Topic: The Happy-ish Thread. Share your small wins and mixed blessings.

[BenelliSEI]

Thanks John, it was cold and starting to rain, so apart from a couple of launches up my driveway I didn’t ride it. The weather is supposed to be fine on the weekend so I’ll definitely take it out for a ride and see if it’s going well.

I didn’t realise until later that when it was cold previously I’d have to wind the idle screw up until it was at operating temperature, but not last night, it was happily idling away with no carb adjustment, and during my “launches”, didn’t miss a beat.

A guy on the FB DT owners page told me that after he installed the Rex’s ignition/12V conversion, he was able to wind the idle screw down so far that his idled at 200 RPM, which reminded me of when I installed a Martek ignition in a Suzuki GS750 once, and was amazed to see it happily idling at 200 RPM. I’ll have a play with it on the weekend.

Excellent! I’ll be waiting to hear good news!

[Terry in Australia]

Thanks mate, there’s another company in Europe called “Vape” that makes conversion kits for older bikes, I might buy one for my Suzuki T500, it’s already 12V but with a sh1tty ignition) they might make one for your bike?

[Terry in Australia]

Well further to my last, I checked the “Vape” site and they didn’t list a kit for Kelly’s Kawasaki. Unfortunately it cost me $800 ($500 USD) as I couldn’t help myself and bought their kit for my Suzuki T500. Oh well, it’ll be nice to have it running reliably with a nice fat spark.

[Kelly E]

Well further to my last, I checked the “Vape” site and they didn’t list a kit for Kelly’s Kawasaki. Unfortunately it cost me $800 ($500 USD) as I couldn’t help myself and bought their kit for my Suzuki T500. Oh well, it’ll be nice to have it running reliably with a nice fat spark.

Thanks for checking it out for me buddy.

[Terry in Australia]

No worries Kelly, to be honest I wasn't too upset with the 6V lighting before the conversion, except that 6V bulbs are hard to find at any of my local parts stores, and I doubt that bike shops will stock them, because I assume(?) that most modern dirt bikes are 12V?

Anyway, I left work at lunchtime as I had a mental health issue (I had the need, the need for speed, well, as fast as a 250 dirt bike with 17 BHP is capable of...) and took the DT250 for the 86Km (54 mile) “Maiden voyage” and I’m very happy with the ignition, it solved the “Missing and farting” issue and happily cruised on 100 KPH (60 MPH) @ 5500 RPM.

Not quite as happy with the charging system though. I checked the battery voltage before I left, with the engine off (12.65V) then started it (first kick) and checked it again, 14.4V. Idiot lights and blinkers nice and bright, excellent. 60 Km (35 miles) up the road the blinkers were much weaker, but the engine was still running fine (riding with no lights on) so I turned for home.

Still ran well all the way home. Got home, put the volt meter across the battery terminals with the engine running, 12.95V. Gave it a rev, no difference. Hmmnn. Going to check all the wiring again tomorrow as I took the old girl over some pretty rough roads so it’s possible that one of the connections on the rec/reg have fallen off, but if everything looks good, I’ll be contacting Rex’s. Happy that the engine is running so well, and I won't criticize British electrics until I make sure that I haven't cocked something up, but glad that it was still daylight when I got home.

DT250 Friday 19 April 2024 1 by Terry Prendergast, on Flickr

[grcamna2]

No worries Kelly, to be honest I wasn't too upset with the 6V lighting before the conversion, except that 6V bulbs are hard to find at any of my local parts stores, and I doubt that bike shops will stock them, because I assume(?) that most modern dirt bikes are 12V?

Anyway, I left work at lunchtime as I had a mental health issue (I had the need, the need for speed, well, as fast as a 250 dirt bike with 17 BHP is capable of...) and took the DT250 for the 86Km (54 mile) “Maiden voyage” and I’m very happy with the ignition, it solved the “Missing and farting” issue and happily cruised on 100 KPH (60 MPH) @ 5500 RPM.

