Anyone know a decent motorbike mechanic?

Markerat

I'm no gynaecologist...
i often wondered who lived in that charming house. I guess its part of the old sandon estate where i played as a kid next to fairfield court. I formally lived at no 1 as a kid.

http://maps.live.com/default.aspx?v=2&FORM=LMLTCP&cp=st2n3dgtqq5h&style=b&lvl=1&tilt=-90&dir=0&alt=-1000&scene=11784829&phx=0&phy=0&phscl=1&where1=139%20oxford%20gardens&sp=Point.st2tkqgtqnp4_Tek%20Monkey%20Towers____~Point.st2vybgtqkdn_Garage____~Point.st2h80gtqnbh_markerat%2C%20torirat%20and%20weerats____&encType=1

this is our pad
 

tek-monkey

wanna see my snake?
Is a nice place, only rented though :(

Moved in just before xmas, still not fully unpacked but its getting there. Looked at a few just near yours too, but this place pipped them when I realised we had a garage. Just had a £600 bill for 6 weeks power though, so something is amiss!
 

Gramaisc

Forum O. G.
tek-monkey said:
Is a nice place, only rented though :(

Moved in just before xmas, still not fully unpacked but its getting there. Looked at a few just near yours too, but this place pipped them when I realised we had a garage. Just had a £600 bill for 6 weeks power though, so something is amiss!
Moved in just before Xmas 1980, still not fully unpacked - but its getting there.

If you do require a home consultation on the bike issue, then I insist that we should all wear masks throughout, in order to keep Admin happy on the anonymity front.
 

tek-monkey

wanna see my snake?
Sounds interesting..... ;)

Had another look last night, tried with a fully charged battery and it turned over fine but didn't fire. We pulled the plugs out and determined the front cylinder had no spark, so pulled the tank off and cleaned up the coils etc. (even though its only a 125 it has 2 seperate coils?). We then had a spark, but the battery was already crawling and died soon after. I'd say there was maybe 50-60 seconds of actual turning over, before it became too low to do anything. This has to be wrong surely? So I need a new battery now I guess, before I carry on!
 

Gramaisc

Forum O. G.
Bike batteries are, of necessity, on the small side and will generally fail earlier than a car battery would, even though the starter motor will be drawing less. In these days of no kick-start the battery needs to be in a decent state. In the 'good old days' you could get away with a dodgy battery as the voltage would stay up if you weren't driving the starter motor, but, nowadays, you are stuck, unless you're prepared to bump it. Have you charged it up again? If the spark is there at that start, when the battery is full, you may have a better chance.

If you have sparks at the right time, fuel, decent compression and can turn it fast enough, then it has little choice but to run.

Do you have a gas cooker? Warming the plugs up can have a very beneficial effect. Wait until Eastenders is on and she won't notice.

Bikes generally don't have distributors and so a coil per cylinder is the norm.
 

tek-monkey

wanna see my snake?
Well I have sparks, how do I know if they're at the right time?
There is fuel, flooded it while trying to start it, although again is it the right amount I wonder?
It wasn't turning fast enough, thats for sure. Hopefully the new battery will sort that out.

On that note, can get a battery from Chells for £40 or from DK in Stoke for £18. Both went from the code I gave them (YTX7L-BS), is one likely to be inferior?
 

Gramaisc

Forum O. G.
Most modernish bikes won't have a problem with the timing. Forget that for now. It would be nice to start it from a known 'good battery' to be confident that a new one will actually be better and that it isn't some other problem. It sounds like it, though, if it was whizzing over to start with, but soon slowed down. As the battery capacity is drained the volts will drop even more as the starter turns slower, thus giving you an even weaker spark and compounding the problem. The Chell battery will probably be a Yuasa and they are good, but I've had a few cheap ones over the years and they're nearly as good - you pays your money....
 

ToriRat

Is that a Moomin?
why whats wrong with small pink mouse like creatures? I'm sure they get on very well with Axolotl's, they like soup dragons after all
 

tek-monkey

wanna see my snake?
It started!

Briefly. Still feels like a lot of resistance in the starter motor, like it needs to turn 3 times before it gets enough momentum to even try starting. Thats when it doesn't just click at me anyway, but putting it in gear and moving the engine a little seems to sort that out. So is the starter motor sticking somewhere, and can only turn if it gets a run up?

Also when I try to lower the revs the front cylinder misfires and the bike dies, bah. Always seems to be more smoke from the front one too, and thats the one that had the dodgy spark the other day. So thats something I need to look at. Battery needs a recharge now though, and its cold. Plus I was in danger of killing myself if I left the garage shut, so I came back in!

Oh yeah, got the £18 battery from Stoke. Seems fine, been hammering it for over an hour before it started packing in.
 

Gramaisc

Forum O. G.
Have you cleaned up the connections? Try swapping the plugs over to see if it stays with the cylinder or goes with the plug. Again, heating the plugs may help. Sounds like the first battery wasn't helping you - so that's some progress. When you get it running again try to keep it going until everything gets nice and hot, if the coils are over the engine it might shift a bit of dampness. Have you looked at the starter motor brushes? I've never had to replace any, but it must happen now and then.
 

tek-monkey

wanna see my snake?
Had another look, and now it wont start and there seems to be no fuel reaching the front cylinder either! Spark is also very weak. Starter motor is really slow, sounds forced. Think it needs stripping TBH.

With the weather thats now appearing I think I won't be using it for a few days anyway, have had enough and need a beer!
 

tek-monkey

wanna see my snake?
Ah, I did now! 2 no less, a private one here which I never seem to spot, and another in my junk box, lol. Is there any way to make the new message alert more obvious?

I've decided its now beyond my abilities, and my step dad also thinks it should now see a professional. As I work all week and rarely get home before 8 I don't have much chance til Saturday to do stuff myself. Was going to drop it into Stafford Motorcycles to see how much it would cost to sort, but I'm dreading the bill!

So, any offers of help are much appreciated, obviously depends when people are free though. I have no problem paying for peoples time, but being a bit skint I was hoping to avoid proper garage prices. If thats what it needs then I guess I'll have to bite the bullet, but I'm starting to question the value of the bike over just getting a loan out for another. Its sat in my garage at the min behind my house, so at least its dry.
 

Edd209

Well-Known Forumite
jones allcock and ask to speak to jim, out of what motorcycle repair/service type places that are left in stafford he is probably one of the better choices.
but just an idea, have you done a compression test on the cylinder? the front one that is, just an idea.
 
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