My bike is broken

[Jayneflakes]

Henry my faithful and lovable 125cc companion has gone bang. Yesterday while riding home from work the throttle seized open and the engine started to scream. I managed to pull over and cut the ignition (after doing nearly sixty in a forty to thirty zone). :smt101

Big hugs to the lovely chap who pulled over in his car to make sure I was OK, don't be shocked folks, he was actually another biker on his way home from work. Thanks Buddy, who ever you were. :D

Poor Henry howled like a banshee when I tried to start him again and I had to shut off the engine once more. The cause of this malady was a corroded throttle cable that despite my cleaning and lubing last month, decided that enough was enough. :(

So this morning I replaced the throttle cable and spent ages making sure that it runs smoothly and is full of lube. Sure enough the Cable felt silky smooth and after a few hard kicks, the engine failed to start. Thinking I had flooded it, I left it a while and started again a while later. This time he did kick over, with a large cloud of blue smoke and a funny smell. :confused:

Henry no longer has a clutch it would seem, the engine sounds rather rattly and starting is not the usual single small kick. :smt090

On better news, I have been promoted at work and am now a full timer, which means I should hopefully be able to do those things that normal working people do when they get paid and have paid the bills, you know things like buy a new clutch for their motorbike! Sadly, pay rise will not arrive until the end of the month, so for now poor Henry will just have to sit in the garage with Silvie (my SV, another bike I can't ride! :shock: ) and chat to her until I can afford a new clutch. I just really hope that nothing else internal is broken, but until I get in there, I can be sure. :mad:

The world just got bigger and I am a pedestrian again. Mind you hopefully with the pay rise I can at last afford to take my Tea Potting test and get out on my SV. Right, what is the best way to get oil off of my hands, I have a presentation to do tomorrow for work and I need to make sure my broken nails are filed and my oily hands are clean. :smt026

[metalmonkey]

Sorry to hear about your bike...Why not just stick it on a credit card after all you will have the cash to pay for it come pay day. Thats what they are they for.

[Alpinestarhero]

I think you should at least check the oil level, preferably consider changing it if you are concerned that any debris could be in the oil from a burnt out clutch (I know I would change the oil, and the filter aswell).

While the bike is off the road, tend to it and inspect it for any other possible faults :)

[Bear]

Oil off hands: washing up liquid and sugar/sand to make an abrasive grease removing paste, works surprisingly well.

[Sudoxe]

Oil off hands: washing up liquid and sugar/sand to make an abrasive grease removing paste, I use it as a lubricant too

:rolleyes:

[Bri w]

Sorry to hear about Henry. Pity i'm not closer - i learned my spannering on a Henry (Ermintrude cos she was a right c#w) many moons ago - i had all my own hair back then too.

Oil on hands; Fairy and sugar.

Good luck.

[yorkie_chris]

What bike is it?

If it's rattly then further investigation is required, lots of 125s don't have a rev limiter and will rev themselves to death. You need to pull some parts of the top end off I would imagine.

Oh and don't go putting new clutches on your credit card. That's what spastics are for.

[Jayneflakes]

Took the clutch apart today, the plates are lovely and shiny and smell awful, like burnt old ladies purfume. Horrid. :pukel:

As for the oil, well we had to drain it out and when we took the cover off, there were bits of grit and metal shards everywhere. The main components in the bottom end seem fine and the engine does run, but that clutch was totally Tea-potted and looked like it had been cooked in an oven for at least a week! :smt093

The repair bill is going up, New Clutch plates, throttle cable, engine oil, engine flush to get the grit and metal bits out and who knows what else. So far we are facing an absolutely staggering repair bill of about...
£40! :smt104

Oh well, with the new promotion and the over time I have been doing, I should just about be able to afford it once I get paid, shame I have spent all of my spare cash this month on useless things like Council Tax, Water Rates, Car tax, Cocaine Addiction, tarts off the street and cat food. :-$

[Red Herring]

Have you found out where the metal bits came from, that's potentially bad news as clutches don't leave bits of metal unless they broke up and took something else with them.

[Foxy]

Sorry to hear about your bike :( but at least you will be able to repair it and what a nice man to stop to help you. Congratulations on your promotion at work and to full time :D

[yorkie_chris]

No point having a shiny new clutch if it's revved itself to bits is there.

Listen to the herring. It is time for top end strip down.

What bike is it? Gaskets are usually cheap for 125s, you can even use cereal box for the base gasket.

[Jayneflakes]

Hey folks, thank you for all of your kind comments and advice on what I need to do to the bike. The bike is a Honda CG125 BrJ 1990, was bought from E-Bay for £250 and has been my training bike for nearly eight months now. :p

Carol has it stripped down now and given that it is twenty years old and has clocked up nearly thirty thousand miles, it is in otherwise reasonable condition. The clutch plates were in tatters, badly scored and burnt to a crisp, it seems that when it let go, it tore the plates to bits. The saddest part of this is how I feel about Henry. He may be a dirty, rattly, smelly and smoky old banger, but I love him, seeing him in bits with delicate parts exposed to the air seems so wrong. :(

I have asked Carol about the metal shards and she started using long words like "ridden like a tit" and "can't blame the previous owner!" so I just smiled and tried to look extra pretty so she will fix it for me! :smt081

In truth she has mentioned the top end and has taken a long time to show me how it all works, bless her. She laughed when I marvelled at how complex it all was and made jokes about Centrifugal Oil Filters and being designed to run on for ever with a sump full of chip fat. She then got out my Haynes manual for the SV and started showing me things in that just seemed horribly complex. :smt017

I have asked her about the metal bits in the bottom and she assures me all is well and it is just bits of the clutch plates, she is more concerned about the obvious idiot that rides it who worries over nothing and cries when the bike wont go! :-({|=

[bobbleheadbarne]

fairy and soap powder nail brush and water sorry to hear about bike you can have my sv for 1600

[yorkie_chris]

So have you had any look at all at the engine? At the very least whip the rocker cover off and check for totally obvious signs of carnage! (do the valve clearance while in there)

Since, over revving will not make a clutch go bang, but, CG125 has pushrod engine which is not very resistant to high revs! (pushrods have a lot of inertia compared to a OHC layout like the SV)

Good news is, CG125 engine is about as advanced as something you'd use to run a cement mixer, and parts are cheap if it does need a new top end.

but I love him, seeing him in bits with delicate parts exposed to the air seems so wrong. :(

Women and bloody machinery, Man the f*** up!

[yorkie_chris]

Also, clutch overheating would give you bits of cork and metallic powder in the oil sump / filter.

Shards are not good, unless they obviously correspond to missing bits from the plates (it really doesn't sound like it is). Then it is likely they have come from elsewhere. Overheated, worn or burnt plates don't tend to shed swarf.

And riding one like a tit won't create swarf unless something is badly wrong.

To be forthright for a moment, I know you think your lass knows what she's doing, but a more in depth check is a really good idea to avoid it really blowing itself to bits when back together.