Here is a photo of the coolant - its a pretty yucky grey colour. The bike is approximately 5 months old and this is the origional coolant that came inside the bike.
I'd like to know if its just broken down, or if its full of alloy or if it has oil in it? The gearbox oil is definitely clean and free of oil and the coolant doesn't appear to have an oil slick in it.
Anyone else had their coolant turn to a grey colour?
Doesn't appear to have oil in it, and there is no water in the engine oil - its just gone grey and looks horrible.
I don't know if its just broken down or if the stuff in the bike has been eating the alloy?
We've flushed it out and put fresh (good quality) coolant in there today and I will change it again in a week to be sure all the bad stuff is flushed out.
I've emailed a photo of the coolant to the importer. Also anyone know at what point in the delivery chain would the coolant be added to the bike?
Yes, the drag was only when cold. But the clutch didn't dragging before the oil change, at least not as much as it was yesterday.
When I used the GRO 10w/30 I had cold clutch drag but it went away after a few minutes running. With GRO 75w I don't have the drag problem and the clutch engagement is smoother - more feel.
Remember to loosen the clutch cover screws to get all the oil out - even on 2012 model you can't get all the oil from the sump drain which is a bit messy but necessary.
Also I am pretty sure that the gear box oil is also lubricating the main bearings in these engines - as such I don't think the ATF will be up to the task of that?? I don't know for sure but I'm not going to try it :-)
I use Motul racing 2T full synthetic at 110:1 and never fouled a plug. For the trans my dealer told me to use AFT automatic trans oil... I don't like that since they said synthetic gear oil 75W in the manual. He told me he use automatic trans oil in all Ossa, Gas Gas, Sherco, Beta.
What 2T and gear oils are you chaps using in your 280i's?
After some trial and error:
Motorex Cross Power 2T (fully synthetic) at 9ml of oil per litre of fuel (110:1)
I havn't fouled a plug yet, although the plugs look black and pretty horrible when they come out. We clean the plug before each trial, I think they will foul for sure if you don't take them out and clean them periodically.
GRO Gear Extreme 75w in the gearbox. Also tried the 10w/30 which didn't provide the same level of clutch feel despite some data suggesting it was the same stuff as 75w - its a different colour and everything so definitely a different oil. The 75w was an immediate, noticable improvement over the 10w/30.
I think the reduced turning circle makes them less than ideal for trials. I much prefer the conventional forks, the seals last so much longer than upside down forks.
The battery setup works a treat, did some good riding today. Batteries did not get hot. Fan ran at full speed. I don't see any reason to keep the capacitor in the system.
I would keep a spare battery pack in the car just incase but the bike does run with the battery and capacitor both disconnected.
I plan to change my wiring so the off switch on the battery will kill the engine but I will let Dad fiddle around with his as he's a bit of an electronics guy and he'll come up with a nice solution.
We can even easily start the bike with it in gear with the clutch pulled now whereas that was hit and miss before.
Good question - a good capacitor with a small unit to supply a new charge should suffuce or are they only good for 1 time or just to smooth out a voltage flow - this may help understand why the OSSAs were like they were with starting
The capacitor just smoothes out the power, it does not build up a charge like some people think. When you kick the bike, the capacitor is fully discharged in a matter of seconds.
I'm not going to try it but I am quite sure the bike will run without the capacitor however the power supply maybe irregular so the bike might not run too well and maybe there is some risk to the electronics.
When you are doing your initial kicks, essentially you are priming up the fuel pump which depending on how long the bike has been sitting for can take between 2-6 seconds to prime up and turn off. It seems that the priming of the fuel pump is the only reason why these bikes can take so many kicks to start.
Soon as you have fuel pressure, bang, bike starts.
I wish the rain would stop here so I can have a ride, hopefully tommorow, its going to be muddy.
Borus do you know if there is any fail-safe functions in the ECU? Ie. Say your water pump as failed, bike is over-heating, will power be reduced or will the bike turn off - or will it just blow up like a normal non-electronic bike?
Another option to take the battery out of the circuit would be a 2-way switch. Position 1 - battery, start up the bike, after warm up flick switch to Position 2 which takes the battery out of the circuit and flicks back to capacitor.
The only reason to retain the capacitor would be if there is some problem with the battery. So far, no-one has reported any issue with the battery but the few people who have the battery pack to date, most of them are very hush, hush with their knowledge so I don't know if I will discover a problem with running battery only as time goes on.
When using the batterypack just for starting, and disconnect it when riding, the capacitor is needed for proper functioning of the fan.
Without capacitor the fan will not run at full speed.
Good idea to mount a led for switch position.
NEVER HAD A BETTER STARTING BIKE !
Have you tested this yourself to confirm the fan issue?
I havn't run the bike long enough with battery pack for the fan to start but I will test on the weekend. This is the same setup the factory are using so I am not expecting any fan issue but I will know soon.
I am happy to run both capacitor and battery pack if required but some thought will be required to find a suitable mounting position.
Do you know what they call the head light connector plug or did you cut the plug from the head-light to re-use?
Ok - a picture is worth 1000 words, so here is 2000 words :-)
Read the description on each photo to help you understand. Make this at your own risk, if you blow your bike up, burn yourself with the soildering iron, or short out your ECU or other electronics I am not responsible.
