• Welcome to the new B.I.R.D. Forum. Please be sure to read the "New Member / New Registered ? Please Read" thread in the Coffee Shop. This contains some important information. To become a full member ( £5.90 a year ) simply click on your user name near the top on the right I hope you enjoy the new site ................ Jaws ( John )

Definitely better off with a car

Centaur

Site Pedant
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Apart from thinking the Hayabusa is exceptionally ugly I found it be very raw and unrefined to ride. That was after riding to the dealers on a Blackbird so maybe I was biased. :D
 

andyBeaker

Moderator
Staff member
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Apart from thinking the Hayabusa is exceptionally ugly I found it be very raw and unrefined to ride. That was after riding to the dealers on a Blackbird so maybe I was biased. :D
Yes, I agree - feels a bit more frantic, definitely a 'sportier' riding position but also lighter handling. I enjoyed my two days on one in Cyprus, albeit, strangely, it felt like harder work in the mountains than the Bird would have been. Might have just been the unfamiliarity.

Different bikes, different personalities.
 

Peter Halfpenny

Registered User
image.jpg Finished work now for Xmas so I’ve finally had free time and got around to doing something about the toys...

The Metro has a rear brake adjuster that I missed... didn’t look like one I’ve seen before so can forgive myself for that. They were corroded to death and sourcing new ones proved hard work. They’re now fitted and with a few bags of sand in the boot, it should pass its MoT tomorrow.

The Bird now... the simple task of replacing an O ring is not simple.

I posted a while ago about my leaking oil return pipe...

One shitty O ring is responsible yet to get to it have to drop the lower fairing, move rad, remove exhausts and finally the sump. Done for the night now. Can die another day.

Oh and for the record, Cillit Bang is shite
 

andyBeaker

Moderator
Staff member
Moderator
Club Sponsor
View attachment 42400 Finished work now for Xmas so I’ve finally had free time and got around to doing something about the toys...

The Metro has a rear brake adjuster that I missed... didn’t look like one I’ve seen before so can forgive myself for that. They were corroded to death and sourcing new ones proved hard work. They’re now fitted and with a few bags of sand in the boot, it should pass its MoT tomorrow.

The Bird now... the simple task of replacing an O ring is not simple.

I posted a while ago about my leaking oil return pipe...

One shitty O ring is responsible yet to get to it have to drop the lower fairing, move rad, remove exhausts and finally the sump. Done for the night now. Can die another day.

Oh and for the record, Cillit Bang is shite

Please tell me that isn't your kitchen..........
 

Peter Halfpenny

Registered User
Nowt wrong with my quarter of the kitchen. I happened to have just tore a bit of my bike to bits and as such there are tools and shit everywhere. What matters is that the sink, cooker and fridge are clean and accessible :D
 

Stammo

Registered User
It would have to be more organised for me, I would just lose that crucial washer or bolt.
Each to their own though.
 

Centaur

Site Pedant
Club Sponsor
Nowt wrong with my quarter of the kitchen. I happened to have just tore a bit of my bike to bits and as such there are tools and shit everywhere. What matters is that the sink, cooker and fridge are clean and accessible :D

My wife would either kill me or leave me. I converted my garage to a study and knocked through into the living room. We rarely get snow or ice here. I put a tailor made double glazed window/ door to replace the garage door and purposely made the door wide enough to push a bike in. Carpeted the floor to make it snug with a storage heater to keep me and the bike warm. First time I brought a bike in she threatened to kick it over if it wasn't moved out! Apparently knocking through to the living room made it her domain as much as any other part of the house. :crybaby2:
 

slim63

Never surrender
Club Sponsor
Years ago I build an RD400dx in the front room as the shed was full of proper bikes & we lived in the back room anyway, the wife never complained at all until I accidently sprayed her plant & killed it ........... oops! :)

When we moved she was adamant that I had a bigger shed so it never happened again ............. every cloud & all that (y)
 

Squag1

Can't remember....
Club Sponsor
Did the boiling thing but did it in a tin box of some sort. The heat opened the seams in the box and the grease leaked out. Can't remember the consequence. It was a black grease, graphite. Think I still have it.

