11

11/9/2008 5:36:32 PM

.2

11/9/2008 5:38:29 PM

for page 11:

this is getting frustrating as hell

last weekend, ryan took apart practically the entire bike, cleaned the carb, and performed a pretty extensive maintenance on the entire thing...the only thing that wasn't done is tighten the chain, because i need a new tensioner thingy (on order right now)

on the ride over to his place, and after the tune-up, it ran beautifully, so i'm thinking all's good

i went out this afternoon the first thing i noticed is that my gas tank IMPLODED...at least, i assume that's what happened...it now has a large, almost perfectly symmetrical depression in the top of the tank, and the gas cap was on tight...i realize NOW that perhaps the tank cap is supposed to hang loosely to allow air in...but no one told me this (why wouldn't i have it tightly on there like every other gas tank cap i've ever used?)

okay, so aside from the fact that i'm an idiot, i started it up (caught first time, immediately, and was ready to ride in just a minute or two, instead of the usual 10)...i take it out, and she's riding beautifully...quick, quieter (since the tune-up, it's waaaaaaaaaaay quieter), and responsive

that is, at least, until 2 miles down the road, where it started to do what it's been doing for so long...it's topping out at 25mph (unless i'm going downhill, in which case i can get to 40-45mph)...what the hell is causing this? i don't know what else to even look at it

any suggestions? it's not even really happening consistently...i tried to take it to work on friday, and it was slugging and unresponsive from the very beginning (instead of like it was today, where it was great at first, and only after a few miles stopped responding well)

damnation, if it's not one thing, it's another

11/9/2008 5:43:52 PM

Dammit son. Sell it and buy an SV-650.

Trying to pay as little as possible always ends up costing more.

11/9/2008 6:00:57 PM

so i'm finding out

though so far, it's really been mostly just time, and not much in the way of money thanks to awesomely helpful people (shout out to ryan, here )...we were talking about bobbing it, which would be fun

[Edited on November 9, 2008 at 6:03 PM. Reason : .]

11/9/2008 6:03:08 PM

your tank definitely needs to be able to vent to outside air...without having the cap loose. I'd be willing to bet if you rode with the gas cap semi loose the bike will run fine. The neg. tank pressure is not allowing gas to build in the carb bowls.

11/11/2008 10:18:01 AM

^ that's what i thought, with my only very basic understanding...which is why i thought that, when i loosened it up and the bike rode great, that i had figured out what the issue was

but then, while loose and after about 2 miles of great ride, it started acting up again

11/11/2008 10:22:35 AM

http://charlotte.craigslist.org/mcy/911500984.html

good starter bike with a tad more bawls (47 hp)

11/11/2008 11:09:02 AM

^ i like it...but it's in charlotte

11/11/2008 11:33:35 AM

i'm coming up shortly want me to bring it with ?

11/11/2008 11:35:45 AM

lol, sure...check it out for me and let me know how it is

also, let's low-ball this one...it's not the season, and i'm thinking we can go less than $1.5k, regardless of worth

11/11/2008 11:49:56 AM

Over the summer, I'm probably gonna sale my cb250 then buy one of those in the fall for cheap as shit.

11/11/2008 12:19:26 PM

Went home on my lunch break today and rode the RR back to work

11/11/2008 2:01:23 PM

i'm wondering if the trouble i'm having on my bike might be tied to the replacement of the shifter assembly...specifically, if the tie rod wasn't attached tightly enough? does that make sense? considering the bike will (sometimes) ride just fine from the beginning but then, only after stopping at a sign or a light, will then have trouble, i keep thinking that perhaps it could be caused by slipping gears or something similar...what do y'all think? slipping clutch or maybe i didn't tighten the tie rod from the shifter pedal to the gearshift itself tightly enough and so it's not going all the way into gear?

11/14/2008 9:44:22 AM

^ i think your best bet would be for ryan or somebody in the know to ride it when its messing up...

11/14/2008 10:03:43 AM

yeah, but it only happens SOME of the time (the last time i had it over at ryan's, it was running fine both there and almost all the way home)...besides, i think i've probably pestered the hell out of him between the metro rebuild and this bike

11/14/2008 10:14:39 AM

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/Motorcycles___2005-GS-500-RUNS-STRONG-LOW-MILES-CHEAP-WOW_W0QQitemZ160297337421QQddnZMotorcyclesQQddiZ2283QQcmdZViewItemQQptZUS_motorcycles?hash=item160297337421&_trksid=p4506.c0.m245&_trkparms=72%3A727|65%3A12|39%3A1|240%3A1308

baahhahaahhaa

11/18/2008 10:09:00 AM

wonder if that paint texture was intentional

11/18/2008 10:12:10 AM

47 hp WITH FLAMES BABY!!!