I have installed this same solution on my own bike and so far, fantastic.
Use a multimeter to check the voltage output on your pack (it should read a little over 12v like 12.6v or something like that), and to check your switch is working before connecting it to your bike. If you don't have enough electronics knowledge to do the checks then you probably need the assistance of someone more experienced before thinking about connecting to your bike.
To operate, turn your switch to the on position. If your bike has lights they will turn on, you'll hear the fuel pump prime for several seconds and you are ready to start the bike. Leave the switch on while the bike is in operation. After you turn the bike off, turn your switch to the off position to power down the electronics and to avoid running your batteries flat.
If your bike does not have lights, you should consider connecting a LED into the system to indicate power so you can't forget the switch on.
This thread has been fascinating, and you seem to be getting results now, so that's great news!
It is indeed odd that Ossa are taking so long to produce this incredible solution, especially considering its apparent simplicity of design. I have a feeling though, that any non-Ossa approved systems installed on a bike will invalidate all warranty, and so I would suggest people think carefully before they tell their own stories here about the kit they install. Having said that, I look forward to your shopping list with interest, as I have 'a friend' who is keen to make one of their own!
Cheers, Toby
Tonight we made a strap from some alloy to bolt the battery pack into place behind the light, identical mount points to where the capacitor was.
We also made a little bracket to mount the switch, most people would probably drill a hole in the number plate to mount the switch but I don't like putting holes in anything.
My father started the bike, 1st easy kick cold, we turned it on and off a few times and he started it everytime first kick and I can tell you the smile on his face after having so much trouble starting the bikes was priceless.
Can someone who understands electronics advise if we should be worried about over-charging the batteries? Dad says the bike should have a voltage regulator which he feels would prevent this.
If it becomes an issue ie. the battery packs die or don't last, then we will run power through the headlight connector and we'll turn it off shortly after the bike is started with the capacitor back in the system. It does mean finding somewhere to mount the battery but I don't think I will ever use the bike without a battery after seeing how well it now starts.
Its raining here at the moment but on the weekend I will do some riding and we'll see how it goes but I have not heard any rumours of the battery packs failing so maybe I am worried about nothing.
you only asked for advice - not attacks, and OSSA owners replied in the positive, but please go ride one,, if you like it then get one. The are many, many OSSA owners that will help you, they are a fantastic bike, and the way forward, But you need to ride it and see if you like it. All bikes come down to personal preference.
I would not buy another trials bike without test ride and I am the person who research everything and rarely test ride / drive. The more trials bikes I ride though, the more glad I am with the decision to purchase Ossa.
The starting has been a problem but looks so far to be resolved with the battery pack which anyone can make themselves if they know how to use a soildering iron.
I am thinking that maybe the batteries over-charge and fail as a result, there is no protection circuit for the batteries. There has to be some reason why Ossa has not released this product because so far it works almost too good to be true!
I have a friend who is auto electrician, next time he is around I will get him to take a look at the system to see if any protection maybe required to prevent over-charging the batteries.
I have set my unit up so I can easily swap back to the capacitor if required and I will build some spare battery packs for my own personal usage.
I read the post above with the guy who has tapped into the light connector, that also seems like a good idea however I do not know if there is any benefit to retain the capacitor.
I also don't understand why everything about this very basic battery pack is a huge secret.
Allow me a few days to catch up on my work and I will post some directions on how to make and connect the battery with parts from the electronic store.
I think the gearing will be fine for road depending on your top speed expectation.
I've had the TR280i in 6th gear, bit hard to tell how fast I was going but I think you'd comfortably sit on 80km/ph crusing speed - which is as fast as I ride my KTM on the road with trail/enduro gearing.
Yes, there are 16 pages on starting issues, however the first 7 pages seem to be people speaking about individual issues on starting which all seem to have been resolved either with getting easier after some run-in time on the bike, mapping updates, or people modifying their techniques (myself included), then we enter the saga of Deon, which the remaining pages seem to centre around.
When I first got my bike my technique was total crap, but others could start it no problem. Now, with the latest mapping and me improving my technique as best as I can, it maybe takes 3-4 kicks from cold to fire it up.
I have never owned a brand new bike before I bought the OSSA, the warranty and promise of dealer support were definitely factors that supported my purchase and I have to say that the support is second to none, advice, mapping updates without question as soon as available, suggestions on how the bike can be improved to suit my riding style, all of which were greatly received. Fortunately I hve not had to make any use of the warranty to date, but I would be confident that if needed it, it would be readily available. Of course I realize that this may not be the case for everyone, but I am fortunate to live relatively close to my dealer which makes my experience to date a great one.
It seems starting issue maybe completely solved with $100 worth of parts from your local electronics store. I'll keep everyone posted on the "hard starting" page but I will sleep tonight one happy lad!
Re: Grey Coolant
in OSSA
Posted
Here is a photo of the coolant - its a pretty yucky grey colour. The bike is approximately 5 months old and this is the origional coolant that came inside the bike.
I'd like to know if its just broken down, or if its full of alloy or if it has oil in it? The gearbox oil is definitely clean and free of oil and the coolant doesn't appear to have an oil slick in it.
http://www.trialscentral.com/forums/uploads/gallery_16451_66_177426.jpg