Date: 28-03-24  Time: 18:30 pm

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Messages - Fazerider

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26
General / Re: Puncture repair kits (Roadside)
« on: 18 January 2020, 07:06:47 pm »

I use Crafty Plugger, it’s a really small kit that uses mastic-covered cord.
Bridgestone tyres and taking care to keep the bike on the cleaner bits of the road has meant punctures are a rarity for me. However, I’ve a PR3 on the rear at the moment and that did get holed a couple of years back. I was intending to take the tyre off and put a mushroom in, but never got round to it… the tyre’s holding up fine still.
Not sure if the company is still in business though, the website looks a bit unmaintained.
As for the pump, I didn’t fancy relying on an electric one that’s going to spend years under the seat before needed so opted for a compact bicycle pump.

27
FZS600 Fazer / Re: Ignition circuit on bikes
« on: 17 January 2020, 11:10:25 am »

 Well I guess there’s no reason the contacts in an ignition switch can’t be made as robust as those in a relay, but I take your point that it’s a long and complicated path.
The headlights would be the main area where a relay would be of benefit as they take enough current for the resistance of the wiring to lose a significant voltage (though running the bulbs with a volt more will reduce their life by a factor of about 4).

28
General / Re: The future is electric………….
« on: 12 December 2019, 01:08:17 pm »

I’d be more enthusiastic about electric vehicles powered by fuel cells.
Can’t see hydrogen being much use as it’s not very energy dense and is a bugger to handle and transport, but ethanol would be ideal. And sure, you’ve got carbon in there so it’s going to emit CO2, but so long as that’s sourced renewably it doesn’t matter… the exhaust is clean, no nasty particulates or nitrogen oxides and you can refuel as fast as you do now.

29
FZS600 Fazer / Re: gear change indicator
« on: 11 December 2019, 10:08:42 am »

Can’t quite make out enough detail in those photos, there’s weird patterning over them almost like they’ve been photographed off another screen.
I think the engine pickup one is correct and the second shot looks as if the triangular connector has the right colours to be the speedo sensor. Oddly, the Yamaha diagram shows White, Blue, Black going to White, Blue/Yellow, Black/Blue… looking at an old sensor I have it actually has Red, White, Black wires coming from it which looks (I think) like what you have there. I’d expect the white wire to be the one with the wanted pulses, but maybe someone else can confirm.

30
FZS600 Fazer / Re: gear change indicator
« on: 10 December 2019, 11:03:58 pm »
I don’t think that’s right, the TPS won’t be involved. The gear indicator has to do some arithmetic using the speed of the bike and engine revs, so it’ll be the Red/White one from the pickup coil and either the White or Blue/Yellow from the front wheel speedo sensor (not sure which of those has the pulses).

31
FZS600 Fazer / Re: Re-fitting rear Fuel Tank bracket - parts order
« on: 05 December 2019, 02:19:18 pm »
As several people have said, the order of parts you have is correct and the bracket at the back is only loosely fixed. When the seat is fitted the tank’s free movement isn’t noticeable and I’d advise against “improving” the rigidity of the attachment. Yamaha made it like that for a reason… probably something along the lines of not wanting the tank to empty 3 gallons of fuel onto your feet due to a stress fracture.  :lol

32
General / Re: winter maintenance ,what you got planned ?
« on: 03 December 2019, 12:42:08 pm »

Good luck with the exhaust studs. I currently have the same problem with my 600.
Aside from an MOT my Fazer has been nowhere this year.
The plan was to swap the engine as the gearbox is knackered (and the motor has 120k on it, so not worth repairing), but I’ve not found the time and enthusiasm to make much progress.
The “new” engine had a couple of snapped exhaust studs, I drilled and retapped, though might go up to 8mm as I’m not really happy with the job I did.
Also discovered the frame needs some welding which I’ll have to get someone else to do as my skills are not up to the task.

33
FZS600 Fazer / Re: Cant scrape the lean angle limiter (screw)
« on: 26 November 2019, 11:20:57 pm »
Aside from the lean angle, the distance from hero blob to road surface is affected by the load and suspension settings. If you’re light then you may run out of tyre before the blobs touch down as you won’t be compressing the suspension as much as a heavy rider does.

34
FZS600 Fazer / Re: Clutch Pressure Plate Compatibility
« on: 25 November 2019, 10:47:00 pm »
When you put the pressure plate on, before you put the springs and screws in just press it with one hand and see if the friction plates are getting squashed together. If they are you’re ok, if they’re loose you’re on wrong.

