nlovien

the following are known tricks for another engine prone to stuck barrels - necessary because of rarity of said barrel , if the one you have is reasonably easy to find replacement then i'd seriously consider your 1st though -- sledge hammer! ( possibly a grinder and slice n dice as a better option for killing it ) - - and after you've got serious with heat and tried locking nuts together to extract the studs etc.. type things 1) drill pilot hole near base of none oil return studs - so your lub can be seen to circulate down to the stuck area 2) make a crude thin wall sleeve with a few bottom teeth - something that can sleeve over the stud and rotate / work yir way down whilst continually washing out the crap 3) fook it - back to 1 and drill through the stud as well = now a weak point - try and shear the stud off - fix the mess later 4) split the cases and see if there is any purchase on the barrel from underneath - probably not - you might get lucky via a soft block across the liners and a bit of tapping but prone to damaging the liner entry - you can make a soft expander - see a cheapo tube expander for example - this will grip inside the liner where its well supported by the barrel - you can have a top plate secured on the studs but not sitting on top of the barrel and via a thread n nut pull on the expander - or you could tappity tap on the bottom - risk is, does the liner come out before the barrel comes off ? 5) order the replacement barrel and get the grinder oot

I got mine from the states - the emulators were on amazon.com at a fraction of the price as quoted from racetech - springs also sorry can't remember where I got them but cheaper than race tech - they have a handy weight calculator which atleast for me turned out to be spot on ( yi got to be honest about your all up riding weight ) I used 100lb springs the other really handy "trick" I learned from a wise man on here ref: slabby forks - I needed +/- another 15mm fork length - I got more than this by simply using the GSXR1100 rebound springs versus the 750 - as the 1100 is about 50% length = you gain the difference in overall length I also used the 1100 servo anti dive units versus the 750 - easy - cut off the servo unit and pull out the gubings - I then machined a plug out of black plastic and glued it in to seal off the top - i.e. you don't need to make the hydraulic bypass plate to replace the anti dive - the std anti dive housings work fine with the gubbings removed One thing I didn't progress but thought would be a good idea: down side to the emulator is the hassle with adjusting them - basically take out - tweak - re fit - yeuk, how about make a thin rod that connects to the emulator adjuster - run the rod up through the spring and drill n seal it through the ride height adjuster = external adjuster - forsure i'm making it sound simple - but overall its a doable thing with a bit of imagination another one more: I used the best bits from 2 sets of forks - noted with both of them the original cupped washers which meter the damping were fooked - well flattened - folks who race these bikes and keep such things in good tolerance probably find the std fork decent, the rest of us just live with it - forget that the fork might have been ok in its day and suffer the consequence - so part of the improvement is just using a different method to replace old worn ineffective bits

been enjoying a build project of late that has a set of GSXR1100 slaby front forks - ok pritty old school design and a tendency to replace with more modern cartridge type forks etc.. fitted springs weight matched to me and the bike along with emulators - got a few things to sort out with this bike but the front fork isn't one of them, this set up is working great - i'm bumping along typical Scottish B roads etc.. the forks are just doing their job - nicely controlled, good feed back - no harshness, just the right amount of brake dive etc. TBH I have another project with maxton tweaked 45mm gayblade forks - very nice - well the basic GSXR fork with these minor tweaks is not noticably anything less previous use of these forks with springs of unknown weight ( right enough to get a static setting ) and std damping - recall what you expect, kick off sharp bumps/ pot holes etc.., bit of floaty feel yet also a bit harsh basically take yir old school forks - add a few minor tweaks to match them to you and the bike = can be surprising just how effective they can be - dam't sight better than chucking on different / modern stuff without looking into the matching set up - keep it old school!

icing on the cake today for me reading this - yi got a good mate there, me also suspects yir also a good one

sounds like there's a demand for a mod kit to fit a more efficient rare earth type alternator from a more modern bike also wondering if you could piggy back a 2nd alternator ? - once did this by using a housing from an engine that had an alt that wasn't direct on crank ( plenty options ) - made an adaptor plate to fit in place of sprocket cover and spun the alt. via a direct link to the front sprocket bolt - ok not much use when stationary but it did provide enough added juice when used in anger - could be using the 1st option - more modern alt would make this option better - - idea copied from some old school endurance bike set ups

being a tight arsed Aberdonian things like relay's - fuse box's, etc.. - generally find lurking inside scrap cars - in addition to this charging use, use for live feed direct to coils and for headlight where a 5 pin switching unit is handy ( dip is live on ignition, high beam is switched using the high beam handlebar switch = removes need for an on/off lights switch ) basically any high load use circuit, put the live feed direct to source via relay for the cleanest supply and use the mess via the switch gear etc. as the low load signal to relay where loss's are not an issue and thinner wires can be used

