Category Archives: How to

GSXR electrical modifications

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GSXR and Bandit Alternator overcharging problems.

First some theory:

Suzuki have tried to be clever using a closed loop design which may work when everything is new perhaps.

Out of alternator are two leads the main power to battery and the other is the ignition feed to alternator which is trigger to turn reg on.
Problem here is voltage drop on the trigger wire, ive measured half volt purely at ignition switch, suppose age takes its toll. ive got further .3 volt loss through wiring and joints i can tell you the connectors are clean and look good.
So alternator battery lead reads say 12.6 volts (engine off) ignition lead reads 12.5 volts but lights on this drops to 11.5 volts where the battery lead reads 12.3 a drop of .8 through switch and harness, so when running when lights are turned on alternator compensator by ramping up output to 15.4 volts which cooks the battery.

Solution.
Remove ignition feed wire to the alternator and use it to power a relay (switch side) the ignition wire out of alternator straight to positive on battery via the new relay.
Result constant 14.3 volts depending on battery state no matter whats on or off, result.

You have to connect via a relay as the reg would drain the battery in no time as this is trigger to turn reg side of circuit on as its a basic deign not like car 1 wire systems where the actual rotation of alternator triggers it on.

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That was the explanation why, now the how to:

So first of all you need to find the connector block under the rider seat shown here arrowed in green –

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This has one red and one orange wire into it out of the loom and two reddish cloth covered wires out of it to the alternator. You need to cut the orange wire on the right – give yourself at least about an inch and a half of wire still coming out of the connector block, so you’ll need to open up the loom a bit. DO NOT CUT THE RED WIRE, leave it alone.

Now you need to splice in two new lengths of wire onto the cut ends. I used orange 3mm 30A rated thin wall insulation, as the closest match to the original. You don’t want to be using thinner wire than the original – thinner wire = greater resistance = voltage drop and this is the problem you are trying to cure. You can crimp the wire on, personally I prefer a soldered splice, then seal the splice with heatshrink insulation On the other end you need to crimp on female spade connectors, which to match the terminals on your relay will most likely be 6.3mm. Use double crimped ones which grip the bare wire and the insulation. Again, as well as a crimp I like to put a bit of solder on my crimped end. I also slipped insulators on the wire to cover the blades to make everything 100% weathertight.

Now you need to make up two more lengths of wire, same type as before but this time a black length and a red length. On one end of the black wire you want a double-crimped 6.4mm round battery terminal, on the other end a 6.3mm female spade with insulator. The red wire is slightly more involved as this mod bypasses the 30A circuit breaker in the original wiring, thus potentially leaving the positive feed to the trigger circuit unfused – but we’re going to sort that. You want a 30A rated waterproof inline mini blade type fuseholder, which looks like this –

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The 30A rating is so that the integral wire tails it comes with will be the same rating and diameter as the rest of the wiring you are installing – again because you don’t want to introduce thinner wire into the circuit.  But you want a 10A fuse in it, don’t put a 30A in it, that’s way too high for this circuit alone.  On one end of one of the wire tails fit a 6.3mm female spade with insulator.  Extend the other tail by splicing on extra red wire and sealing the joint with heatshrink insulation.  The female spade will attach to the relay and the end of the red wire will attach to the positive terminal of the battery, so measure things out and, before attaching a double-crimped 6.4mm round battery terminal, thread it through the terminal insulator on the battery cable, as this is easier than trying to fit it through with the terminal attached.  When you’ve done that attach the terminal.  The new terminals sit on top of the existing battery lead terminals.

The relay I fixed to the undertray next to the fusebox as you can see.  Drilled through the undertray and used a stainless nut and bolt to secure the relay bracket.  I also put a bit of foam between the bracket and the undertray to provide a bit of damping but this might be overkill, as the plastic undertray is flexible anyway.  I put another little bit of foam between the relay and the fusebox cover, so that is held firm and damped.

You can see in the photo below how I’ve routed the wires, so you can follow this and cut to the required length before starting.  I used the groove in the undertray as a duct for them to pass underneath the fusebox, which secures them neatly.  The inline fuseholder is positioned between the relay connection and before the red wiring passes underneath the fusebox, so it’s in a logical position close to the fusebox.  The loom was resealed with self-amalgamating tape leaving the orange wires passing through.  The red and black wires are cable tied to the battery wires, then cable tied along their length to the loom or frame.  You don’t want unsecured wires flapping about, they get fatigued over the years, work harden and then you get annoying internal cracks.  A tidy bike is a reliable bike ;).

