Damm i need some help!

[Squiffythewombat]

Hi Guys,

PLEASE BEAR WITH ME< LONG AND STUPID QUESTIONS AHEAD:

As some of you may know im struggling to get my poor storm back on the road so i have some stupid, and then really stupid questions:

1)Once shiny gold chain has surface rust on it from it being stood for ages (despite my oil and in being INDOORS!) the rust isnt too bad on the sides but is in the middle, is it actually possible to bring it back to life or am i floggin a dead horse and should i buy a new one?

2)stock rear shock has dodgy ground-in bits of grim on it and despite my desperate attempts it wont budge, ive used mucoff/gunk and a number of other things, any ideas?

3)Front calipers have suffered the same, the paints still there, its just buried in grime and despite every cleaning product under the sun it still wont shift!

4)The biggy - My front CCT went awhile ago! My Mecanic told me that the valves had hit the piston head, meaning i would need new valves, and some other part. However he also said he could redo the cct "give it 500miles and if its still going after that your fine!" so obviously i did that. It runs fine and ive never noticed any performance drop however ever since its made this "tink tit tink tit tink tit" sort of noise which is unerving....im sure it would run fine for another 1000000 miles but its always at the back of my mind and obviously makes my bike sound like a heap of shite!

5)Downpipes havent done too well and look a bit naff, do i paint them or do i just scrub...REALLY hard?

Also, as mentioned in other threads, im on a nasty budget but rather desperate to get back on the road as you can imagine part costs etc are a major issue. I dont mind elbow grease at all however and anything i can do myself i will.

If youve read this far THANKS and any input would be great!

RIde SaFe GuyS
Toby

[Kitch]

my POV (for waht that's worth... aye, that's right... nowt)

1: as long as the o-rings haven't perished, should be fine as the tiny bits of rust you can see will most likely only be very slight surface wear. Good wire brushing with a good degreaser then an overnight soak in an oil bath (or the missus best washing up bowl ;) )should be ok. However, if you're in any doubt, get a new one. New chains are way cheaper than new engines or left legs.

2: I usually use a good degreaser followed by Autoglym Metal Polish (any car place will have it) and some fine grade wire wool. Be careful though as it will take the finish off some surfaces and if the wool is too course, can leave scratches (these will buff out with a cloth and the polish, but can take a while.) You might also try foamy bathroom cleaner (or oven cleaner for really stubborn stuff - caution - this eats plastic and rubber), works well on wheels for shifting road grime and chain lube. (always test a small bit first rather than slapping loads on and watching stuff melt)

3: hmm... can't think of anything that wont take the paint off. (i.e. scrub REAL hard)

4: curse the mysteries of engine internals...

5: paint with high temp paint or metal polish as in 2. (or use as excuse to get stonkingly sexy full race system)

[alan]

Toby have you tried degreasing the chain then soaking it in engine oil but if its badly rusted then i would think its knackered.

With the calipers i would strip them down use caliper/brake cleaner and some very fine wire wool or if you have a dremmel use a wire brush in the dremmel but dont over do it or it will take the paint off just keep repeating it and it will come clean it wont be pristine but you cant have everything unless you powder coat.

Did your mechanic change the valves/guides/shims etc?
If not and he said this was okay i would slap round the head a few times and see if he tinks tinks tinks!!!!!!!!!!

