Routine Maintenance: Oil change and Clutch cable tightening.

Routine Maintenance: Oil change and Clutch cable tightening. 

I haven't really had much to do with the bike recently except lubricate the kill switch.I did upload a few You Tube videos of some more routine maintenance. I'll add video links to the blog below.

However, I just took delivery of some universal (so they say) hand /wind guards I intend to put on the bike for winter, as last winter my hands got fairly cold at times. It's also now the time of year to get on with fitting & finishing off that extra lighting I made, I have just ordered a more suitable switch that go's onto the handle bar instead for them.

I recently had to walk the bike home, near to where I live (luckily) after it cut out & wouldn't start back up. I was on my way somewhere, then after a hold up, due to a little bump between two other vehicles, I turned around and doubled back on myself to go another way to my destination. As I said, luckily it cut out near my house. On closer inspection, it was that the kill switch on the throttle side handlebar, although in the on position wasn't actually all the way down and was a bit stiff, so cut the bike out. After a quick squirt of WD40 down the switch sides and a good few switches back and forth it was back to normal and the bike fired up again. The only downside is I probably could of hit it down with the palm of my hand & drove home (or on to my destination). The switches action is smooth now but, as someone pointed out it's winter here now and it's cold, everything stiffens and contracts. It does the opposite to when it's warm, when everything expands. That's why your locks on your house for example sometimes play up in the cold winter.

It could've been a lot worse than a work out for my thighs, although nothing I couldn't of fixed. Just time consuming and an extra expense. It would only of been the spark plug, HT lead, CDI or stator really in the engine case, as the kick start wasn't working either (obviously due to the kill switch problem). Which would of ruled out: solenoid (which is brand new anyway), starter motor (which is brand new anyway) and the voltage regulator which is also brand new. So it would be unlikely to of been related to that. It was only when I leaned down to start to remove the petrol tank that I saw from that angle that the kill switch wasn't all the way down. So always double check your kill switch if you have any starting trouble 1st. Of course, I use the bike all year round, most people garage their motorcycle in the winter months so don't have such things caused by weather to deal with, it may even of been a little rust on the contacts inside that caused it to stiffen due to rain getting inside or anything and the WD40 loosened it off. You only have to look at the indicator switch on the opposite side to note there is no rubber type stop, to stop any moisture getting inside. That is remedied by gluing a cut piece of rubber (something like a small piece of old inner-tube) yourself with a cut for the signal lever to poke through though. I haven't done this but it's a fairly obvious hack, at least to me. Spare handle switches new either side are only about £18.00 anyway again so, it's nothing to worry about in any case. Just time consuming or extra expense, especially if you're someone who really can't do the work yourself. Again I used just WD40, no switch lubricant or anything else and it seemed to be fine.

Oil Change.

We will take a look at where the oil filter is on the bike but, I'm not cleaning mine or changing it here now. I'm just showing for the purpose of making the video more complete. So if someone else wanted to do so, they would know where to look. You're expected to (clean filter) do it every other oil change (or every 2nd time). And you don't have to change it for a new one, just clean it out, it's a metal wire filter in the shape of a thimble, that pops out on the end of a spring. So just cleaning this and popping it back in again is fine.  For a start it's unlike on other bikes, it's not an cylindrical paper style filter on the side of the engine.

One thing to be weary of when removing the screw cap, is that it's stiff, made of soft material and you damage it trying to un-screw it, just like I did with the original oil filler cap. That was copper that was painted black and chewed up under the spanner. I had to remove the engine case, cut a slot on the top of the chewed up part with an hacksaw (for a flat head screwdriver) & heat the inside of the engine case around the cap with a blow torch until the thread expanded to make it easier to get the part to un-screw. I had to heat it from inside so as to not damage the paint on the exterior. The new replacement filler cap I received was like that on lawnmowers instead and much better. I didn't want to relive that nightmare here again just for an example on the video, besides I needed to use the bike the next day. However, I will add that I would use an open ended spanner to put the pressure onto the flats of the big nut instead of an 12 point ring spanner / socket chewing up soft corners. 

