Lifted the cover on the Panigale to check all was well and reset the battery maintainer, therefore topping up the charge. All is good except for the fact it can’t be ridden at the moment. Lifted the cover on the Multistrada and wound out the suspension setting on the front right fork. Only wound out about half a turn or so. Therefore it was still on factory settings. Wound it back in 5 turns which apparently should transform it but I won’t find that out until we’re allowed out to play. Looking forward to that one.
Put a couple of spacers onto my rear indicator stalks. Last MOT the guy said they didn’t meet the required spacing between centres - MOT requires 180mm minimum so now they meet the regs.
Yesterday, once my son was here, making sure the bike didn't topple off the axle stands like last time, I finished off lowering his DT125. As per usual, it wasn't straightforward because when I came to put the nut back onto one of the lower link bolt/pins, I found that the first thread was damaged and it wouldn't screw on. I cleaned it up with the edge of a file and managed to get it to go on, but only until about the 4th or 5th thread, at which point it was clearly cross threading and wouldn't go any futher, so I packed the rest of the thread with a couple of washers so it would tighten up. Temporary bodge completed, I went onto eBay to try and buy a new pin, but no luck. Dropping it has also affected the shock, which seems to need a lot more rebound damping as it is more like a trampoline now.
The bike has done 11500 and is nearly 4 years old , the sprockets look ok but the chain is definitely stretched .
Finally got the S4R running again. I'd already drained the 3" of what looked like gravy out of the tank and got the inside of it as clean as a whistle but it still wouldn't start. The fuel pump sounded healthy, so I ordered a fuel filter which arrived yesterday. The job was fairly straightforward, save for removing the plate underneath the filler cap which gives access to the filter, pump and hoses inside because the numpties who sprayed and wrapped the tank in the summer had been too lazy to fully strip the tank and had painted over the edge of the seal. However, careful use of a fresh Stanley knife blade did the job. The seal was a real bugger to reseat afterwards as you need about 4 hands to keep the sections you have seated from slipping off while working round the rest of the rim. Thankfully, I worked out a bit of a hack, which is to take the seal off all together and tap the plate (with green o ring) back into the hole with a rubber mallet, to just the right depth so that the remaining gap is just slightly larger than thickness of the seal, pull the seal over from the "wrong" ie top side of the plate, and it is then held in place by friction as you work round the radius of the plate. After it is all seated, then gently tap the plate home. That may well be teaching people to suck eggs, but it may also come in handy if someone has the same problem.
After sorting the S4R, I stripped the DT125R back to frame, engine and wheels to try and work out what the hell was going on with the throttle cable which has loads of play at both the bar and the autolube pump. Discovered that it was trapped and badly routed in places and after resolving those issues, I managed to get it working more predictably, but there is still way too much play, so I think it must be stretched. After that, I set the air/fuel mixture to spec and dialled the idle in. Off to eBay I go to buy a new cable. After bouncing up and down on the seat a few times I also realised that since I lowered the bike, the shock is now rebounding too quickly and is also topping out on the upstroke. The shock doesn't seem to be adjustable, so I may need to use one of the less extreme settings on the lowering link (it has 4 holes and different combinations lower the bike by different amounts).
2 things. 1 realised that you can mount Rizoma mirrors with the installing bolt the correct way up on both sides 2. After a nightmare where a dealer messed with my suspension, I recorded all my suspension settings.
Got a set of decat and EXUP removed headers for my Daytona 675 off the bay. Good price too. Nice option to have.
Luckily I had drained the pure water out of the RGV yesterday ready for some antifreeze cos it was bloody cold in the garage this morning, and the water I had spilt was frozen... So filled it up with antifreeze, realigned the front brake lever, put heat shield in various places inside the fairing and finally put the fairing on. Cant find the bloody screen though After nearly 4 years, and starting from a heap of corruption its ready for the track. If I can bend my legs to fit it...
Back last week when it was minus five (-5°C) degrees celsius. My fuel tank cap would not open because I'd cleaned the bike quickly for work. So in the evening I got onto it seeing a layer of bright white frozen moisture. Went to petrol station & key wouldn't go down fully into lock. Eventually found a kind young lady who smoked & borrowed her lighter to heat up the metal key. To melted the ice/frozen lube I'd put into the lock...now I carry a lighter'
Very productive day today: Got the Bandit/Gixxer cafe racer track bike up and running (no great shakes - it just needed a charged battery and a bit of coaxing) Carried on checking over the "bought blind" DT125R. Yesterday's fiddling with the carb has worked wonders because today it started from stone cold on the first kick and sounds and responds much sharper than it had previously. Also carried on checking for and rectifying some frankly astonishing and dangerous bodges on the bike. A particular eye-opener was discovering that when the previous owner who "rebuilt" (ahem) the bike fitted a magnetic speedo pickup to the bottom of the offside fork leg he hadn't used a lock nut, so it was winding its way through the barely threaded hole in the piece of sh!t metal from which he'd made a bracket. It had reached the point where it was brushing the disc and was microns way from starting to machine it, or, more likely, catching in one of the gaps and locking the front end, with predictable and potentially fatal results. Removed the bracket, heated it up, bashed it flat, tidied it up with a grinder and file and then painted it. Unfortunately I didn't have another nut of the right size to lock off the pickup so it's now lashed to the bottom yoke with a cable tie. Then I disconnected the autolube pump because there is so much play in the cable that it was chucking too much oil into the engine, causing clouds and clouds of smoke and dripping black goo everywhere. The bike is now running on premix and is not smoking like a steam train. Took it out for a blast round the local lanes, which to my surprise, didn't result in the usual flurry of "call the police!!!!" messages in the village WhatsApp group whenever anyone rides through it on a dirt bike.
Test fitted the new tank cover for the viffer! Have to say I’m mega impressed! Slotted straight on and a perfect fit! No trimming required! Just have to fit the rest of fairings now!!!
Yep. Tbh, when I saw the state of his house in the background of a photo he sent me of his ID and also some of the photos of the bike were taken on what looked like a demolition site, I did wonder how neat his work would be. However, nothing prepared me for range of types, sizes and rustiness of the fasteners he had used or the shocking bodges he had attempted, but at least me and the boy are getting to know every single nut and bolt on the bike as a result of the strip down. By the looks of the bolts on the engine and gearbox he didn't open the casings (thank God) so it is just a case of taking it back to a bare frame, inspecting the bearings, callipers and suspension and then putting it all back together. The throttle cable arrived earlier so once it gets late enough in the evening to convince myself that I have done a day's work and haven't in fact spent it dossing around on DFUK and playing with the dog, I'll pop out to the workshop to fit that.
Ordered a pack of PU mechanics gloves in advance of being furloughed in February (volunteered so one of my colleagues could work). Belts, oils, fluids drive chains to do variously on 3 bikes. Looking forward to it!