11/18/2008 10:14:05 AM

that paint looks horrible

11/18/2008 10:14:07 AM

I'd ride the fuck out of it.

But in all seriousness, that's the sort of paint job you expect out of a flat black 4th gen civic.

11/18/2008 10:55:13 AM

Quote :

"But in all seriousness, that's the sort of paint job you expect out of a flat black 4th gen civic."

But my car's a gunmetal color

11/18/2008 11:08:22 AM

i didnt read the ad, just the price mileage and saw the pics. but it looks like rino liner thats been painted over with gloss paint and a good flame paint job. or is that a sticker

11/18/2008 11:09:15 AM

So, for the past week or so the electric starter on my '77 CB550 has been acting up. If the bike is in gear, and the clutch is in, pressing the starter button does nothing but dim the lights; the engine doesn't turn at all. I can put the bike in neutral and it'll fire up without a problem, though. The kickstart works fine, too. What says you, Wolf Web? Is my starter switch boned? Electrical short? Clutch problem?

11/19/2008 9:21:22 PM

^things are awry in motorcycle land brosky. My speedo died on Monday. It may just be the cable, I haven't looked yet, but the new speedo assembly is $280 on bike bandit!

11/20/2008 1:15:22 AM

i'd kill to have a running bike

11/20/2008 9:13:10 AM

Quote :

"^things are awry in motorcycle land brosky. My speedo died on Monday. It may just be the cable, I haven't looked yet, but the new speedo assembly is $280 on bike bandit!"

I have a cable you can borrow to test it out!

You can probably stick any ol' CB gauge assembly on there. I'm sure you could pick one up for cheap.

11/20/2008 1:52:15 PM

Yeah, I'm hoping its just the dead cable. If smitty's needle nose pliers are sufficient for the job, I'll just unscrew it and check the cable. Further research has let me know that there is a trend of dead cb speedos so I'm a bit nervous. The 5000mi on the clock is my main selling point!

11/20/2008 1:57:31 PM

Quote :

"The 5000mi on the clock is my main selling point!"

...then don't fix it.

The pliers should loosen the cable from the gauge, though it might scratch up the the connector a bit; an ajustable wrench would do it better. If your cable is anything like mine, you'll need a plasma cutter or a small explosive to remove the cable from the wheel assembly.

[Edited on November 20, 2008 at 2:02 PM. Reason : ]

11/20/2008 1:59:56 PM

Quote :

"So, for the past week or so the electric starter on my '77 CB550 has been acting up. If the bike is in gear, and the clutch is in, pressing the starter button does nothing but dim the lights; the engine doesn't turn at all. I can put the bike in neutral and it'll fire up without a problem, though. The kickstart works fine, too. What says you, Wolf Web? Is my starter switch boned? Electrical short? Clutch problem?"

check the clutch/neutral safety switch.

11/20/2008 3:21:01 PM

^ known problem on cb250s, may be the whole family.

11/20/2008 7:40:54 PM

Quag.. plugs gapped right? Sounds like a friend of mine's problem with his 81 CX500.

11/21/2008 12:48:15 AM

^ aye, they are

11/21/2008 9:39:13 AM

My shitty chain has finally bitten the bullet (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pwt2Z3llAr0)

My order from BikeBandit is as follow:

RK 530-100 standard chain
JT 37-tooth rear sprocket
JT 17-tooth front sprocket

Any thoughts on RK chains and/or JT sprockets?

11/24/2008 6:46:36 PM

^Did it just snap?

11/24/2008 6:48:00 PM

No, it hasn't snapped, yet.

It popped off as I turned onto Flynt yesterday; by the time I came to a stop, the chain had wedged itself between the rear shock and the sprocket plate. A good chunk of the sprocket plate was actually sheared away, but I think that's just cosmetic damage. I tried for about an hour to pry it out and eventually had to pop out the master link, pull the chain off the rear sprocket, reset the master link and get the chain back on the sprocket.

