ClareQuilty

I'm happy to report that I sprang for the 450 baht rear suspension repair my mechanic suggested, and it turned out it was not a rebuilding of the shocks, but in fact an entirely new set of shocks/springs. Pretty good value I'd say for 450 baht, and now the bike rides and handles perfectly. Of course I'm aware that 'perfectly' for a Yamaha Fresh is still not 'good handling', but I'd say that now it is a lot more comfortable and a lot safer (at reasonable speeds, up to about 60-70) than when it was bouncing all over the place.

Thanks everybody for your advice and comments.

Smug or not - facts are facts.

Based on many hours running various engines on a dyno, both cars and bikes.

Actually the 'horsepower' and torque figures, as well as the RPMs at which they're delivered, are quite different between these small- bike engines, seedy, at least according to google...

In a nutshell - Torque = acceleration Horsepower = top speed

In a another nutshell- one will not notice any difference regarding bore/stroke on the bikes that are discussed here.

I was just waiting for this smug point to be made, but I disagree - I think you notice things like minor differences in power all the more in weaker, smaller machines than you would in your ultra-expensive ones, Semper.

For example, for decades I used to drive big V-8 cars in the US. Some of them were 'big blocks' with long strokes, some were 'small blocks' with short strokes, some were 5 liters and some were 8, but they still were all generously powered and satisfying to drive. Nowadays I drive little four cylinder cars in Thailand and the difference between one that is seriously under-powered and one that is just-adequately powered is enormous in terms of feel. I think the same holds true with these small bikes.

No one will ever go wrong avoiding Gasohol. The stuff's just bad news. If you have no choice but to put a little in to get you to the next real fuel station, that's ok, but try not to allow it to be more than 1/2 of a tank of the nasty stuff - then you can fill up as soon as you reach the real fuel and dilute the damaging stuff down to at most 5%..

I know very little about motorbikes, but in the course of owning a few Honda Waves, Yamaha Sparks and Freshs, Kawasaki Cheers, and driving a few Suzuki Smashs, I've noticed that I generally tend to prefer the Kawasakis and Suzukis over the Hondas and Yamahas.

I did a little research and found that in the 100-125cc size which is normal for these bikes, the most notable difference between these brands is the Hondas and Yamahas go for long strokes and small bores ('oversquare?') and the Kawasakis and Suzukis tend to go for the short stroke and larger bore ('undersquare?') engine design. I'm sure there are many other differences in ride, handling, etc., which are effecting my preferences, but I'm curious if anyone else has any opinion on the bore/stroke aspect - what are the different characteristics and which do you guys like?

So a rebuild for the front and rear should cost no more than 1000baht (inc parts)

Having followed CQ's 2T posts for some years that is probably what he paid for the whole bike

Actually, VocalNeal, you're not too far wrong, but typically I find its necessary to pay a bit more than that for a rehabilitate-able bike. Its awfully easy to put together a nice little runabout like the above mentioned Fresh (or a Smile, or a Cheer) for 5-7 thousand, or a sporty old two stroke like a Tiara for a few thousand more, so I don't really see the point of spending more... though the real reason I buy old things isn't practicality - its that I'm crippled by nostalgia.

It's most certainly time for a new shock for the back and/or a rebuild up front.

It sounds expensive but in Thailand a full overhaul including the price of a new rear shock shouldn't cost too much

Anyone know how much that might cost? My mechanic said he could take care of the rear suspension (which has two springs, not one), for 450. I've had front end suspensions on Honda Tenas rebuilt for 100-120 per side.

Take it back and tell him to do it right!

Thanks MaiChai, I did take it back and it turned out he hadn't done anything wrong - it was just a bad chain and sprocket. Once he replaced that everything worked perfectly.

I've a Yamaha Fresh that's running well but is extremely bouncy in its ride, particularly in the back. I've noticed that another Yamaha I had - a Spark - was quite bouncy too. Is this just the way these bikes are, or could it be improved with different shocks or springs? My Kawasaki Cheer seems to be so much better handling, despite being in worse condition.

Any advice would be appreciated, about this specific bike or spring/shock setups on small bikes in general.

I have an old Yamaha Fresh with the 4 spd clutchless transmission, and when I bought it the thing kind of wanted to surge forward at lights at idle (there was no idle-at-rest-in-gear as is normal on such bikes). The mechanic worked on it, replacing a few parts in the transmission, and now it is pretty much the opposite - it doesn't really want to go until its rather revved up. Also it seems to pull back a quite excessively when you let up on the gas at 50 or 60 - not a pleasant feeling.

But the real problem is that when you let up on the gas and slow down from speed like that, all sorts of annoying clicks and snaps come from the area of the transmission. I wonder what the mechanic may have done wrong to cause this. I'll be taking it back to him in a day or two, can anyone make any suggestions?

