Wednesday 13 March 2024

Going Aftermarket with Kawasaki GTR1400/C14 Tire Pressure Sensors

I soldered a new battery into the rear temperature sensor on the Concours when I changed the back tire last year after picking up a puncture. The front was starting to get sluggish when connecting wirelessly, suggesting the battery was dying and the front tire was due a change, so I did that one in the fall. Unfortunately the sensor didn't pick up signal after reinstallation. Rather than beat up that old sensor again I started looking for alternative options.

I love a good hack, and Big Red walks you through one here on how to take aftermarket tire pressure sensors, program them to your stock Kawasaki and then use them instead of expensive stock items. The coding unit is $230, but works on anything, meaning I'm not beholden to a dealer for tire pressure sensors on the cars in the future either. A pack of 2 sensors is $95, so all together a full sensor replacement on the bike including the tool needed to program them was $325. The stock sensors are $258 each, so an eye watering $516 for the pair. $200 cheaper and I have the tool that's usable across a wide range of vehicles. That's my kind of hack!

How did it go? After all the frustrations with the Tiger and Triumph, the C14 reminded me how nice it is to work on a bike that's supported by its manufacturer, riders and the aftermarket.. When I compare the thriving online communities at COG and other online forums that support Kawasaki ownership, I can only think, 'way to go team green.' By comparison I read a post on one of the Triumph forums that said, 'these forums are dead. Everyone is giving up on these old bikes..." Except the bikes in question are not that old.

When I walked into my local Kawasaki dealer and ordered parts for my mid-nineties C10 there a few years ago there was never an issue. If I hop into an online forum for the Kwak I see an active community full of ideas and support.  Most of the Hinckley Triumph forums for anything over 15 years old are derelict. The posts on them are at least five years old giving you some idea of what trying to keep an older Hinckley Triumph on the road is like (ie: impossible - the manufacture considers them disposable bikes). It makes me question owning another one, which is a real shame because I wanted to believe in the brand, but they only market their history, they don't honour it by supporting owners in keeping old Hinckley machines in motion.



Back in the land of the living, Big Red's walkthrough was spot on. I popped one side of the new front tire off the rim and removed the 14 year old sensor. I couldn't see why it wasn't getting power - my soldering looked good - maybe a bad battery? No matter, new parts are going in.




If you know Big Red's Mazda 3 2004 sensor hack matches Concours ones, then the rest is straightforward. I set the MaxiTPMS unit to the Mazda settings and then put in the ID number from the old C14 sensor. The wireless upload only took a few seconds.




I could also check the sensor once it was programmed, which gave me some piece of mind before putting it all back in the tire. Though an alternative is to set the sensor when it's installed, which is also an option (the programming unit could still see and modify the sensor in situ). This also means I can test and even reset sensors without having to pull the tire in the future!

The whole process was straightforward, aided by a warm March day where I could leave the tire in the sun while I set the sensor. Warm tires are much easier to stretch over the rim!



I installed the new sensor which fits snugly in the rim. All the parts including the tool from Autel felt like quality pieces that will last. With the tire reinflated I put the wheel back in and torqued everything to spec while also making sure everything was grease free (especially the brake bits).

I took it up the street with the intention of riding around the block because that's how long it usually takes to get the dash reading the wheel pressures, but this new sensor had it showing in seconds - before I even got a hundred yards up the road. I checked it against the digital tire pressure gauge and it's right on the money in terms of accuracy.

It felt good to have a win in the garage after banging my head against the Tiger for so long. Speaking of which, I recently attempted to plastic weld the part they won't supply any more and as I was putting it back together the wiring broke off on the fuel level unit (because I've had the tank off so many f***ing times!).

I'm so bloody minded I'm going to try and solder the wire back on even though it broke in the worst possible spot (right at the unit so there isn't much to work with). The stock unit probably isn't available and is a salty $155 even if it is.  I'm doing this in part just to see if the latest attempt at keeping the old thing in motion works. The plastic welding on the idle speed control valve (which they don't even list in parts now) went well and the piece seems serviceable. I want to see if it works.

If I had more time I'd see if I could find an industrial CAD shop who could 3d scan it and then get me a file that I could use to 3d print a replacement. What would be even nicer would be if Triumph shared that CAD file with us all since they aren't bothered to produce the part anymore. With a bit of collaboration, the aftermarket could help keep older Hinckley Triumphs in motion.

As much as it pains me, I think I'm going to take Triumph's hint and let the Tiger go... which is something I never thought I'd say. So much for my goal of hitting 100k with it.
It is actually nuclear powered - the plutonium goes in under than panel, like on Doc Brown's DeLorean...

