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Project Sylvie the freebie CBF250

Discussion in 'Your 250cc Projects' started by TechHeadFred, Dec 12, 2016.

  1. TechHeadFred

    TechHeadFred Well-Known Member

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    A couple of my blog posts sum up the story so far quite well...

    Jack’s Back With Company – Meet Sylvie!
    (Originally Posted on 11/12/2016)


    A lot has happened since my last update!

    First up, I’ve sold two bikes – Jack was sold to a friend of a friend and Nix was sold a few months later.

    I’ve changed jobs twice, got engaged and finally, my fiancée and I have a baby due in May!

    The friend of a friend has proven to be a great friend, as he’d bought a bigger bike and has loaned me Jack for a few months after he heard about my trouble getting Scarlet running again!

    [​IMG]

    Not only has he loaned me Jack, he’s also found and donated another CBF250F to me that was in need of some repairs and a new home. Meet Sylvie!

    [​IMG][​IMG][​IMG][​IMG]

    We’ll get to know Sylvie a lot better in the next update – she’s already had a bit of a facelift!

    (Copied from my blog post of the same name)
     
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    Last edited: Dec 12, 2016
  2. TechHeadFred

    TechHeadFred Well-Known Member

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    Sylvie Gets A Facelift
    (Originally posted on 12/12/2016)


    Yesterday, I spent some time looking over Sylvie to get an idea of how much work she’ll need to be ready for the road.

    Visually, there were a few obvious things.

    [​IMG]

    The last rider apparently hit a car at low speed, so there’s quite a bit of cosmetic damage to the front end.

    [​IMG]

    The front fender/mudguard has a chunk missing, the speedo/dash housing is broken, and there is a large opaque spot in the headlight lens

    [​IMG]

    The right mirror was completely shattered, the handlebars and brake lever were quite badly bent, and the right switch/throttle assembly needs replacing as parts of it have snapped off completely.

    [​IMG]

    The rear tyre is badly worn and will need replacing.

    As the battery was flat but there was fuel in the tank, I hooked up some jumper leads to my car and pressed the starter button. She obligingly came to life almost immediately!



    (Apologies for the video quality, will try to fix this later)

    Off came the mirrors.

    [​IMG]

    Next were the protective caps on the handlebar clamps.

    [​IMG]

    I checked under the seat and found a complete original toolkit, although the vinyl tool bag was stating to fall apart.

    [​IMG]

    Off came the handlebars, to check the extent of the bend.

    [​IMG]

    Quite a nasty bend there!

    [​IMG]

    After some concerted effort with a makeshift pipe bender (the metal bar and wooden beams near my front gate), I managed to get the handlebars close to their original shape, so I put them back on and replaced the handgrips, switches, choke/clutch assembly, master brake reservoir and throttle assembly.

    [​IMG]

    A spare set of mirrors later and she’s looking much happier!

    [​IMG]

    The battery is on to charge, so I’ll check it tomorrow evening.

    I’ve ordered a replacement rear wheel, so further work will wait until it arrives.

    More to come next week!

    (Copied from my blog post of the same name)
     
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  3. Murdo

    Murdo The Good Doctor Staff Member Contributing Member Ride and Events Crew

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    Good pick up Fred.
     
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  4. Joker

    Joker See "about me" for contact details. Contributing Member

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    Nice, had one of those for a while, fun little commuter. Really easy to work on.
     
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  5. TechHeadFred

    TechHeadFred Well-Known Member

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    The price was definitely right!
    Yeah I really liked the first one I had, would have bought it back if If had the asking price.
    Now I have an excuse to buy parts again.
     
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  6. TechHeadFred

    TechHeadFred Well-Known Member

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    Sylvie Awaits A Wheel, A Possum Hitches A Ride and A Roving Staple Gun Is Replaced

    (Originally Posted on 19/12/2016)


    This week’s update was going to detail Sylvie’s rear wheel swap.

    Unfortunately the wheel has taken longer to arrive than expected, so by Sunday I was looking for something else to do with Sylvie to bring her closer to being road-ready.

