Saturday May 3rd 2025

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 Saturday May 3rd 2025


Suzuki GSF1200 Bandit (1999)


The intention was to install the new stainless steel exhaust studs and nut, then to refit the exhaust and start the engine once again.  This would confirm that a) The carburettors had truly given up leaking b) Whether the engine was burning oil or c) worn to the point that it needed a top end overhaul. This was a bike with 58,000 miles under its wheels and ordinarily a top end overhaul at that mileage would be the norm.  However, this was a well cared for one owner bike that, according to its donor, had spent most of its time being ridden around the streets of London and for that reason hadn’t been thrashed.  However, the ignition switch from the lock set I had purchased from Ebay to replace the original sticky lock, had other ideas. Although the pilot light lit when the switch was connected none of the other electric items functioned.  It soon became apparent that not only were some of the wires in different locations in the switch’s block connector, the two most important wires were never connected no matter what position the key was in.  In the case of a Suzuki they are the plain red wire and the orange wire.  The red is the live feed from the fuse box and the orange wire is the live feed to pretty much every electrical item.  Looking at the contacts inside the switch it was clear that no matter what was done, they would never be connected. New visitor to the club Gary helped Steve and Allan and Graham as we all attempted to fathom a way around the problem.  In the end we had to concede that the switch was no use and another would have to be sourced.  Steve in particular was going to be very grateful if it didn’t come from China but with genuine switches no longer listed as available, this was going to be something of a challenge. Steve fitted each of the eight stainless steel exhaust studs and towards the end of the session Steve and Allan worked together to refit the four into one exhaust system back onto the bike. Hopefully by the next session we would have a fully functional ignition switch and the engine could started.


Suzuki Bandit - Ignition switch stops play.



Mash 400 Dirtstar (2018)


During the week leading up to this session Graham had acquired the feeblest looking set of box spanners ever seen, they were marketed on Ebay as a set of spark plug spanners.  Fortunately one of their number fitted the bike’s tiny spark plug buried deep in the cylinder head/rocker cover.  With a socket fitted over the top of it he was able to undo the spark plug and remove it. Even with no plug in the hole, the starter motor still turned the engine very very slowly.  Despite this there was a very strong spark across the plug.  A compression tester was fitted into the spark plug hole but only recorded 30 psi (Pounds per Square Inch) where something nearer 90 to 100 would be required for there to be a prospect of the bike running properly. There were a number of possible causes for the low compression reading.  One was the fact that the engine was turning so slowly.  The others were things such as leaking valves and stuck piston rings. The first part of the journey to establish why the pressure was so low was to find out why the starter motor was turning so slowly. 


Mash minus wheels and minus Compression.







Honda Deauville 650


Work was done to prepare the bike for its new owner Carl.  Keiran kindly collected a number of parts from his own Deauville, now donated to the club and residing in its storage container.  During the course of the session Keiran and others helped to overhaul the bike’s rear brake and other systems with parts from the donor bike.  Because Carl had recently passed his bike test and gained his A2 motorcycle licence, the bike had to be restricted to 35kW (47bhp) and a power-to-weight ratio not exceeding 0.2kW/kg.  In order to do this a restrictor kit was fitted during the session effectively limiting the diameter of the intake tracts. Because in standard form the bike produced 55 bhp the restrictor would have to remove 7 bhp from the bike’s total output.   


Honda Deauville undergoing some final fettling.



Honda Rebel 500.   


Club member Peter Davies had submitted a request for help with the gearbox of this bike.  He was struggling to find out why he couldn’t select gears and the bike seemed to get stuck in gear. On this particular model there is a long linkage rod between the gear lever and the gear change shaft.  At each end of the rod there is what is known as a ‘Ball Joint’. They allow the rod to move relative to the lever and the gear change shaft.  A quick inspection by club mechanic Phil revealed that the lower ball joint was almost rusted solid and was preventing the linkage from working correctly.  By removing the rusty debris and carefully lubricating the joint, Phil made it work correctly and the bike’s gear change began to work correctly again. It was probably the fact that the ball joint was at the end of a near vertical rod that allowed the water to build up on it and infiltrate it, causing it to rust. 


Honda Rebel - gearbox fixed



Honda Vigor 650.


Mal continued his work to restore the look of the rear end of the bike, carefully removing rust and sanding down the swinging arm and its associated components. 


Honda Vigor slowly being transformed.



Kawasaki KZ 550 Limited. 


Dean Evans of C.F. Ceramics Swansea visited the session and gave all those in attendance a demonstration and in depth explanation of Ceramic Coating. Using our recently resprayed KZ550 fuel for demonstration purposes he set about polishing with a variety of special compounds and then applied the silicon coating to seal in its mirror finish. I have to say I was sceptical as to whether the glossy finish of the fuel tank could be improved but it was great to see the high gloss mirror finish he achieved.  


KZ550 awaiting its polish and ceramic coating.


High Gloss Polish achieved!