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Supreme Being
Group: Forum Members
Last Login: 21st November 2010 21:17
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| Thats one fine looking beastie Endem, I can see why you were easilly persuaded to purchase it. MInd you, you do like variety in your bikes..................I quite like that style of bodywork and even the colour is not bad. Got 90's style as you say. Hope to see it next time I am in Brighton. Was down there two weeks ago spreading my Mother and Fathers ashes in the field behind St. Dunstans and went down the Lanes, what a great restaraunt the Vegitarian place is, my sister persuaded me I did not need chicken and she was right! Just thought I would say.
Don't slide unless you mean too. Be sure, ride safe and enjoy 
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Supreme Being
Group: Forum Members
Last Login: 23rd August 2010 20:19
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Nice one, Endo. A guy at work has one identical to yours, paint and everything. He really looks after it and it looks mint. I was studying it a while ago, and decided that it looked like a beefier big brother to my old GSX750F, which I rather enjoyed. Like the RF, I reckoned it was underrated. Plenty of power, predictable if slightly slow handling, comfy and (I thought) pretty good-looking too. It's a shame we are all so influenced by the mags and their opinions. There's a lot of perfectly decent motorbikes that are regarded as second-raters, purely because Fast Bolides or something decided it didn't go round Cadwell as well as a Gixxer.
--
2003 ST1300 Pan Euro
1995 Yam XT600E
http://goingfastgettingnowhere.blogspot.com/
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Supreme Being
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Last Login: 16th May 2010 15:09
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| Thanks for your kind words, gents. I am pleased with it - even if it is going back in to the dealer as the charging system still isn't quite up to speed - I've always had a soft spot for that type of basic but effective machinery. Looks okay in black, didn't really need the red flashes but it is from the nineties - and my last one was in the significantly more garish purple-and-silver combo, so this is a definite improvement! Comparison with the GSXF is a good one, both the 600 and 750 were overlooked in favour of their more glamorous competitors - largely on cosmetic grounds - but both were good bikes in their own right. Still, on the plus side, the fickleness of the buying public does guarantee that there are some absolute bargain used bikes to be had... I don't so much mind journos writing off bikes from the start, for whatever reason, it's when something that was rated as absolutely fantastic last year suddenly becomes rubbish just because there's a newer and shinier model available this year. A good bike is still good, whether or not there are better things available, in my opinion! Brighton is a nice place to visit, especially wandering about the lanes - and the nightlife there was where I misspent much of my late teens/early twenties, so I'm quite fond of the old place. Sorry to hear your trip wasn't solely for pleasure, though, rebelman: hope it all went as well as these things can. Mind you, I thought everybody needed chicken!
>> ex silens nox noctis <<
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Supreme Being
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Last Login: 16th May 2010 15:09
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| Haha. My RF is fixed - turns out the new alternator was fine, but the rubber interference-fit grommet on the alternator drive shaft had disintegrated, probably due to being disturbed for the first time in it's life. It's quite lovely, too - albeit the one thing that is noticeable is that even braided steel hose doesn't give old-fashioned four-pot calipers quite the same bite as modern radial six-pots. Still, it hasn't taken long to get used to the braking characteristics - not so long ago, all bikes were like that! Also fitted my new shiny deep-tone Beowulf end can, which makes a rather splendid noise and looks much better than the stock item. In the true spirit of karma, of course, Jeremy the TDM has started sulking (or something). Took him in for a new chain and sprockets the day after I got the RF back, which sorted out the transmission lash a treat, but on the way there the tacho threw a complete fit and eventually settled down to a steady zero revs. Asked the workshop guys to have a quick check, but they couldn't find anything obvious. Started him up and the tacho worked fine anyway. For a little bit, then did exactly the same thing. I'm guessing here that as it's electronic, it is more likely there's something in the HT circuitry that's on the way out (and delivers increasingly erratic pulses that interfere with the tacho reading as the component gets warmer) rather than the clock unit being faulty. Random electrical faults, my favourite. Of course I could just leave it until whatever it is finally breaks properly - much easier to trace the cause then. On a slightly brighter note, I'm trialling some ACF50 protective spray. Developed for aircraft, it allegedly not only protects metal but does a permanent rust-killer type conversion of the surface that can actually restore corrosion damage. Remains to be seen whether it lives up to the hype, but it could be the new WD40 for winter protection!
