Jeezes, a water leak again! after I fixed a metal pipe on the front of the bike, all of a sudden, I had a tiny coolant leak, this time from under the engine block. Since it was tiny, I didn't think much of it. But gradually the amount got bigger and bigger. I am using this R1 as my daily ride, so it is super annoying, so what do I do, I throw some liquid radiator leak stop in there, didn't work much, so I threw in another bottle....I know, after all the mechanical work I did on this bike, which I am able to do, this is not a great fix... One day I was going to tackle the problem, So i suspected that it was the thermostat housing again as I had a leak there once, which I fixed by replacing it, so I removed the tank, to check that, result: bonedry...
Where is the coolant leak coming from?? Looking under the bike, it only leaks when you start the engine. Drop by drop, not much.
It was dark so I thought, fuck, it must have been those road bumps where sometime the bottom of the bike touches on, I really believed that I was screwed and that my engine block had a crack.
But wait? Coolant water from the oil carter?? That's where I figured out that the bike has an oil/water pump that sits in the oil carter (bottom pan of engine) and that there is actually a purposely made hole there for when this happens: oil/water pump seal failure!!!
Guess what: I have to replace the oil/water pump for this R1....And it ain't looking pretty..... From lookig at the manuals you have to remove the plastic covers, take out the clutch basket, the exhaust headers and complete exhaust, then remove the bottom carter of engine.... Not sure when I will do this. So far, the radiator leak is holding up and no more leaks.
It actually closed the weep hole up.. It's probably not so great but all is fine so far.
I think I will be selling this bike and tell the prospective buyer what needs to be done.
Tuesday 23 February 2016
Tuesday 7 October 2014
Tire slime: great stuff
For a good while my tires were getting soft like every 3 days. I had to keep inflating them. With no visible marks on the tire, at first I suspected the air Venturi. But it wasn't leaking there neither. I think my tires are getting deflated from the rims, and I am suspecting it is from taking off the tires with the tire irons that carved a little into the aluminum inside the rim. I used tire slime that I found at ace hardware and I must say, it works pretty good so far.
Monday 9 June 2014
Yamaha R1 2005 Fuel leak
For the longest while I had a fuel leak. I didn't think much of it. It just smelled a bit of fuel, and each time I stopped the bike from running and put in on the peg, some fuel would run out. I thought, ok, has to be fuel return hose or something-wrong!
Last night I was working on removing the starter again, and I said, let me figure the fuel leak out. I turned ignition on, fuel pump starts pumping, and voila, straight away I saw where the leak was: the top from the #4 fuel injector. That was weird, how did that happen? Well, the fuel rail is screwed on to the throttle body with 2 screws, the screw on the right was loose, however, after tightening it, it still sprayed fuel. I loosened the fuel rail and took #4 injector out, turned out that the top o-ring was slightly damaged, it had to be from that one screw holding the fuel rail down that was loose, vibration ate the o-ring up. Today I bought an o-ring and I am putting it in tonight. Fingers crossed!
Last night I was working on removing the starter again, and I said, let me figure the fuel leak out. I turned ignition on, fuel pump starts pumping, and voila, straight away I saw where the leak was: the top from the #4 fuel injector. That was weird, how did that happen? Well, the fuel rail is screwed on to the throttle body with 2 screws, the screw on the right was loose, however, after tightening it, it still sprayed fuel. I loosened the fuel rail and took #4 injector out, turned out that the top o-ring was slightly damaged, it had to be from that one screw holding the fuel rail down that was loose, vibration ate the o-ring up. Today I bought an o-ring and I am putting it in tonight. Fingers crossed!
Sunday 6 April 2014
Yamaha R1 Starter Problems - Again! Won't start when hot
For the last couple of months, the r1 isn't starting the way it supposed to. The engine would turn over like twice and it would appear that the battery is dead. Being a bit lazy and looking for the easy fix, I thought it was the solenoid. Ordered that off ebay, installed it...same issue. Then I said, it's got to be the battery...ordered the battery, installed it....., nope, that wasn't it either.
A couple of weekends ago, I took out the R1 starter again, and if you've been following my previous blog posts, you know what a pain in the ass it is. Anyway. It appeared to be the starter brushes. Since I didn't have them on hand, I used some brushes from a big disc grinder that I have and filed them off to shape. I didn't think that it would be an issue, but the copper wire on those brushed are half the thickness of the original ones. Result: the R1 starts alright, however, not when the engine is warm. Cold start, no issue, hot start, just the same like before: woo-woo-woo and dead. So, I got it half fixed... Now I am on the look out for the brush kit for the R1 on ebay, but it's like $75... I think I will still try with other brushed from an electrical supply store, just try and find thicker copper wire brushes.
