ReconRat

200 bucks and 2 hours later... new tire. Kept the old one. Might be a burn off in the future. Found: Leaks when pulled out: I left the nail in when I took it to Iron Pony, so I could show and tell. I had my finger over the hole and was playing a farty little tune for them. They weren't near as amused as I was... This went in at an angle on the left outside tread, pointing to the outside. So I was leaning left when it jabbed in there. Having now racked my mind for where and when this might have happened. I remember something coming home from that Waco Fly-In, Sept 18. On a left sweeper on a country road, the bike jumped a few times to the right. Like I was hitting tar snakes, but I couldn't see anything. Now I guess it was gray nails on a gray road. That was about 45 days ago, it was probably in there that long. Guess I better check the front tire again.

LOL, it didn't leak till I pulled it out. An inch long small gauge roughing nail? Pics later, tire is off. I'm on my way to the Pony.

I'm not a fan of patched motorcycle tires. I can afford to replace it. Might be fun to play around with patching it to see how that works out. Actually, it probably doesn't go all the way through. I don't think it's leaking air. I'm going to go out and spray water on it to see.

So I found a nail or something in my back tire. Way over on the left side of the tread. No clue how it got there. And no clue if it will leak when I pull it out. It's a Dunlop RoadSmart I bought in April this year. Argh... I should pull the wheel assy and get down to Iron Pony and just buy another tire. Regardless of whether I keep this one or not. But somehow I'm just not in the mood to do that today.

I talked to Max, we were just over there in that area. It probably was a through lane, with cars at the intersection in a turn lane. Another car probably turned out onto the road in his path. There are many times I slow down through intersections. And I do that so I can have a little more time to dodge anything that happens. If you're going to be 100% defensive, you'll have to assume every car you see has the potential to collide with you, and plan to avoid it.

First a quick thinking Granny drops a motel robber last week. Now someone from Florida drops an armed robber in a Wendy's parking lot. Things are not going well for robbers lately. Victim Shoots Suspect After Robbery Outside Wendy’s Note that he let him have the wallet. That makes it Assault AND Robbery. And thanks to the idiot that tried to cover for the robber, two will go to jail. No charges filed for defending against robbery. edit: Does anyone else get the impression that Wendy's does not have surveillance cameras on their parking lots?

Police: Alcohol Factor In Fatal Motorcycle Crash Helmet - Yes Alcohol - Yes Passing in an intersection - Yes Bad combination, regardless of whether it was a legal pass or not. RIP nbc4i.com

If an exhaust valve or exhaust restriction or even a proper combustion problem exists, the temperature on that pipe should be lower. Enough to notice, I would think. At least when it's warming up, that pipe would do so slower.

tsk, you'all on the wrong thread. David, it's your fault for bringing this one back with a post! Go here: Funny Bone - Thursday November 12 - 7:30pm move along, nothing to see here...

It's not a motorcycle unless it has at least one type of duct tape on it. Welcome

Now I'm also wondering if a bad injector signal or bad (leaky) injector might be putting excess fuel in there. I remember that now from aircraft and car injector trouble shooting charts.

Back to basics. Blow by into the intake would be possibly: A. intake valve leaking on the compression stroke B. exhaust valve not opening or exhaust restriction on the exhaust stroke C. cylinder not firing allowing fuel/air mix to blow everywhere when the valves open. D. fuel injection timing very wrong on that cylinder E. vacuum leak in or around the #4, between valve and injector. I'll take A or E, that's my guess. Question is the blow-by carbon or fuel.

edit: Let's try that again...Mag, you can check the crank timing vs the cam timing by pulling the crank timing cover and the spark plugs, and feeling with your finger or thumb on #1, if the piston is compressing when you rotate the crank to the #1 TDC. It will do that on every other rotation of the crank. (The other rotation is the exhaust rotation.) You should be able to repeat that for each spark plug/piston to check. You'll have to think about the rotations, and the firing order, to determine if one of the cams is 180 degrees out. Meaning that if two of your pistons move together, one will compress while the other exhausts. So when you find one turn that compresses, the next turn will compress the paired cylinder, etc. Same for the other pair. But if it were me, I'd just start over again. Basically something isn't right. I would make sure the spark plug wires and all are hooked up right first, of course. Won't help any if it was firing wrong.

no kidding. I'm an old fashioned single cam kinda guy. Mixing the cams would be crazy. But basically yes, if there are two sets of TDC marks on the crankshaft, it's possible that the wrong TDC was used. That also assumes that the engine is the "free floating" type. Meaning that the valves won't hit the pistons if the valve timing is way off. Which it probably would if it was 180 degrees out. But on my bikes, that other set of marks would be the #2 and #3 cylinder TDC. That's Honda. All my #1 and #4 pistons move together (outside pistons).

