This time around we get an overview of a bike’s wiring harness, or wiring loom. This spaghetti-like confusion of wires and plugs is the backbone of the electrical system – and after a ride across a partly flooded South American salt lake, the KTM’s needed replacing. Pete gives a brief rundown on rear suspension compression, rebound and preload settings, and how even though the shock and spring are a single unit, they do different jobs.
Trent and Waz discusses the dry-sump oil system used on most adventure bikes. Richard gets his number two bike up and running (creating a bit of smoke for added drama) and Trent grapples with the last spokes to be removed from the front wheel hub that he’s helping Waz rebuild. Make sure to leave a comment after you watch!
Electrics and suspension tend to be voodoo areas of bike mechanicals. Just looking at a wiring diagram is frightening enough, without delving into the loom itself, which of course looks nothing like the diagram! But troubleshooting bike wiring is less about an in-depth knowledge of electrical systems – and more about the ability to work through a problem, starting with the simplest and most likely cause, such as a ‘bad earth’. Continue reading ‘Ep 4: Wires, shocks and smoke’
In this episode, we dismantle a front wheel, removing the brake discs, spokes and nipples – and Trent brings out the blowtorch to free up some sticky bolts. Pete builds a sandblasting cabinet, mostly out of junk, and continues work on his KTM 950, while Rich is getting close to his BMW being back on the road.
There was no way Pete was letting me put the new twin-disc front wheel on my bike without at least giving the shabby hub a paint job. That means stripping the hub, which means breaking down the wheel, which means removing the spokes and nipples, which means replacing any that are in poor shape or simply don’t survive disassembly … you can see how this job snowballed.
The first stage is to remove the brake discs. You do this with the wheel still fully assembled – because you probably couldn’t get the spokes out with the discs still on, and even if you could, it’s easier to remove the discs while you’ve still got the rim to hang on to. Continue reading ‘Ep 3: Sand, heat and nipples’
Oh my poor Africa Twin (aka XRV 750, or just simply AT). Ever since the KTM 950 came on the scene the Honda has been neglected, abused and reduced to my daily commuter. It wasn’t always like this though; there was a time when it was the best bike I had ever owned and took me to far-flung places many other bikes couldn’t. Good memories, and with 120,000 kilometres on the clock it’s not worth anything to anyone but me.
One of the very few things to ever go wrong on my AT was the regulator/rectifier. It’s one of those electrical components you look at and think “I wonder what that does.” You don’t really find out until it fails. Continue reading ‘Motorcycle friendliness’
In this episode: Pete dismantles the rear end of his KTM 950, which he rode through a salt lake in South America; while Trent sets to work cleaning and greasing an all-too-neglected part of any bike: the swingarm bearings. Trent ‘breaks the bead’ on Waz’s front tyre and removes the tyre and tube, giving advice along the way on how to find and fix a puncture at the roadside.
Swingarm bearings come in two main varieties: plain or needle roller. A plain bearing is essentially a tube of metal, sometimes bronze, that is pressed into the suspension parts involved. Running inside these bearings are the various shafts or bushes that are the pivot points of the suspension.
Needle roller bearings are far superior – they consist of a tubular metal casing that houses thin cylindrical rollers. In this episode Trent gives a great demonstration of how to pack them with fresh, clean grease, and the best kind of grease to use.
These bearings are often ‘caged’ to keep the needle rollers in place. That’s how Pete’s KTM and Richard’s BMW are set up, but unfortunately in my Cagiva Elefant the rollers are loose, and held in place only by the shafts and bushes running through them. When dismantling the suspension, the little buggers are prone to falling out everywhere. When removing, lubricating and reinstalling they must be meticulously counted out and counted back in. Continue reading ‘Ep 2: Beads and bearings’
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A new show featuring four motorcycle adventurers who get their hands dirty fixing their bikes. If you liked Long Way Down, you’ll learn something on Garage Night – watch these Britain-based world tourers work on every aspect of their machines and let their stories inspire your own two-wheeled travels.
Ep 17: Restoring anodised aluminium on your motorbike
Ep 16: DIY soda blasting – build your own rig!
Ep 15: Replacing swingarm bearings, part 2
Ep 14, Dremel on a lathe: replacing swingarm bearings
Ep 13: Mountain Madness 2009
Ep 12: KTM forks on a BMW part 2
Ep 11: KTM forks on a BMW F650
Ep 10: Replacing rear wheel bearings
Ep 9: New spokes on an old wheel
Ep 8: Chain and sprockets part 2
Ep 7: Changing a chain and sprockets
Ep 6: Mountain Madness
Ep 5: Replacing steering head bearings
Ep 3: Sand, heat and nipples
Ep 2: Beads and bearings
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