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I was passing a motorhome in Yellowstone on an xl 350 and almost hit a Grizzley that was running across the road out of my view. Scared the crap out of me. Luckily he was at a full run out of there.

When you say "clutch doesn't engage", I assume you mean it doesn't disengage. Assuming it worked before you changed the clutch fluid, the only possibility is air in the system. Although motorcycle hydraulics seem to be notoriously difficult to bleed, the clutch really shouldn't be too bad as there is a continuous gradient up from the slave cylinder to the master cylinder. Filling from the bleed nipple end should be the easiest as you will be pushing the air uphill. I've never done the clutch but when I did the front brake I finished with lots of tapping of the brake line near the master cylinder and watching for tiny bubbles coming out into the reservoir. With that and a bit of pumping I got there in the end. The only other possibility I see for your problem is that you have a big chunk of air trapped in the slave cylinder. Try lying the bike towards its left side.

Whenever possible, park your car or van right in front of the garage door. I have a couple of big blocks of wood fixed to the ground so I just touch them with the back wheels and the car is an inch from the door. And just in case the scum try to drag the car out of the way I park it in gear so that both front and rear wheels are "braked". I think multiple layers of security are better than just one super-high security device.

I just picked up a 93 Aprillia Climber last night. It’s in good original condition. Just needs some maintenance. It came with a lot of new and extra parts. I need to weld the tab for the rear fender mount. I noticed the swingarm is a little loose. Anyone know the bearing sizes or if there is a bearing, sleeve and seal kit for the swingarm?

I would be surprised if it is just a spark making the noise as it's quite pronounced. Be great if that is all it is though. Will probably pull the clutch cover and have a look, clean the gauze as well. I didn't notice an oil flow bolt but again good call, will take a look. There was plenty of oil in the rocker cover.

Sorry I'm useless with electrics so no help with testing electrical components. The 5 speed manual is available to download which should have readings in it. Or you can send the stator and coil to Bradford ignitions as he can test and repair Motoplat stators and sometimes coils If your wires still come out from the bottom of the ignition casing and run under the engine, there's a chance that they may have got chamfered or broken as they have to bend a sharp 90 degrees, once old and brittle the sheath can crack causing shorts or they can just break. Also, with a bike that's used hard the bash plate gets smashed up towards the engine and can help break the wires. A mod to stop this is to drill a hole through the top front of the casing by the engine mount and run the wires behind the stator, through the hole and up the front frame tube. This involves grinding away some of the ribbing behind the stator to accommodate the wires. If your bash plate has go bent upwards, also worth checking that the head of the sump plug bolt isn't exposed as that can end in tears if it catches a rock. Tapered headless allen bolts solve that problem

Clearly, someone before you has had it apart. Is the top end getting sufficient oil? IIRC, there is an oil pressure check bolt in the head. There's no oil filter but, there is an oil screen that can be cleaned if you remove the clutch cover.

If it is above the tank and not to the side, you're not just hearing a wasted spark ignition are you? If timing is off the crank it is a wasted spark system.

So the valves were slightly tight, the cam chain and tensioner all seem good. Can't see anything broken with the valve springs but a bit hard to see into the rocker space. Interestingly the cam was one tooth out on the chain but setting that right has made no difference to the tick. Carb through the ultrasonic cleaner and it startes first time and goes to a nice tickover after a bit of tuning the mixture screw. Pulls great, revs hard and ticks over well. Sometimes gives a cough if you give it a load of throttle at tick over but only 1 in 10 times. Lifts it's front wheel with just throttle quite happily and feels like it has good compression with the kickstart and doesn't smell at all of oil or burning. Ticking is still there, changed the oil and it was old. Had a silvery shimmer to it with some bits. Passing a magnet through the oil and nothing picked up, silver bits and clutch material are all 1 to 2mm bits. But probably hasn't had new oil in ages. Ticking is hard to place, using a stethescope it sounds clear all around the crank cases. Seems a bit louder at the front top of the engine but I am struggling to place it. At first I thought rings or small end but it isn't any louder noise listening directly to the barrel. It doesn't change at all with clutch in or out, or in gear. Ticking is heard clearest with my head above the tank, not to the side of the engine, although you can hear it is ticking as soon as it starts from anywhere near the bike.

