Service
Service
WHEELIE GOOD OIL -> GRAY MARKET FINDS -> CLOSE-RATIO GEARBOX -> DOWN WITH E85
RAY NIERLICH
OIL REPLACEMENT
Q:I am a very hard rider—wheelies, high speeds, shifting often, etc. I am wavering on the oil needed to run because the Harley oil seems to burn up with my riding and periodically I have to add some oil. My belief, a good 30-weight detergent with a great filter, changed often is my best defense. I live in SoCal and weather is temperate, but I ride to the desert and ride hard. Your thoughts?
REX INCUS
CYCLEWORLD.COM
A Wheelies? Really? Your best defense, aside from moderat■ ing your riding style, is frequent oil (and filter) changes. I don’t believe a different brand of oil will noticeably change the rate of consumption. I’m assuming your ride is a Harley, so you are definitely going to experience, in Harley parlance, oil crossover and increased consumption. When ambient temps are hot, a full synthetic specifically for air-cooled engines will be best. Whether it is Harley brand or not won’t matter one iota. Harley lists a SYN3 20W-50 for the modern bikes and also straight 50 and 60 weights for the old iron.
EXPORT EXPERTISE, PLEASE
I’m on a work-ation in Japan helpI * ing load containers with parts and ■ 25-year-old sports cars for export to the US. I am writing to ask what is required to legally import Japanese bikes? I’ve seen many different bikes here, from lowrider scooters to supermotos on the street. The most common displacements are 15OCC and 25OCC as commuting is the general purpose. I am a 240-pound 6-foot guy. I doubt a 15OCC bike will be suitable in the US. Are there any suggestions as far as engine size goes and platform for a rider like me? I’ve been looking at the GSX-R400 and Honda’s Hurricane.
JOSUE TALAYERA JAPAN
A Call the relevant factory cus■ tomer service number first and ■ ask them what will be required. This number is in every owner’s manual. I would expect you will need
DOT-approved lighting. If importing into California, the bike’ll need to meet CARB emissions. Don’t rush in and attempt to export one of these bikes without performing due diligence first! US Customs has no sense of humor. If the paperwork isn’t in order, Customs will either force you to comply, ship the bike back, or destroy it.
NO, YES
I have had something puzzling I * happen to my bike. I have a FZ* 09 from the first batch in 2013 with nearly 22,000 miles of easy riding—no wheelies, no drag racing, just a lot of commuting in New York City and some highway jaunts and the occasional twisty roads. Generally the bike has performed well. The only problem I have had is seized bolts. Corrosion from salt on the roads and in the air, I guess.
I have had to take many out and treat them with anti-seize or use new bolts.
Once, I had to take it to the shop to take out this long bolt that goes through the engine so that I could take it out and install a centerstand.
Happy with what they had done, I went back to the same shop a few weeks later to get new sprockets and chain installed. I left it with them and get a call a little while later saying there's a hole in the crankcase! The hole occurred where a bolt holds the front sprocket cover on the bottom of the sprocket. The bolt was still inside the broken piece of the crankcase.
The shop guys said it could be due to the chain and because it was too loose.
It really wasn’t. They seemed to have backed up the chain adjusting screw further than I had left it too (which I had very recently un-seized using heat). They kept insisting that must be it, though they themselves had never seen anything like this happen. They said it must have happened a long time ago and that
oil had been dripping. If that were the case, it should have spilled on my tires and made me fall, but nothing of that sort happened. Tires are clean and I still have my bones intact.
Since I have the extended warranty of YES, I decided to file a claim through these guys who submitted pictures and paperwork. It was rejected in three days by the Yamaha tech, wherever he is, citing the same things the shop guy told me. In fact, he went one step further.
To paraphrase, he said the break “must have been due to chain that seems to be beyond its serviceable life...has multiple seized links...plus see off-road tires which means owner must have gone offroading which the bike is not meant to do and it can stress the chain...etc., etc.”
I find this assessment problematic, especially because he is assuming I went off road, which I did not. The tires are for the bad roads of New York City that are milled during construction and for more grip on loose snow left on the streets. Regardless, it is also problematic because he is failing to show how even a severely loose chain will hit the lower part of the front sprocket cover hard enough to break the crankcase—without the chain breaking. Even a simple look shows a lot of clearance between the bolt piece and where the chain sits. In pictures I submitted you could see that even when it is completely off the wheel, the chain barely reaches that point.