Thanks everyone for your great advice. Good news - I took the bike back to my 'tin shack' mechanic, and after leaving it with him for a day or so, when I picked it up he had the lights working right and didn't charge me a thing (that is, he fixed whatever he had messed up for free).

So, I have a little bike that's rough looking but great-driving, with a good title and tags, for 3,000 plus about 2,000 in fixing up costs. The title transfer and tags amounted to about 1,000, so a bike for 6,000 isn't bad.

These little Kawasakis have a nice feel - I like it better than the Yamaha Fresh & Spark, and the Honda Waves that I've had.

Thanks guys. I'm sure you're right BigBikeBkk, the man must've messed it up somehow, because the problem materialized just after he worked on it. One thing I saw him doing was he took out a part that looked like a little dynamo (with wires wound round and round), and he worked on it for like 1 or 2 hours - didn't see what he was doing but maybe re-winding it or something like that. Earlier he had told me it was impossible to get Kawasaki parts so he would have to try to make do. Perhaps he messed up the dynamo (which alas apparently wasn't the problem in the first place!) And Lickey, I know it isn't the bulb because I took it to another shop (a late night one), and he tried a new bulb on it and it had the same problem.

I have to admit I can't work on the bike and know very little, I just wanted to learn a bit in order to be able to deal with the mechanic. Unfortunately there are only 'tin shack' mechanics up here in Isaan, at least here in Maha Sarakham.

So, it seems that Kawasaki parts have become very hard to find. I had a shop fixing a few things on a good running and driving old Kawasaki Cheer I picked up for just 3,000 baht (basically just the kick start and electric start, cost about 1,500). It was of course straightforward to fix the kick-start (some internal part with gear-teeth on it), but the electric start somewhat befuddled the mechanic, and he seemed to be trying many things before finally discovering that by replacing the ordinary battery with a quite expensive and unusual one ( I believe it said '12 volt' on it, and cost about 600 baht as opposed to the normal 280-300), the start worked perfectly.

Here's the thing, before the headlight was strong and bright, but now it is so dim the bike is undriveable at night (when I do 90% of my driving), so I'm thinking what could it be? The 'generator' or 'alternator'? I think they call it the 'die-mo' here, short for 'dynamo'. It is obvious that whatever the mechanic did to it caused this problem, as it was fine before he had it.

I've asked a couple of shops if that part were available for Kawasaki and they doubted it. Does anyone have any advice about where to find parts for an old Kawasaki? Or about what may cause one's headlight to run very, very dim?

My ex used to use it. From memory she said it was a sort of candy-drink that also makes a ladies lips look like they have had lipstick applied to them. A sort of two-in-one concoction.

Yes fritter, that's exactly it! It definitely stains your collar, but differently from lipstick.

Funnily enough, when I sent that jacket to the laundry, that juice-stain came right out, but the same girl stained a shirt collar of mine with real lipstick a week later, and when that came back there was still a bad stain. Oh well. Fun girl in the sack, but hazardous to one's clothing.

Acetone. Errr....next.

No, no.. that's for lipstick. This isn't real lipstick, that's the whole point - its that red liquid Thai girls (at least up here in Isaan) use in lieu of lipstick.

I ask not because I want to try it, though I have frequently ended up with super-red lips after a kissing a girl who's applied it, but because earlier a girl was sort of smooching the back of my neck and shoulders while I was driving the motorbike, and she got that red stuff all over the collar and shoulders of my favorite jacket!

What is that liquid they use instead of real lipstick? The one which comes in a little bottle about the size and shape of a M-150 bottle (maybe a little smaller). And how can I get it out of my jacket? It looks ridiculous to have a lot of lip-prints on your back!

I have a very good condition old Honda Tena for sale for 7000 baht. The bike has a rebuilt engine in the last few months (new cylinder), new brakes, new battery, and brand new 2555 tags. All paperwork is correct. It is a 4-spd clutchless bike (click through the gears with no hand-clutch). A nice driving and handling little bike for around town (I guess Tenas are 105-110 cc, something like that). I often drive it about 80-90 kph and it feels good and stable.

If you're in Sarakham or a nearby, such as Khon Kaen, Roi-Et, Kalasin, please contact me. These bikes can be shipped by post, bus, or train, but I wouldn't really recommend driving the bike more than a few hours away, as it is small - an around town kind of bike.

Thanks Lickey, for the tips. I'll try those out soon.

It does seem that the replacement of the fuel pump (and filter) has taken care of the dying-30-minutes-down-the-highway problem. As for the differential, well it didn't really seem to make any noise that I can remember, but mechanics at various shops had told me for about a year that the differential wasn't good in this car, but they always recommended just driving it 'as is' till it broke. And the mechanic showed me the old differential's parts, which did in fact look quite worn - many of the teeth or gears were almost gone. So I don't really doubt his honesty or knowledge.

