*** Show us your bikes! ***

Soldato
Joined
12 Jan 2005
Posts
3,332
Location
Devon
Was given this as a thank you for some work last week.

18471447_10154352026365064_491934714_n.jpg


1973 Honda C90, 14k miles and 2 owners from new (previous before me since 1980). Been laid up in a shed for a decade with stale fuel in the carb. Within an hour i'd had it stripped down, cleaned and put back together with fresh fuel and an oil change. Started on the third kick once the battery had been charged. I've spent the last few days making some adjustments and getting it ready for an MOT.
 
Associate
Joined
17 Nov 2011
Posts
1,511
Location
Cambs
Bought myself a Honda CBR900RR Fireblade 2 weeks ago. It's had quite a lot of work done to it (deristricted headers, Pipercross filter, custom rear end, Dyno jet stage 1, uprated front forks and rear shock etc). Last 2 weeks I have mainly spent giving it all a good service - brakes bled, oil & filter changed, spark plugs changed and coolant changed. I need to sort out it's low revs. It is very lumpy and backfires. It's fine at high revs/speed. Am going to get a carbtune next week and take off the carbs, give them a good clean out and re balance them.

25jw0id.jpg
 
Soldato
Joined
27 Mar 2016
Posts
7,248
Location
Bristolian living in Swindon
Bought myself a Honda CBR900RR Fireblade 2 weeks ago. It's had quite a lot of work done to it (deristricted headers, Pipercross filter, custom rear end, Dyno jet stage 1, uprated front forks and rear shock etc). Last 2 weeks I have mainly spent giving it all a good service - brakes bled, oil & filter changed, spark plugs changed and coolant changed. I need to sort out it's low revs. It is very lumpy and backfires. It's fine at high revs/speed. Am going to get a carbtune next week and take off the carbs, give them a good clean out and re balance them.

25jw0id.jpg

Beautiful bike mate... looks very well looked after and now has another great owner :)
 
Associate
Joined
2 Dec 2011
Posts
1,180
So I went and looked at a few bikes yesterday having passed my test and am pretty set on a 2002 Kawasaki ZX636 I checked out. I've asked them to remove it from sale and will be picking it up on Tuesday. Background checks have all been done, everything checks out. It's had two owners, 12k miles on it and it's in really good shape, other than the crash bungs it's completely stock.

A4CcDPO.jpg
 
Associate
Joined
25 Oct 2002
Posts
2,299
Location
Sarf Lahndahn
I need to sort out it's low revs. It is very lumpy and backfires. It's fine at high revs/speed. Am going to get a carbtune next week and take off the carbs, give them a good clean out and re balance them.

Does it get worse as it warms up? Could be the needle jets- depending on he vintage of the jet kit, sometimes you'd get a Friday special when they profiled the needle with a worn tool, making them somewhat abrasive. After a while they wear the needle jets oval, richening the off-idle mix.
 
Associate
Joined
17 Nov 2011
Posts
1,511
Location
Cambs
Does it get worse as it warms up? Could be the needle jets- depending on he vintage of the jet kit, sometimes you'd get a Friday special when they profiled the needle with a worn tool, making them somewhat abrasive. After a while they wear the needle jets oval, richening the off-idle mix.

Yes it does seem to get worse as it warms up. I put a half bottle of seafoam in the tank yesterday with the hope it might cure it but it didn't appear to make a difference. I put the other half bottle in last night and am going out for a ride after lunch for a couple of hours, will see if that makes a difference.

Will balancing the carbs sort out the issue or is it a case of a new dyno jet kit?
 
Caporegime
Joined
24 Oct 2012
Posts
25,061
Location
Godalming
Was given this as a thank you for some work last week.



1973 Honda C90, 14k miles and 2 owners from new (previous before me since 1980). Been laid up in a shed for a decade with stale fuel in the carb. Within an hour i'd had it stripped down, cleaned and put back together with fresh fuel and an oil change. Started on the third kick once the battery had been charged. I've spent the last few days making some adjustments and getting it ready for an MOT.


