Andymann

How is it that countries like Rwanda and Eritrea were able to field teams of 6 riders and we only had one single rider? Did they get special concessions as developing nations, or could we have also fielded a team of 6, but just didn't have the support from our Federation to make it happen?

What tour are you doing?

When I bought my 125LC I got it running and it had a terrible noise from the clutch. Pulled off the cover and found that the main drive pinion nut had come loose and made a real mess of the threads on the crankshaft. I knew eventually that I would have to replace the crank, but in the interim, I carefully cleaned up the threads as best I could with a triangular needle file, found a new(ish) nut in my spares and reassembled everything with Loctite after careful cleaning with the Loctite activation solvent (acetone!). For the next three years I waited for the nut to come off and when I finally got round to putting in a new crankshaft, that nut was as tight as the day I put it on. Granted, your 690 makes way more power than a little 125, but don't underestimate the power of Loctite. Honestly, that motor is probably on the edge anyway. I would have given it a good flush, replaced that Stator Assembly, put on a new nut with Loctite and ridden the bike to see if it's actually what you want - it will probably use a bit of oil and smoke a bit, but at least then you can make an educated decision on whether you want to do a complete rebuild.

I'll definitely second your experience. When I was in my 20's everything had to be the best - I even fitted my IDT Giant OCR (not even a TCR) which never left the trainer with Campag Chorus because my Race bike had Campag Chorus. Crazy. Then I went for a holiday in Portugal and rented a Berg MTB - think it was a Decathlon special back in the day - Normal Deore with cable disk brakes. And I'll be damned if it didn't shift and brake as well as my XT bike back home. And since then, and of course as I have got older and probably care a bit less, Campag has made way for 105, brand name has made way for unbranded carbon and I don't find myself justifying R8k brakes when I am convinced I can get by with the ones I have. My oil should arrive today so Friday is the big brake mission!

https://www.bikebound.com/2025/09/09/feral-princess/?omhide=true

ish. Are my brakes really 10 years old! LOL maybe I do need new ones. Thanks. I was actually going to look for a way to strip them if I couldn't get them sorted - but only after I had installed new ones. Crazy that you cannot get rebuild kits

Has to be number 7 - Barry Sheene's number. He also pretty much came back from the dead and rode again.

I wanted him to do my TRX for me - he wasn't interested which I thought was odd. I would also like my XTZ done at some stage, but also not sure if he will do that. Quite an interesting character I hear

Thanks. Yup, many years ago I taught myself to bleed motorbike brakes by using a syringe to suck fluid from the the master cylinder down the line and out the caliper - you can hold the suction on the syringe with one hand, loosen the bleed nipple and suck out all the air, and tighten all in one go. Saved me from having to call my Mom to pump the lever! Works great, but on a bicycle I fear you won't have enough volume in the master cylinder. I already have a bleed kit, so I just need to order mineral oil. The second time I took it back, I did however notice there was oil under the dust cover where the brake line joins the lever so I asked them to cut a cm off the line, and replace the olive. Previously after an hour I had zero brakes - they wouldn't even respond to a pump. Now the joint is dry, but the lever is very spongy. But no wetness so that's a start. Sad thing is, I get the feeling that because my bike is an unbranded carbon frame, with older components and probably the last remaining triple chain ring XT groupset in SA ("you should remove the small ring, it will save you weight....") I think it got moved to the back of the line in favor of the BMC's that came in. They even asked me if the wheels were fake Rovals! Bought the frame from China, and bought everything else here on Bikehub, including the *genuine* Rovals, a new SID, and a few other bits and bobs, with only the Groupset from my trusty Scott Scale that transferred over. Was a brilliant project - I had great fun sourcing bits and it's a very very nice bike - super fast for what I need - 30-40km off-road Tri's. Nevertheless, I will tackle the bleed myself and test on Saturday. Hopefully I will have some good feedback!

Is your bike with Malcolm?

