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Well it’s about time I make a unique thread for the plethora of Toys and Yotas that pass through my shop. This thread will help to de-clutter Redee’s own thread.
So here’s the first post, not terribly exciting yet eh? Well The Shop has been pretty boring the last couple weeks while I fought to find a project. Seems I’m not the only person lookin’ for project bikes/atvs on kijiji to kill the CCP (Covid) boredom.
Thursday I was finally successful on kijiji, and picked up a 2006 Suzuki Katana 750 with fuel troubles. The PO ran really low on gas last fall, parked the bike, and bought a Hyabusa over winter. He replaced the petcock and fuel filter in hopes to sell a “running bike” for more, but I scored a good deal on a non-running bike.
Fast forward to Friday afternoon, with the Katana on a 2amp charge for 24-hours, I hit the starter and she popped to life instantly! It quickly died since the fuel tank was not connected, but I’m calling that a huge win already!!Stickin’ with Friday, another kijiji deal has finally come through. This was a trade I setup 2-months ago but had to be patient as the other fellow was doing ALL the driving (about 8-hours round trip). I traded away an older Jaguar motor/trans that my dad bought a decade ago (and since sold the car to put it into), for a Suzuki Quadrunner atv. 4×4, semi-auto, with ownership, ran when parked about 3 years ago.
The Katana will be for sale. The atv is a keeper, my girls have claimed it already haha.
Safe to say The Shop won’t be so boring for a couple weeks haha.
Today in The Shop, I’m expecting Matt to bring his 4th gen over to put in a new set of spark plugs and an air filter. After I replaced his front brakes, Matt saw a drop in fuel consumption from 15ish to 13ish L/100km. I said “I bet we could hit 12s with plugs and an air filter”. So he hit up google & forums to find best reviewed plugs, and put in an order to RockAuto.
I’m curious what the old plugs look like, and how many kms are on them.
Today in The Shop, three machines all received a little attention.
First up, the Katana. Knowing that the bike WANTS to start, I made some efforts today to promote starting.
First up, I put the OEM fuel tank petcock back in, as the generic aftermarket one did not fit the clearance hole of the fairing at all.
Secondly I replaced the fuel line, removing a kink that was in it blocking flow.
With everything put back together the bike started, but would not idle without choke and was surging quite a bit. Afterwards one of the exhaust headers was noticeably colder than the rest, no combustion.
Plan of attack: compression test, if OK get plugs, and clean carbs starting with the cold one.Next up, my buddy Ratul popped over on his Yamaha Virago. We brainstormed out a solution to a problem he noticed, and put it in place. He adjusted the throttle cable linkage to balance the idle speed across both cylinders. Starts faster, idles smoother.
Third up in the shop, Matt’s 4th gen. Out came a set of used up iridium plugs, in went the new set. His primary air filter was damn clean, so the new one is still in the box. But while in there, Matt took the time to cut out the secondary charcoal filter.
That’s it for today.
NIce! I accomplished absolutely nothing today – just visited some family and took the Dodge out to burn off a few mm’s of rubber 😉
You might not have done any work, but you did facilitate some exercise. Does the dodge leave a healthy set of stripes behind?
No posi, so it only leaves 1 stripe…. not as cool, but it can leave a good 50′ or so. If I control the revs and use the brake, it’ll just keep going!
Today in the shop, the Katana had some layers removed. Off came the seat, tank, upper and lower fairings, coils and plugs. With help from my daughter, we got a version of a compression test completed.
The motor had not been warmed up and the battery is weak, however all 4 cylinders came in above the minimum spec and within allowable deviation.
Cylinder #2 was cold to touch the other day after test firing, was afraid it made no compression, but it tested highest today. The plug was also wet and stinky of gas. All good signs.Later today, or perhaps another day I’ll check valve clearance on all cylinders, hoping cylinder #1 with lowest compression is just a bit tight valve clearance.
Otherwise I’m looking at testing each coil resistance, and finally pulling the bank of carbs to get a real good look.
Fun day playing with new toys, er I mean tools, glad the new compression tester was compatible.
Today in The Shop, a running Katana! I decided I would buy 4 new spark plugs and remove the bank of carbs to take a better look.
The old plugs looked decent, but not worth keeping. $15 ea for new ones, they had better be worth it.
Once getting the bank of carbs out, and dripping gas everywhere, I started my investigation. Each carb was set back to spec, and got its jets cleaned.
The first carb was too lean on the idle screw by over 1 full turn. And the idle jet on carb 3 was almost completely clogged. I didn’t dare mess with the linkages between the carbs, but I suppose the next improvements can be made there….once I buy or rig a gauge.Reinstall the carbs, linkages and airbox, Temp install the tank, prime the fuel bowls, FIRE! Great on choke, but dying going full OFF. Fiddle with the idle speed, blip the throttle, rev rev Rev FREAKIN’ REVVVV!!!! Smooth idle.
Reassemble everything. Parked at the door. Ready to hit the curb tomorrow.
On the curb this morning, needs a battery and tires.
Think my Buddy Ratul is coming by in the afternoon to give the Katana a rip. He’s keen to buy it and has a kijiji person coming to check out his Virago this morning.
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