Saturday 2 March 2024

Fleeing the Nagging Winter

 

Saw a guy on a GS flying down the 401 towards Windsor today, which conjured fantasies of fleeing the nagging winter to warmer climes. I'd eventually come back when winter lets go... maybe.

When it warms up I'd complete the loop:


https://maps.app.goo.gl/cdPdK2kD3rzwjEnN6

Sunday 28 January 2024

The Struggle is Real: Trying to Keep a Triumph 955i Tiger on the Road

The 'Idle Speed Control Valve Housing' (Part Number: T1241064) continues to be a pain in my ass. This housing sits behind the throttle body on my 2003 Triumph Tiger 955i and it seems Triumph isn't supporting them anymore. My local dealer shrugged and said it isn't available any more, so I went further afield.

Blackfoot Motosports in Calgary's site seemed to suggest that they could provide this complex plastic piece that doesn't enjoy Canada's extreme temperature swings (I've gone through 2 of them so far). So I ordered it! Guess what:


That an O-ring should take 3 weeks is one thing, but the housing is obsolete? On a bike that's only just 20 years old? So, I did a little research. It turns out this product fits 84 vehicle variants across four Triumph Models between 1993 and 2020. A part that was in use on models four years ago is obsolete? That doesn't sound right.


No matter where I look the story is the same: this key part of the idle control system on thousands of bikes isn't available?  Being a determined sort, I looked to ebay for options and came across Bike Spares Barn in the UK. They take bikes traded in at dealers that are still running and on the road and dismantle them for parts, which is what I'm reduced to using with my Triumph.

They had a throttle body with the needed idle control housing on it along with an airbox. My airbox isn't in great shape so I got both parts. They worked out with shipping to be about $300CAD. It took a good 3 weeks for the parts to get here (I ordered right after the holidays so I can't really fault the timeline). The seller was very communicative with what was going on so, unlike some ordering experiences, I was never left wondering where things were.

The box finally arrived and looked like someone had been playing football with it. Two corners were mashed in and a piece of the airbox was sticking out of the box. I unwrapped it and everything looked OK so I began to clean and dismantle everything. The airbox was a good idea, this one is in much better shape than my 24 Canadian winters one, but the throttle body didn't fare so well. 

Inevitably, the only broken piece on the damned thing was the fragile idle housing, which was cracked around the base in exactly the same place that the one I'm trying to replace is.



So, I'm back where I started, but with a spare throttle body and two broken idle housings. This damned thing is so complicated that fabricating an alternative isn't likely. The three pipes on the bottom go out to each throttle body and servo sits inside that is moved up and down electrically adjusting the vacuum so passages open up to each throttle and modulate the idle so the bike doesn't stall. When this complex and fragile piece doesn't work as it should the bike hesitates on acceleration and stalls.

Obviously this wasn't the case because the bike it came from was working fine (they tested it before dismantling it), but it didn't survive ebay's international shipping service. I asked Bike Spares Barn what to do and they said to go through ebay's return/refund process, but ebay is cagey about sharing that anyware. Fortunately Peter at Bike Spares Barn helped me navigate the obfuscation and we've now gotten me a refund... but I'm still stuck without this part.

I've asked before and I'll say it again: if you're not willing or able to support your own machines, Triumph Motorbikes, how about sharing publicly the CAD files on this part so after market and crafty types like myself can fabricate our own? With the right fuel resistant plastic in a 3d printer, I could knock up my own version. But before I did I'd reinforce the model and design something more robust so I'm not left out in the cold again.

The happy face getting the solution to my problem in (the box on the bench)... then, well, you know what happened.


Saturday 23 December 2023

Accra to Sheringham

 At the end of November I attended the Global Conference for Cyber Resilience in Accra, Ghana. I was on a tight schedule with work expectations so I flew in and out in the same week, but had I the time and resources I would have ridden out. Mapping a route out of the African west coast to Europe is interesting. I got my Ghana visa quickly as part of the conference, but had I ridden out I would have had to do some legwork to get the other countries in order. To ride from Accra to Europe out of Africa would have also needed visas for Ivory Coast, Mali, Mauritania, Western Sahara and Morocco.

A problem with the Mercator map projection that we typically see the world map on is that it shows areas around the equator at scale but then distorts regions as they approach the poles, which is why many people think that Canada is about the same size as Africa when in fact three Canada's would fit comfortably inside it. This was made plain to me as we passed over Dakar in Senegal and then flew on for nearly another three hours to get to Accra (it's about the same distance as Toronto to Saskatoon).

Mercator projections were designed to provide true course headings for ships, and they do it well, but they were never designed to show the entire world. This is a Robinson Projection which shows the scale of things much more precisely.

