SRX 400 refurb

[Ian]

Where are you getting the fork stanchions done Steve? I have had a pair done each by Philpotts and Dynasurf. I think Philpotts were marginally better, but Dynasurf were slightly cheaper. Hope you get this finished for the October show??

[Steve Lake]

hi Ian, yes, that's my plan, in fact i hope to have it ready for the 'fenman' bike show august bank holiday.
i found this guy for the rechroming, £150 per pair, includes insurance, carriage & vat.

https://www.hardchromeplating.co.uk/

i'll let you know how they turn out in about 5 weeks.

cheers

[themoudie]

Used HCP for all of my fork stanchion re-chroming jobs and the job has always been spot-on, with proper hard chrome, ground to the correct specification, rather than the decorative stuff. Very reasonable price and relatively rapid return.

Good health, Bill

[Steve Lake]

Used HCP for all of my fork stanchion re-chroming jobs and the job has always been spot-on

I'm relieved to hear that Bill, i'll eagerly await their return ..

of course, i should have checked the recommended services pages, i'm sure you have mentioned them in there ?

[Steve H]

here's a little problem/opportunity for you Bill, several of my grey import SRX's have had the air valve in the top of the fork. well, my spare set of forks have that too ... erm... i should say did, i dropped one and sheared off the valve. now, the valve itself is available from yamaha japan special order long lead time 23X-23190-L0 (an eye watering £28 !!). the cap, also broken is no longer available 10M-23184-01.
my query is, are there any valves around from different applications that would fit ?
Over to you Bill me old beauty, i know you probably have at least half a dozen in your spares holding :-)

maybe a different valve, and modify the valve cap ? any other suggestions are more than welcome ...

pip pip

Something to bear in mind, from memory the caps on the 1JK and 1XL models have different threads.

[Steve Lake]

you're right Steve, but i bit the bullet and paid up for a new valve, only 10 days from japan. it came with a cap, but not the nice silver original, just a black plastic bog standard valve cap.
so i shall trawl the blinkingnet for some nice looking substitutes.

[Steve Lake]

having got my wheels back from the powder coater, i figured i'd get a pair of new boots.
my local bike workshop couldn't source bridgestone BT46's in the size i need (120/80/18 & 100/80/17) but offered me Avons.
somewhat cheaper than the BT46's. but still a total of £256.... blowing a hole in my meagre budget.
also got a quote from the metal basher for the s/s chain guard... £60 a pop ! (10 years ago the one i have on my #1 cost me £18 ! )

and a question for you tyre officionado's, iv'e never used Avons, how do they compare to bridgestones ?

once i get the fork staunchions back i can start the rebuild ...

onwards and upwards

[Moto63]

Evening Steve, having used both Bridgestones and avons on quite a few different bikes over the years I can, from a personal point of view say that the Bridgestones are the better tyre, in just about ever aspect. All apart from wear. Being a softer compound they definitely wear out quicker but I you are the type that rides reasonable “briskly” then I’d choose the Bridgestones every time. As I’ve mentioned in another post on here (somewhere) I ran Avon road riders on my xbr cafe racer without any problems apart from a couple of rear end slides. In the wet I must say, so definitely not as stable in the wet. Cheaper tyres tho so horses for courses I suppose. I honestly don’t think you’ll have any problems with the avons but I personally never quite found them as sure footed as the Bridgestones.
Cheers, Michael

[themoudie]

Aye Steve,

With the old BT45's you used to get some uneven wear patterns on the front tyres. I suspect because they used two different rubber compounds. The harder of the two compounds for the central tread and the softer for the two outer areas of tread.

However, because all the SRX's that I have used/owned required new tyres, I have always fitted Avon RoadRiders and more recently Avon RoadRiders2, as they are readily available and a more reasonable price than the Bridgestone Battleaxe from my local supplier. I have had wee slides from the rear in heavy rain, with low temperatures, when pushing it a bit too much. Mileage wise, the Avon's normally managed about 7,000 to 8,000 miles, with under 2mm of tread remaining and my pottering!    But having never ridden an SRX with either BT45's or BT46's, I cannot comment. Many of the people I know riding Guzzi's, Commandos etc are still using RoadRider2, without complaint.

If you prefer BT46's then 100/80x17 and 120/80x18 are available on eBay (2023-05-12) for £86-63 and £124-65 respectively and "Free P&P". 

100/80x17 on eBay Lot: 295515683127 and 120/80x18 on eBay Lot: 295529366125

Both advertised by "Dennis Winters", Beverley. So you would like to think they would be "Reet!" 

Good health, Bill

[Steve Lake]

Michael, Bill, thanks for the info, pretty much confirms what i have been hearing. it would seem that i have paid 'top dollar' for the pair of RR II's looking at the prices Bill posted for BT46's., Still, they're a couple of decent guys running a hand to mouth operation so i'm happy to support them when i can.

keep up the good work Bill & Michael ..... diamond geezers both :-)

[Steve H]

It would be the Bridgestones for me, but they do wear quickly (BT45's)

[Steve Lake]

up 'til now i have only ever used bridgestones (bt45's), 45's seem to be unavailable now, superseded by bt46's, which i have on #1. always been very happy with them, though i find the fronts can suffer from an irregular wear pattern in the last 1/4 of their useful life.

[Ian]

I have Bridgestone S22s radials on my present SRX. "Frighteningly" good tyres. But they are noisy compared to cross ply.
 "Pay your money and take your choice"

[Steve Lake]

just on the front or rear Ian? bridgestones size table for the S22 only shows 120/70/17 ?

[Ian]

Front and rear Steve as both my wheels are 17" dia.

110/70R17 54H Front
140/70R17 66H Rear

"Battlax Hypersports S22" (F or R as case maybe)