Not quite as happy with the charging system though. I checked the battery voltage before I left, with the engine off (12.65V) then started it (first kick) and checked it again, 14.4V. Idiot lights and blinkers nice and bright, excellent. 60 Km (35 miles) up the road the blinkers were much weaker, but the engine was still running fine (riding with no lights on) so I turned for home.

Still ran well all the way home. Got home, put the volt meter across the battery terminals with the engine running, 12.95V. Gave it a rev, no difference. Hmmnn. Going to check all the wiring again tomorrow as I took the old girl over some pretty rough roads so it’s possible that one of the connections on the rec/reg have fallen off, but if everything looks good, I’ll be contacting Rex’s. Happy that the engine is running so well, and I won't criticize British electrics until I make sure that I haven't cocked something up, but glad that it was still daylight when I got home.

DT250 Friday 19 April 2024 1 by Terry Prendergast, on Flickr

The bike looks good Terry;glad you got into a little off-road too.
Make sure everything is -Grounded that needs to be.

[Terry in Australia]

No worries Kelly, to be honest I wasn't too upset with the 6V lighting before the conversion, except that 6V bulbs are hard to find at any of my local parts stores, and I doubt that bike shops will stock them, because I assume(?) that most modern dirt bikes are 12V?

Anyway, I left work at lunchtime as I had a mental health issue (I had the need, the need for speed, well, as fast as a 250 dirt bike with 17 BHP is capable of...) and took the DT250 for the 86Km (54 mile) “Maiden voyage” and I’m very happy with the ignition, it solved the “Missing and farting” issue and happily cruised on 100 KPH (60 MPH) @ 5500 RPM.

Not quite as happy with the charging system though. I checked the battery voltage before I left, with the engine off (12.65V) then started it (first kick) and checked it again, 14.4V. Idiot lights and blinkers nice and bright, excellent. 60 Km (35 miles) up the road the blinkers were much weaker, but the engine was still running fine (riding with no lights on) so I turned for home.

Still ran well all the way home. Got home, put the volt meter across the battery terminals with the engine running, 12.95V. Gave it a rev, no difference. Hmmnn. Going to check all the wiring again tomorrow as I took the old girl over some pretty rough roads so it’s possible that one of the connections on the rec/reg have fallen off, but if everything looks good, I’ll be contacting Rex’s. Happy that the engine is running so well, and I won't criticize British electrics until I make sure that I haven't cocked something up, but glad that it was still daylight when I got home.

DT250 Friday 19 April 2024 1 by Terry Prendergast, on Flickr

The bike looks good Terry;glad you got into a little off-road too.
Make sure everything is -Grounded that needs to be.

Thanks Bill, you know what it's like when you're riding along mentally scratching your head thinking about why things aren't as they should be. I have added 4 or 5 extra earth/grounds when trying to get everything working before I gave up and bought the Rex's ignition/12 V conversion, so can't think why the charging system isn't charging after only an hour or so's use, unless it's as simple as a wire being shaken off.

Interestingly, a couple of guys posted about the Rex's system after I'd posted that I'd ordered one, and mentioned that their bikes ran great, but their batteries were going flat? I couldn't understand how your battery could go flat when the charging circuit is putting out 14(+) volts, so I'm wondering if the rec/reg has already crapped out? I'll be disappointed if that's the case. Anyway, happy that it goes great, but still can't ride it to work at 5am with no lights.........

[grcamna2]

No worries Kelly, to be honest I wasn't too upset with the 6V lighting before the conversion, except that 6V bulbs are hard to find at any of my local parts stores, and I doubt that bike shops will stock them, because I assume(?) that most modern dirt bikes are 12V?

Anyway, I left work at lunchtime as I had a mental health issue (I had the need, the need for speed, well, as fast as a 250 dirt bike with 17 BHP is capable of...) and took the DT250 for the 86Km (54 mile) “Maiden voyage” and I’m very happy with the ignition, it solved the “Missing and farting” issue and happily cruised on 100 KPH (60 MPH) @ 5500 RPM.

