| Author |
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Milt
| | Posted on Tuesday, March 22, 2011 - 09:35 am: | 
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I'm with Fast1075.
My Blast started up immediately, except for that first start in late March.
Of course, absence does make the heart grow fonder. My Blast gets better and better each day. Soon, it will be the best ever. |
Crackhead
| | Posted on Tuesday, March 22, 2011 - 10:15 am: |
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Most motorcycle EFI systems are not a good judge of reliability. They have been dragged kicking and screaming into the electronic age. BMW is the first manufacture to embrace electronics. Yes other companies have had EFI and traction control, but they have been half---.
The Blast is my first and last bike with carbs. It was cool for 2 weeks to figure out how carbs worked, but it wore off quickly. |
Rudy
| | Posted on Tuesday, March 22, 2011 - 12:48 pm: |
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It's funny how this thread turned into an EFI vs. carburetor debate. One of the main points of the video is that America is "losing its can-do spirit." The argument about EFI vs. carbs is moot. If you have the "can-do spirit" you'll figure out the problems and fix them.
I'd never done my own maintenance (besides oil changes, etc.) on my vehicles prior to owning my Buell. I got a service manual and LEARNED. Now I do all my own work unless I lack the tools. I'll buy the tools if I'll use them again in the future, but most of the time it's limited to what will fit in my one car garage (I really want a lift, a nice press, a drill press, and several other things).
If I get a vehicle with carburetors in the future (I think finding an old CB250/350/450/550 and making a cafe racer would be a lot of fun), I'll learn how they work. It's that simple. |
Mr_grumpy
| | Posted on Tuesday, March 22, 2011 - 03:42 pm: |
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I've been resisting the onward march of electronics for some years as a "hands on" person.
I'm now collecting & copying or downloading any vehicle software I come across, to extend my toolbox into the 21st century. |
Swordsman
| | Posted on Tuesday, March 22, 2011 - 04:59 pm: |
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I'd never done my own maintenance (besides oil changes, etc.) on my vehicles prior to owning my Buell.
Likewise. I do most of my own stuff if I have tools or can acquire the tools at a decent price, and have the physical capability. But one of the big reasons is because it's SO hard to get good service for anything nowadays! Got sick of paying $$$ for shoddy work and a condescending attitude.
~SM |
Birdy
| | Posted on Tuesday, March 22, 2011 - 05:31 pm: |
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My Buell has been to the shop twice. Once for a recall, clutch cable guide,  and once for warranty work that Buell paid for, fan died when the rocker box leaked all over it.
My KLR has NEVER been to the shop. The recall was done before I took it home,
Both are simple to work on, with the manual that is! Plus there's a simple joy of having fix the beast myself. Only problem with my Buell is it EATS rear tire for some unknown reason. 
And the KLR had that ripped carb diaphragm. and a few upgrades done to it. Still a beater though!
We have it good now in year pass I remember one weekend a month working on one bike or another that was DOA. Now if they don't start of the first try we have a fit.
I'll take now, YOU can have the "Good Old Days"!
(Message edited by Birdy on March 22, 2011) |
Ezblast
| | Posted on Tuesday, March 22, 2011 - 05:50 pm: |
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My Blasts always start - that ain't right!
EZ |
Just_ziptab
| | Posted on Tuesday, March 22, 2011 - 07:16 pm: |
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A new guy at work,maybe 25 years old.........pulled both sprockets and a chain off a drive,simultaneously.... because he didn't know that most chains have a master link.
Has everything he has ever dealt with,had an 0-ring chain?
I suppose I should not even mention half links....... |
Saxon59
| | Posted on Tuesday, March 22, 2011 - 10:07 pm: |
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Just-ziptab,when I was in high school I owned a 1958 Ford F-100 with a 292 V8 w/2 bbl carb,it would start before you could here the engine turn over,maybe it was tuned by the same guy? When my daughters were young I had them in the shop working on my stuff,then I showed them how to work on their own cars.A couple of weeks ago my oldest daughter called me and told me her husbands truck needed brakes,he heard squealing and didn't know what it was,she told him the brakes were bad.She asked me if I would replace them for him, if I didn't have the time she would do it,BTW she was 9 mos. pregnant,I did the work.Both my girls are very female,but they also can take care of them selves.Oh yea my '97 M2 starts and idles much easier than my '04 BMW GS especially when cold. |
Just_ziptab
| | Posted on Tuesday, March 22, 2011 - 11:24 pm: |
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Yep,seen some gals that were pretty damned handy with wrenches. The normal everyday stuff is pretty much nuts and bolts.
Space shuttles.......I don't have a clue,but more than likely,could be easily trained.....  |
Saxon59
| | Posted on Friday, March 25, 2011 - 05:14 pm: |
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Computerized stuff is great as long as it works,but,lets just suppose you're on you're all comp. controlled bike say 50 miles done a dirt road,you stop for a short break and when you go to leave the battery has crapped out on you!!(I've had this happen)with a carb you get it rolling and bump start it,with F.I.unless you can get it rolling about 20 MPH for long enough to get your alt.to generate power,your stuck!!No power,no fuel pump,no compooter,NO START!! |
86129squids
| | Posted on Saturday, March 26, 2011 - 03:19 am: |
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SAE standard, metric, or Whitworth?
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Britchri10
| | Posted on Saturday, March 26, 2011 - 07:50 am: |
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Squids: If you have ever had any dealings with old Brit' bikes/cars you will soon appreciate what "Whitworth" is. Essentially, it is a thread cut with a specific degree angle that does not correspond to standard metric or imperial sizes. It requires its own tools. It what makes old Brit bikes so craptastic to work on |
Birdy
| | Posted on Saturday, March 26, 2011 - 08:39 am: |
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Whitworth are cut a 55 degs, with a radius at the root and crest of the thread and have a different pitch than a SAE or metric, both of these are cut at 60 degs with no radius. I made a ton of these little monsters at the shipyard for refit the boilers on a old British tanker. |
Britchri10
| | Posted on Saturday, March 26, 2011 - 08:50 am: |
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I sourced Whitworth threaded fasteners thru a fellow rugby player in Naples, Fla for an acquaintance of mine who owns a BSA.
Hard to find them over here. My father used to make them for us in the UK. He was a toolmaker by trade. |
Brumbear
| | Posted on Saturday, March 26, 2011 - 08:57 am: |
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The old military spec WWII era forklifts would sometimes have the British thread stuff on them it used to drive us crazy!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! The sizes were all crazy too I always wondered who the hell did this shit it's crazy!!!!
Remember we did not even have metric sizes back then so it was to a 12 year old kid working at his dads shop completly insane to have anything other than what we had |
Britchri10
| | Posted on Saturday, March 26, 2011 - 11:11 am: |
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I think Whitworth came up with his system in the 1800's as the first standardized units for the UK. Unfortunately, it never really went away. We used to spend ages working out what was the original Whitworth & what had been re-tapped to imperial/metric sizes on the same crank case. |
86129squids
| | Posted on Saturday, March 26, 2011 - 06:18 pm: |
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Yeah- had to throw that in there...
Had a '68 TR6R Triumph Trophy for a while- luckily, never had to wrench too much on it, thankfully...
Fun thread- pardon the pun... |
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