The type of thing that comes out are some metal filings similar to swarf, this is from the engine break in process. It's all the edges etc from the casting of the components that are moving about and most of this comes out with the oil. There may be the odd particle in the filter. This is why the 1st couple of scheduled oil changes are usually fairly soon out of the showroom. The old oil I keep and put back through my 4 - stroke lawnmower. You can filter it out if you want, a series of bigger to smaller funnels, with the hole getting smaller each time is one way or some people use womens tights as a filter. It just seems a waste for 6 month old oil, when the mower just needs to be topped up each season to do 2 lawns every week for a bit & runs off the same type.

While we're on the subject, in the video, I mention the fact that 4 -stroke lawnmower oil is of the same / similar type and can be used (SAE30), although this way around I would still only do so in emergency situations, such as being out & noticing on the oil indicator window that your virtually out of oil and there is only a hardware store selling such oil around the vicinity. Like some old country village or something, I would much rather drive with SAE30 back home than with next to nothing! Just beware of the ones mentioning additives as the wet clutch will not take kindly to them. This is why I don't recommend it full time! Of course, I would advise getting hold of some proper 10W40 4-stroke motorcycle oil as soon as possible.

Clutch cable tightening.

After a while of use the clutch cable will start to stretch a bit & you will need to tighten it up, the wear of the plates can cause you to need to adjust this also.

After the cable has been adjusted the free-play and or tension in the lever will need to be adjusted by undoing the locking lever then adjusting the cable screw on the lever. The free-play can be set by a technique with a coin with regular style lever but if you have the thicker CNC type like I do then you play it by sight and feel. When they say freeplay they mean the amount of waggle in the lever. They would stick a coin in the gap when the lever is pulled, making sure that's how much freeplay was left when set.

Just by adjusting this same setting you can also set where you want your cultch biting point on the lever, early on, mid way or near the end of its travel. You will need an (12mm I think?) open ended spanner to adjust as the nut is situated on a cable.

Replacing the intermittent bulb holder and checking the dimensions of that rear speedo screw.

Replacing the intermittent bulb holder.

Right, as mentioned earlier someone pulled out some wires from under my speedometer a few months back while the bike was parked, probably searching for particular wires to steal the bike. Anyway, as we saw I repaired the one broken ring clip on the one wire but was missing one of the screws to make my fuel gauge work, which got pulled out. I also developed an intermittent fuel gauge light as the one wire had got pulled from the rubber holder. Well, seeing as I was in no rush to illuminate a fuel gauge at night that wasn't working anyway, I hadn't gotten around to fitting the replacement T10 bulb holder mentioned before, as there was no real point!

However, as I need to measure the screw needed to be replaced (or it wont ever be fixed), as Lexmoto doesn't stock it as a replacement part. And need to take the speedo back off to do this, I may as well swap the bulb holder for the new one at the same time. Now of course I will have to remove one of the other 'same' screws and measure that one.

Were basically just cutting off the old rubber bulb holder as close to the holder as possible to give us more wire to play with. You could trim the wire down on the new holder if you want but, I'm leaving it at full length as there is nothing under there (speedo) anyway, it's not exactly tight for space. And should you ever need to to re-trim and re-join in future there is plenty left to do so. 

We remove some insulation and expose the copper wire on all the wires we are going to join. Not too much, about as much as I have done. Firstly we are going to turn on the riding light so the speedometer also lights up. We won't use much power with the riding light but,will with the headlight without the engine running! With the speedo on put a bulb in the new holder and touch the wires to the other wires we have prepared to check the bulb lights.

Now, because bulbs are essentially a joined electrode in gas it should work no matter which way around we touch the wires. L.E.Ds however may be different. Now here the colours of the wires are different anyway on the speedo and the new holder. The way the T10 bulb connects is identical either side as well so it really doesn't matter as you could turn an L.E.D around if it only worked one way anyway. This is probably why the wires are oddly colored, for example black or blue is usually negative polarity (-) and red or brown is usually positive (+). On the speedo we have green and brown wires, I might take brown to be positive but you cannot be sure without a meter to test. On the new holder we have blue (usually negative) and white. So since I would never join blue and brown on principal, I chose to go the other way around. Brown to white and blue to green. Another important factor in checking is to make sure the new holder is in good working condition before we hard solder it in place. 

