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greg_in_london

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Everything posted by greg_in_london

  1. greg_in_london
    Lol - agree there. I'm not getting flashed, but judging by the amount of numpties who annoy me with badly adjusted lights and how easy it is for me to adjust the VR headlight, I ought to check. The bike's been laid up to save money for a while so I've not done it yet though.
  2. greg_in_london
    I said I might be being overly cautious.... An old toothbrush and brake fluid cleans the crud off pretty well though - just try not to let it splash on your clothes.
  3. greg_in_london
    I might be paranoid, but I wouldn't use WD40, I'd rather use brake fluid or chain cleaner or something similar that I know won't affect the rubber seals to clean the pistons. I could just be being overly cautious though. Is it actually likely that the EBC discs are THICKER than the originals though ? With the original ventilated discs being 1/2" thick, some of the aftermarket ones look like they're the standard 7-8mm in the pictures. It might be an obvious thing to say, but if you have it all bolted up without the pads themselves, can you check that the offset is right ?
  4. greg_in_london
    Reminds me of 'I B ought a Vampire Motorcycle' - another Norton with a mind of its own...
  5. greg_in_london
    I read #2 first. I don't know what that says about me......
  6. greg_in_london
    A long time ago I had to call an ambulance for someone and the idiot on the phone wanted to know the POSTCODE of the flat where she was ? I don't know about you, but I don't know the postcode of my friends' flats.
  7. greg_in_london
    A friend of mine is a dealer for them. The 125s sold much better than the 650s, but there dioesn't seem to be much wrong with them. If you look at the details, they're much less polished than the equivalent suzuki, but then you pay less for them. They are certainly in a different league to some of the chinese bikes that fall apart in front of your eyes. I've seen dealers for them in Germany too, so I guess their spares backup must be pretty reasonable.
  8. greg_in_london
    $299 / £200 each side ??? Ouch !
  9. greg_in_london
    About the big washers - it sounds okay, but someone else will have a look at theirs and jump in, I'm sure. Rotation of the disk ??? Is there more here that you're not mentioning ? Generally it's bolted on and you don't touch it. I thought all three disks were the same and you can't really get them the wrong way round, though if they had different part numbers (you should find the parts list if you search the site or look at an online fiche) I would admit I was wrong. It's not something people ask, so I wonder if you have a particular reason for mentioning it. Pad not flush with the edge of the disk ? You mean it's wearing at an angle ? A picture might help here. I've had other bikes that wear at an angle because the calliper didn't move smoothly on the slides, but the Venture has two piston callipers. Could you elaborate ?
  10. greg_in_london
    Hmmmm - as a random thought - just check what the resistance is from the starter motor solenoid (starter motor connection) to earth. If you caught it (the power feed to the starter motor) when refitting the exhaust then you would get a massive power drain, but only when you press the starter motor and also jumpleads would get very hot, as extra current would flow when you press the starter. We're all presupposing that you have reasonably good jumpleads - I've bought very lightweight ones for about a fiver before and they just cannot carry enough current to turn over a fair sized engine, so the leads get hot and the bike doesn't start.
  11. greg_in_london
    Iworked one place where they had a policy that you had to have a password between eight and fifteen characters (or some such) included any three out of upper case letters, lower case letters, numbers and special characters did not include any recogniseable words did not include any sequences of characters used in previous passwords and was changed every month. This was just to turn the workstation on and do ANY work. They could retrieve/reset passwords, but it could take a day or two. And they seriously expected people to be able to remember these regularly changing random strings without writing them down !!! These numpties who think they know about security who won't let you use your own system for passwords on your 60th password of the day (have you ever sat down and worked out how many different passwords you're supposed to have, including PINs and access codes - anybody get to over 100 ?)
  12. greg_in_london
    Sorry - I need a magnifying glass to read that
  13. greg_in_london
    Yeah - right. but if you pay closer to $10/gallon and get 30-35mpg, then being able to get what others are managing might give a better return. Various carb maintenance has lifted economy from 30-35mpg, which is a useful increase, but getting to 40mpg would also mean a much better tank range, although buying a big petrol (4 gallon/20l) can for the trailer helped on that front. Mind you, I'm not doing 10,000 miles per year on mine. Maybe I would if economy was better...
  14. greg_in_london
    I completely killed mine, but it had been failing for a while. I was lucky to have a (fairly) local place to make one to measure at a good price. The worst part of the job for me was the top mounting bolt. The nut head was in line with the frame, so good access was difficult without it slipping and then the bolt itself was seized in. I eventually bought a rotary hammer drill with a hilti attachment to drive the blessed thing out ! Getting the nuts and bolts back afterwards in was pretty fiddly too. (Yes, I replaced the damaged ones !)
