My bikes history; My old mans side of the family all had bikes, My mums too (except mum). My Pop was part of the Stones corner mob and he's shown me newspaper pics of his gang. I was bound to want a bike. I was driving through Cleveland one day and saw a a few bikes on the side of the road for sale, an Across $800 ono, thumpsta for around $1200 and 2 kids pushies for $50. I told my mate that if it was there on our way back I'd stop and probably buy it. He said I was crazy, I didn't need a bike, I didn't have a licence, and had not done any research on it. It was still there on the return so I stopped and asked about it. The guy had bought it from a mate a while ago, had never had it running, and knew it had a boot or something but no idea how to open it or any real idea why it wasn't running. I said $600 and I'll pick it up this arvo, he agreed. I probably went over price because it was a nightmare for a while. I took the carbs apart and cleaned them all out, replaced the battery $100 and a mirror which had cracked $40 and plugs another $20ish. The headlight was unplugged too. I wanted to do everything cheap, If I paid to do everything right or at a shop I could've bought a much newer bike. To clean the fuel tank the manual said I'd need to remove the back wheel and arm to get it out, and I couldn't take the fuel cock/filter out as I'd have to replace the seals which I couldn't as suzuki said I'd have to buy the whole tap $170. (You won't like this)Drained the old fuel, strained it through a shirt into a bucket several times to remove most the sediment, blew back from the fuel hose through the filter into the tank to unlodge anything stuck in the filter washed the tank out repeatedly with the old fuel to wash out all the sediment, then with some clean fuel till I was happy it was clean.. I got it running! Finally validated to my dad that it wasn't a complete waste of money! It wasn't good though. I couldn't start it from the starter. It'd wet the plugs and I'd basically need to push start it till it was warm to get it to run. And then it was leaking fuel out of the carb. Significantly. one of to hose points which the manual said didn't have a pipe attached to it was leaking like it should have had a pipe attached. After pulling the carbi apart again to clean it again in case it was still the problem, asked around, researched and worked out it was the needles not seating right so I fitted new ones, probably another $50. I'd had enough fiddling and took it to capalaba bike mechanics so they could balance the carbs and help me get the cold starts fixed so I wouldn't have to push it all the way down the street each morning. They charged me for taking the carbs apart, cleaning them and told me my bike was "unique, one of a kind" when I cold start I don't use any choke and just start it. Sure it worked better than it had, I only had to push start it twice to get it going... The idle was meant to be around 1600 not 3200 that they'd set it and the book says for cold starts choke till its going then off choke. I wasn't happy with it, I think they'd charged me $180 and it wasn't fixed, had to take it back to them and tell them to try again. This happened a few times and was really grinding my gears, having to organise a trailer to get it there and home... And whenever I'd go to pick it up they'd start her up no problems, because they'd had it running during the day and it was all warm. Invariably I'd take it home, start it the next morning and it wouldn't go till you got it warm. Shat me to tears. I got my RE sometime through this and got them to do the roadworthy, new front tyre $170 front seals maybe something else and the cert I think it was $400 ish. I'd filled it with bp ultimate or something similar at some stage too, to see if a better fuel'd help. It didn't. The mechanic said that was probably contributing as bikes really don't like premium fuels. This sounds crazy, Is it true? They finally got it working right! And wanted to charge me 10 hours extra labour. To me it seemed they'd only just earnt their $180s worth. Told me they'd run some new 3b fuel system cleaner through and it fixed everything. They fixed the wire which killed the engine on a right wheel lock too. We agreed on a cheaper price but it burnt me to pay anything the amount of times I had to pay to be told the problem was fixed when it wasn't. I've had a lot of happy riding since those early days, its been my daily ride through cleveland to salisbury for college and had barely any hiccups. I think my next bike will be running if not new when I buy it. I can't help but feel I'll be riding this one till it dies for real though. I replaced oil, filter, rear pad, front and rear sprocket and chain, I'll be changing my leads and plugs this weekend too if I can find them. It's slowly but surely becoming a new bike. Especially now my approach has changed from 'do everything as cheap as possible' to 'do what needs to be done, when it needs doing'
Same thing happened to me when I put up that part number in your other thread. When u buy an older bike u need to be prepared to work on it and be totally frustrated at times. In my view working on your own bike is half the fun .... and the best way to learn about it and appreciate its been done and hopefully done properly. Most dealers and mechanics dont give a toss about older bikes.... they want to deal with the latest thing off the showroom floor. And as you have discovered is that all u end up doing is help the mechanics pay off their mortgage. I have 3 bikes and none of them go ..... yet Enjoyed your story
thanks, knew I wouldnt be alone on here. what bikes? do you know if he was he talking the truth when it came to premium fuel?
A one word answer like that to a contentious issue such as "which fuel should I be using" is not going to help a 'newcomer" make a rational decision ...... some explanation and factual reasoning is also required. Have a read here for starters KT ..... http://2fiftycc.com/index.php?threads/fuel-suzuki-across.151/ And risky uses Premium in everything , including his hair dryer ......
I CONSIDER THE MECHANIC FED YOU A LOT OF BOVINE MANURE AND TOOK ADVANTAGE OF YOU. PREMIUM HAS THE MOST CLEANERS AND HIGHEST OCTANE. THE FUEL I AVOID IS E10 WHICH IS UNLEADED WITH METHANOL. METH IS AN ALCOHOL THAT ABSORBS WATER,IT CAN FILL YOUR CARBY BOWL WITH JELLY IF LEFT FOR LONG.. IF YOU HAVE WATER IN YOUR FUEL METHO WHICH IS ALCOHOL WITH POISON ADDED WILL ABSORB THE WATER TILL YOU RUN THE TANK DRY.GREY KNOWS ALL. ANDPIGS FLY!!!
98 octane + carbies tuned for it = MOAR POOWWWEEERRR! and better economy. In saying that my bike runs like dogs balls on anything other then 98
yeah i was sure he was talking out his arse but thought Id ask you guys, yeah i had a look at that thread thanks. Are there any mechanics who Are good with acRosses in the redlands?
Have you tried Mike at Capalaba? He comes highly recommended. and for your premium fuel issue, my Across would cough at first gear with anything other than 98 Premium.
Nice story I use 95 and the across runs well. I did a fuel comparison a few months ago and the difference between 95 & 98 was negligible. Just make sure the fuel is fresh, so buy from a busy petrol station
premiums great and wont dry up in the float bowls i find.... and mate, dont feel lucked out about ur bike costing cash to get on the road, my ZxR cost me damn near close to $1000 in perishable parts to get a measly roadworthy and rego, not to mention the transport dept almost refusing to put her on the road due to no import compliance plates etc. we fight the battles, and in the end when the wind rushes by and that engine finally howls at full noise... we triumph!
