Today I, and two other guys, took a ride of about 300 miles from the north San Fernando Valley to Lake Arrowhead in the San Bernardino mountains. The bike and the trans performed almost flawlessly. One thing that I did discover is that the suicide clutch/jockey shift, while a noble experiment and fun to ride, sucks big time in off camber, low speed U turns. With this in mind, I will be gathering the necessary parts to convert to a hand clutch/foot shift this winter. The other problem is it still drags the pipes and kickstand badly. I will try to increase the preload on the rear shocks, but I think I still need to lengthen the shock mounts a bit more. It's not a big deal. I just need to make up two new ones, about 20 minutes work, whack the old ones off and weld the new ones on. That will be tomorrow's little project.
I am waiting until I'm satisfied that I have a finished product and, then, I want to shoot a short video of the bike and of me taking you, my faithful followers, on a short little ride so you can see how it all works. I have to wait for my production team (wife and granddaughter) to come home first.
Saturday, September 13, 2008
Thursday, September 4, 2008
Carburetor Blues
The miss got so bad that the bike would barely run. I pulled the carb and, lo and behold, it was all clogged up with crud. The filter in the fuel inlet was completely blocked. and there was sediment in the float bowl. In my haste and cheapness, I used the old inline fuel filter when I reassembled the bike. I think I put it in backwards and it flushed all the accumulated gunk into the carb. Bad idea. After a good cleaning, everything is hunky-dory.
Another, ongoing, problem with my bike is the front brake light switch. It is inside the right hand switch assembly on the handlebars. It would work occasionally and, finally, the brakelight would stay on all the time. I pulled it out......again and found it had shorted........again. I gave it a flying lesson. I removed the 3 way fitting under the triple tree, drilled and tapped it for 1/8 pipe threads and a regular old hydraulic brake light switch was screwed in. I suppose I could have found a, proper, four way fitting at the local parts store. The one I use has a good Dorman inventory and a savvy parts manager, but I was too lazy and cheap to drive over there. End of problem, I hope.
Another, ongoing, problem with my bike is the front brake light switch. It is inside the right hand switch assembly on the handlebars. It would work occasionally and, finally, the brakelight would stay on all the time. I pulled it out......again and found it had shorted........again. I gave it a flying lesson. I removed the 3 way fitting under the triple tree, drilled and tapped it for 1/8 pipe threads and a regular old hydraulic brake light switch was screwed in. I suppose I could have found a, proper, four way fitting at the local parts store. The one I use has a good Dorman inventory and a savvy parts manager, but I was too lazy and cheap to drive over there. End of problem, I hope.
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