andre g
Hero member
Do not put the cable in the earth, mass usualy is frame or - minus
Atlas Questions
- Thread starter Vince
- Start date
Or +
Earth, or Erde in german, is a common term used here in household mains electrics. Masse, or mass, which generally refers to the vehicle chassis, is more usually used in the vehicle systems.
Earth and ground seem to be used universally in technical english.
Andre's just having dig, after all, the Atlas is a dirt bike.
piet
Dellortoman
Hero member
- Location
- Tasmania, Australia
How's the Atlas going Vince? Have you sorted the electrical issues and carb jetting?
No, life gets in the way. Bad weather etc etc. Must extract finger. What does my head in is I regularly start it, it shows extreme reliability doing that. The last attempted ride had it failing to proceed 3 times in 30 minutes but making it home. Bloody old bikes.
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haha, no, it's a ground bike. If you drive it into the dirt, you pretty soon end on the ground :=)Andre's just having dig, after all, the Atlas is a dirt bike.
If you want to understand your problems you must know one thing:
all those stories about 'three Atlas series' is historical lies, made up by the Breganze guys: the truth is only two series have ever been built:
one that runs and runs and runs
and one to act as italian 'electric-carb' diva, resisting to any temptative to make it work, with the sole purpose to drive its owner into madness
example of a 'series one' Atlas:
Never had any 'problems' with the Atlas carb. All it needed was setting the pump to minimum, regulary clean+wedefourty the 'pump mechanism' - and keep the filter (more or less) clean. In heaviest conditions (that Atlas had been pushed hard in offroad camps and desert - sand-dust-more-sand-more-dust) the carb showed bullet-proof and maintenance-free reliability - very different to all those 'high tech wonders' (those flat slide racing Keihins and Mikunis found on dirt bikes that need pull out and clean every second weekend).
Furthermore the Atlas carb offers the enjoyments of 'non-CV carbs': direct and precise and quick throttle reponse. Some years ago the Atlas had to make room for a 'much better' offroad traveller - but with CV carb: after a jump, the moment the bike touches ground, the carb 'collapses' (inertia of CV piston), the engine stalls for a second or two giving the pilot 'sweetest showers' of sudden engine breaking in situation where he needs anything but engine breaking. I really miss the 'throttle response' of Atlas ... well we cannot have it all
Idem 'electrics' ... the only weakness was this ignition switch. When it 'exploded' for a second time, in the middle of nowhere, where we had to shortcut cables and continued pulling the main fuse at every rest, during 2 weeks - the die was cast, enough was enough, a solution had to be found - and surprise-surprise, the switch of that little TZR did fit, it did not break, it left more space for installing GPS etc - and it looked more discrete than this .... 'phallus'
This was a series 'one' - now look at the diva series:
Once got contacted by a lad who hat big problems with his Atlas - seemingly a 'diva model': unwilling to start, and if, not running smoothly, farting, stalling, etc. We spend a day in his garage to 'fix the carb', checked the electrics etc: rien. Lent him a 2nd carb so he could 'experiment' as long as he desires ... week for week passed - rien.
At the end the culprit was the cylinder head. He got it rebuild (valves, seats) and problems were - gone
It's clear that a few Atlas, at 'their time', have shared the faith of all 'daily commuters': using using using until it breaks while saving on maintenance: no oil change, no valve adjustment etc. with all consequences.
Something to take into consideration
Brilliant post, you obviously know Atlass inside out, I suspect your behind the Atlas owners site. an indispensable font of knowledge that helped me to the max. Thank you for doing that so much. And now I have an embarrassing addition to make, I don't mind that much as I try and never BULLSHIT about my bike lived experiences to save my ego. I think I have discovered why my bike stopped those 3 times on its last ride and it's so dumb and was all down to me. I keep the bike on a platform jack as it doesn't have a centre stand. So the day before the ride I did tyre pressures on that platform and started it and it ran fine. Next morning at 6am I got it off the platform and onto it's sidestand and it wouldn't start. So I tried bump starting it down the big hill outside my house and that didn't work. So I parked it on its side stand for a couple of minutes and it fired up. Mmm so I took the chance and headed out. That lasted for 5 minutes and it died again right in the middle of the Lane Cove tunnel. Pretty deadly, so again 2 minutes on its side stand and it started again. This happened 3 times in total. The other dots connecting. Big 25 litre fuel tank with a big hump in the middle, I checked yesterday, it's really close to needing the fuel taps turned to reserve. I am thinking moving the bike onto the side stand tipped just enough fuel to the left side of the bike to get it to run for a few minutes till it needed reserve and the bike would stop till it got tipped over on its sidestand. That's the theory at the moment. Live and learn and the best way to do that is being honest about fuckups. So once this gets tested the bike will be out doing some riding, even some off roading I hope.
