If you are cack-handed enough, racing wets will spin up in the damp at 70. What gear were you in ?Originally Posted by Hachi Roku
If you are cack-handed enough, racing wets will spin up in the damp at 70. What gear were you in ?
no idea but it was not reving that much thats why i was surprised.
I bought a pair of paddock stands and got the wheels out of my SV tonight. I'm going to repaint the wheels and get some new tyres on.
I got the tyres off myself pretty easy actually. Easier than I imagined once I'd got the hang of it. I fashioned a bead breaker from a piece of angle with a bolt in the end levering through a hole in an old concrete fence post in the garden pushing down on a suspension trumpet off an old mini. didn't even break a sweat doing it with this.
Once the bead was broke I used a clamp to squeeze the tyre up to let me get some cable ties around it to hold it together, then it pops off the rim with a little bit of levering and lube.
Got it rubbed down and masked up ready to spray at work tomorrow.
Taking it off is the easy bit.Disposing of the old tyre legally is harder (unless you can get the person fitting your new tyre to get rid).
Fitting the new tyre, getting it to seat evenly on the bead (assuming you haven't damaged it) so that it seals and balancing it are the trickier bit.
I'd also recommend that you leave the paint for a few weeks to harden as tyre fitting is fairly hard on soft paint.
Got rid of the tyres at work, and the paint is 2 pack so should harden off okay.
Stripped the laquer off the bottom of the forks too where it had gone nasty, and polished up the aluminium so it looks a lot better.
Well guy's, hope all is well on the bike front. Really enjoying my riding at the moment. Just clocked 1000 miles trouble free and loving every minute of it. I just recently removed the wheels and took them loose and got a pair of michelin pilot 2ct's fitted. what a difference to the way the bike handles. Not tried them in the wet but feel very grippy in the dry. Also treated the bike to a new set of sprockets and chain. Dropped 2 teeth on the front sprocket so the bike feels much better on the take off. Done all the work myself,removing calipers,wheels ect so was good to go out and everything to run smoothly. I have made a slight error though. I set the chain tension using the markers on the swingarm. The chain tension is fine but I am concerned about the wheel alignment. I have been out and rode 180 miles since the wheels have been refitted and not felt any negative handling but think I should check them just incase. So,what procedure should I use for checking the wheel alignment ? Wood,string ? And how exactly should I check this ? The front wheel is in a fixed position so it's only the rear wheel that can be altered. I'll let you guy's chime in before I attempt this
Last edited by Paddy; 07-05-2014 at 20:48.
Just get a long piece of straight wood and place it so that the wood touches the back tyre at front and back.
Measure the gap between the wood and the front tyre with the front wheel straight.
Repeat on the other side.
If the gap is the same both sides then the back wheel is in straight.
If the gap is bigger one side, slacken the adjuster on the bigger side and tighten it by the same amount on the smaller side then recheck.
Once the gap is the same both sides, recheck the chain tension and adjust by equal number of turns on each side.
Make certain the chain is not too tight. Overtight chain will pull the primary drive and cause the oil seal to fail, cause tight spots to develop in the chain and, worst case, snap the chain at speed.
There needs to be enough slack to allow the chain not to max out on heavy bumps.
Last edited by Jonny Wilkinson; 08-05-2014 at 07:27.
Cheers jonny. I wouldn't say the chain is to slack. Maybe between 25-35mm play.
Is that with your weight on it?
Most problems are caused by the chain being adjusted to be too tight, not too slack (what I detailed above).
Too slack will be felt in the drive train when getting on/off the throttle and you may hear it slapping against the swing arm.
Most bikes have instructions on the swingarm as the slack depends on the length of the swingarm (and to a lesser extent, the size of the sprockets).
Well changed to standard Pirelli Diablo's from my Diablo Corsa's and they seem to suit my riding or the roads round here a lot more
even after just 100 miles it feels a lot more stable over the gritty shitty roads and seem just as planted round corners
Nope. I may give the chain another 5mm or so slack as the manual says 35-40mm. It doesn't say anything about checking the tension with the bike loaded.
That's 40mm total movement at the centre of the lower run, right ?
Yes.
Parking 101
Well was a silly boy at the weekend and has opened my eyes to the dangers of riding a bike at speed. Was out for a ride on sunday and the weather was good where I was but remember it started raining. Don't think it was wet when this happened. Anyway was on the way home and was on the outside lane of the motorway. No traffic in sight and was a wide stretch of open road. I opened up the throttle and was travelling in the region of 110-120mph when the bike went into a pretty bad wobble for some reason. I thought something had went on the bike. I slowed and pulled into the hard shoulder to inspect but coulld see nothing. I think tbh my chain is a little slack. Anyway,I honestly thought I was going to be threw from the bike. No warning or nothing. Definetly a silly boy and wont be doing that any time soon again. Now makes me wonder if me fitting the wheels,calipers,chain ect If I have done something wrong. I dont think so as the bike has been going great and when that incident happened I had already covered 100 miles that day. Strange one indeed.
Last edited by Paddy; 13-05-2014 at 17:23.
Describe the wobble in more detail.
Did it start as a slow weave then develop into a tank slapper. Were you accelerating or decelerating ? How hard were you holding onto the bars ? Were you lent over the front or sliding backwards ?
If you were hanging on for grim-death, that was probably the cause. At those sorts of speeds, you need to be tucked in, weight on tank with relaxed arms, gently (and I mean gently) gripping the throttle so as to keep it open.
The other thing to do is to check the tyre pressures. Also, when you tightened up the front spindle, did you do it correctly ? Tightening the spindle and the bottom clamps in the wrong order can lead to the forks being twisted. Did you tighten them to the correct torque ?
If you think it is none of these things then take it to a bike shop and ask them to check it out. Could be something like worn headrace bearings, I guess.
It is kinda hard to describe the wobble Jonny. I just remember pulling out into the fast lane and slowly increasing the speed. I cant remember if I was accelerating or decelerating tbh. The bike felt like it lost grip and went light. Almost like going from dry road and hitting ice and then back to dry again. I was probably holding onto the bars quite tightly with legs tucked in and body over tank with bum pushing out. I may have been a little to hasty on the throttle. To be honest.I'm just guessing really. I did make the mistake though and not torque the spindle clamps. I had no torque wrench available at the time. I know,big mistake. Everything felt good up until this. I think I will get the bike put in and fully checked over and everything correctly torqued up. It's not put me off but has been an eye opener.
It might just have been a groove in the road. Something like someone getting a flat or losing their exhaust can carve a groove into the surface and the tyre moving into that can feel like the front end tucking or sliding out of line. If it only lasted a second or so and then recovered, it was probably that.
You have to remember that the width of the tyre that is in contact with the road is miniscule by comparison to a car so it can't just ride over narrow grooves.
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