Suzuki Fz50 Barrel repair.

[BooG]

So, the ped cost £200. A new barrel, £160. The Barrel has corroded, not terribly, but enough to eat away one of the slanted thread bores into which two bolts fasten the exhaust flange to the barrel. My plan is to drill out the old hole, and weld a nut of appropriate size into its place to provide a bore for the exhaust bolt. Am I barking up the wrong tree with this? Might as well attempt a cheap fix why not? Arc or mig weld? As you can see, two fins have broke off also. Maybe I'll weld some more on at the same time.

[Justin B.]

You ever fix this?

[BooG]

Am about half way thru at the mo. Have been working away and I put my back out a few days ago, so its on hold. I have built out the broken area with weld which I will grind back so its flush with the original surface. I intend to drill a new hole and tap it so it will take the original bolt, and that should do it. I'll post a photo when I've got it done.

[Justin B.]

That oughta work!  I like that idea better than trying to tack on a nut...  Sorry to hear about your back.  As someone who survives on pain killers and muscle relaxers I can relate...

[BooG]

Started work on this sucker yesterday, back support on and painkillers taken! Gonna have to charge up the battery. Took it out...pretty small 12volt box with bayonet type connectors. Will this charge up OK with my usual charger that I use on the R65?
In the meantime I cleaned up the head and removed/de-coked the piston.
This is giving me the urge to do my pushrod tube seals!!

[Justin B.]

There's a formula I can't remember that takes the amp-hour rating and tells how much current for how long...  I would imagine that if your charger had a 1-2 amp range it ought to be OK for a few hours.

I found this on the 'net:

Battery Charging Voltages and Currents:

Most flooded batteries should be charged at no more than the "C/8" rate for any sustained period. "C/8" is the battery capacity at the 20-hour rate divided by 8. For a 220 AH battery, this would equal 26 Amps. Gelled cells should be charged at no more than the C/20 rate, or 5% of their amp-hour capacity.

Charging at 15.5 volts will give you a 100% charge on Lead-Acid batteries. Once the charging voltage reaches 2.583 volts per cell, charging should stop or be reduced to a trickle charge. Note that flooded batteries MUST bubble (gas) somewhat to insure a full charge, and to mix the electrolyte. Float voltage for Lead-Acid batteries should be about 2.15 to 2.23 volts per cell, or about 12.9-13.4 volts for a 12 volt battery. At higher temperatures (over 85 degrees F) this should be reduced to about 2.10 volts per cell.

[BooG]

Thanks for the charging advice. 6volt electrickery!! 0.5ma charging rate. Charging up now. Gonna put it all back together on Friday and start it up. I'll post an update then.

[Justin B.]

Post a pic of your thread rebuilding.

[BooG]

Why does everything take at least twice as long to do? My tap and die set is a bit rubbish. It is made of soft metal which is actually distorting under pressure! As my girlfriend says..."Buy cheap...buy twice"!

[Justin B.]

Oooo, you need to keep her unless it just applies to HER stuff!    Yeah, ain't much worse than a cheap tap.  I've found that unless it's pretty soft steel, or aluminum, a good sharp USA made (at least, non chinese) tap is almost a necessity.  As soon as you get it sorted post a pic of your surgery if for no other reason than to assure everybody that no matter how buggered something looks there is always hope!  

[BooG]

Here is the repair. Not finished yet, but it should be capable of sercuring the exhaust. Difficult drilling the hole for the tap. The exhaust port is at a really strange angle, so had to improvise a jig to hold it. Couldn't finish on Fri because some of the pattern parts have the wrong thread sizes so will have to wait to return them...new shock, mirrors.
How much lateral play should a con-rod have?
Can't upload the photo for some reason....

[Justin B.]

Check the attachment size.

[BooG]

Just got my Vespa through its MOT. Have a bit of work to do on the R65 and then I'll be returning to the Suzuki ped again. I dropped the BMW whilst changing a rear tyre a while ago, and it fell on the rear bevel box. It has developed a slight rear wobble. I think I may have damaged either the driveshaft or the UV joint, so will have to check this out.

[BooG]

Rear wheel wobble turned out to be the tyre not sitting in the rim correctly. Fixed it with lots of soap and 85 psi! I wore goggles just in case. How much milage should a rear continental have in it?

[Justin B.]

I'm not sure I understand.  Are you wanting to know how many miles to expect?  Hard telling without knowing the riding style, which tire, etc.  The last Contis I ran were Conti Twins and I got about 4500-5000 out of a rear - but that was 25+ years ago...