- This topic has 76 replies, 5 voices, and was last updated 14 years, 1 month ago by
.
- Posts
quote:
…The arrival – 36.7 Hrs.
03/05/2010 | 19:54
After an epic day the KTM is in my possession and locked away safely where where nobody can get at herFrom now on I’ll log the bikes hours, any maintenance and of course tell you how I’m getting on with riding after a break of 2 years, 5+ years from dirt!!
quote:
…The first ride – 37.5 Hrs.
04/05/2010 | 21:43
First things first, preparing the KTM for use, it’s been a while since I’ve had my hands on a dirt bike, luckily they’ve not changed much over the years so i fitted the headlight back on, checked fluid levels, pumped tyres up to road pressures and went off in the car to fill a jerry can with BP’s finest to keep her running on her first outing with me.After 2 years not on a bike and 5+ years not on dirt to say i was a little nervous was probably an understatement!! I was convinced i was going to fall off at the first hurdle so i decided it might be a good idea to don full bike gear, Leather trousers, armoured textile jacket and leather gloves, I’ve got new MX boots which were in need of breaking in, red boots, black/blue trousers, blue jacket, red lid, what must i look like, but i didn’t care, safety first this time out!!
I rode off the drive and before I’d even got to the end of the road i wondered what i was doing, i must be mad thinking I’ll ever be able to ride one of these things competitively
So, not easily deterred the best plan of action was to stick to the roads and just get used to riding again, and get used to riding something with soft suspension, and no wind protection, and no comfort lol.
She flattered my bad riding greatly though and hopefully i’ll get back into the swing of things soon enough, mostly road work for this outing but took her onto a couple of the local byways, left the tyres at road pressures so she would slide about more giving me a chance to get used to it when not even really pushing, last thing i rode in anger was a GSXR and if you let that dance around under you it’d spit you off quite easily.
Not that I’m addicted already or anything but the OS map has been out and we’ve spotted some new longer byways for later, the bikes been cleaned and fuelled and is ready to go straight from work if i feel the urge
She has proved a couple of things to me already though, I’m unfit, i can still ride a bike and i don’t need to be doing 100mph+ to have a rush, whipping through trees, under low branches and over bumpy ground at 40-50mph gives me more of a rush then riding a GSXR flat out!!
Current plans are just to spend some time in the saddle burning BP’s finest, learning how to ride again and getting comfortable, straight lines are easy on the lanes but fun and helping get that comfort factor in place, corner speed is what i lack and i’ll only learn that when comfy on the bike and i start pushing and falling off
None of this would have have been possible without my friend Petey who has lent me the bike while he’s currently out of action and my girlfriend Catherine who drove a 150 mile round trip just to drop the bike up to me, luv ya both
quote:
…No flow – 38.0 Hrs.
05/05/2010 | 20:55I’ve been feeling a little under the weather today, very tired but i decided to take the KTM out and explored further down the byway i rode half of yesterday. The rest was a long, bumpy, rutted grass section which then went into a tight twisting path. The grass section was generally taken quickly with the back stepping out everywhere, I’m still running road pressures as I’m travelling to and from by road, I’ll sort out a small pump and pressure gauge so i can raise/lower the pressures if i want too while out.
The tight twisting path is very dry, as everything is at the moment, and i don’t want to push too hard as the trees are close and it’ll be a tree that stops me if i loose it, i need some very soft ground so i can ‘feel’ each end on the point of letting go and then bring that into the equation when dry. I’ve also noticed that the front end gets a nice wobble on at speed but that’s most likely due to the enduro tyres and high tyre pressures.
Still not feeling 100% i decided not to push my luck, i know from experience that if your minds not on the game then you can easily loose which isn’t an option when your doing 60mph across grass fields or 20-30mph within 2ft of a tree.
Bit of a school boy error today as well, what do you get if you cross a new pair of gloves with a very sweaty pair of hands? You got it, very sweaty black (well more purpleish) coloured hands, doh!
Still love it, really need to work on some corner speed, i never thought I’d hear myself say it but I’d love some rain to soften the ground up a bit lol, got home, fuelled up, locked up and it wont be going anywhere now until the air filter stuff i have ordered arrives.
Big service due at 40 Hrs so i need to make the most of the next 2 because it’ll then be in bits for about a week which I’ll have to fit round my holiday.
quote:
…Hmmm – 38.0Hrs
06/05/2010 | 11:37
Not much to report, one of the little ‘darlings’ from work shut my finger in the car door this morning, not impressed, luckily not the way the day is going to pan out thoughThe KTM has been washed to clear off last nights mess, and with the 40 hour checkup looming i thought I’d get some of the inspection of non critical stuff out of the way over the next couple of hours.
