Any bikers here???

[ged]

Didn’t think it matters where you put your tax disc as long as it is displayed or you have it on you to stop thieves?

When a vehicle which is required to have a tax disc is on a public road in the UK, you are breaking the law if you do not display the tax disc on the vehicle. You are not allowed to keep it in your pocket nor even in the bike's luggage, although you can remove it for safe keeping if you leave the public roads for example in some car parks. It MUST be displayed on the near side of the vehicle so that it can be inspected by passing traffic wardens, police etc..

http://www.direct.gov.uk/en/Motoring/OwningAVehicle/HowToTaxYourVehicle/DG_10021514

 

[cbr6fs]

Nice bikes cbr6f, sad shot in the last two though, hope you're well and the "ex-biker" comment wasn't as a result of that smash.

Thanks.

Yep unfortunately it was, Brachial plexus injury FTL!!!1111
Ridden a few times since by moving stuff around but i don't feel enough in control with 1 arm on the roads here, so it's cars only from now on unfortunately

 

[ged]

...After stopping for lunch I turned the fuel off and forgot to turn it back on before setting off.. Made it about 10m down the road. ... didn't have the confidence to fiddle with the tap on the move, so pulled into a convenient lane to sort it out.

Is that ten miles with the tap off??!! When I had bikes which had fuel taps they wouldn't go a hundred yards with the tap off, if you could even start them!

Good plan to pull in and stop when you need to sort something out. Always safer if you can find a safe spot to stop.

The route back was mainly A roads, the 4189 > 425 > 45. Got my first overtaking in, chin nearly on the bars and the throttle pinned open....

Try to keep the excitement out of the overtaking. It's one of the more dangerous maneuvers, especially on a bike, where you're so vulnerable to complete nut-cases. I've had people deliberately try to force me off the road. Only a couple of times in forty years and over half a million miles of riding but the consequences of an accident can be with you for the rest of your life no matter who was at fault.

Don't get into a situation where you or the bike are in any way struggling to execute the maneuver. You need to absolutely know that you can carry out the overtake safely, and, normally, within a few seconds at the most. If you don't know, then don't do it. Backing out of an overtake half way through when you find you've made a mistake can be very dangerous. You can't depend on what the driver you're overtaking will do and you could find your retreat to safety blocked when the driver being overtaken brakes. Some -- many -- drivers treat being overtaken as a personal affront, and if they see your overtake waver they will do the most insane things.

I like to plan my overtakes so that I spend the minimum of time in an exposed and vulnerable position. That usually means starting the overtake much further away from the vehicle to be overtaken than most people would do it. This (1) gives the bike time to build up a good overtaking speed which (2) means that you spend less time actually overtaking and (3) allows you to watch the situation as it develops and (4) gives more opportunity to abort the overtake if necessary and (5) gives more information to other road users and (6) gives said users more time to digest it and (7) doesn't surprise them so much so that (8) they don't panic and do something dangerously stupid.

When I do an overtake with oncoming traffic, I usually pull out a long way to the side fairly quickly at the start of the overtake, and immediately start returning to the normal road position. This means that the oncoming driver can see straight away that I'm going to be back on my side of the road before he gets to the bit of road that I'm on. I think of it as a kind of sawtooth-shaped change in my road position. It's another "information giving" thing.

These are advanced riding techniques and you should think about them carefully before you attempt them. Once you're at a standard of riding where you can take it all in, an advanced course is well worth it. These topics and many others will be covered by very experienced riders both in the classroom and in real situations out on the road where the instructor watching you will probably know what gear you're in better than you do, even if he's in front of you.

 

[ged]

... Brachial plexus injury ... Ridden a few times since by moving stuff around but i don't feel enough in control with 1 arm on the roads here, so it's cars only from now on unfortunately

Sorry to hear that. That's the trouble with riding a bike, it's just far too easy to hurt yourself badly, or for somebody else to hurt you badly, with just one bad decision.

 

[Andy BB]

Man, you still trying to dig it out?! That Ivy must be on steroids! Perhaps you need something bigger than a billhook LOL! Try Naplam, the MZ ought to survive that blast.

Nice bikes cbr6f, sad shot in the last two though, hope you're well and the "ex-biker" comment wasn't as a result of that smash.

CG125 ahh yes my girlfriend at the time first bike, we never did get it running but bught a CB100n and she used that for ages, until it got nicked. Good little runner too, especailly with the slash cut side pipe I fitted on it, tweaked the timing a bit and that thing flew!

I'm claiming that work is stopping me chopping it out! But a piccie nevertheless..

 

[Stringmaker]

I'm a fair weather biker; if the long range forecast even hints at cloud then my GPz500 stays in the garage.

