list of questions as long as your arm!

[Stitch - NC30]

Hi All,

Not had a lot of time recently to mess around with the bike ('89 NC30) and am planning on getting some bits done over the winter, but got a few questions:

1)Valve Shims; This is one thing i'm not that keen on doing, although I know it needs to be done. How much should a garage / mechanic charge for doing it?

2) My battery kept running flat, at idle 14.2V, with lights on 13.8V which from what I hear don't sound too bad.
I checked the resistance in the yellow cables .12 Ohms in all 3, and around 50-60V when around 5k revs
so that all seems pretty normal to me? But it did get to the point where after an 8 mile ride it just died when I was in neutral and then didn't have enough charge to start(which is when i started nosing around)
One of the terminals in the rectifier had obviously been getting hot (slightly melted and the heat shrink gone crumbly. (Obviously had some issues before as cables are all loose)
Rectifier is Sh633-12 - dont know if thats uprated or standard?
Since I cleaned all the connections up and re-heat wrapped a couple of connectors it all seems fine - but really do I need to do much more or see if it fails any time soon?
The battery was new last winter, but it was left to run flat before being recharged so I think that is half the problem.
(sorry waffling - typing whilst thinking out loud)

3) I get a slight clutch drag in first gear - I did read a few threads about it where it hasn't been used regularly, and others saying the clutch is on its way out - clutch cable still has adjustment but didn't want to tighten it other than to take the slack+ some? Anything I can check without getting too involved?


4) Is anyone local to / are there any meets / rides pretty local to Hertfordshire? (Hertford / Ware)
Only friend of mine who bikes is my brother in law, and he makes me look my adventurous.

Thanks in advance,

Regards

Richard

[VFRkieran]

Valve clearances is quite a costly job to get done at a garage, loads and loads of the bike needs to come off to get good access and do it properly, I've allways done my own as I don't have that sort of money to spend one something I can do myself.

Sounds like your reg/rec could be overheating causing the wires to go brittle and not work properly. If you have re soldered them and it's looking ok on the multimeter then you should be ok but it will only be a matter of time before the wires break down again, probably worth looking for an upgraded one from Rick Oliver or one from an R6 off eBay will do the job.

Probably worth tightening the clutch cable up and seeing if you still have a problem, mine is funny sometimes when it's been left standing all winter.

If you get really stuck with the shims and sorting the clutch out send me a PM and I could possibly take a trip down to help you out for a bit of cash as I think I'm only 50 miles or so away.

[Neosophist]

adjust the clutch cable to the factory free-play spec in the workshop manual.

the clutch cable adjustment doesn't adjust the cluthc, it compensates for a stretched cable. So long as your clutch arm on the clutch cover isnt bent out of shape it should be fine with the proper free-play.

slight drag could be worn cluthc basekt, especially on the nc30 they often get grooves in the basket fingers which stop the plates from releasing properly, can file it down / weld it up if its really bad.

battery sounds knackered, charging system sounds fine.. was it a good make of battery? did you fill it with acid and slowly trickle charge it to maximum to prlong battery life?

someties you can get a duff battery.

make sure all connections are tight, could be a loose fuse / wire or somethign interrupting charge.

charge up battery until its fullly charged with battery charger.

put it somewhere off the bike for a few days and measure charge, duff batteries often discharge quickly

[Stitch - NC30]

Thanks for the replies guys,

Have taken the battery off, charged it and left it sitting - see how it holds out.

The electrics all seem to be working pretty well since I cleaned all the connections up - just want to keep it working for the remainder of the nice weather and then over the colder months I will probably replace the rectifier and battery together.

The bike is in need of some love and attention. Last year was spent getting it road ready, this year is going to be about getting it running nice and looking ok!

Will advise on the status of the battery, and Kieran I may well take you up on that offer when I get ready to do the shims, Clutch I will attempt myself but the shims scare me!