Greenlaning Weekend, Moors & Coast.

Two brilliant days off road riding around the Whitby and North Yorkshire moors area.
Arrived at the campsite Friday afternoon, I`m ready, the bike is ready, and my tent is pitched. I even had time to take the crap out of my mate, he`s got the tools out already, this won`t come back to haunt me, will it.

09:00hrs Saturday morning and we`re off, I`m in the company of new-ish bikes, but my plucky 20 year old nail can hold it`s own, riding past downed KTM riders is the best feeling............in the world.
Unfortunately, this smugness only lasted until late afternoon.
After dinner, my bike started popping and banging through the exhaust on the over run, the pilot screw had started to unscrew, I had to adjust it a couple more times but eventually, after a long-ish run on the road, the inevitable happened, my bike stops, the pilot screw had fallen out and was lost to the wilds of the Yorkshire Moors. To get me going again, I wound the tickover up and got my mate to hold his finger over the hole where the pilot screw should have been, the bike starts but tickover is now roughly quarter throttle with no engine braking. I also got bitten by a dog while holding a gate open, that will teach me to mock the mighty KTM, god of all things off road. I survived the rest of the day.....just.
Back at base, I screwed a bolt into the pilot screw hole to seal it, the tickover could now be dropped to a more manageable speed, throttle response was a bit fluffy low down and the tickover is all over the place, but I can ride around these issues. A ride to Whitby for fish and chips and a couple of beers in the pub when we got back ended the day nicely.

 

The second day started with the ignominy of having to be bump started, oh dear.
Rode some more good trails and my bike seemed to behave itself, still difficult to ride, but ok.
We had a blast along a forest track with deep puddles, the problem child decided it still doesn`t like deep water and started to miss fire, thought I`d sorted this issue with a new plug cap.
The rest of the day was still good, my bike received high praise at how well it runs with a rusty old bolt where the pilot screw should be, "hmmm, I suppose."
Even with the bike issues it was still a bloody good weekend, character building I think they call it.
Can`t wait for the next one.

 

Lol, this dog is well known for biting riders, that explains why certain people were hanging back to avoid holding the gate open.
It started biting the shin armour on my boot and I thought do your best, when I got on my bike it started on my foot, it managed to puncture my boot and I now have a blood blister on my foot.
We came the same way the next day and I made sure I wasn`t holding any gates, the bloody dog wasn`t there though, I even shouted "come on boy, come on" but it was a no show. Bloody thing, at least I have an excuse for new boots now.

 

Just some lightweight non armoured gloves.

 

The boots I have now are some 12 year old Forma trials boots, from when I used to trial, well past their best but very comfy. Just ordered some O`Neal riders.

 

I`ve bought another pilot screw, £25.
I also think I`ve finally got to the bottom of my bikes reluctance to do deep water.
Anyone fancy a guess at what it is?

 

Only Ducati suffer from aquaphobia..............or should I say Ducati riders

 

The miss fire in deep water solved (I hope)
The bike runs fine in the dry and in the rain, but aim it at deep puddles and it sometimes miss fires and stops, it will tickover but won`t rev, after maybe 10 or 20 seconds sat in a cloud of steam it will clear and run ok.
I love the idea of campaigning an old bike against more modern stuff, you know, the plucky under dog, never giving up, showing the young whipper snappers how it`s done. But this is getting old now, I spent Sunday evening looking for something more modern and reliable.
Anyway, after I washed it Monday morning I thought I`ll sort you. I held the throttle open and sprayed under the tank with the hose pipe, full pressure on the coil, cdi, plug cap and lead. No miss fire and carried on reving, hmmm???
Next I squirted the stator wires where they go into the engine case, no change. Back to under the tank, no change, I`m now hidden from view in a big cloud of steam. Hmmm????
Next I squirt water on the rubber carb manifold, it`s probably as old as the bike and may be porous, maybe sucking steam in to the carb, but no, no change.
Now a flash of inspiration, (I`m due one) I notice one of the carb breather pipes is tee`d into the overflow pipe, this goes down the back of the engine and hangs under the bike, I put the end of the pipe in a cup of water.....miss fire, nip the pipe, miss fire. By George, I think I`ve found it. Deep water blocks this pipe and then the carb must pressurize causing poor running, once the pipe clears everything runs right.
This shouldn`t really happen though because there is another breather pipe that goes under the seat, I found the end of this pipe, there`s a self tapping screw blocking it. WTF!!!
My plan now is to run a single over flow pipe down from the bottom of the carb, the two breather pipes will be joined with a tee piece and then routed under the seat, fingers crossed.
The plucky old nail gets a reprieve.

 

Pictures?
I love old 2T off road bikes.
My dream off roader would be a 490 Maico. If kicking it off didn`t finish me then I`d probably end up wrapped around a tree.
What a brilliant way to go

 

To be honest I never gave it a thought, I was just so relieved to have hopefully found the problem. When I put it all back together I will give it a try and see what happens.
(forks are out for an oil change)

 

My new boots. Dog proof, I hope.

Got my girlfriend to model them for a photo shoot, every little bit helps when breaking in new boots.