Not quite as happy with the charging system though. I checked the battery voltage before I left, with the engine off (12.65V) then started it (first kick) and checked it again, 14.4V. Idiot lights and blinkers nice and bright, excellent. 60 Km (35 miles) up the road the blinkers were much weaker, but the engine was still running fine (riding with no lights on) so I turned for home.

Still ran well all the way home. Got home, put the volt meter across the battery terminals with the engine running, 12.95V. Gave it a rev, no difference. Hmmnn. Going to check all the wiring again tomorrow as I took the old girl over some pretty rough roads so it’s possible that one of the connections on the rec/reg have fallen off, but if everything looks good, I’ll be contacting Rex’s. Happy that the engine is running so well, and I won't criticize British electrics until I make sure that I haven't cocked something up, but glad that it was still daylight when I got home.

DT250 Friday 19 April 2024 1 by Terry Prendergast, on Flickr

The bike looks good Terry;glad you got into a little off-road too.
Make sure everything is -Grounded that needs to be.

Thanks Bill, you know what it's like when you're riding along mentally scratching your head thinking about why things aren't as they should be. I have added 4 or 5 extra earth/grounds when trying to get everything working before I gave up and bought the Rex's ignition/12 V conversion, so can't think why the charging system isn't charging after only an hour or so's use, unless it's as simple as a wire being shaken off.

Interestingly, a couple of guys posted about the Rex's system after I'd posted that I'd ordered one, and mentioned that their bikes ran great, but their batteries were going flat? I couldn't understand how your battery could go flat when the charging circuit is putting out 14(+) volts, so I'm wondering if the rec/reg has already crapped out? I'll be disappointed if that's the case. Anyway, happy that it goes great, but still can't ride it to work at 5am with no lights.........

A little more troubleshooting and you'll be 'good to go'.

[Terry in Australia]

No worries Kelly, to be honest I wasn't too upset with the 6V lighting before the conversion, except that 6V bulbs are hard to find at any of my local parts stores, and I doubt that bike shops will stock them, because I assume(?) that most modern dirt bikes are 12V?

Anyway, I left work at lunchtime as I had a mental health issue (I had the need, the need for speed, well, as fast as a 250 dirt bike with 17 BHP is capable of...) and took the DT250 for the 86Km (54 mile) “Maiden voyage” and I’m very happy with the ignition, it solved the “Missing and farting” issue and happily cruised on 100 KPH (60 MPH) @ 5500 RPM.

Not quite as happy with the charging system though. I checked the battery voltage before I left, with the engine off (12.65V) then started it (first kick) and checked it again, 14.4V. Idiot lights and blinkers nice and bright, excellent. 60 Km (35 miles) up the road the blinkers were much weaker, but the engine was still running fine (riding with no lights on) so I turned for home.

Still ran well all the way home. Got home, put the volt meter across the battery terminals with the engine running, 12.95V. Gave it a rev, no difference. Hmmnn. Going to check all the wiring again tomorrow as I took the old girl over some pretty rough roads so it’s possible that one of the connections on the rec/reg have fallen off, but if everything looks good, I’ll be contacting Rex’s. Happy that the engine is running so well, and I won't criticize British electrics until I make sure that I haven't cocked something up, but glad that it was still daylight when I got home.

DT250 Friday 19 April 2024 1 by Terry Prendergast, on Flickr

The bike looks good Terry;glad you got into a little off-road too.
Make sure everything is -Grounded that needs to be.

Thanks Bill, you know what it's like when you're riding along mentally scratching your head thinking about why things aren't as they should be. I have added 4 or 5 extra earth/grounds when trying to get everything working before I gave up and bought the Rex's ignition/12 V conversion, so can't think why the charging system isn't charging after only an hour or so's use, unless it's as simple as a wire being shaken off.

