I've been a member on DBA for a couple years now, and this is the first forum I think I've ever really been a regular part of, in this time I've tried to help along many new members with quite novice type questions in regards to basic mechanic skills, basic diagnosis of problems whether electrical,mechanicle, run ability or whatever. Many have helped themselves along and I'm more than happy to pass along knowledge that I have aquired during my life as a mechanic. I do not claim to be mr. Know it all, but I can usually fix anything in front of me using my method of finding and fixing problems, whether automotive, motorcycle or anything somewhat related......so this thread is not only for me to pass along some of my methods for trouble shooting/repairing but for others to also post up some of the things they have learned along the way. The hope is knowledge can be shared between members and also when newbies show up we can refer them to this thread, let them possibly find the answer themselves thru other people's experience without constantly repeating the same thing thread after thread sometimes with the same members.
first and foremost GET A REPAIR MANUAL for the year make and model of your bike, so much time and effort can be saved by having one to refer to during any service,maintenance or repair.
Here are a few steps before you ever pick up a wench that you should verify before beginning.
1.When did the problem start? Has it done it before?
2. When does the problem occur? Cold, hot, anytime,only on the pipe, or at idle etc....
3. Have you tried to anything to fix this? Has there been a change, if so what?
Now let's pose a hypothetical problem for the sake of giving an example to the steps I would typically take in fixing a problem, in this case the bike in question has a midrange bog, or in other words, drops off in power as your rolling or snapping the throttle. I would have ridden it and verified that even after it was properly warmed up when I gave it throttle in the middle of the rpm range ithe problem would occur. If it only did this cold I would check the choke circuit for proper operation, and the spark plug,as it could be on the verge of fouling. But for the sake of argument, it still has this problem, even warm. Now that we have verified the previous steps, I would first make sure the basics are checked, as in a compression check depending on the bike 150 - 210 psi...no sense trying to get a worn out engine run right, you cannot polish a turd, also do the compression test on a warm engine if possible, with the throttle wide open, kick it over several times to get a good reading, if the compression checks good move on to other basics, like check the air filter, throttle cable operation,does it have fresh gas. If these things all check out, then I would go to where I think the problem exists, which is probably a lean needle in the carb, but before I just go in and make that adjustment I would first pull the carb and check float level, if the float is lean it could cause this and other problems as well, different manufactures have different methods of checking the float level,in this case I would refer to the AfORE MENTIONED MANUAL....typically if I make one adjustment/ change on a carburator I would run it afterwards to see if it needed any more adjustments, sometimes you can work yourself backwards by doing to many steps at once. If float level is ok, I would then check passage ways and internals of carb for dirt debris what have you, clean as necessary, if I didn't see anything as far as the carb being dirty, the next step would be to richen the needle by taking the clip holding its position and move it down which raises the needle, this allows more fuel into the engine during midrange throttle operation, and a lean condition during this rpm range could have definately caused this issue After making this adjustment I would put carb back together, and run it, this did fix the problem. but even though I may have had a preconceived idea that the ultimate fix would be the needle adjustment, it's always a good idea to follow a step by step proceure And check other things along the way if nothing else to verify proper operation of the other systems. Always verify when and where problem occurs then take steps to to either eliminate potential problems or fix it. Many times there is not a wham bam fix but instead a series of steps to follow along the way to the problem, and the more you stick to the same procedure every time it's more likely you won't miss a step and cost yourself a lot of time.....trust me on this, As experienced as I am I still sometimes jump ahead to where I think the issue is and miss the problem by not checking the basics, in other words don't go in wearing blinders.
Secondly I see many times where the person performing a repair justs jumps in and starts taking things apart hoping a little guy inside will have signs pointing them to where the problem is, sorry to say the little dude doesn't exist.....not even in the states where pot is legal. So when I am tearing down a component if it's somthing I'm not familiar with, I will look at how all the components work with each other and familiarize why self with the system,sometimes I might not only be looking for the issue at hand, but bolts I pull out, looking for rounded heads, stretched threads, thrust washers for wear, are any seals leaking. Does it look like someone else has been in ther before? When assembling a component, I may be looking at such things like, which way do washers, gears snap ring and what not go back together, believe it or not, it does make a difference somtimes, some snap rings have a longer surface area on one side than the other, so to make it easier for the snap ring pliers to grab, if you install it with the top side down, it makes life more dificult when you have to remove it. Somtimes thrust washers have a tang so when installed properly won't turn, others are supposed to have one and it's gone now, when installing seals look at them, make sure the lip of the seal is pointed towards the side it is supposed to seal, when assembliying the cylinder jug, make sure the put such things back like the centering dowels (right sparky?) you need to see stuff like this as you go. USE YOUR MANUAL to find such things as tightening specifications and procedures, order of assembly etc....basicaly there are many different scenarios I could list, but my point is be methodical, have a system in place that works for you, and stick to it, repetition of procedure will help eliminate simple mistakes.
