YAMAHA21

The light had been on for a little while but last time I checked there was still a fair amount in the reservoir, just forgot to check today and unfortunately it ran out while I was going down the road. I know I f**ked up. I just ordered some oil yesterday as well. The bike died similarly to as if it had run out of petrol. I pushed it home and changed the plug and put some cheap 2 stroke in it that I had in the garage. Tried starting it and at first it would die straight away and sounded different. I then unscrewed the oil pump bleed screw and left that out until oil was flowing from the drain hole. Now when I start it, it will idle okay but it still sounds a bit different (not as bad as at first though). What should I do from now? Is it just a matter of letting it idle for a while or should I take it for a gentle ride? EDIT: I think the oil issue is sorted now because the bike idles and revs as it used to but I'm worried that something was damaged when the bike died. There is a very noticeable 'rattling' or 'chattering' sound at idle and it gets worse when you rev the bike. Anybody know what this could be?

With the idiot bulb out it works in the sense that they flash correctly but the back indicators still stay dimly lit however the front don't stay lit at all in-between flashes. When you plug the led idiot light in, the front indicators now also stay dimly lit as well as the rear.

I don't have rear/brake light issues. If I need to get some resistors then I might just buy 4 and put them next to the indicators as most people do. The rear stay dimly lit and so do the front but the front are nearly not lit at all where as the back are lit brighter than the front. The front indicators are bigger than the back and have more led's so it would make sense for the smaller indicators to be lit brighter seen as they need even less current right?

There is a positive that is 12v all the time but the other side is positive 11v constant when the indicators are off and 11v flashing when the indicators are on. I connected a diode to the green wire that goes to the relay and the indicator switch while using the led as the idiot light but the back indicators are still dimly lit in-between flashes.

Sorry about the thread resurrection. I eventually gave up fixing this because the bike passed an MOT with the indicators staying dimly lit in-between flashes. But I've recently installed some nice new indicators and it's bothering again. I'm trying to understand where to put the diodes on the bike but can't figure it out. So just to refresh, the indicators will not flash when a standard bulb is installed as the idiot light and when it's removed they will flash but stay dimly lit in-between flashes. They also do this if you use an LED for the idiot light. Can someone point out on this diagram where to put the diodes? Or literally where on the bike. I used a tester to find the positive of the idiot light but it showed up as one side being pos 12v and the other side being pos 12v flashing. So where do I earth it? Cheers

Well I'm 18 so I'd still be on a 125 max.

Maybe I am a bit quick to take things apart lol. But because of that I've ended up with a pretty quick bike compared to how it was when I got it. Although I realise carb tuning is on a whole different level. So how much would I be looking at to get the carb setup by a garage with a dyno? There's a garage near me that has one and the bloke who owns the place has over 30 years of tuning experience.

What would you say about this plug then, it's the one I've been using for the last 1000 miles or so. Also I tested the 250 jet today and the bike decelerates in 6th gear and it feels like it wants to stall a bit easier when pulling away, I need to be more generous with the throttle. Does this have anything to do with removing the snorkel from the airbox?

Just saw this, Gordon Jennings talking about reading plugs in 1977: "A lot of amateur tuners, some of whom are fairly successful, will look at some plug freshly removed from a two-stroke engine and offer advice based on the color of the oil deposited on the insulator nose. In fact, if the plug is hot enough there won't be any color, and if there is that still has nothing much to do with air/fuel mixture. If you think about it you'll realize that the only color you can get from an air/fuel mixture is the color of soot. When the mixture trapped in an engine's combustion chamber has more fuel than can be burned with the available air, then combustion will be incomplete and the excess fuel will remain as soot, which is not brown or tan or magenta or any color other than black. And if your engine's mixture is too rich, the sooty evidence will be present on the spark plug's insulator, in a very particular area." "You won't find any soot out near the insulator nose, on a plug that's running hot enough to keep itself from fouling, because temperatures there are too high to let soot collect. But the insulator is much cooler deep inside the plug body, and coolest where it contacts the metal shell, which is precisely where you "read" mixture strength. Look far inside a plug, where its insulator joins its shell, and what you'll see there if your engine's mixture is too rich is a ring of soot. If this ring continues outward along the insulator to a width of even a millimeter you can be sure the mixture is rich enough to be safe, and too rich for maximum output. In most engines best performance is achieved when the mixture contains only enough excess fuel to make just a wisp of a "mixture ring" on the plug insulator." http://www.strappe.com/plugs.html

Does it really matter what it's called lol, it basically the same as what your saying anyway except the point is to look at the base of the plug instead of the top and you are only testing the main jet.

