Factory Toolkit

[PolygonFla]

I got curious about the tools included with the bike today so I pulled them out to do an inventory. Boy, was I surprised! They are cheaply made but better than what came with my Kawasaki 20 years ago. Since it seems like just about everything on this bike is held on with Allen head bolts it was good to see 3 Allen wrenches. Of course there was the expected sparkplug wrench as well as a screwdriver, some open end wrenches and a pair of pliers.

I think I ought to toss a sparkplug in there and I am open to other suggestions.

I am including links to the photos rather than using imbedded pictures for those with slow connections.
http://i172.photobucket.com/albums/w37/polygonfla/Tools1650.jpg
http://i172.photobucket.com/albums/w37/polygonfla/Toolbox1652.jpg

I also ordered 60 feet of 3M reflective tape, 30 feet in yellow and 30 feet in black. I’m sure I will have a bunch left over. I will post what is left in the for sale section when I am done. I am also going to be mounting some luggage soon. I will add picture to my photo bucket album and to the gallery.

[sheadouglas]

The only thing I didnt like was the little pouch that holds the tools. Mine doesnt even come close to holding the tools in it. It's all ripped up and stuff. Other than that the tools have been quite handy.

[FMYStreetRacer]

i lost mine some how. i need another set.

[ImEazy]

i lost mine some how. i need another set.

I did the same thing along with the registration as I put it in there in
a baggie. I have two other tool kits though from the kids bikes. I
put them along with some other useful items in a tool bag I bought.

[mdsuave13]

i lost mine some how. i need another set.

probably back in the mud pit that tried to steal your bike :)

[liverchip]

Hehe looks identical to mine. The plug is a good idea. These are a few things I always carry:

Basic tool kit
Zip ties
5 ft 18gauge electrical wire
roll of electrical tape
Needle-nosed pliers
Several master links for your size chain.

Anyone else have any suggestions

[mdsuave13]

sounds dumb, but matches and a wool blanket....

haha.for when you break a leg or pelvis in a really remote area, cant get reception and its raining or snowing.. wool keeps you warm in all conditions, wet or dry, and is not very flammable.. yea, im a boy scout at heart...

i'll have a wool blanket in my trunk or bungied to my rack...

[culcune]

There was a guy on Thumpertalk several months back (maybe joined us here?) who had just bought a new Roketa and wanted advice for a solo few hundred mile trail ride somewhere in Colorado. Surprisingly, even some of the haters gave advice (and it wasn't to get rid of the Roketa, either) and there were some very good suggestions given.

I figure that since most of us have a stock rack, it might be a good idea to strap some bungy cords to it, just in case...

[mdsuave13]

i was always fond of the bungie nets that you can pick up for a couple bux at most motorcycle shops.. those things will hold a 12 pack just as well as a helmet, toolbox, small child, just about anything you can strech it around :)

[Beerslayer]

I like the wool blanket and matches idea. Fire! Fire! I always have a working torch lighter in my pocket, so throw in a good cigar and I am set to stay if I have to.

[mdsuave13]

thats the way i like to look at it, cause knowing how i am, i will ride off the beaten path one day and hurt myself..

at least you can enjoy a smoke while waiting for a rescue party! :)

haha

[PolygonFla]

matches are a great idea. After I posted the thread I thought about adding some twine or bailing wire. I don't think I could stuff one of those silver survival blankets in that little box, much less a wool blanket that would be large enough to to do any good.

I am going to add a luggage set so it would be a good idea to stash a space blanket in there.

I few months ago I saw some strike-anywhere matches at the store. They are hard to find these days so I bought a couple of boxes.

[stixx3969]

If you have trouble with the tool pouch do what I did. Just bundle the tools tightly in your fist and put a good, strong rubber band around them.

[mdsuave13]

or buy a bottle of crown royal (good canadian whiskey) and use the cloth bag the bottle comes in, i have about a half dozen of those things laying around and they make nice little holding pouches for "stuff", they even have a drawstring to close it!

[NewEnglandTrails]

To hell with matches... A bic lighter... and I agree with mdsuave about the blanket... But.. it should get more use with a gal than as a splint lol.

NET

[sheadouglas]

I'd rather keep the crown :lol: J/K No really Im serious

[mdsuave13]

well thats the other benefit, any injuries you sustain, drink away the pain.. :) haha.. we need to figure out a way to get these bikes to run on bacardi 151 or something :) emergency flask for the bike :)


one dab for you, one dab for me...

[sheadouglas]

You think these bikes could run on alcohol?

[ambassador]

Hmm, What is the price breakdown of Bacardi 151 vs. 93 Octane? Per Gallon??

[liverchip]

Hmmmm....Might have to try that.

[zacstewart]

You think these bikes could run on alcohol?

Hey I was thinking about doing the exact same thing and if you want you can look at my findings. I found a guide on doing it to a car, but the same basic procedure would apply to a bike I imagine. It involved adding a second tank (chemical grade 20 liter bottle :wink:), T-valving that to your fuel supply line and then enlarging the jets in your carb and weighting the fuel float to compensate for alcohol being more dense than gasoline.