So, all the spokes are straight and tight, front and rear pads and discs are all within service limits, all fluids are at the correct levels and clear (Fr/Rr Brake, Hyd Cluch, Oil, Coolant), most of the stuff is visual/tightness checks but i’ll photocopy the service list out of the book and work through them 1 by 1.
I’ll compile a tick list of what needs doing at the 40 hour mark and work my way through them over the next couple of hours running time.
quote:
…I can breath – 38.0 Hrs.
06/05/2010 | 14:33
Air filter supplies arrived so the bike can breath and is all sorted and ready to go later if i feel the need.My Fox body armour suit arrived today as well so i shall be able to go without the weight/restriction of my full on armoured jacket, i already have basic knee protection and am still considering impact shorts, I’m not convinced I’ll bounce as well as i did when i was younger and the learning curve is going to involve falling off sooner or later.
quote:
… A good run – 38.9 Hrs.
06/05/2010 | 22:20
Had a good ride out tonight, more scenic than trying to achieve anything, i was looking to check out some of the other byways that are local to me.I had taken note of some routes from the OS map before i left, not wearing my proper jacket it was COLD, so first off i headed to my closest lane to get a bit of a warm up then onto find some new places, the first lane was easy to find, but then i cam across a T junction…
Out comes the map, to tell me to go right, this turns out to be a well rutted lane which is cool, leading through a farm, past a little lake, having to mind the ducks lol, a couple of nice long straights, these byways have had a lot of work done to them, all new fences and gravel, very nice to ride along. then another T junction, out comes the map again…
I really need to invest in a decent GPS if i’m going to carry on playing on the lanes, another left turn and a bit of road work later and I’ve finally covered the 9-10 miles to find the byway i was looking forward too and unfortunately found this…
I will go and investigate the other end in the car, or their is access about half way along just to make sure it’s all restricted otherwise i may be missing out lol, i headed back the way i came, taking in another new byway on the way back to the farm, then started back through the rutted lane and heading back past the T junction, i rode up and down here a couple of times as it was loose and slightly twisty, still working on that corner speed and controlling the back end, still running road pressures too, but i don’t mind winding it on if i can see clear ahead…
Not bad for an iPhone video…
After that i headed back to what is becoming my favourite spot, lots of dog walkers today though so i bimble through, heading back home via my nearest lane, just to get moaned at by a women, i felt like educating her that 10 years ago you could still drive a car up that road but i don’t think it would have made any difference.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sc3IR4B3XHc&feature=player_embedded
…PPPPPPP – 38.9 Hrs.
07/05/2010 | 14:08
‘Prior Planning and Preparation Prevents Piss Poor Performance’ – Well i can only hope lolThe bike (who i seem to keep calling KT, or Katie :-$) has been fuelled and pre ride checked ready for action.
I’ve planned a route which i will take in once i get home from work later, well assuming their isn’t a work crisis or i feel dead on my feet, this is the longest route yet, taking in all of the places I’ve been so far and quite a few new sections of byway, some of which pass through woods, all of which are out in the sticks, some of which might be closed lol.
That’s the route plan, I’ll be heading out through 2 known byways which I’ve covered a lot, and the usually connecting roads, then I’ll then be making my way over to the ‘byways through the woods‘ then up through the lane and villages to the other end of the restricted byway from yesterday, then i have a couple of alternative routes depending on if it’s open or not, both include byway and highway, then back through the newly done byway with the ducks, down the stretch where i took video yesterday, then back home via my nearby section to see if i come across any grumpy women today lol.
Why the little square maps? well last night i went out in body armour, MX top and a backpack and was borderline ‘just’ warm enough, tonight I’ll wear my jacket, which gives me pockets so i can take my camera, and also with little maps it means i wont have to take a backpack to carry the full-size map.
Also, they fit on the bar pad quite nicely… Poor mans GPS…
That 4 ‘Maps’ deep, so after I’ve covered a section i can just rip the top one out and shove the rubbish in my pocket, i just hope it doesn’t rain lol
…The long one – 40.5 Hrs.
09/05/2010 | 11:25
Where to start, the bike was prepped earlier in the day ready to be headed out on as soon as i got in from work, the weather was all over the place so i held off until about 17:30 before heading out.Heading out through my closest ‘road’, with no moans from old women today, a quick road section then my second favourite place which is a big field which narrows into a track (must get more photos of this place) then started to head off to somewhere new.
