ktm jeff

Gasohol E 10 and E 20 has 10% and 20% ethanol. Anything longer than 6 months may give problems , depending what engine we are talking about.  If it has a carb it could have problems. As suggested , fill up with Benzine and add a fuel system stabiliser and/or fuel system cleaner.

The bore on both the Stallion 400 and the SWM 440 is 70mm. Their strokes are 85mm , giving 397.2cc , and 88.9mm , giving 434.5cc. So going up 3.9mm on the bore gives an extra 37.3cc. I assume the cylinder head and valve system is unchanged. So barrel and piston required from SWM. I would think some mild gas flowing and camshaft work with an exhaust and EFI re-tune will give some very good gains. Dont forget , as standard these Shineray/Stallion/SWM engines gives more power than the carbed Yamaha SR 400.

13 hours ago, Tuvoc said:

Standard (and lowest) in UK is 95, and then there are the 97, 98 or 99 Premium available depending on brand.

England has 91 and 95. Shell "Ultima" is considered one of the best. Anything higher will require additives. What fuel makes do you believe offer higher than 95.

5 hours ago, JonnyF said:

PS. can anyone recommend a good, locally available coolant that's good for 2 strokes? Something like Engine Ice that's available locally?

Where are you based. In Chiang Mai there is the Burning off-road shop that sells something like Engine Ice etc. Ive used "Evans waterless coolan"t and "Water Wetter" with good results.  These will require import.

These engines have been made by Shineray for years , using the original tooling and castings  from Honda. So its a good bet some original parts will fit. These engines are also used in SWM motorcycles that are 440cc. These modern versions of Honda use fuel injection.

Fantastic little bike. Looks in very good condition. May i ask how much you paid - no problem if private.  To the OP , is "EDDYS" still going in Pattaya , over on the darkside if i remember , near the Siam Country Club/auction house.

People who buy Zoom , Kawasaki KSR , Yamaha Q-Bix , Filano and the many generic monkey bikes from Lifan , Zongshen Ryuka and Stallion are just after a run-around bike. From just 30K brand new ( 50K for the honda ) they are disposable transport , people change when bored. Superbikes are bought with more thought and purpose . 140 BHP will still give a top speed in excess of most peoples desires , but the 190 BHP will be higher but accelerate far better. Like yourself , im not sure of Hondas big-bike plans for the future . Dont think Honda has a clue either.

2 hours ago, Nyezhov said:

Nice ride. I have a 2001 Ford Escort. Wanna race?

I was at Shelsley Walsh hill climb recently , and im sure your car would be quicker up the hill.

IMO , Honda are going downhill , in market share , quality and innovation. When i look for a new bike , they are not even a company i  consider . Why would you when you have better products from other companies.  If you reduce BHP , you reduce torque.  So why would you buy a 140BHP Honda instead of a 195BHP Yamaha or Kawasaki. Im not telling anyone what to spend their money on , but at least theres some hope for them if they have a look around at the many other products available. 

6 minutes ago, jenny2017 said:

Mine is longer, believe me. 

Mine is only 10 CM longer than standard , same length as a Silver Spur.  The MPW Royce was an extra 24" - 60 CM. As this engine wasnt turbo-charged , it must have been "leisurely"

1 hour ago, eisfeld said:

I'm sure you can modify the Fireblade to get to the original figures but again, warranty loss and costs for no reason.

 

Those guys that tried it before spent a lot of  time , money and research - and still couldnt do it.  There seemed to be more to it than people thought.  Thats why i said it made no sense , as the number of components making up the engine remains the same. The general concensus was if you wanted a full power bike , buy from Red Baron.  I have no links to this shop , never even been there , but they seemed to be the ones who knew far more than the Honda salesman.

4 hours ago, thaiguzzi said:

Because they can. They are the Corporate Big Red H.

 

Honda started to go downhill when they couldnt be bothered to sort out the fueling on the 2000 Blade. The bean counters had took over by then. They still havent moved out. Such a waste of a once great company.  Honda started flogging bikes over 50 years ago in Thailand - good bikes back then - and once had about a 85% share of the Thai market , when no other company was trying to make in roads.  Kawasaki got serious about 8 years ago , and Yamaha shortly after. That figure of 85% has fallen fast ,  as people question value , and pop their heads out of the "big red box" to have a look around. Yamaha wants that No1 spot. They will soon get it.

6 hours ago, Kwasaki said:

Agree somewhat but there has to be a reason, how can we know that other manufacturers are not doing the same to some degree.

Smaller bikes don't seem to be affected my 250 goes very well. ?

Maybe if there was a decent engine Dyno in Thailand then riders could know what power they have compared to the western bikes say. 