I am going to solder them and use some heat-shrink sheathing to insulate the join as I now have some here, you could use electrical tape but it's not as good an option. It looks tatty and less professional but, is ok for a temporary solution. It's best to lightly coat each wire with solder then join them together with the heat, as the solder melts together across both wires. Not too much solder or you won't slide the heat-shrink sheath over the join. Once the sheath is in place it should be shrunk with a heat gun or strong hair dryer. My heat gun decided to give up the ghost (it's been a DIY workhorse over the years for me) so I used a hair dryer in this instance, which worked fine.

Once that's all done you can check your bulb is working properly & put it all back together again.

Checking the dimensions of that rear speedo screw.

Ok, so there's no spare part available / listed to just go and buy this part, so the only thing to do is buy a new speedo or one from an online breaker which is still about £30.00. Thirty quid for a screw! No thanks so we are going to do what we did with the bolts for the luggage rack; check the thread, measure it up and find an alternative replacement.

Now the brass screw is an electrical connector, it joins the wire by the ring connector at it's head to where the end of the screw connects inside the unit. Because of this the screw cannot have any thread lock applied or it will block the electrical signal by insulating the end. Because of this thread length is important, as it needs to make that connection.

So going through my dies I get a perfect fit for M3 x 0.5 pitch. The thread length is about 22mm overal length about 24mm with the cap but since you will find it hard to find one exactly the same just go by the thread length.

I found some steel hex cap head screws with the same dimensions on eBay and ordered them. Now electrical oriented screws generally tend to be made from brass, maybe due to conductivity but, I don't really see the steel being that much of an issue here. Even though a lot of places actually have brass down as quite a poor conductor, it seems to be better than steel. There is copper in it's make up. There are no brass screws in those dimensions with that head type, only a conical /countersink type head which won't connect to our ring connector properly. 

 (table courtesy of Metal Super Markets).

Material IACS (International Annealed Copper Standard)
Ranking	Metal	% Conductivity*
1	Silver (Pure)	105%
2	Copper	100%
3	Gold (Pure)	70%
4	Aluminum	61%
5	Brass	28%
6	Zinc	27%
7	Nickel	22%
8	Iron (Pure)	17%
9	Tin	15%
10	Phosphor Bronze	15%
11	Steel (Stainless included)	3-15%
12	Lead (Pure)	7%
13	Nickel Aluminum Bronze	7%

* Conductivity ratings are expressed as a relative measurement to copper. A 100% rating does not indicate no resistance.

Starter / ignition update, luggage rack bolts and using a branded solenoid.

Starter / ignition update.

So, I have finally got my ignition problem sorted out. It seems as though the battery was the fault after all. I was told a battery can go bad by losing it's 'amperage' but the volts can still be high and registering good (12v +). The good amperage is what is needed to crank the motor. 

Since I thought my voltage regulator / rectifier may have something wrong with it, back after my previous battery failed but, didn't know where it was to find it. I just wanted to change it out for sake of mind and also the problems I had with the l.e.ds blowing. I figured maybe the regulator needed changing and maybe faulty after all. It's likely it's damaged the cells by not regulating the voltage correctly.

A way to test this was by shorting or bypassing the solenoid across the two points (with the nuts on). Remember the solenoid is just a switch, an electro-magnetic one but just a switch all the same. A positive in and out, you're just joining them back up again!

Now this is another way to point out a faulty solenoid but we can kind of rule that out now. You can short it by using a piece of insulated wire with ends exposed or a screw driver. Remember if your not using something insultated you WILL get a 12v shock! If the battery isn't up to switching the solenoid the power will go straight to the motor and you can see if it's weak or not. If it gos and it's weak in turning the motor it's battery related, if it's got a good turn over then it's a poor solenoid / starter relay that's not working.

When done the motor turned but very poorly and briefly this pointed similar to a low charged battery although it was registering good voltage, it suddenly seemed the above was my trouble after all.  

I do have another battery here the same size, a cheap but brand new Yuasa branded job for a different bike, I thought I would swap it out to test but, first I swapped out the voltage regulator rectifier for a brand new two plug one (my bike takes the two plug version). There was no point in damaging another battery before hand. 

Changing voltage regulator rectifier.

When I swapped the voltage regulator / rectifier the voltage gauge gave me a different reading with the new one. 

