Motorcycle and Scooter appreciation

Going smaller still (Bown 50 and Trojan Mini Motor) fresh petrol works better than older (3 or 4 months old) - with less than 3 h.p. between the two bikes, any loss of performance is soon noticed.

Old petrol is likely to be more of a problem with a low use machine that claims up to 240 m.p.g., but maybe also with a bike that has been standing over the winter ?

Idk.

I almost always put it in my 900, just because.

There have been a couple of occasions where I needed fuel and had no option so I topped up with enough to get me to premium petrol station. I didn't notice a massive difference - or enough that I could definitively say it wasn't psychosomatic - but it's not ££££s like a 50l car tank, so I've continued with premium.

On my 125cc it was 100% noticeable. It simply ran better in every way.

Someone with plenty of bike years advised me to use better fuel and was the one that told me the smaller the engine the more important it was. Once I tried it, switched to regular to double check, then switched back to premium I never used anything else in that bike.

Fwiw there was also a noticeable difference if the tank was running low, so I'd try to keep >¼ of a tank. So on balance I've assumed smaller engines to at least "feedback" their grumbles more to the rider, or possibly just be more sensitive to any performance enhancements.

I toured to Portugal a few years ago and the fuel got worse and worse the further south I got, bike (ntv 650)was really struggling to run, was worried it was about to fail disastrously 2500 miles from
Home but picked up some octane booster and that sorted it.

You don’t think air humidity, temperature, density could have caused that?

I really doubt it, as the bike was running fine at the same latitude and altitude on Spanish fuel the day before, and the octane booster sorted it right out. Can’t remember but think the fuel was like 87 or something.

On the fuel subject. A local lawnmower mechanic advised me that I should drain the mower during the winter as in recent years they have been having big problems with sticky deposits left in carbs when the motor is unused. The guy is old and he said they never had issues in the past but whatever additives are in fuel now are causing them major headaches. The use a sonic cleaner as a second to last resort. Last resort is new carb.
I bought a new mower from him and, I thought - bizarrely, he asked when I would be using it as he seemed not keen that I let the mower sit for even a couple of weeks. Maybe he wanted me to have no issues at all with the mower being brand new.
He mentioned that it is best to locate a ‘good’ fuel provider and stick to them. They have found water and diesel in petrol tanks from garages. Personally I stick to Maxol and have never had any issues - this on the advice of a friend who was a taxi driver and did plenty of miles.

Many bikes will run fine on regular fuel. If you've got anything high performance, or moderate performance and air cooled, run super. It's mostly about knock resistance - modern sports bikes have very high compression and it hates shit fuel. A lot of them will adjust timing and all sorts if they detect any pre-ignition, etc. They will run on regular but they won't be delivering the full fat experience...

Empty the tank into a bucket, empty the carb bowl.
See what it looks like! Suspect it'll have a tonne of water in it.
Would fill it with fresh fuel.

Can echo what others have said, smaller more basic petrol engines I've found are super susceptible to shit fuel, number of times I've had to drop a tank load of fuel.

No, apart from in Europe.

Modern fuels are aweful for going off. Then becoming sticky residue bunging things up.

So draining is common. Fuel stabilisers may work but cheaper to drain the fuel.

Still runs like a champ and sit at a ton happily for a rat. Could do with gearing up though.
Had to leave in a hurry, so it sat for 6 months with battery out and tank topped. Started on the frikking button and got me from Barcelona to Bilbao the same day.

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@chak strong effort!

Had the week off work so had hoped to post a dyno sheet of the RSV but local garage's rolling road was out of action. Did give me time to add new coolant, which seems to be doing a better job. Although the bike went into 'limp home mode' for the last 2 days but used the fault code to diagnose it as the oil pressure sensor. Now replaced and running great, hopefully it stays that way.

I can replace it, but every time I jump on it, it's a proper happy bike so I don't have the heart. I thought it'd give up the ghost at 50k, but even at 60k, it's still running well! Reckon I'll try getting it 100k.

How's the pan weld holding up?
I'm all for clip ons, just gotta change your riding dynamics and all day riding is fine.

I get that about not having the heart to sell it on, especially when it's eager to start after that long. Holding up so far, both repairs looked fairly sturdy so fingers crossed.

Yeah. Mine is at 55k or so now and just as eager as when I got it. Aside from being in desperate need of a new chain, battery and some cush drive rubbers, there is zero reason to ditch it.

Clip-ons are splendid, as long as you ride everywhere a little faster. Probably why I swapped mine out for Renthals! :)

as long as you ride everywhere a little faster

Ah yes, the age old rationale! Sorry gov', the bike made me do it! Swear it wasn't my fault.

At the moment the horn is pissing me off. The connector in front of the front cylinder has corrosion and is a pain to get to. Aside from that, it eats some coolant and could do with the swing arm bushings changed, but that's it.
Thinking of doing some mini twin with it this season.

So after reading this, I put super unleaded in my Honda Vision 110. I don’t know about performance on such a gutless little engine, but sweet baby Jesus, it sounds so much sweeter.

Definitely time for a full bike test this summer. Do most people get through it in two days?

One day is gonna be your tests so depends how much training you feel you’ll need on the big bike. I had 3 days with mod 1 in the afternoon of the 2nd and mod 2 on the 3rd

I had 6 days, but had only been riding my 125 for 6 months of winter. Failed mod1 first time out.

Thanks. I’m tempted to get a learner legal bike with gears to get myself familiar but then I’ll be shelling out again for a second bike after my test.

I never rode as a learner, did CBT on a moped, hired a 125 for a week, 3 days training and all was fine. Already drive though so controlling the bike was all I needed to learn, not road awareness and positioning etc

As above try and get a condensed all in one course if you can pay that much in one go. Much quicker and cheaper way to pass.
I went with what was probably the slowest most laid back centre ever. Took 5 months to get 6 lessons and mod 1 then 2. Had 5 different instructors for 6 lessons, so each one spends the first 30 mins out of 120 faffing about 'seeing" how you are doing as they've never seen you ride before.
Super annoying but got there in the end.
UK bike test is more thorough than it used to be, but still teaches you feck all about bike handling. Imo the test they have now should be a morning session after maybe 4 hours of lessons, then spend a few half days on a track /airfield/carpark learning cornering, braking and traction finding techniques. And then some "this is how you stay alive" training. That is what would help.
See many folk out on sunny Sunday afternoons on litre bikes that they can barely wrestle around a mild corner in the dry with perfect visibility that might have only been riding h a few weeks.

I had 5 days, but that was after about 4 years off the bike. After day 1 riding a bigger bike was actually easier than a 125.

What am I missing here? Want to top up my brake fluid but when I open the reservoir fluid leaks from these nuts which secure the top. Reverse bleeding seems like a faff for such a simple job 🤔

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Because I haven't been able to open it and look inside it's a slight mystery. Presume the channels either side that house the screws must be sealed from the main reservoir, presuming they're not cracked...

The next question is can I replace the reservoir without bleeding the whole system.