I absolutely love Cubs. They've covered more miles than most other bikes combined, they're the toughest workhorse around, they cost a penny to run, can be repaired with a hammer and some string, and have about 4 moving parts. The front end is bloody weird and feels dangerous but once you get used to it it fine. There's a chap on Facebook who builds them for clients worldwide, he's based in Vietnam and makes some properly interesting customs like this one:

w1VGYN0.jpg

James May also wrote a good article on them, well worth a read.

Enjoy mate, awesome little bikes :)
 
Soldato
Joined
5 Jul 2003
Posts
2,769
Location
Cheshire
Was given this as a thank you for some work last week.

18471447_10154352026365064_491934714_n.jpg


1973 Honda C90, 14k miles and 2 owners from new (previous before me since 1980). Been laid up in a shed for a decade with stale fuel in the carb. Within an hour i'd had it stripped down, cleaned and put back together with fresh fuel and an oil change. Started on the third kick once the battery had been charged. I've spent the last few days making some adjustments and getting it ready for an MOT.

Perfect!

OcUK Plop endurance team, make it so :D
 
Associate
Joined
25 Oct 2002
Posts
2,299
Location
Sarf Lahndahn
Yes it does seem to get worse as it warms up. I put a half bottle of seafoam in the tank yesterday with the hope it might cure it but it didn't appear to make a difference. I put the other half bottle in last night and am going out for a ride after lunch for a couple of hours, will see if that makes a difference.

Will balancing the carbs sort out the issue or is it a case of a new dyno jet kit?

Balance can't hurt, but being out of balance would only tend to make the bike run a little rough and less responsive.

If it is the needle jets/emulsion tubes then you'd just need to replace them- if I recall they are replaceable on the 'Blade. It could be a number of things though. Best way to diagnose would be to get it on a dyno with a lambda sensor- knowing the A/F ratios over the problem area will narrow the causes down.

Oh, and by the way, I forgot to say: Nice Bike :)

EDIT: Oh, and wanted to say IMHO avoid the Carbtune, I had one and quickly realised that the columns were totally unbalanced. If you do get one, get a four way T-splitter for the hose, connect to one carb and make sure all the columns are the same. Although if they're not, there's no way to adjust it, you just have to remember the neutral position of the columns.

I'd recommend a proper old-school four-gauge setup. Won't cost you much more, and are dead easy to calibrate.
 
Soldato
Joined
29 Dec 2009
Posts
7,175
Picked this up on Sunday.

d920f1cf50.jpg


Full Akrapovic, Ohlins Shock and Fork Cartridge Kit.
Came with a spare set of lolworthy tyres, powerbronze bellypan, R&G Rad Guard and original bits too.

2 hours 30 from home and I decided I need a front screen for any long distance stints for sure. Also gonna get a set of panniers as plan to do some Europe trips too.

MT-09 was sadly too much too insure than what I wanted to spend in total but got this for a relatively good price.
 
Soldato
Joined
7 Dec 2008
Posts
2,812
Location
Auckland/Edinburgh
Looks great, someone's been having fun on those tyres!

If you ever need a free set of indicators or stock exhaust, let me know. Been sitting in my shed for nearly two years after writing mine off.
 
Soldato
Joined
24 Mar 2011
Posts
6,479
Location
Kent
Be aware than a screen will probably increase wind noise as it will direct all the air at your helmet/upper chest, vs the all over wind with no screen.

Up to 80/90mph is comfortable on a fully naked bike, you soon get used to the wind.
 
Soldato
Joined
5 Nov 2010
Posts
23,956
Location
Hertfordshire
Nice! :)

If you've never ridden a naked, you'll get used to it. If you want to improve the wind issue, then you'd be better off getting the bigger/taller screen then it just looks rubbish. Give it a few months without and see how you get on.

Also, LOL @ those tyres.
 
Soldato
Joined
29 Dec 2009
Posts
7,175
Hah, to be fair, he said he was given both sets of the tyres by his friend who races bikes. Seemed like a genuine guy and did admit that he has been to the Ring for a lap whilst on a trip in Germany
The front is probably okay as a spare but think I'll get rid of the rear.

I've seen PUIG do a big 40cm one, I'd only really want it for long trips / tours - I'll jump on the MT07 owners group and see what they have and recommend. Not fussed about day to day riding wind blast so would only be putting it on for the long stints.

Need to get in a load of cleaning gear now!
 
Back
Top Bottom