The friendly "dumb" bike questions thread

[lukeyman]

As fun as the Street Triple is I felt a bit big on mine at a... er... stocky 5'9. That said, at least it didn't aggravate my bad back!

[ambuletz]

Aftermarket indicators...why?

I can understand some OEM ones might not look nice, or too big and that many people fit aftermarket ones to neaten up the bike or makei it look like ie doesnt have any...

..but surely this hampers the safety/visibility of the indicators when in use, especially during daytime? Are there any aftermarket ones that have better visibility than OEM ones? especially during the day? surely a tiny flat LED isn't going to be well seen from the side compared to a OEM indicator that's bulbous

[anonymous-user]

ambuletz said:

Aftermarket indicators...why?

I can understand some OEM ones might not look nice, or too big and that many people fit aftermarket ones to neaten up the bike or makei it look like ie doesnt have any...

..but surely this hampers the safety/visibility of the indicators when in use

I have a K75 that’s stripped down to a rat/cafe racer. When I had it put together 3 years ago the indicators were tiny, very close together and almost unnoticeable (mechanic’s choice not mine). I had to use arm signals. It was pretty scary, felt really unsafe, now using properly spaced bright leds, same as current oem (bmw).

[Northernboy]

ambuletz said:

Aftermarket indicators...why?

I can understand some OEM ones might not look nice, or too big and that many people fit aftermarket ones to neaten up the bike or makei it look like ie doesnt have any...

..but surely this hampers the safety/visibility of the indicators when in use, especially during daytime? Are there any aftermarket ones that have better visibility than OEM ones? especially during the day? surely a tiny flat LED isn't going to be well seen from the side compared to a OEM indicator that's bulbous

I’ve used them before when money was tight, or the originals on an enduro bike weren’t fit for purpose.

[WinstonR]

Hi all,

I've noticed that there is some play in my throttle (which may have always been there and I just haven't noticed until now). Imagining it as a clock with 12 o clock being throttle off, between 12 and 1 is the 'play' and only from 1 onwards does the throttle engage and the bike accelerates. Is this normal? Bike is a 600 carb honda hornet.

Thanks

[Krikkit]

Find a workshop manual for your bike, there's undoubtedly a procedure for setting the free play (you need a little). Does sound like it's a bit too loose mind.

[Northernboy]

WinstonR said:

Hi all,

I've noticed that there is some play in my throttle (which may have always been there and I just haven't noticed until now). Imagining it as a clock with 12 o clock being throttle off, between 12 and 1 is the 'play' and only from 1 onwards does the throttle engage and the bike accelerates. Is this normal? Bike is a 600 carb honda hornet.

Thanks

There’s very likely an adjustment screw at one end of the throttle cable that you can tighten. You’ll need to undo a lock-nut, and take out the slack up to the point where any more makes the revs rise.

Before Re-tightening everything turn the bars full lock left and right to make sure that neither increases revs. You don’t want it to increase throttle when you start to turn out on the road.

[WinstonR]

Thanks both. I have the Haynes manual somewhere in the garage so I'll look that out.

[Northernboy]

WinstonR said:

Thanks both. I have the Haynes manual somewhere in the garage so I'll look that out.

It’ll likely tell you to leave some slack, maybe as much as 1/8 turn. I never liked that, and preferred to have none at all.

[talksthetorque]

I also found my throttle a bit jerky to use when I first got my bike, Manual says between 1/16" and 1/4" so I set it at 1/16th ( a gnat's cock of freeplay) and it helped my jerky rolloff and on agains ( eg traffic) a LOT
This was FI, but the same principal applies.

[BigGingerBob]

I get pins and needles in my hands when on the bike.
I'm told this is probably because I'm holding on too tight.

Thing is, it doesn't feel like I am. Any tips for pins and needles?

[Rockets7]

Change your hold on the bars, use your little fingers to do any gripping, rest your hand on the bars not grip them as such, try using throttle control with your little finger as opposed to forefinger and thumb. If that fails buy grip puppies.

[SpeckledJim]

Glove too tight at the wrist? Exacerbated by a cocked wrist when you're holding the bars?

[Northernboy]

BigGingerBob said:

I get pins and needles in my hands when on the bike.
I'm told this is probably because I'm holding on too tight.

Thing is, it doesn't feel like I am. Any tips for pins and needles?

As well as keeping a light grip it might help t change the bar-end weights. Some bikes do definitely suffer from vibration at certain revs, and if those are the revs that you ride at then you can help things by changing the weights.

[Pebbles167]

Northernboy said:

BigGingerBob said:

I get pins and needles in my hands when on the bike.
I'm told this is probably because I'm holding on too tight.

Thing is, it doesn't feel like I am. Any tips for pins and needles?

As well as keeping a light grip it might help t change the bar-end weights. Some bikes do definitely suffer from vibration at certain revs, and if those are the revs that you ride at then you can help things by changing the weights.

The soft foam covers for the grips help too I've heard. Grip puppies are a brand that sell them for £15, although I'd imagine any foam will do if you're a tight arse.

[Krikkit]

What bike is it? Could be well known for vibes.

[_Neal_]

Krikkit said:

What bike is it? Could be well known for vibes.

I think he has a CBF600 - just posted a thread for it. Not well known for vibes as far as I know.

Agree with the holding too tight suggestion/bar end weights etc. I got a bit of vibration white finger on mine and I reckon it was a combination of colder weather and holding too tight (came back to biking fairly recently so definitely not as relaxed as I should be).

Also do you have any non-standard stuff attached to the handlebars (e.g. phone/satnav mounts)? I found that an aftermarket phone mount made the vibes noticeably worse on mine (BMW f800R - which is known for being vibey).

[Prof Prolapse]

anonymous said:

[redacted]

Agree with this.

One of the best ways I was taught to relax my arms, was to take the bike into an empty car park, relax your elbows, and try turning the bike with less and less of a grip on the bars, just look where you're going.

Eventually you realise that you don't even need to told hold the bars and the bike still goes where you're looking. You then feel less inclined to hold tightly.

Probably explaining it badly but it worked for me.

[BigGingerBob]

Hi everyone,

I have a cbf600, not especially vibey. I will try out some of the suggestions here as it's no good having pins and needles after 5 minutes.
Nothing mounted on the bars but I will look at the weights if I can't get it to stop.

Thanks for the advice!

[Northernboy]

One thing to try for the grip is to ride with your little finger off the end, so you aren't gripping with that one.

The bars shouldn't be how you are "holdig on" to the bike, that should be your knees and thighs, the bars are only there for control.