I was wondering about rigging a canister of steel wool to a bike, forward motion providing the airflow for good combustion rather than whirling it round manually, though some care would be needed to ensure you didn't set fire to the bike or yourself. With electric ignition from a switch on the handlebars it could result in a good photo either from a distant viewpoint or from a car alongside... should look like the bike is rocket propelled.
Not that I'm suggesting this should be attempted on public roads of course.

Expatmanxman, copy the "Direct Link" code on your ImageShack page, then to stick it on a forum entry here you paste it into the window that opens when you click on the "Insert Image" button (leftmost icon on the bottom row).

Looks like a fun evening.
Did you try any additives for a different effect? The sparks in one pic look a different colour.

A big clunk when selecting first in particular is normal. The problem I was suggesting you check for is that second gear can be unreliable on some engines, engaging only partially and then dropping out into neutral when you open the throttle hard.

The rattle may be due to the tensioner having become temporarily "stuck"... they seem prone to this on the FZS600 but aside from a bit of noise it doesn't appear to be a problem. It usually clears after a bit (a thousand miles or so).


The mechanic does sound a bit blasé, but valve clearances don't alter significantly in my experience. When I swapped my original engine out at 185,000km (piston slap was making it sound like an elderly tractor by then) they still measured well within specification. I did check the replacement engine before installing it, but don't intend to bother again.


If second gear engages cleanly there probably isn't much else to worry about as far as the engine is concerned.

You could try including aluminium swarf or filings which might give some bright white sparks to contrast with the yellowish ones from the steel wool.

Yes, copper (or copper salts) can give blue or green colours in firework compositions, but it might be hard to get copper swarf to burn in air... I don't think it gives off enough heat to maintain the reaction without a more concentrated source of oxygen. Usually it's used as an additive to a mixture which provides the high temperature rather than being the active reducing agent.

Like most of my friends I was a keen amateur pyro as a kid. Unfortunately in those pre-internet days, finding information was harder than getting hold of the chemicals so my trial-and-error approach to firework making was somewhat hazardous. Inevitably, at the age of 13 things went a bit wrong and what was planned as a pretty fountain made an impressive bang instead. The police were probably a lot harder on the chemist I grassed up as the source of my supplies than on me. These days a similar sized explosion would probably have got us all shot as terrorists.

Had the plate got stuck to the rubber? Dropped down the side of the battery compartment? Seems rather a big bit of metal to lose!
FWIW, I did the same task on mine yesterday: the rubber boot can be slipped off the frame pins and folded far enough out of the way to gain access to the air filter without undoing the tank mount bracket.

I had no problems. Perfect fit and about a third of the price of a genuine one.

Looking at the economics of it, a £70 device should pay for itself in a couple of months if it helps you cut down by 5 cigs a day.
As a non-smoker who holds tobacco shares in an ISA however, I would prefer you kept using the real things.

Maybe the problem is the topic... you haven't told us what you want for Christmas.


With all the stress of trying to think of suitable presents, shite films on TV, crap music on the radio and the supermarkets crammed with shoppers (why do these stores pile extra stuff on the ends of the aisles to make it extra difficult to squeeze past?)... all I want for Christmas is the whole bloody season to be over.


Here's my contribution: Humbugs (as in "Bah, humbug").