The Motorbikerist Thread

[Barry]

First one looked like he forgot to put a stand down and caught it by the throttle.
Second one -

He tried to hold it with his left hand, it rolled forward and his attempt to steady it meant he rolled the throttle on.. once the bike is off there's no stopping it.

[nuttinnew]

First one looked like he forgot to put a stand down and caught it by the throttle.
Second one -

He tried to hold it with his left hand, it rolled forward and his attempt to steady it meant he rolled the throttle on.. once the bike is off there's no stopping it.

Yep, kind of what I meant

[tim]

Had a deal on this today for Will. KTM RC 125. It's a little bit of a project as it needs some work to make it reliably usable as a daily for him, but I think these are cool as fuck for a 17 year old to tool around on.

Collecting it Sunday all being well.

[V8Granite]

Because of the KTM place just down the road you see a lot of these. It's a cool looking bike and has a bigger bike sound than a lot of others I see about

Dave!

[Marv]

That may be cooler than any bike on the forum currently

[Barry]

That may be cooler than any bike on the forum currently

'scuse me, I love my Z900RS

That's a cool thing for a teen Tim

[Marv]

That may be cooler than any bike on the forum currently

'scuse me, I love my Z900RS

That's a cool thing for a teen Tim

The Barry doth protest too much!

It only got the nod over your Z900 because it has the Pokemon keyring

[tim]

The test ride was fun. I had zero damping in the forks! I’ve got an Abba Skylift coming today so getting up on that and forks and rear shock off is the first job, getting them rebuilt by Abel Suspension.

Just needs a good service and a new battery other than that.

Will is super stoked to be shortly doing > 28mph

[tim]

So I got Project KTM back home this morning and have spent the afternoon having a good poke around, cleaning and generally figuring out where to start.



It needs a new battery first and foremost, as it won't start without a booster pack on it even after charging. That's coming tomorrow. The charging system tests OK so pretty confident it's just a crap battery.

Next job get the forks out and the rear shock, and get those sent off to Abel Suspension. He can turn those around in about a week. While that's being done we'll set about doing a full service of fluids, filters & spark plug, which I picked up yesterday from the local KTM dealer.

The brakes are shocking so I imagine at least pads if not a disc as well will need to go on, and a new set of tyres. It's on Pirelli Angel CTs which although the rear has plenty of tread it's worn oddly, and the front is on the wear limiter, so they're for the bin. Not sure what to put on yet but they'll need to be decent all-round weather tyres not track day specials!

With it up on the lift it was very apparent the steering head bearings are gone, as there's a massive notch at the straight ahead.

So a few things to do but nothing major. I had it pinned for a good 3 miles at 75 mph indicated even with my lardy form on it, and the engine feels surprisingly torquey for 15 bhp.

Looks the business tho eh.

[Rich B]

It’s a great shape from the side isn’t it - the tyre size gives the game away from the other angles(!), but very cool thing for a 17 year old.

[dinny_g]

I know nothing about bikes but that’s a cool looking machine…

[simon_g]

That’s ace. I’m lusting after that Skylift too.

Need to get the Monster recommissioned this year, I’ve ordered a load of bits and hoping that several years of neglect under a cover hasn’t been too harsh on it.

[mik]

I’m lusting after that Skylift too.

I have no need for one, but I was thinking it looked pretty cool.

Out of interest - how do you prevent the bike from pitching nose up/down @tim ?

[Rich B]

I’m lusting after that Skylift too.

I have no need for one, but I was thinking it looked pretty cool.

Out of interest - how do you prevent the bike from pitching nose up/down @tim ?

presumably that big red bar going to the back wheel area?

[mik]

presumably that big red bar going to the back wheel area?

Ah. Ja. Did not spot that.

[Barry]

You can set the angle of dangle with these Abba lifts, all pretty versatile really. I keep pondering a standard bike lift, Machine Mart keep doing their VAT free deals..

[tim]

Yes there's a strap that runs from the red bar the other side to the swingarm, which keeps it from pitching forwards as it rises. As Barry said, you can either have it level as shown or in the "Wheelie" or "Stoppie" position by adjusting the position of the bar/strap or just not using it. Super versatile. And you can just push it around the garage on it's castors.

I did think about a regular lift, but that still requires additional "stuff" to be able to remove both wheels with it off the ground. With these Abba lifts you can strip the bike down to a bare frame if you wanted to.

Anyway, it looks like this now:



The forks are out, that was super easy. Getting the front wheel out was a bit harder on account of the spindle bolt didn't want to budge. I got my long breaker bar on it and it... err, broke it.



Thank goodness it just held together enough to spin it out of the thread without leaving half of it behind!

It also became very apparent that the steering head bearings were fucked, with a very strong detent at the straight ahead, so I've ordered a new set from KTM along with a replacement wheel bolt.

That was enough fun for last night, but today I went back to it and removed the fairing lowers and did an oil, oil filter & strainer change. I also fitted the new battery so it actually starts every time now.

Tomorrow I'll get the forks packed up ready to go to Abel Suspension for a rebuild, and the tank/airbox off and deal with the air filter and spark plug change. I also need to get some new brake fluid as the goopy state of this front reservoir tells a sorry tale. My fluid tester indicated it was 4% water.



I've never seen jellified brake fluid before.

Am having a blast sorting this bike out for Will

[IanF]

That’s incredible! How does it stay afloat?? Does it leave any trails.. (like tank tracks?) Technology today!