Two blocks below 12v (that rose back towards 15v when running) on the old battery. The previous one read between 12v - 15v (that rose back towards 15v when running). So right away there's a difference between the two components which raised my eyebrows. Now, I don't know for sure if the regulator was faulty /damaged or just wasn't brilliant or if I just had two macaroni batteries in a row (unlikely). Even though the Powerline battery seemed good on paper remember, it was still cheap. But it still wouldn't start off the button on the old battery.

Remember the voltage regulator / rectifier is underneath the rear right hand side panel, if you want to find it.

I swapped out the flasher unit next to it for a new one while I was there, they're only cheap and it's due for its first M.O.T in the new year. I don't intend to go back under there anytime soon. I kept the old one for spare as it hadn't failed of course but I would rather a new one in there with the M.O.T coming up.

After I put the Yuasa battery in & run it a bit to make sure charge was up I successfully turned the motor & started the bike off the button again several times, I could even hear the solenoid clicking / switching  properly.

So in a nutshell, it was the battery but, batteries can fail in a way that is confusing because they still show good charge, although the cells have been damaged. So I will run this battery a couple of weeks just to see how things are going, then buy a better replacement, as this is for another bike. I'll likely try an Enduroline battery, which claims to have more power than lithium batteries but one to throw a few more coins at just in case it was due to a cheap battery going bad over time however my money was on the voltage regulator being the issue.

 Luggage rack bolts.

I did say I would try to check the sizes of the luggage rack bolts, to swap them rusting ones out for better stainless steel ones. Now they are an M8 thread with a pitch of 1.25, overall screw length of 65mm and a screw thread length of only 25mm.

So: M8 x 1.25 x 65mm

Now a full length threaded bolt would still do the job but I wanted them as close to the original ones as possible. You won't find a listing for 25mm thread length but you will find visually some on eBay that fit the above dimensions with a partial thread. That will do ( & may well be 25mm anyway). There were some titanium examples but £5.00 a bolt is ridiculous for an application such as this. A pack of 5 steel were about £2.00 - £3.00. I forgot to pick up some stainless replacement washers but, that's not such a big deal. I can get those at a later date.

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/M8-8mm-A2-STAINLESS-STEEL-PART-THREADED-BOLT-SCREW-HEXAGON-HEX-HEAD-DIN931/190771325125?_trksid=p2045573.c100033.m2042&_trkparms=aid%3D111001%26algo%3DREC.SEED%26ao%3D1%26asc%3D20131017132637%26meid%3Deb182dfa1e2f44948ce32483030bd52d%26pid%3D100033%26rk%3D5%26rkt%3D8%26sd%3D322151517956

Before I put the old bolts back on for now, I ran my M8 x 1.25 die over each one and re-cut the thread with a touch of WD-40, as there was all rust built up and slightly bent thread due to the soft metal used. None of that should be an issue when the replacements arrive. 

Using a solenoid from a Japanese bike.

Back when I had my starting troubles and thought it could be the solenoid I thought about maybe using a solenoid off a Japanese (or other) manufacturers bike. Since solenoids are all essentially the same thing (a switch) just different in dimensions and cable connections, it is in fact very possible indeed. The solenoid used for the XTRS is the same one pretty much used in many Chinese GY6 type scooters for example. 

Now, I did find a Honda solenoid that looked like it might fit (maybe what these were modeled after in the 1st place). In fact on the site the same one is used for many Honda bikes and quad bikes.

http://patternparts.net/starter-relay-for-2008-honda-trx-500-fpm8-fourtrax-fourman-4x4-eps

Now it's likely not an original Honda part (it says as much) and indeed maybe Chinese again but you could use the model information above to source a genuine Honda part. You would need to change the connector for the two wires, you could do this by cutting the wires off your old one and soldering them to this one instead. Just a thought.

Replacing starter motor

Replacing starter motor.

Ok, so as mentioned before, I was looking at replacing the starter motor next, to get to solve the issue with my ignition. I'll say before we start that even this didn't solve my ignition button / start issue. The issue is likely to be with the circuit itself now, from the battery to the solenoid to the starter motor. It's the only thing left really. I'm talking about the loop connectors or the wires themselves and that there could be a dodgy / loose connection somewhere. I'm hoping the wire that connects to the starter motor from solenoid is the issue as there is a new one included with the new motor. I didn't use this but used the old one as it was already in position. I do point out though in the video that if it still doesn't solve the issue, it's a good idea to try the new cable because there could be an issue with the old one. But once again time was the issue, I had to get the bike back together. 

