jinxed

I have bought one recently, though I can't remember where from! Try your local friendly bike place; they should be able to order directly from Yamaha for you. (I suspect this part will be Yamaha supplied only. I.e. no pattern parts available.)

If I start out now I should get to yours a week on Thursday on my SR ...... The petrol probably leaked into the engine whilst it was laid up. If it was run with the bottom end full of petrol/oil then this could have damaged the bearings I guess. Too bad. I don't know if its possible to feel if the crank bearings are worn by feeling for movement in the crank. (Remove the LHS casing.) Probably not; probably requires taking the bearings out. If there was a lot of petrol in the oil, another oil change might be needed. No point though if the engine is no good though. Roll on pay day!

It's not too difficult to get the top end off; that's about as far as I've been with mine. Make a collection of plastic tubs for storing bits you take off and label them. (Pen, paper & digital camera to hand will help.) If you have space, you could lay out parts you remove as you go; this helps as some bolts are longer than others. e.g. engine casings. Keep bolts with the parts you remove OR in the place they screw into after removing an item. You will need some tools that might not be in your collection already; e.g. flywheel puller/extractor and a tool to lock the flywheel. You may also need a full set of gaskets. A manual would be really helpful of course; I've not found an electronic copy to date. I'd recommend tying some string around the cam chain too; stops it dropping into the engine when you finally get to put the head back on or allows you to recover it if it does!) Did you get a price for bearings yet? To be honest, I would just look for a spare engine; they can be had for <£100. Add in the cost of gaskets and any tools you don't have and it's starting to sound cheaper to get a running engine. I.e. I'd be tempted to run the existing engine into the ground and look for another. Engine swapping should take about half a day. Note that earlier engines have different electrical components to the later ones. (Not sure when they changed.) You may need to swap the generator over. (Swap the magneto/flywheel and retain your original LHS generator cover.) I'm surprised that the bearings are shot. (How many miles has this engine done?) It's a low strung engine and even if the oil has been neglected, other parts would have failed before the main bearings. (Have you checked the valve clearances and cam chain for instance, just in case the noise is not the bearings? Could be the big end I suppose.) Did you get a correct setting for your throttle stop screw? Where are you based? I could bring my hammer over ........

Check your valve clearances; are they wildy out? Check compression too, in case the valves aren't closing fully. A carb strip & clean isn't a bad idea either. How's the air filter? Is the bike noisier than before?

When it doesn't start: (Turn petrol off) 1) Check for a spark. (Remove plug, reconnect ht lead and crank it over. (Keep hands & other body parts away from plug!) 2) Drain carb bowl by opening the drain screw at the bottom; any petrol in it? Have you tried bypassing any side-stand or clutch safety cut-out switches this bike has? Presumably, it will always turn over on the starter but not fire up? Does it do this from cold or hot or both?

It's worth giving the carb "tubes" a blow through with an air compressor. (One of the ones you plug into you car lighter socket; not a garage type inflator!) Also, check you spark plug is clean & gapped properly and suitably tight. If you let your fuel run really low, you may have pulled through all the crud at the bottom of the tank and it could be blocking the fuel tap and/or carb. If you pul the fule line off the carb and open the fuel tap, does the petrol flow freely? Taking off the carb and cleaning it out would be worth doing. Maybe you got some bad fuel? I didn't think such an engine would be happy with higher octance fuel; would you need to change the plug for a different one?

Might it be "pinking"? I.e. pre-ignition. Can you check your ignition timing? To be honest, mine makes so much noise anyway that I probably wouldn't know if it was doing the same. 42K miles is quite impressive on that beast; has it been apart recent for major engine surgery? If you have set the valve clearances correctly, then there shouldn't be much play as you describe. (The clearances are posted in another thread.) Is there more clearance on one side of the valve top than the other? Maybe the camshaft bearing is worn? (One of mine was; the end that the chain fits over would move up & down with the camchain removed!)

I was thinking of open headers; I don't want to draw too much attention to myself though ........

The carb comes off quite easily. Remove fuel pipe (use a rag to catch the drips); undo "jubilee" clips on engine and airbox side - nice & loose; unscrew top to remove slide assembly. (Remove carb heater connector if you have one; mine doesn't.) I think that's it; you can do this without removing seat & tank. Have rag handy again as they'll be plenty of fuel leaking out when you tip the carb over. Did you try adjusting the idle yet? Be a shame to strip the carb down if the idle is just too low. How does it run on the choke? Any recommend a good solvent for cleaning carbs? I know of someone who had his carbs cleaned untrasonically & wasn't too impressed with the results. I got my SR for £80. Admittedly, it didn't run and someone had closed the garage door on it & dented the tank. That was over 10 year ago. It's gone downhill since then .........

Do you know what insurance category the loss was recorded under? (http://www.motorcycle.co.uk/insurance_write_off.htm) Hopefully, it's falls into a category that it can be re-registered. You'll need to apply for the V5, which is £17 I think, and the local Police vehicle inspector will want to pay you a visit. (Don't panic, they're helpful! They may be able to find/recover the original frame number.) It may take a few months to get it all sorted though. Ideally, the original frame number can be re-instated and you can get the original registration too. (I.e. no Q plate.) It looks very clean. How old is it?

It may depend on the age, but more than likely it's electronic. How old is your RXS? (I had an '85 RXS years ago and that had the usual CDI type ignition system, AFAICR.)

My SR is '86 and ~27K miles. It's been to Helen-back and it looks like it. (Sorry to hijack this thread!) The Thunderace presumably uses the FXR1000EXUP motor or derivative of, which was pretty solid, so there's a good start. Did you check out http://www.bikersoracle.com/thunder/forum/ yet?

When you say "gives up" you mean gets slower until it just stops turning? Unfortunately, working lights means enough power to work the lights and not necessarily enough power to turn the starter. Have you tried jump starting it with jump leads from another vehicle? (Be careful attaching the jump leads, there is not much space around the battery terminals.) Heed the excellent suggestions of the SR125 bretheren who have already spoken. Your battery is flat; how old is it? I jump start mine all the time at the moment, well in the mornings anyway. The battery is sick and the weather isn't helping; after I've run it to work, there is enough charge in the battery to get one start attempt. I carry my start'n'charge battery pack with me. I need a new battery!!! Out of interest, is anyone else using an oversized battery? I believe the standard item is a 12N7, but I've been using a 12N9 for a while. (I borrowed it off another bike when the original battery died.) I bought a (cheap) 12N7 replacement, which barely lasted the year before it gave up. The old 12N9 went back in and has been giving excellent service until lately. (This 12N9 battery could well be 10 years old!)

After ordering a flywheel puller I was finally able to complete my engine swop. The replacement engine keeps the flywheel, flywheel engine casing and carb. (The newer carb is similar, but has a wire attachment that the original carb doesn't. Not sure if this connection is a heater or sensor, but my loom has no wire for it.) It started fairly easily too; I've not done any road test yet, but the biggest difference I noticed was the noise. The replacement engine is quiet; by comparison, the other engine sounds like its full of gravel! I'll take it for a test run and then treat it to an oil change. (Looking forward to it! Hoping it might be a bit faster too.) Big thanks to sr125shell for finding a puller for me.

I ordered one of those pullers & it turned up really promptly; useful piece of kit. A few hours later and I had swopped the engines over on the SR. Thanks for the shopping tip!