Paulwhite

u dont need a special tool to check the timing. u said it was running rich? have you adjusted the carb properly? and reset the pilot screw? it runs richer on the rear cylinder than the front so how do they compare? also has any dirt / water got into the carb? how dose the engine sound? is it lumpy ? any knocking? with a standard sprocket setup ur max (ish) speed will be 60mph in 5th on a flat but u do need to rev it hard to get there. if memory serves me right 4th gear maxes out at about 50-55 mph (pings off the limiter) id check what iv put above then put half a teaspoon of engine oil into the spark plug hole of each cylender and see how it runs.

you should be able to put the bike on blocks and change gear that way. even with the engine turned off (but neutral light on) you should be able to flick it into 2nd from neutral. just out of interest how far up are you moving ur foot? i ask as i found the link between the foot lever and engine was set a bit high for me , which increases travel to the point where it struggles to engage when going up the gears, try adjusting it (might help), also have you checked the biting point on the clutch? if its set too high then getting into gear becomes a problem, and one more thing check that the drive chain isnt too tight, this can also make it hard to shift gear. how dose it feel when you put it into gear? is it smooth or dose it clunk or rattle?

iv just done it.... iv got 7 years no claims with my bike but my car insurance company ( Tesco Bank) could only transfer a maximum of 4 years. the rest would be lost but considering im 25, and have had my car license for 6 months its not a bad deal....next year il have 5 years no claims on my car and that reduces insurance costs loads.....so much in fact that i can afford to get a vauxhall insignia 2L TD on finance and insure it (£715 fully comp with all bells and whistles) for the same price that im paying for the insurance on my vauxhall astra 1.6 (with 0 years bonus) so yeah give tesco bank a call as all they ask is for written proof of your no claims from your bike insurance company i had to phone my bike insurance company to get them to e-mail me the proof of no claims then printed it out and sent it to the free post address that tesco bank gave me with a covering letter.......a week later i got a call from tesco bank to confirm the details, set up no claims protection and reduce my monthly payments by £50 .........thats what i call a win!

can you post a pic up of your spark plugs? (or what colour are they?) sounds to me like the carb either hasnt been cleaned properly or needs adjusting ......dont suppose you can give me a rundown of what you did to clean the carb?

that will be one side of the chain tentioner is slightly tighter than the other or the shocks need adjusting

booo im so jealous! there are only a handful of people here in the uk who have the tools to take the piston rods off the crank and they charge anywhere between £100 and £300 to do it! the machine heats it up so the parts expand and can be removed not sure what its called....but anyway if the float needle valve is working properly then i cant see why your idea wont work but i would recommend either modifying the old petcock or use a different petcock with just an on off and res setting i would go with the simplest idea which would be a new petcock with no filter attached, 1 pipe with an in-line filter attached to the carb, oh and block off the pipe coming from the rubber bit that holds the carb to the cylinders, that should sort it out. glad to hear that you managed to get piston rings as there hard to find here in the uk!! iv seen people be quoted over £50 for 1 set ! ....i might have to look into moving and here is an idea if your interested it comes from modifying little honda engines ......try and see if you can get bearings put on the crankshaft to hold your piston rods so it gives a more free movement, you might not be able too but it would give the crank more life span plus will help with friction, so should in theory let the engine rev up faster and allow you to use the hp more efficiently.

and just to say the picture is what you have now, but the 1st 2 filters are in the tank attached to the petcock

the way the carb works is petrol flows into the carb till the float rises, once the float is at the top a needle valve stops the flow of petrol, if you open the bottom of the carb (or the drain), then the float will never reach the top, your best bet would be to take the carb off the bike, place over a bowl and take the float bowl cover off, attach a fuel line to the carb and see if the valve is working properly, when u push the float up the fuel should stop going into the carb. if this works then i cant see why you cant run a direct setup. im not sure if you can run petrol straight through as the bike runs on a vacuum setup (but i think its mainly the petrol tank) as to oil on your spark plug defiantly sounds like your piston rings have gone as far as i know the original rings are expensive so if you find an alternative then please tell us, and to let you know the piston rods are connected to the crank in a way that you will need to replace the whole crank, you cant just replace the rods

if its leaking from the bottom of the carb then tighten the screw at the start of the pipe, if its leaking from the top, then the float needle has stuck or you have the petrol tap on prime. drain carb, then open up the square side, you will see 2 plastic circles that move ....(thats ur float) they control a "needle" at the top where the metal bit is (that joins the 2 plastic circles) , just wiggle it up and down to free it, then put back together.......should sort it out.

could just be the excess oil that was in the pipe has been cleared, your best bet would be to take the engine case breather off the engine then try and start her up again. see if any oil is coming out of it easy way to check if its the rings would be to try and start her up say 4 times, if it dont start then whip out the spark plugs and put a teaspoon of clean motor oil in the plug holes, then hold the start button for 3 seconds so the engine turns, put the plugs back in and try and start her up again, if she starts then its defiantly a compression problem. (the oil in the cylinder seals any gaps in the rings so you can start the engine, you will get a little smoke but it shouldnt harm the engine if you only put a teaspoon of oil in) lets just hope your lucky and its not the rings

i found that chrome paint goes dull and ends up looking like brushed silver or grey

personally i think "ghosts" are just a way for people to cope with death..... how can you enjoy yourself if its been prooven that when you die thats it?...the worms get you and nothing is left... (its not been prooven....and probably wont......ever...) re incarnation.......just another coping mechanism for death....but an interesting theory religion....just a form of control from when the world was out of control, the bible was a bunch of story's that have been manipulated over the generations to suit. (and most of the big wars were about some form of religion) god......the reason of life ..........here is a theory for u .....what if the reason for our life is like the reason for zombies? or the zombie virus? to make a virus that populates the planet .....at some point a supreme "mutation" will happen where by someone or something will develop / evolve into something better than the rest. then we move onto aliens do they exist? dont they? what if they were the reason for our existence and are just waiting for the "supreme" being to happen? this also ties up a little with "god" what if god was the aliens who created us? but over the many hundreds of thousands of years the truth has been lost / manipulated by man....? the truth is we just dont know so we try and find explanations to justify what we have seen, heard, experienced or dreamed about i could rant on for years but il stop now.. oh and mervin i nearly wet myself laughing at that .....lol

i read an article once in a mini mag ...... it went on the theory that most of the energy generated by the combustion engine is lost in heat, so why not use it to generate steam and use the steam for a power stroke? its a little hard to explain but il give it a go.... he managed to convert an A series mini engine into a petrol / steam engine, the engine would do 1 cycle on petrol then 1 cycle on water (it was a 4 piston engine, 2 pistons go to tdc at any 1 time) vapor delivered via a modified injector system, the vapor would enter the barrel turn into steam and push against the piston. he did loose a little hp but it made up for it in mpg! basically he managed to cut his fuel cost in half by increasing his mpg to about 50 or 60 miles, and he predicted that with enough research and development 70+mpg was possible. plus it lowered the engine temperature which theoretically would make your engine last longer. the problem he had was that he couldnt find funding to work out the kinks and go forward into development but the theory was sound and he backed it up with a decent prototype.

i would ring the bank and freeze the transaction asap!, then ring the breakers and ask them whats going off as you were quoted and charged an original amount of £35 with p+p! by rights they should honer the original agreement. if not then they cannot just take the money out of your account without permission! if its a no go ask for a full refund! you are within your rights to get a full refund within 10 days of any transaction as long as the part hasnt been used or tampered with (by you) if they refuse then threaten legal action as they are taking money out of your account without permission!.

hello and welcome where abouts in derbyshire are you? i know some good biker meets around