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2010 Dear VTwin Mama, Dear Intruder, "It sounds like the writer has a charging problem, perhaps compounded by a bad battery. First he/she needs to determine the condition of the battery, it should be fully charged than load tested. If the battery passes, then he should check the charging system. The letter doesn't provide much info but my guess is he has dead battery to start with ... once the bike is jump started it either isn't charging the battery, so when the lights are switched on, the battery can't provide enough power to keep the ignition alive. Or the battery is so far gone that it can't accept and hold a charge. If the battery is good and the bike is charging the next step would be to look for a dead short in the lighting circuit." So, there you have a few steps to consider and we're hoping it will lead to the solution! – Mama Saturday, January 9 For the person having electronic problems with your 1400 Intruder. Go to www.IntruderAlert.com. There is a tech section just for 1400s and the guys on there should be able to help you out if there is some common problem with the 1400. – D. (note from Mama: what a great reminder that there are lots of wonderful boards specific to a make/model. On the VTM site, you'll find those the Help By Make/Model page.) A follow-up from Intruder: Thank you for your fast response on my problem with my Intruder. I have ordered a new battery as my old one was charging up to 13.48 volts. While the bike was running I put it on charge from main power and it went up to 14.28 but within half an hour it had lost charge, back down to 12 volts. I am led to believe this is not enough to turn over the engine on a 1400. Once the new battery is fitted I will retest the charging system and go through the lighting circuit as advices by yourself. I will get back to you. Thank you once again for your help. I find your website very helpful. – Intruder (Stones) Monday, January 18 Dear VTwin Mama, Dear Intruder, Air cooling is simply a function of "fins" on various engine sections, like the cylinders, that offer more surface area for air to flow over and dissipate the heat generated in the engine. The more power a motorcycle has, the more heat it produces, and thus an oil-cooler is introduced on some models to help at higher temps. Water-cooling systems introduce a jacket of liquid around the cylinders but then one has extra parts like the pump, hoses, radiator, fluid expansion tank, and maybe even a cooling fan. While more complex overall, the motorcycle shouldn't overheat in stop/start traffic. It's pretty easy to know when your motorcycle is overheating in stop/start traffic ... you can feel more heat gathering at the cylinders (at your thighs) and the bike will start "bucking" a bit when you use the throttle to move forward. It's time to pull over, turn it off, and let it cool down. So that begs the question whether your oil cooler is working. On the parts diagram I noted above I see the cooler with fins but don't see a thermostat (which is incorporated into some oil coolers). I quick call to the local Suzuki dealer's service department will get you your answer on a thermostat. One thing I noted when I re-read through the salient section in Mark Zimmerman's The Essential Guide to Motorcycle Maintenance is that if the bike is dirty with grease, dirt, and oil, that that film "will not conduct or radiate heat very efficiently." Now, on to your oil question. One should stick with the recommended weight. Overfilling an engine is as bad as running a motorcycle under-filled. Old oil simply can't remove some of the heat as easily. Because oil also holds crud created by the combustion process in suspension, a clogged oil filter will do your bike in as well. All oil purchased should carry the API specification, which includes the performance rating and viscosity. Again, a call to the local dealer will cough up the answer on minimum API standards quickly ... when in doubt. A lot of folks change to a synthetic oil ... Mark says that "if you run the bike hard, under extreme conditions, or if you sometimes inadvertently over-extend your oil change intervals," that you may wish to consider going to a synthetic. – Mama Monday, January 18 Dear VTwin Mama, Dear Jackie, Most modern tires also have wear bars molded into the design ... these run parallel to the sidewall ... if the tire tread is at the same level as the wear bars, it's time to change the tire. Another method is to measure the tread at its worst spot. It shouldn't be less less than 1/8" (3.175 millimeters). If your rear tire appears in good shape by the methods outlined above, a credible shop mechanic should be able to tell you approximately how many more kms you have left, and then you can make the decision on when to change it. For some, the distance to a repair shop is further away and sacrificing some available tire tread makes more sense than making another trick in "x" amount of kms. – Mama Sunday, March 14 Dear
VTwin Mama, Dear Richard, While CFMOTO is the OEM, QLink received a license to market the V5 under the name Legacy 250 and it is the exact same bike. QLink began designing much needed accessories, like a windshield and luggage rack ... and in looking at their site, I see not only an Owner's Manual, but a Service Manual as well. So, did QLink go one step further and write a Service Manual or is it just the Owner's Manual with added parts diagrams and parts lists? $75 for a factory service manual is not unusual, but you may wish to call QLink in Grapevine, TX at 1-866-626-8073 to inquire. If it's nothing more than diagrams and parts lists then those are free at the CFMOTO links I show above. – Mama Thursday, March 25 Dear VTwin Mama, Dear Anon, Good Morning VTwin Mama, I like tinkering with things and am a
penniless university student, so is there any chance I could do this
myself? I checked out the gas tank ... it's empty but there are some
tiny rust spots in there and some mild buildup of, um, crusty crud on
the sides... Any advice for this rank beginner would be appreciated!