My theory is that, as with the history of this bike, it must have been a seized bolt, that when the shop guys tried to remove, snapped that piece off the crankcase and now they are trying to cover up and are distracting the Yamaha tech with their theory. This is annoying because it will be a tedious and expensive job for me if Yamaha does not pay up. What are your thoughts? I have attached some pictures for your reference.
ANURANJAN
CYCLEWORLD.COM
A First, the disclaimer. None of what I can offer here in the col■ umn is absolute because I’m not able to see the damage in person. However, from the photos you have sent, I’ll go with your theory as being the most probable.
While it is possible that a kinked or loose chain could clobber the countershaft sprocket cover boss that was snapped off, there would be a definite
mark from the chain doing so. There are no marks in the gunge that I can see. Secondly, if this crack had happened at any time in the past besides when the cover was removed, engine oil would be spewed all over the place. The picture shows a circular clean break with no oil residue. Thirdly, if the chain had broken the one boss off, the other bosses should show some damage as well.
In all fairness, your operating conditions in New York City are extreme, on road or not. It is all too easy to break something inadvertently in the course of repairing any bike, especially with seized hardware. That is still no excuse for the shop tech not coming clean if he broke the boss accidentally when attempting to loosen the securing bolt.
If it was an honest mistake, he should live up to it. Now he owns it. It’s always the cover-up that buries you. It might be possible to weld this boss in place—if you find the best welder in town. You don’t specify whether this shop is a Yamaha dealer or not, so I assume not. This adds a level of complication between the independent shop and Yamaha as to who is responsible and to what degree.
TOO CLOSE RATIO
Q Living north of your border, I ® bought a 2012 Kawasaki Ninja ■ 400R that wasn’t sold in the US.
As my first bike, I’m pleased with its small displacement, even for 1,000km trips, but I’m left wondering why a sub500CC bike doesn’t use the sixth gear as an overdrive. Dealing with the bike’s limitations, I already downshift to fourth when I need the juice to pass, so having a longer sixth would drop the rpm for highway cruising (actually 6,500 rpm at 65 mph) where I don’t need tons of torque anyway. Is there some gearbox mechanical reasoning behind the close ratio?
Also, to counter this high cruising rpm, I plan on changing the final ratio (actually 15/46), which raises two more questions: 1) How much longer could/should I go (is 16/46 enough to make a significant difference), and 2) how can I calculate the impact on my soon-to-be-off-speedo?
JOCELYN PELLETIER CYCLEWORLD.COM
A Henry was right; it is more fun ■ to ride a slow bike fast than a fast ■ bike slow.
Your 400 “only” has 44 hp and, more importantly, 27 pound-feet of torque,
FEEDBACK LOOP
QiThe July issue’s question “Fuelish”
■from “Ticked Off at gov.org” is one I’ve been protesting and writing to all of my elected representatives foryears.
The writer only states he lives in California; if near a marina, they all, at least here on the East Coast, sell non-ethanol gas, required for all boat motors. Legally they cannot sell ethanol fuel for boats. After / a couple of years repairing and/or replacing my gas-powered lawn equipment I started \ using only marine gas-problem solved.
The last line in your answer, “sign the petition,” did not say what petition. I have been riding since 1971 and am a life member of the AMA. According to AMA stats there are more than 20 million motorcyclists, boat owners, and ATV owners. That doesn’t count the millions who own gas-powered equipment. At smarterfuelfuture.org, you may fill out a short form and protest letterwhich is then sent to all of your local elected representatives. That’s a lot of votes. If we would all get together, we could end ethanol. I believe the problem is Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack. He’s from the Midwest and is the prime pusher for increased production. Last year I signed an AMA petition to restrict production to 10 percent. Only 29,000 people signed, out of over 20 million! That’s the problem. We need publications like yours to get the word out and get everyone on board to end ethanol. United we stand.
JIM ¡ORDEN
ST. MARYS CITY, MD
and this at a fairly high 7,500 rpm. It needs closer ratio gearing than a largerdisplacement engine would to make the most of what you’ve got. Question is, how tall of a top gear can it pull and reasonably maintain highway speeds, without constantly having to downshift? If your bike seems to have enough poop for you, by all means gear it up a bit. I love practicing momentum conservation, and sharpening my drafting skills, so I get where you’re coming from.
I would only go up one tooth on the front sprocket. This changes your final drive from 3.07 to 2.88, or about 7 percent. Your speedo will probably read only a touch slow since most read slightly fast out of the box. Check against a GPS unit and you’ll know exactly how fast you are going. Search for "Speedo Healer" on the web to find a correction unit. CUM
M!\ GOT A MECHANICAL OR TECHNICAL ST PROBLEM WITH YOUR BELOVED RIDE?
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