  15. greg_in_london
    That's the trouble with asking for opinions...
  16. greg_in_london
    I played with different batteries because the MK Is can be a PITA to start, when warm, or sitting in a damp field over a rally/festival or when the bike knows I'm in a hurry. I've tried a numberof other remedies, but when someone leant me an Odyssey battery (they were not using it as their bike was off the road) it was a big imrpovement over a lead/acid wet cell. I used it for several years until I saw an AGM that was the right size (the Odyssey is quite a bit smaller than the battery compartment) and I upgraded. There's no big improvement with the newer one, but I can still leave it months without starting and still have a charged battery. With a lead/acid wet cell, that's just not possible and there's no power to my lock-up to run a charger. (Well not without hacking into the council lighting system, but I don't think I should do that...)
  17. greg_in_london
    Silly question maybe, but what do you mean by 'at the petcock'? The latch that you grip and turn is at the end of a rod 3-4" long which connects to the tap itself which is further underneath the tank. You will need to use a torch and get on your hands and knees to see if there is any leakage from the tap itself - the bit you touch will stay dry.
  18. greg_in_london
    We just bolted a double adult sidecar onto the side of ours, plus when we're travelling we lock a six berth trailer tent on the back. I used to use a massive chain and padlock on it, but the other modifications seem to deter most thieves...
  19. greg_in_london
    A good fit on the screwdriver bit and an impact driver is the safest way to go with decent screw heads and they're not expensive - cheaper than a decent screwdriver set in fact. I have two or three and still have my first one, bought for about £4 from Argos of all places at least twenty five years ago. I've replaced the bits a few times, but the driver is showing no signs of wear. Nevertheless, a couple of sharp taps with a hammer on the end of a suitable screwdriver will usually free off the locked-up threads and often allows the tips to wedge into a worn (or not quite the right denomination) screw head. The only screws I've had to drill out in the last 10-15 years have been exhaust studs that have sheared off. If the crosshead slot is completely round, the hammer and chisel method is still a way of CAREFULLY notching the edge of the head and tapping it round. Some might recommending using a dremel or similar to cut a flathead slot and using a flathead bit in an impact driver, but if you don't have an impact screwdriver, you probably wouldn't have a dremel either...
  20. greg_in_london
    I'd check out the coil and the leads. There was a problem on the early Ventures (someone else will know the engine numbers i expect) with the pick-ups, except the problem tended to be as the engine warmed up. the explanation that I heard was that the connections had been soldered too tight within the plastic casing, so as things expanded, there was tension on the connection and it could lose contact when the engine became warm. Yours is a problem from cold and then you said that it cuts in, which is the opposite of what I had (mine was made in Nov 1983). Remember that the leads are removeable, so you can check if they just need to be screwed in further, even if they're a bit of a pain to reach.
  21. greg_in_london
    Try it out on an inobtrusive place - you'll see if it bonds or does not.
  22. greg_in_london
    I've got the plastex and a few other things for plastic repairs, but you've persuaded me to order some acetone to try it out.
  23. greg_in_london
    I've got the HID 'bulb' and am really pleased with it. I've seen some threads elsewhere showing (admiitedly very old - 8-10 years) test results showing that HID units in H4 headlamp reflectors are not as well focussed as the original, so there is a spread of light outside the main illuminated area. I often don't believe this scaremongering - people said you couldn't use halogen bulbs in older units when they first came out, but I know I'm getting blinded by a lot of car headlights and have started wearing those yellow driving glasses to avoid headaches. I might just be getting older of course, but suspect that maybe I should have the headlight pointed slightly lower than I would have done with the standard bulb. It's not hard on the venture, after all ! On that other point, I had my headlight connector block melt several years ago while touring and it wasn't a hot day, so check yours has a good connection, whether you upgrade or not ! (Next time you're in there, finish your coffee first - it's not that urgent).
  24. greg_in_london
    Bill, you've got a lot of bike for the money and it should have plenty of go to keep up with or stay well ahead of most modern cruiser stuff.
  25. greg_in_london
    I ran a long thread a couple of years back and surveyed quite a few people. Bottom line seemed to be that some people had thirsty bikes and others didn't, but how people ride and tune their bikes has an impact as well. A thirsty bike always seemed to drink more than an economical bile, no matter how they were ridden - from what people said, but a thirsty bike used fast and hard would empty the tank while you watched, while others claimed 200 miles to a tank (or more !) when going steadily. [EDIT] Here it is - http://www.venturerider.org/forum/showthread.php?t=20950 [/EDIT]
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