The "Today I did something to my bike" thread

blade1 wrote: »

Having a twin myself, it's hard to beat the sound alright.
More grunt and for a blast probably more fun but big power band in a 4 cylinder nice to have and probably easier to live with as an everyday bike.

The sound of the big bang engine with that Leo Vince system is very nice.
Imagine crossing an inline 4 with a V4 and with a V-Twin and thats the sound you get.Its much more louder and throatier than the Ducati V-Twin andand termis.

Ducati hasnt let me down yet,apart from the usual battery and servicing/belts every 2 years.

Im a tall bloke and I find the R1 is easier to ride for a long distance at eh"motorway speeds".:)

stewygriffin wrote: »

The sound of the big bang engine with that Leo Vince system is very nice.
Imagine crossing an inline 4 with a V4 and with a V-Twin and thats the sound you get.Its much more louder and throatier than the Ducati V-Twin andand termis.

Ducati hasnt let me down yet,apart from the usual battery and servicing/belts every 2 years.

Im a tall bloke and I find the R1 is easier to ride for a long distance at eh"motorway speeds".:)

My brother has an R1 and my Aprilia feels like you are lying on a log compared to it.
Look how low the bars are..


Just a shot of the view on board..

blade1 wrote: »

My brother has an R1 and my Aprilia feels like you are lying on a log compared to it.
Look how low the bars are..


Just a shot of the view on board..

Thats a beauty of an RSV Mille.:)

You in Dublin by any chance?

blade1 wrote: »

F*ck off you or your head will be lacking symmetry!:pac::pac:



I'm on Cork/Waterford border stewy.
I don't know any lads from on here...
I did meet Makikomi one night at the bar where he works after being on the piss all day!

Ah no worries,I was gonna say if you were in my neck of the woods Id meet up with you and you could take the R1 for a spin round the back of Dublin Airport.

Met him myself last Sunday on Howth Pier,sound fella to chat away to.:)

I finally got around to fitting the lowering kit today. If anyone is tempted to do the same I would say go for it as its a simple enough task. The only troublesome part was refitting the bolts as you need to slightly lift or wriggle the back wheel to allow the bolts to slide in freely. You can do this on your own but having another person will speed things up.

I greased everything up and tightened all bolts. Its definitely alot easier to swing the leg over now. I still cannot 100% flat foot but im more than comfortable now. I didnt adjust the front forks as I wanted a test ride first. I didnt notice any major difference in cornering or straight line speed. Infact when I hit the roundabout the bike felt much better and stable than before which is a big plus. So all in all the 40mm lowering kit from Lust racing is spot on.

Wheel alignment and chain adjustment was a pain in the hoop but ill keep that for another thread

Richard,if you have a paddock stand,then place the paddock stand loosely under the swing arm.Then when you are lying on the ground slotting the bolts in,use your foot over the top of the paddock stand to lift the swingarm ever so slightly.

That way theres no need for a 2nd persons help.

Works a treat and the bolts slide back in nice and freely too with both hand free to slot the bolts in place the nuts back on.:)

You can also use the trolley jacl/car jack under the oil plan to lower the bike down so that the swing arm holes line back perfectly again and the bolts slide back in nice and freely.

Richard tea wrote: »

That would work alright. Do you notice any difference in handling with yours raised?

I,ll let you know tomorrow,only did it this afternoon.

Rang Lust Racing to make sure I had the right kit,as I was a tad confused when I saw the dog bone was shorter than oem.

Jack up kit is a tad shorter than oem according to the guy on the phone.
Lowering kit is a tad longer than oem (exactly like yours)



Lust Racing website

"THE LINKS YOU SENT ARE OF THE SAME LENGTH AS ON MY BIKE"
Before we answer this question we give you first a technical brief, please read it. Because of the suspension rocker-arms ratio the ride height change will not be equal to the difference in suspension link length. This means that a much smaller difference in link length will translate into a significantly larger change in ride height. On some bikes it is even hard to see the difference with the old links still in place. Only a few millimeter difference in link length changes the ride height a lot more. So if you ordered a -30mm lowering kit, the links should be longer, but NOT 30mm longer than the standard ones (due the suspension rocker arm ratio). Similarly if you ordered a 25mm jack up kit the links should be shorter than the standard ones - but not 25 mm shorter (due the suspension rocker arm ratio).
CHECK CAREFULLY AND MEASURE THE LINK LENGTH FROM BOLT HOLE CENTER TO BOLT HOLE CENTER. If you got the right kit, as we still are inclined to believe, you will now notice that the links we provided are actually of different length than the ones on your bike. This is also EXPLAINED in the INSTALLATION INSTRUCTION, PROVIDED WITH EACH KIT, PLEASE READ IT if you did not do it yet. We would encourage you to measure the link length again to save both your and our time. If it turns out the links really are of the same length feel free to contact us. If we have supplied wrong links for you we will replace them free of charge, we will even cover your return postage (UK only). Before you return a kit please contact us first using the web contact form or drop us an email to sales AT lustracing.co.uk - this as we want to make a few checks to avoid sending the same kit back and forth. Do not worry, you are covered if you really got the wrong kit from us. We will respond to your message ASAP (As Soon As Possible) - please include make, year of manufacture, model of your bike, description of the problem, measurement of your standard links and the links we sent to you both measured from hole centre to hole centre. Note: Do NOT measure overall link length as the outer radius may differ on some links. Measure also the hole size diameter.

goodlad wrote: »

Got some sw motech bar risers/backs on the fz1 today. So much more comfortable now!

I think the starting issues i had with the bike is water in the fuel tank.
Was only a small amount of fuel in the bike so topped it up to the brim and went for a spin. It got slowly better over time.

Still a bit off where the revs will drop a bit while holding the throttle stead but then will kick on all of a sudden. Just need another good spin to sort out the rest of the water thats mixed in

Oh, also got some r&g aero style crash protectors on

Pics?:)

stewygriffin wrote: »

Richard,can I as if you torqued the bolts to a torque setting?
Also did you use some thread lock on the nuts?

I torqued mine up to 29 lb/ft but didnt use any thread lock.
Should I have used some thread lock?

I didn't use a torque wrench. I will say they were very tight to begin with. Didn't use thread lock either. I marked the nuts with some nail varnish and I'll keep checking them over the next few days. I know it should be torqued to spec and some thread lock applied but I was running out of time quick. I wanted it finished before kids finished school and I need it for work in the morning.

Hotblack Desiato wrote: »

If you think there's bad fuel in the tank, just drain it out. It may well have absorbed moisture from the air if sitting there a long time, but what will definitely happen (over months) is the more volatile fractions of the petrol will evaporate away and leave the heavier stuff behind. The lighter, easily evaporated stuff is what you need for easy cold starting especially in winter.

The only way i know how to drain a fuel tank is to drive the bike.
There was feck all petrol in the tank when it was lying up for 2 months. Like maybe 3 euro worth.

It will be grand with a good drive an keeping the fuel topped up.

Starscream25 wrote: »

Yup, i always clean the Pistons with a toothbrush and have them dirt free but don't lube it at all, the brakes operate fine just one comrade is almost new by the time the other is worn.
I'll have another look anyway and if all else fails I'll bring it Down to the bike shop.cheers

The piston sounds like it's working ok but there is 2 pins which the caliper slides on which could be causing the problem. These allow the caliper to move and self centre on the disc when pressure from the piston is applied and evenly distribute braking force between the 2 pads.
These pins should be hidden by 2 rubber boots.

My parts from Revzilla in the USA arrived today.
Only ordered them 9 days ago.

No extra fees when they landed here in Ireland.:)

www.revzilla.com