44 replies to this topic

[rostyle]

Hi All

 

Im a but undecided as what to do about my recent 2003 9'er purchase...

 

I paid £1000 for a nice looking black(or very dark blue) 900 knowing the forks were pitted and would need re-chroming or replacement.

she has done 36k years MOT and i was told had been parked up under a cover for quite a while. had a short test ride and all seemed to be good so the deal was done..

 

On the ride home from Portsmouth to South London the rear brake was slightly stuck without me realizing until i stopped at the first set of lights about 50 miles into the ride

 

The result was a blue warped disc and knackered calliper, so once i had disconnected the calliper and limped the final few miles home the first job was to search ebay and around for replacement parts

Disc(thanks Riggers) calliper and pads sourced i set amount the repair.

After many hours and lots of running to the computer to check this site for help and info I had changed these items along with the wheel bearings and also managed eventually to strip, clean and regrease   the swing arm and suspension pivot bushes.

 

Great I thought, eventually bled the rear brake after having to clear a blockage i missed in the master cylinder reservoir feed pipe!

 

So off I went with a mate on my first real jaunt to Rykas at Box Hill,Surrey about 1/2 hour ride

When we were leaving I discovered the indicators has failed so after getting back i set about fixing the fault

 

Once i got the plastics and tank off and finally locating the correct relay i discovered that there has been what looks like water ingress in all the terminal blocks ie green corrosion everywhere. Also with the plastics off it revealed a rust and corrosion over a lot of areas.

 

While trying to disconnect the relays one by one and clean the terminals the best i could i discovered a broken terminal connection on what appears to be the fuel injection relay. Obviously concerning especially when the bike runs without it being fitted at all and not even a fault code appearing..?

 

I must say my heart sank a bit and i have lost a lot of faith in the bike especially as i had bought it with the intention of a European trip next year for my mates 50th.

 

 

So this is my round about way of asking should i re adverse the bike whole for spares or repair? am i likely to recoup my money that way or break for spares to regain the invested cash

 

I will post some pics up and see if there are any takers either for the whole bike or bids for parts

 

Or of there a tatty one for sale i could swap the parts on to..?

 

On the plus side theres a centre stand fitted!

 

 

Im not sure what will cost more  to repair the bike or my divorce settlement if i spend any more time fixing this bike!!!!

 

[fixitsan]

The good news is that the terminal of the relay wire breaking off is relatively common. Just that one terminal of the block usually. Mine fell off after 4 months of lack of use. It worked when I parked it and 4 months later it wouldn't start. Then I found the wire  terminal had just given way and fell off. It must have been very badly corroded in the first place

 

I suspect the bike being parked under cover had caused condensation to build up

 

The best thing to do with the terminals (which can be revived) is to go on pulling them apart and reseating them. Then apply contact cleaner and lubricator. If you just use terminal spray cleaner then the blades and sockets will be incredibly dry and the surface corrosion soon worsens. So open and close them a few times and before closing them the last time spray them with at very least wd40, or ACF50, or better yet DeOxit contact lubricator. Servisol make a good range

 

Just that one step will eliminate most of the electrical problems you might get in the next year. IMHO

[rostyle]

The condensation theory had crossed my mind too

 

I am wondering how the bike can run without that relay even being plugged in?

Not sure how to rotate the picture either.....

Attached Files

•  VE96MYo4Q6ybbz1i4y%7uw.jpg   190.15KB   3 downloads

[fixitsan]

I didn't read what you wrote correctly...it is strange the bike runs without the relay. 

 

 

These bikes are capable of a lot to be honest so i wouldn't give up on it (once I'ld figured out the relay issue), I bought mine 2 years ago for £900, an '03 model too, with 91k miles, thanks to daily use by a riding school. It's at 103k miles now and has been very little trouble.

 

For £1000 you've still got a bargain, and if you get it running sweet it will only be worth more

Edited by fixitsan, 23 June 2018 - 10:16 pm.

[JBX]

From the pic, it looks like this bike is ready to go to Australia... 

[rostyle]

I thought it would be able to go round Europe without missing a beat too

 

and yes it runs without the relay fitted......! might be the 2 wheel version of Christine.!!

[JBX]

Ahah, Christine as a bike, I'd like to see the movie !

 

No injected engine can work with a disconnected main relay.

I think there are more chances that this is the fan relay !

Both are side by side, so confusion is a possibility in case they where inverted. 

[dablik]

Dont give up on that 9r, i reckon it's been completely unloved by it's previous owner and as Chris say's it's compeltely recoverable, once you have the terminals cleaned up your unlikely to have any serious issues with a 9r, my terminal blocks were religiously pulled apart at start and end of season and given a spray of ACF50 (although best use Deoxit just now) and ACF50 in winter which prevented any corrosion problems under a cover all winter long, you've done what i think is the most important job on the 9r with the swingarm and shock linkages and really if you address these problems i think you'll be good.

