Saturday October 11th 2025 The blog this week has a very different feel to it as it comprised of short videos instead of a typed blog.  I would like to thank Don for bringing in his Camcorder allowing me capture the videos you below. Yamaha TX500 (Circa 1978) Kawasaki KZ550LTD (Circa 1980) Suzuki GSF1200 Bandit (Cica 1999) Honda 650 Vigor Jiailing 125 Trails bike project Armstong MT500 Ducati 250cc Single Honda CBR1000F Yamaha 125 Majesty (Yer Majesty)

  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...

  Saturday May 17th 2025 Suzuki GFS 1200 Bandit… Now that we had the exhaust system in place it was time to get it running and see how noisy it was and whether it was burning much oil.  This was because the bike had 58,000. With a temporary fuel supply the bike started and ran well.  There didn’t seem to be too much mechanical noise, although the exhaust was very loud.  On start up and when being revved there was very little blue smoke from the exhaust.  Therefore the jobs could be done at the next sessions would include  Carburetor balancing. Valve adjustment. Brake fluid replacement. Stripping out the front end of the bike and replacing the forks with the brand new forks that came with the bike.  Inspect/overhaul brakes if need be. Inspect tyres. Inspect swinging arm bearing for wear. Inspect Wheel alignment. Inspect rear shock absorber Spraying damaged ares of the frame’s lovely crimson red paintwork.  Fastening the gauze back on the metal fram...

Saturday April 26th 2025  KZ550 Limited At today’s session efforts were made to get the bike running, but the bike was having none of it, despite the use of a battery pack to keep the starter turning over enthusiastically. At low revs a nasty little clacking noise was causing Graham concern.  There was fuel and there was a spark but something was very definitely not right.  Had the cam chain tensioner not done its job and had it allowed the cam chain to jump a few teeth on the camshaft sprockets.  The rocker cover really needed to come back off just to be on the safe side. Suzuki GSF1200 Bandit Today began by attaching the dummy fuel tank to see if the carburettors would leak again or not.  Unfortunately it soon became apparent that No 4. Carb was leaking and No 2 was leaking big time.   Guy and Don set about removing the carbs from the bike to try and determine what was wrong.  The float heights are difficult to measure on this particular bike be...

  Saturday April 12th 2025 Kawasaki KZ550 Limited The new second hand passenger grab handle was installed and A.J. finished off the tail end of the bike. He then worked to polish up the generator and sprocket covers and even fitted the bikes original number plate.  The most significant job that remained to be completed was to install the replacement front brake master cylinder.  It had been delivered after the previous workshop session but in a senior moment I had forgotten that it had been sent to Phil and wasn’t actually in the workshop and so spent some time hunting for it, before realisation dawned.  Emma the bike's former owner visited the session and it was great for her to have a chance to see the transition  the bike had been through during its long journey with the club. Kawasaki KZ550 Limited completed with passenger grab handle and number plate. Suzuki 1200 Bandit. Now it was time to install the carburettor repair kits.  The main benefit of this ...