South West Bikers | Motorcycle Forum

As it's the time of year when bikes and owners go into hibernation, snow starts falling and the heating goes on.

What projects are on the go for next season?

I'm always tinkering with the dirt bike, got a new starter to fit when it arrives. The road bike will probs get some heated grips fitted but other than that it'll mainly be cleaning after riding I think.

Don’t get me started lol

Do tell

Refresh of the current fleet,
Service, checkout, bearings and re grease. Bike 1.
Then another service and rebuild on bike 2
Checkover bike 3
New batteries for bikes 4 and 5.

And then advertise the next 3 bikes to sell.

The BMW is a bit in limbo, having had an accident on it recently, I'm waiting for the insurance to decide what happens to it. If they write it off (which I think they will) I might buy it back, which then means repairing plastics for re-painting, as well as stripping and repainting the final drive, cleaning the radiator and general servicing. Or, I will be looking for a replacement.
Aprilia just needs a service, and probably repair the charging system a couple of times, just because it's Italian.
Benelli just a service and deep clean
R1 needs fully going through, I think the clutch is on the way out, so that needs checking and potentially replacing, or the springs need upgrading. Plus check and re-grease all the bearings and linkages. Plus new tyres.
If there is any time after this, try to make some progress on the project bike, which is now onto it's third winter in boxes!

Busa needs new coils - do I get cheap ones and cross fingers or sell a kidney for the genuine articles?
Also plastics off for deep clean and service then mot.

ZH2 - yet another rear tyre If you use it you have to pay the cost
Also deep clean and service, rear suspenders linkages will deffo need fresh grease and front fork oil could do with changing.

And you never know I might get round to getting the gen1 Fazer thou back on the road, needs the unobtainable headers with a working EXUP, or sell as a project.

Bought a 2020 Duke 890R to replace the 2016 Duke 690R and some of the bolts are a bit furry - will get some stainless replacements ideally a bulk set from somewhere with M8 and M10 etc.
The bike came with a full ti AKra system, which is going to be sold as just too loud for my 'hood so that needs doing, and low and behold, one of the o2 sensors is stuck so that needs a tool - in the post.
Noticed some of the engine paint is a bit doggy round the headers. Can't be bothered to drop the engine this year but have you any recommendations for an epoxy to repaint the engine? Or rough cost to get it done <somewhere roundabouts>
Then the suspension will need a tune...

If you get stainless set ensure they're A4 (SAE316) not A2 (which is SAE304).

Just spark plugs air filter replacement on the Gixxer if it passes its MOT

MikeZ wrote: ↑Nov 26th, '24, 17:40 If you get stainless set ensure they're A4 (SAE316) not A2 (which is SAE304).

Interesting; I knew that not all s/s was equal but not what the differences were. So what's the pro's and con's for each of these?

Bikes are all serviced and put away but I'm currently looking at making a system to datalog the AF ratio on my Superduke so I can tune it.
I know you can buy these but they are pretty expensive so I want to see if I can make something for a fraction of the cost using an Arduino.

Well for me the key thing is the BMW will get a decent service in March for 2025 activities that i hope to be more plentiful then 2024 as hardly used the bike. Also expecting this to be a bigger service with maybe fork oil needing changing so BMW are going to love me.

For track bike its basically get the thing back with the engine rebuilt.

What about your Motorbike?

Robbo87 wrote: ↑Nov 27th, '24, 10:31

MikeZ wrote: ↑Nov 26th, '24, 17:40 If you get stainless set ensure they're A4 (SAE316) not A2 (which is SAE304).

Interesting; I knew that not all s/s was equal but not what the differences were. So what's the pro's and con's for each of these?

Just google: difference between A4 and A2 steel
Mainly, Corrosion resistance (against salt), yield & tensile strengths.

MikeZ wrote: ↑Nov 27th, '24, 22:09

Robbo87 wrote: ↑Nov 27th, '24, 10:31

MikeZ wrote: ↑Nov 26th, '24, 17:40 If you get stainless set ensure they're A4 (SAE316) not A2 (which is SAE304).

Interesting; I knew that not all s/s was equal but not what the differences were. So what's the pro's and con's for each of these?

Just google: difference between A4 and A2 steel
Mainly, Corrosion resistance (against salt), yield & tensile strengths.

A4 is generally better than A2 in all respects, and therefore more expensive. It is worth noting that the best A4 are still not as strong as a standard 8.8 spec steel bolt. Stainless is fine for non-structural applications, but be wary for anything that is load bearing.