Nc30 Setup (picked it up yesterday)

[watafu]

Hi all, first post and my first big bike aswell so lots to learn regarding these crotch rockets. I picked up an nc30 yesterday after a lot of debating and cannot wait to get stuck into riding on this thing, but first I need to figure out a few things that I noticed when I picked it up. Overall the bike is in good nick, its an nc30 r3 93 model, jap import as far as I can tell but will have more info on that tomorrow once I have properly spent some time going over it. Its done 19000miles and the owner before the one I bought it from knew a thing or two about these bikes from what I can tell (couple of hrc parts) so just trying to work out where the bike stands as it is atm.

The suspension linkages and exhaust areas that are prone to rusting are fine, just had new bt090's with 50-60miles on them. Also fork seals have been done and a few other bits and bobs aswell.

Firstly, I know its common to jack the back of these bikes up 10mm or so for handling purposes. Now I am a short arse and I can still get both feet down fine on this one but from looking at pictures of other peoples vfr's, this seems to be slightly excessive. I'm not sure if its a case of playing with the preload settings (something I'm unsure of how to do atm) as both previous owners where large heavy guys and i'm a mere 5'6 8.5stone guy. When I sit on it, the suspension doesn't compress much at all whereas when the previous owner sat on it, it seemed completely fine. Possibly a side effect of this, the stand seems almost too short as the bike has to lean over a lot.

Secondly, the bike has been sat for a little while (about a month or two) so its not so much as running rough as just smoking a lot. There doesn't appear to be any blue tint or "sweet" smell so far but I don't really know what to expect as a normal amount. I ride a cbr125 that barely smokes so its a little unsettling but I guess its fairly normal in the cold weather and without having being ridden for a while. I am fairly confident I can do a carb clean and sync if needed but would be good to avoid it if I can.

Also throttle is sticking a bit, Pretty sure that and the clutch cable just need to be lubricated and just double check that they are not snagging on anything. So thats not too bad a job but still.

Any suggestions would be great,

cheers,

Ian

[bikemonkey]

Welcome

It sounds like your NC has probably been jacked up. Simple to fix, just put the longer NC30 dogbone in. It may be a bit more complex than that depending on how it's been jacked up, but usually it is just the shorter NC35 dogbone. Pre-load adjustment is done with two c-spanners if I remember correctly.....

It will smoke for a while every time you start it up in cold weather, mine does it everytime. It's just condensation that's gathered inside the exhaust pipes over night/days/weeks and will quickly go away once warm.

Throttle sticking could just need a bit of lube or proper routing like you say, would be a good idea to get a look at the cables. Also I often find that I don't have a certain amount of slack in the throttle cable then it won't return nicely.

Let us know how you get on, and get some pictures up!!!!

[watafu]

Cheers, good to know I'm roughly on the right track, will look at the pre-load adjustment first, if that doesn't improve things then will look at changing the dog bones. How difficult is this to do? Will I need the bike to be lifted on something like an abba stand to do this or could it, in the worst case, be done with a couple of friends lifting the subframe up with the rear fairings removed?

Good to know that the smoke is normal, like I said, coming from a newer small capacity bike its something I'm really not used to.

I'll take a real good long look at everything tomorrow, get the cables lubed up and check the routing. I got hold of the service manual so can hopefully refer to that while I wait for the haynes manual to arrive. Also I'll take pics tomorrow, its not the prettiest of beasts but its not overly shabby either, might have it sprayed in the future but at the moment its got a diy (not too bad) full black jobby with a lot of stickers. Hopefully when I post the pics up you'll be able to get an idea of the suspension. Got a really bad one here if that helps but my phone was dying and needed to get home =/

[Neosophist]

Cheers, good to know I'm roughly on the right track, will look at the pre-load adjustment first, if that doesn't improve things then will look at changing the dog bones. How difficult is this to do? Will I need the bike to be lifted on something like an abba stand to do this or could it, in the worst case, be done with a couple of friends lifting the subframe up with the rear fairings removed?

Good to know that the smoke is normal, like I said, coming from a newer small capacity bike its something I'm really not used to.

