What have you done to your bike today? Archive.

[Hong Kong Phooey]

Reconnected the low fuel sensor on the bottom of the CBR's fuel tank.

I only noticed it was disconnected after running out of fuel, on the M62, in the dark, at rush hour, where there is no hard shoulder!

Luckily, it was 3/4 mile away from the services, so after getting a highways agency flashing orange beacon escort behind me, I was forced to do the push of shame up lane one.

Thankfully it was mostly on the flat. Reserve position on the tap does bugger all

My fault, I should have checked the level rather than rely on a sodding lamp.
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'81 CG125, '97 FZS600 : '99 CBR600F4, '09 KTM RC8

[Pigeon]

Aftermarket topbox rack cracked and sheered. Again.
The first one went at 6k miles, so I cut some steel bar to act as supports for the second bracket. It lasted 30k miles this time.

https://i.imgur.com/g7SMP9Y.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/rIYDTIs.jpg

The new bracket has a changed design (what a surprise).
Unfortunately the new design drastically reduced the effectiveness of the supports. And they've lowered the max carry weight from 7.5kg (pathetic) to 5kg (a joke).
But shall see what happens.

If it fails again soon, shall try and get something custom made.
It shouldn't be that much to ask to carry 15kg 8 inches off the rear when a pillion can be 100kg.

https://i.imgur.com/P55YnFj.jpg


The thought of having this fat git and a load of luggage on her back again, well, the old girl pissed herself.

https://i.imgur.com/kl2LSJS.jpg



https://i.imgur.com/9jddTiA.jpg

Running up to temp in garage (fan kicked in 3 times). And no leaks.
But a 10 mile trip to work and disgraced herself again.


18 months lube behind front sprocket cover

https://i.imgur.com/uVs2tWo.jpg

In the past, I've caught one of the coolant pipes behind the sprocket cover and the chain chewed through it in 30 miles.
There's a lot of pipes and electrical wires an inch from the sprocket + chain, held in by a pocket of plastic in the sprocket cover. All were ok this time.

https://i.imgur.com/RiEKSRg.jpg

I was hoping it was just a failed rad cap (apparently a known fail point) or a split pipe.

No splits and couldn't see where fluid was coming from, other than it was all over the expansion tank, bit on the sump and bit on rear wheel.

Started wiggling some bits and the water inlet was a touch loose. Only held in by 1 M6 bolt.
https://youtu.be/3jfCTEJlVuI

Don't know 100% this was the cause, it really didn't take anything to tighten. Maybe 2 degrees.

Topped up the rad, burped it. A 10 mile ride and no leaks indicates it probably was and the jiggling on the road was enough to let liquid out.

Did order a new rad cap anyway.

[hellkat]

Started the sportster up yesterday, just to make sure it was still alive.

Found the other bit of the fender bracket, so have taped them all together along with the bits of the battery cover and bracket that I also found, so when they open on Tuesday I'll have another chat with the shop and get it booked in.
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Not nearly as interesting in real life.

[Hong Kong Phooey]

[hellkat]

Opened the front door and peeked out to make sure the bike hadn't fallen over in the storm last night.
Still in one piece!

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Not nearly as interesting in real life.

[Easy-X]

[FretGrinder]

Removed the mirrors and screens from my MT-09 and other half's Tracer so the covers fit on them more snugly as the weather has been atrocious the past few days.

The batteries came out a few months ago and the tanks were filled to the brim with fuel.

Usually I'd have wrapped a big tarpaulin over the pair of them by now, for that extra bit of weather protection, as they probably won't move until the spring, but I really can't be bothered.
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Yamaha MT-09

ಠ_ಠ

[hellkat]

[wr6133]

Fitted Ali rear mudguard. Much lighter than the old steel one, as I had to cut it to size I left it a few inches longer than the outgoing one too, hopefully makes it more effective.

Still have to attach the plate/light holder and the rack, need to have that done by Friday as the Imber road has been opened this week and I want to ride along it.

