Saturday 22 August 2015

exhaust wrap

Well, there is no way to avoid the stainless steel from discolouring so I decided to wrap it. Concerns of excessI've corrosion is a myth if u ride it often. I did it more because of curiousity and cosmetic reasons. Bought it from eBay at $15SGD with six stainless steel tiE's. 

Thursday 20 August 2015

Rear Box

I was contemplating if i should get a rear box.

This bike doesnt look sporty to begin...

Here are some models of contemplation

Givi E20n

Kappa 48



Fork savers

On my shadow ace, i never had a problem with leaky oil forks.

I realised that fork seals lasts longer when shielded from the environment.

I had to remove the fork protector off the ybr250. Which involves taking the fork off. I could break it but i wanted the process to be reversible.



Fork oil capacity and viscosity ybr250

Behold
The only specification for ybr250 fork oil capacity level volume whatever you call it on the internet.

It is really annoying when the manual lacks the basic information about the fork oil level. Even the stealership do not return my call.

I was left to follow suit of the similar honda cbx250.
I put in the recommended fluid which was atf which is about a 7w. Cost me $10.


Initial plan was to follow suit with whatever was in the fork. However, the right side had 100ml and the left had 300ml which was hell of overflowing when I did a fork seal cleaning with an improvised seal mate.

Draining the 100ml fork was hell nasty.
According to the cbx manual i had to put on 295 ml. This resulted in 140mm from the top of the fork fully compressed with no springs spaces or washers in. Seems pretty normal from my experience.

Let me clarify.

Oil Level
Fork oil level alters the second half of the suspension but more to resist bottoming out rather than feedback or damping characteristics. 

Oil viscosity 
Alters the damping effect. 
Heavier fork oil of 15w will give you better feedback during cornering as it will gradually dive. Bike will feel heavier and more footed.
Lighter oil like 5w and 10w will absorb road imperfections better.

Atf is 7w.
Dont go about using any 10w oil because high detergency and anti foaming is important.

I am 87kg.
Starting from the nightmare 295ml and 140mm, I altered it to 215mm with 235ml I could bottom it out with compressing the fork myself. . After riding a little bit more, I added 10ml(total of 245ml) more to hit 202.5mm of oil level(air gap) measured from the top.
Every 10ml will raise or drop the level by 12.5mm



I might do a 15w weight fork oil for my future service because the roads here are quite good.

UPDATE 1 MONTH LATER
I have a 1600km upcoming trip and wasnt happy with how nervous the bike felt.
Went to drain the forks and the left one seemed contaminated.
I bought a 15w dedicated cheap fork oil and will not look back. Feels like a whole different bike now ; planted and offers a plush ride.
Would even consider a 20w in the future.

Below is the only info on the net what ybr250 has a 10w fork oil stock in it




Edit. I have added 10ml into each forks.
Feel slightly better but i think this bike needs stiffer springs

Halogen upgrade

Dont mind me. I had things bike about three weeks to a month and i might be backposting.

This bike uses the ba20d 35w/35w bulb. Beam pattern is Triangular. I kind of like it that it lights up the floor real good.

In the old school times they would use a dremel and a h4 35w bulb as an upgrade.
It would require quite abit of change.
I decided to go against the HID or led because I do not have a proper projector lense.

After much research, i found a rather unpopular halogen conversion that is a direct plug and play.
Since its cheap anyway and good to always have a spare, i got this item OSRAM halogen lamp 62327




Introduction

Just a short introduction.

Ybr250 is also known as the ys250, fazer250 and jym250-2a.
It is very popular for the mountainous ride in china, south africa and mexico(maybe)?

Here is the specification credits to bikez.com but I did edit somethings.

Displacement:249.00 ccm (15.19 cubic inches)
Engine type:Single cylinder, four-stroke
Power:21.05 HP (15.4 kW)) @ 8000 RPM
Torque:20.70 Nm (2.1 kgf-m or 15.3 ft.lbs) @ 6500 RPM
Compression:9.8:1
Bore x stroke:74.0 x 58.0 mm (2.9 x 2.3 inches)
Fuel system:Injection
Ignition:TCI (digital)
Lubrication system:Wet sump
Cooling system:Air
Gearbox:5-speed
Transmission type,
final drive:
Chain 428 132 O-ring
Clutch:Multiple-disc coil spring, Wet
Emission details:catalyzer with an O2 sensor
Chassis, suspension, brakes and wheels
Frame type:Steel Double Cradle
Trail:105 mm (4.1 inches)
Front suspension:Telescopic forks +/- 35mm forks
Rear suspension:Bottom link swingarm
Front tyre:100/80-M17 tubeless (Some people run tubes)
Rear tyre:130/70-M17 tubeless  (Some people run tubes)
Front brakes:Single disc two port caliper
Front brakes diameter:282 mm (11.1 inches)
Rear brakes:Expanding brake (drum brake)
Rear brakes diameter:130 mm (5.1 inches)


Physical measures and capacities
Weight incl. oil, gas, etc:138.0 kg (304.2 pounds)
Seat height:805 mm (31.7 inches) If adjustable, lowest setting.
Overall height:1,065 mm (41.9 inches)
Overall length:2,025 mm (79.7 inches)
Overall width:745 mm (29.3 inches)
Ground clearance:190 mm (7.5 inches)
Wheelbase:1,360 mm (53.5 inches)
Fuel capacity:19.20 litres (5.07 gallons)
Engine Oil capacity:1 Litre (top of dipstick mark) without dissembly and oil filter change.

Sunday 16 August 2015

A little history

I love cruisers and I felt so down having to sell off mine due to the rising certificate of entitlement prices in singapore. It is basically a piece of paper that gives you the right to own the vehicle for 10 years. It currently stands for about $7000sgd.

So I wanted something that could save me tons of money yet was not too weak in performance. Going through the used bike department got me feeling down because there was hardly any with my budget of 4000$ sgd. Till alas this ybr250. Ybr250 is known to be a learners bike. It is exclusively imported for the use of learning schools. I thought that since it is here, parts should be universal and easy to get. I couldnt get much information on the bike except that it has a top speed of about 160km/hr(from youtube) that it has a fuel tank ranging from 12L-19.2L(the dealer said it was 12L) And the consumptions was ranging from 25km/hr or better.


When i viewed the bike, it was in a terrible state. It even had the tank off. The side stand base plate was broken, the levers were bent in. It was 5 years old with 20 k km mileage. I would imagine the abuse it took spending hours daily in the learning centre. It had alot of crashbars on it so it wasnt really scratched up.

I took it anyway.
And so my journey begins