Keeping those African sizes in mind and at an optimistic 400kms per day which includes five border crossings known to eat entire days by themselves, the African portion of this trip is just shy of six thousand kilometres, much of it across the Sahara.

5836kms across some interesting terrain...

I thought I was the first in my family to get out Ghana way, but my Grandad was dropped off there by the Royal Navy in 1940 and then proceeded to support his Hurricane squadron as they drove and flew across the Sahara to get into the war in Libya. They landed at Takoradi, so day one would be a sunrise departure into the equatorial heat (that needs to be felt to be believed) and a six hour ride up the coast to stand on the dock he landed on 83 years ago.

Of course that already puts me behind the 400kms/day average I was aiming at, but after experiencing 'Ghana Time' first hand, I suspect that trying to keep to a strict schedule is a sure source of madness in this neck of the woods.

It's fifteen and a half days at 400kms per to get to the crossing at Gibraltar and I wrapped up the conference on November 30th. If I left December 1st, I could apply twenty days to the Africa portion of the trip and give myself some time for surprises. That's still a tight schedule though when you consider the borders and terrain I'd be crossing.

If I could be on a ferry on the 20th, I'd be in Spain on the 21st and up in Evora in Portugal at that farm house we stayed at last year in time to meet up with the fam for the solstice. We could put our feet up over the holidays, but I'd eventually push on to Sheringham where I'd have a cottage rented for the rest of the winter and spring. A winter two wheeled insertion into England might require some patience as I'd have to wait for a weather window, though hanging out in Portugal for several weeks during the darkest days wouldn't be a hardship.


What to do it on? Yamaha has a dealer in Accra, and riding across the Ténéré on a Ténéré has a certain appeal. If I rode a Tiger all I'd be thinking about is the Monty Python sketch the whole time. The Ténéré 700 has an explorer edition for 2024 which has a bigger tank and comes with luggage and such. It's not the ideal machine for long overland treks, but it could certainly handle any surprises well enough.

If I were to give into my Tiger fixation, the new 900 Rally Pro model does the trick and would handle the days of making distance better.


Of course, given a choice I'd rather get my unsupported old Tiger sorted out and then take it!


I've said it before and I'll say it again, if I had money I'd be dangerous.

Saturday 4 November 2023

A Colourful SMART Adventures Late in the Season


I've been going to SMART Adventures since 2018. As a way to get myself doing things on a motorcycle that I don't get to do on the road, it's a great opportunity to expand your riding skills. Getting experience on a variety of different bikes is never a bad thing either.

I've had some great days at SMART. A particular highlight was during the deepest, darkest summer of 2020 when I did a full day that started on a trials bike, moved to a brand new GS1250 and ended on a dirt bike. It was a great day of bike learning across three very distinct machines.

Last summer we managed to squeeze in a half day and it was the first time I'd done the expert riding group, which I second guessed myself on being in. Unfortunately the father who dragged his son into it wasn't so introspective. I spent a good amount of money hoping for expert riding opportunities but the afternoon consisted of watching this kid fall off a bike too big for him that his dad kept demanding he ride, and then watching him drop the second bike we had to go back to get for him into a two foot deep puddle. We ended up spending most of the afternoon picking this kid up or riding back to the base after he broke a bike. I needed this trip to SMART to be a win after that last disappointment.

We tried to arrange a trip up in August but things got complicated (dog died, kid going to college, in-laws being difficult) and it never came into focus. I thought this would be our first year not going up to Horseshoe Valley, but Max's reading week was at the end of October and the week before the weather looked like it might hold up, so I signed us up for an afternoon, and this time SMART nailed it, though in fairness it's not their fault if a toxic dad wants to design a miserable afternoon.

Going this late in the season and during the school year means you're less likely to trip over father/son drama. Max got Dave who was the instructor who taught him both ATVs and dirtbikes previously, and I got Tyler who I hadn't had before but is an incredibly talented off road rider who also has a knack for finding where I was at in terms of skill and then keeping us at that edge throughout the afternoon - I learned tons.

Having a look around before the ride out, it's not easy keeping the jealousy in check when it comes to SMART Adventures owner Clinton's bike collection.

Why are y'all wearing rain jackets? 'Cause it was raining... a lot! That's inches deep mud.

We started with some warm ups in the bowl at the base. I've been on a 250 CRF Honda before but this time they had a Kawasaki KLX 300 with bar risers which fit me even better. Tyler had me doing riding with one hand while standing up (in mud), which isn't as easy as it sounds, then rear wheel lock up braking, then both wheels coming as close to locking up the front as we could manage (in the mud). We also did logs and tires, but once Tyler had an eye in on where I was with clutch control and balance we took off into the woods, which were spectacular!


