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greg_in_london

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Everything posted by greg_in_london

  1. greg_in_london
    As mbrood said, you could replace the spacer in the front with a shorter one. You could also replace the shock with something a little shorter (I had one made up which is actually longer, but my needs were different), but I suspect you might have troubles with ground clearance - certainly if you were riding two up with zero air pressure that might be an issue. You need to try it and see I suppose, as it will depend a lot on the roads that you are riding on. In town and on motorways it would be fine. Spirited riding on bumpy twisties could be a whole different matter.
  2. greg_in_london
    International ??? There's a meeting outside America ?
  3. greg_in_london
    I'm thinking back several years here, but I do know that I swapped my fron master cylinder for a 5/8" (14mm) one, so I'm presuming that the standard one was 1/2" (13mm), else I would not have had to change it. If you have a 5/8" one fitted already then that will do. I just used two hose lines from the master cylinder and a longer banjo bolt, but any combination that connects to both sides will work. Just make sure you measure the lengths with the fork legs fully extended, or going over bumps it might pull tight. I agree that getting rid of the proportioning valve is a good idea. If you are fitting SS hoses (ie replacing the original) then you can remove the whole unit. I have a vague recollection that you can remove the part where both banjos are connected, which I reconnected when I connected up the sidecar brake, but I would need to go out and look at it in the garage to be sure.
  4. greg_in_london
    My Venture was a US market one and I had to use a wave band extender anyway to receive UK radio stations. I think it covers 85-92 FM and the WBE jumps that 12 or 18 (I think - I leave it set to +12), though I don't fiddle with it often.
  5. greg_in_london
    I'd be happy to take a seat off your hands as mine is badly ripped, even though I've repaired it a couple of times already. The postage to the UK might be steep though. Likewise for a stereo - my tape player died a couple of years ago.
  6. greg_in_london
    With the price of used motorcycles getting lower and lower, I'd always recommend having one bike for solo and one with a sidecar. Trying to have one that does both well is either too expensive or means too many compromises. You CAN do it, but there are choices around tyres and suspension before you even think about any actual changes to the bike.
  7. greg_in_london
    Hmmm... I'm in an odd position as I always bought my Venture to put a sidecar on it, though I put a few thousand miles on it solo first. My Venture has never been good on petrol, so as a tourer it was limited on range. It was a very fast and comfortable armchair that went around corners too, but it was too big and heavy for much of the time. In the UK I just have no need of a 750lb 1200cc motorcycle because I don't sit on motorways all day - I live in London. If I was touring more and wanted a bike that size, I'd wonder why a turbodiesel option wasn't available, or at least an engine that could do 50mpg like I'm told the BMW can do. Or better. I really WOULD NOT want linked brakes though, although I've no objection to ABS. And a built-in upgradeable computer that could cope with GPS, mp3 player and gave feedback on the engine/diagnostics in a comprehensible form.
  8. greg_in_london
    So - of those who read the last line out loud, who spoke it and who sang the words...
  9. greg_in_london
    Until the latest electronic switching systems, almost every motorcycle for the last 40 years has had a vacuum petrol tap. This only allows petrol to flow while the engine is running. A pipe from the inlet sucks air out of the back of the tap and the flexible diaphragm moves and opens the tap - actually slides a small plunger out of a hole. The advantage of this is that the carbs can't flood when you leave the bike. back in the 1960s and earlier you had to turn the tap off to avoid this. The downside was that if you had not used the bike for a while and the petrol had evaporated out of the carbs it could take forever for petrol to get through and you would half way flatten the battery or wear your right leg out before the carbs filled and the bike started. The 'prime' is what you would set the tap to to fill the carbs with petrol when you had not used it for a while. I'm sure that you knew that really and had just forgotten.
  10. greg_in_london
    he didn't say that he was THAT confused...
  11. greg_in_london
    I imagine that they ordered them whole, but specified different jets, slides, needles and float heights for different markets
  12. greg_in_london
    There are certainly a lot of different variations between carbs in different markets. We tried gathering some data a few years ago, but we didn't have enough info from enough bikes for all the differences in carbs.
  13. greg_in_london
    Ditto - I forgot to say that. I'll only pull the calipers if I have to work on them - otherwise changing the pads is a quick job. In fact - if they're working well, it's a side of the road job and I leave some in the top box.