A couple of weekends ago, I took out the R1 starter again, and if you've been following my previous blog posts, you know what a pain in the ass it is. Anyway. It appeared to be the starter brushes. Since I didn't have them on hand, I used some brushes from a big disc grinder that I have and filed them off to shape. I didn't think that it would be an issue, but the copper wire on those brushed are half the thickness of the original ones. Result: the R1 starts alright, however, not when the engine is warm. Cold start, no issue, hot start, just the same like before: woo-woo-woo and dead. So, I got it half fixed... Now I am on the look out for the brush kit for the R1 on ebay, but it's like $75... I think I will still try with other brushed from an electrical supply store, just try and find thicker copper wire brushes.
Monday 21 October 2013
Installed Xentec Super Slim 35W Xenon HID Kit on the Yamaha R1 - 2005
Hi guys, this weekend I finally installed the Xentec HID Xenon kit for my low beam lights on the Yamaha R1. I bough this on ebay from orangemika. Only like $32 (amazing price) I bought the 6000K temperature color.
It was pretty easy to install. At first I had to think a bit where I would mount the ballasts as there is no space really seeing it from the steering side. But then I took off the windshield, and there in the nose there is a great spot right on top of the headlights, that's where I stuck the slim ballasts with the doublesided tape that it came with. Then passed the two wires of each ballast through the mainstay center opening to the light covers.
One thing that I needed to think about was making a hole in the light covers to get the cables in to the lamp itself. The kit did not come with instructions really. So, I drilled a hole in the center of each cover, and passed the wires through. The rest is self explanatory. You have to just make sure on the black and red wire of the HID ballast that you match the right polarity on the original OEM lamp connector otherwise the ballast will not turn on. It's handy to have a multimeter with you, start the bike, and measure the voltage, if you have positive 12V or more then you know the red wire of your multimeter is the positive lead of the lamp, that's where the red wire of the ballast would go. I did it right on my left side hid lamp, but even after measuring i still put the polarity wrong on the right side, and after closing everything up, including the windscreen, noticed the ballast didn't turn on. So I had to open it again and change the wire (easy).
I noted though on this kit that the the positive terminal connector of the ballast is narrower than the negative one, but this is not so on the OEM connector of the original light. So, there is a chance that this narrower connector might wiggle a bit.
But otherwise, oh my, the bike looks mean with HID lights!
The Yamaha R1 of 2004-2006 has H7 bulb sizes. Mentioned that when you order!
It was pretty easy to install. At first I had to think a bit where I would mount the ballasts as there is no space really seeing it from the steering side. But then I took off the windshield, and there in the nose there is a great spot right on top of the headlights, that's where I stuck the slim ballasts with the doublesided tape that it came with. Then passed the two wires of each ballast through the mainstay center opening to the light covers.
One thing that I needed to think about was making a hole in the light covers to get the cables in to the lamp itself. The kit did not come with instructions really. So, I drilled a hole in the center of each cover, and passed the wires through. The rest is self explanatory. You have to just make sure on the black and red wire of the HID ballast that you match the right polarity on the original OEM lamp connector otherwise the ballast will not turn on. It's handy to have a multimeter with you, start the bike, and measure the voltage, if you have positive 12V or more then you know the red wire of your multimeter is the positive lead of the lamp, that's where the red wire of the ballast would go. I did it right on my left side hid lamp, but even after measuring i still put the polarity wrong on the right side, and after closing everything up, including the windscreen, noticed the ballast didn't turn on. So I had to open it again and change the wire (easy).
I noted though on this kit that the the positive terminal connector of the ballast is narrower than the negative one, but this is not so on the OEM connector of the original light. So, there is a chance that this narrower connector might wiggle a bit.
But otherwise, oh my, the bike looks mean with HID lights!
The Yamaha R1 of 2004-2006 has H7 bulb sizes. Mentioned that when you order!
Update: August 2014:
For some reason the left xenon beam does not always come on. It's not the cables, I checked. It has to be a malfunction in ins if the ballasts. Super annoying.
Update Feb 2016: Now both xenon beams come on whenever they feel like it (most of the time not), i drive now with high beams, don't feel like removing the front cover to replace them, which eventually I will have to do!
Update Feb 2016: Now both xenon beams come on whenever they feel like it (most of the time not), i drive now with high beams, don't feel like removing the front cover to replace them, which eventually I will have to do!
