The Motorcycle Topic

[trip]

Yup...fired up the bike for the beginning of the season. The feeling never gets old.

[Beez]

I had a supermoto for many years, even raced it a little. It was a 1997 KTM 620 RXC dualsport and I used it mostly for that but I also bought a set of 17" supermoto wheels for a KTM Duke. The swap was easy and when I did it I'd change gearing and tweak the suspension a little too.

 

Not sure if getting an SM will save you any tickets though. I found I rode more like a hooligan on it than the Superhawk I also had at the time. The light weight, wide bars and sticky tires made me feel invincible!!! It was very hard to ride sedately.

[Adrenalist]

 

Almost done. Got the Ohlins steering damper, Rizoma grips & bar ends, Zero Gravity windscreen, GB Racing clutch cover, Woodcraft engine case sliders, Lightech levers, Lightech rear sets, Samco hose kit, Yamaha frame sliders, Akrapovic Ti slip on and mid-pipe, Sato racing helmet lock, and ECU flash done.

 

All that's left is the Power Commander V & Autotune install, hook it up to a laptop, get everything in spec, and I'm done. Can't wait! Been missing way too many great riding days already!

[Ex Hellraiser]

 

I got a Bluetooth connector for my mp3 player so I can listen to my music in my Bluetooth helmet. It will be my first ride trying it out can't wait to ride

Curious to see how it feels for you. I don't think I could do it for fear of being disttacted. Maybe if I lived out in the country and didn't have to worry about assholes drivers every second...

It's not as bad as you think. Pretty similar to the radio in your car. My helmet has speakers, so I'm not using earphones. Much less distracting and I can still hear stuff around me above the music. Just something to lessen the drone of the engine. I can't imagine driving to work everyday without a radio, and I get a similar feeling on the bike. Even if I'm not actively listening to music, having that music in the background keeps me more calm with riding considering I'm still very new to it.

[AEsob]

Right, so, after lending my KTM Duke to a friend and sitting inside my room and drinking for a year, I just found out that my tires are gone and need replacing.

 

I'm getting the bike feels once again and I think I'll go on a ride on the 18th, but before that guys, suggest some tires with good grip and good longevity.

 

AEsob

[trip]

 

 

I got a Bluetooth connector for my mp3 player so I can listen to my music in my Bluetooth helmet. It will be my first ride trying it out can't wait to ride

Curious to see how it feels for you. I don't think I could do it for fear of being disttacted. Maybe if I lived out in the country and didn't have to worry about assholes drivers every second...

It's not as bad as you think. Pretty similar to the radio in your car. My helmet has speakers, so I'm not using earphones. Much less distracting and I can still hear stuff around me above the music. Just something to lessen the drone of the engine. I can't imagine driving to work everyday without a radio, and I get a similar feeling on the bike. Even if I'm not actively listening to music, having that music in the background keeps me more calm with riding considering I'm still very new to it.

I'm a half helmet guy so I don't get the speaker option. I tend to talk and sing to myself while riding. In a way I kinda want to see what I look like at an intersection because I must look like a freak all sorts of singing and talking.

 

 

 

Right, so, after lending my KTM Duke to a friend and sitting inside my room and drinking for a year, I just found out that my tires are gone and need replacing.

 

I'm getting the bike feels once again and I think I'll go on a ride on the 18th, but before that guys, suggest some tires with good grip and good longevity.

 

AEsob

I like Dunlap and I seem to get a good handful of years out of a set. But I'm an easy rider who doesn't put a sh*t ton of miles on them. Grip? Just don't ride cold. Ha.

[Adrenalist]

I must look like a freak all sorts of singing and talking.

LOL.

 

That's me, too. Banging on the gas tank if I'm into the song. Bobbing my head forward to the beat of the music as I ride. Makes me wonder how many passengers turned to their driver and remarked "and not a single f was given that day"...

[AEsob]

I used to have a set of MRF tires. Good traction on those...the guy I lend my bike to drove it to school every single day, he didn't even check the air. I just found out that the brakes are in a bad condition, and he even crashed the bike once, so needs some bodywork done.

 

f*ck, I just received the cheque.

 

18th cancelled. I'll go on a ride when the heat's down.

 

I dunno.

 

AEsob

[Adrenalist]

Don't have any suggestions on tire type, as the only type I know well are sportbike tires. Sorry man.