However..........today I took a chance and we've had a load of heavy showers. Add to that the fact that I live in a rural county, and the roads home will be coated with a light dust of field runoff and mud........Yuk.

 

[Andy BB]

A few additional piccies of bikes I've had in the past,,

From the top, an XS1100 with Vetter gear from the early 80s, and the others include a Beemer 1100LT - great touring bike, Burgman 650 and a Kawasaki 1500 Drifter

,

 

[Berk]

Is that ten miles with the tap off??!! When I had bikes which had fuel taps they wouldn't go a hundred yards with the tap off, if you could even start them!

Good plan to pull in and stop when you need to sort something out. Always safer if you can find a safe spot to stop.

10 metres.

Try to keep the excitement out of the overtaking. It's one of the more dangerous maneuvers, especially on a bike, where you're so vulnerable to complete nut-cases. I've had people deliberately try to force me off the road. Only a couple of times in forty years and over half a million miles of riding but the consequences of an accident can be with you for the rest of your life no matter who was at fault.

Don't get into a situation where you or the bike are in any way struggling to execute the maneuver. You need to absolutely know that you can carry out the overtake safely, and, normally, within a few seconds at the most. If you don't know, then don't do it. Backing out of an overtake half way through when you find you've made a mistake can be very dangerous. You can't depend on what the driver you're overtaking will do and you could find your retreat to safety blocked when the driver being overtaken brakes. Some -- many -- drivers treat being overtaken as a personal affront, and if they see your overtake waver they will do the most insane things.

I like to plan my overtakes so that I spend the minimum of time in an exposed and vulnerable position. That usually means starting the overtake much further away from the vehicle to be overtaken than most people would do it. This (1) gives the bike time to build up a good overtaking speed which (2) means that you spend less time actually overtaking and (3) allows you to watch the situation as it develops and (4) gives more opportunity to abort the overtake if necessary and (5) gives more information to other road users and (6) gives said users more time to digest it and (7) doesn't surprise them so much so that (8) they don't panic and do something dangerously stupid.

When I do an overtake with oncoming traffic, I usually pull out a long way to the side fairly quickly at the start of the overtake, and immediately start returning to the normal road position. This means that the oncoming driver can see straight away that I'm going to be back on my side of the road before he gets to the bit of road that I'm on. I think of it as a kind of sawtooth-shaped change in my road position. It's another "information giving" thing.

These are advanced riding techniques and you should think about them carefully before you attempt them. Once you're at a standard of riding where you can take it all in, an advanced course is well worth it. These topics and many others will be covered by very experienced riders both in the classroom and in real situations out on the road where the instructor watching you will probably know what gear you're in better than you do, even if he's in front of you.

I hear ya. It was my second ride out on my own, with my fiancée in front acting as my sat nav. Both overtakes were on the dual carriageway, the first was a lorry when we both had a load of space, nothing in view behind and plenty of time to execute. The second was a small silver car, my fiancée went first, but I ended up waiting behind for a large enough gap for me to do it before doing the overtake and eventually catching her up again. Advanced training is on the cards, but not for a while until I can afford it. I'm content to pootle for now, and quite enjoyed the 15 miles or so we spent stuck behind a skip lorry at 45-50.
Cheers for taking the time to reply.

 

[Stringmaker]

10 metres.

Advanced training is on the cards, but not for a while until I can afford it. Cheers for taking the time to reply.

I recommend getting your local coppers to assess you:

https://www.bikesafe.co.uk/About-BikeSafe/

I did one of these days and it was excellent. Not expensive as I recall and the assessors were all very approachable and down to earth. Well worth the time.

 

[Asa Samuel]

Does anyone have any experience with Haynes motorcycle manuals? I want to start doing my own services to save some cash and am looking for quite a basic step-by-step (Or near enough) guide to the tasks needed for servicing my bike and I saw this http://www.haynes.co.uk/webapp/wcs/...10001&storeId=10001&productId=51801&langId=-1 which includes lexmoto made bikes.

Also, I'm getting a knocking from the front of my bike when I'm going over some bumps. If I push down on the front forks when the bike is stationary I'm not getting the noise so some people I talked to said it might be the head race bearings. I also know that that guy I've been taking the bike to for servicing hasn't been greasing the head race each time because it takes a lot of work and he said something along the lines of it only needs doing once a year so you can see another reason I'd like to start doing the services myself. What am I looking for when inspecting the bearings? I have three more weeks of college left after which I won't be riding the bike for a while - can inspecting the bearings wait till then?

Cheers for any help guys

 

[Doc]

Got the Haynes manual for my 2006 CG125.

Pretty good, but:

80% of the book is about the older models, with stuff about my model tacked on. I think the Lexmoto Haynes manual might cover lots of Chinese bikes, so it might have the same issue.

