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Old June 7th, 2020, 01:12 AM   #1
claires-dad
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Name: Steve
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Hi, new to motorcycles, please forgive my ignorance

Hi, I'm Steve from the Boston MA area. I always wanted to learn how to ride, so I'm scheduled for a class in a couple of weeks and I've picked up a 2001 250r to play with. It hadn't been running for a few years when I bought it, so I'm trying to fix it enough to be safe and reliable.

I started taking parts off to try to get things going. The carbs are on their way back from ducatiman. I've installed a new battery and replaced the broken handlebars and throttle cables. I'm waiting for new brake lines, choke cable, clutch cable, and horn to arrive. I put in new spark plugs, and will replace the oil/oil filter/coolant when I can pick up new fluids. I'll put in new brake fluid when I replace the brake hoses, and probably brake pads too at the same time.

I've got the fairings off now, and I'll see if I can repair cracks and replace missing chunks well enough to mount the turn signals. I probably won't get too carried away with how they look, as long as they're solid enough while I'm learning how to ride.

One question for now - with the fairings removed, everything looks pretty dirty. The bike has a little over 14K miles, so I don't expect it to look like new, but I was wondering if there's a good way to clean off the parts that are normally out of sight. I have some Maxima BioWash around, but I didn't want to spray the bike with a hose if that's a bad idea (especially the wiring connectors). I'd appreciate any suggestions on how to clean it up, or with anything else I should check/replace. Thanks!
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Old June 7th, 2020, 01:28 AM   #2
akima
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Old June 7th, 2020, 05:11 PM   #3
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Greetings & Salutations Steve!!!

I've found S100 Cycle Cleaner to work best out of variety of products I've tried. Follow instructions on bottle (spray on, hose off). Amazing how grime just flows right off.

Wiring connectors are exposed with no weather-proofing seals, so water can be concern. Most of them have rubber hood over connector. But don't worry about it if you dry out connectors afterwards with hairdryer. Won't be 1st time that bike's been wet.

Someone posted recently on using old cut-up license-plates to fill in hole in fairing for turn-signals. I've used CF and Bondo to fill that hole. Then you can use any aftermarket stalk or flush-mount signals you want.

Last futzed with by DannoXYZ; June 7th, 2020 at 10:20 PM.
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Old June 8th, 2020, 07:09 PM   #4
claires-dad
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Thanks - I 3D-printed a new turn signal base, and it looks like it should fit OK if I can put together something for it to bolt onto. I'll see if I can find an old license plate in my parts pile.
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Old June 8th, 2020, 07:45 PM   #5
Triple Jim
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Quote:
Originally Posted by claires-dad View Post
Thanks - I 3D-printed a new turn signal base, and it looks like it should fit OK if I can put together something for it to bolt onto.
Nifty. I'm a fan of 3-D extrusion printing.
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Old June 9th, 2020, 06:14 AM   #6
VaFish
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Harbor Freight has a plastic welding kit for $17 that works pretty well. It's basically a soldering iron with a flat tip. You will need to get more filler rods.

https://www.harborfreight.com/80-wat...kit-60662.html
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Old June 9th, 2020, 09:04 AM   #7
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Old June 9th, 2020, 09:30 AM   #8
Kuya EZ
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Welcome and good luck with your build
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Old June 9th, 2020, 10:53 AM   #9
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Old June 9th, 2020, 06:26 PM   #10
claires-dad
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Thanks for the welcome messages. VaFish, I'll have to pick up one of those Harbor Freight plastic welders - looks like it should work well.
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Old June 15th, 2020, 12:33 AM   #11
claires-dad
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I picked up the plastic welder at HF. Because it's a "welder" they don't accept the 20%-off coupon, but the guy let me slide. In the meantime, I cleaned and coated the fuel tank with the KBS kit, so I'll have to wait a week before I can use it. My carbs came back from ducatiman looking great! The choke and clutch cables are installed, and new brake lines and pads should be coming this week.

I also have a piece of black vinyl cut to size so I can recover the seat, which is a bit worn and chewed up.

Should be a fun week of activity. My "learn to ride" class is coming up this weekend, which I've been looking forward to for a while.
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Old June 16th, 2020, 05:42 AM   #12
snot
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Welcome.
When reinstalling plastics, add a little grease to the rubber grommets. It will make it easier to remove next time and help prevent the tabs from breaking.
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Old June 16th, 2020, 09:17 AM   #13
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Old June 16th, 2020, 02:11 PM   #14
claires-dad
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Thanks, and thanks for the tips.

I pushed the bike out of the garage today and washed it off. It looks better - I didn't go nuts on it, but got as much grime and dirt as I could get without searching for a toothbrush. It's probably clean enough to reinstall the carbs and start moving forward.
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Old June 19th, 2020, 01:10 AM   #15
claires-dad
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Still waiting for the brake lines to arrive and the tank sealer to finish drying. In the meantime, I changed the oil and filter (although "change" is not accurate, as there was no oil other than whatever was in the filter) and drained/flushed/refilled the coolant.

One issue that came up was with the clutch. It doesn't want to disengage. I tried bumping the starter with the bike in first gear while squeezing the clutch lever and the bike jumped forward. The new cable seems OK; I tried putting the old cable back on and got the same result. My guess is that the clutch plates are stuck (or rusted) together from sitting without oil and not being used for a few years. A YouTube video suggested adding oil and then putting a clamp on the clutch lever to squeeze it for a couple of days, and then try to start the bike. Aside from that, I can drain the new oil and remove the clutch plates to get them apart (or replace them as long as I'm in there), but is there anything else I should try? Thanks.
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Old June 23rd, 2020, 08:32 PM   #16
claires-dad
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Name: Steve
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The "clamp on the clutch lever" didn't do too much. I was hoping that maybe once I got the bike running and let it warm up, the warm oil would free the clutch plates. That's what happened. It's been over a week since coating the gas tank so I reinstalled it and added fresh gas with some Seafoam. After a little cranking, the bike started up for the first time in years (thanks, Ducatiman!) and seemed to run OK. I didn't try riding it, as I want to replace the brake lines/pads/fluid before doing that.

I've got a slight coolant leak coming from the drain bolt in the block. I didn't want to overtighten it because I'm nervous about stripping the threads. If I found the right drain bolt in the parts diagrams there's supposed to be a washer between the bolt head and the block - I'll try taking the bolt out and adding a washer without losing too much coolant in the process.

Getting closer!
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Old June 23rd, 2020, 10:23 PM   #17
DannoXYZ
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That's not regular washer, but crush-washer. It deforms to seal both sides. Someone may have installed regular steel washer instead.

As for clutch cable, have you adjusted both ends to tighten cable? So there's very little free-play when you squeeze-lever? Any movement starts pulling cable right away?
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Old June 23rd, 2020, 11:32 PM   #18
claires-dad
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Thanks - it looked like a plain washer in the parts diagram but I might have misidentified the bolt. I ordered an assortment of crush washers so I won't have to keep ordering them one at a time as I come across them.

The clutch cable seems to be adjusted OK - only 2-3mm free play before the arm starts moving.
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Old June 24th, 2020, 03:08 AM   #19
DannoXYZ
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One possibility is clutch's 1st disk is not indexed properly. There's a dot on disc that needs to be lined up in proper rotation.
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Old November 9th, 2020, 06:35 PM   #20
Snake
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I’m a little late but ....hello and welcome !
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