Testing with the ohms resistance at 200 I'm getting 34 ohms.

First start! This bike had been on standby for a while. Coolant, a bleed, a few connections, fuel system finishing, and it was good to go. Started perfectly, protecting the beautiful new kickstarter from contact with the footrest. The engine sounds great. It's truly satisfying. All that's left is to bleed the front brake.

Thanks again, how can I determine if my coils faulty? I've a digital multimeter but have limited knowledge in it's use. I can check for resistance, ohms and voltages. Do you know of any readings between the spade connectors themselves and either spade connector and the ht lead? I get a reading of 049 when I probe the spade connectors and the meter makes a noise.

OMG people his tube type steel rim isn't even a safety rim, you know those tools called a bead break? <- he does not need one because the tire will never bead. You know the big Bang that a tire makes at the tire shop when the tire mounts the bead <- his tube tire on plain ol steel rim will never make that noise unless he has a blowout, because there is no bead to seat 😐 stop making it more complicated, the Only way that tire won't slide right into place Dry is if he pinches the tube between the tire and rim when he is mounting it.

The end float on the gear shaft won't affect the plunger as that acts on the selector drum, but too much end float on the gear shaft means the selector fork is not in contact with the selector drum when the shaft moves too far to the left. Inside the clutch case there are two washers on the gear shaft, normal and wave washer, located by a circlip. These restrict the shaft end float, if they aren't there the shaft will continue to work its way outwards, disengaging with the drum, nothing that a kick with your heel won't solve to push it back in though

I use hand sanitizer to put handlebar grips on lol maybe that will work for whatever the heck it is you are trying to make slippery.

Thanks Woody, you got me thinking, and I realised the gear change lever shaft had far too much end float so the plunger was not engaging with the selector drum detent. All sorted now , I just can't get it to spark!

other options include WD40 and dishwashing liquid solution

Screw adjuster valve clearance tightens with wear as the valve wears into the valve seat. Valves do travel at half speed of the crank, is the ticking in time with the crank or valve train, that can help to narrow it down some times. Your bikes parts manual shows only one spring on each valve, most have 2 springs wound in opposite direction to each other (stops the valve from rotating), I'd be looking for a damaged valve spring if it turns out to be a valve noise.

@halfway www.birkettmotorsport.com - scorpa - parts books - halfway down the page. SY/TY 125F info.

If the engine is in the bike, put it in 1st and try just tapping the gear lever into neutral with your heel whilst rocking the bike. If the shimming is making the gear selection a bit stiff it could cause the selector to go straight past neutral to 2nd and vice-versa. Tapping it with your heel should move it just enough for neutral. It's how I get neutral on my 250 as the gear selection is a bit stiff, my 350 gets neutral a lot easier

TT-R125 manuals are available online. Valve clearance (cold) IN: 0.08 ~ 0.12 mm (0.0031 ~ 0.0047 in) EX: 0.10 ~ 0.14 mm (0.0039 ~ 0.0055 in) Check the cam chain tensioner too.

Valve clearance and cam chain were going to be my first checks in a couple of days, hopefully just the valves not adjusted to spec. Any ideas what spec should be?

https://www.redlinestands.com/catalog/shop-equipment-c-327/tire-change-equipment-c-327_331/tire-changers-c-327_331_248/discontinued-coats-220-manual-tire-changer-p-1865 I had this manual changer for over thirty years. Lubed every tire I ever installed. All trials tires I could usually mount just by hand. Street tires were just as easy. Some of those rock hard knobbies were still the worse. Wish I still had it, but I quit working on bikes for the most part. Just my own. With all my grand kids growing up, it's still would of been usefull! .

Regarding ticking, have you checked the valve clearance? Regarding low-rpm hesitation...

Dog bone linkage bearings need to be serviced lots to keep water out, if the part becomes deformed from impacts it is near impossible to keep the needle bearings good. Many parts are unchanged in the 4RT I just used hydraulic oil in the transmission and change it often, I think the clutch is also unchanged on the 4RT, 2 paper and 3 cork fibre plates in the clutch, nothing special.