I have been able to change the oil, adjust the chain tension and adjust the brakes using just the manual and a fairly basic toolkit, though I did need to buy a torque wrench. I plan to do the valve clearnces as the procedure looks straightforward. I must admit to being a bit nervous about more advanced stuff.

 

[ged]

I wrote a longer reply to this last night but the forum ate it.

Does anyone have any experience with Haynes motorcycle manuals?

I've seen two or three. They've been fair, but as Doc says they may not be entirely up to date, may cover more than one model and the cover may be patchy. They're not expensive compared to genuine workshop manuals so it might be worth a punt. Some libraries have them, you might get lucky or perhaps you could order one although that might take weeks. You might find a workshop manual on the Internet. You will certainly find any number of motorcycle forum groups which if you're getting into more serious DIY would probably be a better bet than the odd biker on BCUK.

Also, I'm getting a knocking from the front of my bike when I'm going over some bumps. If I push down on the front forks when the bike is stationary I'm not getting the noise so some people I talked to said it might be the head race bearings.

I take anything like that fairly seriously. It's my neck.

I also know that that guy I've been taking the bike to for servicing hasn't been greasing the head race each time because it takes a lot of work and he said something along the lines of it only needs doing once a year...

If the head races are reasonably well protected from the weather then he's probably right. The grease isn't going anywhere.

What am I looking for when inspecting the bearings?

Wear. Damage. Correct assembly. Correct adjustment assuming that adjustment is possible.

You will generally have two ball races, one at the top and one at the bottom of the headstock. Sometimes they're tapered roller bearings which are a lot better. It's easy to tell if the races are badly worn or damaged, but you need to be aware that plunger forks, if worn themselves, can confuse the issue so try to get a friend to observe as well while you're doing this. Just lift the front wheel off the ground using blocks or something under the frame in the area of the engine. Be cautious if there are only alloy engine parts on which to rest the bike, they may not be designed to take the load. If in doubt don't do it. Make sure that the bike is stable and can't fall or roll. Check that the steering will move freely from one side to the other with no big notches where the steering wants to stay put. There's often a bit of a detent worn at a not-quite straight ahead position which you can live with if it's small. If the steering seems tight it probably needs to be adjusted but that doesn't sound like an issue in this case. Stand in front of the bike and yank the forks forward, hard, at the bottom to see if they move. Don't forget that I said make sure that the bike can't roll or fall over. The forks shouldn't give you an appreciable movement. If they go clonk-clonk and move more than a millimetre or so when you pull and let go then you need to adjust the bearing or you might want to get them looked at professionally. Adjustment is pretty easy, and it isn't a highly advanced DIY job to replace the bearings but it will be quite a bit of effort. I'd be very disappointed if the bearing needed to be replaced if the bike has only done a few thousand miles but I wouldn't be at all surprised if they needed to be adjusted.

Wheel bearings can be checked at the same time. The only movement you should be able to feel is the wheel rotating. You should be able to yank hard on the rim at right-angles to the rotation and feel no play. Adjusting wheel bearings (assuming it's possible) might not be something you want to take on just yet but it's not difficult. You really don't want a bearing to overheat and suddenly sieze up.

I have three more weeks of college left after which I won't be riding the bike for a while - can inspecting the bearings wait till then?

It's your neck. I would want to know sooner rather than later.

 

[Grendel]

Haynes manuals are a good starting guide but they are also nicknamed the Haynes book of lies for a reason since they are not always 100% accurate. Your best bet is joining a Chinese bike owner’s forum as well as the manual to ask questions first.

http://chinesescoots.forumwise.com/chinesescoots-forum-36.html

http://mychinesebike.com/phpbb/index.php?sid=f0710ffa7c7ff88a4f57847901961cd2

http://www.125ccsportsbikes.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=83465

As for the knocking noise check every bolt is tight on the bike before you go taking the forks apart since I could just be something loose which the Chinese bikes are prone to apparently.
Tool kit wise I use the Halfords professional small socket set, Stanley torque wrench & sockets and a couple of screw drivers for doing most of the work on my big old Transalp.

 

[Asa Samuel]

I've had a go at the forks and there is no knocking and no appreciable movement - although the bike was moving at the same time so it may have just not been noticeable, there is no notching in the steering it is completely smooth and it is easy to turn the handlebars so I don't think the bearings need replacing. But from what I've been reading about I'm pretty certain it's the bearings that need tightening - it is where the knocking sound is coming from and I don't think the brakes are sticking so I can discount that. I've heard mention of a particular tool needed to adjust the bearings but there is no such thing sold on the lexmoto parts website. What is it I'm looking for?

