Forum

[Scalyback]

I would like to join with Rusky in saying that my bikes have style. we ride them moderately to give onlookers and other riders the time to get jealous or give us the thumbs up.

I mean, who want to own a work of art and then thrash it down the street before any bystanders even get the register the colour?

WHy ride dumb at a ton, when you can do a mile in style?

[mustaphapint]

My other bike is a Harley. I lost the need for speed a long time ago.

[Rattlebattle]

Only 193bhp? My neighbour has a Kawasaki H2 that produces a claimed 210bhp. He uses all of its power all the time, except when there's a y in the day... He can't leave it unattended for fear of it being nicked and he can't even put it back into his garage after a ride without turning on the ignition; otherwise the tracker will send emails and texts to all kinds of organisations. It does have rain mode etc though to tame all the power he can't use. A bit like the chap on his Aprilia Factory V4 who stuffed it through a hedge yards from the club meeting place last year. Obviously he had selected off-road mode by mistake. By the time my neighbour has shoehorned himself into his white Dainese leathers, got his bike out of the garage without triggering the alarm, warmed it up and inflamed an old injury getting on it I'm chuffing along in the next county...Still, he does have the fastest production bike currently available if you don't count the H2R which chucks out 300bhp and can't be used on the road or most race tracks (too loud). Ironically I get more people asking questions about my RE than he does about his H2, because other than to the cognoscenti his looks like n other big Jap fours. Just for the record I could afford a Ducati and an H2, but don't want either.

[Rattlebattle]

Just been out for a ride for the first time in two months. I don't normally lay my bikes up as such for winter and would normally ride them on a day when the roads are dry and there is no salt. This year though I'm still recovering from some horrible virus thing that just won't go away, so I've missed a few riding opportunities. Anyhow, guess which bike I selected? Yep, the C5. It took a bit of starting, mainly down to stale fuel methinks. Normally I'd use the kickstart but today that wasn't an option. I must say I'm impressed with the cranking power of the Motobatt battery with which I replaced the original. It still had loads of oomph even after a few minutes of cranking in short bursts. Excellent. To anyone who wants a replacement for the original I would thoroughly recommend these batteris. It is the same one that is for a Triumph Trophy 900.

[tomtollady]

Very similar story to me,I've had all sorts of sports and enduro bikes but my little c5 has by far been the most fun.Ive owned for just under 2 years and is my daily commute,only put 7000 miles on it so far,was still riding my r6 last year but now sold it.Apart from the odd spark plug dying it's been great.I live in Sheringham and had a great ride to Dorset last year,and planning a trip to Scotland later this year

[Murv]

Thanks all Good to see I'm not alone!

Still enjoying the bike, but the running in is a bit frustrating! I'm probably being over cautious, but with no rev counter and virtually no experience of singles it's very hard to tell where it should be!

I am having one small bit of trouble with it though. When it's cold, the choke/fast idle thing doesn't appear to do anything so I start it with a small amount of throttle. Then, it will tick over absolutely fine for a few seconds before there's a loud metallic clack and the revs drop to the point where it will stall if stone cold in the morning.
Adding a few revs on the throttle stops the noise and it will then tick over for a few seconds again before doing the same thing.
Once it's warned up slightly, it's no issue at all. Could it be the decompressor? Or, am I missing a trick with cold starting?
Also, when it is warm, it always needs a little throttle to start, is that normal with the 500 EFI?
My only experience with EFI is on car engines where you don't use any throttle at all to start.

Thanks in advance,

Chris

[Rattlebattle]

The clacking noise is the decompressor which cuts in when the revs are 700rpm or so. These engines take a while to loosen up so it might clear itself. The so-called choke sometimes doesn't work properly because the cable has too much slack in it, easy enough to check. Also, you might find that raising the tickover speed a little will help. To do this you either need a long slim screwdriver or to loosen the throttle body and turn it a little to access the big brass screw. I forget which way is which but it should be obvious with the engine running. DO NOT adjust the throttle stop screw; pain and misery awaits those who do so without the proper diagnostic kit....

[Haggis]

All sounds normal. The "choke" lever is not really a choke. It opens up an air bypass valve. When the engine is cold the ECU adds extra fuel, like a choke, but this can flood the engine and foul the plug. You can use the choke lever to allow extra air in to prevent this or just open the throttle a little will achieve the same.

[papasmurf]

Rattlebattle I concur with not touching the throttle stop on fuel injected engines. (Basically because it isn't really a throttle stop.) I came close to needing to change my underwear when I replaced the throttle cable on the BMW K75S and thought the cable a bit too slack.

[Murv]

Fantastic, thanks very much all. I did wonder if it was just me being a numpty, hence my wanting to check here first before pestering the dealer!