    I took the cover off Sylvie’s front wheel while cleaning up the carport and was stared at for a moment by a startled possum who was clinging to the front wheel! The possum immediately jumped away, bounced off the cover over the rear of the FZR400 and hid under a sideboard at the back of the carport. I wish I’d been able to get photos or video, as it was incredibly funny to watch!

    This possum was found inside the old wall unit in my carport about a week ago, so it may have decided it lives here – here’s a photo of its last appearance

    [​IMG]

    I decided after looking the seat over and finding a piece of thin black rubber foam while cleaning up that maybe the rubber foam could be used to re-cover the seat and simply be waterproofed afterwards.

    [​IMG][​IMG]

    Unfortunately I wasn’t able to find my staple gun despite hours of searching through cupboards, the garden shed, the bike shed and the chaos that is my study, so nothing more exciting than starting the bike had happened by Monday evening.

    Determined to make some progress and have an update tonight – I have a schedule to keep after all – I went off to the local hardware store to buy a replacement staple gun and a staple remover.

    Armed with said implements, I removed Sylvie’s seat and set about removing the torn cover.

    [​IMG] [​IMG][​IMG]

    I then stapled the foam rubber on and cut it to size as I went.

    [​IMG] [​IMG]

    Once I was happy with my handiwork, I took it outside to spray with waterproofer

    [​IMG] [​IMG] [​IMG]

    Just in case it rains, I put it back on Sylvie and covered her up.

    [​IMG] [​IMG]

    Not bad for an evening’s work!

    Hopefully the wheel will arrive soon. I’ll have some other parts on order tomorrow to keep me busy for the next couple of weeks regardless…

    (Copied from my blog post of the same name)
     
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  7. TechHeadFred

    TechHeadFred Well-Known Member

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    Wheels And Panels And Switches, Oh My!
    (Originally Posted on 26/12/2016)


    Merry Christmas, happy holidays and I hope you all have a wonderful new year!

    It’s been a busy few days for me in the lead-up to Christmas.
    Sylvie’s rear wheel arrived on Tuesday and I had to check it out.

    [​IMG]

    I was very impressed with the foresight that went into packing the wheel for shipping. The cable ties held everything together nicely and ensured no parts were lost when it was unwrapped

    [​IMG]

    The tyre is impressively new. The bike it came from had apparently done less than 5000 km.

    [​IMG]

    More parts arrived on Thursday!

    [​IMG]

    I could tell from the size of the box that this was the mudguard and left side panel I’d ordered

    [​IMG] [​IMG] [​IMG]

    The seller was quite quick sending these, considering I only ordered them on Tuesday.

    With all these parts, I was itching to start replacing them. As it happened, I ended up only working a half day on Friday.

    Being the last working day before Christmas, the person with the power to do so told most of us to take off early. I didn’t need to be told twice!

    After cooling down from the summer heat on the ride home and spending some quality time with family, I spent some quality time with Sylvie.

    [​IMG]

    First I took the seat off and gave it another coat of water-proofer.

    [​IMG] [​IMG]

    Next up was the side panel.

    [​IMG]

    The missing side panel left part of itself behind, so that needed to be removed.

    [​IMG] [​IMG]

    A spare for another side panel in need of repairs, perhaps?
    [​IMG]

    Side panel in place.

    [​IMG]

    A quick inspection of the screw from the other side to check for a suitable replacement.

    [​IMG] [​IMG]

    Secured in place.

    [​IMG]

    Next up was swapping the mudguard over.

    [​IMG]

    Two brackets secured it at the back

    [​IMG] [​IMG]

    THe old mudguard had all the mounting washers, so I swapped them onto the replacement.

    [​IMG] [​IMG]

    [​IMG] [​IMG]

    She’s looking pretty close to a complete bike again!

    [​IMG]

    With the mudguard fitted, I was itching to replace the right hand switch block I’d ordered the same day as the side panel and mudguard. Lo and behold, a delivery van turned up with it right at that moment!

    [​IMG] [​IMG]

    So I loosened the nuts for the cables and off came the headlight cover to disconnect the cabling.

    [​IMG]

    [​IMG] [​IMG] [​IMG]

    I disconnected one of the throttle cables and loosened off the handlebars so I could maneuver the throttle grip from the switch block. THis took a fair bit of cencentration ,so I forgot to take photos!