Thanks! Dear Anna, You definitely should be concerned about crud in and around the tank, as anything loose could try to move through the fuel lines into the carburetor and clog up the system. I found this tank cleaning/rust removal thread on the "All Things Motorcycle" site ... gives you inexpensive ideas on cleaning as well as the more sophisticated methods. Ok, once you've got the tank cleaned up you need to pull the spark plugs and put new ones in ... you can call the local Yamaha dealer for availability and price. Then I'd check the air cleaner filter element and hope that it's in good enough shape that you can simply clean it. I doubt the battery is any good ... you can bring that to the dealer to test ... by some miracle it might still be able to hold a charge, but I wouldn't bet the bank on that. Once you've got that sorted out, put new gas in the tank and see if it will fire up. If it does, great, but I'd add some carb cleaner to the gas tank (available from any auto parts store) so that moves through the fuel system and helps to further clean it as the carb could be gunked up. Meanwhile you'll need to take a good look at the tires and see if they are any good. A bike that sits on its tires in the same spot for that long could have developed rot or weak spots. Check the sidewalls for cracks (bad sign) and the general tread depth at all points (when you place the edge of a quarter in the thread, it should at least reach the top of Washington's head!). If you got the DS7 running, then you'll need to warm it up, shut 'er down, and drain the oil, replace, and replace the oil filter. As you can see there will definitely be some cash needed to get this bike running correctly and there's lots to look at. Parts diagrams can be found on BikeBandit.com. I'm thinking that there must be other riders on campus and a way for you to put out a message for assistance ... there may be people out there willing to help on such an interesting project just for the fun of it! – Mama Monday, April 19 I have some very good info on gas tank restoration. On another site called Two Wheel Females, go to the "Garage Talk" forum, and look for the following two topics: The Ongoing Resto Project by Kitsune, and Kit's doing it again. If you go to the last posts of the second one, she talks about a proven method and product for cleaning the gas tank. Both projects have been well documented, including great pics. She gives many tricks and tips they have learned along the way. Well worth your read. Good luck, and let us know how you do. – Condor (note from Mama: thanks for pointing this out!) Tuesday, April 20 If it starts fine in neutral it should be ok. I've had two 920s now and I've had problems with both side stand switches. My first one, I had to get down there and wiggle the switch in and out and spray it with wd40 and play around with it a bunch of times, before it would work once I put it in gear. The 920 I have now, someone took the switch off of it and then attached two of the wires together and left the third by itself. You have to be careful which two you attach together otherwise you're attaching a positive to a negative and that's no good. Try playing with the side stand switch and see if it'll go. If so, either replace the switch or take the switch off and attach the wires, then tape them. Cheers, – Wayne (note from Mama: while the original letter is from a number of years ago, observations are useful to review and see if it matches a problem you are scratching your head over!) Tuesday, June 1 Dear VTwin Mama, Dear Gwen, Friday, June 4 Dear VTwin Mama, Dear Anon,
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