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Still Chasing The Problem , Oil Change and Off Road
Blog Date - 20 March 2012
If you read regularly you’ll know I’ve been having poor running problems with the 125 when it’s raining. It’s either electrical…or some kind of fuel issue as the damn thing starts on the choke when it stops in the rain. My first suspicion has been the side stand switch. It sits there on the side of the bike open to the elements and gets a jolly good soaking. Worse still, there’s a connector for the side stand switch right underneath the rear wheel arch which will get blasted from the spray from the rear wheel.
I decided to remove the side stand switch, eliminate the problem. With spanners in hand this was done. I also cut off the connecter, pulled the wires back so they can sit underneath the seat and soldered them together is this is a normally closed circuit when the side stand is up and the bike is running. Great, that should solve all my issues. All I had to do was wait for the next bout of rain.
Where the sidestand switch used to be...
It came, and the bike coughed, spluttered and came to an ungracious halt. Damn, wasn’t that then.
The next day was of course dry. I set to with the hosepipe and it kept on ticking over quite happily for some time no matter where I sprayed. I gave up but decided to hose off all the mud from the rear wheel arch and I noticed the tickover fall then the bike stopped. What the deuce? Another suspicion I have is that of water somehow getting into the airbox and blocking the filter, causing the bike to become starved of air. This may also cause the motor to run cold which would require the choke to start.
To be honest I was clutching at straws. None the less I removed the air filter and had a gander around in the airbox. The filter’s old and in need of replacement but it did not seem particularly wet. There was a tiny puddle of water from my enthusiastic spraying but not enough to suggest waterlogging. To eliminate this problem I removed some of the paper element.
I mean, it's not like there's nothing there, the metal gauze will stop anything big?
I know I shouldn’t do this. It does create the possibility of the motor running lean and too hot. This could burn out a valve. But it’s a means to an end and the filter’s due for replacement too. Again I await the rain…
The 125’s had yet another oil change. Every 1,200 miles I do it, and it seems to come round all too often. I’ve done it so many times now it’s routine…sump plug out…drain oil…sump plug in and tighten to 11 foot pounds…pour out 900cc’s oil into measuring jug…pour into bike…run bike…wait…check oil…done. The manual reckons it’s 1,000 cc’s of oil for a regular change, but according to my dipstick that’s too much, 900 cc’s is just about right.
And I’ve been to Southport today. There’s a great trail or track from Southport back to Burscough called Longmeanygate. It’s not hard, a dead straight gravel and dirt track through totally flat farmland but it’s a couple of miles long and means I can get my speed up and bounce along, admiring the trail of dust I create in my mirrors. I know I’m no good off road but this road makes me feel good and covers the bike in a patina of light brown and orange dust. I stop after and look at the bike and pretend I’ve been to some far off desert and ridden a thousand miles of dust. My imagination does run wild at times.
Reader's Comments
Ali said :-
Did the air filter fix work? I'm having serious problems with mine, same issue. It just can't deal with moist air or rain, but more the moist air.
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