Riding in a thick ground layer of leaves is tricky. You can't see rocks or mud underneath, but it teaches you to ride looser and float over the surprises without over correcting for them. We did a lot of kilometers through the rain and brilliant colours and the riding was never dull.

I'm always surprised at how physical proper off-roading is. With mid-teens temperatures and the rain gear on I was dripping wet with sweat. I worked hard at using my legs to grip the bike so my arms weren't putting pressurized inputs through the handlebars. It's a combination of balance and lower body strength that demands a lot of energy. One suggestion was to turn my feet fractionally into a corner to weight the pegs in the direction I want to go (a Clinton Smout move) and it works!

We got back for a break but before I parked the Kwak we did K turns. The idea is if you get stuck going up too steep a hill you let the bike stall in gear (or kill the motor in gear) and then roll it backwards leaning into the hill and letting out the clutch bit by bit as you turn the back end until you're parallel with the hill (still leaning up it). The tricky bit is once you're near parallel having backed up on the clutch, you start turning the handlebar lock to lock and the bike's nose will fall under the twisting to face downhill. You then stand it up and roll on down. The final move was to bump start the bike. You do this by leaving it in third gear and dropping the clutch at the bottom of the hill as you sit down on the seat. It sounds like a lot of gymnastics but I got it to work on the second try. Tyler said it can really save your bacon if you get stuck on a big adventure bike on too steep a hill.

Just when I thought it couldn't get better, Tyler went and got a couple of the new Surron electric dirt bikes out of the lockup. He gave me the bigger Storm model and then told me (jokingly) not to get it wet. We left both bikes in economy mode because of all the wet leaves over mud. Tyler described 'S' Mode as 'scary', and don't press turbo! 

383 ft/lbs of torque in mud and wet leaves? What could go wrong?!?

I hadn't dropped the big Kawasaki all afternoon despite the crazy conditions. I should have four times but saved it each time. Being able to practice saves is one of the best parts of SMART. I genuinely got to do things on a bike I've never done before, which is the whole point. Sounds ominous, right?

We got out into the woods again and both Tyler and I were down in the first five minutes, but not because the Surron was a torque monster (it's actually easy to get the hang off). It's the lack of clutch after riding one all day that caught me out. I was sliding down the muddy side of a trail covered in leaves and went to pull in the clutch to drop a gear, except the clutch is the rear brake and the Surron doesn't have gears. The bike was out from under me in an instant. Here's a pic from right after - check out that mud!


I finally got myself back on the bike after I slipped in the mud again throwing a leg over it and we went down a second time. The bike took a minute to 're-arm' because I'd popped one of the brake sensors out, but Tyler figured it out and we were off again.

We made tracks after we both learned not to use the rear brake like a clutch.

That's Tyler - ace instructor!

Interesting choice of name, great bike!
No one went down again and by the end of a forty minute blast through the woods and into the trails beyond the SMART owned land, I was getting a feel for the Surron (not Sauron from LotR). Being able to focus on riding without worrying about gears and clutches was one part of it. By the end I was getting crafty with the hand operated brakes. The other piece is the silence. When you goose it the bike roosters dirt like a mad thing, and it's properly quick. The only noise it makes is once you're up to speed and it's a ghostly whine, which suited the October hallowe'en woods. I could hear rain hitting leaves as we whispered through the trees.

Where am I at with an electric dirt bike? If I owned a Surron I'd play with the settings so the energy recovery/gearing pulled a bit more and provided more of what feels like engine braking. That would have prevented the spill on the hill. So much of dirt biking is clutch though. You manipulate the clutch continuously to offer smoother power delivery, especially in tricky conditions. A dirt bike without a clutch and gearing is missing a key control, not to go faster, but to manage the power better. The throttle on the Surron felt a bit wooden after riding the big Kwak all afternoon, but that may well have been because I couldn't feather the Surron's power delivery with a clutch.

The upside is the silence when riding, though it isn't really silent with that ghost whine. It did make me miss the thud of the thumper, and the simplicity of the controls (no clutch, no gears) lets you concentrate on other things, but at the cost of simplifying the riding which I have mixed feelings about.  Aesthetically, a bike having a heartbeat is pleasing, though I could get used to that ghostly howl.

The older much used Kawasaki went through all sorts of gymnastics during the afternoon without missing a beat, while the Surron needed TLC after one drop, which doesn't bode well for its resilience. I'd describe my first time on an electric dirt bike as interesting, but they're not ready for prime time yet. If I were to buy a dirt bike tomorrow it would be a fuel injected ICE model that is decades into its evolution rather than an ebike that's at the beginning.