    Here’s the replacement switch block with nicely secured throttle cables

    [​IMG]

    Finally, it was time to switch the rear wheel over. I enlisted the help of Jack’s new owner for this one, as he’d promised to help with spanner-wielding if needed. As there was a fair bit of precision timing needed for this one with Sylvie being balanced with the front wheel on a wheel stand and an ATV lift under the middle, I only have before and after photos again.

    [​IMG] [​IMG]

    I thanked my friend for his help and gave Sylvie a bit of a polish with some Inox. Here’s how she scrubbed up:

    [​IMG] [​IMG]

    [​IMG] [​IMG] [​IMG]

    She hardly looks like the same bike I started with!

    All that’s left to replace is the headlight cover and meter shroud, which might not be necessary to pass a roadworthiness check. Hopefully I can get that done in the new year!

    (Copied from my blog post of the same name)
     
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  8. TechHeadFred

    TechHeadFred Well-Known Member

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    Finishing Touches For Sylvie’s Roadworthy Inspection
    (Originally Posted on 04/01/2017)


    Although I’m back to my day job this week I organised to have tomorrow off ahead of time, so I booked a roadworthy inspection for tomorrow afternoon.

    This of course meant spending some time working on Sylvie tonight and checking that she’s ready to ride!

    Although I plan to replace it eventually, I swapped the headlight housing with Jack’s to ensure the cloudiness on it isn’t a reason to fail the roadworthiness check.

    Here’s the headlight housings for comparison – Sylvie’s original one on the left and Jack’s on the right:

    [​IMG] [​IMG]

    Here they are removed from the bikes:

    [​IMG]

    And finally, the better headlight housing on Sylvie:

    [​IMG]

    I checked the battery after leaving it on trickle charge for over a week and discovered it still seems not to have enough charge to start the bike, so I swapped Jacks’ battery into Sylvie and vice versa. As this is only a temporary change, I didn’t take any photos of the process – I’ll take some photos when I fit a permanent replacement battery for Sylvie though!

    I noticed the meters were wobbling quite a bit, so I rolled up some of the left over foam that I had used to recover the seat, wedged it in the gap where the missing part of the covers are and taped over it with some black plastic duct tape. It’s far more secure now and wobbles only slightly more than Jack’s does with complete covers.

    [​IMG]

    While it’s not perfect I have replacement top and bottom meter covers on order, so if it does fail the inspection on this detail I’ll just replace it when the parts arrive and get a re-inspection.

    Wish me luck for the inspection tomorrow!

    (Copied from my blog post of the same name)
     
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  9. Joker

    Joker See "about me" for contact details. Contributing Member

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    Those covers are very expensive, I think the top one alone cost me $110 or something ridiculous, so if you can avoid it... :)
     
  10. TechHeadFred

    TechHeadFred Well-Known Member

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    Yeah I have already bitten the bullet to get one anyway. The bottom cover on the other hand is only around $20!
     
  11. TechHeadFred

    TechHeadFred Well-Known Member

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    Jack Takes His Battery And Goes Home As Sylvie Gets A New Face
    (Part 1 - Originally Posted on 17/01/2017)


    Last Thursday, the last of the not-just-cosmetic parts for Sylvie arrived – a brand new battery, the meter housing, and some replacement mounting screws.

    [​IMG]

    [​IMG]

    I wanted Jack up and running again to return to his current owner, so I installed the new battery that evening.

    The parts I need for this were the replacement mounting screws for the right side cover and of course the new battery!

    [​IMG] [​IMG]

    Off with the side cover..

    [​IMG] [​IMG]

    Jack’s battery out…

    [​IMG] [​IMG]

    [​IMG]

    [​IMG]

    … and the new battery in.

    [​IMG] [​IMG] [​IMG] [​IMG] [​IMG] [​IMG] [​IMG] [​IMG] [​IMG]

    New screws fitted on the right side panel.

    [​IMG] [​IMG]

    Looking good!

    [​IMG] [​IMG]

    Quick check that the meters and lights seem to work – all good.

    [​IMG]

    Off with Jack’s side panel.

