Bandit Alley
GENERAL MOTORCYCLE FORUMS => GENERAL MOTORCYCLE => Topic started by: stormi on March 24, 2007, 06:20:03 PM
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Got Dita fired up for the first time this spring! AND, for once, without requiring the removal of the carbs! (http://members.stormi.ca/penguin.gif)
Sounds like the SeaFoam worked!
Now to put the Honda back together, and fire it up,.. then I'll come and actually read what's been going on on the board. :banana:
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And the blue one fired up like he'd never been put to bed!
Wow,.. I set aside a whole day for this! +9C today too,... I might just go for a little boot.
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That's what I have been accustomed to the last 5 years with my Bandit, take the battery out before the freezing temperatures, trickle charge with a Canadian tire bought battery charger, and when the warm temperatures come, put in the battery, push the start button, and voila!
(I do go through a putting back into service maintenance routine, but not before enjoying a quick first ride.)
Last night it was sunny and +10 after supper. I grabbed the battery and installed it. It seemed too large for the battery tray. Not a good omen.
Tapped it down with the palm of my hand, put the key in the ignition and turned it. Wouldn't even illuminate the dash lights. Battery charger showed full charge.
Grabbed my multimeter; 2 volts.
Time for a new battery.
Ordered one this morning; but couldn't pick it up before the shop closed. Damn; it's going to be sunny and +11 tomorrow.
Well; a couple of more days and I should be back in the saddle again.
Ride Safe & Ride Often,
1200 Bandits
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Aint nothing better than the sound of running bikes. :-)
Congrats!
Blue
And the blue one fired up like he'd never been put to bed!
Wow,.. I set aside a whole day for this! +9C today too,... I might just go for a little boot.
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I cranked mine up about a week ago. Spent half a Saturday. Seemed like she just wouldn't start. She would crank but just wouldn't turn over. I toyed with draining the bowls and dumping in some Techron and letting it sit. But I just couldn't spend enough time in the cold garage to find the right sized allen key!
Finally, I decided to put in a gallon or so of fresh petrol. Still nothing. Then I sat on the bike and started making a whole bunch of Vrrroooom!! Vrrooom!!! Vrrrrrom!! sounds and then remembered to pull down the choke lever. duh.
She started right up after that.
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Gees I am glade I live in Aus, and can ride all year be to hard to put bike to bed for more than 1 or 2 nights I guess I'm spoilt ..Graham :aus:
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Word-up scarborough. Push start the basterd and go for a ride!!! +11 and sunny is good enough for me!
Tuesday suposed to be +18! I'll believe it when I see it.
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I like to fire mine up once or twice a month during the winter. Let it run for awhile,till its up to temp.
Supposed to be nice today,hope to go for a long awaited ride! Dan
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I cranked mine up about a week ago. Spent half a Saturday. Seemed like she just wouldn't start. She would crank but just wouldn't turn over. I toyed with draining the bowls and dumping in some Techron and letting it sit. But I just couldn't spend enough time in the cold garage to find the right sized allen key!
Finally, I decided to put in a gallon or so of fresh petrol. Still nothing. Then I sat on the bike and started making a whole bunch of Vrrroooom!! Vrrooom!!! Vrrrrrom!! sounds and then remembered to pull down the choke lever. duh.
She started right up after that.
It starts even better if you turn the petcock lever to the PRIME (3 o'clock) position before pushing the starter button. Believe it or not, enough fuel evaporates from the float bowls after 2-3 weeks sitting idle that starting becomes iffy. Really, you HAVE to try priming the carbs - it makes a world of difference in the starting process.
My '99 Bandit stinks up the garage with gas fumes coming from fuel boiling out of the carbs after a run. I'm sure that starts the process of fuel evapping from the bowls.
Don't forget to put the petcock back into the run position (pointy end down to 6 o'clock).
Herb
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In texas, I never put mine away. :motorsmile:
Now in NY, it was a different story. Unlike some, I left my battery in all winter and just ran the carbs dry and put some stabil in the tank. Always worked like a charm.