It could be why it was working but lackluster in operation before and stopped altogether as the wire got knocked some more, especially after changing the solenoid. So it's plausible. I also checked the fuse in the little white plastic case down by the battery & that was fine. That's the only fuse I could find. No little red square auto fuse anywhere (I don't know why Lexmoto's spares page has one unless some have that instead of what we have here?), just a transparent glass fuse inside like the ones inside your electrical appliance plugs at home. I could already see the wire was fine inside it but swapped it out for the spare one that was included inside also, just for good measure. Of course it made no difference.

When it comes to changing the starter motor, of course the bike has very close quarters thanks to the chassis but, you don't have to remove the side fairing at all. You will however, have to remove the clutch cable from the actuator arm to get the motor out through that small space in front. If you push the arm forwards it will create slack and you can slide the cable out. You can slide the cable out with some pliers if you find it hard by hand. Once again this is easier and quicker with two people but can be done just by yourself.

Then you will need to pull back the rubber cap and unscrew the nut holding the electrical cable on the starter motor and remove it. Once that has been done the two fixing bolts facing you can be removed. Be careful because there are some spacers / bushes (they are spacers but look just like brass / metal bushes do) underneath they may be covered by some muck and look all in one / flush with the motor. Don't loose these, you will need them for the new one as none are included with a new motor.

Now you need to remove or pull out the old motor, I did this by putting some tie wraps through the bolt loops in the motor to give me something to pull on. I also gave it a little push from the front with two fingers from the other side. Mine was in pretty tight, if I didn't think about the tie wraps / zip ties I'm sure it would've been a struggle. It came out eventually.

Putting the new motor in is just a reverse process, you will need to take a rubber protector off the end if it has one, before locating into the gear. When you do locate it into the gear put it in at a slight angle and turn it slightly back and forth to locate it / line it up with the gear. When it's lined up you should be able to turn it some more to line up the fixing points. Don't forget to add those spacers again!. 

Once the cable or new cable has been fixed back on, then you can put the clutch cable back & try it out. Remember that the new cable will also have to be joined at the other end to the solenoid.

Watching the video above will give a better understanding.

 

I would keep your old starter motor, in my case if it is the circuit then there could be nothing wrong with it anyway but, even still it is possible to recondition them, even if spares for these ones might be hard to come by. You never know, even then if they are identical clones to Honda then you might be in luck with Honda parts. Even so things like the casing might be of use, if you crack your current one's casing the components inside can be just swapped over, even if it's knackered. 

It's just another brushed motor at the end of the day, it has brushes that wear out & and armature inside with a copper commutator that could clog up from the brushes wearing out. You might be able to get some replacement brushes or even find the brushes to be good on your old one to keep hold of (unlikely as I would of thought that a main issue with failure) you never know.

I would also point out that the starter motors seem to point a significance to them being for the OHC engine (XTRS) over the OHV engine (XTR) when buying. As opposed to some universal FMI 156 / 157 set up. Why this is I don't know? Maybe it needs a more torque-y motor for one opposed to the other? Maybe they just don't line up with fixings? So make sure you get the right one. Obviously look at the number KS125-24 for the XTRS & KS125-23 for XTR other brand names also use either engine type so you need to look at the model number or ask for OHC/OHV which ever you need. I think Skyjet use the similar model numbers SJ125-24 / SJ125-23. They also have different models which use the exact same engine like the SJ125-27, so that starter motor can be used. Are the motors interchangable, I don't know so just get the one stated for the right engine type. The removal and swapping process will be the same however.

Replacing solenoid / starter relay.

Replacing solenoid / starter relay.

As mentioned before I have had trouble starting the bike using the ignition button. It went from starting but not sounding the most high pitched like others to starting then deciding not to start to now just clicking & nothing. Obviously I've been using the kickstart, & that is one of this bikes saving graces. If it was one of the newer bikes without the kickstart, well...I think that would be obvious.