 

 

Finally got the bike together and rode today with a friend. The Akrapovic slip-on and mid-pipe turn a mild sounding R1 into something that wakes the dead. Think Harley loud but with a crossplane crank instead of a V-twin. It turned heads before, but now it gets stares and smiles from anyone within earshot. Walked into a resturant and a couple of guys started telling me how good my exhaust sounded, and they were seated inside a building and 40 yards away. It's pretty damn obnoxious. Anyway, I'm happy with all the mods but the Power Commander with Autotune. It seems to constantly adjust itself, so if you try to be linear with the throttle, and keep it at the same pace, it slows down after a couple of seconds. With the throttle being so twitchy, increasing enough to keep your desired speed gets you more speed than you want. So it's a constant fight trying to maintain a particular speed. If it were a track bike only (which is what it will be eventually), I really wouldn't care. But for long street rides, it's a bit bothersome. I'm going to adjust it a bit and see if I can't get it to smooth out.

 

 

Hope everyone has a great riding season this year! Speed safe!

[SRB]

I've rode like three our four times this year already, but I'm hearing we're suppose to be getting sh*t weather soon. Always a downer.

 

I'll be posting some pictures of the minibikes here soon, and possibly a video a friend took of me. Also, I'm looking to buy a supermoto/dual sport soon. I don't want to buy the fastest one I can buy, because most of the fastest supermotos, are the heaviest you can buy too. I want a good balance of light weight, and decent power. I need it to do like 70-90 mph atleast, and I need it to weight ALOT less then my Kawi Zx6r,

 

I'm eyeballing DRZ400sm's, Husqvarna te310s, and WR450s.

[Zyo]

Got one of those facebook notifications a few days ago, you know the "year ago today" kind of thing, on March 16th. I'd been out buying St Paddys day beers and it had been a great riding day. This year the roads are sh*t and I actually still have ice in the driveway.... garage is on the shady side of the house but still, its not normal.... Hope you guys are enjoying it where you are.

[Beez]

@Adrenalist, can you turn the autotune off? Get it to a happy spot and shut that function off maybe solve your problem. Also did your mid-pipe eliminate the EXUP valve? Does the R1M even have EXUP? I'll admit my sportbike knowledge is not up to date.

 

First day of spring and we just got 4 inches of snow. Got a ride in with BeezWife a weekend ago and the roads were perfect in that we had had a lot of rain to wash off the salt & chemicals. Now I gotta wait for another good rain to wash the roads off again because I am not subjecting my bike to those corrosive chemicals they dump on the roads.

[Adrenalist]

Playing it smart on waiting for a rain, Beez!

 

I'm going to take it to a tuner and see what can be done. The ECU flash eliminated the EXUP, and I removed it along with the cables. Probably shaved a pound of weight. I appreciate the suggestion! Hopefully I can get this sorted soon.

 

Looking forward to the MotoGP race at COTA in a few weeks. Got some meet and greet passes at the Yamaha paddock. They're going to feed us, too. Foooooood fiiiiiiiight!!!

[Ex Hellraiser]

I'm not too well versed in bike mechanics yet, so hopefully some of you might be able to help. My Ninja 250 is getting harder and harder to get running every time I use it anymore. It is to the point where it takes about 20 minutes of alternating between ignition and bump starting until I can get it to take and and keep it going. Every time I get it running in that 20 minutes, it will last a couple seconds, then die, and consistently last a little longer each time until it gets going and warms up, then it runs fine. Is it an issue with the carbs, spark, or something else?

[Zyo]

Poor starting and running could be any number of things. Does sound a bit like an ignition issue, service schedule possibly? I would probably be thinking about when the last time the spark plugs and oil and filters were changed, maybe its getting choked a bit, or at this time of year if its been sitting in the garage after winter maybe its gungy fuel/carb? If its been sat 4 or 5 months without a fuel stabiliser its almost certainly going to be an issue. Its a twin right, are both cylinders firing on startup? Eliminate the simple stuff first. Its a hard revving bike, it really needs its maintenance.

[Beez]

The only thing we have to go on is that it gets better as it warms up. Electrical things sometimes have that trait. Next time the bike is cold check your spark for each plug. Do you know how to do that? It could be plugs, plug cap, plug wires, coils or even something further along but start at the plug and work your way back.

 

Could be tight valves? Maybe they are too tight and as the motor heats up the gap gets bigger and eventually its big enough for the complete fuel mixture to get in there.

 

But I'm betting it's electrical.

[Ex Hellraiser]

I know next to nothing about bike maintenance. I know how to change oil lol. I've never dealt with such a small complex engine. I know the valves have yet to be adjusted in the bikes lifetime (only about 5k miles) and it is due.

 

I started the bike a little bit ago (cold), a couple days after starting it last, and it was a bit better. It still started very rough and stalled a couple times, but after about a minute it idled fine (low, but steady) without choke. I put a bit of Seafoam in the tank a few days ago and I've been startin the bike every couple days and letting it warm up and idle in the driveway, and it gets a little better each time doing this.