Ouch, rain, ouch lol, road speeds and rain while in lightweight gear really isn’t funny but i carry on in the hope that my maps don’t get wet lol
I sail past the road that leads to the byway I’m looking for next, I’ve noticed in a few places that the locals have taken it upon themselves to remove or paint over byway signs, i guess it keeps a lot of people out but then i can read a map lol
As it happens this byway was awesome, probably the best one yet, a long track leads into the woods, then back out onto track again where i had my first horse encounter, no big issue just switch off and wait until they had gone well past, one of them was moaning about me being their and the other was education them as to how it was a public place, i was just as entitled to be their as they were and that she should be less stuck up lol, then i encountered my first big puddle, after much debating i decided to go through it as opposed to round it, a choice i regretting once about 3 ft in to find it rutted and pot holed, next time I’ll go round or go faster lol
Then i found this little gem off to the side, obviously great fun for those that have created it but the locals seem none too impressed, i must admit i was tempted but the threat of having the bike confiscated and the fact that it looked WELL beyond my current capabilities put me off lol
Back to the byway, a quick 200 yard section of road had me riding past the byway i wanted AGAIN, another ‘locally adapted’ sign to blame, so i turn round and head in, no photos of this one because i daren’t stop for fear of not being able to get started again, it was narrow, bumpy, slippery, hard work but fun, then back onto the road for a little bit, under a railway bridge…
…then heading for the next byway, a few close misses with suicidal bunnies later and I’ve found the entrance to the next byway…
…you never get a clue what your going to be faced with heading into unknown byways, this was obviously farmer used, 2 deep rutted tracks, big holes everywhere, it panned out into a long stretch running through 2 fields, a lot of which had been filled in with large round stones which the tyres loved to roll off front and rear especially as they were a little damp…
…once through the field their was a short section purely made up from the nice round stones and i experienced my first front end tuck at speed, luckily not enough to have me off but it reminded me to stay alert ALL the time. More road work later and onto the next byway, but only after going massively out of my way to find ANOTHER byway which was closed, it lead through a farm and was only closed by a ‘painted sign’, if it was closer/longer I’d look further into the access rights but it was only a short section, just a pain that it took me so far out of my way to only have to turn back. Then after another bit of road work I’d found another byway, looked VERY promising…
..all was going well untill i came across this in front of me…
…and this to the left…
…so I’m left not knowing exactly where i can go from here, it looked promising too…
…it’s one where i will check the access rights, but it is quite a way from here, i then travelled up to the other end of the closed byway from before, it was closed as well, as was the byway that met it in the middle, their were a couple of short but fun byways between these but I’ve not got any pics, it was starting to get a bit late, turn the lights on and nothing, no light, time to head home and sharpish before the clouds or darkness rolled in, i took in a couple of byways on the way back, through the farm with the ducks, down the section where i took the video and then down the short bit near me with a whingy dog walker to add to my pleasure tonight.
Back home with a dirty KT, no working lights and also to find that one of the neoprene fork protectors was in fact full of oil so a seal must have gone…
All in time for the 40 hour strip down and pampering…
…Strip me – 40.5 Hrs
09/05/2010 | 22:55
They say a picture tells a thousand words, it’s shocking where the dirt hides lol, have i mentioned I’m a little OCD about bike maintenance …it takes about 3 hours to strip and clean a bike to that point and about another 30 minutes to get it to here…
All the plastics are filthy but they will get the attack of the pressure washer before they go back on, now the bikes in bits and clean it makes doing things so much easier, I’ve got a long list of things to get done this week, some of which depend on things getting delivered but it should be back together by next weekend, fully serviced and good for another 40 hours before it needs doing again.
…Get packing – 40.5 Hrs.
10/05/2010 | 14:39
A bit of a ‘how to’ on repacking a silencer from a KTM EXC…Remove the silencer and clear a space to work…
Remove the 4 washers from the mounting rubbers before they fall out and you loose them on the floor, put them somewhere out of harms way…
This end was blowing, their is no packing in this end, their is a tubular baffle which takes up half the silencer, some type of straight through pipe would allow for more power, but i needed to knock it out a little so i could reseal it and then knock it back in, to get this end out you need to remove all the screws from the cap AND the 2 screws half way down the silencer…
Then down to the other end, remove the screws holding the end can on, a few taps with a rubber mallet and it was free…
Remove the end cap completely and then withdraw the old packing and centre tube…
Which will leave you with this on your bench and a half empty silencer…
You can get packing either in a roll or loose, i have used loose packing purely because it’s what i had, it makes no difference which you use, rolls are a little easier but I’m not going to see it for 20 hours or run time so no big drama, insert the tube then pack around it, not too loose, but not crazy tight either…
Also pack the end cap…
Then put the 2 together making sure the inner tube has located properly on the end cap, don’t knock it all the way on…
Apply sealant round the joint, no need to go mad because you wipe most of it off anyway but I’d rather do too much than have it blowing again…
Knock the cap all the way home, remove excess sealant and screw back together…
All done ready to go back on
…Washing up – 40.5 Hrs.