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/50774316782_5f09db1774_b.jpg

[johny2bikes]

Tipped over my r1250gsa over on to top of my cbf125.
Pushed back box on to r1250gsa which was on slight downslope and shoved it off side stand, which then tipped over on to little cbf 125 sat next to it.
CBF indicator / fairing / handguard smashed... £30 including a bit of elbow grease + super glue / epoxy resin / wet and dry and spray paint all fixed.
GS = scratching and dent on engine protection bars = £190 sheets if want to replace them. Bstard as its brand new.

Should just stick with my 125 as its 10 years old 40k on the clock and cost me the equivalent of a bag of crisps with what its saved me over the years . Fancy bikes just require a hose pipe full of cash.
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Current bikes - CBF-125 / R1250GSA
Old bikes - Triumph Speed Triple R

[Bhud]

Discovered my Kawasaki's rear tyre was completely flat. Pulled a great big flintstone out of the middle of the tread. Repair kit on its way.

[Easy-X]

Put the new cover on the bike. I went with a camo print on a whim; not sure if it's more or less of an eyesore for it
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Husqvarna Vitpilen 401, Yamaha XSR700, Honda Rebel, Yamaha DT175, Suzuki SV650 (loan) Fazer 600, Keeway Superlight 125, 50cc turd scooter

[hellkat]

Rang the shop to see if the geezer was back from his bout of teh Bad Aids, but he's still a bit under the weather, so I agreed with them that they would call me when he's back on his feet, and get my fender thingie done.
At least he's still alive.

So I'm grounded until further notice. I could ride, its rideable, fully taxed etc etc., but I don't want to push my luck, no need in this weather, not going far.

I'll just get the tube to work for a bit
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Not nearly as interesting in real life.

[Blah blah]

Been out with the teenager on his first trip out on the Mito, freezing cold, greasy roads but no longer only doing 12.7mph up hills !

Mopeds are cool but more speed is cooler.

[hellkat]

I checked it was still there.


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Not nearly as interesting in real life.

[ThunderGuts]

I checked the oximiser was still plugged in. It was. I might empty the tyres of air this weekend and put some fresh in.
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TG.

[ThatDippyTwat]

Spent 20 fucking minutes with a hairdryer at 05:30 unfreezing the locks - it hit -7. Most unimpressed. Chucking some ceramic blanket over them tonight, in an effort to not have to go through that tomorrow morning.
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'98 VFR800 (touring) - '12 VFR800 Crosrunner (Commuting) - '01 KDX220 (Big Green Antisocial Machine)

[NJD]

^

Exactly why I can't be bothered to clean the salt sitting on the bike from my last ride at the moment on suspicion it would freeze before it dries out. Next week looks to be warmer, mind.

Electrical tape over the locks is something I tired in the past on the ones that don't have little sliding plates to prevent such issues.

~

Some genius installed two normal bolts, one hex key bolt and forgot to install the other on the front mudguard so my method of installing a guard extender turned out to be a bit more ghetto that it needed to be.

Eventually got the hex key out with the largest pair of mole grips, but that was after I'd attempted to install sticky pads onto a dirty underside. Oh well, the rivets will stop it from falling off if the sticky pads fail.

https://i.postimg.cc/zD78zV6W/guard.jpg
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The do it all, T̶h̶e̶ ̶b̶r̶o̶k̶e̶n̶ ̶o̶n̶e̶,̶ ̶T̶h̶e̶ ̶b̶i̶g̶ ̶l̶u̶m̶p̶,̶ ̶C̶h̶o̶n̶g̶ ̶N̶o̶o̶d̶l̶e̶

[ThatDippyTwat]

[Bhud]

Changed my tyre. I'm getting quicker at this every time.
The remains of the puncture repair on the old tyre look interesting from the inside. I'll have a closer look and maybe take a photo when it's light.

[om15]

I have finished throwing money at the Himalayan and am now looking at the Interceptor, the suspension isn't brilliant so I made a start on the front forks.
I did an initial improvement without the cost of the full YSS front fork Kit.

