I'm about to buy an old (2001) bike - need old ppl's advice

[battered]

srob said:

battered said:

MotorsportTom said:

Ride a bike of Srob's likely to be manual advance/retard of the ignition amongst other fun stuff!

Does he still have a big glass syringe on top of the tank that he has to pump up and down every few seconds?

Some do. The 1922 Raleigh does, although the oil actually pumps on the 'up' stroke. So you push it back down when it's fully up as it's stopped pumping then.

Most by the late 20s (which is what most of ours are) had mechanical oil pumps (although they were total loss) but still had the manual pump on the tank as people didn't trust that kind of technology!

All were manual ignition too, which saves changing gear which is handy. Some are levers, some have another twist-grip on the LH bar

Superb! I was actually joking, I didn't know you had a proper vintage bike with manual oil feed. How often are you supposed to pump it, under normal running?

[srob]

battered said:

Superb! I was actually joking, I didn't know you had a proper vintage bike with manual oil feed. How often are you supposed to pump it, under normal running?

It normally breaks down before you have to use too much oil

To be fair we've only had the Raleigh for less than a year, and it doesn't seem to need much oil. Once every few miles (so about once every half an hour ) seems about normal.

As well as the pump there's a regulator (which a previous ownner has handily glued a watch face to so you know where it's set!) which determines how quickly it rises, I assume. We always set things to over-oil to be on the safer side. Although they're slow the roads mean they're ridden faster and for longer now than they ever were before.

The Raleigh isn't in my garage at the moment, but I'll try and find a photo of the controls when I get home. Will see what's in my garage to take photos of controls of too.

Sorry for the highjack OP!

[3200gt]

My newest bike is a 92
The thing with carbs is they are vented. So, if you turn the fuel off the fuel in the bowl will evaporate eventually. Modern fuels leave a horrible varnish like substance when it evaporates and it is this which can gum up the floats and hence not shut the fuel inlet valve. Next time you turn the fuel on the float stays down and the inlet valve stays open and the bowl overflows. Hence puddle on the floor time.
During winter months of non use I drain the bowls and seal the tank by opening the cap, putting cling film over the tank filler then closing the cap again. Effectively making the tank an air tight container. This stops fuel evaporating and going stale.
Come the summer, remove the cling film, turn the fuel on, let the bowls fill for a few seconds and fire it up.
Balanced and colourtuned carbs can't be over emphasised on older bikes.

[battered]

Sealing the tank is a good scheme. I empty tanks on unused 4T motors and chuck the fuel in the car. On unused 2T motors I put it in a sealed bottle. In both cases I then run the engine until the carb empties and it stops. 2T motors as we all know are a nightmare if they are left full of 2T petrol/oil to evaporate, in fact I have an old generator that i need to clean out and get running sometime after someone did this.

[podman]

rat840771 said:

A 2000 GSXR should be injected?

Pre 96/97 was carb

Yes. The GSXR will be F.I

Carbs do have a certain charm but require regular fettling to keep them sweet and do eventually wear so bad that becomes trickier to do.

[Prof Prolapse]

patchb said:

Carbs are lovely when they're set up right, such smooth fuelling

My CBR600F 1999 carb is hugely better than my 2013 GSXR 750. I even started a thread on here thinking it was fked!

[Löyly]

The magnificence of fuel injection cannot be overstated. As much as I enioyed sitting in the cold waiting for my CG125 to warm up, I think I'm more taken with just pressing a button and letting the fuelling sort itself out.

[CarsOrBikes]

The Ninja may have a coolant pass through on the carbs, which has a filter, and it can block, this will cause carb icing after a few miles riding, otherwise no real problem, and in normal use won't need much attention if currently standard and well maintained already. Balancing isn't exactly a weekly event, you may not need it for years. Carb'd bikes in normal use can also prove more economical than efi, strange but true. The efi bikes sometimes have an annoyingly high fast idle. (Fireblade)

[dc2rr07]

Only one tip to give if you end up on reserve remember to turn the fuel tap back to on after filling it back up

[srob]

battered said:

Superb! I was actually joking, I didn't know you had a proper vintage bike with manual oil feed. How often are you supposed to pump it, under normal running?

The oil pump is the right hand side of the two on the left. The far left is the regulator - you can see the sight glass and the dial on the top

[srob]

Try fixing fuel injectors with a twig

[8potdave]

Also feel old! Only ever had carbed bikes, currently on a ZX6R J1 (2000). I actually enjoy fiddling with the choke on startup, it makes me feel all manly and st. You get a feel for it though, I am very much a fair weather rider and so only get out once or twice a week. On startup full choke, then immediately down to half as it revs its tits off otherwise. I let it tick over like that for maybe 20 seconds then drop it altogether and blip the throttle a few times to keep her going. I've found most bikes to be about the same kind of approach. My bike has been fettled in the past and occasionally makes a loud bang on startup which presumably is down to unburnt fuel in the exhaust, but she runs perfectly - no flat spots and a clean pull all the way to the limiter. Dynojet kits are popular but they need setting up properly and compliment a nice race pipe. All my bikes have had this setup and none have ever thrown up any engine issues.