So the wires go as follows – orange from the ignition switch side of the loom (i.e. from the right hand side as you’re looking at the connector block in the first photo) goes to one of the coil terminals on the relay; black wire connects to battery negative and the other coil terminal on the relay; the other orange wire, from the alternator side of the loom (i.e. from the left hand side as you’re looking at the connector block in the first photo) goes to one of the switch terminals on the relay; red wire connects to battery positive and the other switch terminal on the relay.

I think the picture below should illustrate this all clearly.

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Just one thing: first i tried with a cheap relay, it had a difference of 0,2V on the switched wires, so it charged 14,7V. Then I got a better relay (no difference measurable) and it charges perfectly.

Side stand switch removal

Disclaimer – If you follow this modification it is completely at your own risk and no one other than yourself can be held accountable for any mistakes, actions or accidents which could occur from any implemented modifications and from riding in an unsafe or dangerous manner including but not restricted to, leaving side stand down whilst riding.

In other words: if you find you sometimes try to ride away with the sidestand down, don’t try this at home.

When disconnecting/removing the sidestand of your GSX-R or other oldskool Suzuki, it makes sense to remove all the unnecessary wiring and relay as well. Pic of the relay:

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on Slingshot GSX-R’s it’s mounted under the battery box, on a tray together with the starter relay and circuit breaker (more about that breaker later). One orange/yellow wire comes from the fuse, this is the +12V feed to the ignition system. The orange/black wire goes to the kill switch. Connect these two wires together and you have eliminated the sidestand switch and the relay. When you rip out all the unneeded wires from the loom, you will also find a diode. Connect the blue wire (from the neutral switch) to the black/blue wire (to the neutral indicator).

Circuit breaker elimination

Under the battery box is the circuit breaker, some kind of mechanical fuse, which pops when the load is too high and can be reset by pushing back the red button. At least that’s the theory, but in practice they catch a lot of crap from the rear wheel (especially if you ride around without a rear hugger) and with age they refuse to operate in the prescribed manner. Easy sollution is to just cut it out and connect the two wires together, it works, but to be safe it’s better to install a 30A fuse instead of the circuit breaker. This fuse can be mounted in a position where it’s protected from the elements, next to the fusebox for example.

Bandit 1200 – resistor in ignition switch

The Bandit 1200 (and probably also other models) have a resistor built in the ignition switch. This prevents the bike from being started when hot-wiring it. If you want to use a B12 ignition control unit (CDI unit) in combination with anything else than a B12 ignition switch, you have to “fool” the CDI by installing a resistor in the system.

Marked in blue shows which circuit the resistor should be in:

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The orange/yellow wire comes from the CDI unit and as you can see, when the lock is turned on, it is connected to black/white (ground). So just connect the orange/yellow from the CDI to ground through a 100 ohm resistor and that’s it.

By Jonny1bump, Crass and Captain Chaos.

 

 

 

 

How To – Plastic Welding

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Long term member from across the water, nightrider had a touch at a salvage auction with a Suzuki GS1100ES  bearing some cosmetic damage. Nothing that can’t be fixed, right? Right!

Here, he takes us through his tried and tested approach to plastic repairs.

I have been plastic welding for almost three decades now. I started in an old skool moto shop back in the 90’s. The old timers back then hated sportbikes so it was up to the young buck (me) to figure out how to fix those annoying fairings with that smelly Mac tools Plasti-welder. Through trial and error I weeded out what worked best for thin motorcycle plastics. Later I went on to repair Kayaks where the repairs were a bit more critical.

That being said, plastic welding is a fairly easy process.

Most mistakes I see is from people just smearing the filler rod material on the crack like glue. It’s best to think of it as welding. You have to get the filler material to penetrate and mix with the plastic being repaired. If you think of it more like really slow oxy acetylene welding you will have more luck.

First off, you are going to have to spend some money.

