lerk

Right then, in preparation for this weekends riding, I’ve had a fettle. Straightened the flange just past straight so the middle contacts first - fitted a new Cylinder gasket and then tried to fit - the flange bends before the gasket compresses. Even tapping the flange back towards the head didn’t help squash the gasket. So off it came again for another attempt. I’ve now added two washers of equal thickness to the spigot on the header so I can torque the bolts without distorting the flange. Early testing in the garage indicates the joint is gas tight, we’ll see how it goes in use. I did consider sanding down the thickness of the gasket or giving it a bit of gentle percussive maintenance to sink it back into the cylinder where it should compress to, but we’ll try this method first. Worst case scenario is I drop the washers out and dog it back down as it was previously!

Well fettling it definitely shut the noise up for the first couple of hours riding, but the seal soon opened up again as I shook the bike around and heat cycled the header a few times. Now I know it’s not doing any damage I’m less bothered by it, but I will try to refit it again with a brand new gasket and re-straightened flange. For the avoidance of doubt - bike is running on shell e95 at 80:1, I was tempted to throw some a gas at it to test - but know all too well what TEL does to spark plugs! I’m happy that the mix isn’t lean. When I have time I will strip the exhaust and rebuild with all new seals and gasket. Although before fitting seals to the mid box I will dry fit the header to ensure alignment without risking the new orings!

Did you just live with it or can it be made to fit flush with the right wiggling or even bending?

The flange bent as I ran the bolts in with the long end of a t bar, so not a lot of torque (I haven’t looked up the torque setting for these, but it was far less than I’d guess would prevent the things rattling loose) I did actually take it back off and jiggle it all round a couple of times, including refitting the back box on the opposite side of the mounting tab to see if that helped alignment but no bueno. I can’t see any damage to the header to indicate it has been bent, but the gap between header and frame is tiny. I lubed the orings and also deburred the header to avoid damaging them.

Evening all, I’m after a little sanity check. My new to me bike has developed a bit of a knock, but it doesn’t seem to be directly engine related. It occurs under throttle openings but also occasional knocks on the overrun too (about in time with the exhaust pops) I've tested for potential pinking by running on the choke (just about manageable) and I know the clutch makes noise until disengaged. I decided to get a new header gasket and orings to try the cheap obvious fix first before tearing into the engine. And as I stripped away the mud deflector noticed the header looked like this. Removed the exhaust and cleaned the header (clamp straightened in the vice) and decided against changing the gasket as the current one is not compressed to nothing as I expected. Refitting the header, the same thing happened - the header is definitely sitting square and central but I assume the header isn’t dropping into the gasket. tried to pop out the old gasket and it was having none of it… how difficult should they be to come out? I didn’t try too hard for fear of damaging something but my plan is to try and collapse the gasket inwards to shrink the diameter. The good news is refitted clean and with new orings in the slip joint, the knock has gone, but I’d like to know whether I need to sort the cylinder joint or not…

Garmin even!

Have a look at the Harmon edge 20. a tiny unit and fairly cheap for a gps!

Hi all, I fitted a brand new apico lanyard switch to my mates bike this week and it has failed (stuck closed circuit) within the first ride today. After removing the switch from the bars to check the connections underneath it started working again... Has anyone known an issue like this before? Is it possible that the part from eBay is a fake? Any pointers greatly appreciated!

Nope, tried all sorts last night and even though I have the right boots fitted to clean grooves, I couldn't get the boots to stay in place for more than about five actions of the lever... super glue it is then!

So I bought some new boots to replace the ripped ones on my Beta. Pulled the old ones off and built up the new ones before slotting them in, but they don't want to stay fitted into the master cylinder. I've cleaned out the groove and tried various different positions, but they turn inside out and then pop out when I release the lever. Next plan is a spot of super glue - am I missing a trick?