Three of the main things that could be a problem when it comes to this issue is:

• a). the battery
• b). the solenoid / starter relay (or fuse)
• c). the starter motor itself

 

My battery is fine and I even fully charged it to test the issue to no avail. It was even just past the 12v on the gauge before hand and then jumps towards 15v when started anyway. Next, I thought well the starter motor was turning recently even though it's not starting and a bit lackluster, so maybe it's the solenoid / starter relay that's faulty?

I watched through a few you tube vids with car / bike engines and a few turned out to be the Solenoid / starter relay. A new solenoid / starter relay was about £12.00 new for the bike on eBay, if I went to a garage to check it out, it's likely I would've paid £20.00 upwards just for them to get their multimeter out to see if it was faulty or not (since we found out you would have to remove a panel to get at it maybe even more). So what the heck, I would be better off buying the new solenoid for £12.00. If it's ok after then it's fixed. If not I've got two (a spare) & found out the solenoid is fine after all for less than I would've paid to get it checked to tell me the same outcome, seeing as I should be able to do the work myself. 

It turns out just that, that although the replacement was successful the new solenoid had the same issue as the previous one, in that it just buzzed / clicked when the ignition was pressed. So it looks as though I'll be looking for a replacement starter motor, & that will likely grace these blogs in future although I'm in no real rush I do have the kick-start for now.  

I'll go through a few points here but, below I'll include a you tube video showing the process of replacing the solenoid:

Finding the solenoid.

Finding a solenoid / starter relay is usually as such; the solenoid is either right next to or on top of the starter motor itself or near by the battery. In our case it's near the battery. I actually noticed the plastic connector clip down by the battery & followed the wire straight to it in the left side rear fairing panel. Now obviously you need to remove the panel WHAT A PAIN, it's not like just opening the bonnet of a car now is it? 

Well, I haven't gotten around to removing these rear panels yet so we'll take a look how it's done.

First off, you will need to remove the steel coloured plug with the hex / allen key. Yes, that doubles as a fixing bolt, as well as a plug to mount your bungee cord / cargo net hooks etc. Then remove the screw from the faring clip just around to the side of it. Then that big screw at the front most part, then the grab handle / luggage rack bolts will need to be removed. Now you can get away (if you watch the video) with just pulling it forward enough now to get the solenoid out. I you wish to remove the whole panel (it's the same on the other side), there's a screw underneath the same as the other fairing screw you removed earlier and you will need to remove the rear light by the bolt then remove two small screws at the top (see pictures below).

You will find that the solenoid connects by being inside a rubber sheath, which in turn connects to the chassis the same way the CDI unit did, by sliding onto pins protruding from the chassis. However, you can slide the old one out of it's sheath, take the new one out of it's sheath also & just pop it straight into the old rubber sheath without having to try to prise it off. Believe me it's on tight! Plus it's awkward without removing the whole panel.

Obviously then, you have the plug to connect and the wires (correct polarity) will have to go on the new one exactly as they were the old one. We live in an age where we have digital cameras even on our phone, so if you're unsure take a pic before removing the wires to make sure it's on correctly like the old one. If not you can check on the video.

Now, I can't see a fuse (usually like an little coloured auto / car fuse) anywhere near that solenoid but maybe I'll trace the otherside to that plastic connector, where the wire leads in the other direction. It would be wise to check for one before buying the starter motor in case it's blown. Lexmoto do list a little red 10 amp auto fuse on it's spares page. I will have one of those in the shed but, in all honesty it was turning the motor while not very well at one point, it couldn't do that with a blown fuse. So if there is a blown fuse it's very, very recent and was burnt out due to the issue to start with.

Over the otherside.

While the luggage box was off and we knew how to get the rear panels off now, I decided with the future alarm install in mind, to remove the panel the other side to take a look for that connector plug.

Once again to no avail, if it really is here it must be between that glove box layer and that very underneath piece above the wheel. I don't want to call it a mudguard, as it isn't your usual for a mudguard  But I really couldn't see how to detatch that with a glance, there were two gold bolts towards the rear but I couldn't make out anything else. And I needed to get it back together before dark to use tomorrow.

Anyway, it appears the voltage regulator is there on that side as is the indicator/signal flasher unit. I assume it's the flasher unit since it looks exactly like the ones advertised in spares for the bike, it does also look a lot like one of them bigger black fuse boxes you see in cars though (below).