PS. Seafoam rocks.
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Aint nothing better than the sound of running bikes. :-)
Congrats!
Blue
And the blue one fired up like he'd never been put to bed!
Wow,.. I set aside a whole day for this! +9C today too,... I might just go for a little boot.
I had the stupid grin on my face and everything! Didn't get them out til Sunday, and it was late in the day when we did get out. Holy crap is it cold riding on the highway at +1.5C, that's what,.. 34F for you metric-challenged people ;) And I forgot that certain parts of the city would still have wet (and icing at the close to freezing temps) ground, despite the warmer temps all weekend. Places like groat road, the only twisty spot in Edmonton. Add to that the gravel and I got my first ride on blackish ice, and gravel. I'm not in a hurry to duplicate that again soon!
Dita's running like a top.. and Blue,.. well,.. he's running great as usual.
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IThen I sat on the bike and started making a whole bunch of Vrrroooom!! Vrrooom!!! Vrrrrrom!! sounds
LOL! Been there! If it helps,.. I think the vroom vroom sounds give it encouragement...
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In texas, I never put mine away. :motorsmile:
Now in NY, it was a different story. Unlike some, I left my battery in all winter and just ran the carbs dry and put some stabil in the tank. Always worked like a charm.
PS. Seafoam rocks.
I think the Seafoam is what did it this year. It's the first time we've used it, and the first year we haven't fought non-stop to get her running. I'd like to buy stock in that company!
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It's a sad world for me... my lawn mower got started and used before any of my bikes. :sad:
I'm soooo ashamed of myself! :banghead:
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As some of you know, I've been riding right through the winter. Only stopped for snow. Had some starting problems early on, but after I had the carbs cleaned out, the B4 started right over, even on 18˚F evenings!
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It's a sad world for me... my lawn mower got started and used before any of my bikes. :sad:
I'm soooo ashamed of myself! :banghead:
Move here,.. I can honestly say that mowing in March is not a risk,..
(http://members.stormi.ca/IMG_4069.jpg)
(http://members.stormi.ca/IMG_4070.jpg)
:duh: Those were taken about 10 mins ago.
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Uhhh... that's OK, I prefer to have the limited snow covering I now enjoy. There's plenty of snow this time of year within an hour's drive if I want it.
There was just a bit on the news the other night about the North Cascades Highway... they figure they'll be able to open it up in mid-May - even though there's still 55 feet of snow on it in places.
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Uhhh... that's OK, I prefer to have the limited snow covering I now enjoy. There's plenty of snow this time of year within an hour's drive if I want it.
I'd love the opportunity to mow in March,... of course if I did it,.. the neighbors would just think I'm more of a nut than they already do.
There was just a bit on the news the other night about the North Cascades Highway... they figure they'll be able to open it up in mid-May - even though there's still 55 feet of snow on it in places.
That sounds like a few of our mountain roads. That's not near Mt Baker and friends, is it?
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The North Cascades Highway (http://www.wsdot.wa.gov/Traffic/Passes/NorthCascades/map.htm) is near Mt. Baker, but it doesn't go there. It's the furthest north trans-Cascade highway in WA... and since it it was opened in 1972, it's only stayed open all winter once (1976). It usually closes in Nov and re-opens in April or May. According to WSDOT, they started ploying yesterday and figure it'll be ~6 weeks until it's open.
The Mt. Baker highway doesn't cross the moutains, just goes to the ski resort up there, so it stays open all year. (It's a great m/c road once the snow & sand is gone.)
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The North Cascades Highway (http://www.wsdot.wa.gov/Traffic/Passes/NorthCascades/map.htm) is near Mt. Baker, but it doesn't go there. It's the furthest north trans-Cascade highway in WA... and since it it was opened in 1972, it's only stayed open all winter once (1976). It usually closes in Nov and re-opens in April or May. According to WSDOT, they started ploying yesterday and figure it'll be ~6 weeks until it's open.