 

So long as the forks are not pitted where it matters dont worry about it for now, mine are badly pitted up top and i've covered them with some gaitors for the time being.

 

Also your not alone Ros, after dumping my 9r i went back to a mk1 and most of my free time is given over to fettling one thing or another that it's nearly been torched, it takes up way to much of my time on the tools but once sorted and it will be (after a full strip) it will be reliable and seeing many miles in Europe, and your 9r will be extremely capable once fettled.

 

Buy swmbo a pair of shoes and she'll retract the divorce warnings

 

For a £1000 and 36k on the clock though i think it was a given you would need to do some work to bring her up to scratch..

[chrisr]

It looks like a nice bike.....you got it cheap, sort it and you’ll soon fall in love! And the sideways photo is cos you used an iphone.

[rostyle]

Well i had another evening of trying to get to the bottom of the "No indicator" problem tonight, it seems every electrical connector block if pretty full of green corrosion! so this bike has really suffered.

In fact there is a lot of corrosion and rust on the majority of the areas around and under the tank/airbox.

 

I took the air box off and struggled to get some of the connectors apart, I sprayed them with an electrical lubricant and gently (where possible) eased the blocks apart.

They really are in a bad way and Im not sure what to use on them to clean the corrosion off? Ive read good reports about ACF50 but feel this needs to go on as a preventative measure...?

 

Im a bit stuck as to where to start with checking the indicator circuit. Fuse ok, bulbs ok but nothing from the indicators or hazard switches.All other electric seem to work apart from what I'm now sure is the fan relay(Thanks JBX I think the fuel injection and fan relays are swapped compared to the workshop manual!)

 

I managed with my very basic electrical knowledge, to trace a brown and white wire in the block terminal under the airbox which was giving me 12v when ignition is on.

 

Any ideas Guys?  

[James]

If the bike was from Portsmouth, I suspect there’ll be a lot of electrical corrosion to clean up. It’s the salt air. Give the connectors a bit of ACF50 once you’ve cleaned them up.

[JBX]

Brown / White wire is the intake air temperature sensor live wire (the other one is Black/Blue : sensor common ground)

[rostyle]

Yes there is lots of corrosion to clean up but I'm not making much headway using small wire brushes ,scraping etc. Also the female sockets are near impossible to clean anything but the very ends of the contacts.

I agree with using ACF50 once I manage to clean up the green gunge but was hoping there may be a product that might dissolve the corrosion....something like Teeth in Coke!!!

 

I must be chasing my tail trying to check the indicator circuit or else Im reading the workshop manual completely wrong! Any pointers on which colour wires I should check for power etc and where about the connections are located on the bike?

 

Thanks again for all the replies, very much appreciated

[fixitsan]

DeOxit red, by Caig, is good for restoring badly corroded connections, and leaves behind a protective film

[dablik]

If you can dunk the connector in a small container with salt dissolved in white vinegar and then dunked in baking soda diluted in warm water it may well have a good go at removing corrosion, done most of mine this way on the mk1, they were'nt heavily corroded but came up very clean.

[Nog]

For a £1000 and 36k on the clock though i think it was a given you would need to do some work to bring her up to scratch..

 

Exactly what I was thinking.

 

At the end of the day you have to be realistic that it's a 15 year old bike, so I would always expect some work to be done, especially at that price, which as said is an absolute bargain.

 

Give it a good strip down and get everything sorted that you can in one go and then you should hopefully have a bike that will last years and be worth a lot more.

 

Mine is a 2003 currently on 81k miles and still going strong, so you've got a long way to go yet

 

 

Also, once working, ditch those stock cans and get some nice sounding Fuel silencers on

[rostyle]

Yes I agree it was a bit of a bargain and I did anticipate rolling up my sleeves and getting involved. I just didnt expect quite as much corrosion and I dont get as much time as I would like to spend fettling..
I knew the brakes needed sorted and forks were pitted which I took into account but didnt bank on the corrosion as electrics are not my strong point!
Im still intending to try and get the electrics sorted if I can.

But yes some new cans would lift her a treat!!

[wicklamulla]

Yes I agree it was a bit of a bargain and I did anticipate rolling up my sleeves and getting involved. I just didnt expect quite as much corrosion and I dont get as much time as I would like to spend fettling..
I knew the brakes needed sorted and forks were pitted which I took into account but didnt bank on the corrosion as electrics are not my strong point!
Im still intending to try and get the electrics sorted if I can.

But yes some new cans would lift her a treat!!

Rostyle,  put up some pics of the corrosion for us to see.

[rostyle]

I will have a go at loading some pics but may have to wait until Im home to use the computer instead of the iPhone
Also they will probably be on their side...... a bit like the bike at the moment....😬

[rostyle]

Won’t seem to load from iPhone....