Author Topic: So I test rode a B4 tonight! :-D (Read 19753 times)

stormi · « **Reply #30 on:** April 18, 2007, 01:20:02 AM »

Quote from: "gsxr400 racer"

30,000 miles

That's not that bad!

Dita's got about 31K miles ( She's 80kms away from turning 50K kms) and she's running strong. We've been into the engine, but only because we thought she needed a camchain. Turns out the valves needed some tlc. While we were in there though, looking at the cylinders revealed that you could still see the crosshatch on the walls.

edit: Realistically speaking, 56K is not a lot for a 14 -16 yr old bike. That's what? Between 3500 and 4000 kms a year? I put more than that on this bike both years I've ridden her. It's just a scary looking number. If she's well taken care of,.. she''ll be an awesome little bike for you.

Bartjan · « **Reply #31 on:** April 18, 2007, 08:21:25 AM »

my engine did 53.000 km's my bike did only 35.000 km's

chain+sprockets can be found for cheap on ebay
(on ebay.de you can find complete bandit400 sets for less then €100)
ofcourse those have some more friction then expensive chains (with x-rings and stuff), but you can also find more expensive ones one ebay which are still cheaper then in store...

gsxr400 racer · « **Reply #32 on:** April 18, 2007, 11:20:23 AM »

Maybe its just me i destroy bikes before that mileage

GooseMan · « **Reply #33 on:** April 18, 2007, 11:49:51 AM »

Hehehe...yeah, 56K seems like a lot, but she starts up fine, and runs pretty good. I'm no expert, but I gave her a good run thru the gears and she seemed to pull fine up to 10,000 rpm (didnt have enough road to go over).

But I think its time for a valve clearance check, and a good carb clean/sync.

Thats my next question (this thread is gonna turn into the "maintaining a used bandit FAQ" thread!

)..

I downloaded the factory service manual, and read over the part about checking valve clearances. It tells you how to remove the vavle cover, and line up the valves correctly to check the clearances...but it doesnt really explain WHERE to check (I understand engines relatively well...but what are we checking here? The camshaft lobes on the valves?)...nor does it really explain HOW to adjust them (where is the adjustment screw exactly?).....does this all become more obvious once its being done?

Vidrazor · « **Reply #34 on:** April 18, 2007, 12:24:30 PM »

If someone offered you a '93 Toyota with 30,000 miles on it, would you consider that a lot of mileage? Unless you're beating the crap out of the bike (as apparently Jay seems to do

), a well-maintained bike should easily get as much mileage as you would from a car. Maybe even more. Touring bikes typically go over 100,000 miles.

Bartjan · « **Reply #35 on:** April 18, 2007, 12:27:15 PM »

Quote from: "GooseMan"

I downloaded the factory service manual, and read over the part about checking valve clearances. It tells you how to remove the vavle cover, and line up the valves correctly to check the clearances...but it doesnt really explain WHERE to check (I understand engines relatively well...but what are we checking here? The camshaft lobes on the valves?)...nor does it really explain HOW to adjust them (where is the adjustment screw exactly?).....does this all become more obvious once its being done?

there is only 1 place you can check the clearance

once you remove the cover and you try you'll see that

to adjust them you need to loosen the bolt on top and turn the square (which also is on top) to make the valve higher or lower. then tighten the bolt again and double check the clearance...

Quote from: "gsxr400 racer"

Maybe its just me i destroy bikes before that mileage

your engines are probably used a little bit more heavy on the gas and a bit more tuned then most

after 53k km's i notice my 6th gear is making some noise (cos its used most on the highway) besides that its still pretty good

Quote from: "Vidrazor"

a well-maintained bike should easily get as much mileage as you would from a car. Maybe even more. Touring bikes typically go over 100,000 miles.

sorry but this is not true (not to say bull shit

)
most cars dont rev beyond 7k and most touring bikes dont rev beyond 10k. that makes alot of difference!!

gsxr400 racer · « **Reply #36 on:** April 18, 2007, 02:12:24 PM »

Plus there is alittle thing called compression ratio wich cars are way low bikes are upwards of around 12:1

stormi · « **Reply #37 on:** April 18, 2007, 02:30:44 PM »

Quote from: "gsxr400 racer"

Maybe its just me i destroy bikes before that mileage

LOL! Your bike is used in -slightly- different conditions than most of us "mortal" folk.

CWO4GUNNER · « **Reply #38 on:** April 18, 2007, 03:28:32 PM »

erik · « **Reply #39 on:** April 18, 2007, 04:25:56 PM »

My bandit's done 67,901km and is still going strong (I just have to get the thermo switches back in and put it back together...).

One simple thing worth checking is to make sure the radiator fan turns freely. When I got mine, it wasn't until the temperature warning light came on that I realised my fan wasn't going. If I remember correctly, a stone had gotten stuck in the bottom corner of the fan shroud and radiator and had stopped the fan from turning and so the fan motor had rusted up.

I'm currently having to replace my thermo switches for the radiator fan and warning light, not sure if it's related to the fan failing and the engine overheating, or if it's just because they're old.

My bike is a 1993 Bandit.

Bartjan · « **Reply #40 on:** April 19, 2007, 02:59:27 AM »

my radiator fan hasnt turned on the first 2 years ive owned my bandit

it was just last summer on a really hot day (for the Netherlands

) when i wasnt driving fast so it didnt have much cooling it turned on for the first time.

nowadays its more often turned on... guess my average rev is higher nowadays

or i should get new coolant.
never had the warning light come on though (except before the motor is started to show the light istn broken)

gsxr400 racer · « **Reply #41 on:** April 19, 2007, 09:26:56 AM »

Quote from: "stormi"

Quote from: "gsxr400 racer"
Maybe its just me i destroy bikes before that mileage

LOL! Your bike is used in -slightly- different conditions than most of us "mortal" folk.

Well I was talking a coons age ago (what a word) I had a 250 ninja that spent most of its life on one wheel I wheelied that thing at every light on the strip up down up down went through three motors before i decided to not put it together anymore .

Vidrazor · « **Reply #42 on:** April 19, 2007, 11:06:46 AM »

>>sorry but this is not true...most cars dont rev beyond 7k and most touring bikes dont rev beyond 10k. that makes alot of difference!!<<Yes>>Plus there is alittle thing called compression ratio wich cars are way low bikes are upwards of around 12:1<<

Before the age of unleaded gas, some cars would have ratios that high. Again I think it's how hard you push them that dictates how long they'll survive.

Vidrazor · « **Reply #43 on:** April 19, 2007, 11:18:34 AM »

For some reason my post above is corrupted. What I was saying about the first quote is:

Yes, but I think it has more to do with HOW you rev it up past those numbers that dictate how long the bike will last.

Somehow it just all keeps getting lumped together. Weird.

stormi · « **Reply #44 on:** April 19, 2007, 01:23:19 PM »

Quote from: "Vidrazor"

For some reason my post above is corrupted. <snip>
Somehow it just all keeps getting lumped together. Weird.

I suspect it has to do with the < > symbols you use to denote quotes. Those are reserved in html, and phpBB uses a messed up version of html,... so you may be running into a "glitch" because of it.