Dellortoman
Hero member
- Location
- Tasmania, Australia
Don't worry Vince. We've all done dumb things like that. Anyone who says they've never fucked up is a liar. I once pushed a bike about a kilometer to get to the top of a gentle hill, then rolled down the other side to get to a service station because it had run out of fuel. I later discovered that it only needed to be switched onto reserve. I thought it was already on reserve because of an unfamiliar fuel tap.
any motorcycle beeing can fill pages with these gaffes Did you ever go offroad with the Atlas? If not a warning: avoid to lose the front, never never lose it, neither in gravel, neither on wet grass, neither in muddy mud (and neither on wet macadam).
Be assured the Atlas won't slide & recover (as normal motorcycles do) but thwiw its rider to the floor like a roman centurion - which can be VERY hurtful.
Yes, I noticed exactly that. So far I have done maybe 90ks of easy gravel roads out past St Aubans west of Sydney, it does predictably slide its rear under power but you wouldn't be good to get too far out of line with it. I have done exactly that trip on my 3c road bike. It's easy riding, but I have a bit of a hard access across my driveway. I need to put a sheet of ply down to avoid bottoming my road bike out on it. One night with a set of very heavy loaded panniers on the Atlas and a full tank I propped mid-gutter crossing and tipped it over. At that time I had the rear sag set pretty close to correct and that resulted in a bit of an eye-bleeding seat height of 900mm, and I couldn't get a leg out to prop it up. All modern Adventure Bikes these days try very hard to position their large fuel loads as low as possible plus they are designed to have sensible seat height, around 750 to 800mm and still have 250mm of suspension travel. My Atlas with a full tank is painfully top-heavy, you just have to live with that. The other compromise is I have increased sag to 45% of rear travel instead of the optimum of 30% to get a more livable seat height. Hopefully, the shock won't bottom out too much. It's still great fun to ride, but it definitely isn't a 120kg Endro Bike.
haha, how could one think even for a moment about giving lectures on offroad driving to an AUSTRALIAN
Thus said, pushing the Atlas at high speed on gravel roads or desert "pistes" (those hard soil planes with camel grass) with its high reving engine and solid weight is a very special feeling - sort of 'flying' , plenty of adrenaline, very different to the driving experience from ratteling thumpers.
On these kind of tracks it's in its element.
On the other hand: don't get stuck. No, don't get stuck. There are some funny pix, if you like we can post some
Thus said, pushing the Atlas at high speed on gravel roads or desert "pistes" (those hard soil planes with camel grass) with its high reving engine and solid weight is a very special feeling - sort of 'flying' , plenty of adrenaline, very different to the driving experience from ratteling thumpers.
On these kind of tracks it's in its element.
On the other hand: don't get stuck. No, don't get stuck. There are some funny pix, if you like we can post some
oh - you "got it made"?
hm, this is missing on the website, isn't it? Will try to pull the bike out of its 'parking' to take photos of the filter
All you need is cissors/cutter and the 'Universal' Twin air 'double' filter (see link)
when you go desert (the real thing - sand everywhere):
foam strips (used to seal doors) sticked to the inner airbox where it's in contact with the cover (to prevent bypassing of dust)
if I remember correctly there's a water drain hole in the inner box: cover with duct tape (from outside) or a plug
leave the 'oil film' (from engine breathing) on the bottom of the inner airbox to catch dust
pull a lady stocking over the schnorkel
some more tips (only tips, no divine wisdom - everyone has his own experiences):
replace the handle bar with a quality MX bar (the original iron pos *will* bent)
closed protectors (Polisport Universal Exura look nice on Atlas and are suprisingly solid for plastic protectors)
secure the wind shield (replace plastic rivets with bolts) - or take it off (or will get lost)
replace indicators with 'smaller' ones (plyable MX indicators)
smaller front sprocket (to gain at least a little bit of torque)
add loctite 660 between sprocket and shaft - it will 'dampen' the wear of the splines (Atlas weakness) at least a little bit (660 is expensive but replacing the shaft is impossible as shafts don't exist anymore). This has to be repeated every 2-3000 km
P.S. one more thing: the 'rod' that holds the airbox cover: this is stupid fiddeling:
One can replace the rod by a a long bolt: fix it permanently with two self securing nuts (+ washers + 'rubber washers', e.g cut from an old bycicle tire tube) on the rear side of the inner box: like a sandwitch: nut - washer - rubber - airbox wall - rubber - washer - nut
On the 'front side' (cover) use a butterfly nut (+ washer) to screw the cover onto the airbox. This allows to open the box quickly without tools
Twin Air 600 x 300 x 15mm Orange/White Universal Dual Stage Foam at MXstore
Buy your Twin Air 600 x 300 x 15mm Orange/White Universal Dual Stage Foam online at MXstore. Australian owned, amazing service & fast free shipping* on over 100,000 products.