 

Edit: I've noticed a lot more exhaust comes out of the left pipe than the right pipe. Cause for concern?

Edited April 14, 2016 by Ex Hellraiser

[Adrenalist]

^

It is possible that it doesn't need a valve adjustment. Honestly, I wouldn't worry about it just yet and focus on the more important stuff. (I have an '07 600rr with close to 50,000 mi and it's never had a valve adjustment and still doesn't need one. Not saying that I expect you to have a similar experience, but that it's possible you don't need one, yet.)

 

First thing I would do is remove your gas tank. It's easy to do. Youtube your particular year and get a general idea of how to do it. Even if it's not the same exact bike, the general idea is the same.

 

Note: as you remove bolts, put them in a pattern in a specific place that resembles the same pattern they go back in. For example, when I take off my gas tank, I put my front bolts on the ground where the front of the gas tank will be put. I put the middle bolts where the middle of the gas tank will be put. And I put the rear bolts where the rear of the gas tank will be. So everything is put in perspective when everything gets put back together. Another couple tips: when you're trying to get the bottom connections off, it's good to put some rags, old shirt, etc, between the frame and gas tank so you don't scratch either, and for it to soak any little leakage you may get. Also, it is good to have some threads on the ground where you will be putting your gas tank so it doesn't get scratched.

 

Once you have the tank off, drain out all of the gas. Take a small amount of good gas and flush the gas tank out a little with it.

 

Another note: when you drain out your old gas, if you do it in any kind of an open container, it will evaporate. If you spill some on your driveway, it will evaporate. So don't be upset if you spill any.

 

Once that is done, youtube "how to clean carb ninja 250." There is a ton of videos out there. It's very easy to do.

 

While you've tackled these two things, I would also do (OEM only!!) spark plugs and air filter.

 

I'd clean/lube the chain.

 

Then I'd ride it and see how she feels.

 

After that, I would consider removing the exhaust to see if anything made a home in the exhaust over the winter, but I would only do it if more exhaust was still going out of one side vs the other. You might have a bad ring in one of the cylinders. It's really too tough to call without seeing it. I guarantee that there's no anti-seize on your exhaust, and it'll be a pain to remove. So that would likely be one of the last things I'd look at, if at all.

 

Now that you've acquainted yourself with your bike a bit better, you may have the confidence to tackle the valve adjustment. It can definitely make it run rough. It's not too difficult. Youtube it and see if you think you can do it.

 

All in all, working on motorcycles is easy. Once you do it, you'll never want to pay anyone else to work on it again. With cars, you have to bend yourself in all these crazy uncomfortable directions, it's a total pain, and far more dirty. Wrenching on motorcycles is much, much easier. Just take it slow. Make sure you do it on a day you don't have to do anything else. Watch each video 3 to 4 times before tackling that particular job. And make sure you have the right tools. And on that note, I do recommend you buy a set of metric T-handle Allen wrenches. They make moto life much easier.

 

Best of luck.

[Ex Hellraiser]

Ok.

I'm stupid.

 

But thank you for the suggestions. I REALLY appreciate the help. I had a mechanic buddy of mine who rides an R6 take a took at it after the bike completely quit on me going to work Tuesday morning.

 

As it turns out, I made a very stupid and simple mistake: I put took much oil in it. As I said before, the bike has had a slow oil leak since I got it. It got to the point that the bike wouldn't idle without stalling because it was too low, so I bought a quart and put a little under a pint in (I wasn't on perfectly level ground but I assumed it was ok) which fixed the idle. In hindsight, it definitely made sense, as the bike got steadily worse in the last few weeks since I topped it off. When my bike decided to drop a cylinder (and eventually both) it seemed to happen after taking off and revving it higher, thereby (I now realize) throwing a coat of overflowing oil onto the spark plugs. I currently still the old plugs on, because nobody around here has them in stock ATM, and I wanted to be sure the problem was fixed, so I just cleaned the old ones off and put them back in to be sure the bike was fine.

 

I now have a bike with no fairings on the front, because they all had to come off to get the tank off, and I'm at a bit of an impasse. I kinda want to give it a streetfighter look now.

 

 

I kinda want to put a big round light on it and a new set of gauges, and clean up the wires and crap, but I have no idea how to go about this, or what parts I would need. Any little advice would be awesome!

[GTA-Biker]

^ What year is it?If it's close to or over 30 years old,I would keep it as it is and just repair it (there's not many old bikes in original condition around anymore,and you may have a hard time selling a custom bike later).But that's just my opinion,it's your bike,so it's your choice.

