Our New Arrival ... No not a Baby ... Well not a fleshy one!

RedStormV · Post by **RedStormV** » Fri Apr 18, 2008 8:28 pm

Well my already over crowded garage just got a bit fuller! (more fullerer? Doh!)

We, well wor lass really, now own a '98 S GSXR 600 SRAD!!!!!!!

This is gonna be some project (well for me at least).

Mate at work asked if I knew anyone wanting a 600cc bike last week, told him to find out more, but that most people I know were already sorted or went for bigger engines etc. Wor lass sorted with Full power RS125 & Hornet 600

Some neighbour of his now divorced, wanted shut from her garage but not sure how much it would be worth!!! They're still on speaking terms etc so it wasn't a 'revenge sale' (shame!).

Turns out it was one of the things he wanted to do before he hit the big 40! (Like you're gonna book yourself into an old peoples home after forty ... Not!)

Mate comes back, 98 'S' hardly ridden, guide price Â£1200-Â£1500 - Cursory look on Bike Trader etc and ...

So went to view (with rear paddock, battery and jump leads) .... Apart from dust from storage and a few rusty nuts and bolt ends - MINT!!! not a mark or scratch on it - 1 plastic bung missing out of one bar end, and LH mirror losing it's mirror backing. Chain a little rusty in places but maybe salvagable. Slight scratching on top yoke from the dreaded padlock key.

Last tax disc ran out in June '02 - couldn't say when it had last been run but was a long while ago!!! Alarm bells ring.

Sure enough, popped it on stand put it in 6th (eventually) and tried turning back wheel slight movement but no much.
Could I buggery figure out how to get to the battery to check electrics and mileage. I now know, pull rear corners of seat up and undo Alan bolts.
Throttle also solid.

Sod it - this bike is genuine I thought. A pair of tyres, new battery, poss new chain, free pistions and carbs off - sorted!

I have no 'killer instinct' unlike me dear departed bro and didn't want to lose this to anyone else so offered Â£1300 - guy snapped my arm off Doh!
Even threw in the rather expensive looking chain & lock, and the pillion seat module, never out of box!

Put battery across terminals yesterday 1263 miles - all lights etc fine.

Spent last night in garage taking tank off shaking the thing like billyo to free as much rust as poss and draining 8+ year old fuel out - wouldn't light if you threw a firework on it! Stinks like old varnish.

Air filter box off to reveal the coils, plugs and carbs.

Plugs may be salvagable, poured Redex into bores and turned rear wheel, freeing off gradually. poured more in (about 20ml per pot and left overnight.

Looked at carbs seized solid, not a bit of movement! Procedure for removing carbs, after tank and airbox, remove LH fairing panel to get to 1 bloody screw! the tickover adjuster screw is held on with single screw that also holds the coolant reservoir on! So remove 12 or so screws to reveal 1 - bollox!

Got that far and left it for the night at about 22:45.

Going back in now to free pistons off a bit more, maybe stick some more Redex in and then turn over tomorrow with new battery which I bought today along with a large can of carb cleaner!

Should get carbs off tonight and start stripping them tomorrow. A far cry from the simple carbs on me old GT125 (the last time I had a carb in bits!). The stripping and cleaning I can do - it's the putting back together that strikes fear in me!

So while it's in there, me Domy and Storm are out in the cold & wet

That is unless I find time (weather & carbs permitting) this weekend to tidy the sh1t hole up a bit and make room for them.

So I think it's still a bargain, a very good bargain. Wor Lass has always liked the look of the blue/white Gixxers, but I was secretly hoping it would be too tall for her (Kerchingg!!!!!) - Doh! it wasn't.

Will keep updated with progress and post some piccies soon.

Will probably be posting in 'Workshop' soon either on here or on one of the Gixxer forums, probably both!! I'm no mechanic - I tinker. Will no doubt learn a lot from this one.

Pete.L · Post by **Pete.L** » Fri Apr 18, 2008 8:37 pm

Awesome find RSV

Good luck with that. I'm sure with plenty grease a bit of patience and sh!t loads of swearing it'll be well worth it

Look forward to finding out how it goes.

Pete.l

warby221 · Post by **warby221** » Sat Apr 19, 2008 2:19 pm

Just a thought for the pistons before striping it any further empty the coolant out and fill with hot water and try turning the wheel the expansion may be just enough to free off the pistons

RedStormV · Post by **RedStormV** » Sat Apr 19, 2008 6:22 pm

Thanks Pete I hope so (find that is).

