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This all sounds remarkably familiar, I'm sure it's some sort of rite of passage.
When you had a run on the back before buying, had it been warmed up already?
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Old fuel? Anytime a bike has been sat, especially outside you get some condensation in there, also chance of leaking water from bad tank lid seal, and crappy petrol from petrol stations (got a 5 litre jug filled up a month ago, its been sat in my workshop untouched since then, just went to run some 2s engine off it and misbehaving like mad. Yup, that 5l of fuel contained at least 1litre of water, excellent, thanks sainsbo).
Before going mad, take tank off, drain it, put a litre of fresh fuel and swill it around. Then drain that, and put 5 litres of new TODAY fresh petrol.
If that fixes any problems great, if it doesn't then you at least know its not that. -
Had to choke engine like hell. Choke closed idle revs very low, sluggish, without choke instant cut-out with clutch or throttle. Barely open choke, got a bit of consistency.
I got the old carb version of the yamaha 125 you did your cbt on and it's pretty much impossible cold, I could never get anywhere in a hurry. If I can get it to idle cold with the choke off it cuts out as soon as I touch the throttle and it hates riding with the choke on or half.
Morning / after work routine is firing it up full choke, then go get dressed up. Come back 5 mins later and I can turn the choke off and it'll behave fine.
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I appreciate I’m a bit tl;dr/csb so I’ll try keep ride report #1 to the point, but loads to report!
Insurance kicked in at midday. 12:20 engine still wouldn’t start. Had charged the old battery an hour or so, battery fluid actually on minimum line, buying new battery soon. Spark sounded healthy enough, just refused to turn over more than a few starter splurts. Had to choke engine like hell. Choke closed idle revs very low, sluggish, without choke instant cut-out with clutch or throttle. Barely open choke, got a bit of consistency.
Got on the road running rich. Definitely inconsistent, revs through the roof and refuse to drop if too rich, and dead low if not rich enough, so needs a carb clean. Took it round the block, needs a higher gear for lower speed than expected. Bit clunky, but the ride is super low, way relaxed. Kept revs over 4-6k and it sounded happy.
Had to go right across town for a headlamp bulb, none in the nearby place, scrapyard recommended an old school mechanic shop. Oldboy did a bit of a bodge to make lamp fit securely. One of the two rear red lights has one of the filaments busted (only one solid light, both light with brake). Brake switches need tighter tolerances, maybe front hydraulic fluid isn’t enough either.
At dusk, at a red a guy behind jumped out his van and said my lights weren’t on. I pushed it onto the kerb and a chap crossing the road (apparently strips and rebuilds bikes, serendipity) helps to diagnose why lights weren’t on, including rear light dual filament and speedo lamp. Lights probably just not fully switched to ‘on’ from sidelight. All ok after actually starting again. He also gave advice over the idling and revving issues, and recommended a U-turn to Halfords for some Redex.
Stupidly paid £3 for a one-shot instead of £5 for 500ml.
Speedo needle is wobbling all over the shop, friend who had a DR 125 said they do wear out. I will replace the cockpit with the newer ones off ebay, maybe even buy the gear indicator sensor thing.
Anyway, I stalled a whole bunch of times because of the low revs, and had to keep the throttle on a lot with clutch and brakes on (lots of gentle inclines on the routes). Lots and lots of sitting in traffic. Most fun of the stalls was entering a roundabout before home, managed to keep it rolling forward and get the engine running after the third nearly false start after stall.
Trial by fire for sure. If the odo’s correct was around 23 miles. Can’t believe how much slower (congested inner-city rides) a motorbike is compared to bombing along cycleways on a bmx!