Yes, you could modify a soldering iron. Perhaps braze a foot on it?  But if you purchase a Plasti-welder you will find it handy for fixing all sorts of things (like any other welder). I’ve had the same Polyvance Mini-Weld Model 6 for over 10 years. There is a Model 7 now. They can be found on Fleabay or Amazon.

Don’t bother with the flat welding material. You will need the ABS R3 filler rod.

Once you have your Mini-Welder and R3 rods you’re ready to go.  Generally speaking you will only need to weld on one side. If your bodywork still has good paint you will want to weld on the inside (I typically always weld on the hidden side of the bodywork).

First off I place a piece of foil tape on the outside as a heat sink (this helps to keep the crack from puckering with the heat).

Next you will want to crank up the heat on your welder.

With ABS material I tend to just crank it all the way up to 11 but you might want to stick to the R3 setting if you’re dealing with y2000+ bike fairings as modern fairings tend to be pretty thin.

Once it’s heated up you will want to “stitch” the crack. This both tacks your weld and makes it easier to mix the filler rod with the fairing plastic in the next step.

Put your finger under the area you are welding and drive the toe of the welding iron into the plastic. You’re going to want to drive about 3/4 the way through the material you are welding at a fairly steep angle.

With your finger on the other side you can feel how hot the plastic is getting. Too hot for you, too hot for the plastic.

After you have done that you are ready to start filling.

Stick the rod through the cylinder on the welder.

With a wiggling motion, draw the welder across the stitch line while pushing the melting rod material into the little pockets in your stitches. Try to blend the two materials together (wiggling motion).

After that go back over your weld using the foot of the welder and melt down the excess and blend it into the surface. (This ensures that the outer edges of the weld are bonded and it makes it look a lot better). Take care to not get it too hot or you will ruin the paint job on the other side.

Peel off tape and Bobs your uncle.

With any luck you will barely even see the crack!

… and your shed will reek and Missus will be fuming and the neighbors will bitch and…

 

Huge thanks to nightrider! It’s all about the .info 

Read nightrider’s build thread on the forum here

Have you got any tried and tested techniques you can share? (Keep it clean, please!) >>>> here

Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Hygiene

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Bike cleaning. Some people hate it and some people love it. I personally love the end result and have made a living out of this for a few years with very happy customers. Here’s how I do it, there are of course more / alternative methods however this works for me as an overall approach:

Get the bike up on a bench so you can work comfortably. Maybe stick some tunes on and take your time. Take the fairing sides and belly pan off if you want to a proper job. Clean up the fasteners and put somewhere safe in a logical order.

Dirty stainless exhaust downpipes? Do that first as you’ll make a mess if you do it energetically enough… coat them in WD40 or similar and let them soak while you fuck about getting everything else ready. Green Scotchbrite pad with that following the grain if you want to maintain it or no worries if you are going to go all the way to polish them. Then red Scotchbrite with autosol or similar then grey Scotchbrite then cloth. For really bad ones alloy wheel cleaner (careful not to get on any other part of the bike) and rinse first and/or wet and dry used with the WD40.

Chain cleaner on the chain and clean it.

Get the bike outside and on a suitable stand or stands so you can clean the wheels properly. Remember, bike washing is best done in the shade, not direct sunshine if you want to avoid even more work from water spots etc.

Degreaser on the chain run fling area / other greasy bits. Allow to soak. Rub to see if broken the goo down enough. Break it down if needs be with more degreaser and suitable brush. Leave it to do it’s thing, don’t rinse it off just yet. Have you thought about taking off the front sprocket cover and chain guard?

Snow foam (I like the cherry smelling one) the whole bike. Set your lance to apply it thick. Use loads, it’s fun. Let it drip off. It congeals and takes dirt with it onto the floor. Marvel at how it’s taking horrible black crap off your bike, especially where you used the degreaser. Allow it to do it’s work for a few minutes.

Jet wash it off (don’t point it directly at sensitive areas e.g. radiators, electrics, unlacquered stickers, bearings etc, you know that right?). An adjustable lance that goes around corners is awesome for bikes and allows you to select the appropriate strength so you don’t go too mad. Check for any loose paint / crumbling finishes etc beforehand and adjust your approach accordingly if you find any as jet washing with likely damage those.

Have another look at the areas that were properly greasy. Either use more degreaser or spot clean with brake cleaner. Check under the bike, yes use your knees. Behind the number plate etc.

