This section allows you to view all posts made by this member. Note that you can only see posts made in areas you currently have access to.
Messages - florence
Pages: 1 ... 58 59 [60] 61 62 ... 70
886
« on: September 11, 2010, 10:59:00 AM »
Hi and welcome. Another person from Somerset, which part?
887
« on: September 09, 2010, 09:32:58 PM »
Have you looked on the headstock on the left hand side? I know on mine I could hardly read it until I scratched off all the layrs of paint that had built up over the years.
888
« on: September 08, 2010, 01:17:03 PM »
Wow, what a beauty.
What is the mileage?
Does it jump out of gear?
MOT?
What year?
Swap for 500/4, excellent runner?
889
« on: September 08, 2010, 11:44:38 AM »
Has anyone here owned a Yamaha XS1100 and, if so, what did you think of it? I'm thinking of getting one, any thoughts anyone?
890
« on: September 06, 2010, 07:15:22 PM »
I thought the standard gearing was too tall for ages. One day I threw away my motad exhaust and put on something less restrictive and now it goes a lot faster and the standard gearing seems perfect.
891
« on: September 03, 2010, 08:50:41 AM »
Why would one want to put enamel on the engine? Someone tried put some on one of my old engines before I owned it; it just cracked and flaked and looked awful and ruined the case. I don't know how to remove what's left. Bare aluminium is much nicer, mine has a lovely polish mark on the clutch casing where my boot has rubbed it over the years. The rest has a lovely matt oxide finish that has taken me years to culture.
892
« on: September 03, 2010, 08:42:25 AM »
My carbs were stripped and cleaned, set up and balanced in 1995 and they have been running well ever since. I think any changes in fuel must be negligable because I have not had the problems you describe. I am sure the variable here is your carbs which you are addressing.
If a bike needs to be laid up it is good to drain the carbs completely. When the big end failed on my CB350K in 1995 I took the carbs off, drained them and they lived in a box for fifteen years. Recently, I rebuilt the engine; I simply rinsed out the carbs with petrol, put them on the bike and it fired up after about four kicks and runs fine.
893
« on: August 31, 2010, 09:52:31 AM »
Hooray for CXs. Lots of people say rude things about them but anyone who has ridden one will know how great they were. Although quite heavy, mine would go round corners incredibly well leaning right over until everything was scratching and sparking, it took some nerve but once I realised what amazing traction it had there was no stopping me. It devoured miles and was very comfortable. I had koni shocks to stiffen the rear and I had upside-down honda k4 handlebars. When the exhausts fell apart I used a pair of old BSA A10 silencers on home-made flexible exhaust (from a tractor) down tube; sounded fantastic. I discovered that sliding the forks an inch up in the yolks speeded up the steering and made it feel less heavy at the front. I also cut down the saddle to improve the riding position. One needs to sit 'in' a bike like that, not perch on top. As the headlight unit was so ugly I replaced it with two CB125S units bolted together which made the bike look rather like a frog.
There were two downsides however, it did not have a kickstart so winter starting was always a pain and not an easy bike to bump start (always park on a hill I say). The second problem was the water pump, which always leaked.
894
« on: August 27, 2010, 09:04:23 AM »
You are right, but I was very surprised how much difference the pads make. I had put up with the brakes for years and accepted that they were just a bad design. I stripped and cleaned the caliper, used a new piston and seal and the Vesrah pads from David Silver and adjusted carefully. The brakes are now the best they have been in 15 years
One day, as an experiment (with the old EBC pads in), I found a quiet long straight stretch of country road. I placed a stick in the verge, went back down the road and approached my marker at 60mph making sure there were no cars following. When I reached the stick I did an emergency stop to see how far I would travel. I was surprised to see that the braking distance was not in any way as far as I had imagined it would be. Evidently, the brakes have no 'feel' but are actually not as bad as one perceives them to be.
The best brakes I have experienced were the ones on my CX500, twin disc with twin piston calipers. They were amazing, I could stop on a sixpence with those in the dry, from any speed. If it could be done, without loosing the wire spoked wheels, I would love that set-up on my CB500.
895
« on: August 26, 2010, 03:00:07 PM »
896
« on: August 26, 2010, 02:44:33 PM »
I have always found EBC pads last forever but have no feel and do not slow the bike down noticeably. I recently bought whatever are the pads that Dave Silver stocks, Vesrah I think, and they are excellent. I did not realise pads could make so much difference, they have made it feel like a different bike.
It is worth noting that it is worthwhile to strip and clean the caliper fairly regularly and, of course, replace the seal. The winter is very harsh on the caliper. Lets face it, the brakes on these bikes are terrible at the best of times.
897
« on: August 26, 2010, 01:42:02 PM »
Welcome to the forum.
A few years ago a friend offered me a go on his 400/4. He asked me to be careful. Imagine the look on his face when I said 'not bad but it wouldn't go much over 90'.
Nice bike to ride actually, incredible engineering.
898
« on: August 26, 2010, 01:29:46 PM »
Perhaps now is a good time to put my 500 on ebay and see what happens, what do you reckon, 'Barn Find', easy restoration project? 
899
« on: August 25, 2010, 11:54:51 AM »
My first bike was a 1969 Yamaha CS3 200 twin which I rebuilt and rode around fields etc.
My worst bike was my first road bike, a Yamaha FS1E which kept fouling plugs, wrecking pistons, needing constant decoking and generally being underpowered and slow. I used one throttle position, i.e fully open and went huge distances, slowly. It amuses me how these bikes sell for disproportionate amounts on ebay at the moment. I rode a Honda C50 'Chicken Chaser' at one point and it was as fast, just not as 'cool' looking as the FSIE and I thought it was in fact a better bike. (A kind policeman later pointed out that it was not stricly legal to ride a C50 at sixteen)
I was glad when I was became seventeen and could get something bigger, a CB125S, which was superb.
Best bike has to be my 500/4 which I have been using since 1995.
900
« on: August 23, 2010, 02:24:39 PM »
My bike cost me about
Pages: 1 ... 58 59 [60] 61 62 ... 70
|
Show Posts