I spent a good deal of this afternoon trying to tighten the chain up as best I could. After doing all I could, I decided to take it for a test ride. By the time I made it to King, I noticed a pretty nasty grinding noise coming from the chain. I didn't have time to pull over and assess the situation, as the chain again popped off not long after I noticed the grinding. Unfortunately this all happened during "rush hour" on Main Street in the pouring rain and freezing cold. The silver lining was that I was only about ten feet from the entrance to the Advance Auto parking lot. With the chain again wedged behind the shock arm, it was pretty tough pushing the bike those final ten feet. I finally did, though, and spent a good hour and a half wrestling with the chain in the cold, wet parking lot. After again removing the master link and resetting the chain, it took one trip around the parking lot for it to come off. It was dark and I was tired of fighting it, so I gave in and parked it in front of the store, where it will sleep tonight.

The chain was so dried out, rusted and kinked that it's a miracle it lasted as long as it did. The real problem now is that in pushing it off the road today I warped it pretty badly. The order from BikeBandit is $65ish plus shipping; hopefully it'll arrive before Christmas.

11/24/2008 7:10:27 PM

I am looking at purchasing:

http://www.suzukicycles.com/products/GSXR600K7
Thoughts? Experiences? Concerns? This will not be my first motorcycle. My former ride was a GS500.

12/2/2008 6:56:37 PM

From what I've heard those GSXRs are good bikes in general. I'm actually buying a '04 R6 this week and trying to sell my EX500.

12/2/2008 7:28:52 PM

anyone wanna help me do the brake fluid and remount the upper on my bike this week? my car's down for the count and I need a ride to work lol

12/2/2008 10:11:23 PM

as much as I like my SV (especially for what I paid for it), I have a sort of itch for another race-replica...prob wait another year or more, though. no sense in spending a lot on a bike until i'll be around more, and the SV will be a better starting point for getting into track days (and getting back into aggressive riding).

[Edited on December 2, 2008 at 10:14 PM. Reason : asdfad]

12/2/2008 10:13:00 PM

^^^^Buy my triumph 675....better powerband and you wont look like every other bike on the road....

http://www.ncsportbikes.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=12315

12/2/2008 10:24:05 PM

07' two-fiddy
http://raleigh.craigslist.org/mcy/942159385.html
do want!

12/2/2008 10:59:56 PM

$10 says catzor has been jerkin' it to that craigslist ad all day.

12/3/2008 12:03:58 AM

^He speaks truth

12/3/2008 2:11:12 AM

I need a good winter glove recommendation. Shopping online is one thing I would like to hear what a real person likes and doesn't like. I need something windproof.

12/3/2008 3:31:18 AM

I have a big pair of alpinestars sp-2 gloves with windproof glove liners.
http://www.cyclegear.com/spgm.cfm?L1=5000&L2=4&L3=&L4=&item=FTL_ANT025-BZ-S_G
Those to be specific. It still gets cold on mornings like this, but my hands don't hurt when I get to work.

12/3/2008 7:48:58 AM

I actually just bought a pair of those exact same liners. They do work fairly well but my outer gloves are more permeable than I was led to believe when I purchased them. I have about a 40 minute ride to work so I need to make my commute as comfortable as possible.

12/3/2008 8:57:57 AM

Quag, sounds like an issue I had with my old bike a while back. The sliders in the carbs (I think Igor called them diaphragms) would get stuck and restrict airflow. We cleaned those suckers many times over before it would run right... And even then one would get stuck now and again. It would idle fine and even rev up a bit, but as soon as there was a load and you were trying to get somewhere 20mph was all it had when they were stuck.

12/3/2008 9:29:23 AM

^ so were you ever able to get it running 100% again?

my next step is to take apart the carb and take ryan up on his offer to use the ultrasonic cleaner on it

12/3/2008 9:50:06 AM

Yeah, got it running back to normal. This was after the bike was sitting for a long time after a wreck. We just cleaned the diaphragm things over and over with carb cleaner and working them back and forth. This was an ordeal, as we would clean it and it would run well for a minute before sticking again. It got better and better until finally it was just to where one would stick occasionally and could be felt as lack of peak power and burbly exhaust backfires due to the rich mix. That was rare though and it ran fine up til I sold it. I guess it was varnish gumming them up, I suppose an ultrasonic cleaner loaded up with varsol would do it.

12/3/2008 10:09:34 AM