What have you done to your bike today?

[to v or not to v]

am contemplating buying a new shock for my bike.
Nitron are for people way beyond my riding capabilities though.

YSS are the cheapest ive been able to find and they are still around the £300 mark.

seems like a lot of money to throw down when i may buy a new bike soon.

2nd hand market is practically non existent
____________________
current bike Yamaha Thunderace.
Moto Guzzi V7.

[MarJay]

Hagon may be cheaper... Personally I think a Nitron NTR-R1 is great value for what it is. You could fit the Nitron and then add the price to the asking price of the bike, or you could swap it with the knackered shock and then sell it like that, sell the Nitron separately.
____________________
British beauty: Triumph Street Triple R; Loony stroker: KR1S; Track fun: GSXR750 L1; Commuter Missile: GSX-S1000F
Remember kids, bikes aren't like lego. You can't easily take a part from one bike and then fit it to another.

[recman]

Had a quick check that the solar battery maintainer is still maintaining.

[Easy-X]

Fitted some dual headlights on the old fella's Breakout. Have to wait till late evening to do the beam alignment though.
____________________
Royal Enfield Continental GT 535, Husqvarna Vitpilen 401, Yamaha XSR700, Honda Rebel, Yamaha DT175, Suzuki SV650 (loan) Fazer 600, Keeway Superlight 125, 50cc turd scooter

[Easy-X]

[DaddyStu]

Reminds me - I have to do my sparks and air filter... which involves full frickin' deconstruction incl tank.
____________________
Daddystu
Zontes 125-G1 (part-ex'd). Yamaha Tracer 700.

[that_impulse_guy]

printed out some fairing lugs in anticipation of repairing some fairings. What a world we live in eh!
____________________
Gone: Yamaha DT50lc, Suzuki DR500, Suzuki A100, Kawasaki z250ltd, RD350YPVS, Suzuki DR Big, Kawasaki AR125, Kawasaki KMX200, Suzuki GS1000S, Katana 1100, GS550M, Suzuki RGV250
Now: Suzuki GSX400X, Suzuki RF900R, NS400R

[to v or not to v]

dragged it out for a ride and it wouldnt bloody start
____________________
current bike Yamaha Thunderace.
Moto Guzzi V7.

[to v or not to v]

ordered a new battery.
im sure my bike could smell Moto Guzzi on me after i came back from a test ride and is punishing me for my infidelity.
____________________
current bike Yamaha Thunderace.
Moto Guzzi V7.

[Ayrton]

Changing the starter motor on my KTM 350. You'd think it would be a 5 minute job that only involves taking 2 bolts out but you actually have to remove the flywheel and the inner flywheel casing because there isn't enough room to just slide the starter motor out. Absolutely piss poor design

[blurredman]

Need to get motivated to get the TS150 in working order before I start using it more for work, and then eventually moving it on.

Swapped coil from one bike to it in a hope it would resolve the (when warm) wanting to stall at lower RPM. Then wouldn't start, float bowl valve sealed. Compressed air down the fuel line fixed that. Then when eventually running realised I had a throttle cable issue that I forgot occured on the last test ride - So I seperated and cut the broken strand of wire on the inner cable. And also loctited and found good replacement bolts for the ones that went missing that hold on the rear mudguard.

Then when I got it going again, I heared a tapping sound from the inlet and the throttle response seemed lean- there had developed a hole in the aluminium inlet where the carb clamps to. Replace that with one I have spare.

Go for a ride, 25 miles, stalling problem seems resolved. But battery is not good so when lights are on the bike cannot hold itself at idle. What's more it seems the 40w low beam has blown too.
____________________
CBT: 12/06/10, Theory: 22/09/10, Module 1: 09/11/10, Module 2: 19/01/11
Past: 1991 Honda CG125BR-J, 1992 (1980) Honda XL125S, 1996 Kawasaki GPZ500S, 1979 MZ TS150.
Current: 1973 MZ ES250/2 - 18k, 1979 Suzuki TS185ER - 10k, 1981 Honda CX500B - 91k, 1987 MZ ETZ250 (295cc) - 40k, 1989 MZ ETZ251 - 50k.

[Easy-X]

Wiring up another set of Harley lights. The original filament bulbs are low beam on one side, high beam on the other. The replacement LED elements do both so need wiring in parallel:

https://i.imgur.com/bQT8uCN.jpeg

The finished article:

https://i.imgur.com/8rAF8xA.jpeg
____________________
Royal Enfield Continental GT 535, Husqvarna Vitpilen 401, Yamaha XSR700, Honda Rebel, Yamaha DT175, Suzuki SV650 (loan) Fazer 600, Keeway Superlight 125, 50cc turd scooter

[tinkicker]

For several months I have been squinting at the right hand seat cowl on the VFR. I concentrate a little more and close one eye in concentration and then shrug my shoulders and walk away.

