Saturday July 26th 2025 Suzuki GSF1200 Bandit… Graham and Don worked to tighten all the rocker cover bolts and install the oil feeds to the back of the rocker cover.  It was a shame that we couldn’t install all of the shiny new rocker cover bolts because some had been modified with 6mm bolts fitted to holes drilled through the heads of the originals and screwed into helicoils.  One bolt, the second left rear bolt would barely tighten so we would have to hope it stayed oil tight.   Once the rocker was back in place it was time to take it outside get it warmed up and balance the carburetors.  It was at this point that it through a couple of obstacles in our path.  Firstly the battery fitted to the bike was flat.  That was quickly overcome with another fully charged battery. However despite having a fully charged battery there was no sign of life from the starter motor.  Steve soon worked his magic on the clutch lever cut out switch.  This is ...

  Saturday July 12th 2025 Suzuki GSF 1200 Bandit… Ioin prepared and sprayed the rocker cover, restoring it to its original finish.  Graham, Heinz and new member Richard then set out about re-fitting it using the brand new rocker cover bolts that had been supplied with the bike.  Once the rocker had been carefully fiddled back into place so as not to disturb the rubber seal that runs around its outside edge. They went to fit the new bolts.  Four of the eight bolts fitted, the other four could not be persuaded to screw in.  It was then that it became apparent that someone had fitted some sort of thread repair kit to four of the bolt holes and at the same time reduced the thread size from 8mm to 6mm.  An attempt was made to cut a 6mm thread onto one of the new 8mm bolts, but the difference in diameter was too great.  So it would be a case of getting the silver spray out to tidy up the modified bolts used by the previous owner.  They had been ingeniou...

  Saturday July 5th 2025   Mash 400 dirt star… We had received a donation of tools, amongst the tools was a starter pack. It was quite old and looked well used and after Don reconnected the crocodile clip, we tried it on the mash. At first it didn’t seem to make any difference however, later in the session we tried it again. This time, not only turn the engine quickly but also kept on turning it quickly. This produced lots of flames from the exhaust plus some black smoke, plus the sound as if the engine is going to start. However, it just wouldn’t touch and keep running. With the engine now turning fast enough the compression test Heinz and I fitted the compression tester and spun the engine over. The compression tester showed a peak of 145 psi and he did this twice.  This showed us that the engine had excellent compression. I removed the air filter in case a rat (Or similar creature) had taken up residence in the air filter housing.  But alas, no and in fact the ai...