Adjusting chain & changing rear bulb.

Adjusting chain.

After realising my chain had gotten very slack all of a sudden & I mean very, the paint work on the swing arm was grazed slightly. I knew I had no choice but to adjust it straight away.

Over time a bikes chain does stretch which creates slack in the hanging chain, to counter this manufacturers add a slot instead of just a hole to the swing arm where the wheel connects. They add adjustment bolts / nuts to the back of the swing arm to allow for the wheel to be adjusted or pulled back slightly to add tension to the chain. There is usually some sort of marker or increment system on each side so you know both sides of the wheel are set to the correct position.

First of all we need to get the wheel of the ground a touch. The bike has no center stand to raise the wheel so once again we need to use a jack. We cant lift from the ideal side of the bike because the exhaust is in the way and it is a pain to have to remove it all just for this quick job. So instead we come around from the other side and I choose to position the jack at the point just under the suspension / rear shock on the swing arm as anywhere further forward would just push the swing arm on it's travel. I place a small piece of wood on top of the jack point so it protects the swing arm from the jagged metal of the jack. 

 

Now, like mentioned before, we only need to lift the bike's rear wheel a touch off the ground. Anywhere between half a centimeter to 2cm is fine, while doing this remember not to neglect the weight of the bike is on the side stand and as such we are lifting the bike from the same side. So to stop it from toppling over gentle downward  pressure on the handle bar as you very slowly lift to adjust the downward pressure on the side stand other wise the bike will topple if you lift the side stand off the ground! The side stand should slowly slide forward along the ground re-adjusting it's angle. That's why lifting from the other side was preferred to begin with. But seeing as we only need it a touch off the ground it shouldn't be a problem.

Once this is done you can begin. by undoing the main wheel spindle /bolt nut, just slacken it off. Personally I loosened mine off while the wheel was on the ground, in case I needed to give it some to loosen it, knocking the bike over. Then I loosened it some more while in the air. Once that's done you can then loosen off the adjusting nuts at the back of each end of the swing arm. Not too much about a centimeter off for now.

If we look at the above picture we can see the notches or increments on the swing arm and the one on the gold coloured plate. It's the same either side and is what we use to make sure both sides of the wheel are in the same position, by watching these as you grab and pull the wheel back to retention the chain make sure both sides are at the same correct point. You may find the process easier if you just tighten the main nut a slight bit then it shouldn't move once you let go. Some prefer to put each side back exactly on a marker, in my case just by how much slack the chain had it wasn't possible and I had to put it back exactly between two markers (on either side of course).

Once this has been done you can tighten up the main bolt. You may have noticed that on this bike there isn't a castle nut / split pin config, just a nut. And there is nothing stopping the nut from coming off, if it's not TIGHT!

I actually wonder about adding an extra locking nut if I can find a thin one in the same thread type just for piece of mind. Like we did with the foot pegs. It would have to be thin as there is not much thread left on the end of the spindle once the bolt has gone on. A locking nut placed behind will stop the main one from working loose.

When this has been done you can tighten the adjusting nuts back up and align the plates. Once again there is no locking nut on these like other bikes but, if you wish there's plenty of room to add another on the thread.

That should be it to adjusting the chain. The Haynes manual on Chinese, Korean and Taiwanese motorcycles has more info on measuring the correct amount of chain slack when adjusting bikes but we will leave that up to you. How much the original chain is able to stretch by I'm not sure but, Lextek do some after market chains for the bike should you wish to change it. Personally you might find it better to have it changed the same time as a rear tyre at a garage, as the wheel has to come of anyway for that. And just adjust the current one while there is headroom left.

Changing rear bulb.

Ok, so after taking a look at the back of the bike the only real thing is a nut under the glove box (rear seat) which initially to me looked like it could remove the whole light unit, leaving you to put a new bulb in from behind. That's exactly what it did do and how you go about it. Just push the black tab the bolt was holding down then wiggle the lense with you other hand. Twist the bulb holder to remove the bulb. The L.E.D bulbs I purchased really weren't very bright at all and while ok for night use were not that visible in the day. I put the original bulb back in and will look to use a different type of L.E.D bulb in the near future. You may actually find it beneficial to buy an red tail light unit if like me you have the clear unit. The white bulbs & L.E.Ds are easier to come by in an emergency. The online breakers are selling them for about £10-£15 on eBay all the time. It's something I may consider regardless of the clear ones looking better. Of course everything go's back in the reverse order.