The feeling persists.. And turns into a niggle that will not go away. Once again I have a squint at the cowling with deep suspicion. The focus of my attention is the area under the cowling wherin the reg rec lies.

The VFRs achiles heel has always been failure of the reg rec and specifically, the crimps on the wires, or the terminals themselves losing good electrical contact and pretty much just failing to set the unit on fire by a whisker. Much smell of burning insulation and melted plastic.

I have absolutely no evidence that it is going to fail. Everything is peachy, yet the feeling will not go away. I learned long ago, never to ignore niggling thoughts and pulled off the cowl to look at reg.

Absolutely no sign of any problems. Nothing overheating and yet...
It was a finned aftermarket one, I recall the one on my brand new VFR back in 97 that it was a potted one without fins. Funnily enough, when I restored the VFR back in 2019, I never noticed.

A closer look gleaned the info that it was made by Sun electronics. Never heard of them. Hmmm.

A look on the net revealled that a new Electrex mosfet unit for the VFR750 was £92 inc heavy duty connector block and terminals.
Being a vintage bike restorer, I have some skill in ferreting around on the internet looking for parts no longer available and cross referencing numbers, so back to my sources..

Electrex part number for VFR reg is RR58. A look on the honda parts fiche revealed the OEM unit part number, and a revised part number for a modern finned equivalent at £280
A cross reference of part numbers revealed the modern unit is fitted across many Honda models, so model types in hand I go exploring and strike gold.

Electrex VFR750 reg rec part number RR58 is £92.

Electrex CB500 reg rec part number RR58 is £60 with the heavy duty connector block.

Disparities like this happen a lot. You have to go scratting about to get a good price. I call it the "vintage bike" premium. If it is for an older or "sexier"bike it must be worth more...

CB500 reg duly ordered..and arrived.

Yesterday, pulled the old one, cut off the old plug, crimped on the new heavy duty terminals and soldered them to ensure good electrical contact is maintained, as per electrex recommendations.
The whole plug was liberally treated to a good slathering of petroleum jelly to keep corrosion away. Took a lot of effort to plug in. Those new terminals are TIGHT.

Then fitted the reg body with a nice amount of Arctic MX4 thermal paste twixt frame and rear heat sink plate. The paste should keep it a couple of degrees cooler.

A quick test gleaned 14.65v at 3000 rpm with lights on and 14.85v with lights off.

Goodo.

Of course I have the old reg stuffed under the seat with the tools required to swap it again if required. New electronics need some time before they can be trusted and you all know what sort of luck I have...
____________________
Wading through the thick tapestry of life one day at a time.

[Nobby the Bastard]

Pornographic nuts.

https://www.bikechatforums.com/files/whatsapp_image_2024-09-29_at_2.02.35_pm.jpeg
____________________
trevor saxe-coburg-gotha:"Remember this simple rule - scooters are for men who like to feel the breeze on their huge, flapping cunt lips."
Triumph Sprint ST 1050

[Nobby the Bastard]

Started it up for the first time in an age without something immediately going wrong with it.
____________________
trevor saxe-coburg-gotha:"Remember this simple rule - scooters are for men who like to feel the breeze on their huge, flapping cunt lips."
Triumph Sprint ST 1050

[panrider_uk]

Replaced the stock screen with a Puig one
____________________
Current bikes: Hondas - Forza 750, ST1100 Pan European

[Rob W]

Bought it.

After some little scrotes nicked my old one last December, I've bought another GSX-S1000F of the exact same vintage. Picking it up on Saturday and hoping the weather holds out for my 183 mile ride home.
____________________
'23 XSR900

[struan80]

[Rob W]

[CrypticCrud]

Stuck another 30 miles on it.

Totally pointless miles but it felt good!
____________________
CBT - Aug24, Theory - Jun25
Mod 1 - Jul25, Mod 2 - ….

[Easy-X]

Bike had been sat a few weeks so before riding out yesterday...

Checked and I had 1.8 / 2.2 bar front & back. Spec: 2.5 / 2.9

Another reminder to regularly check your tyre pressures
____________________
Royal Enfield Continental GT 535, Husqvarna Vitpilen 401, Yamaha XSR700, Honda Rebel, Yamaha DT175, Suzuki SV650 (loan) Fazer 600, Keeway Superlight 125, 50cc turd scooter

[to v or not to v]

went out for the final ride of the season yesterday. left home about 7am and it was blinking cold.
filled the tank, drained the carbs and put it on a battery tender when i got back.
____________________
current bike Yamaha Thunderace.
Moto Guzzi V7.

[Nobby the Bastard]

Its still working. I was expecting all kinds of issues bearing in mind the constant complaints on here about E10 petrol going off really quickly but despite it being petrol I bought 8 months ago, it hasn't missed a beat and has started on the button every time.
____________________
trevor saxe-coburg-gotha:"Remember this simple rule - scooters are for men who like to feel the breeze on their huge, flapping cunt lips."
Triumph Sprint ST 1050

[Easy-X]

[Nobby the Bastard]