Hi all, my name is Hannah. Got into riding earlier this year, had a '07 CBF for a few months living in Darwin, then sold it and went overseas for a while. Now living in Canberra for the summer before relocating to Perth in Feb, have been given a friends '97 Suzuki Across to rideflown here if I can get it on the road - its been sitting in a shed for 5 years...I know absolutely nothing about working on bikes so looking forward to getting my hands dirty and figuring a few things out, as well as getting back on the road - 5 months of no riding has been killing me - the bike bug bit me bad! Came across this forum looking for some info on the Across, thought I'd sign up since I'll no doubt have some questions to ask the boys & girls over on the Suzuki threads! Cheers!
Hey Wattsie Welcome to the fourm, good score on the Across, hopefully its not too hard to bring back to life. A few things I would look at if its been parked up for 5 years. Might be a good idea to pull the plugs are pour a teaspoon of oil down each of the cylinders before trying to start it. The stuff I would do \ look at is as follows : Change oil and filter Clean out carbies as old fuel may have gone bad and has caused blockages Drain old fuel , check fuel filter Check\Replace plugs Check\Replace battery Check tyres, they may have gone hard while in storage Check \ replace brake fluid in front and rear master cylinder Check\Replace engine coolant You will notice a big difference i performance from your CBF250 to a GSX250F, they are a great bike to ride :Thumbs_up: thanks Chris
Welcome to the forum Hannah I know what you mean about getting the bug... I'd never so much as touched a bike before my learners course, haven't gone anywhere without one since! The across is a lot of fun, I and many others here have owned or still own one- you're in good company when it comes to getting them up and running! Hope your new baby's on the road soon Al.
Hey Wattsie Just wanted to welcome you to the forum. The Suzuki Across is a great bike and as luck would have it, we have many past and current owners on the forum. Feel certain you will get great support and advise to get your trusty steed back on the road. With summer fast approaching, ideal time to get back on the road. Love to see some photos, and as always enjoy the ride. :Thumbs_up: Phil
Greetings fellow human of the planet Earth,below is a link to assorted goodies i have been collecting about this "iron horse" known as a GSX250F http://www.scribd.com/stinger30au/collections
Thanks for the welcome guys, and especially for that list of things to check out, and the stash of 'goodies'! Most of its over my head to be honest, and I'll probably end up paying someone to do most things to get it on the road, but it's going to be a good bike to start figuring out how everything works over the next few months I think! It's good to see so many owners have good things to say about them! I'll get some pics up after I dig it out of the shed over the weekend. Cheers
mate, before you go paying anyone, heres something for you to think about.Im a trade qualified electronics mechanic, and armed with some basic tools, common sense and service manual , i have fixxed everything on this bike myself. infact some of the info i have read to fix this bike is by another member of this forum who is a plumber!! the across is pretty easy to work on compared to some of the bikes i have owned in the past,and if you get stuck, take photos of what it is your stuck on, post it here, and i bet we can sort it out with all members on this forum. and if we cant, i have a friend on the Japan Across owners club forum and we im sure we can sort it
ozbiker is right....most stuff on bikes,especially smaller older ones, is pretty easy once u get into it....with a few basic tools etc and forums like these u will save ALOT of money......and once u learn and do things yourself u get a good feeling of satisfaction. Theres plenty of us "experts" ( :o ) here to help out. A bike that has sat for 5 years needs a good going over to make it safe and rideable. My Fizzer was being ridden to and from work every day by the PO (previous owner) and when I started digging into it ,it was scary.......! Just simple things like the tyres.....even if they have lotsa tread they would surely be past their "use by" date....as mentioned they will be hard or be cracking (crazing) ,especially the area close to the rim edge (sidewall)........not a good thing on a motorcycle. There should also be a manufacture date on the tyre which will tell u wat week and year they are made. http://www.bridgestone.com.au/tyres/passenger/care/age.aspx Anyway just start with the basics and ask away and throw up some photos. :Thumbs_up:
Thanks guys, that sounds good to me. I'll be pulling her out of the shed with the previous owner tomorrow, so we'll see where to start from there!
thats right, and what we dont know the manual does, and if you dont have a service manual, i can fix that with a link in no time :Thumbs_up: :laugh:
Hi Wattsie I am not sure if I should say hi as I may or may not be a "Earthling" But I though I should be friendly and say hi anyway. The best way to learn is to jump in and give it a go and there is plenty of advice here. Some of it may even be usefull . But a good mechanic is also very valuable when needed. As some things need special tools etc. The weather is getting better so good luck getting it up and running soon.
Just a bit of an update, had a family situation I had to sort out, so went away for a few weeks...the Across is still sitting in the shed waiting for me to get working on it after Christmas. In the meantime, I got sick of not riding, so while visiting my sister I picked up a shiny blue 2010 Ninja 250R, which I have been riding or taking with me in the back of my ute everywhere I go! So now I have something to work on/learn with, and something to ride - the best of both worlds!
