Q: I’ve recently been reading about these new fancy quickshifters, especially the ones found on BMW’s S 1000 RR superbike and their new S 1000 XR.

And my questions are, do we actually need these things seeing as every old race bike never had these fitted and still lapped ridiculously quickly? And, more importantly, do ‘they’ eventually damage the gearbox and its surrounding parts? Some people say yes to this but of course BMW sales personnel say no.

So please tell me your unbiased opinion on this interesting subject of footless gear changing and I’m looking forward to your response – keep up the good work on the best site in SA as well folks.

Gareth Conner

A: As a rule quickshifters are primarily designed to shave a few moments of time from your lap times at a racetrack, because one tenth of a second can win you a race, right? But nowadays it seems they’re creeping into road bikes, which in my opinion they don’t really need. But like traction control, ABS, electronic suspension modes, power modes, and, and, and..  They seem to be what people want, but these modern additions do push prices through the roof.

As for gearbox damage over time, if an ‘aftermarket’ one is fitted to bike that wasn’t installed at the factory and the delay time that cuts the ignition isn’t set correctly it will eventually cause damage to the selector dogs, shifter forks and selector drum – I’ve seen it many, many times and people look puzzled when they’re handed a R10,000 plus bill! Don’t forget they’re supposed to work at full throttle at not at a few thousand rpm around town, which people seem to forget.

On the other hand, like the new BMW XR for example, the gearbox will have been designed by BMW with the quickshifter as part of the design thesis and therefore all components will work efficiently together, otherwise there would be an enormous amount of warranty claims, right? So if it’s a genuine factory installation you don’t really have to worry – but I can’t predict what happens many years later?

Hope that’s put your mind at rest Gareth and thanks for the compliments.

Q: Hi guys, I have a question about my beloved 1984 Kawasaki GPz 900 Ninja. Recently the bike seems to have gone off the boil, which is strange because it’s always ran perfectly, well, for a 30-year old bike that is. It’s covered only 45,000km.

When I start the bike up the whole engine sounds a bit rough, doesn’t idle correctly and splutters a bit when revved hard. I changed the plugs and fitted a new and genuine air filter but it still runs as rough as a bear’s arse, which is very annoying to say the least.

I’ve asked around at my local dealer but they’ve just filled me with horror stories from scrap it and/or sell it, to find a new engine, which isn’t helpful at all.

So I thought I’d ask you first because you seem to have a comprehensive understanding of classic motorcycles?

Tim Booth

A: First thing to do is to check the compression by doing a leak-down test. You’ll need to find someone with that sort of equipment. That will tell you if you have piston damage or problems around the valve area. If there is leakage past the valves check out the valve shims clearance, you might have a ‘tight’ one, which will make the bike feel ‘lumpy’.

Also with a bike of this age the diaphragms at the top of the carbs can become brittle and crack over time, which will certainly cause these symptoms. If they are damaged, torn or cracked replace them ASAP. You’ll find them easily on the Internet, or maybe Kawasaki still has them?

Go through these steps first and let us know how you get on?

Q: I’ve owned a Suzuki VS1400 cruiser for many years and because of a recent illness I haven’t ridden it for the past five years. Don’t worry, my question isn’t about myself it’s about the bike.

I fitted a new battery to start my 1400 once more and then hopefully go out for a long awaited ride. I also drained the tank and took out the stagnant fuel, and cleaned the spark plugs. Surprisingly it started quickly but then things went downhill. There was a lot of coughing and spluttering and the bike suddenly backfired and stopped and a weird smell came out from the exhaust pipes.

So I took off the air-box cover to have a look inside and discovered that half of the old and perished air-filter had been sucked into the motor, which I presume isn’t too good! I managed to get the intake rubber from the carb on the front cylinder off and it was full of the stuff. The rear carb looks like a nightmare to get to also so I left that for a while.

So what’s my best plan of attack folks, to get my 1400 back on the road to freedom? I don’t have a workshop manual and no one seems to have one either. All your help will be greatly appreciated…

Kevin Wighthouse    Durban.

A: If you go onto the Internet you’ll be able to download some sort of workshop manual for this bike, so you might need a younger person to help you with that.

But that’s not the problem here because this is one ‘pig’ of a job you have ahead of you. Firstly, the carbs will be full of sticky unleaded fuel residue (and filter bits), which needs many hours and patience to remove, using many tins of carb cleaner. Make sure you take out every jet, clean every air passage, etc, and you’ll probably need to find an airline to blow it through.

However the rear cylinder carb is really hard to get at and you’ll need to dismantle half the bike to get to it – it sits below the seat and way down inside the frame rails. Once you’ve done all of this, and sworn a lot, you’ll have to synchronize the pair of them using the two connecting cables, so don’t leave them off or unused or it’ll run horribly lumpy, for the want of a better word.

So yes, you will need a manual, or maybe take it to your closest Suzuki shop instead to be sure, but the labour bill will not be cheap I’m afraid because of the amount of work involved.

Q: I own a Harley-Davidson XR1200, which is now standing very quietly in my garage, which is a little sad to say the least.
 
I was out the other day and revving it hard when there was a sudden jolt and a ‘pop’ came out of the air box and the XR came to a holt. It did fire up again but sounds very rough as if a cylinder had gone missing.
 
Before I take it to my local, and very expensive dealer, I thought I’d run it by you guys so I can tell them what the problem is and not what they say it is and hopefully keep the repair bill to a minimum?
 
Thanks for your time and waiting urgently for a reply?
 
Gert
 
A: First of all I would say someone has fitted a H-D race tuner and increased the rpm rev-limiter at some stage, because this is a common practice with this particular bike. On the camshaft is a key that holds the cam onto the cam drive shaft, which I would suggest has sheared. This will throw out the cam timing and bend one of the valves, or even more!
 
So, it will mean the ‘heads have to come off and the camshaft drive needs to be repaired as well. Unfortunately it’s not going to be a cheap repair job to say the least – sorry man…