The Importance of Spark!

Recently decided to fire up the old Monster after the bike had been sitting for two weeks. The bike is a 2001 model- the last of the carburetor Ducati Monster, and like most carbureted bikes it does not like to be left alone for long, even two weeks is too much. Without a little love and maintenance- just like any relationship, it will let you down when you need it the most. So after getting geared up and pushing the bike out of the garage I hit the starter- chug chug-  nothing. I hit the starter again chug- chug- chug- nothing...argh! Okay I'm geared up to ride and will not be denied even if it means getting my can of starter fluid out. Chug-chug-chug ...putt putt putt putt...the engine has started but something is not right. The engine sounds tinny and thin...as a matter of a fact this happened last time. Somethin' ain't right. Anyway, I figure I'll blast out the old varnished fuel that settles into the bottom of the tank and then she'll be okay. Off we go...5 minutes into the ride and I realize even some major twisting of the throttle is not doing much. The bike is unresponsive and worse, the engine is hiccuping, sputtering on idle and sounds wrong. My bike sounds more like a Royal Enfield and not an Italian Stallion! Embarrassing.  So I go home and ponder my situation- what's wrong withg my bike? Will I need some expensive service and tuning? I go out and buy some ethanol free gas- surely the brown smelly oily liquid settling out of today's moderm fuel is not helping. I put the bike on a battery tender and pour the ethanol free fuel into the bike a few days later after draining the remaining crap fuel, which by the way looked very yellow to me, but that could be normal.  It was pointed out to me by the Ducati service area manager that he only uses ethanol free fuel in his bikes. Ethanol causes all kinds of problems from swollen fuel tanks to premature wear and hardening of gaskets and hoses. Good tip but it won't help much if you are 100 miles from home and don't have a spare fuel tank on board. At any rate, I start the bike with a bit less difficuly this time but the bike still is not right. Okay back to the garage. It was then that I realized that the first step should have been to check the plugs and the battery. I remove the plugs and sure enough they are  gas fouled...similar to  this..

Wet fouling can be caused by a spark plug not getting hot enough but in this case it is clearly caused by too much choke and hard starting. I clean the plugs with a wire brush and some starting fluid, use some very, very fine sandpaper to clean the electrodes, clean them up and put them back in. I gear up and hit the ignition- VOOM... Rat-tat-tat-tat-tat! Now that is what the bike should sound like, a roaring dragon and a machine gun doing battle! I take the bike out on the road and the difference is like night and day, the bike has come alive and is torquey and snappy as ever. The torque on this old Ducati is addictive...when you engage the clutch the bike just wants to haul ass. What a change!


So I pull the bike back into the garage after riding for an hour or so, confident that the problem is fixed and was not such a big deal. About a week later I figure it's time to get the bike out again. Try to start it, no go, try again....chug-chug....putt-putt-putt-putt-putt...  Okay bike is started, has been on a battery tender....spark plugs were good last time...I take the bike out and same symptoms as before. Take the plugs out and fuel fouled again from the hard start.


Well, it's probably time to replace the battery. Check the amps...getting a little low. Despite putting the battery on a tender regularly, this battery is at least 2-1/2 years old..probably at least 3 years..not sure since I bought the bike used. Replaced the battery and problems are gone! Old battery leads to hard starting leads to fouled plugs leads to poor performance. Take note!


Moral of the story- tend your relationship! A neglected electrical system will cause you and your bike to have problems. Take the bike out regularly,  tend the electrical system when you are not using it and spend a little money on it from time to time...otherwise it might just let you down.

Rewiring 101 with the Motogadget M-Unit

In our first guest blog, customer and bike restorer Chris Burkhart explains installation of the Motogadget M-Unit to fix a wiring fault in his BMW R100RT and installing the M-Lock hands free ignition lock.  

M-Unit

Ready to Rewire

 Instead of fussing around with the old wiring loom. I decided to rewire with the Motogadget M-unit and M-lock.

After reading the documentation I fabricated a mounting bracket to put the M-unit under the seat. I should turn the M-unit around which would place the positive lead almost on to of the battery terminal, but I prefer to have a short length of cable available to absorb vibration and allow the M-unit to be placed for easier reading.

I checked the resistance from the earth terminal shown at the back of the terminal block, the M-unit and the mount to the chassis ground wire (seen to the right of the batter). With my multimeter’s Ohm scale set to 200, I had a reading flickering between 0.2 and 0.3. I’m calling it 0.25 ohms. The reading from BMW earth point at the Voltage regulator is a solid 0.3. I’m accepting the grounding as solid.

Pictured is the M-unit and also a good connector block this block accepts 1/4” female connectors in groups of four. I will be using one group for switched positive (Aux output), one group for un-switched positive, one for earth, and the last as a spare if any of the previous groups need more terminal.

