imago

Is your cordless driver an impact/rattle gun? That may have bounced something on the selector mechanism out of position. I'd say it's definitely a case of opening it up to see what's going on. If you don't the best you can hope for is the nagging doubt at the back of your mind, the worst case would be it becoming very expensive.

A wider shot :-

Pretty much what I was think to be honest. Second hand cases (if they come up) would no doubt be stupid money now, there's been a noticeable increase in the prices of bits and bikes recently,. I've never been that impressed with the repairs I've seen in the past, but things move on so thought I'd ask in case some new alchemy was available. Parts it will be then, after a suitable period of maturing on the rack naturally.

I have a complete running et engine with some damage to the cases. Typical ham fisted stuff, a few stripped threads, a piece broken off of the clutch cable mounting, a piece from one side of one of the pick up cover threaded holes etc. There are three options:- 1) Try and get the cases repaired. Build up and re-cut or drill as required. 2) Try to find replacement cases. 3) Bin the cases and keep the rest for spares. How feasible are 1 and 2?

I think people often misunderstand what performance/race cams are for to be honest. A standard cam is set up by the manufacturers to be the best compromise across the rev/rotation range. A performance cam increases what's available within a particular band because that's where it will be spending most of its time. If you add something at one point, you will lose it at another. So the 'best' cams for road use are the standard ones that the manufacturer used their considerable resources developing. Increasing the engine's capacity (up to a point) with the standard cams fitted will increase the available torque and power across the range. I have no intention of riding the bike anywhere other than on the road, so standard cams make the most sense for me.

No, no, no, you're not thinking properly. Maybe it's the warm weather? What you do is start looking for another bike, preferably one that has the word "project" in the advert, but when a couple come along you buy them both/all. Then in a year or so you buy a complete runner because the project bikes don't fit with the latest version of your plan. Once what started as a complete runner has sat in the garage in bits for a few months/years you sell some/all of them and a few months later start the whole process again.

If it's the black with a small flake in it then Ford Panther black is indistinguishable (do I get bonus points for all those syllables?) If it's the black without a flake in it then it's British Leyland ack as @wraithsaid.

That's a useful link, thanks. It'd be very easy to get carried away ordering stuff from there though.

Yeah, most people I've spoken to say the same. Above 1170 is pointless without all the other stuff, head work, bigger valves, cams to suit etc. I'm not going that far with this, so it'll be an 1168 kit with the ports tidied and valves lapped.

That's the sort of thing I'm after. Just asking around generally, most people seem to be of the opinion that going bigger than the 1170 is only worth it if you're going to forced induction.

It's not so much a question of money (I don't mean blank cheque territory!) I have no idea what an additional three liners would cost. It's more a case of while it's in bits and going to cost a fair bit to sort is it worth spending the extra? At the moment I'm leaning towards the Wiseco 1170 kit as it's tried and tested, and also easy to get a complete kit off the shelf.

I'd like to keep it looking standard from the outside really. It's more a case of if I have to spend the money I might as well get a little extra, rather than wanting a big increase in power.

I need to have a cracked liner replaced on the ET, so it seems a logical point to go for a big bore. The options are 1168 Wiseco with one replacement liner and bore the lot, or 1198 MTC pistons with all four liners replaced. It's only going to be a road bike, so head work won't be more than improving the flow. Not sure about cams and carbs, but lets just assume standard for now. Aside from the obvious, is there anything to tell between the two overbores for road use? Is the larger kit going to throw up overheating issues for example? I've ridden an ET with an 1170 big bore on it which wasn't massively different from a stock ET, just had more grunt and a bit more wind on from lower rpm. That's fine as an improvement for what I want but I'm wondering if there's much benefit in changing three additional liners?

It needs them on, I just couldn't decide between the red/orange or the two shades of blue. I'm fairly sure it'll be the two shades of blue, whichever it is it's never going to be a better time to get the tank emptied and away with the rest of the panels. They just look better with them on, and it's more obvious when it's next to one (or two) with them.

No there's not a lot to do, just bits like fork seals etc. but while it's there I'll give it a good go through. You know how it goes, a little list builds up, then you park it up and sort of lose your mojo with it, threaten to sell it, it drops further down the list and so it goes. I've been meaning to get the stripes done on it for 10 years so I think it's time It's been standing for 2 years now, the last time I rode it was at @Pete750ET's funeral.

.... of a thing a GSX is. Mine's been under a dust sheet neglected for quite a while so I decided to dig it out and start sorting various bits, hopefully I'll finally get round to sorting the graphics out too. It was touch and go whether I'd have a heart attack or hernia first shoving it around to get it on the bench.

If we're going for guesses, I'll take won't rev cleanly as it has a flat spot and dies past it.

Where does the power difference between the TL and SV come from? Is it as simple as cams, injection and exhaust? The reason I'm throwing these questions up is I need a donor bike. The SV would be more suitable in some ways, eg it has RWU forks which I want, and the TL in others. So I'm trying to work out which I'd be able to harvest most parts from in one hit as obviously it's quite pricey buying a whole running bike.

Thanks, I thought that but I was looking at a '97 which I was told had the carb's rebuilt. I'm not too familiar with modern bikes so just assumed that early ones were carb'd. I'll have to have a look at it now just out of curiosity!

Are the collets seated correctly in the grove on the valve stem? If the collet was sitting above the grove the spring may be fully extended but the valve not meeting the seat which would make it sit low. It would still clamp to the stem because of the taper pressing inwards. Well, until you ran it up it would! Have a look (and take a photo) at the valve stem tops from above and see how they compare to one another.

A simple (I hope) question, what year did the TL (European/UK market) go over to injection?

Stove enamel.

Well that gives you the option of sorting out the standard brakes to get them working properly as well as the option of swapping them for more modern stuff. I guess it'll come down to what is the quickest/easiest/cheapest option. Just bear in mind, if you only swap the calipers you won't gain anything other than getting it to the point you would have with properly sorted standard brakes. To improve on that you'd need to change the whole kit master cyl, lines, calipers, and discs . Then you'd need to swap wheel to get better rubber to road grip so that you could make the most of the brake upgrade.

What is it about the standard brakes that you find "horrendous"? If they're working properly then the only improvement that can be made is to prolonged or repeated braking. Under those circumstances fitting brakes that dissipate the heat more quickly will keep the braking efficiency up for longer. If it's stopping hard and fast in an emergency, then it's impossible to do any better than stock brakes. The tyre's grip on the road will be the limiting factor as the brakes are more than capable of locking the wheel.

That'd be the way to go at it, a frame to suit the engine and running gear with whatever bodywork you wanted grafted on to that. As has been said on here many times, you can do anything. The bit that often gets left unsaid is that just because you can doesn't mean you should.