SMART was running a regional trials event that weekend and I asked Tyler about electric trials bikes, but he said most riders are still using ICE models - once again because the clutch offers much more nuanced control. I suspect electric bikes will end up adopting something like a clutch to allow for that finer control, though they don't need gears so perhaps the clutch is simply another electronic intervention. It's just a matter of time for this to all get worked out, but they're not quite there yet.

As we pulled in to SMART a red fox fan across the parking lot, and I saw wild turkeys and what might have been a coyote in the woods. We clambered out of our muddy gear past 4pm and got changed before heading up the road to Vetta Nordic Spa where we put our aching muscles into various hot waters as we watched the moon rise through the skeletal trees. Yes, the rain stopped and clouds blew over pretty much the minute we stopped riding, but the weather is part of what made it such a good afternoon of riding! As a way to wrap up the riding season (it was snowing the following weekend), there are few better.


You should go!


Tuesday 17 October 2023

Finding Your Way Around OEM's Giving Up on Parts Support: Triumph 955i Fuel Injection Seals

With Triumph giving up on my Tiger before I'm prepared to, I'm going to document the research and give details on what works when you're trying to keep a Triumph 955i's fuel system working by replacing old o-rings.

This has involved a crash course in o-rings and engine operating temperatures. As I work out a fix here I'll post details on o-ring sizing, what type works and include data on measuring the intake manifold at temperature.

It's been all Concours for the past few weeks while the Tiger is laid up. I'm hoping to get the fuel system sorted before the snows fly and I have to wait for next year.


Here are the measurements for the upper and lower fuel injector seals. The classy move by Triumph would be to open source publish the technical details for all the parts they no longer support so that the rest of us can get on with keeping the history of the marquee alive. With that in mind, here are the deets for the upper and lower fuel injector o-rings:

The thick ones go on top where the fuel injector meets the rail. My best guess is 3mm thick by 1.5cm outer circumference.


The skinny ones go on the bottom where the fuel injector slides into the intake manifold.

My best guess there is 2mm wide by 1.4mm outer circumference. 






Unfortunately, buying off the shelf boxes of o-rings isn't likely to get you anything that fits. The two below from Amazon didn't. This thing looks handy: https://www.allorings.com/O-Ring-AS568-Standard-Size-Chart.

The Tiger is a metric bike, so I'll work in mm (if Triumph went imperial on o-ring, what the actual f***). The thicker o-ring is 1.5cm or 15mm outside diameter (OD) and (I think) about 3.5mm cross section (CS). Looking at that chart, the #203 is a 14.58mm outer diameter with a 3.53mm cross section. That makes it mighty close. What would be nicer would be if Triumph just came out and gave us the precise sizes for these parts it has discontinued. Triumph?

The thinner one is also a 1.5 (ish) mm outer diameter (15mm-ish), but the cross section is thinner - perhaps two and a bit mm, and they have a 2.62mm cross section standard o-ring size. You'd have to hope Triumph didn't make bespoke o-rings for their fuel injectors, right? For the skinny o-ring I think I'd take a swing at the 2.62mm cross section / 14.43mm (1.443cm) size.

The All O-Rings site also has a good description of the materials you want to get your o-rings in. Nitrile and Viton are what I went with in the pointless Amazon order, but those are the materials you want in a fuel heavy application like this.

That's the configurator (right) - pretty straightforward, but it sounds like they manufacture each order, which probably won't make this a viable solution for someone just trying to keep their old Triumph on the road.

If only there was some kind of network of retailers who supported Triumph motorcycles who could order this parts to help their customers keep their older Triumphs rolling... some kind of 'dealer' network who understand how parts work and how to order this sort of thing in large enough quantities to make a profit while offering customers what they need.

RESOURCES

How hot motorcycle engines runs: https://blog.amsoil.com/extreme-heat-is-hard-on-your-motorcycle/

Buna (Nitrile or NBR) o-rings: https://sealingdevices.com/o-rings/buna-n-o-rings/

Viton vs. Nitrile o-rings: https://www.nes-ips.com/viton-vs-nitrile-o-rings/

All O-Rings https://www.allorings.com/

They have sizing tools! https://www.allorings.com/o-ring-kits-and-accessories/o-ring-sizing-tools

I'd prefer to use All O-Rings for the parts, but they might be a B2B type of thing, and I'm not a B.

Amazon's kits:


Turns out Amazon's shot-in-the-dark kits didn't work either. There's more to this o-ring sizing caper to come. I wish I could just 3d print the nitrile o-rings I was looking for (doesn't look like it's additive manufacturing friendly).