Rebuild help - bothways!

[MickeyMoto]

Hi,

I have done a partial rebuild on a Dart and have made a couple of discoveries which most of you probably already know. I am also stumped by a couple of things.

Parts sourced and suppliers used -

1. Front Disc. http://www.grimeca.it/en/?id=10&brand=C ... e=DS175FTA - check disk specification - I believe same as Dart.

Go to eBay and search for any of the Yamaha models. Loads there.

2. Lock for tank. Lowe and Fletcher 5861 Sliding Door Lock. £9.82 from Direct Locks. Whether it will last outside I do not know. Just had to drill the mounting holes a bit wider.

3. Dell Orto parts - what a fantastic service offered by Eurocarb in Reading. Next day delivery and no end of help.

4. Stainless nuts and bolts. www.tastynuts.com and www.stagonset.co.uk (other sites are available!)

Help needed.

1. Wiring diagram. Mainly for dash warning lights.
2. Fuel warning sensor. Are they available?
3. Low oil light sensor. Aagin any clues how to make one up?
4. Oil temp. sender. Will any oil temp sender from a contemporary Italian car work?
5. Anybody made a larger tank to fit where the air filter used to go? Could probably get another gallon in there to give the bike the range it deserves.
6. Front fork oil. Any suggestions on fork capacity and oil viscosity. MOT man gave an advisory that forks were a bit soft.

All minor points, except I would like a fuel warning light as with no reserve I can see me running out.

Any advice gratefully received.

Thanks.

MickeyMoto.

[morini_tom]

Hi mike,

I have got very close and personal with my dart(s) over the years so hopefully i can be of help. You may have seen my much modified 501 dart on the site.

I didn't know about the tank lock, thanks for that, very good to know.

Front disc: I have a wavy disc from talon engineering STX15D (they do a non wave disc which i think is STX15) about £135 5 years ago.

I can send you a wiring diagram, if you let me know your email address.

electric fuel tap and warning sensor- the proverbial rocking horse... I had NLMs last one a few years back. Even new they are pretty unreliable so i wouldn't lose too much sleep so long as the electric tap works and it doesn't leak. I just get used to resetting the trip every time i fuel and filling up at about 100 miles. I get just under 60mpg from the 501. the 350 was up around 70.

Oil level sensor- i've actually only ever seen one. Like the fuel tap the float is prone to cracking up and also sump plugs are pretty soft so over the years get cheesed. A good morini doesn't burn oil anyway. Only real solution is to whip off the right hand panel and check the dipstick every so often.

Oil temp sender. I bought one from NLM a few years back, about £11. It's a fairly standard part so i'm sure you could source it from somewhere in the automotive industry but you would need to make sure the range was correct.

Nobody does a larger tank. I think Ken Philp made an aluminium tank for his years ago. The dart is quite frugal, I think i got a good 200km out of a tankful on my 350. The MRC do make fibreglass tanks (identical to the original one) as the plastic tanks are prone to leaking. In particular from the bobbin on the side where the airbox bolted in. NOTE: make sure you use a short screw here or you can punch through.

Forks. They are a funny one. They do feel quite soft normally. I went through a whole bunch of trauma trying to firm them up and basically ended up with them either solid or softish. I can't remember how much or what weight I ended up with in the end though (I pretty much did exactly what was written in the dart owners manual)

Reading back through my reply I see i've not really answered your questions at all! I think that's because you have identified the darts difficult to resolve 'quirks'. Easier questions for us next time please...

Tom

[EVguru]

Help needed.

2. Fuel warning sensor. Are they available?

They're a brass tube with a reed relay inside. The float has a magnet to operated the relay. Sometimes the float breaks up, or the magnet comes loose. Often the reed relays sticks. I've fixed one by replacing the reed relay, but it can be a tricky job.

