Just got my first bike this week (1991 Katana 600), and learning from the ground up..
I'll get the stupid question out of the way first.....
On the left hand side of the bike near the tank... small metal bar inset in a hole in the fairing that you can twist clockwise 180 degrees, and counterclockwise... The guy who sold the bike to me said that it was to "turn the gas on and off" and that he turned it off (counterclockwise?)when the bike was sitting, then turned it on (clockwise?) when he was going to ride/left on while riding... but gave no reasons for doing this.. Picture attached shows this "mystery part" dead center... After reading the new katana owners FAQ's, I am wondering if that is the petcock valve? And if so, what should I be doing with it?
Also, for someone completely new to bikes, are there any good diagrams you can recommend with names of parts so I stop referring to them like a typical girl such as "that shiny round thing near the front", or "the square metal thing that has funny lines in it", etc and can actually learn the correct terminology? Anything to help decrease the embarassment of new bike ownership would be greatly appreciated...
Second question:
Rode the bike the other day for the first time, easy stuff in a large parking lot, only up to 3rd gear, at low speed the bike started smoking and running really hot after about 30 minutes. Got off it, and there was no oil showing in the view window. I turned the bike off immediately, and today did an oil change, and put in a new oil filter. The oil that came out was really old, black and nasty... but there seemed to be at least 3 Liters of it.
I put in 3.7 L along with the new filter as recommended, started it up and let it run for about 10 minutes. It definitely sounds nicer running, but I still can't see the oil level in the view window. Turned the bike off, sat there and stared at the window for a while, but no change. There are a couple millimeters of the new oil along the bottom of it, but that's it.... I don't think I should put more than the recommended amount of oil in, in the hopes of seeing it in the view window...
What would cause this if low oil levels are not a factor? Should I dump more oil in? Stumped...
Lauren
I'll get the stupid question out of the way first.....
On the left hand side of the bike near the tank... small metal bar inset in a hole in the fairing that you can twist clockwise 180 degrees, and counterclockwise... The guy who sold the bike to me said that it was to "turn the gas on and off" and that he turned it off (counterclockwise?)when the bike was sitting, then turned it on (clockwise?) when he was going to ride/left on while riding... but gave no reasons for doing this.. Picture attached shows this "mystery part" dead center... After reading the new katana owners FAQ's, I am wondering if that is the petcock valve? And if so, what should I be doing with it?
Also, for someone completely new to bikes, are there any good diagrams you can recommend with names of parts so I stop referring to them like a typical girl such as "that shiny round thing near the front", or "the square metal thing that has funny lines in it", etc and can actually learn the correct terminology? Anything to help decrease the embarassment of new bike ownership would be greatly appreciated...
Second question:
Rode the bike the other day for the first time, easy stuff in a large parking lot, only up to 3rd gear, at low speed the bike started smoking and running really hot after about 30 minutes. Got off it, and there was no oil showing in the view window. I turned the bike off immediately, and today did an oil change, and put in a new oil filter. The oil that came out was really old, black and nasty... but there seemed to be at least 3 Liters of it.
I put in 3.7 L along with the new filter as recommended, started it up and let it run for about 10 minutes. It definitely sounds nicer running, but I still can't see the oil level in the view window. Turned the bike off, sat there and stared at the window for a while, but no change. There are a couple millimeters of the new oil along the bottom of it, but that's it.... I don't think I should put more than the recommended amount of oil in, in the hopes of seeing it in the view window...
What would cause this if low oil levels are not a factor? Should I dump more oil in? Stumped...
Lauren
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