just bought a new bike and when i got it home foud out it had no fifth gear and the previous owner wouldnt take it back is there an easy way to try and fix this please help Doogzie
My trailer of 20 years has no "back", bike sits on the sump guard. Easier to store trailer. I prefer ropes from lower triple clamp, out 45 degrees, put tension on, but never to the extent of fully compressing suspension. Rear secured from footrest, under trailer frame and up to other footrest.
The red or green color in the filter oil is a dye to tell you if the whole filter is saturated. You can use a large plastic big to knead the filter in the oil (don't skimp on oil, you can pour the excess back in the bottle when you use a bag), but the key is to blot out all the excess filter oil with paper towels afterward. Knead the filter in the towels until there are no spotty deposits of oil (and the color is consistant throughout) and you're set. Be sure to squish the filter carefully with your fingers when kneading it and never pull on it or that may weaken the seams.
As to the Iridium plugs, I'm looking for one for my friend's Saracen, which takes a 3/8th" thread depth so I think it's a "BPR5SIX" (a 1/2" depth would be a "BPR5HIX".
I like the EIX plug as it seems to allow a little "wiggle room" in jetting. I went to the Ute Cup in Colorado last year (same plug still in the bike now) and dropped the main jet size 2 down, but the altitude ranges over several thousand feet in the loop, along with huge changes in temperature and humidity but the bike ran spot on all the time and didn't miss a beat even under the severe conditions that altered jetting requirements.
Jon
I will have to be more through when oiling the air filter to rule this out of the equasion. Reading Stork955's point about "clearing 2 strokes out before a section" my bike cant be burning any more oil than a 2stroke so I think I should be concentrating on carburation first.
Stork brings up a lot of valid points and I agree that, if everything else is in good shape, any "correct" plug will perform well. I also think that, with the marginal nature of most bike CDI systems that entended gaps have a very limited return in performance. I've generally found that the early systems, like the MotoPlat, do better with a .5mm plug gap and the newer types work well with .6mm.
Although, to do a proper plug check, you'll need to know under what conditions the engine was operating at the time it was shut down, the oil fouled plug will tend to have a glossier finish to the deposits and the over-rich mixture may have a flatter finish and darker color, but as I said, engine operating condition at time of shutdown has an effect and sometimes it's difficult to tell the oil from the fuel fouling.
Different fuels will have a different color deposit to the porcelian, some race fuels will have a gunmetal grey and some will have a golden tan to them. Plug condition is an indicator and can give you a direction to go, but other tests, like compression pressure or ring end-gap are helpful too. Sometimes it's not really the plug's fault as poor ground/connections in the CDI or a malfunctioning plug cap/wire can be the culprit.
Jon
Thanks for the info. I think its a combination of both as I use different carbs for events (Amal pre 65 Scottish, Kiehn rest of time) Definatly uses fewer plugs on the Kiehn than Amal, but still getting the jetting right so it might improve. I can feel when the plug is going "off" about 5 mins before it expires. I use a foam air filter and getting the same amount of oil through it consistently probably doesnt help.
OK, this thread put me in memory lane mode and I went to look for a Belstaff Trialmaster like wot I had years ago. Jings, crivens, help ma Bob !
Even second hand ones on Flea-bay are fetching more than the National debt of somewhere that owes lots of money! These things make Barbour look cheap !
Anyhooz, before you all go looking, has anyone got an old Belstaff they don't want?
GJ
Harvey Nicholls were selling "distressed" Barbours for
As Copemech says, be careful opening up plug gaps in bikes, especially magneto ones like ours, they don't have great reserves of "grunt" like a battery/coil system does. Modern Battery/Coil ones like in your car can successfully hit 50K plus volts at a very high current (7 amps or more). This is to fire the very lean mixtures (15.1+) required by road cars. Most cars these days in fact use 1 coil per cylinder to help accommodate this.On the bikes however the system is limited in current and voltage by the source coil which makes relatively low output to drive all the ignition. Its like fitting a resistor plug cap to early systems, this can take the CDI out as a result of drawing more current than the system can safely handle. A wide plug gap has the same effect, the voltage required to ionise the gap and commence spark increases massively with wider gaps. Yes, its true that a wide gap can sometimes mask off a misfire or other symptom but this is temporary as you may well be driving your gear into extinction. Also, keep in mind that spark plugs rarely fail on their own (I know this as I have been fitting them for nearly 30 years now, for a living by the way) Problems are generally caused by some other issue like overly rich mixtures (Carb issues, air cleaner issues) and oil fouling (in 4 strokes mainly, poor oil control - rings, valve guides/stem seals) so if your plugs are failing on a daily basis, don't blame the plug, look for the actual cause! (Think about your car - do you change the plug every time you drive it? If you do you are looking for a problem somewhere as most modern cars and road bikes get 40 000km plus from a spark plug. Considerably more life than we expect from a relatively limited-use trials bike). All plugs are pretty much good these days, of course I have my favourites but that is based on 30 years worth of daily experience seeing what works well and what doesn't. Given that all else is OK with your engine any "correct" spark plug will do the trick for you.
Hope that all makes sense,
Cheers,
Stork
Any way of telling if its a rich mixture, or burning oil, thats killing plugs ?
It still is - no less so for the mapping feature which is no different to other major improvements such as better designed suspension, lighter materials, tyre technology et al.....
I just enjoy riding my duel stage mapped modern bike the mostest.
I cant wait for ABS and traction control, some of the other "improvements"
Warranty claim. I wouldnt be spending money on a 4 week old bike to cure a problem like this, if you hav'nt touched the carb and done anything that could have caused the problem.
just bought a new bike and when i got it home foud out it had no fifth gear and the previous owner wouldnt take it back is there an easy way to try and fix this please help Doogzie
Rear Brake Wire.
in Pre-65 Bikes
Posted
Hi, can anybody point me in the direction of a supplier for the parts to make up a rear brake cable for my B40. (Trialsbits cant help)
Dont want to use a rod as the brake comes on as the suspension compresses.
Thanks in advance
Ross