I might also make a note of some bikes toolkits included in the back seeing as it's seen here, mine was missing when I bought mine but you can pick up a few tools or add them to the existing kit no problem. You never know when a panel or something might work loose, when out on the road for example and you need to pull over and fix the issue or just need to adjust something minor without going out to the shed. Tie wraps are always a good addition, if something does ever work loose and you can't fix it till you get home or the screw has come out it's a good temporary solution. They can always help with the oddest of luggage problems too, to help lock stuff down. Mini pliers help keep space taken up to a minimum, as do the screw drivers that take the assorted bits, meaning you don't need to fill the back up with different screwdrivers. A few spanners of the type you mainly need, these drop forged spanners can be picked up in sets for £1 in £1 stores these days, as can most of the tools you need, so you don't need to spend a fortune to be ready while out on the road. For the sake of a quid here and there it's worth popping in and having a nose, the quality of the tools is actually a lot better than you would think these days. And you don't need to buy the best tools money can buy just to go in the back of the bike, you can keep those in your tool box at home. Lets face it the tools included in all the bikes are not usually the best quality anyway, not even up to market / £1 shop standard. Some cheap soft Chinese stuff just to do the job, where as an extra long large screw driver I picked up for a quid the other day was hardened and made in Europe, it's worth a look now and then, even if you want to keep your good tools in good condition, while using the cheap ones. You never know what you might find that's ideal & small for in the back of the bike!

 

The nut can be seen above.

Extra Lighting Part 2.

Extra Lighting Part 2.

Ok, so after a recent problem with my battery going flat at night on one of the most dodgy roads in the area, whilst not being able have my lights on for my engine cutting out and then being guided back by someone in a car with headlights positioned right behind me (so I can also be seen as well as see) on the way home, I've decided it is a necessary addition. 

Along with the extra lighting being powered by a separate 12 volt battery should the same thing ever happen again. There will also be attachments to connect straight to the main battery still. In theory that could also serve to attach the other batt to the system if the main one is absolutely dead and leech from it, although I only intend to connect one at a time.

The battery needs to be 12 volt and small as it will likely be placed in the glove box under the passenger seat (while still allowing decent room) and should be rechargeable so I can charge it every now and then as needed with the 12 Volt charger, as well as being charged by the bikes system if ever leeched from. Now it's only 1.2 amp hour so if ever leeched from it might only be suitable to get you home locally (5 / 10 mins away at night with lights on. In the day it wont matter as long as you can get the bike started / keep it started then it will get you back off the stator). The ideal suspect was an alarm battery on eBay for £7.00.

The connections on the battery were the standard terminal type like on the big switch I bought for the project. I connected up the L.E.D lights in tandem and they worked a charm. Now remember L.E.Ds work with much less power so the battery might not need charging quite as often as you think. Obviously that depends on how much they are used, but if only for emergency I'd say check the battery every fortnight if it needs topping up.

Now when it comes to my battery problem, again it could be a fault the bike has with it's charging system. A new battery was recently installed, however I haven't really been riding it in a way that would significantly charge the battery. I only ride it for 5 to 10 minute journeys around town at the moment and I've been told it takes about 15 minutes of use to recharge the amount from a single button push start on a 125. I've also been riding it nice and easy to save fuel, however 125s like to hit higher revs to generate more charge on the stator as the magnet on the flywheel  passes through the coils more in a given time, each time generating electricity. If you drive to around 6000-8000 revs watch the voltage gauge just after rise right up. If you ever have battery issues this can also help you get back home. Riding at higher revs in 4th for a while might help instead of easy in fifth while at road speed. Obviously be sensible don't go too high and knacker the engine, be sensible in 1st and 2nd just give 3rd and forth a bit of a poke.

It's also winter and the cold weather overnight doesn't help the battery.

I've gotten a replacement regulator rectifier anyway, although I since found out there's two a 2 pin and a 1 pin plug version, I've been sent the 1 pin and there's a good chance mine is 2 pin. The later models are two pin. I will have to look and see, if I can remember where I saw the regulator previously, I don't want to start pulling things off to look for it. I'd rather know where it is to start with. Other than that the stator could be at fault with not charging enough.

A voltage regulator problem could be connected with the L.E.D blow outs before too but, for now recharged it seems fine. I did check the inside of one previous riding light blown L.E.D and the resistor had gone, one leg had snapped or melted through, so I put that down to crap quality resistors / components anyway but the other ones from the pack worked in the gauge just fine off the same electrical system, so that's a mystery? Maybe the problem is the winter cold air on the riding light facing forward while being heated by the electricity running through it at he same time? The gauge is extra shielded from the elements so there's no stress on the component hence it lasts. This usually makes things brittle, for example a pane of glass that's hot one side can crack when it's freezing cold on the other and metal can break when heated and then cooled. Other than that is the output to the line for the riding light spiking or generally higher than the gauge? Since they're both powering T10s I doubt the output is any different.

Anyway, it's also because of this that I want these L.E.Ds running off a separate power supply at this point in time until I sort it. I don't want to blow them after all the effort. 

Brackets.

