I have my new bike now. She is gorgeous and has no tassells (Endo i know what your thinking!). However there are a couple of things which are niggling me about her and was wondering if you knew how to solve them.

First of all the gear lever is wobbly and i cant see a visable way to tighten it up. Also it seems to have loads more travel on it that my old bike. Not sure if this is something that can be altered.

Secondly my front brake is rubbing when the lever isn't pulled, does this indicate a new front disk/pads are needed?

Thirdly When i'm riding and the engine gets fairly high in revs there is a funny sounds. Its like one of them toy cars with a gyro wheel thing speeding up. Any ideas?

Thanks

Rich!!

________________________________________________________________________

All you people who are just browsing, get registered and get chatting! We don't bite

Hey, Trick!  Congrats on the new steed.  Here's a couple of thoughts:

Gear lever - get down on your knees and have a good look.  Is the lever loose on the shaft, or is the shaft itself loose?  Either would explain the excessive lever travel.  If the shaft is loose and wobbling about, that is not an easy fix.  If it's the lever loose on the shaft, then it should be easy to tighten it.  Undo the bolt that holds it onto the shaft and take it right out (it fits in a groove on the shaft, so just loosening it won't help).  You can then slide the lever off the splines and have a good look.  Either something is worn, which should be obvious, or it might just need the pinch-bolt tightening when you put it back on.  Only a good look will tell you.  One tip - mark the position of the lever on the crankcase before you take it off.  The splines are fairly co****, but I can never get the lever back in the right position first go - it always takes a couople of test rides to get it where it should be.  If the lever is too high or too low for you, you can of course re-position it when you put it back on.

Front brake - common problem.  The pistons slide in and out of the caliper and are protected by a rubber boot.  If the piston gets dirty or corroded (which it will), or if the rubber boot goes hard or splits, then the piston will not retract into the caliper fully and will leave the pad in contact with the disc.  If you've got more than about 2mm on the pads, and the disc isn't badly worn (check with fingers for a big lip on the outside edge), then they should be OK.  The cure is to take the caliper off, pull back the rubbers, and clean the pistons thoroughly with brake cleaner and a toothbrush or similar.  Do NOT pull the lever or press the pedal (for the rear) while the calipers are off the bike.  A little dab of red rubber grease on the sliding faces of the pistons will help to keep them working.  This is pretty much a yearly or twice-yearly bit of maintenance for most bikes, as the calipers, especially the front, are right in the way of all the rain, road muck and salt, and they have very close tolerances.  One point - and don't take this the wrong way - but if you are not confident to take the calipers off and clean them, then let someone else do it, or at least get it checked afterwards by someone who knows what to do.  Your brakes are more important than your pride.  Once you've seen it done, it's a fairly easy job, but it's safety-critical.

Funny sound at high revs - impossible to diagnose without hearing it.  If the engine's running well in every other way, I wouldn't worry.  A rattle would cause me concern, and a knock or a slapping sound would worry me more.  But lots of bikes whirr and buzz.  It might not even be the engine - some other loose part might be vibrating in harmony with the engine revs.

--

2003 ST1300 Pan Euro
1995 Yam XT600E
http://goingfastgettingnowhere.blogspot.com/

Bloody sweary filter!

--

2003 ST1300 Pan Euro
1995 Yam XT600E
http://goingfastgettingnowhere.blogspot.com/

Congrats on getting the zero-tasselled version, mate!

Probably a bit late to add any sage advice, especially as BD's pretty much covered it all.

Suzuki's are normally noted for their slick gearchange, so aside from issues with the wobbly lever, there may be more travel in the selector, but it should still hit the gears cleanly and without finding lots of false neutrals. Having the correct chain tension can make quite a difference to ease of changing gear (I'm pretty sure that the big Marauders are shafties and the smaller ones are chain), so you might want to check that. As BD says, you can reposition the gear lever when you're tightening it so it's at a more comfortable angle for you: usually it can be rotated one spline up or down from the original position without any difficulties.

Apart from properly stripping and cleaning the calipers, I tend to invest in a big can of Halford's aerosol disk brake cleaner at the start of winter and regularly spray all round, especially inside the calipers, when the weather gets a bit poor. It helps get rid of grime and potentially corrosive road salt before it has a chance to seize the brakes. Spray, then pump the brakes a few times - especially if you're doing it before you set off rather than at the end of a ride.

The noise could be anything at all, but a whining sound isn't the worst thing you could be hearing! Could be quite legitimate engine, chain or airbox noise. Probably worth taking a look at the cycle parts: wheels, mudguards, swingarm etc to see if there are any signs of anything rubbing anywhere, though. Other than that, worry if it gets louder or more noticeable.

>> ex silens nox noctis <<