I'll take a real good long look at everything tomorrow, get the cables lubed up and check the routing. I got hold of the service manual so can hopefully refer to that while I wait for the haynes manual to arrive. Also I'll take pics tomorrow, its not the prettiest of beasts but its not overly shabby either, might have it sprayed in the future but at the moment its got a diy (not too bad) full black jobby with a lot of stickers. Hopefully when I post the pics up you'll be able to get an idea of the suspension. Got a really bad one here if that helps but my phone was dying and needed to get home =/

smoke isnt normal.

condensation is normal.. in cold weather with the large exhaust moisture condenses inside, when you run the bike it warms out and comes out as vapour, just like boiling a kettle.. when the bike is upto temperuatre it should have stopped.

You can get the service manual from the document library on the website, read the first couple of chapters on routine maintance.

Id take it for a ride after that and see how it feels.

Dont just go adjusting the preload without knowing how it works.

Dogbone if it has been changed is easy to swap back over, some axle stands or well placed bricks under the footpegs will work if you dont have a proper stand.

measure the distances between the bolt eyes on the dogbone and post back itll be easy to identify what is what.

[watafu]

Right I have had a quick play, tbh I don't think I will change the suspension as although I wasn't very comfortable with it at first, its actually not too bad and I'll get used to it really quickly. Can get both feet down, one fully flat and the other on toes, just used to my shortass cbr125 lol.

Regarding the 'smoke' I spoke of before, its deffo just condensation, running it earlier today it was fine after a couple of minutes of use so thankfully doesn't appear to be anything wrong there. Was sketching out about a possible head gasket replacement but don't think that is required anymore :) at least there is some good news eh.

Right now onto one thing that I have discovered which is annoying as hell. The battery is a little low from where it wasn't used much and had been stood so again, a good run around will sort that but I would like to give it a charge. Turns out when I went to remove the rear fairings that actually..there is no seat lock there...The mechanisms behind it are all in place but I cannot get it unlocked atm so will take a good look at how it all fits together so i can unlock it and then get myself a full key and fittings set as the fuel and ignition are different aswell. Don't really fancy having to have 3 different keys for the bike lol.

The throttle is still sticking and again, because I cannot get the seat off, I cannot get the tank off either to have a look at the carb side and check its operating properly there. Will take the handlebar throttle section off and give it a good clean asap though because even so that didn't feel as smooth as it should have been.

As far as getting the fairings sprayed on one of these bikes, how much does it typically cost? Having looked at it the fairings do need a bit of work, rear especially as I suspect its been thrown down the road in its past =/ There appears to be a lot of small dents in the paintwork back there and as the 2nd to previous owner has painted it since without smoothing it, this is going to be a pain in the arse in terms of prep work. He appears to have put the stickers on and then painted over the stickers and removed the clear part to make them stand out which has meant on the tank in particular, the gloss coat is starting to come off where one of the stickers has come off >_<

Other than that, I'll get some pics up later and at least mechanically, bar the throttle, it seems to be working fine

[bikemonkey]

I'd get that rear seat off and strip the fairings before you start thinking about paint.

You need to assess whether all the mechanicals of the bike are in good working order first.

I've had my NC30 2 years now and haven't spent a penny on the bodywork!

[watafu]

Yea thats the initial plan. Any ideas on how to release the lock on the rear seat? Like I said the mechanism is there just missing the actual lock section... I had a go earlier and had a bit of trouble. I have noticed some naunces in the wiring at the front of the bike which I intend to sort out asap aswell, very minor but as it will be ridden in all weather I like to be 100% that everything is waterproof.

Seen a couple of people mention how much the fairings are to fix up and paint on google, tbh at that price I might just get a chinese set (these current fairings really are in bad shape) as the fairings and the chipped front wheel and forks are the only things that seem to be bad on this bike.

[bikemonkey]

There should be an "arm" that the lock (when it's there) pushes to pull the cable leading to the catch of the rear seat.

Get a spanner or similar through the keyhole and try to push it to release the seat.

[tigerclaw]

Also push the rear of the seat to the right of the bike and lift... sometimes the latch doesn't pull completely out the way and this can help

[tigerclaw]

Possibly download the parts manual and workshop manual so you know how it works and feeling around for the cable etc will make more sense