Spent the last week fixing a few things up on the old Across. Literally just ticked over 60k on the odometer as I ran out of fuel trying to drag the bike back to my parents place... She'd been running terribly for a while now and I assumed it was being starved of fuel and some work needed to be done on the carbs, how wrong I was. First to inspect (on the old man's advice) was spark plugs. Not only were they due a replacement, two of the leads had corroded. This accounted for the bike cutting out as I pulled up to lights, etc. New leads, new spark plugs done. Next was the air filter. This is were I found the cause of my issues. The engine was being starved of air, not fuel. Turns out, if the oil is over-filled, the excess runs through the blow-by and straight into the air box. Hard for an air to flow through a filter soaked in oil... air filter replaced. Whilst I was in the zone, I pulled the exhaust apart. Turns out the baffle inside was broken in half (without any damage to the exterior?). Oh well, cleaned everything with an air compressor and reassembled with significantly less steel wool than original (stereotypical first bike owner in his early 20's) Up early this morning for a 6am start and rode over an hour to uni. She didn't miss a beat and felt better than ever! This bike is turning me into a mechanic I swear...
Well done While you are in maintenance mode, I'd also check your coolant. If the bike gets too hot, you'll lose power when the thermo fan kicks in.
Next weekender project is exactly this plus bleeding brake lines. Bought from a bike shop, Express Motorcycles in Ipswich. $4 per foot so not an expensive job.
Good stuff @Little_Russy Get in and have a go .... learn as u go just like we all do and have done and know that u did it yourself and u learn how your bike works and save yourself a crap load of money from not paying someone else.