[Archived - 2009] PK Official- Questions for Newbie

[kenzoz78]

i was told tat u can adjust the tension of the brake. maybe can try?

 

i aso hav the same problem b4..i hav to squeeze nearly to the end to apply my front brake..i told ah koon my problem n he adjust the tension of my front brake n its now good as b4... maybe u can ask him to adjust for u too... :cheeky:

[Replay]

push start n kick start completely different leh...

 

u remind me of my friend...ask him push start, he push the bike then press the start button...pengz

 

push in gear 2 or 3 with ignition on, then when you generate enough speed, throw clutch and open throttle.

 

will this harm the engine or the bike in any way?

[TheYasMan]

Thanks guys, i have asked Koon to adjust the tension. He bled some Brake fluid and i dont know what, then its better - but i want more now... Anyone knows how?

[Guest @h_püi™]

Thanks guys, i have asked Koon to adjust the tension. He bled some Brake fluid and i dont know what, then its better - but i want more now... Anyone knows how?

 

actually i think is by a knot you can find on the brake caliper that side where you can drain out the brake fluid...

 

you can try to release the knot and depress the brake level all the way in or with slight free play and then tighter the knot at the side time (real tight)..

 

so by depress the level at what you want and get the knot real tight will determind the pressure/brake effect you want..

 

P/S: when you loosen the knot and depress the brake level.. the brake fluid will eventually leak out and cause a mess.. so take note on this...

[TheYasMan]

by knot you mean nut?

so should i squeeze in brake lever while i do the tightening of the nut or it has no link? i dont get this: "you can try to release the knot and depress the brake level all the way in or with slight free play and then tighter the knot at the side time (real tight).."

 

Thanks for the response though!

[Guest @h_püi™]

by knot you mean nut?

so should i squeeze in brake lever while i do the tightening of the nut or it has no link? i dont get this: "you can try to release the knot and depress the brake level all the way in or with slight free play and then tighter the knot at the side time (real tight).."

 

Thanks for the response though!

 

ok ok.. sorry for the confusing part... i explain in steps:

 

1) loosen the nut (beward that brake fluid will leak out)

2) depress the front brake level (beward that brake fluid will leak out)

3) tighten the nut while the front brake level is still been depress.

 

as for part 2.. you can see where the free play you want to be..

 

anyway when i did my own brake fluid change and this is what i discover...

 

when i loosen the nut and try to depress the level.. is like no effect.. like in free play mode.. once i tighten the nut.. the brake start to activate again...

 

so bike is not like bicycle, dun have the metal wire to tighten or adjust.. this is what i discover on bike..

[BlackDawn]

Yas... before you do anything, please check your brake fluid level., or get a mechanic to bleed your brakes. Sounds like there's air in the brake lines.

 

Lastly, be VERY VERY careful of getting brake fluid on your bike. Its very corrosive to paintwork.

[BlackDawn]

actually i think is by a knot you can find on the brake caliper that side where you can drain out the brake fluid...

 

you can try to release the knot and depress the brake level all the way in or with slight free play and then tighter the knot at the side time (real tight)..

 

so by depress the level at what you want and get the knot real tight will determind the pressure/brake effect you want..

 

P/S: when you loosen the knot and depress the brake level.. the brake fluid will eventually leak out and cause a mess.. so take note on this...

 

Somehow, I'm skeptical of this method to adjust the "brake sensitivity".

& I seriously don't think it will work.

 

Brakes work by hydraulics. Fluid under pressure is used to transmit force from your brake lever to the calipers. By loosening the nut, you are creating a 'leak' and preventing the pressure from transmitting, hence brake fluid leaks out when you depress the lever. Tightening the nut plugs the leak and the brakes work again.

 

How all these relates to brake sensitivity is beyond my understanding. Mr Pui or others, care to enlighten?

[BlackDawn]

Bros,

After changine handlebars, ive managed to adjust settings of the clutch, etc to my liking. However, i dont understand how the front brake works. It's giving too much free play, or rather, i have to squeeze till about 1/3 of the lever's swinging range to activate my front brakes.

I want the brakes to be activated earlier, almost as soon as i pull the lever.

How?

 

I suddenly realized I may have understood your question wrongly.

 

When you mean brakes 'activate'. Do you mean

a) the 'bite' of the calipers? or

b) illumination of your brake lights?

 

These are 2 different problems and should be treated separately.

Previous postings by me are with reference to problem (a)

[Guest @h_püi™]

Somehow, I'm skeptical of this method to adjust the "brake sensitivity".

& I seriously don't think it will work.

 

Brakes work by hydraulics. Fluid under pressure is used to transmit force from your brake lever to the calipers. By loosening the nut, you are creating a 'leak' and preventing the pressure from transmitting, hence brake fluid leaks out when you depress the lever. Tightening the nut plugs the leak and the brakes work again.

 

How all these relates to brake sensitivity is beyond my understanding. Mr Pui or others, care to enlighten?

 

hum... well actually i experience this when i did my own brake fluid change...

when i loosen the nut.. and try to pump the fluid out.. the pressing of brake is so easy but no brake applied...

 

and when i change the whole fluid and tighten the nut while i have my brake depress fully.. the brake effect is back again..

 

and what i found out that.. the one cable that connect from the level to the brake caliper is the tube that transfer the brake fluid...unless the clutch and throttle, the free play can be adjust using the tighten nut..

[BlackDawn]

What you experienced is this:

 

1) loosen ‘nut’ = leak in hose = easy to depress lever = no pressure buildup = no brakes

2) tighten ‘nut’ = no hose leakage = harder to depress lever = pressure buildup = brakes functioning properly.