35
FZS600 Fazer / Re: Headlights are awfully dim
« on: 21 November 2019, 12:09:34 pm »

Unfortunately it is a feature of the FZX600 that the headlights are piss-poor.
To make matters worse, the shroud over thee H1 bulb can rattle, producing a lot of fine white dust that covers the reflector and inside of the transparent plastic cover.
There are options for improving the light. The one that most people have done is to add a wire from the loom box under the tank to the dipped filament on the H4 bulb.
Beyond that, some have retro-fitted HID bulbs, LED “bulbs” or auxiliary lamps mounted on the radiator, though I don’t like the latter as they usually don’t control the light well enough to avoid dazzle IMHO.


http://foc-u.co.uk/index.php?topic=181.0

36
General / Re: Today's "What Gets My Goat" - NO POLITICS!
« on: 18 November 2019, 01:57:31 pm »

The way the sound level on the telly varies with each and every programme, sometimes it's ok and other times you can't hear FA unless you turn the volume way up, and then when the ads come on it deafens you..

Completely agree.
I rarely watch anything HD because the sound is so shit. I suspect it’s something to do with 5+1 surround sound/Dolby encoding, but my telly doesn’t have any of that and it means dialogue is almost impossible to follow. It’s fine on standard def though.

37
FZS600 Fazer / Re: Headlight reflector thingy
« on: 13 November 2019, 09:00:56 pm »

Darrsi is correct, the shroud over the H1 bulb will come out through the hole for the H4 on the right.
Without it there is a fair bit of glare, I rigged up a smaller replacement from a bit of metal cut from a beer can.
Alternatively, it’s possible (with a lot of work) to enlarge the hole and make up a mounting plate to fit an H4 bulb to make the left match the right.

38
General / Re: Winter gear recommendations
« on: 12 November 2019, 08:57:37 am »

If money’s tight I’d stick with what you currently have and add a waterproof overjacket and trousers. (Rainsuits are something I never got on with, too much of a struggle to get on and off.)
Flexothane is the material I look for, feels thin but is surprisingly tough and usually lasted me 4 or 5 winters-worth of commuting. Sioen is one brand that uses it, there may be others.

39
General / Re: Today's "What Gets My Goat" - NO POLITICS!
« on: 03 November 2019, 03:45:24 pm »

From mid-October we get three months of whining, complaining and outraged demands to ban fireworks from pet owners whose world revolves around their neurotic inbred “fur baby” and don’t see why the rest of us don’t share their view.
Fuck ‘em, miserable sanctimonious killjoys. I have to clean dog crap off my boots dozens of times a year, so if their pooches shit on their carpets that’s fine by me. :D



40
FZS600 Fazer / Re: Rear disc hot
« on: 30 October 2019, 11:10:42 am »

I’m guessing the washers you refer to are just to align the centre of the caliper with the disc. One piston needing to be a millimetre further out than the other to compensate for any slight misalignment shouldn’t be much of an issue.
Most likely it’s the seals as they provide the restoring force to pull the piston back when you lift off the brake lever. If they’re old or non-oem the piston will bind and roast the disc.

41
General / Re: So What're You Listening To Today?
« on: 26 October 2019, 12:27:16 pm »

Starts promisingly, but 45 seconds in... oh dear god.  :lol
Babymetal

42

It’s quite easy to get a misleading compression test result, particularly on cylinder 3 since that plug well tends to suffer more from corrosion… if the tester doesn’t seat quite as fully the extra space will result in a lower reading. That said, have the valve clearances been checked?


The carb slides are teflon coated and stay dry in normal operation. After a high mileage (80k+) the coating can wear and they don’t move so freely. That’s not likely to cause flooding though.
The float valves and the rubber o-ring round the brass body of the float valves can leak, quite common now these bikes are getting on a bit. Checking the fuel levels in the float bowls is slightly fiddly, but can be done with the carbs in-situ.

43
General / Re: THE TRUTH ! ! !
« on: 14 October 2019, 03:56:51 pm »

As a schoolkid many decades ago, my friends and I had a particular fondness for making fireworks. In those days it wasn’t too difficult to obtain small quantities of the necessary ingredients from neighbourhood chemists and we happily experimented making various colours, rocket propellants as well as the usual small bangs.


My family had moved to a house near a factory that made pyrotechnics for military and maritime use… distress flares, parachute flares, Very pistol cartridges, line-throwing rockets and the like. They’d test a percentage of each batch in a field a mile from the production area, which my friends and I found deeply fascinating.
The factory also had possession of another bit of land, a disused and insecure industrial site of sheds and Nissin huts, which they used to store empty drums of various chemicals. Empty was a relative term… we often found quantities left at the bottom that were plenty for our small-scale experiments.


