camera.

 

She claimed the ticket was my fault??

[hairnet]

250k

 

Before it ftps

[PiperCub]

Carbs out of balance can make some bikes sound awful at tickover too.

Camera sound can be deceiving too

 

Agreed - it's very deceptive, it also makes the clutch basket rattle too if there's any degree of wear there which sounds equally horrible. (My B12 did this if the carbs went out of sync). If you have a proper balancing gauge set then doing it is a half hour job usually.