Warby, Too late - sorted - Redex, in 6th gear and manually cranking the rear wheel did the trick - had it turning over last night hooked up to car battery and no problems at all

Took carbs off this afty. I'm going to strip them individually, but keep them as a bank of four.

One cleaned up so far and reassembled, 2nd stripped and ready to clean tomorrow (going out for meal tonight so may be lunchtime tomoz!).

Used about 1/3 of a tin of carb cleaner so far - I'll use a glass container to soak the little bits in tomorrow. It ate the bottom out of the plastic tub I used for the first one! Who knew?

So might get away with 1 tin of cleaner for the whole lot.

Butterflies on all 4 have freed of beautifully, snap back just like they should now - which I'm very happy about.

Hoping to get them all cleaned and back on by tomorrow evening and if time we'll give her a go at starting

warby221 · Post by **warby221** » Sat Apr 19, 2008 7:34 pm

Well with a bit of luck it looks like its just grunge thatâ€™s built up from being stood so long
What I would say is have a bloody good look at any rubber components rubber has a tendency to perish when itâ€™s left

Good luck with it m8y sounds like you could have a belter there

LotusSevenMan · Post by **LotusSevenMan** » Sun Apr 20, 2008 9:58 am

http://www.motorcyclenews.com/MCN/biker ... &R=EPI-426

Sounds like it is well on the way to a full recovery.

SRAD brakes need some work to keep them 'on song' so as Warby says have a good look at the rubber 'O' rings etc in this area.
Great to 'go' but even better being able to stop in time too!!!

RedStormV · Post by **RedStormV** » Sun Apr 20, 2008 10:36 am

Thanks for that LSM.

Anyone out there ever used a tank sealer product?

There's visible surface rust in the tank - no suprise considering how long it's been stood. Although it's not very bad where you can see, as I said quite a bit of rust came out with the old fuel.

As a precaution for the future (increased longevity) I thought it might be an idea to seal the rust so that it A) doesn't get through to the carbs etc and B) doesn't get any worse and eat through the tank base.

Cursory look on e-blag shows 5 or 6 diffrent products at varying prices.

Not bothered about the expense too much if the product is right.

Can anyone recommend one from experience?

BTW - back on carb cleaning duty - gonna make sure she does at least one of them though

Increase her mechanical knowledge - as she likes getting her hands mucky in engines

Cheers,

Graeme.

Post by **sirch345** » Sun Apr 20, 2008 11:29 am

I can recommend Petseal Graeme

I used it many years ago as a rust preventive on my old Suzuki GS1000.

What happened the original petrol tank had pin holes all over the bottom of the tank, obviously from where the water in the tank had been lying, which became more apparent once I stripped the lacquer and paint away. This was a poor design as the bike was only three years old, so after a very well written letter to Suzuki UK (from my wife at the time the MK1 model) they decided to let me have a brand new tank for a token price of Â£60

It should have cost Â£200

So I used it as a preventive in the new tank. He's a link to ebay just to show the product I'm on about-

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/PETSEAL-FUEL-TANK ... dZViewItem

Chris.

PS. It sounds like a interesting project you have there Graeme

RedStormV · Post by **RedStormV** » Sun Apr 20, 2008 11:29 pm

Thanks Chris and Tim,

Seems like that's favourite - Was looking at the Red Kote & Por15 stuff.

Mate reckons the stuff comes off and can cause more probs than the rust! So I'm in a quandry now - still there's no rush - If/when we decide to use Petseal or whatever, bike will only be off road for a couple of days.

I used to be indecisive ... Now I'm just not sure

Well - carbs now cleaned with only 2 casualties :

I lost the washer from the top of one of the metering needles - goodness only knows where it went. I saw it drop (tiled floor) but beggared if either of us could find it! crawling on hands and knees, scanning around with a very strong magnet, nothing. Couldn't find an exact match anywhere either - opted for very similar sized spilt washer bent flat.

She managed to bust an 'o' ring removing one of the float needle seats - guess what no 'o' rings anything like it! Tiny drop of super glue seemed to do the trick for now till replacement parts can be sourced.

Right queue the music...... Also Sprac Zarathustra (2001: A Space Odyssey) or similar ............

Popped carbs back on not clamped down, plugged fuel tank in, hooked up big battery, pulled in clutch (fussy Suzukis) hit the button ..... engine turned - nothing, not even a cough!!

Took tank off - got me trusty tin of carb cleaner - sprayed copious amounts into the bell mouths - hit the button and GRRRRRROOWWWWWLLL!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Right, plan 'B' long length of fuel pipe, funnel and can of Tescos finest un-leaded. Wor Lass stood there looking like a teapot - and mucho growling of the 4 cylinder beastie when I hit the button.