Maybe one person got confused, thought a plug chop was chopping the threads and then the idea spread from there... You can see why you would think there was physical chopping involved though.

So do you never look at the mixture band to see how the jetting is? There must be some truth behind it if that's what everybody seems to be doing. I just wanted to know if my plug indicated the bike was running lean. After doing some researching, it does seem to be running lean as there is no visible mixture band at the base of the plug. I think people just cut the threads because it makes it alot easier to see the mixture band and judge how big it is. I've installed the 250 jet so I'll go for a run tomorrow and see if 6th gear feels any better (6th had no power with the 240 jet).

You've lost me mate, are you saying that all the links I posted are trolling or something?

There's lots of people referring to chopping the threads of a plug to have a look at the mixture band as a 'plug chop'. http://www.mopedarmy.com/wiki/Plug_chop - " Pay special attention to the area deep in the plug around the base of the ceramic center insulator (it helps to cut the plugs threads off with a hacksaw or use a plug scope, especially if it is a hot plug with a long insulator); A thin ring of black soot should develop around the bottom of the insulator. If it is too tall it is too rich, specially if it's approaching or covering the tip, if there is no soot ring it is too lean." http://www.thequadconnection.com/walkthroughs/how-to-plug-chop!/ - " Now for the plug chopping part, first make sure the quad is FULLY warmed up, then you will want to ride or drive to the spot you plan to do the plug chop at (dont forget the socket and ratchet), and install a new plug. start up the quad and immediatly start going gears 1st through 6th its ok if you can only make it to 5th gear, now while you are in 5th or 6th gear hold it W.O.T. for at least 10 seconds or as long as you safely can , the point is to get the engine really pulling hard. now while you are still holding it WOT pull in the clutch and shut it off immediatly and roll to a stop. now pull out the spark plug and put the old one back in for the ride back. now with the plug you just did WOT on cut the threads off the end of the spark plug to expose the insulator and there should be a smoke ring that is cardboard colored at the bottom of the insulator, if there isint then you are running lean, if you are running lean increase the main jet 1 size and plug chop again until perfection! " http://kawtriple.com/mraxl/carb/plugchop.htm

I'm not taking the piss, what's wrong?

I've just done a proper plug chop with a brand new plug. I did one pull through the gears up to 5th WOT and held it for about 10 seconds, then killed it and coasted to the side of the road where I put the old plug back in. Here's what the test plug looks like: *EDIT* I chopped slightly more thread off: There is no brown ring at the base at all, the electrode is all white, does this mean the bike is running lean and that I should swap the 240 jet for the 250? Cheers

So I went for a ride today and tbh, I couldn't really notice a difference after the mods I did, (boyesen reeds, 240 jet, intake manifold, removed snorkel). I noticed that 6th gear has lost a bit of power, doesn't seem to have any pull at all now. I'll do a proper plug chop tomorrow and see how things are. I'm also really thinking about taking the reed cage back out, removing the oem stops and making a rev-plate so they can open more.

I've got it all back together now and I used the oem stops. I'll go for a ride tomorrow and see how it is. God it's such a pain getting the carb back on the bike lol I also removed the snorkel and started it, I personally don't mind the intake sound so I'll probably keep it off.

It wouldn't be very hard to make one, unless it has to be a certain material...?

BUMP I'm hoping to get the bike back together tonight

I've just fitted the bigger jet and changed the reeds on the dt but do I keep the standard reed stop to prevent the reeds from snapping or do I not use it at all? My reeds didn't come with the little rectangular piece of metal that goes under the screws. Cheers

I'm planning on doing 2 fresh plug chops with the 240 and 250 jets to see which is better after I finish the mods. So if I'm running lean on the 240, I'll just go up to the 250.

But is the air flow reduced alot by having even the bigger one compared to not having one at all? Would the jetting need to be changed if you decided to add the bigger one at a latter date. I think I'll just install the reeds and bigger jets and remove the standard one to see how I like it, if I hate the sound then I'll buy the bigger snorkel

So I have the jets and the reeds are on the way but I'm wondering if it's worth buying the dt230 airbox snorkel instead of just removing the stock one. Does anyone one run their bike without a snorkel and is it okay? Cheers

I've got the jets and the reeds are one their way but I'm thinking about skipping the dt230 snorkel and just remove the stock one instead. I've heard some bad things about doing this though so I'm not sure atm. I'll start a new thread and see what people think.