Update, fairings are off. Usable parts of them are the seat unit, the little bit under the headlight and the V shaped piece. Oh, and the RH mirror. Everything else would require repair. Lights appear to be ok! I’ve also removed the switch that stops it running on the side stand, as I find it properly annoying. Any good workshop manuals available? Doesn’t look like Haynes do one for this bike. It also doesn’t look like you can get Brembo seal kits anymore so the brake master will require replacement. Another thing for the list.
If you have a 'safety relay' to stop you running with the sidestand down I'd recommend either shorting it out (if you're not worried about riding off with stand down) or relocating it to somewhere you can get to it at the side of the road (petrol station forecourt springs to mind) as they are prone to failure. With the fairing on it's a lot of removal just to get at it.
I’ve removed the switch, cut the wires (connector didn’t look too clever) and soldered them together, then added heat shrink. Should I also be looking for a relay further up the line to avoid more problems in the future?
The relay is what gives you the problems as the contacts corrode eventually and they no longer make a connection, on the ST4 it's under the top fairing left hand side (when sat on bike) which is most probably the same as yours, yellow top relay - there are a couple of relays together as I remember. I just took the relay off and put a cable between the 2 connections to make it always live. Now you have defeated the switch you can check for the correct relay by pulling it out and turning on the ignition - no fuel pump whirr - correct relay to link out
That's the bugger, left me stranded at Tesco petrol station in westhill a couple of years ago.... had the same relay as main ignition on my monster which started to play up but I replaced it before I got stuck anywhere - taking the seat off when starting helped?
So. The altenator nut is tight (awaiting 30mm deep socket to find out how tight) but shows no signs of locktite. Would you A take it off, clean and threadlock it back up to mental tight B Replace it with a double nut if they're available from the states (any other suppliers out there? I can't find any) C Check it's proper tight and then leave well alone? I needed to pull the cover for paint anyway and will be removing the starter to paint it and the engine underneath it, I'll check the altenator wiring and replace the gearshift oil seal while i'm in there.
Is the alternator nut a problem on the ST2, I thought it was only single phase alternator 916's that had the issue?
I've been looking into it. The 99 and 2000 bikes had an issue, and for £40 and a bit of brute force I'll make sure it doesn't happen to mine!
New nuts fitted after borrowing a suitable socket from work. The old nut took some shifting! Heat, impact and breaker bar were required. Moving forward I finished painting the radiator, then removed the swingarm for paint and to replace the threaded inserts that hold on the higher. When I removed the rear wheel I discovered why it was a little clicky!
Bearings out after a mere half hour of bludgeoning with a two pound hammer and various drifts. I used to start gently and gradually ramp up the violence, now I just go big early on. Turns out to save a lot of time. The bearings on the sprocket were just fine, then ones on the other side of wheel that were hidden had also seized. Glad I decided not to ride it home now! I've ordered fresh ones, so I'll get them in the freezer and use the old bearing shells to press then in. The swingarm is also coming along, fair bit of corrosion where the wheel spray hits it so I'll attack it properly with an abrasive brush on the drill to get it to bare metal before etch priming and painting. I've also got new stainless rivnuts to put in for all the threaded holes, saves a lot of hassle later on.
It’s worth doing a few cycles of max heat from a hot air gun and penetrating oil to cool the area, then a final heat up of the wheel before trying to remove wheel bearings. Avoids wearing the soft alloy surface in the wheel which eventually leads to bearings spinning in their housings and wheels needing shimming / becoming scrap.
Wheel bearings are in, minimal hassle. Cooled the bearings and heated the hub as suggested, then worked round with a hammer and punch until they were snug. This working during the week thing is really impacting my bike time, still working on the swingarm! Once that's done it's engine out time for paint. I like to do one or two things at a time until they're complete then move onto the next bit. It makes assembling the bike so much nicer.