11/05/2010 | 11:27
Plates, cups, and oh look, an air filter and some fork savers… lol…did i mention… – 40.5 Hrs.
11/05/2010 | 20:03
…that I’m a bit OCD about bike maintenance, engine is out and on the bench ready for piston/ring checking…And it would seem KTM are suffering budget cuts by not supplying grease, loads of vital parts that are dry as a bone in a way that says they’ve never had any grease from day 1!!
…What I’ve been up too – 40.5 Hrs.
12/05/2010 | 20:49
I completely stripped the top end down so that clearances etc could be checked, it turns out the piston rings are worn to well outside their serviceable limits however the cylinder and piston are in very good condition and within limits so new rings and a new plug have been ordered which should arrive tomorrow, I’ve already given it a clean up so the engine can go back together with only the usual inspection/cleaning during assembly and it’d be nice to have it back in the frame by the weekend although I’m still waiting on other stuff for the bike so their is no real mad rush.It would be nice to have it back in full working order and run in by about half way through next week, i don’t think a week of spare time is too much for a full strip down and clean up and i love doing it anyway so it’s no drama for me.
The engine neatly laid out:
This gap should have been about 0.3mm new and worn to 0.8mm as a maximum, that’s a 3mm screwdriver in their!!
Same here, a 2mm screwdriver blade in a gap that should be 1.0mm max!! The worrying thing is the manual doesn’t call for these to be checked until the 40 hour mark when the bike is used for hobby use, they will now be checked at 20 hours regardless.
The downside of the worn rings was the fact that the oil getting past them needed to go somewhere, and that somewhere was out the exhaust and burnt onto the valves!!
Looking much better after a good clean up.
…Spot the difference – 40.5 Hrs.
16/05/2010 | 21:26
That’s the old ring on the top and the new one on the bottom, not much of a difference eh lol, .3mm on the bottom, about 3mm on the top, still completely miffed and amazed at how she was still running lol3 Piece oil ring which i hate, nothing wrong with them at all their just really fiddly to put together and to get sitting right.
The piston back in the cylinder with nice new rings, she’s nice and tight too, should run much nicer after…
And you cant do a rebuild without a new plug… Nice and shiny lol
…Putting her back together – 40.5 Hrs.
16/05/2010 | 22:15
Finally I’ve started getting her back together, here’s all the engine components laid out, including the piston with new rings sat in the cylinder, new gaskets and a new plug, and of course a brew…In order to reattach the piston to the rod a simple slot cut in a piece of card holing the rod upright makes life a lot easier, it also stops you dropping the pin clip into the bottom of the engine!!!
Here you can see the cylinder being slid over the cam chain guides and the cam chain fed through, you can also see that the rod is not quite lined up with the piston but the piston is sat at almost the right height to get the pin in…
Here you can see the piston pin in place and the retaining clip and also how the cardboard would stop the clip falling into the bottom end if it shot off…
The cardboard is then slid out and the cylinder is pushed fully home and onto the locating dowels…
The head was then placed back on and bolted down to spec, while doing so i had doubts about my torque wrench, it just didn’t feel right, i felt like i was very close and it hadn’t ‘clicked out’ so i tested it on something else and it clicked out fine, it seems i was 2nm out when i stopped, not far out by hand, then on the next bolt it didn’t ‘feel right’ so it was binned and i went and bought a new one to finish the job, you need 100% confidence in your tools when doing jobs like this…
Then the cam lower bridge was placed in, tightened to spec and lubricated ready for the cams, that’s expensive oil, it should look gold lol
In go the cams, shockingly i got the timing marks spot on first time…
Starting to look like an engine again…
The upper cam bridge is then placed in and torqued to specs…
No shortage of room to check valve clearances when the engines on the bench…
All checked and within tolerances making it nice and easy, if they were out it’s all have to come out again so the shims could be changed…
Engine looking moody on the bench..
And here she is back in the frame…
Starting to look a little bit like a bike again, engine greased and bolted in, shock greased, loctited and bolted in, same with the swing arm…
- You must be logged in to reply to this topic.