My Slabby lives

[Macduff]

16 hours ago, Nelson said:

Hi Mac,

Have you tried the leds out in the dark yet ?

I'm always looking to improving my nightlife & real time experience beats a million forum experts. 

Unfortunately not yet, since the cold weather arrived starting has been a bit tricky when cold. So I tend to use it in daytime when its slightly warmer. I need to sort the carbs out (or replace them). 

 

[Macduff]

I think I need to change the thread title to my slabby lives dies lives dies repeat! It got harder to start at the end of autumn when temps dropped then it just plain refused. Bunged it back in the garage and made some attempts to sort with no success, issue seemed to be the carb pilot and choke ccts but played with the cop conversion incase it was failing and ended up removing the inline resistors and replaced the cop wiring with a new shorter loom. To complicate things I also swapped out the VM29ss with better set though I replaced the pilot jets and float valves in these with bits from the originals as they were new last year. One weird thing in noticed was the 2nd carb set had 20 pilots and my new ones were 32. Had another go today as weather in garage was warmer and after spending some wrist bending and scraping time refitting the carb airbox rubbers (thank fuck they were new last year) if managed to get it started (after adding some fuel to the tank!). Whoopie then fuck it dies ran out of fuel pretty quick (one std shed petrol can size (4lt) filled it with 4 ltr more but it wasn’t having it just starting on choke but dieing immediately . Got more fresh fuel in the tank brimmed but left it on charge for another go tommorrow. One minor fuck up was I replaced most of the tank to carbs fuel pipe with new , added an inline filter and a quick disconnect . The quick disconnect leaked and caught fire ! Luckily tank was on loose and I shut of fuel tap and kille the fire (small) before it got hold and burnt my garage down... so moral is don’t buy cheap fuel disconnects off fleabay. Not damage apart from a singed quick disconnect. Not sure how it ignited but seemed to have flashed off heat from head or maybe the coil and and electrical spark (fuel dripped onto it).

[Macduff]

Well left it for a day longer than planned but gave a quick try starting today.  fuel tap on for a couple of minutes then used a few squirts of the accelerator pumps (bout 10? no idea if that works on the VM29ss) full choke and whoo hooo started 2nd attempt... that's the best it started since I've had it. Fingers crossed everything else stays working long enough to enjoy the summer on it. Need to sort the fuel line as its  a bit long and resting on the head don't want another fire... Got a set of 1100J wheels I need to get painted/coated and new bearings and some tyres as my current set are a bit old NoS Hi-Sports so probably best for looking at than riding...

[wsn03]

On 20/02/2018 at 7:01 PM, Macduff said:

I think I need to change the thread title to my slabby lives dies lives dies repeat! It got harder to start at the end of autumn when temps dropped then it just plain refused. Bunged it back in the garage and made some attempts to sort with no success, issue seemed to be the carb pilot and choke ccts but played with the cop conversion incase it was failing and ended up removing the inline resistors and replaced the cop wiring with a new shorter loom. To complicate things I also swapped out the VM29ss with better set though I replaced the pilot jets and float valves in these with bits from the originals as they were new last year. One weird thing in noticed was the 2nd carb set had 20 pilots and my new ones were 32. Had another go today as weather in garage was warmer and after spending some wrist bending and scraping time refitting the carb airbox rubbers (thank fuck they were new last year) if managed to get it started (after adding some fuel to the tank!). Whoopie then fuck it dies ran out of fuel pretty quick (one std shed petrol can size (4lt) filled it with 4 ltr more but it wasn’t having it just starting on choke but dieing immediately . Got more fresh fuel in the tank brimmed but left it on charge for another go tommorrow. One minor fuck up was I replaced most of the tank to carbs fuel pipe with new , added an inline filter and a quick disconnect . The quick disconnect leaked and caught fire ! Luckily tank was on loose and I shut of fuel tap and kille the fire (small) before it got hold and burnt my garage down... so moral is don’t buy cheap fuel disconnects off fleabay. Not damage apart from a singed quick disconnect. Not sure how it ignited but seemed to have flashed off heat from head or maybe the coil and and electrical spark (fuel dripped onto it).

