JimR

Hi JD, from other posts it would appear that you have an EXUP problem but as the bike is a 1998 it will be fitted with carbs (with TPS) so the fault code could also be the TPS playing up, the owners manual will give you the fault codes and the duration that the tacho stays at its position, but I would gues if 8k is an exup fault you have an exup fault. Regards Jim

Hi Steve, back in 79 when I had my fist car (78 Toyota Starlet YKW444T) the insurance cost about £260 fc but what happend after that was young drivers were adding greatly to accident stats & claims with hot hatches and the odd Crappy (oh I ment Capri 3 litre) so therefore the risk went up to the point you now have to pay for our forebares claims/mistakes .. and on top of that I guess that insurance companies are loading the policies on the thought that younger drivers do make more claims. But if you can afford a policy on something if you don't claim the cost will drop well quick ... £100 policy - 10% discount = £1 £1000- 10%=£100 so I guess u have to pay it and grin 30 years on ! Regards Jim

For sure there will be air in that pump, which will not be resolved until the bleed screw is removed, If the screw is butchered just tap it with a hammer to flatten the head out and if ur lucky a screw driver will undo it .. if not a sharpe chisel to the side of the screw may do the job or if there is enough screw head left a good quality mole grip may undo the screw. so let the air out from that point and the delivery pipe should sort itself out. Sorry OG for replying to ur post but I was just adding on to yours ! Regards Jim

There we go !, Yamaha making service easy just make sure on reassembly that the seal goes in straight as sometimes it is not easy to get the seal below the circlip groove if it has been put in 'cocked' as the inner leg tends to hold the seal out !!! Regards Jim

Yes you should check out my previous post on an other method Regards Jim

You could also use the bleed screw on the pump to ensure you dont just have a pump full of air, In the early 70's we were advised to run quarter to half a pint from the bleed then the delivery tube looked after itself Regards Jim

Hi Gary, if they have been together for some while you will need to 'give it some' for the seal to come out, becarefull you don't get impaled on the inner leg oh forgot to say Regards Jim

Hi Gary, all you need to do now is put the outer leg in a vice and shock the inner leg out of it. If you keep using the inner leg like a slide hammer it will remove the seal from outer leg and the forks will then be apart. To refit drop the inner leg in the outer , slide the seal over the inner and tap the seal down with a drift until the circlip groove is visible drop in the washer and refit the circlip. Regards Jim

Hi Ewan, The hyvo chain is the chain that links the crankshaft to the gearbox, When the motor was new (XJ550), this noise was prevalent and was cured using the above methods .... Get some vacuum guages, a small fuel tank to supply fuel while the main tank is off and a good screw driver (from memory the XJ600 didn't have YICS, XJ550 did for sure, but if it has you will need a YICS shutoff tool also). I do have all of these tools so it could be done. Method Valve Clearences Done Cam Chain Tension Done Start the motor and allow it to warm and run off choke Adjust the balance of the carbs cyl 1~2 then cyl 3~4 and lastly cyl 2~3 so the guages all read the same At this point most of the knocks will have disappeard, with fine tuning of the mixture screws (they will not be all the same) you should end up with a knock free engine Regards Jim

Hi Brandon, I guess you need to get a r/h switch connected first off you may find that this cures it also check out that side stand switch Regards Jim

Hi, I guess it's time to look at the carb just out of interest what colour did the colour tune show ? Regards Jim

I know it sounds silly but check the carb balance & mix strengh the noise you here from the alternator area is the hyvo chain flapping about and the knock from the top end is the cams moving slightly from the in balance of the carbs Regards Jim

Hi There, you need a strap wrench or piston stop (a threaded bar that screws into the spark plug hole and locks the motor up) to undo the mag nut and then an extractor which screws into the big thread(27mm) on the mag to pull it off (note this is a l/h thread) and has a code of P134 (ebay will prob have one on there). Then the mag will be off. But before you take the mag off it may be worth checking the ignition timming (1.8mm BTDC) and cleaning the points. If the arcing at the points is real bad you will have a condenser out of spec, this can be checked when you have the mag off. But first off checking the timing & clean the points off. Regards Jim

Hi Brandon, is this bike a late air cooled or an early water cooled ? I guess from your post the bike is a non runner, with no spark ? The method to trace that fault would depend a little on which bike you have, In the UK there is a fair chance a bike of that age would be air cooled, and the sequence for checking the ignition out would first off check the obvious (kill switch, side stand switch & wiring). With a charged battery crank the engine with the plugs removed & grounded and check for a spark at the plugs. No Spark :- Remove a plug cap and hold it about MM from the cylinder and crank the motor (you should get a spark jump from the lead to the head), if you get a spark at this point the problem lies with plugs and/or caps) Spark at the plugs :- Check the engine compression and then go and strip the carbs out, if the bike has been laid up for any length of time I would guess the carbs to be at fault as fuel left in them tends to deteriorate into a green sludge , which blocks the jets and passages within the carbs. without knowing what bike you have I cannot be much more help. Regards Jim

