few questions..

[RooRoo]

when on the center stand and in first gear when i use the back brake the engine cuts out, just dies, not sure why..also, having not done yb cbt yet i tried to use it in the garden and as soon as i put it into first gear it stalled, when it was in first gear the bike kept moving (slowly) and i had to brake to stop it going,..

[carvell]

Your clutch will need adjusting.

There will be a guide floating about on here or around the net about making small adjustments to the clutch. It's a pretty standard procedure and applies to most bikes.
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Yamaha TDM 850

[RooRoo]

also, why would braking in first gear kill the engine?

[MarJay]

Why do you think? It stops the bloomin' engine from turning!!!
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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.

[RooRoo]

so what when you're on the road going at 50 and you brake to slow down your engine just cuts out?

[Robby]

No. But if the revs get too low, it will stall. Of course the fact you are rolling along keeps it going.

[RooRoo]

i dont wanna adjust my clutch myself, how much will a garage charge?

[MarJay]

Don't get a garage to do it.

If you do, they'll see you coming a mile off as someone who doesn't know anything about bikes and charge you a rip off price.
Find someone who knows what they are doing and get them to show you. If you learn how its done you are more likely to be able to fix/diagnose problems next time.

I can't stress enough how much easiler life is if you learn to do basic maintenance. If you don't have anyone who can show you then I suggest you look for a decent workshop/haynes manual.
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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.

[RooRoo]

I can get a friend to come over to do it for me, hes good at them..what tools would he need to adjust the clutch and change the lughtbulb?

[carvell]

It really is very simple - do it yourself. As Mark says, it is important that you learn some basic maintenance.

Say you are stuck at the side of the road, a mechanic says he can come out in 3 hours. You sit there waiting, he turns up, twiddles a little knob to adjust the clutch, charges you £100 and drives off.

If you do take it to a garage, ask them if they can show you how to do it whilst they do it, they may well show you a few other bits 'n' bobs too, if they are nice!

The more basic maintenance you learn the better.
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Yamaha TDM 850

[RooRoo]

i justr phoned him and he told me i need to use the clutch to a: brake, and b: stay still when you're not moving..

[RooRoo]

okay ill try the clutch then...the only problems i have are A: the engine cutting out when i brake (which apparenbtly isnt a problem) and B: when on the center stand and i put the bike in first it goes fine, but its on the ground it just stalls

[carvell]

[RooRoo]

well i pulled the clutch in, put it in first, released clutch, then tried accelerating which resulted in the bike shooting foward and stalling, did i do it wrong? with braking, i just held down the brake until the engine died, i didnt know i had to use the clutch just before i stop moving, does that mean at traffic lights you have to hold the clutch down?

[carvell]

[RooRoo]

hehe, i know nothing..will the cbt teach me this stuff?

[RooRoo]

ah okay, one last question i have is, why would the wheel turn on center stand in first, yet when on the ground stall?

[carvell]

Yep - the CBT assumes you know literally nothing about a motorbike.

The fact that you're learning off the forum will mean you will have an advantage!
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Yamaha TDM 850

[carvell]

[RooRoo]

thanks a lot guys which leaves me with one final task of replacing the bulb in my spider egg infested speedo...

[carvell]

No problem!

Good luck with your CBT.
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Yamaha TDM 850

[MarJay]

yes, but you kinda need to know what a clutch is and what gears are etc before you go. Get someone to explain it.

The clutch really is just a way of controlling the amount of power going from the engine to the back wheel when the throttle isn't enough, IE when you need to change gear or when the engine might stall. The throttle gives you control over how quickly the engine revs, but the engine can't rev slowly enough to get you going, so you feed in the power by using the clutch. Think of the clutch like two wheels with sandpaper on that touch each other face to face. When you pull the clutch, the wheels move apart, and when you let it out the plates move together. If yuou think the wheel that is connected to the engine is always spinning, then you need to let the wheels grip each other slowly, otherwise the spinning wheel will suddenly stop (a stall) or the stopped wheel will suddenly start spinning (you wheelie away from a standstill and crash).

To be honest I'm surprised that they don't teach this kind of stuff in schools! After all I think it would be much more useful to me to learn this in a science or techology lesson than what the anatomy of the male and female parts of a plant is, or why a clock radio is the shape it is.

Give me mechanical engineering any day!
____________________
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.

[carvell]

Biology tells us where we have been.

Engineering tells us where we are going.

I know which I'd rather know.
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Yamaha TDM 850

[RooRoo]

you know what, i think those b astard spiders are the reason my speedo light isnt working..