 

Situation (1) you have no brakes

Situation (2) you have functioning brakes.

 

There are no ‘in-between’ settings & there is no relation whatsoever to brake sensitivity.

Unless someone else can explain otherwise to help my understanding.

[gnayed]

Yes there is no in-betweens. There is no way to adjust free-play or sensitivity by using the bleed-nut which is meant to bleed the brake fluid. Fiddling around with the nut is like walking on tightrope.

 

The free play of the lever is mechanical, which I don't think it is adjustable on the phantom's front lever. You can adjust the height of the brake pedal though. Some of the ways to improve the braking feel include changing your brake hose (e.g. steel-braided), brake pads, brake-pump, brake caliper and brake fluid.

 

Most importantly, bleed properly.

[Guest @h_püi™]

o... okok.. understood...

[TheYasMan]

Kiamh, Gnayed and Pui, thanks for the replies.

i meant (a), and i know how to adjust the brake lights...

 

So how exactly is the thorough method of bleeding brake fluid? I think Kiamh is right, i may have some air in my brake lines. Koon fixed up my bars and bled them fluid, and when i visited him again to improvise the sensitivity, he bled a little more, and it felt marginally better.

[Metalfyre]

there's a thread somewhere that fully details the steps required to bleed your brake lines.

[TheYasMan]

Will search for it, thanks.

[Guest @h_püi™]

Will search for it, thanks.

 

it under hand on section on the main forum.. then is on sticky...

[gnayed]

Kiamh, Gnayed and Pui, thanks for the replies.

i meant (a), and i know how to adjust the brake lights...

 

So how exactly is the thorough method of bleeding brake fluid? I think Kiamh is right, i may have some air in my brake lines. Koon fixed up my bars and bled them fluid, and when i visited him again to improvise the sensitivity, he bled a little more, and it felt marginally better.

The correct way of bleeding should be till the point that where there is totally no air in your hoses. Simple as that.

 

If your brakes are feeling spongy, the probable reason is because your brake hoses have deteriorated and lost firmness to hold up the pressure under braking. That's where your steel-braided hoses come in. Rubber brake hoses generally deteriorate after every 3~4 years, depending on usage.

 

Or it could be due to unchanged brake fluid. Brake fluid constantly changes its boiling point upon heating up and cooling down after braking. The boiling point of brake fluids will drastically drop and it will easily fade after a few squeezes if you did not change your brake fluid after a long time. Brake fades are caused by the boiling of fluids forming air bubbles in your hydraulic system. Try to flush your brake fluid and replace with new brake fluid at least every 1 year, use DOT4/5 fluids.

[Guest @h_püi™]

Need help here...

 

recently while riding (on expressway) i felt that the wind very strong and cause my bike to left and right.. but i dunno is it the wind or my bike.. cos recently i just change my root rest and this wind prob come.. will it be my wheel bearing..

[TheYasMan]

Thanks, gnayed, very informative.. You're super. Appreciate it.

 

Pui, is it -that- serious?

I feel the presence of this forum tends to make people overly paranoid.

[Guest @h_püi™]

huh?

what you mean?

this is what i feel, unable to ride steady ... like wobble left and right..

[Phantom Panda]

Need help here...

 

recently while riding (on expressway) i felt that the wind very strong and cause my bike to left and right.. but i dunno is it the wind or my bike.. cos recently i just change my root rest and this wind prob come.. will it be my wheel bearing..

 

Hi pui,

 

I thk it could be some cross wind that coz ur bike left n right.. i feel it on last few days when the sky was dark n wind was strong. it is not ur bike, root rest or wheel bearing prob. or r u wearing a v loose jacket at that time?

[Guest @h_püi™]

for me weather is good and is a hot day... but the wind still very strong ...

 

BTW you still wanna install?

[nuad]

hey 4 months old phantom newb!

 

just wanna ask two questions, sorry if its been asked but too lay-z to browse thru 51 pages

 

1)for phantom 150 odometer the last numeral should be n 100m right? (thats what im guessing) cos when my friends ask me to see how long my full tank can travel , i assume its all in KM so, i was like wah "full tank can go 1800 km sia" they look at me like im an idiot. then when im riding i see my odo last numeral going up like crazy, "im going 2-3 km in few seconds!!!" and of course taxis are overtaking me, so i guess im right in saying last numeral 100m?

 

2)what is average consumption for ta150 full tank? mine seems to average at about 180km per full tank (w/o hitting reserve) i guage tank is empty when the throttle response become damn laggy, macham like turbo lag , i know it all depends on rider style, my brother screw me (he is previous owner) he say he last time average at 220, he saying i drag gear too much.

 

3) i pump full tank usually at 8 litres ++ almost hitting 9 lit. is this usual tank capacity? or is my tank not truly empty yet? usually 13-14 bucks at esso. 95 octane. so at 180km per tank and 8-9liters, i guess im at 20kn/litre. is that alright? or am i too jiak you?

[TheYasMan]

1) Yah. 100m.

 

2) 180km for full tank without reserve (8.5L) means about 21km/L, which to me, is brilliant, if not normal. The average FC for the TA150 is 18-24km/L, but i had a terrible experience with FC on my old TA150. So i guess you should be quite happy since you drag gears somemore.

 

3) Pump petrol, take note of mileage (a).

Ride and have fun for several days.

Pump petrol again, take note of mileage (b) and how much petrol you pump. Level of petrol must be same as initial pump.

(b) minus (a) = Mileage that the latest amount of petrol lasted you for.

Hence the calculated mileage difference divided by the amount of petrol pumped equals FC.