The reason I posted things the way I did is that's the way they happened - after 3 trouble free years a few repairs happened all at once. I was a bit skeptical as well, but now I've driven the old car on a 40 kilometer round trip and then another of 73 kilometers the next day, and no problems.

Thanks Kartman, I'll look into it. If it is in that range it would be worth it.

Actually I drove the car all evening for at least an hour at a stretch, and it didn't act up much at all, so it is definitely variable. It has been pretty cool weather up here in Isaan.

Lickey there's no reason to 'smell a rat' - not sure why you would say so. Perhaps my situation seems a trifle pathetic or comical, but the combination of very old car/very small budget/mechanical ignorance surely isn't bizarre.

That's because a part of the clutch unit is slightly warped (as in bent nothing else ) so the hotter it gets the more warped it becomes.

I see Kartman. When you say 'clutch unit', do you mean the clutch plate? Or the sort of housing of the apparatus? I'm just curious as I think while replacing the clutch plate would be very cheap (maybe just 1,000-1,200 baht), replacing the whole clutch mechanism could be very expensive.

worn and misaligned gear that drives the crankshaft. i think a better question would be what causes the bike to start so hard that warrants so much kicking to wear it out !

Well really the bike is so very old.. about 10-11 years I guess, that I'm not surprised it could be worn out. It can be started by the electric start easily enough.

The mechanic today told me it was a problem which was kind of typical or common for Kawasaki Cheers - perhaps that (and the fact that there are no Kawasaki dealers to be found anymore) is one reason these bikes are usually about 1/3 the price of a Honda Wave, and considerably cheaper than even a Yamaha or Suzuki, on the rare occasions you run across them. I can tell you though that it is a very comfortable little runabout to drive - it seems to me far nicer to drive than an old Wave - oddly comfortable seating position.

I have an old Kawasaki Cheer I picked up a few days ago, and it can be started by both the electric start and the kick start, but often the electric start seems a little reluctant, and the kick start fails to 'connect' about 50-60% of the time.By that I mean when you kick start it, it often doesn't turn over the engine, just makes a kind of slight whine and kicks freely. It isn't really necessary to fix this, I just want to know what it is (my mechanic said it would be about 1,200 baht to fix, so not really worth it for the old bike).Anybody know what causes this?

Sounds like you need a new clutch unit or centre propshaft bearing if Ke 70's have them or both.

And check the gearbox rubber mount, back of the box, if thats shot it will bounce around on launch.

These are great ideas, karman, transam. The clutch doesn't seem to slip at all, or have any other problems once the car is in even the slightest degree of motion. Also I should note that in the last couple days I was reminded of this factor - the problem manifests to varying degrees depending on the weather - temperature and moisture level - and sometimes it seems also the length of time I've been driving (the longer the usage period, the worse the problem gets).

Even if one of the three oil seals failed the lower crown wheel is usually sitting in a ''bath'' of oil below seal level and so picks up oil. Even no oil it would be hard to lock it up on a test run but for sure a few yards would tell any mechanic, from the noise, to put some oil in. To lose all the oil you would have seen oil on your drive and hypoid diff oil smells 'orrible and you would smell it in the car (l think).

Actually I don't think the mechanic was accurate about why the differential was so worn - though we had never checked the oil, I doubt it was all gone. I have another theory about why it was worn.

First I should report that I have gotten the car back and it is usable - for 9,300 baht!!. The real Japanese second-hand electric fuel pump is working and seems to have done the trick on the dying problem (though it is very loud!). However, the new differential has not done anything to quell the awful shudder-on-takeoff (but at no other time) problem - if anything it is worse!

So here is my theory - the differential may have worn out because it and the drive-shaft and the engine may have been somewhat misaligned. I don't know exactly how those things fit together, but I know that the engine in the car is not the original (though it is the correct engine for this model) and it is quite possible they put it in slightly 'off', and this would also explain why a new diff. with all its gears in unworn condition would make the shudder greater.

Am I correct that this could lead to things not linking up or lining up correctly? Its just a guess.

Can anyone advise me if this could be the cause of the shudder? I'm sure the new-used differential itself is quite good condition. If something like this is the problem, would it be possible to adjust things? I've heard of the engine being put in 'too low' or 'too high' in engine swaps.. maybe it wouldn't cost too much to adjust with different mounts or some kind of shims or something like that. As it is, the shudder is extremely annoying at take off, and I would hate to see the new 4,300 baht differential wrecked after just another year or so.

OOPs, I misunderstood the man's bad English on the phone - it was the rear-end or 'differential', not the engine, which had been ruined by 'running without oil'. Still 3,500-4,000 baht, but probably worth it.