Edited April 23, 2016 by LeopardGecko

[Ex Hellraiser]

1. It's a 1994. But the Ninja 250 went from 1988-2007 without any real changes, and they are a dime a dozen.

2. I only bought it for $1100, and that is generally the low end for a good condition one at resale.

3. The original fairings are already beat and cracked to sh*t all around, and finding replacements in good condition on eBay (even if I managed to get them all in the same color will easily be upwards of another $500, which I definitely wouldn't get back at resale lol

4. Putting $150-200 on a headlight and gauges would be a much smaller dent to my wallet, and wouldn't hurt the resale considering how little I paid for the bike in the first place.

5. I wanna.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

(But then again this is my first bike and I know a damn sight less about them than others on this forum so I could be totally wrong about all this lol)

[GTA-Biker]

Yeah,minor customization like changing the headlight and taking off the fairing is ok,just keep the original parts,so you can turn back to it's current look when you decide to sell it and get something bigger.It's not easy to sell a custom bike,most people want a bike that looks like it wasn't customized a lot (at least here where I live).

Edited April 25, 2016 by LeopardGecko

[Beez]

I say customize to your heart's content. Nothing special about that bike.

Measure the diameter of your fork tubes up by the headlight and the distance between the top clamp and the lower clamp. Then take those measurements and a tape measure with you when you go to the junk yard to measure the brackets of potential round headlight donors.

You'll also need rear view mirrors since your stock one mount to the fairing/headlight. You could go bar-end mirrors or Double Take mirrors which mount to RAM balls. There are so many options for mounting RAM balls that you should find a solution to work on your bike. They even sell Double Take mirrors where I work and I have on on my Husqvarna TE450.

Good luck with your mods and please share with us.

[Adrenalist]

^

Great advise!

 

 

Here are a few pics I took at the motogp race...

 

 

Aprilia RSV4 Misano

 

 

MotoGP's most hated (Marquez) ripping down the track

 

 

Because...I'm a perv.

 

 

Post-race radiator cleaning in the pit.

 

 

My bro Rally on a Panigale R.

 

 

Yamaha M1

 

 

Perrrrrrrrrrrrv

 

 

Ducs! Ducs everywhere!!

 

 

I did the helicopter earlier today, but figured you'd prefer a picture of this instead.

 

[Beez]

Well I went to Americade last week. It was my first time and I really didn't get the full Americade experience because 1. I was working most of the time and 2. I was at Dirt Daze which is the adventure bike/dual-sport off-shoot of the rally.

 

For those that don't know Americade is a week long rally that was primarily for Goldwings and other big tourers. Now it's mostly Harleys & some Goldwings but there are also plenty of sportbikes and other styles. It's held every year in Lake George, New York and it's primarily a riding rally (unlike Daytona Bike Week). There are beautiful, scenic twisty roads in every direction and riders will generally head out and ride all day then party most of the night and do it all again the next day.

 

There are also demo rides from all the major manufacturers and a large vendor area where you can buy all kind of biker stuff. My company goes every year with our big gooseneck trailer and we sell and install a bunch of stuff the we carry on the website. With the recent popularity of adventure bikes Americade added a new thing called Dirt Daze which was held at a separate location about 5 miles away from the main rally. DD had guided and unguided rides, riding classes, seminars, 2 single-track trail courses and a man-made obstacle course. I took photos, shot video and worked our tent answering questions about the stuff we sell. Also rode some of the courses on the company Suzuki DRZ400 and my BMW R1200GS.

 

Overall it was a lot of fun and really didn't feel like work although what's better than getting paid to ride and talk about motorcycles? I can't wait until next year!

[trip]

Spent the morning scooting around a bit (before it gets too hot and gross)...so here is a live shot of my dirty old bike.

 

Even though it isn't full on hot yet I had to come home and change my draws and jeans once so that it didn't look like a kid with a leaky diaper ass.

 

Edited June 19, 2016 by trip

[Beez]

It was a nice weather for riding. I've used bicycle shorts under my pants for years because they wick away moisture, dry fast and have padding. Now there are motorcycle specific underware. MotoSkeeves even makes it specific to the kind of bike you ride, putting the padding in the right place. For everyday I like these boxer-briefs from Me Undies but other companies make them. Just get away from 100% cotton trust me.

[trip]

I sweat through everything. It's the swamp like humidity of this area.

[SRB]

Cool picture trip, finally warm enough around here to be riding. Bought a CRF450 dirt bike, so I've been giving my motorcycle a break and riding the dirt bike a decent amount now.

 

I've got some good pictures I've been meaning to post here but I keep getting on here at like midnight here where I live. I'll be sure to when I'm not so tired lol.

[BCspeed34]

It's a Hell of a lot slower than my 1098, but God damn this thing is fun.