Use a decent wash and wax mixed warm in a bucket with a grit guard. You’ve already removed the vast majority of the dirt above, haven’t you? Check again. Now, wash the bike top down with a decent microfibre mitt thingy regularly rinsing it clean in a second bucket of clean water with a grit guard in it too. Use a soft brush last on the wheels etc and always check if the ‘tool’ you are using gets greasy/gritty etc after every use. Do the fairing panels you may have removed earlier.

Jet wash it off (as above).

Double check it’s clean. Repeat steps as necessary.

Use a proprietary warm air dryer from top to bottom doing nooks and crannies e.g. petrol cap flaps, seat straps etc first. Do the rad before the engine. Dry the fairing panels. If you don’t have a lovely warm air dryer use soft clean cloths or compressed air, ideally oil-free.

Get the bike back up on the bench.

Spot remove any remaining grease / chain shite with brake cleaner.

Dry any remaining water with a clean microfibre cloth.

Clean and lube the chain. I like to use WD40 ‘Chain Lube’ on shiny chains and WD40 ‘Chain Wax’ on rustier ones. Wipe off excess from wheels etc. You know to spray lube on the inside run of the chain not the outside, don’t you? I find a piece of cardboard folded up helps to prevent getting any elsewhere on the bike or your bench.

Final polish the exhaust with cloth and Autosol if you want it really shiny.

Apply something that works on black frames, engine cases, black plastics etc. I like Muc-Off ‘Bike Spray’ and a product called ‘Dash Dandy’ too. Leave it for a while then gently work it in with a clean microfibre cloth. After a while the cloth becomes impregnated and you can then do switchgear etc with it. I don’t need to tell you to avoid the seat, grips, tyres, brakes etc do I?

Put the fairing etc back on. Use copper grease on those cleaned up fastener threads.

Check the bodywork for any scratches that you want to polish out. Use a suitable product if you feel you want to go there and do that. I like something I source locally called ‘Used Car Polish’, it smells fantastic.

If there are any stone chips you want to address then touch them in and wait to dry then cut them in later using your polishing product above. I find a pen nib applicator to be more accurate than a brush.

Apply a fine detailing wax on the bodywork and screen then buff with a clean microfibre cloth. I fucking love microfibre cloths.

Walk round the whole bike and wipe anything you’ve not yet wiped over with a clean soft cloth. Using nothing but the cloth clean over things like calipers etc.

When you’re eventually done and happy, clean the brake discs with brake cleaner and fresh blue roll or similar.

Time to put the kettle on / get a beer out of the fridge / have a smoke and a pancake according to your personal preference and admire your handiwork.

 

Discuss this article here, maybe share your bike cleaning tips or even be one of those people that comments “I never clean my bikes” if you like.

How to do your own anodising – Gary Bond

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When Gary Bond built his Bike of the month  Harris F1 as well as fabricating some of the billet aluminium trickery himself and having the other parts custom machined to his specification.,  he also anodised most of the parts himself. If you ever wanted to  have a bash at this yourself, here’s how he did it. There is a gallery of pictures too.

How to do your own anodising

I’ve had a good few people ask me about the anodising process I used whilst building my Harris F1. No doubt I’ve missed out a few bits but I will edit it as I go. Its as follows….

Stuff you will need for anodising

99.8 per pure sulphuric acid
Nitric acid
Distilled water
Tap water
Power supply (mine us 10 amp variable amps and volts)
Sheet of lead
Titanium .75mm wire
Anodising dye
2 Heaters
Pot to heat dye
Big pot to boil water fir sealing part
Nitrile gloves
Caustic soda

You need 4 containers approx 10/15 litre capacity. Old paint tubs will work
Tub 1, Mix the nitric acid with distilled water/acid to a ratio of 10:1
Tub 2, Mix the sulphuric acid with distilled water/acid to a ratio of 10:1
(Always add acid to water)
Tub 3, clean tap water for washing your hands or whatever
Tub 4, distilled water for rinsing off parts before and after process
Small tub for dye, Mix the anodising dye with distilled water to a ratio as stated in instructions

OK, now that you have all your electrolytes, acids and rinses set up in their correct ratios and quantities, etc. You’re ready to start. Remember, the gasses given off when doing the anodising process are hydrogen gas. Its not harmful but it catches you in the throat, makes every steel part in your workshop rust and not to mention its highly explosive. Oh, and don’t get bleach near it either. Unless you want to meet your ancestors. Do your own homework on acids, gasses and poisons, etc.