It still runs on gas, but very richly. It's best to put ethanol in the gas tank and keep the small tank filled with gas to use just for starting because ethyl doesn't like to ignite when it's cold.

Perhapse I'll buy an extra carb and try this some time when I get my bike. If so, I'll document and photograph the entire thing for anyone else interested.

But anyway, here's the complete guide for it:
http://journeytoforever.org/biofuel_library/ethanol_drane.html

[PolygonFla]

I ran a bike on Everclear 20 years ago just long enough to get to a gas station. It ran ok with the factory carb and settings but seemed like it was only producing about half the horsepower. I was young and stupid, I'm suprised I didn't sieze the engine or something.

[liverchip]

Mmmmmm yummy Everclear......Once again illegal in California.

[Jet_Tech]

Is there anything legal in the state of California? NO BOOZE, NO GUNS, NO AMMO, NO CHINESE BIKES, WTF! It is its own communistic nation. Pretty soon they will be banning breast enlagements and thats when I will gather up a strike team of China Riders and strike down the great red state. May all men be equal and have women with large silicone boobies.

[mdsuave13]

i prefer to look at silicon boobies, but play with the real things.

you'd have to be careful that the alcohol you used didnt contain sugars, or you could gum up the works... i have heard rumors about running a car on bacardi 151 or something like that, but never personally tried it. maybe i will contact mythbusters and see if they would do it

[sheadouglas]

i prefer to look at silicon boobies, but play with the real things.

I like boobies too 8O

[red2003]

Alcohol requires a much higher compression ratio to ignite. I believe minumum is around 12:1. These bikes would not run on pure alcohol with such low compression ratios. My Roketa is like 9.2:1.

[Roketarider]

haha...the bikes run on alcohol....you would be stranded somewhere and drunk...haha

[PolygonFla]

We kind of got off of the thread topic, but hey this is fun to talk about too :D

Ideally, you'll want an engine with very high compression ratio to run alcohol, in order to take full advantage of the fuel's resistance to detonation. 17:1 compression works nicely with alcohol, and also happens to drastically increase fuel efficiency and power. However it is not required it just means you are running less efficiently and using more fuel per pony.
The biggest problem with alcohol is the fact that it sucks up water right out of the air, and unlike gasoline, alcohol mixes with the water just fine. That's why it's so corrosive, water is everywhere. If you run a carb'd engine, you need specially treated surfaces inside the carburetor to resist corrosion, and the fuel passages and jets need to be roughly twice as large as with gasoline.

The compression ratio on the Kawasaki was 10.7 to 1. I'm sure the pint of Everclear I put in the tank mixed with whatever amount the reserve pickup couldn't get. So I'm thinking the alcohol to petrol ratio was around 60:40.

It did start, and ran about 4 miles from the barracks to the gas station. Back then gas was around a buck a gallon and Everclear was around eight times that per pint.

[zacstewart]

you'd have to be careful that the alcohol you used didnt contain sugars, or you could gum up the works...

Using beverage alcohol would probably be a bad/inefficient idea. You'd need fuel-grade eth. You can distill it yourself with a license I believe.

[John22j]

This guy is about 10 mins from where I live and he's been on the radio a few times talking about his butanol buick road trip. You could custom blend your gas with a mixture of this bio fuel.

http://www.butanol.com

[PolygonFla]

Using beverage alcohol would probably be a bad/inefficient idea. You'd need fuel-grade eth. You can distill it yourself with a license I believe.

Been there done that.

I made a 10 gal still and made fuel grade alcohol last year. It is very labor intensive and just isn’t cost effective. When you add up the cost of sugar, yeast, propane for the still and electricity for the ice-water bath around the distillation coil you end up spending $8-$12 per gallon of fuel. Plus 8-10 hours tending the still, my time is worth more.

If anyone wants to see pics of the still e-mail me. I never registered it with the BATF because I only ran it once to get the real world costs. The alcohol produced is fit for human consumption but illegal to drink. I can’t drink due to health issues, so it would be a shame if I got arrested for running a still making moonshine I couldn’t drink besides I hear Jim Beam tastes better and costs less.

[liverchip]

Is there anything legal in the state of California? NO BOOZE, NO GUNS, NO AMMO, NO CHINESE BIKES, WTF! It is its own communistic nation. Pretty soon they will be banning breast enlagements and thats when I will gather up a strike team of China Riders and strike down the great red state. May all men be equal and have women with large silicone boobies.

Hehe yeah pot is legal in California. Go figure.

[VFRFLYER]

Is there anything legal in the state of California? NO BOOZE, NO GUNS, NO AMMO, NO CHINESE BIKES, WTF! It is its own communistic nation. Pretty soon they will be banning breast enlagements and thats when I will gather up a strike team of China Riders and strike down the great red state. May all men be equal and have women with large silicone boobies.

Hehe yeah pot is legal in California. Go figure.

LOL maybe thats how they come up with all those stupid laws and regulations. Smoke some dope and legislate away.

[liverchip]

Indeed.