  14. greg_in_london
    Hmmmm.... "Wrong type of brake fluid" - this seems to be something that you all worry about over there, but we use the same stuff (or higher spec - some of you still use DOT3 for preference??) and have no problems assuming that it all mixes. I'm not sure if it's a legal requirement that they should all mix, a requirement of the standards or just something all the manufacturers say, but except for the silicon stuff some French cars use, it's all interchangeable. DOT3 just absorbs more water and boils at a lower temperature. When I want to bleed brakes I often push the pistons back to help clear air out of the lines, but I wouldn't bother bleeding the brakes just to change the pads. That might be because I have to change the pads more often than once per year and the fluid does not age much in that time - and I use higher quality fluid than DOT3, so it picks up less moisture. If the brakes aren't working right, I'll pump out each piston, clean off the crud and lubricate with red rubber grease, or bleed out the brakes with fresh fluid depending on the symptoms as necessary. Then again, if I have to drive to the pub where I play music (1.1 miles according to Google) I have to go through ten sets of traffic lights, so I may be doing more stopping and starting than most...
  15. greg_in_london
    I'm not going to say anything.
  16. greg_in_london
    Hmmm - sidecar or trike ? I've had sidecars for years but never driven a trike. Compared to an old brit bike the venture is not as easy to fit a sidecar to, but only because you need to think about where the fittings will go and will need to have some made up specially. That will still be much cheaper than building or buying a trike, though, unless you find someone who does not like the one he/she has. The benefits of the sidecar for the passenger will depend on what you choose. If you want all-weather comfort that is easy to get in and out of, buy a fully enclosed sidecar (with good suspension) with large doors and/or a sliding or hinged roof. If you want fun for shorter journeys on sunny Sunday afternoons, get an open topped sidecar - they're much more fun, but tiring on longer journeys, especially at speed. The issue as you get older is that a bike and sidecar (and trike too, presumably) needs to be steered physically and the suspension is not so accommodating - especially if you are hitting bumps with the sidecar wheel which rock the whole outfit (something that does not happen on a solo). What I'm saying is that you need to be ready to make some modifications if you want to ride such a big and heavy outfit as you get older. I know that mine is heavy, and that when I pull the trailer tent there is more weight still, and also that we do thousands of miles on it when we go on holiday, but... it's hard work and we break up the journey a lot. On a German Autobahn we cam travel all day (Thanks Squeeze for the good road surface). Off the major routes, into areas less well surface, or trawling up and down hills in traffic is much worse. I still drive mine with telescopic forks, but many others use leading link forks, hub centred steering or something else that reduces trail and makes the steering easier and less flexible. Your brakes have to be well sorted. The suspension will ideally be uprated at some point and proper suspension on the sidecar will outperform simple isolastic trailer-type suspension for comfort. Have a look out there at what you like. Driving one will be strange - you probably won't like it straightaway - so you'll need a chance to really adjust. Just don't have anyone in the sidecar while you're doing this - you're learning to drive again from scratch... Depending on what you want the sidecar to do, you might find that a lighter bike meets your needs better, but that depends on where you live.
  17. greg_in_london
    Idle circuit could well be in play up to 3,000 rpm - it depends mainly on throttle opening and you could well still be on 1/4 throttle. I'm still not clear about what is happening at lower revs though. Does it feel like the motor is drowning or missing or backfiring. Looking at the plugs I'd suspect too rich, rather than too weak, especially if it gets worse as it warms up. I don't feel that I've heard enough for a firm prognosis though. The emulsion tube o-ring and those rubber bungs will let more fuel through if they are tired, but I know mine has run fairly well with pretty awful ones. I wouldn't tear down the carbs to do them, but they're worth doing while it is apart. Make sure all the choke plungers are returning. Take the air box off and see how the sliders move at tickover and when you rev the engine. (I convinced myself I could see petrol flowing down the walls, from the needle/emulsion tube before I changed the o-ring, but I'm not sure what is 'normal', so this might not be reliable.) Look at the exhaust when it's misfiring - do you get smoke or does it stay clear ? Other than that it's looking around until you see something that's different on one to the others, or out of spec on all of them. I presume that you've tried new spark plugs (and maybe caps too). Sorry, but I'm not sure that that's much help.
  18. greg_in_london
    Can't hear a high tension hum ???? Oh yes you can.... It might not be the best way of describing it, but you certainly hear something. When I used to teach science and used a Wimshurst generator you could hear the static crackling and building up as well as feel it as the hairs on your arm stood on end. If you bought a car kit like me, then you'll have a spare ballast and spare light unit, so you should be able to swap out parts without a problem. I haven't heard of one failing before though, so either you were unlucky or I wonder if there was a problem switching and the relay was flicking the high/low switch. [EDIT: It's more of a hiss than a hum.]
  19. greg_in_london
    While we're throwing thoughts out there - when the carbs were apart, did you change the o-ring on the emulsion tube and the two rubber bungs at the bottom of the jet block ? If you're getting real backfires rather than coughing, then it sounds like it is running too weak, rather than what I suggested, which would make it too rich.