    [​IMG]

    In with the battery…

    [​IMG] [​IMG]

    [​IMG] [​IMG]

    And back went the side panel.

    [​IMG] [​IMG]

    Quick check of the meters and lights, and I was done for the night.

    [​IMG]

    (continued in Part 2 below)
     
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  12. TechHeadFred

    TechHeadFred Well-Known Member

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    (Part 2 - continued from Part 1 above)

    On Saturday, I moved on to the speedo housing.

    Here’s the new housing, ready to fit.

    [​IMG]

    Here’s a recap of the external damage.

    [​IMG]

    [​IMG]

    First order of business was to remove the headlight to allow access to the speedo housing.

    [​IMG] [​IMG] [​IMG] [​IMG]

    Next up, removing the bottom half of the housing.

    [​IMG]

    While the bottom housing was easy enough to remove, the top part needed a T15 Torx driver. Fortunately I had one in my toolbox already.

    [​IMG]

    The top looks ok, and the meters still work fine…

    [​IMG]

    …but the bottom seems to have come adrift a bit?

    [​IMG]

    Old housing on the left, new one on the right.

    [​IMG]

    Whoops! I almost forgot the Honda badge.

    [​IMG]

    There we go!

    [​IMG]

    I decided I’d try repairing the damage with epoxy putty.

    [​IMG] [​IMG]

    Unfortunately it set too fast and didn’t hold, so I had to remove it.

    [​IMG]

    J B Weld to the rescue!

    [​IMG] [​IMG]

    I taped it down for a while.

    [​IMG]

    Then I fitted the new housing and she’s almost good as new.

    [​IMG] [​IMG]

    [​IMG]

    I studied the exploded parts diagram and tucked in the rubber insert that had been dangling from the cabling.

    [​IMG]

    Headlight back on and she’s done!

    [​IMG]

    I decided to use some of the black duct tape I’d taped down the meters with while the J B Weld was setting to cover the holes in the seat until I get a chance to re-cover it properly.

    [​IMG]

    [​IMG] [​IMG]

    Then I decided to strengthen the temporary toolkit bag with some of the tape so it will fit where it’s supposed to go.

    [​IMG] [​IMG] [​IMG] [​IMG] [​IMG] [​IMG]

    A simple fix until I get a replacement toolkit bag that seems to work quite well!

    [​IMG]

    Sylvie’s been running well with the new battery and I’m pleased to find that the meter housing no longer rattles at all. While I still have a few plans for Sylvie, all the major work is done so it’s time to return to the other projects for a while now that I have a reliable daily ride…

    On a related note, Jack went back to his new owner on Sunday. Jack’s owner will be using him for the Provisional rider course and MOST test on Wednesday, as his other bike is a bit big to reliably pass a skills assessment on.

    After that, Jack will be back on the market. If any local readers are looking for a learner-legal bike or an economical commuter, let me know!

    (Copied from my blog post of the same name)
     
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    Last edited: Jan 17, 2017
  13. TechHeadFred

    TechHeadFred Well-Known Member

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    A Cheap Tankpad, A Front Brake Bleed, And A Blat Down the Highway
    (Originally Posted on 23/01/2017)


    With the only work Sylvie needs now being primarily cosmetic (despite my plans to do more with her long-term) I decided it was time to invest in a tank protector.

    Budget being a little tight, I ordered a cheap tankpad.

    [​IMG]

    I cleaned the tank with “metho” (methylated spirits) prior to application.

    [​IMG] [​IMG] [​IMG]

    After placing it in position, I removed the protective plastic film.

    [​IMG] [​IMG]

    Looking swish!

    [​IMG] [​IMG]

    [​IMG]

    While riding, I’d noticed that although the front brake was nice and responsive, the brake fluid looked both a bit low and a bit stale.

    [​IMG]

    Checking the cap, I confirmed that replacement brake fluid needs to meet DOT4 standard and was reminded to clean the cap before removal.

    [​IMG]

    Fortunately, I had some DOT4 brake fluid already.

    [​IMG] [​IMG]

    I found my trusty magnetic brake bleeding kit in the shed.

    [​IMG]

    Onto the disc you go!