I was going to fit a quick disconnect but changed my mind because no good for connecting to my remote tank i use when balancing the carbs. Also feared another link to go wrong. Your post has vindicated that decision.  

Scary

[Macduff]

20 hours ago, wsn03 said:

I was going to fit a quick disconnect but changed my mind because no good for connecting to my remote tank i use when balancing the carbs. Also feared another link to go wrong. Your post has vindicated that decision.  

Scary

I had wondered if I’d been too stingy on choice but scanning Eblag and amazon all the placcy quick disconnects look identical bar price . There do seem to be some metal ones from about 60quid but that’s a bit much if they leak too. Guaranteed good metal ones seem to be over the ton motorworks bummer spares stock them as they might be used as oem replacments. 

Edited February 24, 2018 by Macduff

[wsn03]

13 hours ago, Macduff said:

I had wondered if I’d been too stingy on choice but scanning Eblag and amazon all the placcy quick disconnects look identical bar price . There do seem to be some metal ones from about 60quid but that’s a bit much if they leak too. Guaranteed good metal ones seem to be over the ton motorworks bummer spares stock them as they might be used as oem replacments. 

Hmm. The only home i found for mine because of the remote tank issue is the dirt bike. Now having 2nd thoughts. Last thing i need is a fuel leak in the middle of nowhere on the side of a hill inaccessible to the RAC. Think mine were 10 quid so probably same as yours

Edited February 24, 2018 by wsn03

[Macduff]

Looks like my 2nd hand carb swap was a success. Bike starts a lot better now hot or cold , it could probably due with a fine tune and a valve clearance check  but its shit loads better now than it was on the old carbs. I now have a spare set of carbs to strip /fix at my leisure initial, inspection shows the float bowls to look like they have a coating of what could be mould and the pump jet piston is stuck in one of the float bowls  so I suspect the internal ccts could be in a similar manky state..

[Simbec1863]

Glad you got it sorted 

[Macduff]

Sorry not yet hopefully I'll get some miles on it once we have some better weather and I'll try to see what its like in the dark though my late night miles seem to be getting less these days.

[Spirit]

Nice to see another slabside bacl OTR. I would suggest that the very best investment you could make would be a set of Pretech calipers. I know it'll seem like the bike stops just fine now. I know people will tell you to adapt (add name of off-brand motorcycle) calipers . Don't. Get the Pretechs. They're a world away from any DIY adaptation, and the difference in braking is not only dramatic, but easily manageable. I've had a set for years, and they're the single best change I made to a much-modified machine. 

[Macduff]

They're not a cheap upgrade . I'm getting close (maybe over) to having spent more on bits than I did buying the bike.... just don't tell the missus. Just plan on riding it more this year, maybe getting the spare wheels cleaned up with bearings and tyres fitted as the current ones are getting on in years if not mileage. 

[Macduff]

Well another year and another MOT. Some last minute gremlins appeared in my pre mot checks, no fekking side lights front or rear. A trace round the loom and a bit of unplugging and re-routing (it wasn't very well routed from PO's fiddling) and whoo hoo light returns. Took it for a slight detour to the MOT and it was running really sweet until it conked out (fek) . Felt like it had ran onto reserve but my tank was pretty full (and swapping to reserve didn't fix it). I had wondered if my CDI and fried due to COP conversion as it was just spinng on the starter. Called AA but after 1/2hr of waiting tried to start again and it fired reluctantly. Got it to the MOT station a bit late but they were happy to still test it (And it conked out !)This time it would start on choke so wondered if it was fuel starvation . I had fitted an inline fuel filter when last had the tank off thinking it would be good to keep crap out of the carbs and checking it appeared to be half full of air or fuel dependant on your preference which was odd as it is below the fuel tap so gravity should have filled it (maybe?) anyways leaving it alone let the filter fill up (mostly) and it started again , test quickly passed,  think they were kind to me as last years (elsewhere) had raised an advisory on the rear sussie linkage for bearing play, not mentioned this time though not sure its easy to test one manned with only a sidestand.. AA man turned up (had tracked my on phone app) they agreed to follow me home incase it died again and as long as I kept the throttle action light it kept running. Going to bin the filter and replace it with a BMW spec metal quick disconnect (after my last butt clench fire  with the placcy ones taking a chance with hopefully a decent version).  Pic of it waiting at scene of 1st conk out.  I plan on fitting my spare wheels once painted in a different  with sme conti 18" sticky tyre  as I hate cleaning white ones, either satin black or some retro gold are my current colour choices though the gold maybe a bit tarty. 

