'98 Suzuki FX 650 Freewind.

[Bonez]

Ran the tank down to reserve this morning. Just over 350kms which is pretty good going for 14ltr main on all different types of roads and speeds ranging from 130kph down to walking pace. Reserve is 4.5ltrs. Seems be a battery/charging issue which I need to investigate further. Put some silicone sealent on the plastic nuts which hold a few electric components in place in place under the seat. They move but no where as much as before. I'm looking at putting a headlight isolating switch in for when testing things out. Headlight doesn't need to be on during the day with the two led driving lights running.

[Bonez]

Returned stock back to Para Rubber store then popped in to Super Cheap Autos and gpt a 4ltr pack of dngine oil. Then off to Bunnings for chain and a matching clip to fit to the XF and attached tothe key ring. Being an older m/c the ignition switch doesn't lock the key in place when in the on position. Worked out real well. I was traveling between Pahiatua and Woodvile one night and a whole key set including house keys came out of the ignition on another bike I had years ago. Don't want it to happen again.

[Navy Boy]

That's good going on the fuel consumption front Bonez. My DR gets around 20Km/litre so you're doing a little better than mine.

I ended up buying a 2007 Bandit 650s (The Liquid Cooled model) off Trademe. Collected last night. The ride back to Trentham was rather enjoyable all told and the bike feels better than I expected.

[Bonez]

That's good going on the fuel consumption front Bonez. My DR gets around 20Km/litre so you're doing a little better than mine.

I ended up buying a 2007 Bandit 650s (The Liquid Cooled model) off Trademe. Collected last night. The ride back to Trentham was rather enjoyable all told and the bike feels better than I expected.

Yeah the first time I filled it it was not fully topped up. On the latest runs I filled it up to about 1cm below the filler cap lip so a few extra liters.

The Bandit will be a hoot I'd imagine on lesser traveled roads. You kow the ones out side of city limits.Reasonably big framed as well so plenty of room to move around. Hope you enjoy it.

[Bonez]

Got some decals made up. Half hieght "FX" for in front of the 650 on the side covers and "SUZUKI" for the header heat sheild. Popped in to the local Suzuki outlet and spotted a brand new DR650. Boy they are small.

Inspected the lower suspention pivot bolt lock nut which wasn't doing it's job. Undid it and found it was loser than it should have been so hatched a plan to get things sorted. Went through my spares box and found a castlelated nut which I trimmed down with a cutting disk and painted black using Duravalve. Found a waffer washer and suitable flat washer. These were fitted and now there is a ton of thread of the bolt protruding. Put some white paint on it for monotoring purposes.

[Bonez]

Heavens were pouring down this morning. Decided to fit a head light cut out switch. Rumaged through my electical bits n bobs and found a suitable switch. Had a quick look at the wiring diagram to ID the correct wire, connect the switch to it and test. Perfect. Then modified a mounting box inside the top cowling. Fitted the switch to the box and applied a bit of super glue to secure in place. Easily accessable, isolated from water/mud damage and handy when when trouble shooting electrical gremlins.

[Bonez]

Going through one of my boxes of m/c stuff and came across a set of Daytona heated hand grips. Got these in the '90s off an old riding buddy who got out of m/cs at the time. Just need to find a switched power lead, hook the earth up, mount the switch and done. Just in time for this cooler weather. I'll bench test them first while I've got a spare 12v m/c battery out.

Edit-Tested out fine. Switch has 3 positions-Off, Start, On. Start is the hottest setting. To get the area warmed up I guess then switch to the on position which is about half as hot. I'll fit in some sort of indicator light/led and maybe an inline fuse/switch unit. Need to tidy up some manky wiring a previous owner did when they fitted the driving LEDs.

[Bonez]

Decided to see what was wrong with the Givi top box brake lights so pulled the mounting assy out. Easy job two screws for the the assy and another for getting access to the bulbs. One problem was the connect on the thin circuitboard had rattled off so connected it then hooked it up to the spare 12v battery I have just for testing purposes and three bulbs lit up. A wiggle on the fourth and that lit up as well. I noticed one was a bit intermittent so dragged my soldering gear out and went over the solder joints. By this time one bulb decided to fuck off to goodness knows were leaving it slim contecters on the the board. Wasn't too worried as I'd found one of these bulbs a couple of days ago and wondered what it was used for. Grabbed the spare bulb and it took a while before I figured out the leads were folded back over the bulb. I nitially thought it was toast as well. Fitted it and tested the assy. Sweet all four worked but one was still a bit touchy. On closer inspection one of the legs had broken so carefully tinned the lower bit of the leg on bulb and the piece protruding from the circuit board then joined them with solder, tested and all four bulbs were stable.

Next was replacing the cable. It was a bit of a mess really with three bits of wire joined and different gauges. I found a suitable gauge length that would run from the lower spring loaded contacts to the wire coming of the circuit board. Also had to repair one of the connections that sits behind the stop light assy. housing using super glue, black silicone sealant and a small plastic cap I had in my plastic spares box. The screw in retainers for these contacts were both seize so elected to sand off a bit of coating and solder the wires on to them. Pulled the new cable through the top box grommet. Assembled the brake light assy, soldered the wires from that to the replacement wiring, wrapped insulation tape around the joins as I had no heatshrink and cocooned it in black silicone sealant.

Tested it out while the bike was running an works as it should and of course I found the erent bulb while packing everything away. Found some 20mm ali tape to hold the replacement cable out of the way. Looks like someone had used half a roll of duct tape on the original installation going in a awefully converluted route. Still have to clean the remaining duct tape residue but that can wait till tomorrow.

Very pleased with the outcome.


Roast for the evening meal and I'm going to enjoy that....

[Brainflex]

Have you seen this thread on the Freewind?

https://advrider.com/f/threads/looki...riders.706519/

[Bonez]

Have you seen this thread on the Freewind?

https://advrider.com/f/threads/looki...riders.706519/

Ydp I certen have and made post in it.

[Bonez]

The speedo rotor gave up the ghost after 88,000 kms. Ordered one last Monday and it got sent to a different place. It finally turned up this morning so this afternoon fitted it. No jack needed just a empty clean 20ltr paint bucket. piece of wood about 15mm thick and a red parts holder you hang on a wall. Job done and speedo works.

[Navy Boy]

Blimey Bonez. That's done well. I reckon my DR with a paltry 7200Km on it has a while to go then!

[Bonez]

Blimey Bonez. That's done well. I reckon my DR with a paltry 7200Km on it has a while to go then!

Tried to bump start it today because the battery was low,cold weather shows up shady batteries very quickly, but couldn't. Compression is obviously still good....A nice guy at one of the retail outfits offered to use his ute to jumper start it when I said I have jumpers in the top box. Went for a wee 70km toodle, about half that gravel. after that on some roads I hadn't been on before today to remind me why I bought it

A bit of excitement across the road this arvo. Police raid and one arrest. They took the plates off two vehicles up the driveway as well.

[Bonez]

Oh I forgot mention the new part no.for the speedo rotor is 34983-14G01. I hope that helps others in the same situation.

[Bonez]

Got a new battery for the XF650 this morning. The old one wasn't holding charge for long in the cooler weather. Got charged $43 less than I was quoted over the phone yesterday.