    [​IMG]

    Of course the hose has to connect somewhere. I popped the dust cover off the brake bleeding nipple

    [​IMG] [​IMG]

    Connected the hose from the bleeding kit…

    [​IMG]

    [​IMG]

    And it was time to remove the master cylinder cover.

    [​IMG] [​IMG]

    I put the cover aside with its screws.

    [​IMG] [​IMG]

    Bled out all the old fluid…

    [​IMG] [​IMG]

    Topped it up with fresh fluid and put the inner cover on…

    [​IMG] [​IMG]

    Then screwed down the lid.

    [​IMG] [​IMG]

    Much better!

    [​IMG] [​IMG]

    After topping upthe brake fluid, I of course needed to test the front brake.

    So I put my tailbag on Sylvie…

    [​IMG] [​IMG]

    Put a couple of bottles of water in the tailbag, filled up her tank and and went for a quick blat about down the highway to Murrumbateman and back again.

    [​IMG] [​IMG]

    All in all, not a bad Sunday afternoon!

    P.S. – The cheap tankpad really was cheap! This is what it looks like just over 100km of riding later:

    [​IMG]

    Oh well, better a cheap tank pad getting scratched up like that than the tank. That’s what they’re for, after all!

    (Copied from my blog post of the same name)
     
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  14. TechHeadFred

    TechHeadFred Well-Known Member

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    Sylvie Has A Screw Loose...
    (Originally Posted on 06/02/2017)


    This week, I noticed that one of the screws holding on Sylvie’s chain guard on had disappeared.

    [​IMG]

    After lifting it up, I realised it was only being held on by the front bolt!

    [​IMG]

    Fortunately, I found a temporary replacement.

    [​IMG]

    Ready to ride again!

    (Copied from part of my blog post of the same name)
     
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  15. my67xr

    my67xr Bike Enthusiast Staff Member Premium Member Contributing Member

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    Nice work.
    Hey just looking at the second to last pic
    When was your chained last lubed?
    It look's like there's a couple of stiff link's?
    Have a look at the 2x link's directly above the 2x U's on the swingarms' 'Aluminium' sticker
     
  16. TechHeadFred

    TechHeadFred Well-Known Member

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    Hmmm, would have been when I replaced the rear wheel back in December. Well spotted, will give it some attention tomorrow!

    Chain and sprockets are on the "to do " list once I have a little spare cash.
     
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  17. TechHeadFred

    TechHeadFred Well-Known Member

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    Sylvie Gets Heated Up – Transferring Heated Grips From Rosie
    Originally Posted on 24/04/2017)


    As I’m in Australia, winter is almost here. The traditional date after which it becomes acceptable to turn on heaters in Canberra is Anzac Day – April 25th. This is also the last week of the second month of our autumn/fall season in Australia.

    With the cold weather approaching, I decided Rosie’s heated grips would be more useful on Sylvie.

    I decided this week that it was time to transfer them over while it’s still mild enough to work in the carport in the evenings.

    With the “bark buster” hand guards installed on Rosie the first step was to remove them, so I started with the left one.

    20170423_190537.jpg 20170423_190755.jpg 20170423_190816.jpg

    With the hand guards removed, it was surprisingly easy to remove the heated grip.

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    I repeated the same process on the right side.

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    The grip was once again fairly easy to remove.

    20170423_191813.jpg

    Next I traced the power cable back to the battery. The positive wire has a small fuse box on it.

    20170423_192056.jpg 20170423_192144-e1492951027858.jpg

    The negative wire was a little harder to spot.

    20170423_192206.jpg 20170423_192257.jpg

    Power cable removed.

    20170423_192604.jpg

    The last part was the control box. With all the other cables removed it came off easily.

    20170423_192811.jpg 20170423_193103.jpg

    With the heated grips ready to install, I needed to remove Sylvie’s original grips. Having removed the left one before, all I needed after removing the bar end weights was a little dishwashing detergent and a lot of effort!

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    The right grip was a little trickier but dishwashing detergent and effort did the trick again.

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    I fitted the heated grips and discovered that they moved freely.

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    After a brief search in the shed, I found some old rubber contact cement.

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    I applied some to the throttle tube and handlebar.