  20. greg_in_london
    Kenda ? Good luck. I pull a lot of weight (sidecar and trailer tent, though when I had the Kenda I used a camping trailer) and was sold a Kenda that said it could handle 1000lb wiight at full tyre pressure. It lasted less than a thousand miles and really put me out. I had a couple of weeks driving it at weekends before we went on holiday, then drove from London to a bike rally in Cheshire where I could not believe how much rubber had been used. We went on to Edinburgh and the tyres were down close to the legal limit and I could not locate a spare, but a day trip to Perth without the trailer (40 miles ?) saw the last of the tread gone. We had to spend the next two weeks at 30-40mph, travelling to Ireland via Stranraer, driving through puddles wherever possible, to make the tyre last until another was delivered. At least at 30mph it did not wear as quickly, but I hadn't been over about 65mph anyway. There was nothing else wrong with the tyre, it just didn't last long...
  21. greg_in_london
    I looked up a few tables and thought most were pretty suspect - people struggle with the idea that a 5.10 tyre was smaller than a 5" tyre, it was equivalent to a 4.5" tyre, but effectively on a wider rim, so the width was the same and the profile lower (nominally 90%). That's all history though as few imperial sized tyres are sold - they're almost all metric, except in the states. It seems that the 'M' means it fits a motorcycle and the 'T' indicates the width - 130mm. The '90' is the profile (ie 90% as deep as it is wide), so MT90 18 means that it is a 130/90 18 motorcycle tyre. 18" is not tread-tread, it is rim-rim (I said that some of the sites were suspect. That means that you want an MR90 18 (120/90H18) on the front and a MU90 16 (140/90H16) on the back. (The 'H' means that you can drive at speeds that are illegal in the states without the tyres exploding ;-) ) I hope that helps. The site is: http://www.americanmotorcyclist.com/Riding/Street/Resources/TireDesignations.aspx
  22. greg_in_london
    Hmmmm - too many typos to be clear what you're saying for sure. Rear size is 140/90H16 - it would be great to go bigger or use a car tyre, but there is not enough space. Front is 120/90H18 - you would have to look up what the equivalent is in non-standard MT sizes, although I thought MT90 was a little fatter (5.10 in imperial - about 4.5" across and closer to 130/90H18 than 120).
  23. greg_in_london
    I get far less punctures now than I did years ago - I haven't had one go flat (apart from slow leaks around the rim or valve through sitting) for years, whereas at one stage I was carrying the tools to fix a flat and did one every couple of months. To damage the carcase of the tyre, it needs to be a BIG hole - or cut 10mm/1/2" long. You wouldn't easily be able to plug one that size and any repair would only be able to get you home. If it's just a nail punching straight through then there's no need to worry about the integrity of the cords. If anything has damaged the cords, then the type of plug/string/sealant/tube you have used makes no difference whatsoever, there is no way to repair a damaged carcase. Bear in mind that tyres can also be damaged by running them flat - either at low pressure for a long time or a short time flat. Years ago the concern was about the insides becoming rough and wearing holes in inner tubes, but with tubeless tyres the concern is whether the carcase is damaged and if the tread might delaminate or otherwise just not run true.
  24. greg_in_london
    Well years ago I used to play at the Swan (a pub) in Stockwell. There used to be this really big session on the stage and in the middle I used to get the pipes out and have a few tunes while everyone else went for a pint. One night I dropped in there to meet someone and while I was waiting for them I sat at the bar and had a pint. The place was almost completely empty and the east European barmaid really didn't seem very talkative, so I was quite surprised when someone spoke to me and told me that my pipes had sounded really good the previous Tuesday. I looked round, but couldn't see anyone, even looked behind the bar where the PA setup was kept. 'That's strange,' I thought, but I went on with my pint and waiting for my mate all the same. A few moments later I was told again, 'Your drones were spot on, you know.' Now this was confusing me, much as I like people telling me that my piping is good, I do like to be able to see the person who is doing the telling, so I asked the barmaid if she had said anything, but she said she had not. I was just sitting down again when the voice spoke again: 'Your embellishments were crackling this week.' So I said to the barmaid straight away, 'Surely if you didn't say that, you heard what was said.' The barmaid looked at me and suddenly recognised me. 'You're that bagpiper who plays on Tuesdays aren't you ?' I said that I was. She asked, 'Did this voice tell you that your playing was really good ?' I said that it did. 'Aah,' she said, 'That'll be the peanuts, then,' pointing to the free snacks on the bar. 'I don't understand,' quoth I, 'What on earth do you mean ?' She repeated, slowly, 'That'll be the peanuts, they're complimentary, you see.'
  25. greg_in_london
    Anywhere that makes stainless steel brake lines will make you one - or did you particularly want the old-style black rubber look ?
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