Q: Recently a good friend of mine bought a new Kawasaki ZX-10, 2012 model. I however ride a 2010 Yamaha R1, which has no modifications besides Yoshimura slip-on silencers.

A few days ago we went out for a breakfast run and I was more than pissed-off to see how much faster his bike was than mine, especially towards the top of the rev range.

I understand you prepare race bikes, which win. So my question is, what can I do to make my bike as quick as his, surely there must be something I can do? I’m already sick of his constant gloating.

T Allen

A: You could possibly make your R1 as quick as your friends ZX-10 but be prepared to spend an awful lot of money. How much money do you want to spend? The electronics package (E.C.U. etc) on your bike is the limiting factor so you’ll have to attend to that, and then you’ll need cams and headwork and the list goes on…

Your best bet is to check out www.gravesport.com because they are currently the best performance specialists for the R1 out there. They will have everything you’ll need, but be prepared to part with a least R40,000 or more!

Or you could just go out and buy a ZX-10?

Q: I have a Suzuki RM250 and I believe it to be a 2004 model. I only use it for a quick blast into thebush and I don’t enter any form of race events. It’s just a fun bike.

But the other day I started the bike and it immediately revved itself to death. I tried to use the kill switch but it didn’t work and eventually it seemed to seize up and stalled.

After a mild heart attack I left it to cool down. When I tried to start it again it fired up first time and when I rode the bike it seemed to run OK with no problems, which was surprising.

So my questions are, why would it do this because it’s always been reliable and should/can I keep riding it and pretend nothing happened, or should I strip the motor? I’m asking because I’m short on funds and don’t really have spare cash for expensive Suzuki parts. I did find a broken wire going to the kill switch though, and that works fine now, once I connected the wires back together.

Corbus Le Grange

A: There could be a few reasons why the throttle stuck open on a bike like yours. The cable could be trapped or frayed but seeing as the bike started easily and didn’t do the same thing this may be unlikely, or the throttle slide when worn can stick or jam inside the throttle body. So I’d pull that out and clean it up nicely with a fine wet/dry paper and make sure it has a smooth action.

If I were you I’d leave the engine alone and carry on riding, because it will cost money the moment you open up the motor. And if it started first time, that’s a good thing. I’ve seen two-strokes seize before and people carry on riding them for a long time with no problems. But if the engine begins to make noises that weren’t there before then you’ll possibly have a problem that needs to be addressed. But my advice is to keep riding, and if it begins to lose power then you’ll have no choice but to go inside the engine.

Q: I’ve just been out and bought myself a very nice looking Honda NSR250R road legal race bike. I got it at a good price but it does have a misfire problem.

When I pull off the bike starts to misfire and judder until the revs rise and then it seems to clear out.

I’ve fitted new plugs but they’ve made no difference and I have to slip the clutch, a lot, to drive through it, so I’m worried I might wear it out.

I’m looking forward to hearing your reply because I like the bike and want to stay with it?

El Presidente

A: Well ‘Mr. President’ I wonder how many kilometers the bike has covered because high-mileage NSRs can develop all sorts of problems?

So it could easily be a multitude of problems like the crankcase seals for example. There’s also a ‘labyrinth’ seal that separates the two con-rods. If worn this will cause the motor to ‘steal’ air/fuel from one side to the other. Or perhaps the carb’ slides are badly worn, which is common on oldish two-strokes. And the list goes on.

Either way it sounds like the engine is heading for a major overall and lots of fresh new parts, which might become hard to find? Good luck.

Q: Hello there. I own a 2006 Suzuki GSX-R750 with 32,500km on the clock. I’ve recently noticed a severe and very annoying noise that seems to be coming from behind the clutch cover. Even when I pull in the clutch lever the noise seems to remain the same.

A: First of all, yes, you should be concerned and get it seen to A.S.A.P.

We’ve just had a 2002 Suzuki GSX-R750 in our workshop with a similar noise to what you’ve just described. When we removed the clutch assembly we found the main shaft bearing had collapsed behind the clutch basket, but it was still ridden into my workshop. So we had to take out the entire gearbox to replace the bearing and unbelievably no further damage to the engine was found.

Sometimes the clutch basket itself can crack and both of these problems could easily produce this sort of noise. So I would immediately get it checked out before you cause irreparable and/or very expensive damage!