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    I found that a far more liberal coating was required and changed the position of the left grip so it wouldn’t obstruct any switches.

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    I changed the position of the right grip to match the left one when the throttle is not in use.

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    I fitted the control box the the clutch mounting bracket. I covered the exposed parts of the metal mounting bracket with black electrical tape so it blended in better with the clutch mounting bracket.

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    While waiting for the glue to dry, I put a spare pair of grips on Rosie.

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    I reinstalled the handguards too.

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    I put the original grips from Rosie in a ziplock bag to go with the other CBF250 spare parts.

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    I removed the seat and tank to feed the power cable through.

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    I connected the power cable to the battery and tidied up the cabling, but forgot to take photos. I gave the grips a quick test and found they turn off automatically if the engine isn’t running. I started Sylvie and tested them and they seemed to work properly, but being late at night I didn’t want to run the engine for too long.

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    Finally, I packed up everything back in the shed and updated Sylvie’s to-do list.

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    Hopefully the mirrors will arrive soon so I can fit them.

    If they don’t arrive this week, I’ll either be attempting to unseize the piston in the spare CB250RS engine or trying to figure out what’s causing the electrical problems on Erica and Rosie.

    (copied from my blog post of the same name)
     

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  18. TechHeadFred

    TechHeadFred Well-Known Member

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    My Bike:
    2007 CBF250F, 2004 KLR650, 1992 FZR400, 2 x CB250RS (1980 and 1982),
    Melting Glue, A Solution, And Some Rubber Grease
    (Originally Posted on 01/05/2017)


    As predicted, the mornings were much colder over the last week. I found that while the grips were quite secure when turned off, the contact cement melted whenever they were turned on, creating a safety issue as the grips then rotated freely around the handlebars!

    I decided a better method of attaching them was needed, so I did a bit of research and found that other riders had reported success with both high temperature gasket sealant and J B Weld. I decided to go with J B Weld, as I have used it for fairing repairs in the past and had some already on hand.

    On Friday morning, I managed to drop Sylvie while making a u-turn on the way to work. I overshot the corner and got the front wheel caught in a ditch next to the road!

    Luckily, I wasn’t badly hurt, and there was no damage from the drop apart from the right mirror and master brake cylinder needing to be twisted back in place. Unfortunately, I didn;t catch any of this on the GoPro, as it ran out of space and stopped shortly after I left that morning.

    I’m not sure if the melted glue contributed to overshooting the corner. Needless to say, this made me even more determined to make sure the grips were properly attached!

    I turned the grips on for a few minutes first to heat them up.

    20170430_112711-e1493619946591.jpg 20170430_112715.jpg

    I took off the bar end weights and they slid right off! The handlebar under the left grip was totally clean, while the right one had a few burnt pieces of contact cement left on the throttle tube under it. I stuck them all together to clean up the throttle cylinder.

    20170430_113136.jpg 20170430_113140.jpg

    I thoroughly cleaned the inside of the heated grips and the throttle tube with methylated spirits.

    20170430_113427.jpg

    I found the J B Weld and some scrap cardboard to mix it on.

    20170430_114611-e1493620393902.jpg

    I gave the left end of the handlebar a good coating.

    20170430_120356-e1493620440243.jpg

    I put a little J B Weld inside the left grip for good measure

    20170430_120408.jpg 20170430_120418.jpg

    Then I coated the throttle tube with J B Weld too.I left a space at the end to allow for it to spread when the grip was fitted.

    20170430_120919.jpg

    I ended up getting some JB Weld inside the throttle tube, so I dismantled the right switch block so I could clean it off before it set.

    20170430_122011.jpg

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    I ran the bike for a few minutes with the grips on maximum heat.

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    Then I put the bar ends back on and left the J B Weld to set for several hours.

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    I checked the heated grips the next day and found a zip tie I had forgotten to cut when I first installed them.

    20170501_152031.jpg 20170501_152046.jpg

    I cleaned out some excess J B Weld and applied some rubber grease inside the throttle housing, as the throttle had been sticking a bit. It was much smoother after that, and snapped back quicker when released than it ever had before!

