Cleaning advice

[JonT]

My bike since I bought it has been running rather poorly. Infact today it just completely ran out of puff and broke down.

I am fairly certain that before I bought it the bike had been standing for a long time, somewhere between 6months and 4 years!

Basically what I need to do is to clean it out and get rid of all the crap that im certain has built up inside of it.

What I am asking is could somebody give me a list of the different engine parts that would need clearing out and the mechanical difficuilty in doing each part? I plan to take it partially apart with my grandad who was a car mechanic for many years but need to know what needs cleaning.

The bike in question is a 1994 Suzuki RG 125 UN Wolf.

[stinkwheel]

If it has sat for a long time, the fuel can go really nasty and leave a kind of coating on everything in the fuel system. This is the most likley cause of your problems.

Tank Piece of piss
Have a look in there with a torch, if it is clean, leave it. If it is full of shite, tie a handful of nuts loosley on a piece of string, put them in the tank and add some petrol. Swill the whole lot about and dump the petrol. Repeat until clean then fish out the nuts.

Fuel tap and filter Easy

Remove the tap, clean the gauze filter with solvent, flush the tap through with solvent. Blow through with compressed air.

Replace the fuel line if it looks cracked.

Carburettor Moderate, easy with a manual
Remove the carb. Undo the float bowl. Clean out the float bowl with solvent and a lint-free cloth. Remove the jets one at a time and blow through them with compressed air. Hold them up to the light to check the hole is clear (should be prefectly round). Do not poke anything down the jets!

The airbox rubber is a lot easier to put back on if it is heated up (probably the hardest bit of the job.

Air filter Very easy
If it is foam, wash in soapy water, dry then lightly oil. If it is paper, replace if mucky.

Exhaust Easy
If the baffle is removable, do so. Pour a little petrol over it and set fire to it. Once cool, remove all the black carbon deposits with a wire brush. If it is not removable take the whole system off. Block the end with a bung (potato works well) and fill it with caustic soda solution (goggles, gloves!). Leave it to soak for 1/2 hour then drain and flush out with fresh water, all the crap should wash away.

Engine Moderately hard, special tools required

You really need a manual if you want to decoke the piston/ cylinder head to give you the torque settings for the bolts so follow te instructions there. You will also need to drain the coolant and buy a new head gasket if you do this.

It may not be necessary. Do everything else first then consider having a look at the top-end.

Sparkplug Childsplay
Remove plug, wire brush, replace. Or why not treat it to a new one? When fitting screw in to finger tight then give it 1/4 turn with a plug spanner, no more.
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[JonT]

Thankyou for such an extensive and detailed run down stinkwheel, i'll get on the job right away and post my progress back here.

Sounds like i'm going to have to buy the manual but its good to have anyway so i'll search for one to help with doing the carburettor.

[map]

If it helps Haynes do a manual just for the different type of carbs.
Gives you a bit of understanding
eBay has one here

HTH
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