natnif

A good bit done today. Oil and filter changed, clutch fluid replaced and bled. Front brake light switch replaced. Wiring for broken heated grips removed...it's easy to see why they weren't working!! The old oil looked pretty good. Clutch fluid not so much! The plan is to try and put some miles on it tomorrow, make sure it's running reliably and then hand it over to a mechanic to sort the starter valves and see if that's what's causing the high idle when it warms up.

Thanks, that's good to know. Now that you mention it there's no sensor in the exhaust so of course that couldn't be the reason! I'm hoping for no leak around intake rubbers, that would not be ideal....but I guess we'll find out! My guess would be a vacuum leak higher up as I was really careful putting the throttle body on, making sure it was fully home. However getting the airbox on was so tricky I could easily have knocked something loose. Anyway, I'll run it for a few days and see what it's like after 100 miles. Then I'll have a better picture of where it's at.

I took the bike to work yesterday! I only live about 10 miles away, but after 18 months without a bike, it's great to be back! I did a longer loop on the way home (15 miles - had to be home for the kids!), and then pulled in to get petrol. Got back on the bike....."click". Dead battery. Grrrr. A friendly chap gave me a push start and I got it home and stuck it on a charger. Spent about an hour starting to chase reg/rec/stator stuff and then realised my solar charger isn't working!! So the battery must have been pretty low anyway, and when I got back on the bike in the petrol station I had the ignition on , didn't realise the lights were on as I as messing with the trip clock so I think that killed it. Checked with a multimeter and getting over 14ish volts when the bike is running so it's definitely charging. Easy fix there - use the bike! Exhaust clamp fitted. The clutch is not particularly happy when it's cold. This might be lack of use? It might also be that the oil although fresh enough looking has been sat in ther for quite some time so I've ordered oil/filter and will change that over the weekend. Speaking of oil, there is a little milky stuff under the oil filler cap and on the threads, but with the bike sitting up so long, I'm sure it's just condensation. Once she's warmed up, the bike pulls well but I'm idling at about 3k. Starter valves haven't been synced so I'm going to get a local mechanic to do that, I don't have the tools. Exhaust leak may have contributed? I'll find out when I take it out tomorrow . In the first 5 minutes it doesn't like anything over 1/4 throttle. It's still bogging down a lot until warmed up. Again, maybe this is just lack of use as it seemed to clear a bit quicker on the way home. I've put a bit of redex in with a full tank so I'll see how that goes over the next week or so.

And we're rolling! I got another few hours at it earlier, bled the brakes which went better than expected so I moved on , got a few other jobs done and I was close enough that I figured why not throw the bodywork on and take her for a short run. The brakes aren't great but I tihnk that's more to do with pads bedding in. After a mile or so the engine cleared and seems to be pulling really well so I'm happy with that. No leaks which is a win I still have a high idle when it warms up so something to do with the wax idle unit. I have a leak from the exhaust, but it is missing a clamp so I'm hoping that's an easy fix. It's very far from perfect, but it's good enoguh to put some miles on and see what else presents itself. I'll do that for a few weeks and then see what's next! That engine really put a smile on my face!

Thanks for the help with that. All back together now. I've swapped over a few bits from the other one so I've hopefully made a good one from both. Back on the bike now so I'll start the tedious job of bleeding (again!) and see where that puts it. I should get the suspension buttoned up as well today so we are getting closer to being on the road for a shakedown.

Excellent, thank you! Is there a trick to removing it? I can't see any way to get it out of there! Secobdkly, can you just buy a new little cartridge or at least the gauze section? I would much prefer to put a new one in there!

Help a fella out if you can folks! I'm rebuilding the smc. The inlet port - There is a gauze layer which just seems to be placed over the top, I can peel it back with my fingernail. Is it ok like this or should I be doing something else with it?

That looks like an excellent tool to have in the shed. That's a solid plan B. The nut is still on... Exactly that, I can get a spanner onto it, but no way to put any pressure on it. I had a quick look this afternoon, the shock won't fit past the dogbone mount. I've decided to leave well enoguh alone for now. the bearings all look and feel fine, s I'll put on the new link plates with new bolts and nuts. The bike will definitely need a new exhaust in the near future, so when I have the exhaust off, this will be a pretty quick job at the same time. It'll also mean I have a chance to take the spring off the spare shock I have and make sure it's working properly...and I might paint the spring but that's all in the future! For now, it means I can put it all back together over the next few days. My main stumbling block now is rebuilding the smc and sorting the brakes but hopefully I'll get into that soon.