I bought a set of emulators from TEC and a pair of pre load adjusters from Mr H. ( Beware the pre load adjusters from TEC say that they can only be fitted to a bike with risers, I asked this question at Hitchcocks and they said no ours will be fine, there are fine but only if you set 50% or more preload, otherwise they do foul the handlebars).

The front forks came off easily, as a precaution I lubed all the bolts and fasteners on refitment, the oil qty from the manual is 430ml per fork, there was only about 300ml of oil in each fork. I used Silkolene 2.5 as advised by Mr Fillingham, re-used the existing springs and spacer tubes, but shorted each spacer by 15mm to compensate for the emulator.

Fells nice and firm, but yet to road test, will do as soon as we are able to get back out on the road again.
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Alcohol doesn't solve problems, but neither does milk

[wr6133]

Changed the front mudguard. The old one was functional but a DIY job and heavy. New one is light and looks better.

Off with the old
https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/50841265526_e7098da324_b.jpg

On with the new
https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/50841358587_91b60bc0d9_b.jpg

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/50840546313_1da6de14a5_b.jpg

[Bhud]

Back to work on the project bike (finally).

So, I decided I'd had enough of waiting around for parts that never arrive, and came up with another solution.

The problem was, the original carb holder/intake was crumbling away and leaking badly. Daubing it in silicone didn't help, so I needed to get another. Searching around, I found just an NOS one for sale. This was going for £60 plus p&p. I didn't like the price, so I looked further afield, and found that they're still making these (pattern part) in the east, and it would cost me just £30, delivered. This was a couple of months ago. So I ordered one, got a tracking number from Singapore Post, and waited. And waited. Nothing arrived. The item status showed it had arrived in the UK, but the Royal Mail website said it hadn't. I got a refund, and started looking for other solutions.

I measured the space between the mounting holes, and went back to Ebay. I discovered a carb holder for a different machine (something called a Yamaha Bear Tracker, whatever that is) with the same distance between them, but the diameter of the opening in the carb holder was wrong at both ends: too small on the engine side and far too large on the carb side. Plus, it was engineered downward, and sloping to the right. I bought it anyway, plus a generic orange carb mounting rubber, which had the correct inner diameter at both ends. When the carb holder arrived, I cut it in half. Today, I burred out the insides of the carb holder to make it wider from the inside, and fit the orange rubber part I'd ordered separately, thus making a new carb holder. Fitted it to the bike, gave the battery a bit of charge, and it started up and works. The rest of the bike is almost ready now.

https://i.ibb.co/V97X5m4/preview-2e8d6c41e4a274e79953ac2ee3d7e2f3-collage.jpg

[Whosthedaddy]

Fitted Oxford brake and clutch lever protectors on the RSV as I noticed on a track day site that these were required for trackdays in 2021?

Bit blingy and over kill for me when I'm pootling about on the road but easy enough to whip off and put on the bar ends again as needed.
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Current : MSX 125 Past : CBR 900RR Monkeybike : c50 LAC : ZXR750 H2 : FZR600 : ZX7R P3 : YW100 : TRX850: Trophy 900 T309 : GSXR 600 L0: Monkeybike : XJ6S Whosthedaddy

[NJD]

Gave the front callipers their monthly clean, and had to "sharpen up" one of the threads on the calliper using my trusted basic tap and die set.

Going to need rebuilding at some point, but I don't think now is quite the time for that length of outside work.

May go flash and upgrade the rear to the FZS 1000 blue-spot at some point owing to how much mud was sitting in, on and around the pad / calliper despite regular cleaning (monthly): easy to see why they can cause owners issues with stuck pistons when there's no drain hole at the bottom.

Might splurge on some new pads and fit the used braided hoses I have, who knows.

https://i.postimg.cc/jdRRZhqF/2.jpg
https://i.postimg.cc/PfWtW7HD/1.jpg
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The do it all, T̶h̶e̶ ̶b̶r̶o̶k̶e̶n̶ ̶o̶n̶e̶,̶ ̶T̶h̶e̶ ̶b̶i̶g̶ ̶l̶u̶m̶p̶,̶ ̶C̶h̶o̶n̶g̶ ̶N̶o̶o̶d̶l̶e̶