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| See how nice the HID Slim ballasts fit here? Nice! I stuck them on the headlights with the doublesided tape |
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| This is how the finish looks like. I will try to fill the hole with some black silicone. The kit should have come with a rubber grommet.... |
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| Closeup of the hole I had to drill and the wires on the cover. |
Sunday 31 March 2013
R1 Engine Head replaced
Today I worked on installing a good used R1 engine head I bought on ebay for a good deal. It came complete with the valves, camshafts and cover. The cool thing is that it came out of a younger bike with only 7000 miles.
You could see from a previous blog post why I needed to replace the R1 engine head.
Anyway, since I got the engine separated from the bike for a good while I took a little peptalk to myself to get started on this rather big job. The thing is, at the same time, I am making use of this opportunity to basically to a complete R1 overhauling. I already painted my rims orange, and I will be painting my R1 fairing in gunbattle grey. In a future blog post I will show how I am doing that and with what paint (you will laugh).
While I had the right side engine cover off to reach to the crankshaft bolt to adjust the camshaft chain, wow, guess what I found? A good size broken piece of a cam lifter! It was so big it couldn't go anywhere. I was from that spot that the oil falls down to the carter, but there is a big sprocket in the way, so anything that hits that either grinds it, or messes up that sprocket or internals....
I got the engine head cover on, so I am happy I got that out of the way. Next will be removing the throttlebody from the old engine head, clean that up and mount it on the engine.
I am here thinking how on earth I am going to get that engine back in the bike, me by myself, finding a way to get the engine off the ground only about like 6 inches (that's the challenge) and slide the two top engine mounting bolts in.... I am not sure yet how I'm going to do that.
The other challenge I had, is the engine head bolts, I have no torque wrench so I guessed a bit in tightening the bolts, and the next challenge/worry, is that I reused the gasket. I am just blogging all what I remember what's on my mind.
You could see from a previous blog post why I needed to replace the R1 engine head.
Anyway, since I got the engine separated from the bike for a good while I took a little peptalk to myself to get started on this rather big job. The thing is, at the same time, I am making use of this opportunity to basically to a complete R1 overhauling. I already painted my rims orange, and I will be painting my R1 fairing in gunbattle grey. In a future blog post I will show how I am doing that and with what paint (you will laugh).
While I had the right side engine cover off to reach to the crankshaft bolt to adjust the camshaft chain, wow, guess what I found? A good size broken piece of a cam lifter! It was so big it couldn't go anywhere. I was from that spot that the oil falls down to the carter, but there is a big sprocket in the way, so anything that hits that either grinds it, or messes up that sprocket or internals....
I got the engine head cover on, so I am happy I got that out of the way. Next will be removing the throttlebody from the old engine head, clean that up and mount it on the engine.
I am here thinking how on earth I am going to get that engine back in the bike, me by myself, finding a way to get the engine off the ground only about like 6 inches (that's the challenge) and slide the two top engine mounting bolts in.... I am not sure yet how I'm going to do that.
The other challenge I had, is the engine head bolts, I have no torque wrench so I guessed a bit in tightening the bolts, and the next challenge/worry, is that I reused the gasket. I am just blogging all what I remember what's on my mind.
Saturday 30 March 2013
DIY Smog Block Off plates idea for Yamaha R1
Okay, so I was planning to mod the smog block off plates for the R1, by basically filling in the hose outlet with JB Weld. I don't feel like buying smog block off plates, since I have 1) pay 2) wait to get it and 3) eventhough they look pretty CNC machined and all, you don't see all that when it's mounted on the engine since you never see the engine's head that's behind the fairing.
So, after removing the original smog plates, digging in a little deeper to see what's inside: just a dual membrane valve to let the air in. Behind the 2 valves is a little flame arrester I guess (a tiny grill), and then 2 holes going in the engine head.
So my idea was, instead of filling the smog plate to block off or buy closed off smog block of plates, why not just tap thread in the tiny hole, and screw a screw in with some loctite threadlocker? Bingo! Very simple to do!
Check the pictures:
So, after removing the original smog plates, digging in a little deeper to see what's inside: just a dual membrane valve to let the air in. Behind the 2 valves is a little flame arrester I guess (a tiny grill), and then 2 holes going in the engine head.
So my idea was, instead of filling the smog plate to block off or buy closed off smog block of plates, why not just tap thread in the tiny hole, and screw a screw in with some loctite threadlocker? Bingo! Very simple to do!
Check the pictures:
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| The Yamaha R1 Engine Cover showing the smog block off plates |
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| After removing 1 smog block off plate.... |
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| Revealing the 2 membrane valves |
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| After taking off the membrane valves, you'll see flame arrestors |
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| These are the two holes I am talking about. They go through the bottom. Tap these with thread and.... |
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| and screw in two screws. Use threadlocker. |
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| Here's another view. You can also use (better) headless screw with an internal allen wrench cavity |
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