[kenloen]

Moulder said:

black-k1 said:

Moulder said:

patchb said:

I never bothered turning the fuel off on my old zx7r unless I was leaving it for more than a few days. Other than that, choke on for starting, turn that off when the revs start to rise. Get on and ride it.
If it's ridden often it shouldn't need any more regular maintenance than an Fi bike.

Pretty much this for me with my ZX6r G2, but I never turned the fuel off even if it was weeks between use.

Whilst no engineer, I would think that for this to be effective you would have to turn the fuel off whilst running, and then wait for it to "run out".

Great until you get a slightly sticky float and return to the bike to find the petrol you left in the tank is now a puddle on the floor.

Given.

Or worse, it overflows into the engine. I had a ZX9R with a float shutoff seal leaking and it twice filled the engine with petrol because I forgot the fuel tap off a mile from home trick. Hydraulic lock and full drain and oil change. Specific carbs to that model ZX9R (E1) where parts are 10x normal costs, I got rid.. best move ever, fuel taps and carbs are from another era..

[pozi]

black-k1 said:

Moulder said:

patchb said:

I never bothered turning the fuel off on my old zx7r unless I was leaving it for more than a few days. Other than that, choke on for starting, turn that off when the revs start to rise. Get on and ride it.
If it's ridden often it shouldn't need any more regular maintenance than an Fi bike.

Pretty much this for me with my ZX6r G2, but I never turned the fuel off even if it was weeks between use.

Whilst no engineer, I would think that for this to be effective you would have to turn the fuel off whilst running, and then wait for it to "run out".

Great until you get a slightly sticky float and return to the bike to find the petrol you left in the tank is now a puddle on the floor.

Most 500cc and above carbed bikes of that era have vacuum tanks, petrol is not going anywhere if the engine is not running even with the fuel tap left on.

In fact the ZX6R from 95 on even has a fuel pump due to the carbs being above the bottom of the fuel tank.

[kenloen]

If it were a vacuum tank you'd ride a mile and then the engine would cut out. I've had this when a breather pipe was trapped between tank and frame.
If you have any carb float bowl leaks, with a full tank the weight of fuel can push back against the fuel pump.. and it goes raw into the cylinders/crankcase.

[crofty1984]

black-k1 said:

Moulder said:

patchb said:

I never bothered turning the fuel off on my old zx7r unless I was leaving it for more than a few days. Other than that, choke on for starting, turn that off when the revs start to rise. Get on and ride it.
If it's ridden often it shouldn't need any more regular maintenance than an Fi bike.

Pretty much this for me with my ZX6r G2, but I never turned the fuel off even if it was weeks between use.

Whilst no engineer, I would think that for this to be effective you would have to turn the fuel off whilst running, and then wait for it to "run out".

Great until you get a slightly sticky float and return to the bike to find the petrol you left in the tank is now a puddle on the floor.

Surely these would have vacuum traps that would stop this?

[crofty1984]

Harry H said:

I'd like a bike with a kick start. It's very satisfying when the engine bursts into life from your own effort rather than pushing a button.

Mind you after three kicks with no result it's nice to just push the button anyway.

I'm say here with a bruised thigh from a BSA oil tank cap, so I have mixed feelings about kick start at the moment!

[998420]

[quote=Löyly]The magnificence of fuel injection cannot be overstated. As much as I enioyed sitting in the cold waiting for my CG125 to warm up, I think I'm more taken with just pressing a button and letting the fuelling sort itself out.
[/quote]

Yes, but the engine is still cold, metals and oil cold and not at correct operating temperature.... It still needs warming up like a carbed bike....

[srob]

crofty1984 said:

I'm say here with a bruised thigh from a BSA oil tank cap, so I have mixed feelings about kick start at the moment!

You shuold try an unhappy Velocette! I have a bruised foot

It's like Russian roulette when a Venom with manual ignition won't start. You have to keep advancing the ignition knowing that it'll eventually kick back and really, really hurt. But if they won't start before, 90% of the time they'll start first kick after spitting back so you almost have to provoke it to clear it out

[Prof Prolapse]

srob said:

The oil pump is the right hand side of the two on the left. The far left is the regulator - you can see the sight glass and the dial on the top

I remember watching someone go sailing into traffic at a junction whilst fiddling with knobs like these in the highlands a few years ago. He was fine, but we all had a bit of a fright.

Up until that point I was very impressed however.