What have you done to your bike today?

[Easy-X]

Had a queue of things for the GT.

I think either the kickstarter or main sprocket seal has gone, quite common on these engines. There's still some oil spraying off the chain and it's not letting up so probably not down to an over-oiled chain. Anyhoo, getting to the seals means taking the right hand cover off so may as well do an oil change. And if the cover's off may as well investigate the "anti-vibration plate" Hitchcocks sell. 50/50 whether it's just snake oil from the various opinions in various forums. Worth a go and an easy job with the right tools.

One seal is behind the main sprocket. For some reason I made the mistake of glancing at a quick Google search (possibly the AI) saying a 36mm socket was needed. Wrong! 46mm, which I don't have Now to drum my fingers while I wait for one ordered from eBay.
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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

[Grumpy Grandad]

Went to Weymouth for a Dorset Apple Cake flavoured Icecream.

Then went onto West Bay (Bridport) for a cup of Tea along the coast road. Lovely ride and No Bloody Camper Vans blocking the road.

Quick 100 miles and that OLD suspension is definately testing this OLD body.

Changed the Fork Seals recently. Fronts not too bad. Think I'll have to save up and get the Monoshock sorted.

Cheers
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Life may begin at 30, but it doesn't get interesting until about 75 mph.

[to v or not to v]

was the ice cream worth it?
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current bike Yamaha Thunderace.
Moto Guzzi V7.

[Grumpy Grandad]

Definitely was mate

Felt a bit of a Twat sat there with all the gear on amongst a lot of Grockles in swimming costumes.

Makes a change from riding 50 miles for a bag of chips though

Cheers
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Life may begin at 30, but it doesn't get interesting until about 75 mph.

[Easy-X]

I finished replacing the kickstarter and main sprocket seals today. Obviously 5 seconds with the Li-Ion impact driver and the previously mentioned 46mm socket sorted things out

As it turns out the final kickstarter seal was absolutely caked with oil, the main sprocket seal not so much. I'd did weigh up "if it's not broke don't fix it" but that sounded weak. I have the seals literally in my hand, let's do this thing! Cue half hour of quietly swearing to myself trying to get the old seals out I did manage it in the end without fucking shit up, very happy

However...

The main sump plug threads are 50% fucked. There's quite a lot of thread left so I did weigh up getting a longer sump bolt but M14 by 1.25mm pitch is surprisingly difficult to get a hold of compared to M14 by 1.5mm.

I have a thread repair kit on order. I went with the "spark plug style" over the traditional helicoil as the former has a bit of a lip. It's not massively important given it's only hot oil it has to hold back and no real pressure to speak of.
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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

[jeffyjeff]

[Easy-X]

[jeffyjeff]

[Easy-X]

I think I'll leave the fancy valve idea and just fix the threads but I'll give it serious consideration on my cars

One thing of note: I pulled the sprocket and shifted the chain out of the way, the chain felt... lethargic. Not your typical stiff link problem but the whole chain just didn't feel as flexible as it should be

AFAIK it's whatever the brand Royal Enfield uses so nothing fancy. Surely the engine oil splattering on it from the previously leaking kickstarter seal wouldn't do any harm?
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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]

Tapped a new thread for the main sump plug. It was hard going to start with, I nearly lost hope TBH. Then I had my dinner and Round 2 went very easy. Bearing in mind it's something like an M16 being cut with the bike on the centre stand, I'm happy with how it went. The sump plug back in with a fresh copper washer, no one would ever know... till the next oil change anyway

The previous owner gave me a box of bits with the bike including five RE branded oil filters, which was nice. I poured in roughly the right amount of oil and kicked over the engine a few times. After running for a few minutes the sight window was still showing empty Another 100ml though and it was just below the max mark, phew! I wouldn't recommend a Royal Enfield if you have anxiety issues
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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]

fitted an extender to the crappy little front mudguard. its still much smaller than id like!.
why is it only Enfield that seem to be capable of making decent front guards
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current bike Yamaha Thunderace.
Moto Guzzi V7.

[recman]

[Easy-X]

[blurredman]

Don't they say it comes in threes?

The one car had to have new front brake pads and discs changed (£41.73) just last week.

The other car I have come to find yesterday after caliper disasembly needs new front pads (discs are fine, not warped or scored or lipped - asbestos pads you see) as brass rivets now touching disc, £8.48 for 4 new pads.

Also have to change rear shoes on ETZ300. £11. But will do that when I change the tyre as that's at minimum wear level now.
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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]

Bugger.

The sump plug had been bone dry since tapping the new thread. Went out on the bike today and parked up: drip of oil on the concrete No worries, I never did it up tight anyway so I'll just give it a quarter turn and... fucked it completely Now it's dripping oil instead of just weeping.

I've set up a funnel and container under the bike for now. It'll take quite a while for over 2 litres to drip out at the current rate which will slow or even stop once the oil cools down. I'll drain it properly when I'm in the right frame of mind

Ho-hum, Plan B. After draining the oil I'll clean the area and jam in a new threaded sleeve with JB Weld in lieu of threadlock.
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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]

Attempt 2 at thread repair:

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

Looks like I applied just the right amount of JB Weld and I'm feeling very confident the result should hold oil

I've used the the original JB Weld - the "good stuff" - which unfortunately has a 4~6 hour set time and 15~24 hours for full cure but it is rated for relatively high temps and pressures. Way beyond what the oil can muster.

What I should do before throwing the oil back in is make sure the sump plug comes out without the thread sleeve coming with it but I've made the executive decision to make that a future me problem
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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