Missing Bolt?

When I get to work, I looked down by the foot peg.  Something looked strange.  I thought that the gas tank was sagging a bit.  I looked closer.  To my surprise, a bolt was missing where the rear frame attaches to the main frame.

I rode home without any problem, but as soon as I finished the dinner I started on this project.  The problem turned out to be the broken bolt, not missing bolt.

First I thought about drilling the bolt out.  BUT, I soon realized that I need to be VERY careful.  There is a plastic gas tank just behind the bolt.  If I go through the bolt, I might drill a hole into the gas tank.  That would be a DISASTER!  So as you can see, I put the crescent wrench handle behind it to stop the accident.

I drilled a hole big enough for the bolt extractor.  I struggled with different size of the extractor, but #3 was the one that got the job done.

Time to make a trip to the hardware store.  I found out that the bolt was 8mm x 1.25. Length was 20mm-ish.

So just to be sure, I put 25mm in there.  YAY, the project done in just a couple of hours.

What Gives?

After changing to NGK D8EA plug ...

Yesterday - at least 10 stalls during the rainy & congested commute, but no stalls on the way home.

This morning - NO STALL in dense fog...

Where do I go from here?

More about Spark Plugs

It appears that I was wrong... again...  All this time that iridium type spark plug helped my surges and stalls.  I was also convinced that iridium type was causing my mpg to drop.

Back in November, I changed the spark plug to what I thought was a iridium tip plug.  The iridium plug number is either DPR8EIX or DPR8EI.  This "i" or "ix" at the end makes the plug an iridium one according to the NGK document.  So what did I put in there?

DPR8EA-9
D - Thread Dimemsions / Hex. Size = 12mm / 5/8" (18.0mm)
P - Construction = Projecting Insulator Type
R - Construction = Resistor Type
8 - Heat Rating
E - Thread Reach = 19.0mm
A - Special Design
9 - 0.9mm spark gap

All of the above brought me to prove that I was wrong.  It wasn't the iridium plug that make my bike not to surge.  And the drop in mpg since the plug change is not due to the iridium tip, but probably due to the register in the plug.

So the next plug to test would be the non-resistor type iridium plug.  I guess that would be DP8EI or DP8EIX, but only if my current D8EA is causing problems.

Back to ...

Shedding the iridium plug.  YES, it cured surges completely.  It helped the stall some.  BUT WHY?

When I first got the bike, it did not do any surge or stall.  It took a few weeks before these symptoms began to appear.  So I am testing to see if resetting the ECU once a week will prevent from stalling and surging with the non-ridium plug.

Another reason is that the bike gets 5 miles per gallon less with the iridium plug.  One of the main reason for having F650 is to get a GREAT fuel mileage while commuting.  5 mpg is HUGE.

Romayor Loop

Breakfast Ride to Cook Jar Cafe at the intersection of 146 and 787.

About 180 Miles all together. I need a bigger bike for the weekend fun. Of course, I will keep my 650 for commuting.

BMW F650CS Voltage???

As I posted earlier, I changed the battery to a maintenance free sealed battery.  When I pulled out the old one, it was almost dry.  That led me to believe that the battery was getting over charged - perhaps the voltage regulator was going bad.

I browsed the Internet and found some useful information at f650.com regarding to the Voltage Rectifier.  I went through the document and tested the bike.  Here is my result.

Ignition on, but engine off = 13.16V
at Idle = 14.30V
at 3500rpm = 14.05V

So according to the page, the rectifier is working just fine.  Thanks goodness.

Adjusting Ninja 250 Choke

Adjusting the choke on Ninja 250

17,511 miles

Symptom: When I pull the choke all the way, the choke does not engage.Fix: I found this on the repair manual.  But in order to get to it, I needed to take off the seat, lower fairings, side covers, and gas tank.  It takes a lot longer to deal with the body parts than adjusting the cable.

When I got to the area where the choke cable was attached to the carb, it was very grimy.  I sprayed some carb cleaner to get some of the grimes off.  Then later sprayed good amount of wd-40 for the lubrication.

The above direction is pretty clear, but I just could not find the adjuster. I first look for it by the carb... no such thing. Then I looked around the handle bar... no such thing. The adjuster is right about the halfway point of the cable.

Looking at the adjuster, I didn't know which way was to make the cable tighter. I messed around and found out that I need to move the big adjuster closer to the carb.  

Now my choke engages correctly!

Scarver Oil Change

11,822 miles

MLK Day 2012 was blessed with a beautiful 73 degree weather.

Rode the bike for 10 min or so to get the engine warm.  Then parked it on the side stand.  The oil drain bolt is on the left side of the frame.  Yes, the frame is the oil tank on this bike.

Be careful when removing the plug.  The oil will shoot out.  There is a copper washer on the drain plug.  Make sure to get it and replace it with the new one.

Here is the oil filter kit. It comes with the filter and all the other washers you need to replace.

I thought the oil might drip onto the frame, but it never did.

There is a drain bolt on the bottom of the engine. It's a 24mm bolt. A quite bit, perhaps a 1/2 quart, of oil came out of the engine case.  The bolt has a copper washer.  It tends to stick to the engine case.  Make sure to get the copper washer.

So I need to get the oil filter cover off, but it looks like I need to take off the front sprocket cover off first.

As I took off the front sprocket cover off, the charcoal canister came off. Be careful so it won't take the dirty oil bath. Mine almost did.

I think taking off the oil filter cover is the MESSIEST part of the oil change.

Apparently, there is a tool to get this done right.

You see the rubber gasket stuck to the oil filter cover.  Change that with the new one.

Tighten everything to the specs, fill with 2.5 litter of oil, and we are done!

Scarver Stalling & Surging

Scarvers are know for its stalling and surging.  I have one of those bike.  So far, I have struggled with it for about 6,000 miles.  I've changed the spark plug to iridium type.  That eliminated the surging problem, but it lowered the mpg by at least 2 miles.

For a while I thought the problem was also in fuel.  I tried different brands and different octane.  I had the best luck with a good brand, like Chevron, and the premium (93) octane.  Today, I'm riding with Chevron 87 without stall.  This is the result of having the ECU reset.

Right now, my goal is to put it back to the normal plug to get the fuel mileage back and eliminate both surging and stalling.  The new approach I have is to reset the ECU once a week by taking the ECU fuse out for 15 min. or so.  This approach has helped eliminating the stalling problem.

MLK weekend is coming up.  I am going to change the oil, oil filter, and the spark plug back to the normal type.  I will also reset the ECU.

Take off the seat.

Take the cover off the fuse box. (in red circle)

Pull out the ECU fuse for 15 min.

Stormy This Morning

Of course, I rode in this morning in my rain gear.  I did not get any rain on my commute, but it's nasty outside now - thundering and lightning.  We might get some power outage today.  But, hopefully this will stop by the time I leave.

Texas still needs more H2O!!!  Here it comes!

I almost changed the oil this weekend, but as I calculated, I still have a week before Scarver hits 12,000 miles. So I will change the oil over MLK weekend.