what did you wrench on today??

[ptexotik]

Cleaned & oiled two sets of K&N filters ... switched Fox Gas shocks from ES to Katana (Katana Fox Factory shox shot! needing rebuild) and with hose clamp & 2" PVC cap, made a crank blowby filter reciprocal ...

[Dave8338]

More work on the elevator lift in the garage.

Three of four support columns and tracks are in place and I'm hoping to finish the fourth tonight after work. Then a couple of pulleys, cables, and the chain hoist, and I'll be able to stack they toys to make room..........for more !

[loud et]

I am sittin here flipping a coin to see which of the 4 wheels I will take off my p.o.s. car first. All 4 wheels need some sort of ball joint/tie rod/strut attention.
Or I might just drive up to the gas station to get a coca cola, and whichever wheel falls off first will be the one I start fixing......yeah, its that bad! Stupid pos.

[MisterCinders]

Went to riide last night and got only a click. Charged battery for a bit but no change. When I tried to jump the solenoid nothing. Turned out my connection between the battery and solenoid was toast. Of course this emerged right after all the shops closed. So this morning, I popped over to o'reillys for wires and connectors and sorted it. Definitely need to overhaul the harness.

Riding today and my speedo takes a dump. Needle just dangles, but the odometer still works. So it's internal. Damn guage has only 2000 miles on it. Guess I'll have to order a new one.

[Toasty]

So I found the main reason for my air leak today..

I took off the carbs and stripped them, put the parts into individual baggies and started the dip process on carb #1. They all looked surprisingly clean internally although they could still use a good cleaning. The airbox boots are good and soft still. I go to remove the carb boots from the head and it's a pretty tight fit with the impact driver. They also look nearly brand new I get the boot off carb #1 it took a good tap to loosen and it's off. Carb #2 is the same. I switch sides and start on #4, the first screw is nice and tight the second is BARELY more then hand tight (I twisted by hand first). I try carb #3 and both screws are not even hand tight, I could basically unscrew them with my fingers.

The orings are still good (Im still replacing all those anyway) but now I know why carb 3&4 were always running lean (#3 more so then the rest). I'm not sure if I want to return my new boots, or keep them and sell the old ones (in nearly new shape) at a good price on here.

On a side note, I may have gone too big on my mains. I currently have 92.5's and the new ones are 97.5's, if I find it running rich at WOT I'm gonna test out removing the airbox lid and shimming the needles. IIRC that's pretty much the setup dynojet recommends.


edit: I looked through all my connections to find by my fuse blew, they all looked good but I replaced a questionable one anyway. I still wasn't getting power though, and the fuse looked good. I replaced it with a new one and all the lights fired up, the stock spare fuse was no good and went out without frying completely.

[wally]

Not really a wrenching job as such, but I bought some lumo orange off-cut perspex last week for about ZAR6.00 (about US80cents) and used a CD transfer label as template to make one of those orange headlight covers for traffic riding for the Buell.

Images aren't great, but here you go:




10mins worth of work. Still have to curve it to the lens shape and plan to fix it small, round self-adhesive velcro tabs for easy removal.

[terrylee]

Installed new progressive fork springs on my 850 yesterday. Only had time for short test drive, but seemed to make a big difference in frt., took bumps better, not as much dive on braking, and cracks in the road were hardly noticeable! Happy I made the purchase. Oh, also tightened the steering head bearing too. terrylee

[steve murdoch]

Wally, what is the purpose of the orange lens cover?

[wally]

Just for some increased visibility in traffic - you tend to see the colored lenses a lot easier than plain white lights - especially when weather conditions are a bit worse and all the cars have their lights on. Then a bike's light looks like a car's light when you quickly check your mirrors.

[pete]

Interesting Wally... although over here we couldn't experiment with that, headlights must be white. No orange, yellow, blue, whatever... all illegal... except yellow fog lights are ok but *only* when there is actual fog in the air. If you have them and forget to turn them off you can be fined... not that we live in a nanny state at all...

[wally]

We still get away with a lot.

Most of the BMs and KTMs run them, but off course having a Buell means either nobody knows what your talking about or it simply isn't available.

So i'll ride for as long as it is legal.

[7981GS]

Changed some spark plugs last night.
It is one of those necessary maintenance items that must be done every 50,000 miles or so.
I believe that Posplayr has had the pleasure once or twice also on this model.
On this car, it is a little more complex than most as the individual coils are under a cover and under a bunch of other stuff.
I replaced the Bosch platinums for some NGK platinums this time.





Simple task.

Eric

[pete]

I hate working on cars Eric... that just reinforces it...

[gustovh]

Replaced the r/r on the 850L today, whooopeee it charges.
V

[pmong]

Installed HyperPro rear shock

My son and I installed a HyperPro shock on my other (non-GS) bike. Had to make special wooden blocks for the bike lift to fit around the exhaust pipe. Also had to remove the seat and other parts to get to the bolts and nuts. Amazing how much time a simple job takes.

Boy, are the new shock stiff!