    Unfortunately, I was a bit rough with the heated grip when cleaning out the J B Weld, so I cracked an internal structural component on the throttle side grip and it’s a bit crooked now. I tested the heated grips and thankfully it doesn’t seem to have had any impact on their operation as they both seem to work correctly.

    20170501_152114.jpg

    I’m still waiting for the replacement mirrors to arrive, and I’ve sent a message to the eBay seller. It seems they’ve disappeared between being sent by the UK Royal Mail and arriving here in Australia, and Royal Mail doesn’t provide any tracking on economy packages. I’m taking the seller up on their offer of a refund. I’ll order another set with tracked shipping later – probably from a different seller though!

    (copied from part of my blog post)
     
  19. TechHeadFred

    TechHeadFred Well-Known Member

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    My Bike:
    2007 CBF250F, 2004 KLR650, 1992 FZR400, 2 x CB250RS (1980 and 1982),
    Sylvie’s Mirrors Arrive After All
    (Originally Posted on 08/05/2017)


    This week I contacted the seller of the mirrors I’d ordered for Sylvie as they still hadn’t arrived. The seller authorised a refund, an the mirrors turned up the next day!

    20170503_171942.jpg

    Of course, I decided to fit them immediately after waiting so long for them to arrive.

    First up, I had to remove the spare mirrors.

    20170503_182930.jpg

    Here are both the new mirrors and the spares I had been using on Sylvie.

    20170503_183321.jpg

    Sylvie with no mirrors, ready for the new ones to be fitted.

    20170503_183337.jpg

    And with the new mirrors.

    20170503_183715.jpg

    Since it was night-time, I decided to get some shots with the lights on.

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    And a look from the front (excuse the background mess)

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    Finally, I headed to the shed and ticked off another item on Sylvie’s list!

    20170503_184453.jpg

    (copied from part of my blog post)
     
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  20. TechHeadFred

    TechHeadFred Well-Known Member

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    2007 CBF250F, 2004 KLR650, 1992 FZR400, 2 x CB250RS (1980 and 1982),
    Basic Maintenance – Sylvie’s Slack Chain Is Tightened, Re-Oiled, And Her Flat Tyres Inflated
    (Originally Posted on 15/05/2017)


    I’ve been a bit unwell this week, so haven’t done a lot with bikes. However I’d noticed a fair bit of chain rattle while riding lately, so this week I checked chain tension.

    This chain has definitely seen better days!

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    First I loosened the axle nut and the chain tensioners

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    To make sure the axle was pulled back evenly on both sides, I used the depth finder on my vernier calipers.

    . 20170513_141306.jpg

    The distance from the left swingarm rear cover to the end of the thread was about 31 mm when the chain was at the right tension.

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    As it happened, the other side was at almost exactly the same distance!

    20170513_141440.jpg

    I tightened up the axle nut again. Looking at the wear guide, it’s definitely time for a new chain!

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    To keep the chain going until I have the budget for a new one, I made sure it was lubricated.

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    Even at the right tension, there are a few stiff links. Hopefully with adequate lubrication, they’ll get a bit more movement back.

    20170513_141823.jpg

    My partner had pointed out that the tyres were looking a bit flat, which I had expected with the colder weather. What was unexpected when I found my tyre pressure gauge and checked the pressure was that the rear tyre was so flat that it didn’t even register below the minimum 5 PSI the tyre pressure gauge registers! The front tyre wasn’t much better at around only12 PSI.

    20170513_143045.jpg

    This was considerably lower than the recommended 33 PSI on the manufacturer’s sticker.

    20170513_143243.jpg

    So I got out a manual bike pump and set to work. Once I was tired of pumping, I measured the tyre pressures again.

    The rear tyre was considerably better at about 22 PSI.

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    The front tyre was still only at about 17 PSI.

    20170513_144700.jpg

    As I needed to get some fuel for the next week and test the difference that correct chain tension had made, I decided I’d use the air compressor at the local petrol station (less than 1 Km away) to fill the tyres up completely.

    I’ve ordered a centre-stand from Blue City Motorcycles to make replacing the chain a lot easier next time. I’ve bought parts from them before and found them to have excellent service and reasonable delivery times from across the other side of the country. Hopefully it will arrive soon!

    (Copied from my blog post of the same name)
     
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