www.mxstore.com.au
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stevepm2011
Hero member
- Location
- Cologne, Germany
Hey Frranky, I think we may know each other from France? My Atlas still lurks in the shed, I haven't yet ridden it this year...too busy with 1200, Jota and RGS.oh - you "got it made"?
hm, this is missing on the website, isn't it? Will try to pull the bike out of its 'parking' to take photos of the filter
All you need is cissors/cutter and the 'Universal' Twin air 'double' filter (see link)
when you go desert (the real thing - sand everywhere):
foam strips (used to seal doors) sticked to the inner airbox where it's in contact with the cover (to prevent bypassing of dust)
if I remember correctly there's a water drain hole in the inner box: cover with duct tape (from outside) or a plug
leave the 'oil film' (from engine breathing) on the bottom of the inner airbox to catch dust
pull a lady stocking over the schnorkel
some more tips (only tips, no divine wisdom - everyone has his own experiences):
replace the handle bar with a quality MX bar (the original iron pos *will* bent)
closed protectors (Polisport Universal Exura look nice on Atlas and are suprisingly solid for plastic protectors)
secure the wind shield (replace plastic rivets with bolts) - or take it off (or will get lost)
replace indicators with 'smaller' ones (plyable MX indicators)
smaller front sprocket (to gain at least a little bit of torque)
add loctite 660 between sprocket and shaft - it will 'dampen' the wear of the splines (Atlas weakness) at least a little bit (660 is expensive but replacing the shaft is impossible as shafts don't exist anymore). This has to be repeated every 2-3000 km
P.S. one more thing: the 'rod' that holds the airbox cover: this is stupid fiddeling:
One can replace the rod by a a long bolt: fix it permanently with two self securing nuts (+ washers + 'rubber washers', e.g cut from an old bycicle tire tube) on the rear side of the inner box: like a sandwitch: nut - washer - rubber - airbox wall - rubber - washer - nut
On the 'front side' (cover) use a butterfly nut (+ washer) to screw the cover onto the airbox. This allows to open the box quickly without tools
Twin Air 600 x 300 x 15mm Orange/White Universal Dual Stage Foam at MXstore
Buy your Twin Air 600 x 300 x 15mm Orange/White Universal Dual Stage Foam online at MXstore. Australian owned, amazing service & fast free shipping* on over 100,000 products.
Attachments
if Steve is Stephen it was at Atlas Rallye in the 'Harz'
Today I extracted a diget and decided to tempt fate and try another club ride on the Atlas. I had al sorts of plans about doing some test rides first but that didn't happen so up at 6am and off I headed to fill the fuel tank first. The last ride had me suddenly stopping after the bike travelled for 5 minutes. I had suspected it was borderline on reserve and was starving for fuel for that reason, didn't even think this last time. And then starting after a few minutes on the sidestand or so I thought. Today I avoided that expressway tunnel just to be safe. And then it happened again. At approximately the same travel time but in a much safer spot the bloody bike suddenly stopped again. Fuck me this again. But this time I noticed something earlier when getting fuel. Everybody drags out the old chestnut of the fuel tank breather getting blocked. When I filled up with fuel I noticed that the fuel tank breather hose, very typical dirt bike style had kinked right on the cap and pinched off. I tried manipulating it so it opened up but that didn't work. So after the bike stopped I pulled it off and the bike started and ran well for the whole ride, exactly 150ks with quite a bit of expressway. My bloody expensive tank bag has a cavity formed that is supposed to clear this breather hose, but apparently not. Easy fix, so simple but also easy to not notice especially if you tick this off with a specific tank bag removing any thinking of this as an issue. I also did an MPG check, I was curious as to how efficient the huge car carby might be, and it's pretty dam good at 48.6 MPG. No idea what that converts to metric, I never swung that way for MPG or tyre pressures. The main issue the bike needs now is for me to back off the rear shock preload so I can get both feet down, the way it now makes the bike very nervous at slow speeds, it steers really fast, it needs to be way more stable especially when filtering traffic. A lighter clutch pull and getting neutral would be bloody good as well.