We will get started here with the brackets for mounting. We will need our aluminum strip from before and revisit the area we are mounting to with a steel rule or tape measure to get our sizes. Remember we will need to add a little tolerance for the bend. And we can cut off any excess later to get it to fit after re-checking fitting with the bracket itself. It's better to have a little over to cut off than have less area to work with because the bend took it away. Other tools you will need are a permanent pen or pencil for marking, a hacksaw, and a file for removing the burr or sharp edges after cutting. A clamp like a g-clamp will work best along with a mallet to bend the aluminum (a hammer striking on a piece of wood resting on the aluminum should also work. A hammer on it's own will damage the bracket). A decent work surface with a flat edge like a workbench /workmate is fine. I've just used the top of my little decorating steps for this which was next to the bike in the garage to save carrying my workmate out. As long as it's sturdy and has a flat edge it should be fine.

It's going to be on a slight angle because of the shape of the molding. I see about two and a half inches of usable length, I'm going to make it three inches to allow for the bend and cut the excess off later for both brackets (it's just a mirror image the other side)

.

Mark out your three inches then mark another three inches from that line, as we want near equal length either side of the bend on our bracket. It doesn't have to be bang on accurate, just accurate enough and consistency between each bracket you make would be welcome. I wouldn't worry about a millimeter or two on the finished bracket at the end.

Using the clamp like above clamp the strip down and cut it off at the second marker line, then clean the burr off both ends with a file to A stop you cutting yourself and B not scratch up the bike unnecessarily when checking.

Take your piece and line up the marker with the flat edge of the work surface and clamp it down, then hit the over hanging side with the mallet bending it into our bracket shape then repeat for the other one to get both our brackets.

And there we have our brackets. Next time around we'll take a look at our trimming the brackets to fit and our wiring situation and attaching our lights to the brackets themselves etc.

After market bar grips.

After market bar grips.

Just a quickie while we wait (oh err) to find a few connectors out the shed for the extra lighting part 2 as well as finding the extra time to do it, what with getting the brackets sorted etc. 

After market grips for the handle bars is another cheap little extra for the bike you can do, there are many different types you can find, again eBay seems to be the best place. I like the anodized aluminum ones, obviously in gold to match the theme. When they arrived they were of the more copperish gold, exactly like the bar ends so they match together well. The CNC brake levers are a slightly lighter gold but all together it doesn't look that bad really, even with the difference in shade.

The aluminum part is only at the two ends and of course the main body is a knurled effect rubber, otherwise in motorcycle gloves you wouldn't get a good enough grip.

The handle bars measured with my Vernier are 22.20mm in diameter which is the standard size (22mm, the applied paint probably takes it up .20mm) for motorcycles apparently and translates to 7/8" in imperial. So this is the size you need to look for. There are plenty available.

Removing old grips.

First of all you need to remove the bar ends, this is covered in the bar ends post previous. It just requires undoing the screw / nut on the bar end until the expanded rubber it was pulling relaxes enough to be pulled out.

When it comes to removing the old grips I had a little look into it and it seems as if the best & quickest way was to use a compressor / airline under the lip of the rubber and blow the rubber up away from the bar, while twisting and pulling it off. You could try to use one of those cans of compressed air with the straw attached but I'm not sure just how effective it would be compared to the more powerful compressor. The thinner the tip on the air gun the better to get under the rubber, you can lift it back with a small screw driver. I used the gun for sand blasting (without the tank attached), as if you unscrew the main tube the one inside is very small & fits perfectly under the rubber.

                                                               [air compressor gun]

Obviously you could just cut it off with a knife but you couldn't keep it as spare. Another method is to lift it up with the screw driver & spray WD 40 in underneath ,while going as far back with the screw driver as possible to lubricate the whole length. This then should make the grip easier to remove when twisted and pulled off. I don't like the WD 40 approach however as it has been known to rot rubber / plastics on occasion. You might need it to get the new one on too but for the aforementioned problem I wouldn't use too much at all! I would wipe it down slightly if dripping after the removal of the old grips. And use only a little to get the new ones on.

                                                   [Peel back rubber tip with screw driver] 

                                             

                         [Insert air line nozzle tip and blow while pulling / twisting simultaneously]

The static grip (left side) came straight off the bar like a hot knife going through butter with the air compressor approach. & the new one went on the same way.

*Remember the two grips will be slightly different sizes. The one designed to fit the throttle will have a larger diameter hole which fits over the revolving plastic cylinder connected to the throttle cable. The smaller diameter one will go straight onto the 22mm bar on the left side.

The throttle side grip however, I had trouble with. Try as I might it just wouldn't budge with the air compressor technique. I ended up pulling it back with the screw driver and cutting it back along with the Stanley Knife, carefully so I didn't damage the plastic cylinder underneath. Then peeling it off.

When putting the new one on, there was trouble getting the new grip over all of the plastic cylinder's lip at the start. I had to give in and use a small amount of WD 40 and it went on with ease. Not too much you don't want it spinning on the cylinder you want it to grip it and adjust the throttle! 

                 [use the compressor to put the new one on the same way you took the old one off]

Remember to put your bar ends back on afterward but, make sure there is some room left on the throttle side so the throttle doesn't stick against it. In my opinion they look much better than the originals, as well as more robust.