Now, I have the newer two pin version of the voltage regulator rectifier here, with the red and white plugs. That is a pain, as I bought one as a spare for the bike a while back and they sent me the single plug version. So I can't use that.

So I'm still using the kick start for bit but, much extra knowledge gained.

Routine Maintenance: sparkplug cleaning.

Routine Maintenance: sparkplug cleaning

Ok, so I had to clean my sparkplug, a little routine maintenance. So, I thought I would drop a video (above) to show you how I clean them.

I've ran it through winter, spring and the start of summer a good six months or so and although it starts fine I noted that the bike isn't always starting as good on the button (starter motor) as it was, it started to take more than the one press or so with the choke out on a full battery. Although it was starting it. Every now and then it would have a cow trying though. Yeah, it could be that my starter motor isn't brilliant, it does sound a bit lethargic and not as high pitched as others, kind of like it's not got much energy and Peters out regardless of a full charged battery (the voltage meter does drain right down after a single press anyway, so that may be normal) but, there is never a problem with the kick. The button usually starts it straight away on my afternoon ride home but, it's first thing it has troubles with. Maybe it's a fuel in the carb issue? There's already some left over from my morning ride which is easily ignited but come following morning it's mostly evaporated away, so it has to have more fed into the carb again? I've already noted that if the bike is left standing for a day or two or more it's more of a pain to start as you need to get the fuel flowing through the system again.

With that I thought maybe the spark plug is a little dirty? A clean plug will help with better ignition regardless and six months would be a good time to check it. Yes, you could just buy a new sparkplug they're not exactly expensive however, there's not much point when nothing's wrong with the one you have and it's just a bit dirty. Besides there may come a time when you need to clean a plug because you need to use the bike later on that day and you can't buy a new sparkplug for the bike (because you need the bike to get to the store) or it won't arrive until a few days later. Obviously if your sparkplug is cracked or damaged beyond repair you will have to buy a new one.

I clean my sparkplugs by using a copper wire brush disc on a spindle connected to my mains drill and sped up at high RPM clean the tip / electrodes of the spark plug with it, making sure I get right in underneath the electrodes. I find this better than the emery cloth / board method as it's less abrasive / destructive and doesn't leave particles on the end of the plug which will get into the engine if not cleaned properly. We use copper and not steel wire because it's not as hard. The steel wire may gouge and scratch up the sparkplug electrodes. When it comes to the Iridium plugs like the main one here, they have a tiny electrode that could just be destroyed with anything else. Before I do this I spray the tip with WD40 and let it settle to loosen up any carbon build up.

When I removed the Iridium plug I noticed some black carbon build up and also the plug looked as though things were running a tad rich. This means there is more fuel to air in the ratio mix. Might indicate that the tick over is a touch too high still as well.

When all was clean and put back into the engine it fired up fine.

Extra Lighting Part 4.

Extra Lighting Part 4.

Ok, so as of last time I haven't had chance to fit the new lights yet to the bike but, I'll document the process so far. We are virtually at the point of fitting anyway.

First up we need to momentarily tack our lights to our brackets with some glue. I used some super glue in fact I used a lot, it was more of a permanent bond, however we need them interchangeable. If one fails in future we want to have the possibility of being able to swap it out. The glue can be prised apart with a screw driver but for for now we can drill through our holes, through the bracket and use our nuts and bolts of a decent size as our main means of fixing. The glue will help to also keep the light fixed however should the bolts vibrate out over time without you realising. I just used a pack of assorted bolts I picked up at the pound store again while checking through the tools and thought they would be good especially for this, maybe an M4 thread ? I'm not sure without checking. But any small nut & bolt, small enough to fit through the holes (I drilled them out slightly 

bigger, just can't go too big) and long enough to fit through the light and bracket together and have a nut tightened.

I just used a pack of assorted bolts I picked up at the pound store, again while checking through the tools and thought they would be good especially for this, maybe an M4 thread ? I'm not sure without checking with a die or thread gauge. But any small nut & bolt, small enough to fit through the holes (I drilled them out slightly bigger using my Vernier to check the drill diameter in regard to the bolt diameter, just can't go too big a nice snug fit) and long enough to fit through the light and bracket together and have a nut tightened. Be careful when drilling, when it burst through the back of the bracket the weight of the drill came down quick and the chuck just nicked the inner edge of the light's aluminium casing. It's not a problem as it will be painted anyway but if it came down with any more force it could crack the magnifying lense. Of course it wouldn't of happened if I was using my vertical bench drill but it's a lot of hassle setting it up just for this and I'm guessing most people would just be using a hand drill in the same way such as this. This is because the bracket is thin as opposed to thick metal and just punches straight through. And will take you by surprise.