 

SV 1000.  Nice. Suzuki,s answer to a Duke. Ive never heard about any other company so severely restricting power as much as Honda. A 190BHP bike will show about 175BHP on the dyno , or 125 if its a Honda , but the problem is youve bought it by then. You need to find out its true power before you hand over your hard earned cash - and we know the "salespeople" at Honda wont tell you the true figures , so they are as helpful as an ashtray on a motorbike.

With these generic bikes , parts can be a problem , until you find out what you have got. Believe me , this engine is fitted in other bikes and parts are the same. The other bikes this engine is fitted to may have a bigger , more local dealer network.  The engine number is stamped on the engine. Also stamped on the engine should be an engine model/code. As its in a scooter , it may require some bodywork removing. As this engine is a 125 , its code could begin with the manufacturers ID , then its number of cylinders and bore size , then its application. It may be something like ZS  152 FML. This code then allows you to order parts whatever the engine is fitted to. What parts do you require ?.

5 hours ago, OneMoreFarang said:

Maybe talk with some specialist i.e. Red Baron

http://www.redbaronbkk.com/

In my experience they are experts and at least some speak English every well.

 

When people discovered the Honda spec was 60BHP down , they bought their bikes from Red Baron.  I think , even this company was unable to fully help to de-restrict the "official" Hondas.  The KTM power-part exhaust may  simply  be  a closed course use only part , and not have an approved road ( E or TIS ) stamp. Its strange why Honda seems so keen to "self restrict" when others dont with their Thai models.

7 minutes ago, findlay13 said:

I  just enquired about this today at the kawasaki dealer.I left non the wiser.?

In Australia you can buy a 650cc Kawasaki restricted version for learner riders and later de-restrict the bike for open licenced riders.They'd never heard of the practice OR my efforts at explaining it weren't understood[very likely]. but I was told "that's the model " as it is for everyone.

It seems this dodgy practice of palming off lower spec models is only practiced by Honda , as i have never heard of these problems with other companies. The restriction throttle "plates" are added at  the dealer , not the factory , and the bike comes with a certificate to say its being officially restricted.

Lying , yes. Liable , not a hope in hell of getting your money back - many have tried. No consumer protection , hence your observation , or lack of , of any liability figures.

Many people have started to question the worth of Honda products. Yes , warranty will be void . The thread i can remember was from several years ago , 3/4 , and even after some serious money was spent / wasted , they were still 60BHP down - with no warranty.  I wonder if the true specs could be wiggled out by using the engine and frame numbers and some component codes such as the ECU and injection components.  All these are external components , although if the Honda dealer suspects your onto them , they wont let you make note of the serial numbers.

8 minutes ago, Kwasaki said:

You can get your bike to levels you want in Thailand, plenty of places will do it if you can't do yourself so no worries.

You can find out whether it's restricted or not easy enough.

When people , who were told by Honda that their models were full power , found out their 1000cc bikes were putting out less power than a 600cc bike , tried to get their money back - false advertising - but Honda refused to pay out.  Thailand has very few consumer protection laws that work. The owners then looked at bringing their Hondas up to standard,  Not easy. One poor sod wasted 250,000 and was still no better off. Its not just ECU and throttle bodies and complete exhaust systems that need changing.

Sorry for late reply , was sorting something out on my phone.  Well im certainly no wiser . It was only a guess on my behalf that these Hondas are destined for other markets.  I see you are looking at a Africa Twin , but the ones available in Thailand have 40mm shorter suspension.  I just cant figure Honda out lately.  I passed my test long ago , but in England you can ride a 1000cc bike but it must be restricted to much less than 130BHP. Maybe as low as 65BHP.  It makes no sense to limit the power of Honda models , compared to other countries , as they still use the same basic engine and number of components.

If you get the engine number and code , which might be something like 159 FML , you will find this engine is used in other bikes. Hope this helps.

As far as i know , there is only the 110cc engine limit , for 15 year olds , no power limits.  You are correct in that Honda reduces the power of some of their bikes sold in thailand.  Is this because , whoever makes them , has made them for another country - India , Indonesia ?, and Honda just thinks it can get away with selling them off in Thailand. In England there are several levels of licence , with maximum power limits. Not so in Thailand. Maybe they are just surplus stock , destined for elsewhere.

7 hours ago, Just Weird said:

Bentley never offered a LWB RT, it came as a standard length, it was just an RT.  A special factory order only could have got you a SWB RT but that was never officially offered so there was never a LWB version.  Using your logic, I could claim that 50 years ago my '68 Cortina 1600E was a 1968 Cortina1600E LWB.

Er , yes. The RT model was a LWB model as standard. So still longer than the Turbo R model i nearly bought. I didnt know they offered the RT in standard length. I must read my up my books.

3 hours ago, guzzi850m2 said:

Why have a bike there? Summer holidays perhaps, nice bike.

Because the dam import taxes . Unless i can  get it to Thailand for a cost im willing to pay , it will have to be sold sooner or later. Its never been ridden , on display in my living room. Aprilia RSV for riding to North West 200 and IOM.