Recent Posts

1

Bike Builds, Rebuilds And Restorations Only / Re: 1975 850T Survivor Project

« Last post by cmice on Today at 07:50:23 PM »

Allright - long time, no update.  In short a lot has happened.  Frame came back from the powder coater a few days ago.  Replaced the steering head bearings, but forgot that I'd left the upper triple clamp in the cleaner overnight and it stripped the paint off it, mostly.  So had to finish stripping that for prime and paint yesterday.



Reinstalled the vin plate and fork lock while we were working in that area. Put the lower rails back on, and the center stand - and I couldn't help myself for putting the frame back on.



While we were waiting for the frame, I got into the back end a bit.  Pulled the rear brake apart and did battle with those gawd-awful shoe springs.  That was a fight.  Wondered why the brakes were so difficult to operate...this is probably why...



Thankfully Curtis has them still and so an order from him turned up a couple of new ones (new left, old right).

In for a penny, in for a pound - the u-joint was notchy, so get to rebuild that.  Everything that could go wrong with these bikes seems to have happened to this bike as a complete study.  Man.  Anwyay, u-joint-store sent me 22x50 (which is what I ordered) only to pull the joint apart and find they're 20x44.  The nice folks there will swap me crosses and after US Postal gives it a tour of the united states, I should have the right joints in hand so I can finish putting it together.



Aaaand lastly, putting the swingarm back together and the driveshaft carrier bearing is really putting up a fight.  Any tips on how to install this without a bunch of heartache?  I'm soaking the bearing in dry-ice right now, so hoping some heat on the bore (but not enough to mess up my nice new powder coat) and maybe there will be enough clearance to get it to start.  No photo of that bit - I'm done for the day.

2

General Discussion / Re: Anyone ever moved forks up?

« Last post by rudyr on Today at 07:26:28 PM »

Don Guzzi dealer in ok city drop my V85 about 3” new shock and slip tubes about that. Guz put mark on the tube for about 2”. Rides good enough for me. I quit having fun at a 100 mph. I have went about 10,000 miles since you’ll do what feels good. Rudy

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General Discussion / Re: Spark plug compression ring

« Last post by BMCMOTO on Today at 06:54:01 PM »

I would be sliding my bore scope down that hole. Small bore scopes that ca be connected to a phone work just fine for stuff like this. Cheap on Amazon or such, Harbor Freight has self contained ones for reasonable money as well.

Brian

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General Discussion / Re: Best looking motorcycle

« Last post by SIR REAL ED on Today at 06:53:08 PM »

This isn't a Convert, but it is the great convertor.........

I'd name that bike "BattleAx!"

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General Discussion / Re: Anyone ever moved forks up?

« Last post by cappisj1 on Today at 06:53:07 PM »

You are changing the rake and trail when moving the forks up or down in the mounts if you are not changing the hight on the rear of the bike to match. Pushing the forks up will quicken the steering or make it “tip” in with less effort. Moving the forks up too far (shortening the rake too much) will cause a head shake. Moving the forks is a great tool to get your bike to handle for you but, don’t go past its limits.

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General Discussion / Re: Anyone ever moved forks up?

« Last post by SIR REAL ED on Today at 06:43:22 PM »

IIRC, the salad fork is correctly positioned at 9:00 relative to the plate......

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General Discussion / Re: Cold Weather demands Intellectual Curiosity.....

« Last post by SIR REAL ED on Today at 06:41:49 PM »

My Criteria for oils is that they go on smooth, smell good, and most importantly do not cause latex failures.

You my friend, understand preventive maintenance better than most!

A well thought out PM program can save one a lot of money over one's life!

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General Discussion / Re: Cold Weather demands Intellectual Curiosity.....

« Last post by SIR REAL ED on Today at 06:39:52 PM »

I may find out for myself soon.
I’ve developed a rattling noise in the top end of my 04 jeep wrangler 4.0 i6 motor.
I first thought it was in the bell housing area because it would sound louder when I crawled under the car, it would sound like it was coming out of the bell housing.
My mechanic pulled the transmission and we found that the clutch pressure plate and release bearing apparently just been replaced prior to my buying it.
We then determined it was possibly a timing chain. So we pull the timing chain cover, and it was very loose so we put a new timing chain and gears in the jeep.
Cranked it up and it still had the same rattling. I got a mechanics stethoscope and it’s obvious that rattling is coming from directly under the valve cover.  So now my mechanic thinks it’s coming from the valve train, possibly the rocker arms, push rods or lifters. Jeep has 128k miles.
He recommended trying the Marvel mystery oil and just see if that helps any while we’re waiting for the weather to break so we can install new rocker arms, push rods and lifters.
Directions says it can take from 50 to 200 miles to clean up any deposits and built-up hardened sludge that may be blocking oil channels.
I’ll report back in a few days and see if it makes any difference.

Dan-O,

Back in the day, a neighbor get bought a old Dodge car with the slant six engine.  It sounded like a rod was going to come out thru the block.  His dad said a farm tractor that they had when he was a kid did this once in a while. He said "I think it is a piece of carbon that has broke loose from the piston and is rattling around inside the cylinder."

Time for the ageless Farmer Fix.

We pulled the air filter cover, warmed up the engine to full operating temperature, held the throttle at about 3-4,000 rpm and dribbled water into the carb just fast enough to almost,  but not quite stall the engine.  We kept this up for about 1 minute and assured the neighbors the house is not on fire and that no one had died.

A couple minutes later, the beast was purring like a kitten.

If your configuration is like my wife Jeep XJ with the 4.0 straight six.  I would disconnect the intake hose at the mass flow air sensor.  Have your wife hold the engine at 3,000 rpm and use a squirt bottle to squirt water into the intake.

I've also heard of people using Gumout, Brake fluid, and of course Ed's Red.

I'd go with water first due to it's less flammable. Then maybe fermented olive oil, than the other stuff above.

If that doesn't work, BullDog9 can probably recommend an adequate bouron solvent.

Keep up posted!

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General Discussion / Re: Anyone ever moved forks up?

« Last post by drdwb on Today at 06:38:28 PM »

  Old trick I did on both my Vstrom1000's was to raise forks a bit approx 1 inch above triple tree to lower the front end a bit and thereby the saddle height. Doing this would  Lower the windshield on the EV along with less stress on the front brake line since I have spacers acting as 1 inch risers under the stock triple tree handle bar riser -  I am thinking of doing it to my 03 EV.    Anyone ever do this themselves for any reason and review outcome?  thanks.

Did this to my wife’s 04 Stone, I don’t recall who on the forum suggested it , we put on 1” lower shocks on rear, and raised the forks by 3/4” as suggested. We also put 1” bar spacers to bring the bars back.  Compared to my 03 EV these changes made it a much more nimble bike, I have to remind myself of it every time I get on. Much more sporty feel. It was a great change.

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General Discussion / Re: Cold Weather demands Intellectual Curiosity.....

« Last post by BIF on Today at 06:36:50 PM »

My Criteria for oils is that they go on smooth, smell good, and most importantly do not cause latex failures.