New member UK 500 Rotax Country

[Uralwurzel]

Apologies if this gets posted twice but I saved a draft and it disappeared.

I am the owner now (very recently) of a 500 Rotax Country. And that's on condition, laid down by my wife, that I get rid of the small Japanese bike I have that has issues.

I do have a couple of problems to sort as the bike had to be recovered home the day after I bought it. It is only now that I have realised it is not so easy to get some of the spares. I thought MZ spares were still easy to get but not so much for this model unless someone can tell me otherwise. The thick rubber leading from carb to the engine block would be handy!!! I don't want to take the carb off and attempt fixing it without knowing I can get it back on and I am pretty sure the rubber is badly perished...

Anyway I look forward to browsing the forum.

Cheers all

[Doug]

Hello,
I got a replacement rubber manifold from Force motorcycles for about £40. Force deal mainly with Rotax engined MTs, but have a few MZ spares too. There should be a serial number on the rubber - mine says 867489, I kept it for reference just in case. Phone them, quoting that number, and they'll know what you mean.

I also replaced the airbox-to-carb manifold, again for about £40, from the MZ Shop. They don't list many spares for Rotax-engined bikes, but you can e-mail them and they're often able to help out.

I've got a Silver Star, which is as rare as a rare thing (not always a good point), and it's sometimes really difficult finding spares. My bike had been laid up for years when I got it, and replacing the HT lead, spark plug and cap were crucial to getting a good spark.

Let me know how you get on.

Doug

[Uralwurzel]

Hi all and hi Doug

David emailed me links to useful shop in Germany and I did email a query to Force Motorcycles before I saw your post, but no reply from Force. Maybe because it was Bank Holiday weekend and also it was an automated enquiry form. I found some on German websites but you end up paying shipping of course.

But in the meantime I picked one up from Sportax who are UK based who did one about same price. I may try both Sportax and Force to see if they carry the airbox manifold you mention as seal does not look great there. Have you fitted your rubbers yet as any tips would help - I tinker but am not a natural mechanic. The airbox one looks awkward if you actually have to take the airbox cover off as at first glance looks like you need to take seat off, get battery out, remove air filter and covers and come in from the other side of the bike? Or do you just warm up the rubber and push it in from carb side?

I am going to probably have to clean the carb which not really looking forward to and change the rubber cambelt - I don't think the belt has been done in 36,000 miles. Rest is cosmetic like indicators cracked or loose. One thing at atime though, so rubbers and carb are my priority. Thanks for posting and I'll post any tech queries as I go on the mechanical part of the site. Good luck with the Silver Star (like the styling on that version).

[Doug]

I'm a nervous mechanic when I'm opening a new part of a machine. I read about it, and watch YouTube videos first, but sometimes you just need to take it apart and see.

Airbox rubber - leave the airbox in place, no need to remove it, and remove both rubbers and the carb at the same time. Refitting can be tricky, but I think I used a bit of washing-up liquid as lube and it all fitted together easily enough. I did this a couple of years ago, and it doesn't stand out in my mind as one of those evil jobs, so it must have been easy enough.

I cleaned my carb using a small ultrasonic cleaner that I got from Lidl for £20. With the carb off the bike, rotate it slowly and try to drain all the petrol out of it, sometimes you need to roll it round several times to get petrol out of all the corners. Dismantle the carb slowly, on a tray in case you drop something, be aware that there may be a bit of petrol still inside, photograph each step, put all the bits in a take-away box. Nothing's going to leap out and bite you. Clean all the parts, and don't stick metal things into any of the brass jets. All the jets are on different threads, so you can't put them back in the wrong place. I bought a new carb gasket set from eBay - search for Dellorto 52514 - only £15. The carb is a Dellorto PHF 34, the gasket set is the 52514.

Replacing the timing belt is easy too. Make sure it's an automotive application belt - get it from Sportax, Force etc. One tip I read was to cut the original belt in half along its length, leaving a half-thickness belt on the pulleys, then slip the new belt onto the pulleys, then cut off the remaining half of the original belt and push the new one all the way on. That way the crank and cam shafts are never free of each other. I think I just marked both pulleys and the engine casing with pencil marks, took the belt off completely, and made sure all the marks stayed lined up. Like the carb, the first time was tricky, and after that it's easy.

The indicators for my SS were actually Guzzi items, and I got replacements from Gutzibits. I think a lot of the switchgear is Italian, so your indicators might be too.

Doug

[DAVID THOMPSON]

there is a locking bolt for the crank not shown in the video
i always use it
and inspect the pulleys
one fellow had one come loose
dave

[Uralwurzel]

Hey thanks guys.

I did work on my bikes when I started riding (Honda CB125S and SuzukiGT250B) but that was over 35 years ago. Since then I have had a 1990s Ural 650 but that proved too heavy for me and a pig to start. And also a 1986 Honda Rebel but that is proving too small. So I am a bit nervous about even basic maintenance but wanting to give it a go - that's half the fun of ownership for me. Thanks for the handy hints it does help.

Chris