Popped everything back on, screwed everything back on, apart from the left fairing and tank mounting bracket. Starts but laboured, only runs with throttle held partly open and full choke.

So there's some more playing to do, but seeing as it was just past 22:00 thought we'd better pack up for the evening.

Oh and before putting carb back on, thought I'd loosen vac screws for a spot of balancing. Bugger! 10mm screws in casing, 8mm brass adaptors in Carbtune! Doh!

So I've 2 phonecalls to make tomorrow - 1 to Suzuki for a couple of bits and one to Morgans for some larger adaptors!

At least I/We achieved our goal, of having it running tonight - Yippeeeee

She says she wants it lowering a bit before she rides it - mainly for manual manoevering whilst sat on bike.

I've seen replacement dog bones on e-blag - 20mm & 40mm lowering kits. I have a mate who could probably knock me a couple up outa stainless or good ally.
Thing is - Do they need to be shorter or longer than existing ones?

Does 20mm greater or lesser in the length equate to 20mm in height adjustment?

Being 6' 1" It's not a problem I've ever had to address!

*

fishface · Post by **fishface** » Mon Apr 21, 2008 4:47 am

dog bones need to longer to reduce height strange but true

LotusSevenMan · Post by **LotusSevenMan** » Mon Apr 21, 2008 7:43 pm

I have used this POR15 (stands for paint-on-rust). Would recommend it to anyone.

http://www.frost.co.uk/item_Detail.asp? ... pair%20Kit

Very good product. Have used it in the external form for the Caterham chassis. Very good stuff that makes Hammerite look like poster paint!!!

RedStormV · Post by **RedStormV** » Mon Apr 21, 2008 10:09 pm

Hi,

Thanks for the info Fishface, much appreciated - Any ideas if Dogbone increase equates directly to height?

Thanks LSM - I think someone is ripping people off big time and it's not the guys on your link.

Compare the prices with these Rip Off B's.

If I'm wrong I'll edit post!

Any hoo on to the update....

Think I've isolated the starting problem .. pretty sure Fuel Pump is goosed.

Vac pipe's ok, used it to empty the tank - must get a vacuum gun - me lips are sore now !

Removed full sender / pump panel assembly tonight - well rusty!

Cleaned it up and also scrubbed where I could inside the tank with wire brush and nylon pan scrub - removed quite a lot of surface rust by the look of the petroly sludge left in the bottom of the bucket.

Swilled it all out, refit sender panel, filled her up again and still no joy

Put a long length of clear fuel pipe from tank into bucket and turned her over, fuel's getting a couple of inches from tap then just going back and forth - so I'm assuming pump has either seized or has had it!

Anyone know any clever ways of checking them? or 'percussion testing'?

Oh, and anyone know where I can get a temp fuel source? Seen 'em in a trade mag a bit since but looked on e-blag and not seen any - though can't remember exact name for 'em.

Basically looks like an inverted 2 or 3 litre bottle with hanging bracket / handle. The 'neck' of bottle has a shut off valve and brass connector for long length of fuel pipe, which obviously you connect onto carbs.
Handy little item for this kind of project, saves raising and lowering tank etc. Also save Wor Lass' arms!!!

Right off to download camera so I can edit them onto these posts.

PS - message to Admins - maybe this would be better in Workshop now, seeing as it's turning into a bit of a saga? - You decide.

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warby221 · Post by **warby221** » Mon Apr 21, 2008 10:25 pm

Most pumps have 2 valves in them one lets the fuel in then shuts when its pressured and the other opens sounds like crap from the tank has got in to them and is holding the valves open hence the fuel goâ€™s up then down the fuel tube you could try flushing it with petrol if you have another pump or some way of forcing petrol though
Pump fresh fuel thought it with the pump just make sure itâ€™s in the normal direction of flow i.e. from the tank side to the carb side should take any crap out with it

cupasoop · Post by **cupasoop** » Tue Apr 22, 2008 10:11 am

RedStormV wrote:Put a long length of clear fuel pipe from tank into bucket and turned her over, fuel's getting a couple of inches from tap then just going back and forth - so I'm assuming pump has either seized or has had it!

I had a vauxhall once that I couldnt start, used to see the fuel going up the clear fuel line till it got to within an inch of the fuel pump and then just went back and forth. Turned out to be a pin hole in the fuel line drawing air in, instead of petrol. Of course, your fuel pump might just be fecked.