Well that's the idea of this thread, I will probably add more as I hope others will also.
One other thing, I may be one of the worst on here at derailing a thread or just off the rails on the bullshit meter, but I would like this thread to remain on topic as its meant more for the newer members to reference.
first and foremost GET A REPAIR MANUAL for the year make and model of your bike, so much time and effort can be saved by having one to refer to during any service,maintenance or repair.
Here are a few steps before you ever pick up a wench that you should verify before beginning.
1.When did the problem start? Has it done it before?
2. When does the problem occur? Cold, hot, anytime,only on the pipe, or at idle etc....
3. Have you tried to anything to fix this? Has there been a change, if so what?
Now let's pose a hypothetical problem for the sake of giving an example to the steps I would typically take in fixing a problem, in this case the bike in question has a midrange bog, or in other words, drops off in power as your rolling or snapping the throttle. I would have ridden it and verified that even after it was properly warmed up when I gave it throttle in the middle of the rpm range ithe problem would occur. If it only did this cold I would check the choke circuit for proper operation, and the spark plug,as it could be on the verge of fouling. But for the sake of argument, it still has this problem, even warm. Now that we have verified the previous steps, I would first make sure the basics are checked, as in a compression check depending on the bike 150 - 210 psi...no sense trying to get a worn out engine run right, you cannot polish a turd, also do the compression test on a warm engine if possible, with the throttle wide open, kick it over several times to get a good reading, if the compression checks good move on to other basics, like check the air filter, throttle cable operation,does it have fresh gas. If these things all check out, then I would go to where I think the problem exists, which is probably a lean needle in the carb, but before I just go in and make that adjustment I would first pull the carb and check float level, if the float is lean it could cause this and other problems as well, different manufactures have different methods of checking the float level,in this case I would refer to the AfORE MENTIONED MANUAL....typically if I make one adjustment/ change on a carburator I would run it afterwards to see if it needed any more adjustments, sometimes you can work yourself backwards by doing to many steps at once. If float level is ok, I would then check passage ways and internals of carb for dirt debris what have you, clean as necessary, if I didn't see anything as far as the carb being dirty, the next step would be to richen the needle by taking the clip holding its position and move it down which raises the needle, this allows more fuel into the engine during midrange throttle operation, and a lean condition during this rpm range could have definately caused this issue After making this adjustment I would put carb back together, and run it, this did fix the problem. but even though I may have had a preconceived idea that the ultimate fix would be the needle adjustment, it's always a good idea to follow a step by step proceure And check other things along the way if nothing else to verify proper operation of the other systems. Always verify when and where problem occurs then take steps to to either eliminate potential problems or fix it. Many times there is not a wham bam fix but instead a series of steps to follow along the way to the problem, and the more you stick to the same procedure every time it's more likely you won't miss a step and cost yourself a lot of time.....trust me on this, As experienced as I am I still sometimes jump ahead to where I think the issue is and miss the problem by not checking the basics, in other words don't go in wearing blinders.
Secondly I see many times where the person performing a repair justs jumps in and starts taking things apart hoping a little guy inside will have signs pointing them to where the problem is, sorry to say the little dude doesn't exist.....not even in the states where pot is legal. So when I am tearing down a component if it's somthing I'm not familiar with, I will look at how all the components work with each other and familiarize why self with the system,sometimes I might not only be looking for the issue at hand, but bolts I pull out, looking for rounded heads, stretched threads, thrust washers for wear, are any seals leaking. Does it look like someone else has been in ther before? When assembling a component, I may be looking at such things like, which way do washers, gears snap ring and what not go back together, believe it or not, it does make a difference somtimes, some snap rings have a longer surface area on one side than the other, so to make it easier for the snap ring pliers to grab, if you install it with the top side down, it makes life more dificult when you have to remove it. Somtimes thrust washers have a tang so when installed properly won't turn, others are supposed to have one and it's gone now, when installing seals look at them, make sure the lip of the seal is pointed towards the side it is supposed to seal, when assembliying the cylinder jug, make sure the put such things back like the centering dowels (right sparky?) you need to see stuff like this as you go. USE YOUR MANUAL to find such things as tightening specifications and procedures, order of assembly etc....basicaly there are many different scenarios I could list, but my point is be methodical, have a system in place that works for you, and stick to it, repetition of procedure will help eliminate simple mistakes.
Well that's the idea of this thread, I will probably add more as I hope others will also.
One other thing, I may be one of the worst on here at derailing a thread or just off the rails on the bullshit meter, but I would like this thread to remain on topic as its meant more for the newer members to reference.
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How bout a " Tools Required for each job " section? With tips like snowflakes all thread puller for a swing arm pin!