There are different finishes to anodising. I’ve done lots of practising and have come up with different results. You can use caustic soda to both strip off old or faded anodising prior to re doing the part. It also etches the part and it will give a very matt finish. If you want a clean shiny look, then don’t put the part into caustic soda. Or you can mirror polish the part prior to anodising. I have anodised some parts that have been machined. All that is needed is a good scrub with washing up liquid and a stiff pot washing type brush for a few minutes. Then into the nitric acid tank for a few minutes. If you leave it in for a long period, the acid eats away at the alloy and renders it scrap. Don’t ask me about that.

From the moment you clean it, wear nitrile gloves. Any oil from yours hands will show up on the surface. You will see anodised fingerprint marks. You now need to wire up your part with the titanium wire. If the item is any bigger than say the size of a front sprocket, I always put 2 wires to the part. Its all down to the current carrying capacity of the wire. I’ve had the wires glowing red hot before now. Not ideal with hydrogen gas. If you can, wrap the wire round the part a couple of times as this makes for both a tighter bond between part and wire. Plus it gives you a better chance of electrical connectivity. I get around a 95% success rate now, but when I first started it was very much hit and miss.

Work out the surface area of the part in inches. Say its a piece of alloy plate 5″ x 4″. That will give you 40 square inches. You now need to work out the amperage. You simply times the square area of the part by 0.16 amps. So the power pack needs to be set at 6.4 amps. My power pack only goes up to 10 amps, so I’m restricted as to how big the parts are. I generally turn my power pack up to max volts. I always put the power pack on for an hour.

You need to put the sheet of lead into the electrolyte with the negative connection connected to it. I always use a steel tube to hang my wired bits from. Its this tube that you connect the positive to. If you have an extractor then I’d recommend using it. The part is the anode (hence where the word anodising cones from) and whilst it has a current passing through it, it actually grows bigger with the surface oxide. The surface oxide that has been grown takes up the look of a bee hive. The holes actually are hex shape and all interlock. The longer you leave the part cooking, the thicker the oxide becomes. Its the little hex like tubes that accept the dye and give the part its colour. You could simply just seal the part after the anodising process without using any dye. Dependant on the current, it can give you a colour of what almost looks like a titanium finish. I’ve cooked parts before and they’ve gone quite a brown colour. This is caused by too many amps being passed through.

Right, so when you start the process, the part will start to fizz. I flick the tub in and out with my finger. This dissipates the bubbles that form on the surface of the part. Obviously, if the bubbles were left throughout the process the area under the bubbles wouldn’t be anodised as they’re not in the electrolyte. Its at this stage that I fill my large pot up with clean fresh tap water and put that on the stove to boil. This is what’s used to seal the part once its been in the dye. Its also good to heat the anodise dye too. But it only needs to be around luke warm. Nothing more is required. Once the part has been cooking for an hour, the power is switched off. The part is removed from the wire with cutters. Don’t forget to wear the gloves. I generally hang the part on a new bit of wire when dipping it into the dye. Once the dye is heated up, I tip it back into its plastic container. Some of the cheap handlebars, etc tend to fade. Its basically the quality of the dye that’s used. You could use either food or clothes dye too. But something like Sanodye is the way to go. Its UV stable and lasts. It gives you an excellent colour too.

One thing to say is that not all aluminium alloys take to being anodised. And some come out a different shade to others too. So you need to experiment. I always dunk the part in clean tap water first to wash off any electrolyte. Then a quick dip into the distilled water tub before going into the dye. If you use a good quality dye and the process has worked as it should, the part will be through coloured within a minute of two. But I’ve had to leave the part for longer if the dye is cold. It makes a big difference. Once it comes out of the dye, it then needs to be sealed in the boiling water. Its better to hang it in the steam for a bit. Let the sealing process start to work before you drop it into the boiling water. Leave it in fir 5/10 minutes. When you lift the part out, chuck it into the tap water to cool it off. Then you can use normal car polish to polish it up.

Gary has kindly offered to answer questions on his own experiences . Follow this link to a thread were you can do that.