This job took about 3 hours so far. The bulk of the time involved unwrapping BWM’s wiring loom and separating old circuit in preparation of the new wiring. What a mess. I could see many areas that were ready to go out. I especially liked the way BMW would swage wires together within the wiring loom making it difficult to chase down faults. But then they would have you buy an entirely new loom to fix one sub 22 gauge wire break.

Next up, Install the M-Lock and Configure the M-unit.

~Chris Burkhardt

Project GSX-R600: Part 3

 After a few weeks in the garage!

Time to show the results of the project! This is how the bike looked before........

And after a little TLC......

This was the way the exhaust hanger looked before.....

And with some minor adjustments.......

Remember those bent foot controls?

 Well, this isn't a Gilles rear set but it works...

Remember that hideous tail section with the dangerous and nonfunctional brake light!

 

 VOILA! New integrated turn solution with fender eliminator and *working* brake and turn indicators!

Note the integrated license plate LED's....

Check out the headlight cowling, new grips and recessed turn signals... you can't see the new headlamp assembly but I assure you it is perfect!

Now lets reminisce........

 Look at the exposed chain guard below.....did I mention that the front fender was cut in half with both pieces held in place with screws? Or the Penske shock with remote reservoir dangling precariously close to the chain?

All that and more was fixed. Despite the age of the bike we think it's fair to say we gave the old GSX'R a new lease on life....

We hope you enjoyed the results of Pure Performance Cycles first project bike blog. 

If you have any comments or questions feel free to post or contact as at info@pureperformancecycles.com and visit www.PurePerformanceCycles.com for the latest and greatest parts for your bike.

Project GSX-R600, Part Two

Okay so the bike looked nasty, time to start hunting down parts for Project Gxxer.  There was no way we were going to try and salvage any of the bodywork on this bike as it looked like a pack of hyenas had chewed on it. We heard about inexpensive bodywork from China available on Ebay so we looked into the listings and found a bodywork kit that fit the bill.

This kit matched the paintwork on the fuel tank and we know the stock street look appeals to a wide audience so we went for a stock look. The kit included windscreen, front fender, side panels, radiator cover, front cowling and inner fender plastic. Very complete kit for $480 shipped. You could not get a full set of bodywork professionally painted for that low of a price! This had to get ordered first because it takes about a month or so for delivery.

 We have heard all the horror stories about ordering bodywork from China such as poor fitment and paint quality. Well, this was absolutely not the case. The paintwork was very good and fitment was top notch. We only had to drill out one small hole that wasn't done at the factory but this took about 2 minutes. The biggest risk, we learned, from ordering a full kit of bodywork from China is the shipping. The box, when it arrived was completely tattered and torn being held together with shipping tape...the contents were practically spilling out. The postman warned me we may not want to accept the parcel but I signed and took the chance with some hesitation. Fortunately, as we unpacked what was left of the box. I breathed a sigh of relief when we noticed each part was wrapped with very thick foam so there was zero damage. It is not unusual for International shipments to sit in the rain or get wet somehow or other and this seemed to be the case with this shipment. The seller did guarantee that broken parts would be replaced but that would require more waiting time on top of what was already a reasonably long wait. This is a risk you either take or you pay a couple hundred dollars more for OEM bodywork. 

Next thing was to fix the under tray/inner fender/ battery box. We found a used replacment in much better condition than the one we had. Tip: When you find used parts on Ebay always make an offer for a lower price than what is listed, more often than not you can get the parts cheaper than what is listed.

LED's are the way to go these days. We decided to go with an integrated turn signal/brake light and license plate lamp. This option looks slick when combined with a fender eliminator but you have to be careful the one you order comes with the license plate light integrated as well. Otherwise, you'll have to pay more for another light or risk getting pulled over by the cops. We ordered ours from Lockhart Philips.

Next we needed to replace the badly bent foot controls. EMGO is a company that specializes in inexpensive replacement components for popular Asian bikes. Tip: When you have an Asian bike there is no shame installing Asian parts on the bike. 

It's ugly as hell but if you drop the bike it's very likely this will not bend in on itself and become unusable. Imagine if you drop the bike in the parking lot and can't get home 'cause your shift lever is bent beyond use. That would really suck.

Okay, the headlamp was completely buggered. We did not look close enough at it when we bought the bike....we were fortunate enough to find someone who was ready to deal and offer us one, cheap, on Ebay. Again, we asked the guy to discount the price as it was listed and he went for it. This part costs $280 retail. It looked like it was brand new and we had it in 3 days!