Some good ideas there, but the nut is not easy to get to. I can get a socket or spanner on it, but the only reall access is from behind. I think the design is that you remove the exhaust to access this bolt through a gap in the frame, but I won't be taking the exhaust off at the moment. It is mostly held together with hopes and dreams and I'm not yet ready to commit another €500 for an exhaust system as there is no way the old one will go back on!

While I'm waiting on the circlip pliars to arrive, I made some progress elsewhere. I removed the smc on the bike last night and I'm fairly certain this is the one I'll rebuild. It is much cleaner to start with and the little port on the side looks in much better condition. It was interesting to see the slight differences between them, for example there is a small hole just below the dust seal which is slightly bigger on the better condition smc. The bulk of the work was done today. I managed to get the link plates removed for suspension! These REALLY did not want to comply. I had tried lots of stuff on them, so today I tried a bit of heat again. I was getting nowhere fast so I pulled out my big 3/4 socket set and law of the lever wins the day! You can see how bad the plate is in the pictures below. All 3 nuts/bolts removed using the big set....however my lukc ran out when it came to the last bolt - the dogbone mount under the shock. This is an allen head bolt but the allen socket was a bit loose, someone has been here before and it was just going to stirp...so I hammered a T50 socket in which felt nice and snug. A bt of pressure and snap, the T50 snapped off in the bolt! I have 2 options. The main thing I needed to change was the link plate, I can now do that. I might be able to squeeze the shock around the bottom of the dogbone mount without removing, if so I can change that too and just leave the dogbone mount in place for the moment. Option 2 is drill it out....At the moment option 1 is sounding much more attractive, so I can at least run it for a few weeks to see what it needs.

These are the calipers original to the bike. I have a much better condition set I bought on ebay 6 months ago, but the smc on the "new" set started leaking. The picture above is the old smc, I'm taking it apart purely as learning but also to see how it is under all the crud! I live less than a mile from the sea, but most of the damage was done before it came to me. It was left uncovered for an unknown amount of time in a seaside town. It'll never really make a nice example , or at least to get it there would cost more than a nice one does! I'm just focussed on getting it running well and then I'll see what happens with it. It'll need an exhaust manifold in the not too distant future as well

The mankiest caliper/smc in europe I'd bet!😬 THe rebuild kit arrived so I decided I'd take the old caliper apart to see what it's like under the crud. My plan is to dissassemble this smc and clean it up. If it looks good once cleaned up, I'll rebuild this one and swap out the one that's on the bike. if this doesn't look great once pulled apart, I'll have learned how to take it apart and I'll pull the one on the bike and rebuild that one. I started the job and then realised I needed a circlip pliers...couldn't get one locally so that's ordered but won't be here until next week. I'm also waiting on a dremel blade to tacklet the nuts on the shock link plate as there isn't a hope of getting them off any other way. i've tried penetrating fluid, heat, impact driver and I'd be there all day so has to be cut off....so I'm at a stand still for a few days until those bits arrive!

ok I've ordered a Tourmax smc rebuild kit. I have 2 smc's, surely one of them will be good enough to rebuild! Hopefully I'll get the shock/dogbone/link plates in over the weekend, that rebuild kit will be about 10 days getting here so I'll try get everything else done and that'll be the last job before getting her out on the road. I've been soaking the bolts for the last few days so hopefully it comes apart easily.

She's a beauty

I went to bleed the brakes this morning - secondary master cylinder is shot. This bike is testing my patience!! I now see there is a slit in the dust boot, but I assume fluid shouldn't get as far as the dust boot anyway? actuate the smc while bleeding and fluid is pouring out the slit in the dust boot. I haven't opened it up to see exactly how it works so now I either need to replace the smc, entire caliper + smc or rebuild the smc. I'll have a look later and see which is the most cost effective. Frustrating as the caliper itself is in good condition - it was an ebay part I bought ages ago so no recourse on it.