The friendly "dumb" bike questions thread

[LosingGrip]

Marquezs Stabilisers said:

I used to instruct. If you can't ride a bicycle well with decent balance, learn to do that first! Seen your situation plenty of times and it does not work.

The oldest person I ever taught was 71. He was great and passed his test first time.

Weirdly I can't ride a pushbike to save my life!

[gareth_r]

G321 said:

My Yamaha is going in for MOT this week, I'm assuming from what I've read it will need reflectors adding to pass. Is it just a case of getting some from Halford to stick to the rear plate and forks?

Side reflectors are not checked

https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/mot-manu...

4. Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment
Headlamp, position lamps, stop lamps, direction indicators, rear registration plate lamp, rear reflector, and direction indicator ‘tell-tale’ rules and inspection for motorcycle MOT tests.

[xeny]

G321 said:

Hopefully they'll be able to supply one for the plate at the MOT centre then, it's going for a service first so can sort it then

Every bike MOT tester I've seen has a stack of small stick on reflectors for exactly this reason.

[raining_sulphur]

How has it taken me near on a year to realise my akrapovic still has the baffle in? . It’s doesn’t now, and it sounds soo much better.

[airsafari87]

No idea how I managed it? But somehow I managed to topple the Mrs Tuono 660 off the paddock stand yesterday and lightly gouged the swing arm.

The aluminium itself isn’t dented or deeply gouged, the damage to it is only superficial, but the paint and lacquer is shagged in a couple of places.

If I can’t get hold of a replacement swing arm for a decent price I guess I’ll either get it painted or powder coated.

Question is :-
Which will get the closest match to the OEM finish?
I assume both options will required it being taken back down to bare metal?

I’ll strip and rebuild the bike myself, so the cost of that won’t be a factor.

[tvrolet]

You need this thread - OEM matching paint finished in there

https://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&...

[airsafari87]

Bearing pullers.

I need to pull a set of bearings from a swing arm before it’s powder coated, but don’t have a bearing puller in my toolbox so I’m going to purchase one.

Looks like I can spend from £45 for a set off Amazon that are probably made of chocolate, through to £800+ which for my needs is madness.

So.
If anyone has any recommendations for a sensibly priced kit that can be used very, very occasionally on motorbike wheel bearings etc … I’d be glad to hear them.

[66mpg]

Can you hire a set from your local tool hire shop?

[airsafari87]

66mpg said:

Can you hire a set from your local tool hire shop?

Probably, but I’d prefer to buy a set so they are always to hand if and when I need them.

[SteveKTMer]

airsafari87 said:

66mpg said:

Can you hire a set from your local tool hire shop?

Probably, but I’d prefer to buy a set so they are always to hand if and when I need them.

Your local bike shop will probably remove them for a donation to their coffee and biscuit fund.

[KTMsm]

I found the cheap crap on eBay surprisingly good

Probably won't work for a rusted up old Land Rover but for anything you need on a bike they seem to do the job

Any in alloy usually come out easily if you warm the alloy up (I tend to be cautious and use a heat gun)

Frequently a google / look on YouTube finds ingenious DIY methods too

[airsafari87]

KTMsm said:

I found the cheap crap on eBay surprisingly good

Probably won't work for a rusted up old Land Rover but for anything you need on a bike they seem to do the job

Any in alloy usually come out easily if you warm the alloy up (I tend to be cautious and use a heat gun)

Frequently a google / look on YouTube finds ingenious DIY methods too

I’ll give the cheap Chinese ones a try then as they will only used once in a blue moon.

Like I say, I always prefer to buy tools wherever possible rather than pay for someone else to do the job.

[Crudeoink]

airsafari87 said:

I’ll give the cheap Chinese ones a try then as they will only used once in a blue moon.

Like I say, I always prefer to buy tools wherever possible rather than pay for someone else to do the job.

+1 If I can buy decent quality tools and do it myself (without the job being a massive PITA) for equal to or less than the garage quote I'll always do it myself so I can add the proper tool to the arsenal

[Biker 1]

Crudeoink said:

+1 If I can buy decent quality tools and do it myself (without the job being a massive PITA) for equal to or less than the garage quote I'll always do it myself so I can add the proper tool to the arsenal

+2
Although I bought some Knippex pipe grips to remove various fixings to replace a Volvo coolant expansion tank - the tank was cheaper than the tool!!

[Krikkit]

For bearing pullers I'd just go with cheap Chinese Amazon and eBay as KTMsm says - they won't be quite as good as the expensive stuff, but they're a tiny fraction of the price.

[RizzoTheRat]

SteveKTMer said:

airsafari87 said:

66mpg said:

Can you hire a set from your local tool hire shop?

Probably, but I’d prefer to buy a set so they are always to hand if and when I need them.

Your local bike shop will probably remove them for a donation to their coffee and biscuit fund.

This! I couldn't get the lower head bearing off so I took the bottom yoke to a local shop to remove it. He didn't charge me as he said he'd prefer to see someone admit defeat and bring in to them, then see someone butcher it and then bring it to the shop to fix I gave him some cash and told him to have a beer on me.

For the swing arm, check how they're fitted. My wheel bearings have a sleeve in the center that's smaller than the hole in the wheel, so you can drift the bearings out from the inside. I think the swing arm is the same.

[MDUBZ]

RizzoTheRat said:

SteveKTMer said:

airsafari87 said:

66mpg said:

Can you hire a set from your local tool hire shop?

Probably, but I’d prefer to buy a set so they are always to hand if and when I need them.

Your local bike shop will probably remove them for a donation to their coffee and biscuit fund.

This! I couldn't get the lower head bearing off so I took the bottom yoke to a local shop to remove it. He didn't charge me as he said he'd prefer to see someone admit defeat and bring in to them, then see someone butcher it and then bring it to the shop to fix I gave him some cash and told him to have a beer on me.

Reminded me of this

[HybridTheory]

Noticed that my bike sounded super loud today and it seems a bolt has come off one of my downpipes. It doesn't seem to be holding anything in place so do you think putty over the hole will be fine

[trickywoo]

HybridTheory said:

Noticed that my bike sounded super loud today and it seems a bolt has come off one of my downpipes. It doesn't seem to be holding anything in place so do you think putty over the hole will be fine

After you clean the area enough to get the putty to stick you might not have much pipe left. They look shot.

[xeny]

How about a jubilee clip used to support some exhaust putty?