Time to strip down the bike
But hang on, I have a [purple] smokin' hot 250cc 2T pocket rocket of joy. Lets fire this thing up!!!
I put the ignition card in with a click that brought life to the LCD display of the PGM IV unit and simultaneously disengaged the steering lock: something that had stumped the importer initially with no battery connected and a bike that only wanted to be pushed in circles.
I wheeled the bike out of the garage, tuned the fuel to reserve and put the choke on. With the ignition briefly off I gave the kick start a couple of slow pokes to prime things then clicking the card back in and gave her a sharp kick making her immediately rasp into life.
The tick over rose then slumped into an uneasy stumble quickly, so I disengaged the choke and felt the bike settle down. Hovering my hand about the throttle the bike continued to burble away smoothly, quietly without any of the harsh high pitched tones I had become accustomed to with two strokes I had seen in the past. Aware that the bike wasn't warm enough yet I chanced a small blip of the throttle. The needle rolled up to three thousand rpm and the bike let out a low growl like an cat in an alley, sinking back down to a pur.
I flicked switches and was greeted by disco light rear indicators (left meant right and that was even if it worked) and both fronts were on steady with no other response than to turn off. hmm. Headlamps worked nicely on low beam but nothing on high and the rear had a bulb out all together.
Pressing the front brake had the desired effect from the working bulb but the rear did nothing. I looked down to see if it was a switch set up issue or some naff wiring but it turned out to be none of these as there was no brake switch at all. The previous owner must have decided on a little weight loss treatment when he fitted the after market 'Real Balance' rear sets.
Checking the instruments, I flicked the side stand in and out, tried the high beams again to see what the dash did. Thankfully all the indications were working so fingers crossed we were just facing blown bulbs.
The temperature gauge was now creeping up in small digital figures at the bottom of the LCD. I pulled the clutch lever in and was greeted by a cacophony of noise as the dry clutched jangled open. Stomping the gear lever down into first I watched the neutral light dutifully go out. Gradually I released the clutch, the noise of the engine and clutched dropped as drive was put down to the rear wheel. I allowed the bike to roll forwards along the drive a few feet, just enough to register a large 1 mph on the LCD before stopping. I toed the gear lever back up into neutral and gave the throttle a healthy blip. Something under the tank briefly grunted and the exhausts let out a terrific wwwwWWWWWWAAAAAAANNNNGGG!!!!!
A jet of purple white smoke shot out of the exhaust that was vaguely visible in the violently vibrating mirrors as the engine buzzed away. The noise gradually wound down, a little slower than I would have liked but none the less it was intoxicating. "Well if the bike isn't throttling back smoothly and quickly then it might have a fueling problem" I thought to myself. So I did it again and again, disappearing into a cloud of vaguely justifiable joy otherwise known as 2 stroke smoke.
I snapped the side stand out and settled the bike back onto the ground before stepping away to take her in for a moment. The smoke gradually dissipated as the bike quietly burbled away to itself like an unfed mogwai that couldn't possibly have been that beast howling away just seconds ago.
Reluctantly I pulled the ignition card out and wheeled the bike back into the garage. Here I noticed the LCD was dark and unreadable in the dim light. "More bulbs" I thought to myself and made a note to order one of those to.
Well mechanically she seemed to be working nicely just leaving a few bits of wiring to look deeper into. Hopefully this wouldn't be much more than a new bulb and a brake lamp switch to make these problems go away. Fueling isn't to much of a bother for now as I plan to do a carb strip anyway so time would tell on that one.
Okay well a run was useful so now its time to strip down the bike like I had planned. I looked at my VFR800 sat, as ever, ready to ride. Then I looked at the NSR with its bare rear mudguard where the number plate aught to be. An idea began to form in my head that I quickly dismissed. Well that would be naughty wouldn't it and I had a job to get on with anyway.
I didn't get round to the strip down on the first day of my leave but I found out some useful things about the serviceability of the engine, fuel system, drive train and gear box...
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