Motorcycle and Scooter appreciation

Managed to get out and about on Friday though. I was probably the only rider there wearing a cravat (1:50-ish)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oOZuKg7e65M

http://photon.101medialablimit.netdna-cdn.com/hypebeast.com/image/2015/05/yamaha-xjr1300-dissident-celebrates-bikes-20th-anniversary-1.jpg

oh my god

took a Triumph Daytona 675 2014 out yesterday - sadly not the R with the quick shifter, was looking forward to playing with that - nice bike still though, riding position for me was OK on my back but obviously more pressure on the wrists and towards the end I did get a bit of leg cramp

Still think the Street Triple is a better bike though all round, but if you needed to do distance quickly, and like the riding position, Daytona would be a great bike

^oof
Doing my CBT tomorrow , super excited

Went to the bike shed show yesterday, left shaking my head at the huge number of butchered BMW r's.

good luck with CBT it's great fun getting out for first time

On the subject of W800s...

^^^^^ I test rode a 675R around September or so, was great fun and the noise was sublime. Needs knee grippers I reckon, seat's kinda slippery but it was more roomy than my TT600. And faster. And had better economy. And more torque. Bit depressing now I think about it.

My first bike arrived last week, delivered by courier and bought on ebay…. & I can’t get it started

It’s a Yamaha TDR125 from 1996 the seller is being semi helpful but insists it ran perfectly before sending it half way down the country to me…

I don’t feel it’s in quite the superb condition it was advertised as being but on the whole it does appear to be in fairly good order and whilst I’m not a happy customer I don’t at this stage feel ready to accuse the seller of being straight shady.

It feels like there must be a simple problem but my minimal mechanical, riding and buying experience isn’t helping me here.

On the plus side with the guidance of google I am getting more familiar with what a motorcycle engine should actually be doing, I pulled the original spark plug and found it was a little aged so replaced it – no change. I pulled the plug and checked the spark was healthy by trying it against the engine casing – the spark and so electronic ignition would seemed to be very good. I put my hand over the opening for the spark plug and tried the ignition and the compression also appears to be good. I have not filled it up myself but I can hear the fuel swashing around in the tank so it should have enough fuel to at least start with the petcock turned to reserve right?

I have attempted a variety of variations in terms of petcock settings and choke either on or off to no avail. It’s a small simple two-stroke engine so I do feel a simple solution is probably staring my inexperienced self in the face. The battery and oil levels look good as well by the way.

I don’t personally know any motorcycle riders, which has made the whole learning, buying process up until now pretty confusing and difficult. The local car garage have been pretty helpful advice wise up until now but they don’t do work on motorcycles. Does anyone have any advice? Or in an ideal world could anyone with some mechanical experience help me out?

I am based off of Lee High road in Lewisham; my experience with all this so far has been pretty frustrating I’d really like to move beyond this so that I can begin the task of gaining some actual riding experience.

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is the plug wet when you're checking it after kicking it?

Thanks, Just finished it, great fun
Now comes enjoying my 1981 cg125, yay

Has the bike been in use up until you bought it?

If it's been sitting at all the petrol may have gone off. If say even more likely if it's a 2 stroke but I presume it's not pre-mix so maybe not.

Yes, I was looking out for that, the original plug was certainly wet and and had a fair bit of carbon/oil around it, when checking the spark on the new one i coundn't tell exactly, it certainly wasn't wet, but it smelt of gas, perhaps I'd call it damp? It's difficult to say as I have nothing to compare it to. It doesn't have a kick start, only button start.

if It is a wet spark how do I proceed?

Yes the bike was I am told running and running perfectly up until being sold to me, It passed an MOT just before as well, which I am now weary of, what does pre mix mean exactly,

thanks

Premix is where you mix the 2 stroke oil with the petrol before putting it in the bike. I imagine yours will have a separate tank you put think in and the bike does the mixing?

I'd maybe drain the fuel out and replace it with fresh stuff anyway. Can't hurt.

If the plug smells of gas then presumably you're getting fuel, you've told us you have a spark so it should go.

have you tried bump starting it? run along with it until you get some speed up then let the clutch out try and put it in second gear ?

^Second that, that's how I got my yamaha started when it hadn't run in 30 odd years (disassembled the entire thing and put it all back together :) )

Cheers Lynx, wouldn't mind a hand. I actually still have those jeans that you were after on freecycle a while back, remember?

I put a new tubeless rim on front tonight - new bolts went on about three full turns of thread. Is that enough? Will pop them off and Loctite them back on when I get a moment.

They have a recess around the bolt hole that means I can't use normal bolts, only the tall ones provided with the rim. I've seen people online complain that the studs end up being too short with these new rims, but I don't really know what too short looks like.

Also realised that I need to remove and powder coat the front hub before I do the brake rebuild, or after, I suppose, as the powder is flaking off in great big chunks to reveal furry aluminium...

also see if you can get the carb off give it a good clean...check the jets are clean and not blocked (assume at least pilot jet is OK if fuel getting through)

forgot to say, obviously jump on the bike first before attempting to put in gear, just in case it goes!

Absolutely!
Also, I walked around the whole show thinking "That one is ok, except for..."
The only bike I instantly thought I'd like in my garage was the Vincent Black Shadow parked up next to the queue for the burger van.

On a completely different note. I rode through what I assume was a swarm of bees this afternoon, in an open face lid.
I didn't actually get stung, but it fucking hurt. It was like being pelted with a handful of gravel.

There is something that a black shadow has...

Were you smiling ;)

The TDR125 is a craking bike, the 250 is sort after as the first supermoto.

It is a kickstart, isn't it? Have you got the knack to kick it to life?

Very willing to help, what bolts are you talking about by the way?

Edit - retard is kicking in, I forgot it was a vespa.