Thanks. The last resort before I bought new was to buy some mineral oil from Takealot and try myself. I have bled many bike clutches and brakes in my life so I figured I couldn't make it worse! My plan was to actually inject fluid from the bleed nipple with a syringe and pipe and then let it fill the bleed cup on the master cylinder, but maybe I must use your method. I did read on the net that you need to get the caliper really low - so I figured I would hang the entire bike from a bike stand with the bars as the highest point. But maybe I just need to remove the caliber! Thanks for the tip!

Interesting read this. I have been having a brake issue of late that no-one seems to be able to sort and the last bike shop who I took my bike to said it was sorted and when I picked the bike up and the lever went back to the bars again, casually said "Oh well you'll just need to buy new brakes then...." Its a set of XT brakes, but M785's so they are probably due for replacement - frustrating thing is it's just the rear one - front is fine, but the rear needs to be pumped two or three times before it bites and at best, when it does, it's very average. When it does bite, lever travel is fine until you need them again. Used to be fine until I replaced the pads and now it's just shite. They have been bled 3 times, twice at a bike shop which I am told is very good - I wasn't overly impressed - but that's not the discussion here. There are no leaks so it's pretty perplexing - so either the fluid is bypassing the seals in the master cylinder or there is some crazy trick to bleeding M785 brakes - but the Internet seems to think it's a fairly simple brake set to bleed. Nevertheless, seems like I will indeed need new brakes. Merlin has no stock, and there was a set on Bikehub but they have been sold. And R6k for a new Set of M8100's just seems crazy for the 40km Xterra rides I do. So maybe a set of these might just be the ticket.....

There were some lovely thumpers at the 1000 Bike Show this weekend. The guys are really taking the restorations to another level now.

If you can find an XR650 it will probably outlast everyone currently active on this forum!

......R17000 I can't think it's worth spending upwards of R25k. Problem is, you probably won't get your money back if you part it out - chances are you will be left like me with some random 125LC parts which no-one wants because all the desirable bits are already gone.

Dude I'm so bummed for you. You managed to end up with a real lemon. I don't know much about KTM costs but if you had damage like that on a Yamaha it would probably be a R20k exercise. Everything is repairable if you absolutely want that specific bike - but I'm not so sure it's worth chucking big money at hey

Myself. You are a Man with infinite patience.....

Even if it's ready after 57 you absolutely need to go to 58. Because - "Make them wait, it's number 58......."

Do the couriers work on an Oil Rig somewhere in the Atlantic possibly?

Sorry to be the bearer of bad news but this is sounding ominous. I'm thinking maybe you need to go and collect the bike from him and cut your losses. Stories about used parts from guys who owe people favors just isn't going to end well.

So while we wait in anticipation for the KTM news I bought more scrap over the weekend! When my '82 DT ran out of fuel I suspected that the tank had been lined badly so I had lost about 1L of volume - so I was on the hunt for a new tank. The '82 tank on the DT175 is different to the tanks on the earlier ones so when I spotted a tank amongst some spares in the background picture of a guy selling an '80 175 I call him. Yup, the tank was pretty good he said, but he wasn't going to sell it alone I had to buy the rolling chassis is was on. Fair enough - a lot of the '82 stuff is unique - forks, tank, frame, etc, but I lot is also interchangeable so I figured I would take what I could as backup for my '82 and then either sell or toss the rest in the skip. When I got there to collect, the tank was pure scrap, and to be fair he was pretty shocked so in the end we did a deal, where I bought the '80 he was originally advertising, another '80 175 with the blown motor and then the '82 rolling chassis..... The white bike actually runs and to be honest, runs like I remember they ran when I got my first one back in the day - the '82 175 I have just finished just doesn't seem right - even with a brand new engine. So the plan now is to build one good '80 175 with the parts I have, and then either sell it, or if it runs well then keep it. Who knows!

Snakes alive it's number 55.....

(K)eep (T)ime (M)anagement......

Waiting patiently........