Interestingly, a couple of guys posted about the Rex's system after I'd posted that I'd ordered one, and mentioned that their bikes ran great, but their batteries were going flat? I couldn't understand how your battery could go flat when the charging circuit is putting out 14(+) volts, so I'm wondering if the rec/reg has already crapped out? I'll be disappointed if that's the case. Anyway, happy that it goes great, but still can't ride it to work at 5am with no lights.........

A little more troubleshooting and you'll be 'good to go'.

Yeah I hope so Bill, I don’t want to have to strap a torch to the handlebars…..

[Terry in Australia]

Well the bad news is that my beautiful BMW has a faint knocking sound coming from the front of the engine. After 10 years sitting (last ride was August 2014) Spotty and I unplugged the ABS, replaced the fuel pump, cleaned the injectors, did an oil and filter change, installed a new battery and pumped up the tyres. I rode it and it was running like a german watch, until the oil light came on, and I had to get it towed home. Bugger.

The happy-ish news is that I can remove the crankshaft with the engine in the frame. I found my old Haynes manual that I bought in 1990, and had a browse through it, and it isn’t as much as a pain in the arse to repair as I’d thought. Hopefully I can get away with just replacing the big end/crank bearings and rebuild the oil pump, without removing the whole engine, or even removing the head. I’d dropped the new oil and there weren’t any big chunks of metal therein, so hopefully (again) I won’t need another crank or new conrods.

No biggie, I’m picking up another BMW tomorrow that I can either use for spares, or give a new paint job and call it good. I’ve always wanted a black K100RS, so if I don’t need to rat it for parts for my SE, it should be a nice bike, with only 33000 miles on the odometer.

[grcamna2]

That's a win Terry.

[PeWe]

Terry, can it be a plugged oil channel or pump strainer?
Oil sludge or similar.
Can be good to check.

If any of it is prone to be blocked by sludge, BMW  forums might know.
Engine flush additives in oil might help. Maybe too risky to test that now.
Too late after an eventual bearing replacement.

Blocked Oil pump strainer as very common in cars not changing oil in time.
VAG and Toyota had to pay some years ago due to oil sludge,  around 2010 -2011.

Naive people here buy the Longlife concept changing oil at 25.000 km. Half is too long....

My Audi 1.8T with 3.7L oil with biggest oil filter get bad oil before 10.000 km. Easy to feel on dipstick. Oil viscosity is not as new.
Hot turbo and small amount of oil kills the oil rather quick. Not the best race synthetic.

[simon#42]

Well the bad news is that my beautiful BMW has a faint knocking sound coming from the front of the engine. After 10 years sitting (last ride was August 2014) Spotty and I unplugged the ABS, replaced the fuel pump, cleaned the injectors, did an oil and filter change, installed a new battery and pumped up the tyres. I rode it and it was running like a german watch, until the oil light came on, and I had to get it towed home. Bugger.

The happy-ish news is that I can remove the crankshaft with the engine in the frame. I found my old Haynes manual that I bought in 1990, and had a browse through it, and it isn’t as much as a pain in the arse to repair as I’d thought. Hopefully I can get away with just replacing the big end/crank bearings and rebuild the oil pump, without removing the whole engine, or even removing the head. I’d dropped the new oil and there weren’t any big chunks of metal therein, so hopefully (again) I won’t need another crank or new conrods.

No biggie, I’m picking up another BMW tomorrow that I can either use for spares, or give a new paint job and call it good. I’ve always wanted a black K100RS, so if I don’t need to rat it for parts for my SE, it should be a nice bike, with only 33000 miles on the odometer.

Before you get it all apart I might be worth replacing the oil pressure switch . These have been known to go .

[Trevor from Warragul]

Couldn't possibly be as bad as the bearing that let go on my Morini a few years back...