Also had the James 150 engine in my bedroom - after I cleaned it - for a while before I reassembled it. Not that there was much in a 2 stroke engine.
I bought another James 150 - can't remember why but it had a suspension unit on the back.

Learned 2 things. The bolt should have been high tensile - got that sorted - but the difference it made was amazing, even on that thing.
 

Dickiebird

Registered User
Did the boiling thing but did it in a tin box of some sort. The heat opened the seams in the box and the grease leaked out. Can't remember the consequence. It was a black grease, graphite. Think I still have it.

Also had the James 150 engine in my bedroom - after I cleaned it - for a while before I reassembled it. Not that there was much in a 2 stroke engine.
I bought another James 150 - can't remember why but it had a suspension unit on the back.

Learned 2 things. The bolt should have been high tensile - got that sorted - but the difference it made was amazing, even on that thing.
Linklyfe came in its own purpose made tin . You heated it up 'til the grease began to liquify , dropped the chain in it, let it simmer for a while to let it soak in, then removed chain and let the grease cool down again , job done . All you had to do then was put the tin somewhere safe until you needed to repeat the process 12 mths later.
 

andyBeaker

Moderator
Staff member
Moderator
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Linklyfe came in its own purpose made tin . You heated it up 'til the grease began to liquify , dropped the chain in it, let it simmer for a while to let it soak in, then removed chain and let the grease cool down again , job done . All you had to do then was put the tin somewhere safe until you needed to repeat the process 12 mths later.
Would be interested to know what was in it - probably highly toxic as was a lot of this type and f stuff in years gone by.
 

Peter Halfpenny

Registered User
The Metro finally passed MoT.

Rover Specialist told me they’ve always had crap brakes and it was common to put an anvil in the boot before doing the brake test. I substituted that with 6 bags of cement and it worked!

The bird seems to have stopped leaking oil (touch wood).
Got the sump and generator cover back from F&J vapour blasting on Friday, spent half hour looking for a sump gasket online... Should have realised that if Jaws doesn’t sell one, they don’t make them.
V-Tech red gasket seems to have done the trick.

Refitted the exhaust pipe and rads - wanted to keep it minimal in case it’s still leaking - and took it for a 20 min spin. Praying the kitchen floor is oil and brake fluid free when I get home from work tomorrow. Hopefully no complaints either for running it with no cans either :D (saying that there’s a lad round here somewhere that thinks his Aprillia SR50 sounds great with no can either :mad:)

Next job is to replace the sump on the Vivaro which looks blissfull by comparison.

DD066214-2661-4363-B479-A213F8554994.jpeg
 

Peter Halfpenny

Registered User
Keep looking at it now contemplating whether or not to make it a more naked bike
CB1100 dash and light
Someone on FB has a blade swingarm with shock and linkage there for £80 - doesn’t look like it’d need much effort to make it work.
 

andyBeaker

Moderator
Staff member
Moderator
Club Sponsor
The Metro finally passed MoT.

Rover Specialist told me they’ve always had crap brakes and it was common to put an anvil in the boot before doing the brake test. I substituted that with 6 bags of cement and it worked!

The bird seems to have stopped leaking oil (touch wood).
Got the sump and generator cover back from F&J vapour blasting on Friday, spent half hour looking for a sump gasket online... Should have realised that if Jaws doesn’t sell one, they don’t make them.
V-Tech red gasket seems to have done the trick.

Refitted the exhaust pipe and rads - wanted to keep it minimal in case it’s still leaking - and took it for a 20 min spin. Praying the kitchen floor is oil and brake fluid free when I get home from work tomorrow. Hopefully no complaints either for running it with no cans either :D (saying that there’s a lad round here somewhere that thinks his Aprillia SR50 sounds great with no can either :mad:)

Next job is to replace the sump on the Vivaro which looks blissfull by comparison.

View attachment 42589
Was that picture taken on the set of Coronation Street??
 
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