george formby
29th May 2012, 11:15
Or, an idiot in the bush. My weekend....
In the interest's of fellow DT owners I fatefully tested my bikes ability on a variety of terrain on Sunday. It performed flawlessly in the bush, up & down steep hills, through deep mud & even got me home home in one piece through 50k's of very slick forest trails in the pouring rain after the sun had gone down. Admittedly I did not see much of the trail but plenty of trees & bush.
The only area I found the bike wanting was it's inability to run under water. Within a few feet of landing a lovely Pastranaesque leap into a creek I found a hole which was exactly head stock deep or in the old money, up to the elastic on my underpants. The bike floats a bit too, clever.
For your edification, here is how you get them running again.
First, sit on the river bank in your socks & underpants for 30 minutes while you wait for somebody to get a screw driver so you can take the side panel off to get your tools. Once this is achieved take off the air filter cover, remove air filter, tad poles & small eels. Squeeze mud & twigs out of air filter, replace. Next, remove the little doofus between the air filter & carburetor. Once the cascade has stopped you can loosen the wee screw at the base of the carburetor to allow more of the creek to return home. While you wait for this, get your first aid kit out so you can put plasters on your hands once the spark plug has been removed. This done, kick the bike over 97 times, no more, no less.
Not much more to do now. Penultimately, using a burly companion you need to get the bike vertical so that the 11 ltrs of water in the exhaust can be turned into air. One person holds the back brake on (me), the burly one then lifts the bike into a vertical position putting most of it's weight onto your shoulder (mine). It's worth it to see how much water comes out, I may be prosecuted for erosion...
With this all done, check the spark. If, when you put the plug cap on, hold the plug against the motor & then kick it over you get the feeling of being viciously hoofed in the elbow by a pit pony then all is well. In hindsight I won't hold it next time, just leave it dangling against the cylinder & look for that little spark of life. Put the plug back into it's virginaly elusive hole, replace plug lead & put more plasters on. Now kick it until your leg falls off. The bike will hint that it wants to fire but don't be fooled.
The feeling of shattered bone & numbness made the next & final step in resuscitating my girlfriends pride & joy harder than it needs to be. Deep mud & a track which weaves between trees is not ideal either.
Attach a strop to the rear of the Toyota Hilux you always ride with & wrap the other end once around the handle bar cross brace, in the centre, this is important. Hold the loose end on the bar grip with your left hand, the one that hurts, so you can release it after you have fallen over. You will fall over because the strop you so carefully placed in the centre will immediately & unexpectedly slide up the mounting brace. After a number of unsuccessful tows to bump start the bike, each faster & scarier than the last, turn the petrol back on. It will happily fire into life immediately, as if nothing had happened.
Your welcome.
P.S. Don't worry about the water in the headlight, it will drain of it's own accord.
In the interest's of fellow DT owners I fatefully tested my bikes ability on a variety of terrain on Sunday. It performed flawlessly in the bush, up & down steep hills, through deep mud & even got me home home in one piece through 50k's of very slick forest trails in the pouring rain after the sun had gone down. Admittedly I did not see much of the trail but plenty of trees & bush.
The only area I found the bike wanting was it's inability to run under water. Within a few feet of landing a lovely Pastranaesque leap into a creek I found a hole which was exactly head stock deep or in the old money, up to the elastic on my underpants. The bike floats a bit too, clever.
For your edification, here is how you get them running again.
First, sit on the river bank in your socks & underpants for 30 minutes while you wait for somebody to get a screw driver so you can take the side panel off to get your tools. Once this is achieved take off the air filter cover, remove air filter, tad poles & small eels. Squeeze mud & twigs out of air filter, replace. Next, remove the little doofus between the air filter & carburetor. Once the cascade has stopped you can loosen the wee screw at the base of the carburetor to allow more of the creek to return home. While you wait for this, get your first aid kit out so you can put plasters on your hands once the spark plug has been removed. This done, kick the bike over 97 times, no more, no less.
Not much more to do now. Penultimately, using a burly companion you need to get the bike vertical so that the 11 ltrs of water in the exhaust can be turned into air. One person holds the back brake on (me), the burly one then lifts the bike into a vertical position putting most of it's weight onto your shoulder (mine). It's worth it to see how much water comes out, I may be prosecuted for erosion...
With this all done, check the spark. If, when you put the plug cap on, hold the plug against the motor & then kick it over you get the feeling of being viciously hoofed in the elbow by a pit pony then all is well. In hindsight I won't hold it next time, just leave it dangling against the cylinder & look for that little spark of life. Put the plug back into it's virginaly elusive hole, replace plug lead & put more plasters on. Now kick it until your leg falls off. The bike will hint that it wants to fire but don't be fooled.
The feeling of shattered bone & numbness made the next & final step in resuscitating my girlfriends pride & joy harder than it needs to be. Deep mud & a track which weaves between trees is not ideal either.
Attach a strop to the rear of the Toyota Hilux you always ride with & wrap the other end once around the handle bar cross brace, in the centre, this is important. Hold the loose end on the bar grip with your left hand, the one that hurts, so you can release it after you have fallen over. You will fall over because the strop you so carefully placed in the centre will immediately & unexpectedly slide up the mounting brace. After a number of unsuccessful tows to bump start the bike, each faster & scarier than the last, turn the petrol back on. It will happily fire into life immediately, as if nothing had happened.
Your welcome.
P.S. Don't worry about the water in the headlight, it will drain of it's own accord.