I live in Malvern, Worcs (not too far from Gloucester), why don't you turn up for the bunny rabbit run next Saturday from Upton Upon Severn to Kidderminster ... happens most years & is just a couple of hours out . Regards Jim Welcome to the forum

That's Ok, but you will find the bike runs OK with gapped points. But will run so much better when the dwell is set correctly (dependent on engine and point wear) you may end up with a checked gap of say 20 thou but the bike running much better, remember to also check the tappits before you do the ignition stuff (pain in the arse I know with the 34 million (seems like it) allen screws to undo b4 you can remove the cam cover) and adjust the cam chain. after the ignition stuff balance the carbs and tweak the mixture screws ... ignore the documented settings for the mix screws (in fact a later bike may have 'preset' screws.. turn them all the way, with the engine running, home (turn the idle screw up if required) then back them off until the motor is racing with no backfires or spitting then readjust the idle (this may have to be done a few times in order to get the bike to run real sweet) while adjusting the mix screws just keep an eye on the vaccum guages and adjust accordingly. You may find that the mix screws will not be at the same setting ( 1 may be 1 turn from home the other maybe 3 turns from home) but an hour spent playing will give a good responsive engine Regards Jim

You don't gap the points if you have access to a dwell meter but if you don't gap the l/h set on LT on the compression stroke(L/H cylinder) to 12 thou, set the timing then move to r/h set ... the only difference is to use the RT mark and the r/h cylinder. Regards Jim

I'm planning 2 weeks in france just as a nice gently tour brittany area as it is our first go a continental touring (as yours ) perhaps it may be worth doing some of the trip together ... (saftey in numbers !!?) Regards Jim

HI there, to set up the ignition .. obtain a dwell meter & strobe .... set the dwell angle to 22 & half % and ensure that the timing is set to LF for the left cyl and RF for the right be sure to adjust the timming of the cylinder on the base plate first then move on to set the one's on the sub plate. as you have a mechanic in tow I'm sure he/she will understand this process, if not I can go a bit more in depth Regards Jim

its an r reg scannie with about 242k on it most of the previous driving was done in a euro cargo with the 'slap' gearbox on it and automatic dustcarts... but having a trailer is a new ball game as you have to 'rob' quite a bit more road than you do on a class II ... The gear change exercise has been phased out but talking to the instructor the test is now 10 mins longer than before. Oh well lets see what friday at 8:45 brings. Regards Jim

Hi, I re read the last post from me .. the Divi will now out do most cars from 20mph in top gear so in effect you may only need fourth & fifth to ride it unless you have to stop dead so it's cool .. did the M5 j8 to j12 just playing with the cars u get one close behind u ... twist the grip @ 70mph next sec ur at a 100+ thats not good for the planning bit !!! Regards Jim

No worries , there is a lot to take in to do the test if you have not done one for years... The HGV test can be failed on failure to forward plan, in some respects the m/c test (I'm not sure here as I've not taken one 4 years) should have forrwad plan in it but it may have another name. forward plan is the way you read the road, gaps that the lorry fits into & understanding what other road users may or may not do.... I hope this makes some sense !!! The instructor reakons there is a pass there if I slow the gear changes down ... but 7 secs per change is a bit slow Regards Jim

Oh err a big distance on a sportster !!! you may think of buying a cheap tourer off of ebay or such like, Diversion 900 will give you the capacity to carry ur lugage and fairly low maintanence while you are 'away' and enuff performance to have a good time. There are other tools to do the job also, but I guess the R6 may not have quite the characteristics to tour comfotable. I'm planning a run around France in late may ... no stress about 2k from end to end so if you fancy 2 weeks away to work out whether you can use the R6 for touring then if so buy all the stuff you need to do a long journey. Regards Jim

coo that was bad ... ok I was born in the early 60's/late 50's and the entitlement has always been there (test wasnt done till the mid 70's) but I can imagine you 'red book' licence owners lost the entitlement with the transfer from local control to the DVLA which would be a DVLA/local government issue rather than yours but I guess with the first green paper licence you should of perhaps noticed the lack of M/C !!!! which at the point could have been put right ... my brother had the same and noticed the m/c section was missing on the new 'green' licence and had it put back on with no need to retest. Regards Jim

no probs I hope the project works out Regards Jim