Same for the down pipes wire wool them and get stuck in dont paint them it looks shite

Alan

[Stormin Ben]

My two-penny worth

1) If you wanna be thorough (and REALLY annoy the wife then there's a product called lifelink. ITs basically a flat round til filled with grease which you put on the hob and simmer the chain in. Its absolutely brilliant, I had an old chain that when I took it off I could barely bend by hand. After a couple of hours it came out looking new and really flexible

Failing that clean with a scrubbing brush (NOT a wire one) and some paraffin. Then allow to dry and lube thoroughly

2) & 3) Remove caliper from disk, get pan scourer (NOT a metal one for Gods sake!!) and some WD40. Spray WD40 onto scourer and scrub. Mine came up a treat and by using the WD40 as a lubricant as well as a cleaner it doesnt wreck the paint/ finish on shock or calipers

4) You can chance it if money's REALLY tight but is the peace of mind and preventative maintenance of putting it right now better that waiting til the valve head comes off and lunches the piston, barrel and head? The choice is yours

5) Same as 2 & 3 and I'll reiterate again DO NOT USE A METAL SCOURER eg brillo pad or wire wool. This will definitely take the finish off and leave you with an uncoated mild steel downpipe!!
Mine were horrible but after removing them (its the only way to get to the WHOLE pipes properly) and a few hours work they came up lovely. As a bonus scrubbing WD40 into them has meant that they don't go clarty nearly as quickly


Hope this helps

[sirch345]

I would say the only big worry you have as Ben said is No 4 all the others are not such a big issue really down to your preference. I know finances are tight at the moment (believe me I know what that is like) but if your heart is in it, to get the Storm back on the road in a standard of road worthiness you'd be happy with then I think you can do it

Chris.

[yellafella]

Was once told that a pan of warmed and simmering Waxoyl did a fantastic job on rusted chains !
Never tried it though !

[Squiffythewombat]

Guys,

Thanks so much for the replies, they have filled me with confidence (apart from my mecanics skills..)!

Update- my new valves turned up today via one of the kindest ebayers ive ever met. So what else do i need, i might as well cure this problem now and have her back 110% ready to roll! Im assuming i need shims, springs and other things or will my old ones be ok?

Chain, ive started cleaning it using the above methods and its working well, however it would be much easier to take off and do, however i cant for the life of me work out how or fine the clip thing anywhere!, its the X type and ive not de-linked these before, they are a little different to my crappy ZXR rubber band jobbys.

Exhaust ive yet to tackle, its not high on my priorities!

Calipers, i would love to take these off as said above but that fills me with dread, i dont want to screw it up, leak fluid everywhere and break something or is it pretty simple with my haynes manual by my side?

i build my ZXR400H1 from the ground up after a rebuild but for some freakish reason touching the VTR fills me with dread! I could almost start an entirely new thread on confidence here but i think its more just paranoia!

I'll try and post some pics of my work later on this week!

Once again, thanks for all your help guys, it means alot, hopefully soon she will be out on the back wheel again! (tilll i fall off)

Toby

[alan]

Toby
you dont have to break the chain to take it off just take the sprocket cover off and loosen the clutch cylinder take the front sprocket off i use a very long breaker bar with a socket to get these off.Get a freind to hold the bike while you do this as they can be tight as they are put on with air tool then the chain will just slip off easy!!!Dont forget to slacken the chain on the adjusters first and wheel.

As for the calipers these are easy just have plenty of rags handy to mop fluid up your best bet is to take them off the forks to give them a proper clean if you worked on your zxr the vtr is no different its just a bike and when you have done it once you can do it again.

Alan

[Stormin Ben]

Valves
The springs & buckets should be ok, its just the shims that may need changing but you'll not know til you get it back together

Chain
As Alan said, no need to break it just remove the front sprocket and rear wheel and the lower mounting bolt for the footrest assembly

Brakes
If you're just taking the calipers off to clean them it won't piss fluid everywhere provided you don't squeeze the brake lever. If you want to clean the pistons up while they're off then do one side at a time and put some old brake pads between the bottom pair while you squeeze out the top pair. Then clean them, push back in and repeat til clean

[Squiffythewombat]

Cool, thanks guys. My dads going to give me a hand tonight and ill try and do the change at least (provided we have a socket that fits...:-S)

CCT/Valves: Where would i get some shims then? im assuming that honda will charge a silly amount. And should i get springs just in case? I was looking at my new valves earlier and two seem to be slightly bigger? is this correct? Obviously, not having the head off ive never seen them before, i tried looking in "la bible de la haynes" but to no avail.

