A truly eclectic week for us at mono motorcycles this week, with plenty of problem solving & practical engineering from Daniel Morris. With Triumph, Ducati, Honda, Yamaha & BMW joining us this week & a major re-working of the workshop space; it really proves that variety is the spice of life.

On Monday we welcomed a Triumph rocket 3 into the workshop. Her owner is seeking some physical & electrical modifications, in addition to remedying minor dents in the tank. Daniel carefully removed the Triumph tank badges, prior to the tank being taken to Jamie Gladman of J.A.A Custom Paint. However, concerns over the amount of glue needed to be removed from the back of the tank badges & potentially damaging their integrity, has meant we have ordered replacements.

The new fork parts arrived for the very bright Honda Hornet we completed a valve clearance service on last week. Therefore, the Honda Hornet was lifted up on to the abba Skylift to remove, strip & replace the stanchions, seals & shims. Once out on the road, the little Hornet was buzzing along very nicely & the front feels much more compliant on the road.

Friend & supporter of mono motorcycles Colin, has brought his Triumph Adventure to join us. The Triumph Adventurer had not been run for about 12 months & the instructions were to get it running correctly, replace the battery & arrange an MOT.

The initial assessment showed the bike was only running on two cylinders instead of three (triple 900 motor) Upon removing the spark plugs, we found the electrode had disappeared on 1 cylinder. A compression test confirmed no damage had been done (very lucky!)

Once the spark plug issue had been ascertained & the Triumph Adventurer was running from a remote fuel tank, the motorcycle still didn’t want to run smoothly. Therefore, a carburettor strip & clean was undertaken. Once the carbs had been stripped, cleaned & replaced, the Triumph now runs beautifully & is just awaiting an MOT. 

The Yamaha XS400 we rewired a few months ago came back to us with a rather odd fault. Our customer called to explain he had a fuel leak. From the onset we thought this was odd, as we had not touched the carbs or fuel system & we had given it’s thorough road test before handing it back. Upon inspection we could see the fuel had leaked at some point as there was a mark on the engine, however when we ran it, there was no leak? This was highly unusual. It wasn’t until Daniel noticed the oil light flickering that the penny dropped.

Switching the XS400 off to avoid any damage to the engine, Daniel removed the oil filler to find the engine filled to the top with petrol! Somehow the fuel had got past the fuel tap, through the carbs & into the sump! Nothing else for it, the carbs needed to come off for a closer look, along with the fuel tap. 

With the carbs stripped, it was noted that there was some wear in the float needles so these were subsequently replaced & the float levels & air screws set to their factory settings. 

Next the fuel tap, or to give this particular tap it’s correct name, a petcock valve. A Petcock valve is fundamentally a fuel tap which remains in the on position all the time. However, there is a vacuum operated valve in the rear of the tap. & in an operating mode, this is pulled open via a vacuum pipe connected to the intake manifold. On starting the motorcycle the vacuum draws a diaphragm open allowing fuel to pass through the tap to the carbs & as soon as the bike stops, this valve shuts off the supply. 

The next issue we came across is that the fuel tank is not from this XS400 model, but an earlier XS500 & therefore procuring the correct kit was a challenge. Once a new kit was obtained & fitted, the XS400 was road tested. The difference in performance & the power with the carbs set up correctly
was instant ! However, upon re-checking & following the road test, the oil level had risen slightly. This made Daniel ponder further as to what else was causing the XS400 to now be running too rich & how come the fuel level was rising on riding?

Daniel pulled the plugs & on the right hand cylinder, the plug was soaked. It was then that Daniel realised what was happening. Daniel used a clear piece of tube as the vacuum instead of the black one & sucked the petcock valve into the open position & there it was, petrol coming out of the back of the diaphragm straight into the right hand cylinder. After stripping the tap down again another couple of times Daniel decided to purchase a new tap. The new tap is now on order from the good old USA, so looks like the XS400 will be with us a little bit longer! 

Towards the end of our week, Sam from GT4 dropped his very tidy BMW S1000RR in for chain & sprockets.

Our dear friend Alan brought his friends Yamaha scooter in for heated grips & he is now interested in a set, as he felt the addition of the heated grips was a “game changer”!

The Ducati 996 which has been with us for quite some time, is now in its final stages of its full restoration. The Ducati 996 looks fantastic with its bodywork in place & we are very excited about returning her to our customer upon completion.

Our workshop has seen some more major changes this week, as we have now built a designated reception & waiting area. Katy’s Dad did the lion share of the construction & we are always grateful for his expertise when it comes to building. Katy’s Mum was on hand too to paint walls. As always we are so very grateful for Katy’s parents support of mono motorcycles & are humbled by their generosity.

Our events calendar was released last week & our first event is only a few weeks away now. We are opening our doors on Saturday 9th February for our ‘Thank You’ morningat the mono motorcycles workshop. Free Tea, Coffee & cake will be available to all attendees who join us to celebrate our first year at the mono motorcycles workshop. We look forward to welcoming you on the day.

As always, for all your motorcycling needs, contact Daniel or Katy on T: 01243 576212 / 07899 654446 or through our contact page.