[Fazz711]

Fuel starvation could be a blocked breather in the tank cap. Would be worth watching the filter then undoing the cap see if filter fills up. 

[wsn03]

Ive got filters on all my bikes, no issues. By removing it you're only removing the symptom - sounds like you have feed issues. Breather pipe or tap. Keep the filter to keep the carbs clean.

One problem I had was collapsing fuel pipe giving me exactly the same symptoms, the pipe was creasing where it was in the bend - get a good strong pipe that doesn't crease

Edited August 16, 2018 by wsn03

[Macduff]

Well pissed about with it this afternoon and breather was clear (and wasn't actually tight into the tank), fuel tap was brand new genuine parts last year . So tested  flow through filter (just draining into a pot ) and it was a bit slow compare to no filter so binned it and replaced it with a inline brass hose joiner (had a couple lying around ) and possibly a placebo effect but it seems to start easier . Other than letting it idle to check for leaks I've not tested it fully . Hope its sorted. May or may not fit the quick disconnect once it arrives (may leave it till the next time I have the tank off, as its been off more times than a whores drawers this week). 

[wsn03]

Hope you get it sorted. Im wary of filter removal

Edited August 16, 2018 by wsn03

[Macduff]

Fuel line quick disconnect arrived today so fitted it and took the old girl for a test ride . All good if a little baggy with age ( me and the bike) . 

[Macduff]

I've been fiddling with some bits for and on my slabby. My MOT pass b4 last mentioned some slight play in suspension cushion bearings and this MOT didn't so thought I'd best give it a check over , fek me it was a bit flappy. Luckily I had a spare with decent bearings so a relatively easy swap out later and bollox theres still some play (though a lot less).  Looks like the swingarm pivot bearings are toast and potentially the bearing sleeves the needle rollers run on. So ordered a set of needle rollers (and seals for the swingarm and started pulling the duff ones out of my spares pile swingarm as I want to strip down pull old arm swap in freshened one to keep the time its apart to a minimum. Pulling the old bearings out wasn't too bad with my fleabay sourced Chinese blind bearing puller. I plan on having this bare arm cleaned & powdercoated before I fit new ones as its been partly polished at some point in its life and looks a little scabby in its half polished/half anodised state.. 

I'm pondering the best way to fit the new needle rollers as they don't look like they tolerate the socket and hammer bash em in method , maybe some heat on the swingarm is needed to expand the bearing seat area to ease them in with a long bolt and washer as a slow controlled press in.  In other news I've had both my spare wheel sets blasted and powdercoated  in a retro pale matt/satin gold . That wheel colour may turn some somachs but IMO its not quite as bad as it sounds ie its not the bright gold you get from hammerite tins and more like the classic Campag gold wheel colours of the 70s/80s so more a light bronze in a satin matt finish. I'll fit one of those pairs (either the  wide rim 1100G pair or  3 spoke 1100J pair) once I've decided which will get the conti classic road/race tyres spooned on, hough the J set will need my 750H forks fitted so it has the required 17mm front axle .  Oh and a Ignitech ignition module is also due soon too  

Edited September 13, 2019 by Macduff
cant fekking type or spelk (still)

[Fazz711]

A cheap way to fit the bearings. 

A length of screwed rod and a couple of plates with clearance holes couple of nuts and slowly wind them in. 

Keep checking your pulling them in square.