Try and keep wels spatter from sticking to the chain, it'll soon wear the sprockets out again, good luck with it.

A very good point.
Weld before fitting a new chain or, if the existing one still has life in it, get it off the sprocket, pulled back against the swingarm pivot and shielded with an offcut of thin plywood. Spatter is bad for O-rings!

I'd be a bit surprised if Yamaha still feel obliged to pay for replacement... I'd agree they ought to, but realistically not many manufacturers (of anything) will undertake warranty repairs a decade or so after the initial sale.
Assuming they don't want to play ball, you can:
a) pay someone to do it
b) do it yourself
c) buy a replacement engine and swap it
or
d) simply weld the nut onto the shaft.
I did that on my original engine since I couldn't be bothered with the hassle of losing the bike while the shaft was replaced under warranty. Sounds brutal, but it's cheap and can be done several times, just cut through the weld with an angle grinder when it's time to replace the chain and sprockets.

Sainsbury's introduced a similar policy a few years ago. I wrote and complained... pointing out that unless they employed a bouncer at the door, the helmet-clad thugs coming to rob the place (the reason the policy was introduced) were unlikely to honour the notices anyway.
They were pretty good about it, the person who responded said it would be brought up at their next safety meeting.
In the meantime, I continued to queue to pay with my helmet on, once I reached the cashier would remove it if asked (which held up the queue nicely as I juggled wallet, specs and then didn't have anywhere flat to put the helmet while I put my specs back on).
A couple of months after the "Please remove helmets" signs went up, they disappeared.

My next shoot is a man in ladies clothes...... And it's not a kilt!! Watch this space!

I was about to offer my services had you'd needed assistance painting any more model's legs... I've reconsidered.

Doh! Yes, 021s are what I'm using too... if my memory was better I'd remember not to trust it.

I've been using Bridgestones on mine for a few years now, liked the grip and handling of the old BT010 and the current BT012 is even better and lasts a phenomenal mileage. The only downside is the weird abrasive noise the front tyre makes.

At normal temperatures, so long as there is some liquid fuel present, the ratio of petrol vapour to air will be much too high to burn. It's a bit counter-intuitive, but very low temperatures, just above the flash point (-46ºC) are when you could potentially have an explosive mixture. Of course, you'd need the electrical bits to be arcing too to provide an ignition source.






 

Good work. But rather than attack it with the welder, I'd give it a squirt of WD40 to penetrate overnight then apply a more gentle heat. Positioned 20cm above a low flame on the cooker for 15 minutes or so to get it hot to the touch, then a careful tap or two with a hammer on a screwdriver with the tip resting against the ground terminal aimed in the clockwise direction should start it moving.
1) Aluminium expands more than steel so having the whole thing hot will loosen the grip of the thread.
2) Best to take it out the way it went in unless the shear was very clean... so from the underside it'll seem like you're tightening it.


May be telling how to suck eggs... if so, apologies. Best of luck which ever method you choose.

Tonie, if you want a consensus view on the best oil to use you've come to the wrong place! There are as many opinions as there are oils available.
The main problem is the oil companies are a secretive lot... even if you can find something claiming to be a technical specification for a particular product it turns out to be vague advertising puff.
We do know that bike engines are a tougher challenge for oil than car engines, and also (mostly) have the constraint of a wet clutch. We also know the wear reducers of last resort, those containing zinc and phosphorous, are not good for catalytic converters so the concentrations are restricted in car oils. Now, since bikes in the UK don't need cats, in theory, motorcycle oils could contain higher levels of these additives. Whether they actually do is another matter, the rest of the EU says bikes do need cats... so do oil companies make different oils for us bikers in the UK? I don't know the answer to that. I just guess they might and can at least be sure that if it says "Motorcycle" on the can it's not going to contain additives that make the clutch slip.
It's not like the difference in price is that great. If you buy the cheapest car oil you can find, you might save £12 on the oil change compared to something that says motorcycle on the container, which equates to about a fifth of a penny per mile... that compares with around 11p per mile you're spending on fuel (assuming your bike returns about 52mpg, which is what mine does).
For peace of mind, that's not a saving I regard as worth making.


Hope you're having a happy birthday, btw and I hope someone bought you four litres of expensive bike oil.
 

My boss had a set on his mini last winter and reckons they were great. I pondered but do so few miles it ain't worth it. Got a set of autosocks just in case.

My brother tried Autosocks and said they were astonishingly effective, but clear tarmac destroys them pretty much instantly... he risked a couple of gentle miles on them 'cos he couldn't be bothered to stop and they were torn to ribbons.

Sorry to hear of your troubles.
It really sounds like cylinder head removal is the safest option. If the plug shearing off hasn't already dropped fragments of ceramic insulator down into the pot, drilling to insert the stud extractor certainly will. That stuff won't do the piston, side walls or exhaust valve seating any good.
With the head off winding the remains of the plug out should be fairly easy.

Love the description.
Yes, it's likely to be cast iron which will shatter if you start hitting it when it's cold.
If you're using wood as your main fuel, that is best burnt on a flat surface rather than a grating (if the design of your stove allows for that). You may be able to get a firebrick base pre-formed to suit or could cut a suitable shape from vermiculite sheet.