JASO MA, MA1 and JASO MA2 standards for motorcycles were created to control the marketing of oils beyond the development of standard automotive SG oils. SG oils were fine in motorcycles. (Back in the day when there were no special motorcycle oils.) There are additives and differences in the oils made to the newer automotive standards, that are not controlled or indicated to the consumer. Typically these are "energy conserving" or "higher fuel mileage" differences. These differences may or may not cause problems or effect the motorcycle, depending on the quantities and types of additives, and whether the motorcycle actually cares about it or not. The wet clutch is the most obvious of the problems. There are many other differences between automotive oil and motorcycle oil.

The crankshaft mark indicates top dead center of the piston travel. That happens twice for each single turn of the camshaft. Most engines won't care which turn of the two turns of the crankshaft it is on, since it's all the same to the crankshaft. The backfiring is probably a mismatch between the placement of the crankshaft vs the camshaft, when hooking up. Where possible, I try to lash the timing chain tight with the cam chain adjuster, and double or triple check the cam timing marks, before closing up the engine. Do that by turning the engine the correct direction at the crankshaft, till the mark comes back up twice at the crankshaft, and observe the timing mark on the camshaft. It is very easy to get the timing chain/camshaft one or two tooths off at the camshaft. Depending on the direction it's off, the camshaft will be overly advanced or retarded. I once figured my one tooth off at the cam was 17 degrees off timing. Yeah, I've done it. Learned me to double and triple check my work. Note: some engines must have the belt or chain adjuster tension in use in order to turn the engine. Result can be jumping one or more tooth on the belt or chain.

Let's repeat that. AGM batteries (Absorbed Glass Mat) win out over all others, especially over acid filled batteries. Gel cell weren't bad, but they had technology issues, and are more or less replaced by the AGM as a better technology. I should also add that Yuasa makes several different quality levels of each battery model/size. So a range of prices and quality. I haven't looked into the differences yet.

I'm always interested in reading oil studies. Even if it might be one sponsored by Valvoline. Independent studies do it better. Link it if you find it.

Just say no. Don't use cheap ass WalMart diesel oil in a real motorcycle. Bumping up to the 50W, when it's not recommended for an engine, will increase the oil pump pressure, and change the filter bypass pressure, oil film thickness on pistons, and all sorts of things generally not wanted. but on the other hand, from what I can see on the internet, there is a lot of differences in the Sprint manuals recommendations for oil weights. One of the manuals even says: Just as well, looking for 10W50 would be traumatic. It's not easy to find, if at all. 10W40 wins.

According to the Mobil 1 website, 15W-50 for racing/street use has been replaced by 0W-30 and 0W-20 for racing use only and is not for the street. Also it is not for wet plate clutches. Maybe that stopped the 15W-50 production for motorcycles as well. If it were me, I'd get Castrol 10W-50 for motorcycles, as an alternate. The 50 weight number is more important, when looking for a substitute. Belray, Motorex, Lucas, Motul, and KalGard make a 10W-50 motorcycle oil also. Ummm, I noticed on the internet that some people say the Sprint manual says to use 15W-40? If so, the 10W-40 is an acceptable substitute. Everyone makes a 10W-40 motorcycle oil.

I looked at the Mobil website, and from what I can tell, Mobil 1 4T 15W-50 isn't currently available in the USA. I did find it on the Australian Mobil website. Don't get Mobil diesel 15W-50 confused with the motorcycle oil. The Mobil diesel 15W-50 will be marked API CD or API CF. The Mobil motorcycle 15W-50 will be marked API SH and JASO MA. The weight of an engine oil is part of the engine's design characteristics. The way the oil flows in the engine, is in part controlled by the weight of the oil. That's saying the oil could move too quickly, or not fast enough, or distribute within the engine in a way not intended if it's the wrong weight oil. In most engines it won't make much difference. If anything, I would substitute a 10W-50 if I couldn't get a 15W-50. The first number is the weight (viscosity index) of the oil when it is cold. So a 10W will get moving quicker. Repsol makes a 15W-50 for motorcycle. As does Klotz, Silkolene, Motorex, and Motul.

As far as I know, Yuasa is what the OEM uses on most everything. And I'm guessing mine is original, and lasted 6 or 7 years so far. I'm pretty sure cheaper batteries won't last 6 or 7 years, but that won't matter if you only want a couple of years from a battery. And that is probably what you will get with the cheapest battery found. I tend to buy up at least one notch in quality as a minimum, just so it won't fail in the first few months.... argh...

There's 5 copies of the 1999 Haynes ZX900 manual in the Columbus library. Call number: 629.28775 K224, C775kL Main Library (SciBusNews) 2 copies South High 1 copy Southeast 1 copy Karl Road 1 copy None are shown as checked out. I just reserve them on line and pick them up at the local library.

The Brits enjoy dumb criminals too. Here is a list of their top six. They'll Never Recognize Me The beer box. The carpet. The tree. The underwear on your head. The plaster wall. The duct tape bandit.