The Mt. Baker highway doesn't cross the moutains, just goes to the ski resort up there, so it stays open all year. (It's a great m/c road once the snow & sand is gone.)
Sounds like some of our mountain roads for sure. Hwy 93 gets closed regularly, and the roads to the ski hills and the hot springs are in way better shape than the ones that lead to some of the awesome views. :) GOD I miss the mountains this time of the year. I have to drive about 2.5 hrs before I see them.
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55 FEET................. Jeez! I think I'm gonna stay rat heah in Florida. LOL
Blue
Uhhh... that's OK, I prefer to have the limited snow covering I now enjoy. There's plenty of snow this time of year within an hour's drive if I want it.
There was just a bit on the news the other night about the North Cascades Highway... they figure they'll be able to open it up in mid-May - even though there's still 55 feet of snow on it in places.
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Looks like I'm a week ahead of Stormi,the snow has finnally melted off around my house.I call this our mud season,the yard is like a wet lands,so it will be awhile befor I have to fire up the mower.But I finally got to go ride Sunday! YAHOO! Took the Bandit out for about 60 miles.(after checking over both bikes) Stayed on the main roads,the back roads still have alot of crap on them. Road by the local ski slopes,wich was full of skiers enjoying the warm 50 degrees F. Then went back to the shop to put a sweat shirt over my leathers and took the SV for a ride. Put on another 150 miles,then washed and waxed them both. My wife wasn't too pleased that I took my only day off for myself on my bikes. I left around 10:30 and got home around 7:00. But it was a long wait and worth abit of bad additude. :lol: Looking foward to doing some of my favorite back roads,but for now they'er still full of pot holes,loose gravel. So I'll mostly stay on the main roads again next time. :motorsmile:
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Looks like I'm a week ahead of Stormi,the snow has finnally melted off around my house.I call this our mud season,the yard is like a wet lands,so it will be awhile befor I have to fire up the mower.But I finally got to go ride Sunday! YAHOO!
LOL! I think you're more than a week ahead of me,... I can't see mowing til late april. And we got some more of the wet sloppy sh!t this morning too.
Once that's all melted,.. I'll have to rake the sludge (what the hell is that stuff anyway?) , before the grass will grow,.. then I have to mow. Maybe early May...
Congrats on the ride! We got out on Sunday too. Froze my ass off though. :embarassed:
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I ride all year round which is the good part. Down side is I can't ride this morning- I have to mow my lawns!! :crybaby:
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My wife has been doing a bit of clean up in our (swamp)yard.The one side is full of bark,chips from the chain saw,and I picked up skids that I had the firewood stacked on.What a mess!Then I went to the shop and took the SV out for 180mile ride. But I'm hoping in a couple of weeks the yard will be drying up enough for my grandson to ride his "mermorcycle". He's just starting to get the cycle part in there @ 2 1/2. We got a hand-me-down battery opperated Kawi 4wheeler that needed a battery. I did a tile job for a buddy a couple nights ago,his son own a battery outlet store and is going to hook me up. He's aready had a couple rides on the Bandit(around the yard) . Every time he comes over he wants to sit on granadpas motorcycle.(winters @ the shop and doesn't come home till the swamp dries up) So I'm thinking that will be in May sometime.
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55 FEET................. Jeez! I think I'm gonna stay rat heah in Florida. LOL
Blue
Where it's 55 feet deep is just in the avalanche chutes.
Here's a pic of one of one of last year's chutes - it was only ~45' deep.
(http://www.wsdot.wa.gov/NR/rdonlyres/60BC1359-645B-402C-AC2F-BCB972465BAE/0/03_Liberty_Bell.jpg)
FWIW, this region does get a lot of snow. Mt Baker & Mt. Rainer regularly trade off in the Guiness Book for world record annual snowfall. Mt Baker currently holds it with 1140 inches in a season (winter 1998-1999). But down here in coastal WA, we hardly get any snow in the winter... but plenty of rain.