[BenelliSEI]

Today “LAIDS” dropped by for a visit. Very nice to meet another forum member face to face. Traded him some parts he needed for a K1 tach. He bought this new, still in the original Honda bag and box! Check the amount of fade, despite never seeing sunlight or any use! I am very happy-ish. These will ultimately go on the Rickman CR Project, so I won’t need to mount the later style idiot light cluster in the fairing.

[Terry in Australia]

Thanks guys, in hindsight (which is always perfect) I should have dropped the sump pan on the BMW before riding it, but the oil that came out of it looked fine, so we just refilled it and installed a new filter. I might buy a new oil pressure switch Simon, I buy most of my parts from a company in the UK, and their shipping is very quick. I suspect though, that I've got, or had, a plugged oil pump. When the light came on, I could see plenty of oil and it appeared to be moving, through the sight glass. When I dumped it the next day and refilled it (with a new oil filter) and started it, the oil level dropped to the point where I couldn't see it when it was running, so it's quite possible that the pickup was plugged, and wasn't picking up the oil. 

Anyway, yesterday Spotty and I hooked my trailer up to my little truck, and drove an hour up the road to pick up a 1984 BMW K100RS.

Terry’s replacement K100RS 22 April 2024 2 by Terry Prendergast, on Flickr

I bought it from a nice old 71 year old who had a bit of a scare when it caught fire. Apparently the fuel hose from the pump to the injector rail had split. I think I'll replace all of the fuel hoses, just to make sure I don't BBQ my balls on it's first ride.

K100RS Thursday 25 April 2024 1 by Terry Prendergast, on Flickr

K100RS Thursday 25 April 2024 2 by Terry Prendergast, on Flickr

The fire had also burned a patch of paint off the frame under the fuel tank. The fire only lasted a few minutes so didn't do that much damage, but the frame looked a bit crappy.

K100RS Thursday 25 April 2024 3 by Terry Prendergast, on Flickr

So a bit of scrubbing, and a squirt of rust epoxy enamel made it look a lot more presentable. It didn't have to be perfect, as most of it wouldn't be seen.

K100RS Thursday 25 April 2024 4 by Terry Prendergast, on Flickr

The cam cover looked pretty crappy too, so I wire brushed the cam cover and squirted some paint on it too.

K100RS Thursday 25 April 2024 5 by Terry Prendergast, on Flickr

Sadly the used injector harness I bought was for a later model, with some different connectors and one less wire than mine, so I'll take it back to the BMW wreckers tomorrow and see if I can swap it for the correct one. If not, I'll have to make one out of the two. The bike is otherwise in good condition with excellent OEM hard cases and top box (which I want for my "ride to work bike" for stowing cold/wet weather gear) and as a bonus, heated grips! The Corbin seat is very comfy, but I'll need to get it repaired, as it got scorched in one spot nearest the injectors.

K100RS Thursday 25 April 2024 6 by Terry Prendergast, on Flickr.

Anyway, I'll replace the burnt bits and get it going, and take it for a ride. Then I'll decide whether to use it for a parts bike, or just ride it.

[scottly]

Hey Terry, it looks like the PO may have replaced the fuel hose with the standard carburetor-type stuff, which is no good for EFI. Make sure you get proper EFI hose.

[grcamna2]

Hey Terry, it looks like the PO may have replaced the fuel hose with the standard carburetor-type stuff, which is no good for EFI. Make sure you get proper EFI hose.

Terry,I hope you're able to salvage some stuff;maybe the radiator.

[Terry in Australia]

Thanks Scott, I think the burned hoses were OEM, just 40 years old, but I made sure that I replaced them all with proper fuel injection hose. I should call it the "Hindenburg". Yep, some of the plastic parts got a little scorched. The left switchblock, some internal fairing pieces and the cover for the speedo/tach got scorched. Surprisingly, apart from paint damage, the aluminium tank is undamaged. The PO bought some replacement parts, and I picked up a couple more from the BMW wreckers.