One day we found some red phosphorus. My friends were content with spilling a trail of the powder on the floor of a shed and shuffling through it leaving a weird blue glow as friction ignited the stuff. I decided to see what effect it had when added to a chlorate and sugar mixture.
Normally a thin line of a mixture leading to a dessertspoonful in the open air will give several seconds delay and a gentle flare-up… a small percentage of phosphorus changed this dramatically. The delay was milliseconds and the heap itself combusted fast enough for an audible thump.
As I’d used a cigarette lighter to ignite it my hand was inside the fireball before I could react. I raced to the nearest water, feeling the skin on my fingers shrivelling and cracking as I ran… and dunked them in a decidedly non-sterile puddle. There was hardly any pain as my friends and I surveyed the gory mess of three of my fingers… but it set in a few minutes later as we ran to my home.
 
Thankfully, the damage wasn’t too deep and after cleaning and dressing at the hospital, a dressing down from my parents and an arsecheek full of penicillin, healing only took a couple of months and I was able to grip a pen in time to do quite badly at my O-levels.
Did OK in Chemistry though.  :lol

44

The other issue a lot of these "bases" have is they enchorage the staff to bring their cars over from the USA
Why is that ?


On base, they drive on the right with a lot of US spec vehicles
I see. Then its no wonder that an American would come out of the base after driving on the right for a few days and then come out and carry on doing the same. What a stupid STUPID thing to do on a base --- that is just asking for trouble and im surprised it has not happened before . It would make far better sense to have to drive on the base on the left so at least they can get the hang of it off the roads.
They do… at least, to judge by the road markings visible on Google Earth. They even have roundabouts.

45
FZS600 Fazer / Re: Centre Stand Refurb
« on: 28 September 2019, 08:56:16 pm »

I bought a cheap Dremel knock-off which came with all manner of cutting, grinding and rasping tools. The tiniest burr is great for getting into the tight corners.
If you can’t lever the rubber bung out you can cut it then drill a hole through both bits and secure it with a suitable nut and bolt.
And another vote for Hammerite Smooth applied by brush… apparently sticks better to rust that hasn’t been treated (so long as the loose stuff has been removed).

46
FZS600 Fazer / Re: CLUNK,CLUNK,CLUNK,CLUNK
« on: 21 September 2019, 09:48:48 pm »
I had a chain which broke one of its link plates on the inside of the run. That gave a regular clunk and it took me ages to find the cause because it was so hard to see the crack. Must have done a thousand more miles before I spotted it… amazed the thing didn’t let go.

47
General / Re: Best Helmet for Under £150?
« on: 20 September 2019, 01:21:54 pm »

For what it’s worth I’ve found Caberg and Givi lids suit me, but helmet choice is such a personal thing that I’ve never found advice or even Ride ratings to be much help.
I prefer helmets with seat-buckle type fasteners rather than the D-loop sort and like to have a flip-down sun visor. Beyond that it’s a question of trial and error in an actual shop where you can check for fit, because everyone’s bonce is different.
I wear glasses, so that is another factor… some helmets that would otherwise be fine are too tight at the sides to accommodate the arms of spectacles.

48
FZS600 Fazer / Re: Removing engine
« on: 14 September 2019, 05:07:34 pm »
No shortage of salt corrosion there Fazerider. You appear to have all the exhaust bolts intact  :)

You’re not wrong! My plan was a quick scrub with a wire brush and slap on some Hammerite, unfortunately the grime had been hiding this:





and the underside’s no better:





Yes, the studs are all pretty good, but that’s the old engine with seized plugs, rattly camchain, slipping clutch, false neutrals for 2nd and 5th gear and 120,000 miles of wear.
The studs aren’t so good on the new motor.  :'(

49
FZS600 Fazer / Re: Removing engine
« on: 14 September 2019, 10:51:44 am »
Since I’m doing the same job myself at the moment, here’s my system:






Car jack under the engine with an old greased-up Nissan Micra front disc to support the engine and make it easy to slide out onto the platform of assorted bits of timber I keep in case they come in handy one day.
Once the engine is disconnected, jack it up and move it forward in the frame until it clears the rear mounting brackets (note that the rear upper right has a secondary plate held with 2 screws which has to be removed). You can then swivel the engine out back end first.
Other methods involve strength or extra pairs of hands, but I’m Billy-no-mates and the engine weighs more than me. :)

50
FZS600 Fazer / Re: Not much luck with the Gunsons Colortune
« on: 13 September 2019, 11:40:36 pm »

Is the oil on the plugs some you used to ease removal? The one tip we can see looks dry, if very sooty. It certainly looks as if it has been running rich.
Never used a Colourtune, but would expect it to need near darkness for a good indication.
Don’t pull plugs when the engine is running! The ignitor circuit limits the peak voltage using a capacitor, but these gradually reduce in value with age meaning the potential peak voltage generated will increase. In normal use the spark limits the voltage, but if the gap is big it relies on the capacitor to restrict the peak, so avoiding damage to the ignitor circuit/coils/insulation. With a tired old cap the safety margin is reduced. In your example it was the lead insulation that couldn’t cope so you copped a zap..


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