They look ok enough to mount as is and you may prefer them aluminum. We will use some black Hammerite paint on the brackets and lights here though as the bike is black and it also doesn't make them stand out and look more natural on the bike. Hammerite can go on straight to metal without a primer and is much less of a hassle in that regard than other auto type paint. Make sure to mask off the lense to not get paint on it, a sharp scalpel / Stanley knife can be used to trim the masking tape off around the lense perfectly. If you do get paint on the lense, better waiting till dry then scrape off lightly with the tip of a flat head screwdriver being careful not to scratch the lense. If you wipe it you could smear it further thinning it out when dry, making it harder to remove / break off.

After this is done, I turn my attention back to the wiring and the (red) 'positive' wire from the lights at the front towards the back (batteries). The positive wire is where it's best for us to place our switch on (in most circuits). This is the wire where there's load and when switched off should anything happen is disrupted in flow. As opposed to just the circuit being broken if placed on the negative wire.

I check there is enough length from the lights at the front up to the visor / handlebar area where the switch will be mounted with some extra length to spare just in case it gets mounted somewhere else in the area instead or I need to cut a bit off and re strip / fit again. I plan on mounting the switch on that plastic piece just below the visor. That part cost about £50.00 to replace so I had better drill the hole nice and neatly and get it right if I do. If not somewhere on one of those quarter panels.

I used some more of the female type connectors I used earlier as the switch has the male type built in. A (red) positive wire connects to one connector on the switch, then another positive wire off the other one to go on to join the positive on the battery. I removed the plastic cover to the female connectors when crimping onto the wire and chose to use a little red heat shrink wrap sleeve instead. Remember to pop it on over the wire first other wise you wont get it over the connector. Those plastic connectors can be a bit scruffy after crimped. You can remove them by just pulling them off with two pairs of pliers or by putting the plastic bit in the vice and pulling the connector off. If you want to make sure the connector is crimped as tightly as possible after using the crimping tool you can use some pliers and put extra pressure on, heck in fact you could probably use pliers if you don't have the proper crimping tool anyway but it helps form a better rounded crimp shape. You could always add a little solder but I didn't here. Pliers after because removing the plastic diameter may affect the crimp from the pre-set tool!

Then I test the lights to make sure the drilling hasn't damaged them in anyway. I also check the switch works ok (may add video later, if there's any point. It would be a very boring video after all) by just touching the one remaining switch connector briefly to the battery electrode and turning the switch on and off everything works fine. I don't want to mount the switch then find I have a macaroni switch I need to replace later on. I also know I need to order and add another switch to the circuit to act as a main cut off switch and locate it down under the rear seat so I can turn it off when parked up. This switch will just act as a function switch. Otherwise there's nothing stopping the battery from being drained if switched on when stationary. If I switch the switch off under the seat it's off permanently. Since I get my locks out from there it won't be a hassle.

Speedometer.

It looks as though the wires under the speedo mentioned in the last blog were pulled by someone sticking their hand under there, as just like me everyone says one screw could've vibrated out but three or four wires in the same place wouldn't come out together, especially with one connector snapped by force. And there's no way anything would've snagged up there or even got up there while driving (sorry riding) with the fairing. It's all back and working fine anyway, in fact I think the connectors I put on were even better then the previous ones. As for the screw to replace properly I can't just buy one in spares so I need to find a match from somewhere. It's not worth £50.00 for a whole new speedo just for a screw! I think most electrical screws have a M3.5 thread, so I'll take a gamble on of those. Whether someone was fiddling under there trying to feel around for / find wires to try steal the bike when parked (most likely) I don't know? They would've had all the locks to deal with too but there you go. I think I'll take my hot glue gun and cover all the screws with a dollop of hot glue to stop them falling out along with some thread lock. The glue can be peeled back / pulled off with a finger nail if you need to remove a screw but would stop them coming out.