>> ex silens nox noctis <<
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Supreme Being
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Last Login: 21st November 2010 21:17
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| Endem, the ACF-50 report is awaited and needed. Randoms Alexis needs a squirt here and there as do most Suzi's so I am told. Just a few rusty looking areas like swing arm paint flaking and chrome nuts n bolts going orange. Not noticed anything on the trumpet though yet that really worries me but give it time and I am sure that orange colour will show itself somewhere. Had a new front tyre yesterday and Pure Triumph rekon it will give me a new sense of confidence as the old one was slightly illegal with some of the tread missing. OOPS! I too have an intermitant fault that causes the speedo to fail when it fancies. It had, if you remember, been fixed once but yesterday when taking it out of the shed I noticed it did not read its usual 1 mph and this time I thought it was gone completely. Apparently it has a conection under the tank that can become loose and so it was fixed. Whilst when I purchased the Trumpet it had a 90 degree valve in both the front and rear wheels I subsequently lost the rear one when I had a new tyre fitted during the year and so when I had to have a second new rear tyre fitted last October I asked the shop to order a new 90 degree valve and after having had it fitted I took the Trumpet home and put it away for a couple of weeks. The rear tyre flat when I took it out yesterday was worrying and this is why I ended up taking it to Pure Triumphs. Apparently the valve that had been fitted was never meant for the wheel and it should only have ever had a rubber short stubby straight valve anyway! Why ws there a 90 on it when I bought it then? "It must have been an after market one"?
Don't slide unless you mean too. Be sure, ride safe and enjoy
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Supreme Being
Group: Forum Members
Last Login: 16th May 2010 15:09
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| Good of them to spot that on the PDI before they let you take it away then... 90 degree valve extenders were a great idea in theory but rubbish in practice as they tended to do exactly that: let the air slowly out of the tyre as they either failed to bed in properly or put unexpected lateral stress on the valve seating. It can be awkward getting at a straight valve, especially with big brake disks on the front wheel, but a cheap Halfords foot pump with several nozzle adaptors worked as an alternative for me. I try not to use garage airhoses as I never trust their gauges - far prefer to do it manually with an old fashioned pencil gauge.
>> ex silens nox noctis <<
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Supreme Being
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Last Login: 23rd August 2010 20:19
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ACF50 - The Lowdown.
1. It works. I used the Bandit over last winter, and it survived really well. ACF on in late October, and off again in April. Use it on all exposed metal you can find - fasteners, hangers, engine and ancillaries, forks, chromework, wheels, calipers (careful), swingarm, shock, even paintwork if you think it needs it. It will come off with white spirit.
2. It is not good on: brakes, tyres, seat, anywhere your clothes might rub, and exhaust.
3. It is extremely slippery. Extremely. And it sticks to whatever it is applied to. Once it is on your hands, you will have to scrub them before you can do anything needing grip. It doesn't feel pleasant on the skin. If you get it on your tyres, you MUST scrub it off with white spirit or similar. It will not rub off like WD40 does with a bit of wear. I got a small bit of overspray on my rear tyre and had a major slide as a result. Took me 30 minutes of scrubbing before I could ride away.
4. It burns off exhausts and smells disgusting. Even after 30 minutes running, it was smoking off at traffic lights and the smell is really horrible.
5. Used as a spray, it comes out as pink foam and covers well. It's easier and less messy to spray onto a bit of muslin cloth and rub it on by hand, if you need to, such as on wheel rims or brake components.
