Pissing fuel after standing for nearly 2 years

[Mike TW9]

Good news!

Bike passed its MOT on Friday, no advisories despite one for a notch on the head bearing last time & a pretty old front tire. But I don't get it back until Tues pm once it's has oil & filter change & carbs balanced. And I had planned to ride the bike to the MOT place, but I just got a clicking noise from the starter motor relay switch when I tried to start it. I knew the battery was a bit dodgy, so nipped out for a new one but still nothing, just a bigger better click noise. The MOT man then offered to collect it & when he did I tried to show him the problem and it started instantly. Grrr!

I've now been 2 1/2 years off the road & I think fixing & cleaning the bike has been slowly giving me the bug back, am itching for a ride! I had hoped to do the May Day Hastings run but now looking good for GrainStorm. And thanks Mac for the new smoked LED rear light, wiring took me a bit longer than it should & blew 2 fuses in the process, but got there in the end.

Thanks again to all, I couldn't have fixed it without the Forum, and a belated happy birthday to Agent P.

[sirch345]

Well done for keeping at it until you got there

Chris.

[tony.mon]

For the intermittent starting issue try checking the battery connections, main earth and the starter relay connections.

[Mike TW9]

Hi Folks,

To finish this little saga (& on a positive note thankfully!)...

I got the bike MOT'd, oil/filter change & & carbs balanced & it seemed fine except pootling along when it felt like it was missing a beat or about to run out of fuel. There was also an issue with the engine being a bit too stiff for the starter motor to turn at times even with a new battery. The bloke at the shop I took it to suggested there my be a carbonised ring in a cylinder making it stiff, with the solution being to give it a good thrash which I did & that issue disappeared but the running niggle remained. It was probably 500 miles later that I happened to check the oil level and found it was way over-filled- I took 3/4 litre out to get the level a bit below the max mark! And now I'd say the bike is running near perfectly, just hope that much excess oil didn't do any lasting damage. Pretty basic error by the mechanic too!

I've now done a good bit of riding and given it a good clean so it's looking better too.

Only problem now is that I can't go home on it without paying £12.50 ULEZ charge now. So I've colonised a corner of my girlfriend's garage & will look forward to better access to some nicer roads for the odd Sunday blast before winter sets i.

Jobs for the winter: New front tire, fork seals & maybe head bearings.

:-)

[sirch345]

It's good to hear some positives

These ULEZ areas must be a menace for many,

Chris.

[MacV2]

Nice one Mike. Good to hear your back on the road. Your always welcome to pop over for a natter & servicing bits. Inc the headstock bearings. I'm cheaper than a shop...fner fner. & I'm ULEZ free in The Undemocratic Repuplic of Grain.

[tony.mon]

I'm ULEZ free in The Undemocratic Repuplic of Grain.

Yep- out there they'd have ripped the signs and cameras down and sold them for scrap....

Which seems a very good idea, thinking about it

[Kev L]

It would appear there’s a few folk with similar ideas -

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-london-66675787