3. Low oil light sensor. Aagin any clues how to make one up?

I'd fit an oil presure switch instead. The oil cooler has two banjo bolts attatching the pipes to the side case. The lower one (vertical) is the pressure feed in. You could modify or replace the banjo bolt to incorporate a pressure switch, ot you could use and inline pressure takeoff in the flexible pipe.

5. Anybody made a larger tank to fit where the air filter used to go? Could probably get another gallon in there to give the bike the range it deserves.

Hang on there! Where the filter USED to be?

Don't try it without the airbox and filter, it won't run properly. Just removing the 'flower pot' (the sleeve over the filter) will make the bike unridable unless you change the main jets. I've got details of the mods on my website. Even with derestricted exhaust, airbox and larger main jets, you should still be able to get 65-70mpg, sometimes more.

6. Front fork oil. Any suggestions on fork capacity and oil viscosity. MOT man gave an advisory that forks were a bit soft.

Check that the pre-load spacers are still there, they're a different length in each side. The top caps are fork extenders machined from billet. One leg has bump damping, the other rebound and they're simple damper rod valving, not shim stack. Damper rod forks usually feel underdamped at low deflection speeds (like a bounce test). Springs do go weak with age, and you could just try a new set. They are soft though. I recall something like 200cc of 15W, but I'd have to check the manual.

[MickeyMoto]

Hi,

Thanks for the rapid responses. This is a good forum, enjoying the Gran Passo and Corsaro posts at the moment.

I think I can live without the fuel warning light and the oil level light. Would like to get the oil temp. gauge working though. I have had a look on t'internet and seen a few promising senders. I'll report back with results.

I am just waiting for a new float, but the bike was running ok without the standard filter and 108 jets. More experimenting required.

The front forks had the preload spacers, but I used 200cc of 5W for oil. I'll see how it goes as the first ride didn't reveal any problems, but again experimentation is required.

thanks for the help.

Regards,

Mike.

[westfieldfasteners]

4. Stainless nuts and bolts. http://www.tastynuts.com and http://www.stagonset.co.uk (other sites are available!)

Hello there - if anyone is still trying to use the stagonset site you might have noticed that it's down. Perhaps I can direct you to my new site for stainless nuts and bolts. (I'm the co-owner of Stagonset and Westfield Fasteners)

Thanks!

Stuart

[John Bunting]

4. Stainless nuts and bolts. http://www.tastynuts.com and http://www.stagonset.co.uk (other sites are available!)

Hello there - if anyone is still trying to use the stagonset site you might have noticed that it's down. Perhaps I can direct you to my new site for stainless nuts and bolts. (I'm the co-owner of Stagonset and Westfield Fasteners)

Thanks!

Stuart

Hi Stuart,
Can you supply assorted packs SS Allen bolts, Button head Allen bolts, washers and Nyloc nuts from size M5 to M8.
Thanks
John

[sheddweller]

When I rebuilt the forks on my Dart, I fitted 10mm longer preload spacers than standard. As already mentioned, spacers are different lengths. I also added an extra 20cc of 15wt (220 in total) to each leg. Much better ride. The sender for my fuel gauge was fine, but the arm for the float had been installed so that it was catching on the inside of the tank. Works fine now. What I thought was a faulty electic tap, turned out to be play in the ignition switch which lost contact enough to cut power to the fuel solenid, but not to the ignition. Cleaned and crimped and working well now. My oil level switch was leaking so I replaced it with one for a Belt drive ducati (22x1.5mm and Magnetic), made up a new Banjo bolt at the oil cooler feed and tapped it for an Oil Pressure switch. Attached the feed for the Oil level light to the Oil pressure switch, and still have an Oil warning light.
The Oil pressure switch came from my friendly Fiat dealer, and has the same thread and very similar values to those on the350 and 500.
Sheddweller.

[morini_tom]

Westfield fastners have agreed to a 5% discount on orders made by MRC members. Details will go out in the magazine in due course but if anybody wants to place an order beforehand then please email me with your MRC membership number and I will send you the discount code.

http://www.westfieldfasteners.co.uk/

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