Calipers: oooooo now this is begining to sound complicated. Im not good with brakes, screwed them up on the zxr and had to get a mate to help, can i just removed them from the forks so they dangle free? (even this would be so much easier to clean!) or will fluid piss out this way too?

Once again, thanksssssssss!
Toby

[alan]

If you just undo the calipers from the forks and dont undo the hoses no fluid will leak out but i cant see you been able to clean them that well like this unless you split them like i said before.

I just think that if your calipers are as bad as you said it would be better to strip them down and do a proper job while your bike is off the road it makes sense doesnt it

Shims from my honda dealer are about 3 or 4 quid the last time i bought some + vat

Do you mean the valve stems are bigger or the valve?

Personnaly i would change everything shims/valves/guides etc dont forget to grind them in (with grinding compound not a grinder )

[Zer0Zer0]

exhaust valves are bigger than inlet valves.....

[Bunny]

Hi Toby,
you have my email address, if you need help, I'll send my phone number.
I presumed you were going to get someone to fit the valves, as retiming camshafts after refitting the head is not a job for the faint-hearted.
Doing the shims can also be a pain, doing them while you have the head off will make it easier.
As I said, ask if you need help,
all the best
Bunny

[stu9000]

Hi Toby,
front calipers on the VTR are pretty easy.

I do it like this

unscrew the pin cover (the pin goes through the back of the caliper and stops the pads falling out). I use a broad head screw driver. Mine always seem stuck so I attach a wrench to the screwdriver to get more torque and to try not to bur up the metal.

The backing plate usually tries to ping off at this point so watch out for that:)

Grab a small alum key and loosen off the pin, but dont remove it completely.

Doing these two jobs before you unbolt the caliper itself gives you more leverage and stops you banging loose stuff against the wheel etc.

Now remove the caliper by unscrewing the two bolts holding it to the fork.

You don't need to remove the brake lines from the caliper or anything thats likely to involve messy brake fluid. And you can let the caliper dangle from the brake line, but be gentle.

Insert a broad head screw driver between the two old pads and push and twist until youve pushed them wide open. This makes it easier to get the caliper back onto the disk later.

Completey remove the holding pin you loosened off earlier.

The old worn out pads should drop out fairly easily.

Fit new pads, the slightly more expensive H ones are worth it cos they last a LOT longer.

Putting it all back together is the same as taking it apart in reverse.

Later, when youre less busy, its worth getting a brake bleeding kit for £20 ish. You just attach it to the bleed nipple (loosened off) and pump away, filling the reseviour on your handle bars as you go, you will see the clearer fresh fluid (dot 4) being sucked through as you pump.
Im not a bike techie but this was fairly easy and it sharpened up the brakes no end.
DONT drip brake fluid on the body work (I hang out loads of old rags over handle bars and body work).
DONT let the reseviour suck dry or you'll get bubbles (it tends to suck through even if you stop pumping, its easier with 2 people until you get the knack of it).

Another easy job is to add braided race brake lines.
I used Honda SP1 hoses. 2 lines running from the brake lever to each of the front calipers.

Another trick is to get a bungee and hold the brake lever closed over night. This squeezes air out of the system and can sharpen brakes up no end.

[Squiffythewombat]

wicked stu, thanks for that walkthrough, that makes it much more clear!

Only thing is i dont have to change my pads (thankgod) as last year i had the stock nasties changed for nice sintered pads, these have loads of life left in them, its just the shocking state of the caliper body itself.

Ive been really busy recently hence little input on this thread but ive taken some photos so you guys can see my progress (or lack off) and i will get them up here tonight!

I *think* i can sort my chain, the only problem is i didnt realise you have to remove the clutch slave cylander (sp) to get the front sprocket off and you know my worries about anything with fluid in it.....

Toby