I think it's worth using, if you are prepared to strip all the plastics off and make a day of it sometime in autumn. It really does hold back the dreaded tinworm and alloy fluff. But you need to set aside another day in the spring to get it all off again. As I said, it's tenacious.
For me, I think I will stick with a weekly wash and a spray of WD40 - much less hassle on a naked bike and I just lurve the smell. And it burns off the header pipes in a trice. For a faired bike used through winter on salty roads, it's probably worth the extra hassle to use ACF50.
Just my 2p worth.
--
2003 ST1300 Pan Euro
1995 Yam XT600E
http://goingfastgettingnowhere.blogspot.com/
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Supreme Being
Group: Forum Members
Last Login: 16th May 2010 15:09
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| Yep, that's pretty much chapter and verse on the stuff. Haven't tried it on the tyres or brakes - and intend keeping it that way. Definitely not nice to work with and I will be sticking with WD40 on the pipes! Application by cloth is best: it's rather like expanding cavity foam when sprayed directly on surfaces. Still, both Yamahas and Suzukis of the last millennium were dreadfully prone to winter rot (and both of my bikes have seen a few winters already) so it's probably worth the effort and unpleasantness. I'm most interested in how well it "restores" metal - one of the chaps at my local dealers conducted an experiment with some ordinary already slightly corroded, steel plates. Sprayed one with ACF and one with WD then left them outside for a few weeks. The WD did OK, but the ACF plate was shinier than when he started. I'm not expecting miracles, or the same results from aluminium (particularly painted ally, as my RF's frame is!) but every little helps. Our ever-helpful site maintenance people have gritted and salted the roadways and carparks at work with their customary enthusiasm, which means it's like an off-road experience to get to the bike sheds and there's more salt down than at the Bonneville flats...
>> ex silens nox noctis <<
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Supreme Being
Group: Forum Members
Last Login: 16th May 2010 15:09
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| Ah, the delights of non-Honda build quality on bikes of a certain age. Things just happen, for which there is little rational explanation. The mighty Jeremy has been in pretty much exclusive usage since Christmas and uncomplainingly soaked up all the miserable conditions with nary a misfire. Until Friday evening, when coming up to one of the local roundabouts at a reasonably pacy 60-ish. Brake for the entry...lever comes right back to the bars, no noticeable change in forward velocity. Not a good moment. Bit of a rush, really, sorting it out with throttle, rear brake and Bridgestone's finest wet-weather grip...pretty happy not to have chucked him up the road. Pull over, let the shakes subside, pump the lever and it pressures up, except now the front wheel's locked almost solid. Nursed the bike home, threw it grumpily in the garage and had a look yesterday: fairly obvious what the problem is - right side brake disc optically smooth and beautiful, left side shaped like a wok without the handle, so far out of true it's fouled not just on the pads but on the caliper body as well. I'm at a loss to explain how it happened so fast: pads are fine, brakes haven't been binding, no tell-tale signs of any warping in the disc, it was fine when I last checked it only a couple of days before and hardly did any miles since. Guess it's time was just up...eBayed a replacement set of imported steels for about £140, half the price of OEMs, but I'm going to get them fitted professionally along with some Goodridge hoses. Brakes aren't an area I like to compromise on and I absolutely detest bleeding the damn things, so reckon it's worth the cost! Oh well, I wanted to play on the RF anyway...
>> ex silens nox noctis <<
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Supreme Being
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Last Login: 23rd August 2010 20:19
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That's a bit of a worry. I'm usually pretty relaxed about mechanical failure, reckoning that I will spot something serious before it happens, either through the weekly wash/check routine, or basic mechanical sympathy while it is running. But to have brakes fail on you like that, almost without warning ... glad you got out of it with no more than a case of the jitters. As my mate charmingly says, "I nearly sucked the whole seat up my *rse."
--
2003 ST1300 Pan Euro
1995 Yam XT600E
http://goingfastgettingnowhere.blogspot.com/
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