The "Today I did something to my bike" thread

Hotblack Desiato wrote: »

eBay is both a blessing and a curse :cool:

A curse

And eBay is only the tip of the iceberg for me.

These beautiful Akra cans(for a different bike) have popped up on an Italian website.
I have a set of carbon arrows on the bike but would love these

H_Lime wrote: »

This is gonna sound like heresy but if I were you I'd get something other than akra Blade. Everyone has them (no denying for good reason!) but I no longer give a bike with them a second glance, they're kinda ubiquitous.

Yep heresy.
I'd like to know where you saw the same Akras as the ones sold last night?
Or better again find me another set for a gen 1 Mille/Tuono.
I know where there's a full tigcraft system for about a grand.
Would that be more to your taste? :pac:

H_Lime wrote: »

I'll take your informed word as gospel that they are indeed very rare akras. But they're just yet more akras to this infidel lol.

You read my mind on tigcraft:)

Ah shur, you wouldn't be the worst :pac:
Even the "Akras" on AliExpress for 20quid seem to fool some :pac:

Hotblack Desiato wrote: »

Ya could always put an Ohlins sticker on them :pac:

If only we knew someone that's good at putting stickers on??? :pac:

Hotblack Desiato wrote: »

Yesterday installed an SW-Motech DIN socket for running my tyre pump and the occasional trickle charge. (Although the SV doesn't really need charging, the Triumph's charging system was always a bit marginal even though the bike was used 5 days a week every week.)





Today I installed Oxford LED front indicators (and resistors) in parallel with the completely shyte flush mounted LED indicators this bike came with.



Rear ones will take a while longer as the wiring loom has been butchered when a previous eejit put the stupid tail tidy on, and I managed to snap the stem off one of the indicators by overtorquing it by not very much some epoxy should render it serviceable.

That's some bird sh!t on the SV logo btw

Diggin the aux power feed, handy Yokes.
Ya drill the fairing to mount the other indies HB?

Hotblack Desiato wrote: »

Yup

Takes balls of steel to drill into virgin fairing :pac:

Had to dremel off a good bit of the yoke behind it as well, fcukin' used up about five cutting discs to cut off not very much plastic and was lucky to not lose an eye when the fcukers disintegrated multiple times.

Plastic melts as you cut and grips the disc most likely. Safety squints engaged:)
So two sets of indys.... Is it a safety visibility buzz for commuting, will one set be left on as running lights kinda dealio?

I decided to make my own Ducati Streetfighter as I'm totes jealous of the new one :pac: (clean down and installing new forks!)

blade1 wrote: »

That looks like a right c**t to work on

Why new forks?
Track?

It’s a mess alright - they have a lot of ingenious solutions for the no frame thing and some stuff is very hard to access. I’ve had it almost entirely apart quite a few times and some of it would drive you mental 🙈.
The rebound damping is gone in the forks - it’s a common issue with the marzocchi and it’s a sealed cartridge so you can’t replace bits. I was waiting to see what came up for a while and managed to nab a set of unused panigale R Ohlins forks for a decent price. Had to replace the top triple and clamps as they are not as fat as the stock ones so was scouring the internet for a while for those too

Carbs, glorious Yokes, when they work. Step 1 strip and clean:) They were fair manky.





Like new, well they will be when the parts arrive.

Lifting the frame off is way easier than lifting the engine out;)


Dont want this coated.




Thors hammer wasn't nt budging it so zapped the upper race into the lower and out she came.


She's fair kruddy. Jimmy sans mig wire from hamamatsu 31 yrs ago lol.


Off to the coaters now along with a heap of brackets and bits. Then it's throw it all back together.

Scudster, I use 65 deg water, detergent and about 30ml vinegar. For detergent I have used mucoff but only ever a cap full in the 4 or 5 odd litres the machine can hold. Considering that's used neat it's very surprising how effective that **** is even in such dilute solution. It's also a base like the vinegar which is why I use it as that the preferred pH range for this craic so I'm led to believe.
There's probably better homebrews out there but it works for me. Buy one, they're not as expensive as you might think on ebay and they are a fcukin godsend on carbs mate.

Bench had its 13th birthday there Airhead Eire, be lost without it. Has hinged drop down sides and a big removable ramp the width of the whole thing that I hang on the wall when not in use. All pretty much made out leftovers from building the place.
How's yer new old beemer rebuild going mate? Pics!
Oh and yes! She's a big;)

Made a tool to remove the damper rod from my Suzukis. Fork strip way easier now.

blade1 wrote: »

These arrived today after ordering on Monday.
John Walker battery cables and 150A solenoid.

I crimped straight butt connectors 2.5mm² for the wires to the solenoid if yer thinking of going that route. They're a perfect fit to his wires.
Great bit of kit, tricky to fit Neatly but soo worth it. Started the etv first time in an age there the wknd and by christ its crankedy crank!

H_Lime wrote: »

I crimped straight butt connectors 2.5mm² for the wires to the solenoid if yer thinking of going that route. They're a perfect fit to his wires.
Great bit of kit, tricky to fit Neatly but soo worth it. Started the etv first time in an age there the wknd and by christ its crankedy crank!

I used heat shrink connectors for those wires.
Almost everything went easier than expected.
Didn't tighten anything until everything was in its place.
Pulled new cable through from solenoid by connecting it to old one and then just pull old one back.
Silicone greased all connections and cables have acf 50 on them when they arrive.
Only bother I had was the negative cable just wouldn't go on to the terminal with the battery in place.
The brass connector, the part going down the cable catches on the battery holder.
Had to connect it by pulling the battery up a few inches and then put it back down.
Seems to be putting a bit of pressure on the terminal still though.
Negative cable is a couple of inches too long as well.
Starts very fast now though :eek: