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ROD¹ said :-
Lovely job Ian.
I can't wait to see the outfit finished.
I am sure you already know, but make sure you have plenty of adjustment on the mountings, as setting up the sidecar is not an exact science.
20/12/2025 12:31:02 UTC
ROD¹ said :-
20/12/2025 12:49:52 UTC
ROD¹ said :-
20/12/2025 12:50:11 UTC
ROD¹ said :-
I found these instructions useful when setting up a sidecar.
20/12/2025 12:51:18 UTC
nab301 said :-
Ian , some lovely lathe work there and Rod , some handy set up details too..
Nigel
20/12/2025 14:54:41 UTC
Glyn said :-
It’s alive! The Trumper has fired up 20 years since the last time. It runs very nicely but needs the carbs setting up to smooth it out and slow it down a little. Unfortunately, the rubber seals in the T pieces on the fuel feeds are leaking so more parts are on order. These 2 x T pieces link the fuel between the 3 carbs. I would have thought such parts would have been included in the carb service kits, rubber seals have a finite lifetime surely. I didn’t know they were there until fuel spilled out of the joints.
20/12/2025 20:07:40 UTC
kiwiJeff said :-
Hi Batties, winding up for Xmas and the family descending on us which is lovely but the Inazuma is a distraction as it is now a single cylinder bike! Having read Ren's Opus on Fuel Injected bikes which he wrote back in March 2020 I decided that this old man would take the plunge and buy a modern FI bike. Hmmm... Bike had been running normally got it out of shed to use starts ok then drops to one cylinder and stops! No FI failure lights on? Compression ok, spark ok, plug wet so why no go? Tank off to check coils, gave up on getting the high fuel pressure hose off a right little sod of a thing to get off, so just tilted tank to get at the rats nest of wires these bikes need to run. Both coils measure the same 4 ohms primary 23kohms secondary but secondary is meant to be 11.05 to 14.95kohms? 10kohm resistive plug? Manual doesn't mention it? Dont want to swap the coils over as getting them off looks like a mission so will just replace. Apart from the coil and plug and injector on the dud cylinder plus some wires what other sensor type bits are not used by both cylinders so if one runs those bits are ok? Excuse any thing I'm missing here I'm in learning mode here! Of course I can blame Ren for my problems but in the spirit of Xmas I'll forgive him. The Bandit with its four lovely carburetors and simple CDI continues to criss-cross the countryside with speed, aplomb and elegance! Progress! Bah humbug, hang on it's Xmas so I better take that back! I wish all the Batties a warm and merry Xmas and may all your Fuel Injections continue to squirt! Regards Jeff
20/12/2025 22:44:46 UTC
ROD¹ said :-
Spark plugs have been known to spark when checking them out of the engine and fail to spark under compression when they are returned to the engine.
Always try new plugs first and then move on to other likely causes of misfire or running on one cylinder.
The Inazuma is a very comfortable bike to cover distance on. ( I managed 714 miles in one day without problems).
20/12/2025 23:27:24 UTC
kiwiJeff said :-
Cheers Rod just checked that but no fix. I'm replacing the coils for the same reason might check all right with the multimeter on ohms but can't handle the high secondary voltages that are generated when running. The Inazuma parts availability out of China is very good. They were manufactured there and sold throughout Asia, good prices too although postage has gone up a bit over the years. My Inazuma has mostly been used on gravel roads since I bought it so has had a bit of a shaking and lots of dust and mud so the last 3000kms has been fairly hard so something could have shaken loose but was alright on the last 40 odd km ride home from the gravel on sealed roads? Regards Jeff
21/12/2025 00:30:33 UTC
Glyn said :-
Merry. Xmas Jeff and all others. I had my BMW lose a cylinder and it was the electrical plug fitting on top of the injector. If the spark plug is wet, it would suggest a lack of spark though. A Yamaha I had ran perfectly even though the coil resistances were a long way off.
21/12/2025 08:47:15 UTC
kiwiJeff said :-
Thanks Glyn, if one cylinder happily runs on the currently measured coil resistances why doesn't the other cylinder? I'm suspicious that swapping out the coils won't fix it but it's not a big cost to change them so have ordered a couple of coils on Aliexpress. regards Jeff
21/12/2025 09:57:32 UTC
Ian Soady¹ said :-
Many thanks for those Rod, it adds to and reinforces the huge pile of info I'm digesting. The mountings will be infinitely adjustable by using m14 high tensile studding as the adjusting medium. The only dodgy bit might be my welding....
Jeff - do you need to remove the coils to swap, can't you just change the connections and HT leads over?
21/12/2025 10:03:26 UTC
Upt'North ¹ said :-
KJ.
Firstly merry Christmas and secondly Suzuki's never fail, we'll almost never.
The fuel pipe on the STrom is really easy to unclip so I don't know why yours is so hard to do. Unless it's because you're working upside down.
Did you say the plug was wet? Someone mentioned it but I can't remember you saying.
Dependent on age, useage, mileage etc, you'll need to check all the hoses and connections once you can get in there. Like you I don't think it's the coil, but ya never know sport.
Have you changed the plugs?
Upt.
21/12/2025 10:21:22 UTC
Ian Soady¹ said :-
ps Rod that lean out specified is more than usually given - generally 1/2" at the steering head or 1/4" at the wheel rim. I'm planning on making a giant set square out of some square cut ply I have lying about as the usual instruction of a bob weight on a bit of string looks a bit hit-and-miss.
I made a little model out of card to get an initial idea of strut location.
21/12/2025 12:30:29 UTC
ROD¹ said :-
It's all looking good Ian.
I am pleased that you have lots of adjustment, as I am sure that the initial set up will need tweaking at some point.
The lean out of 1/2" I think is a good staring point for a lighter rider. I think ( but I am not sure ) that if you are a heavy rider or take a pillion the lean out is increased.
If I remember correctly the toe in is a balance between tyre wear and handling.
If the toe in is too little the bike will have heavy steering and will be tiring to ride,if the toe in is too much the bike will scrub the tyres.
This balance can be helped greatly with the use of square section tyres. Back in the day and Avon speedmaster rear tyre was fitted to the front wheel with reversed rotation.
I am sure you will have an interesting time setting the outfit up.
21/12/2025 21:43:54 UTC
Ian Soady¹ said :-
Having taken helpful comments re untidy console to heart, here is a cheap (less than £6) flyscreen from aliexpress. Makes it much tidier from the front but O probably need to fit some "wings" to conceal the wires etc from the side. The mounting brackets are a bit flimsy but will do the job I think.
Sorry about the background rubbish......
22/12/2025 12:02:53 UTC
Ian Soady¹ said :-
....and from the rider's viewpoint:
22/12/2025 12:01:56 UTC
nab301 said :-
@ Glyn great work with the Triumph!
@ Kiwi Jeff , I have a service CD for the Inazuma so will check it out. If you go for the basics, induction , compression ignition , exhaust I guess it could for whatever reason be low compression (although I see you've checked that) but don't rule out a fuel injector . It could be stuck open , dribbling , partially blocked or low fuel pressure (blocked filter) could cause it not to atomise correctly . Ideally remove the injectors and get a professional to check the spray pattern or the DIY method , remove from the throttle body and point it into a jar with the fuel lines and electrical connection still attached, obviously at your own risk ....
I'm guessing both injectors fire at the same time .
If it cut out and won't run on both cylinders , possible fuel issues? How old is the petrol ?
Nigel
27/12/2025 17:46:14 UTC
kiwiJeff said :-
Thanks Nigel. My son-in-law and I have been rechecking my checks (he is over from Adelaide with family) and arrived at the same conclusion as you so will remove the injector and make sure it is spraying ok. Will also take the rocker cover off and check we haven't got a stuck valve it's easy enough to do although I checked the tappets about 1000km ago and clearances were perfect! I have a manual that I downloaded from manuals.com so have good info about how to proceed with fault finding but appreciate your advice. Would like to be out riding not trying to make the bike go!! Petrol was about 3 weeks old so should be OK. What's your advice about using an injector cleaner though the fuel tank lots of different advice on the web about the pros and cons of using it so unsure if it's a good or bad thing to try? Regards Jeff
28/12/2025 09:15:10 UTC
Ren - The Ed¹ said :-
I'm watching this with interest KiwiJeff. I certainly can't see any harm in running through the better known brands of potions, lotions, cleaners, and solvents. Stick with the known brands, lord knows what seal eating carcinogens might be in the dodgy no name offerings
28/12/2025 16:12:13 UTC
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