Bill_on_a_bike

"Did you hear about her double header at Jamal's 18th?". Ali G in da house. Classic.

Battery seems to hold charge fine, starts strong. It just feels like you've backed off the throttle, no big mechanical crash bang wollop, just dropd off power momentarily.

The other thing, which actually now you mention it probably started at the same time is that when she starts she auto-high idles for maybe 20 seconds then drops back down to ~1500rpm. A few weeks back when she dropped down again she idled erratically then died and wouldn't re-start. After i recharged the battery she did the same thing, so I let her sit for a minute then tried again, only this time I kept the revs high a smidge longer with the throttle, 10 second more tops, and then she behaved compeltely as normal. She's done this once or twice since. I put this down to it having got a bit colder (a few weeks ago it was actually cold at 7am).

Just ticked over 31k. *braces for bad news*

Air filter was changed about 3 months ago, for a completely generic standard one (and replaced what looked like a standard one). Exhaust can is after market, remus (came with the bike) but I didn't used to have this problem. Oil and filter changed at the same time, not likely to be relevant. I didn't change the spark plugs........would they do this if they were on the way out? Didn't get a lot of history with the bike so I don't know how old they are.

Last few rides I've been on I've noticed the power delivery just has not been smooth in lower gears. Giving it half a fist full in 1st or second the bike accelerates, then feels exactly like you've momentarily taken your hand off the throttle, then carries on again. At motorway speeds she's completely normal, pulls like a train in top etc. Bike is a 2004 SV650, fuel injected otherwise I'd already have stripped the carbs. I'm out of my depth with fuel injection. I've seen some reports of a fuel pump pressure regulator not being super reliable on these bikes? I guess it doesn't pump enough fuel to meet demand for a moment? What's the best way to investigate these things? I can't simulate the stutter when she's standing still. All help very much appreciated.

That is a cracking idea. *rummages for old brass taps*

My Uncle has been a self employed gardener for about 25 years. As a kid I would help him on bigger jobs at the weekend, but I did ENDLESS leafleting. Choose the right area, employing a gardener needs spare cash, you'll know which streets near you this might be.....the ones with the electronic gates and 24 hour private security When we were leafleting quite often people would see it come through the door then come outside and ask him for a quote for this that and the other there and then so be prepared to do that. He did usually get a fair number of phone calls too. He also gardens for a few people who have second homes near him and aren't there all the time, not sure how you find these people but definitely worth asking them. Present well, obviously you don't need to wear a suit but be reasonably clean

It can't be as effective, I wonder if it's just one of those lazy / less scary to the uninitiated options they put on the instructions. I wonder if it would have a small effect cleaning the back on the intake valve and maaaaybe piston crown. Not so bigger issue now but back in the day when you stripped down your A series to polish the ports, a squirt of carb cleaner in the bell mouth was a lot easier.

Just be aware that it will strip a lot of other things, paints, plastics, etc. Take the carbs off the bike, completely away from the bike, disconnect drain hoses etc, then dismantle and clean. I have a cheap oven tray for doing stuff like this in, collect all the black gunk that will run off. The other way to use it is start the bike with the air filter removed, give it a squeeze of revs to open the throttle and squirt the cleaner straight in. the revs will drop but if you don't spray for long they'll recover.

Trick looking radiator cockercas. Is that stock? (Spot the dull guy that designs radiators for a living)

How does one work at all? Does that pin go through something? I need me some more scrap. Nothing wrong with grinding down allen keys!

Agree about the zoom. To get good quality pics zoomed in you need a very expensive lens (those great big canon L series lenses) I bought a cheaper 80-300mm lens for my DSLR, it's alright for £80 second hand, great if all you want is to capture something far away, but you do end up with blur/ light seperation with cheap optics. Stick to a ~55mm lens (same rough focal length as the human eye) they tend to look best. I would highly reccomend a second hand, last generation DSLR. I have a 400D and it's not the best thing ever but the speed and ease with which you can adjust everything that matters compared to a compact is crazy. Mine's always in manual and you get very fast at judging settings for something. You can also use 'bracketing' where it will take three shots in quick sucession but with 3 different settings (3 different f stops for example).

So I bought a cheap 'buzz box' welder a few months ago. A day or two later we were chucking out some 40mm box section at work.....well it was rude not to. Has now had a coat of hammerite. And yes it would have been easier to go out and buy one Anyone else made, bodged anything from scratch?

The course seems to be aimed at Children. Is that where someone like me is likely to start? With 14 year olds on CB500s? Or is that just reassurance that kids can do it too? Apart from that, £200 for half a day all in sounds pretty good