Finally, a few bits to round out the bike.....the old GXXer did not have a chain guard. This is a safety issue, especially for a passenger, and we would never put a bike on the road that did not meet basic safety requirements. We found a really nice raw, unfinished chain guard laser cut with GSX-R600 motif on it for like 29 bucks....

Lastly,  we ordered a white seat cowl for the bodywork. We'd rather have an actual pillion seat but for half the price..... we'll let the next owner's girlfriend buy the seat.

We also needed to fetch a couple odds n' ends here and there...we needed to buy some rubber grommets from Suzuki, a headlight bulb holder and wiring assy, some bolts and washer.  Just a few bits that cost a few dollars more....always a few dollars more.....


We sold some of the crashed parts on Ebay and recouped some of the costs. I think we probably spent an extra $850 for everything including the bodywork. Total outlay cost of the project was $2550 at this point. Cost vs value is still good.


Stay tuned for Part 3 and we'll show you the results of our endeavor!

Project GSX-R600

Part One

When you find a used GSX-R600 for $1700  the first thing you have to ask yourself is what's wrong with it and how much will it cost to repair. Buying a used bike from a bloke off the street is always a dodgy affair. You usually have a limited amount of time to ascertain what's wrong, it won't come with maintenance history and most people will not let you test ride the bike without putting some cash in hand. To be sure, it is a risky proposition. First thing to look for is oil leaking out the bottom. If it starts right up, sounds fine and the mileage is low enough you can reasonably assume the engine and starter is okay. Should you own your own tool box and be considered handy with a screwdriver, one better have a good idea what the parts will cost or it's just asking for financial trouble and insults from friends and family. If you think it's an easy matter to fix and flip the bike- think again. Parts are not cheap and if you have to pay retail for new parts you better be in love with the bike, because almost certainly you'll come up on the losing end of this romance. A cursory look at any preowned bike will only reveal the most obvious issues. Once you get the bike home and start looking under the fairings, inevitably and with few exceptions... more problems are revealed. Cosmetic problems are usually fairly easy to fix but can cost you a pretty penny to remedy. Tip: Always treat your parts person with respect and patience and they may cut you a deal on parts.

In the case of a Suzuki 2001 GSX-R600 that came our way the most glaring issue was the completely nackered bodywork and this may have blinded us to some of the hidden problems. Somebody took a can of flat back spray paint to the side fairings in order to hide the fact that they never took the approved road course at the Motorcycle Safety Foundation. We've seen this before...let's call it the "Mad Max" style.

At first glance the bike did have some good things going for it: Scott's steering damper, Penske Racing Suspension, Yoshimura TRS stainless exhaust.  Tires, chain and sprocket looked good. No rust- always a good sign. No oil leaking out the bottom. Coolant looked fresh, radiator not leaking- fans okay.  But wait- that exhaust hanger does not look right....

I'm quite sure Yoshimura didn't design their exhaust to fit like that!  Well maybe we just need a new bolt and bearing in the footrest hanger....


This brake pedal doesn't look right either......guy must have a narrow foot or likes living life on the edge! No deal breaker here Tip: EMGO makes cheap replacement parts.

Okay, the bike was clearly dropped a few times, but the mileage was low and the frame looked true ;-).

This bike could win an award for most disgusting tail section ever. More flat black spray paint.  We noticed the under tray was cut in half and duct-taped together after we brought it home. Still trying to understand this one...I guess this could be considered one way to do a fender eliminator. We don't think Competition Werkes ever made this version though. We did get 25 bucks for the tail section when we sold it on Ebay...but this was not much of a consolation! Tip: Always sell your trashed and smashed parts on Ebay, you never know how much money you can recoup.

Needless to say, there were no working brake lights or turn signals with only one running light operational. Maybe the previous owner lived in Miami where such things are overlooked or they figured they could just outrun the police. At least there was provision for a license plate bracket...lending evidence to a previous life on the street. I should also mention there was one outdated, nonfunctional HID light bulb ballast installed. The stock light only came on when you flipped the brights on....not too bright.

The front headlamp cowling should have been a dead giveaway that there were more problems to come...

CAVEAT EMPTOR.... what were we thinking???

This is not a spaceman's helmet..or Wall-E the robot's head....it is a completely crushed and almost useless headlamp assembly. Needless to say, once removed this did not fit back into the cowl anymore.  My first thought was, these are not cheap. I guess it did cross my mind "Why the hell did we buy this?".....It is only because we like challenges and *can* usually get parts cheap because we are in the business and have an Ebay account in good standing. Tip: Check out our Ebay store. 

Stay tuned for part two...we will show you how we transformed this embarrassing hunk of junk into an object of lust, speed and beauty!

At least they used gloss black on the front cowling!