The top yoke looks pretty easy to remove so I'll be much happier doing that on the weekend than taking the wheel, forks and front electric assembly apart

 

[ged]

I've had a go at the forks and there is no knocking and no appreciable movement ... But from what I've been reading about I'm pretty certain it's the bearings that need tightening

If the bearings were too loose, with the front wheel off the ground I would expect you to be able to feel movement of the forks when you pull and let go. If you can't feel any movement, and given the low mileage of the bike, I am not convinced that the head bearings are the problem. I think you should make sure that the bearings need attention before making any adjustments. Many a perfectly serviceable piece of machinery has been put out of service by unnecessary maintenance.

Grendel made a good point about checking that everything that's supposed to be tight is in fact tight. Have you had a good look at all the fasteners?

... I don't think the brakes are sticking so I can discount that.

I don't understand how sticking brakes might be expected to make a noise when you went over certain bumps. What's the proposed mechanism?

I've heard mention of a particular tool needed to adjust the bearings but there is no such thing sold on the lexmoto parts website. What is it I'm looking for?

I don't know. It will depend on the way that the bearings are held in place. I can imagine something like a 'C' spanner or something with a couple of pins which engage with holes in the face of a threaded plate, like the things I use to put a wheel on an angle grinder. The workshop manual will be the definitive source of information.

The top yoke looks pretty easy to remove so I'll be much happier doing that on the weekend than taking the wheel, forks and front electric assembly apart

Make sure that you can reassemble the bike properly before you take it apart. Things like the yoke bolts will have torque settings listed in the workshop manual. Something like the Haynes manual might do if the information is in there and is reliable. If you don't tighten a fastener adequately it might not hold; too tight and something might break. Either could be dangerous. When you have a lot of experience you can manage without a torque wrench for a lot of things but for some things (brakes and steering providing many examples) it's still important

 

[Asa Samuel]

Someone mentioned the brake calliper but It didn't sound plausible to me.

I've got a spare day this weekend that I can check all the nuts and bolts I can find I'll let you guys know if I find anything.

 

[Grooveski]

Pushbike shops are a good source for c spanners. They use similar nuts for crank assemblies.
I've a variety of them kicking about. Most are just homemade affairs cut out of plate but if you measure the nut and I have one that fits you're welcome to it.

Mind with headraces it's just the teeniest wee bit you're nipping them up. Five degrees or so then test it, too tight and it'll affect the steering and trash the bearings.
....but will still feel ok at a standstill, it's very easy to overdo them and not realise until you're up to speed(where it can induce weaves or more commonly feel heavy as you lift the bike out of corners).

Just had a flick through the thread, looking at the pictures mostly. Great to see everyones bikes, what an assortment!

Jealous of FGYT and Treetop, I started out on a TY50 - always wanted the 80. More compact and more power, was a better package(a schoolpal had one).

Spied a couple of XT350s among the pages. I've been of a mind for one of those for a while. My wee dirtbike(DT125MX) has a hard time keeping up with modern traffic.

Having checked out everyone elses pics, seems only fair to add one too. It's an old photo but while the rider may look rougher these days the bike(ZXR400R) actually looks better after being treated it to a fresh tank and plastics last year.

 

[Grooveski]

Meant to say:

I've had a go at the forks and there is no knocking and no appreciable movement - although the bike was moving at the same time so it may have just not been noticeable

It's sometimes just the tiniest amount. Really concentrate while your doing it. Close your eyes if it helps.

 

[Grendel]

Asa Samuel:
I think the problem your friend means with the brakes is sometimes the pads can rattle a little bit also if your discs are slightly warped so when you apply the brakes slightly you will get a bit of chatter from the pads catching the warped disk before they apply. Check both the pads for uneven wear and spin the wheel to check the discs are still straight.

I had this with the old rear disc on the Transalp I think the garage I used to use must have dropped the wheel on its side bending the disc when they put new wheel bearings in for the MOT.

 

[ged]

... on the Transalp I think the garage I used to use must have dropped the wheel on its side bending the disc...

I once used a dealership like that. I think it was just the once. It was in Nottingham. I won't actually give the name although they probably deserve it. They even tried to wear the discs down below the service limit after telling me that they were already below it and asking for permission to replace them -- which I refused. When I got to the dealership with my micrometer the discs were (a) still a millimetre over the service limit, because they were almost brand new having been replaced earlier in the same year and (b) hot and blue. I think I still have the managing director's two grovelling written apologies somewhere. I didn't think the first one was grovelling enough so I asked him for a second one. I didn't go there again, and started to go down to Leicester instead. Then the Nottingham dealership bought the one in Leicester!

... when they put new wheel bearings in for the MOT.

Mind sharing with us what you have to do with a Transalp to wear out its wheel bearings?