Biker's Cafe Chatroom

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phil675 said:
I've got a 190/55 which is what it came to me with. Some people prefer a 180/55 but this only gives 5mm more room so something must be up with the chain. I think what's happened is the previous owner changed the sprockets but not the chain which should be 110 links, mine has 108 with 2 link pieces in different places for some reason. The front sprocket looks like it's seen better days anyway so I'm going to replace chain and sprockets. Expensive as I need a torque wrench and chain tool but shouldn't happen again.
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Get a decent chain tool, I cant remember which I got but it was about £50. You don't need a torque wrench necessarily, I have one but dont use it for that, you won't overtorque anything easily. Obviously it is better to have one though, just saying it's not essential.

If you are going to get a torque wrench checks the specs of it Vs what the correct torque values are, particularly the front sprocket tends to need a ton of torque you'll need to make sure whichever one you get goes high enough.
 
Kreeeee said:
The MT-10 wasn't bad at all, but my new KTM is a faff just to get the battery out!
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It's the ones where you've got to lift the tank, take of plastics and pray to Satan to get to the battery, who thought of that one!? Under the seat nice and easy.

I could basically strip my SV at the side of the road with everything I carried in the bike toolkit.
 
BUDFORCE said:
Get a decent chain tool, I cant remember which I got but it was about £50. You don't need a torque wrench necessarily, I have one but dont use it for that, you won't overtorque anything easily. Obviously it is better to have one though, just saying it's not essential.

If you are going to get a torque wrench checks the specs of it Vs what the correct torque values are, particularly the front sprocket tends to need a ton of torque you'll need to make sure whichever one you get goes high enough.
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I'm getting an Oxford chain tool which looks better than the cheapest ones. The sprockets are both 50nm with a bit of loctite, I have no idea if that's high or not! I've got a 20-110 nm wrench coming. I've never bothered torqueing anything before but I'd rather it didn't pop off or anything after the trouble I've already had :D With the chain, is it completely necessary to grind the head of the pin off? I'll have to borrow an angle grinder if so.
 
phil675 said:
I'm getting an Oxford chain tool which looks better than the cheapest ones. The sprockets are both 50nm with a bit of loctite, I have no idea if that's high or not! I've got a 20-110 nm wrench coming. I've never bothered torqueing anything before but I'd rather it didn't pop off or anything after the trouble I've already had :D With the chain, is it completely necessary to grind the head of the pin off? I'll have to borrow an angle grinder if so.
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If you want to break it with a chain tool then yes there's no way you'll be able to press the pin out with the head on. If you're borrowing a grinder just grind straight through the chain, much less hassle.
 
Another dumb chain question.. the new one has a light coating of grease I guess to protect it in storage. Should I use this as lube or clean it and lube immediately after attaching it?
 
phil675 said:
Another dumb chain question.. the new one has a light coating of grease I guess to protect it in storage. Should I use this as lube or clean it and lube immediately after attaching it?
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I normally just spray a bit of normal lube over the top, then lube as per usual.
 
phil675 said:
Another dumb chain question.. the new one has a light coating of grease I guess to protect it in storage. Should I use this as lube or clean it and lube immediately after attaching it?
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Grease/wax attracts grit so I tend to clean it fully and then use gear oil as the manufacturers recommend.
 
Hades said:
I spent several hours yesterday on my new (to me) 125. It was only the third time I'd been able to get out on it since I bought it earlier in the week - and the first time I could spend more than 20 mins on it. I'm still very much a novice and managed to stall it, accidentally press the horn and generally not get much right :D But I guess that's what L plates are there to warn people about. Luckily it was dry although quite cold. Not the best time of year to learn. I also had new boots on (motorcycle boots) and struggled with gear changes much more than I did with just trainers. With trainers I could feel the lever and the clicks as I changed gear, but with the boots it felt numb. But I will get used to it with time and I value my ankles so didn't want to continue in trainers.

On the return journey something 'clicked' and I thoroughly enjoyed the ride. I'm sure I was still making mistakes but it was genuinely fun and I was sad when I arrived home. Roll on the next ride...
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This is great :) love stories of people starting to ride and enjoying bikes. It's amazing fun! And despite having been riding for 10 years in all weathers I still make the occasional silly mistake hitting the horn etc
 
iamdjdz said:
This is great :) love stories of people starting to ride and enjoying bikes. It's amazing fun! And despite having been riding for 10 years in all weathers I still make the occasional silly mistake hitting the horn etc
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Thanks :)

EDIT: Hey, Christmas smilies, yay \o/
 
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Any tips for a secret Santa gift for a Kawasaki owner. He’s a work colleague that I’ve never met, but figured there’d be a handy motorbike gadget that would be useful? Perhaps a chocolate ashtray?
£15 budget.
 
Ahleckz said:
Any tips for a secret Santa gift for a Kawasaki owner. He’s a work colleague that I’ve never met, but figured there’d be a handy motorbike gadget that would be useful? Perhaps a chocolate ashtray?
£15 budget.
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Kawasaki branded snood thing? Must exist!
 
Got the shiny new chain and sprockets on, way more room for the wheel now I can fit my whole hand in the gap ;) Took it for a little ride and it seems fine, need some better weather for a proper go though.
 
My bike wouldn't start yesterday.
I got the "Chec" message with the ignition on and no FI sounds, I tried ignition off and on a few times but nothing. Decided I'd try and crank it over manually and that seemed to have cleared it and was fine today.

It had been sitting for 6 weeks, but that's nothing out of the ordinary really.
 
Yaayuh! said:
My bike wouldn't start yesterday.
I got the "Chec" message with the ignition on and no FI sounds, I tried ignition off and on a few times but nothing. Decided I'd try and crank it over manually and that seemed to have cleared it and was fine today.

It had been sitting for 6 weeks, but that's nothing out of the ordinary really.
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test your battery. they dont like cold weather.
 
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