when working with a mag 3 frame - quite surprised at the lack of symmetry and also the quality of the tube bends - obvious bending die marks - tube ovaling etc.. - cutting into some of the bronze welded joints - you can find in some patches pretty significant gapping between parent parts in sections - great thing was - given quite severe tube damage - post crash - when jigged - the steering head was spot on perpendicular to the swing arm axle - the bit that counts - it was though 2mm off centre if you were to presume the frame was supposed to be centered between the inside faces for the swing arm pivot - wrong presumption It is valuable info for any home builder - getting things right is always right but it shows that you can have some flexibility in how you get there I had a P&M frame stripped at the same time - now thats different, no die marks, ovaling and very much closer symmetry - I didn't open up any of the welds but I'd suspect they are as tight as a nuns stockings - overall workmanship here is in a different league

they are a pain to fit - can cause supply issues - look nasty and are not needed if the tank side is clean and you have reasonable in tank filter screens - hmm what does that sound like ? - an elastoplast fix going to wise up and take a better approach - forsure use them during initial build - sort out - its a right pain chasing a flooding carb - will circulate a good few tanks worth through em - then remove

if i'm fitting inline filters - I use x 2 - ref: to reduce flow restriction apart from oil contamination - important to prevent carb leakage because this can lead to a bent rod ( hydraulic lock when turning over ) - if I spot this - 1st turn the engine over slowly by hand - or take the plugs out

bloomin good man - 50+ is a good age - yi might not have the care not attitude and quick reactions of youth, but you do have the maturity of common sense ( maybe ) - have fun

good on yi another one hopefully about to be resurrected. We all have different approaches to how we 1st tackle such purchases - opposite sides of the scale are 1) take a punt - charge up battery, put some oil n fuel in it - see if it runs and work around the gremlins as they appear ( not my prefered method with a bike you don't know the history and has been left sitting for a few yrs - the satisfaction of actually breathing any life into it is often lost with the continual niggles and maybe cause for accelerated wear / damage ) 2) presume the usual niggles ( many already suggested ) - don't go mad and try and get it to run - off with the cam cover carbs and plugs - get it all nicely lubed up inc. a wetting down the bores - turn over by hand to get a feel that nothing nippy is occurring - then take each main part, one at a time - carbs / wiring / detailed engine service / steering head wheels and swing arm bearing inspection - brake strip and re seal - - etc.. etc... a lot of work but worth it in the long run and can often be less work versus the hassle of quick fix gremlins - -and in this process you may uncover a big one ( damaged bore, rockers etc.. ) that will focus your direction before rather than after you invest a lot of time and effort only downside to option 2 is project creep - as you fix / improve each part, the level of fix desired goes up - often resulting in upgrading / parts change - - -- how often do we end up doing this anyway ? - fix the std front end and brakes - then just as yir doing the final brake bleed - och you decide bugger it, fit a different front end - ok now needs the matching rear wheel = diffrent swing arm and on - and on - 5yrs later you may get bike of month

sounds like a fair bit of work going on to the tank - ok so fit a raised filler cap - - sledge hammer to a nut fix

recently did this to a set of RS38's which had a fair bit of wiggle on the slide lift shaft - had a random tendency to hang when closing - these have x 2 needle bearings and x 6 felt washers - pop out the felt washers and replace with 14mm x 10mm self lub plastic bush's = no more wiggle and "garage" testing - they now settle to idle quickly - no sign of the random hanging - a bit slower to self close - probably a bit more friction on the shaft as its now got a tighter clearance across all four - ok so increase return spring pre load do I think this neat cheap tweak works - yip for me

for me - pic looks like the the engine is sitting high at the back - I generally aim for the sprocket c/l +/- 5 to 10mm below the line between rear sindle and swing arm pivot - when the arm is raked maybe 10 to 15 deg reason ? - copying - seems to be the ballpark and hence can only presume works ref: squat - also - imagine the suspension bottomed out - will the lower chain run clear the swing arm ?

i'm up for a set of 4 but i've got one niggle to clear in mi head - this holds the needle firmly and it then locates such that the needle can't spin ( original issue I believe ) - my niggle is, does there remain enough wiggle room to enable the needle to effectively float into the emulsion tube - or is the needle so firmly located that there is no wiggle room i.e. - if the needle is just a tad off centre relative to the emulsion tube it will then be cocked to one side - possibly even forced to wear on that side ?? I'm sure the answer is - it has wiggle and this is not an issue - its been a tried n tested fix for a while etc.. - would just like to nail this one though thanks