K100RS Friday 26 April 2024 6 by Terry Prendergast, on Flickr

Yesterday I drove over to the BMW wreckers to swap the incorrect injector harness for an earlier one for my '84 K100RS. Paul had two, both had the air/fuel sensor cable and connector chopped off. I'm not sure why, but I decided to take both, and lucky I did, as I'd just cut the one of my scorched harness and joined it to the better looking one, only to realise that it wasn't a K100 harness, but a K75 (three cylinder) harness, so I had to undo my work and join it onto the correct harness. I like using those "Heat gun" joiners, but it was a good thing that I did, as it turned out that my little Dewalt cordless heat gun didn't have enough heat to melt the little bands of solder, so when I pulled them apart they just seperated with no issues.

K100RS Friday 26 April 2024 by Terry Prendergast, on Flickr

I re-joined them using my old 240V Bosch heat gun and got a much more permanent result. The wires for the air flow meter were so thin that my regular wire strippers were too big, then I found this lovely old German "Gedore" wire stripper that worked perfectly.

K100RS Friday 26 April 2024 7 by Terry Prendergast, on Flickr

I had to go buy some new hose, to replace the 40 year old OEM hoses, which were all pretty much buggared.

K100RS Friday 26 April 2024 3 by Terry Prendergast, on Flickr

I didn't bother trying to clean up the old injectors, I had a new set of Ebay cheapies for my other BMW, so installed them. I've kept the old ones, just in case the new ones are trash.

K100RS Friday 26 April 2024 1 by Terry Prendergast, on Flickr

While I was looking at all the damaged rubber parts, I realised that the vacuum plugs on each throttle body was cracked. This is common, and if it wasn't caused by the fire, it must have run poorly, as it would have had vacuum leaks across 3 of the 4 throttle bodies.

K100RS Friday 26 April 2024 2 by Terry Prendergast, on Flickr

The only ones I could buy locally were at a Napa store, not sure how long they'll last, so will order new OEM ones from "Motobins" in England, where I buy most of my parts.

K100RS Friday 26 April 2024 4 by Terry Prendergast, on Flickr   

Anyhoo, that took up my day, it was bloody cold out in my driveway and I was sore and tired, so by the time I'd made up 5 new hoses, patched the harness, installed the new injectors along with the re-painted rail and fairing bracket, I was happy that I'd gotten a good days work done. I packed up and put the bike cover over it, and shortly I'll go out and do some more. Hopefully I'll have it running today, and I'll keep my fire extinguisher close, just in case. It is slowly looking better. I'm toying with the idea of stripping all the paint off the tank and just polishing it, it's aluminium, so as it has no dents in it, might look nice "Au naturel" at least until I can get all of the other pieces repainted, although I'd really like to paint it black, like the "John Player" paint scheme.

K100RS Friday 26 April 2024 8 by Terry Prendergast, on Flickr 

[grcamna2]

I'm looking toward the moment you turn the key Terry  hope your fuel pump in the tank is still good.

[Terry in Australia]

I'm looking toward the moment you turn the key Terry  hope your fuel pump in the tank is still good.

Thanks Bill, well if the pump's no good, I have a new one here that came with the bike, along with 2 new oil filters, new switch blocks, 3 spare brake discs, etc.

[jgger]

 :Took about a 22 mile test ride to check out my handy work on my fork adjusters, AND they didn't leak.......yet!
Made a special tool to use with my My mighty vac and hopefully I was able to suck out whatever bad stuff was making it leak, so I'm happyish!

[Gurp]

The house is coming along.
That's about my positive for right now.

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[grcamna2]

The house is coming along.
That's about my positive for right now.

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You working lots of hours ? 

[Gurp]

The house is coming along.
That's about my positive for right now.

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You working lots of hours ?

80 to 88 a week.
Living in one room of the new house since the now ex and I separated. Battling car trouble and fighting for a fair shake at time with the kids. Ex wife has started trying to go on the take for more time with the 2 older boys that she had abandoned for 5 years with me.

Just keeping on as I can right now.

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