what did you wrench on today??

[Guest]

Copied from the Vortex,

The only game I watch all year and I forgot it was on. Oh well, atleast I got Kerry's engine together and the valve clearances figured out. The buckets and shims were in a ziplock baggie unlabeled for which valve they came out of. Luckily I mic'd the shims before putting them in, I only had four that were out of spec. Two were too tight, two too loose. A little creative swapping and one of my spares, and everything is either in the middle or at the loose end of the range. It's coming together Kerry.

I still need to put the carbs, exhaust and new plugs, but now the engines near the finish line and the bike is off my lift.


I've got a set of B12 carbs too pull and clean and an '85 wing water pump to do today. If I get lucky I'll swap out the clutch basket on my 1100E. Really want to get riding that again. It's going to be another long day off working. What awaits me in the garage.

[60ratrod]

got some cheap spray paint laid on a SPARE tank for my kz to try different detail ideas. this is with just color, which doesn't look bad:




and here's with the initial details idea laid on. just a gunmetal stripe. I'm trying to decide if I want to add the narrow hotrod style stripe around the regular strip, or if I want to just keep the single stripe and if I need to leave it where it is or if I need to move it up about 1/2"-3/4".

[Guest]

That does look nice.

[Xanthius]

I removed the carbs from the GS and today will be cleaning them up and beginning rebuild. Hum drum for some but very exciting and new for yours truly

[fred smailes]

Last fall I picked up a xs650 to make a few bucks on to help with my GS insurance and riding this summer.
The last time I tried to start it in the fall it flooded, floats stuck open and emptied the tank!
So I tore the fuel system apart and found a few things,, lines were probably original, one of the petcock filters was laying in the tank, at some point a tank liner was put in which is now deteriorating, went through the petcock, into carb and held the float open emptying the tank,,,.
So tore apart the carbs, junk everywhere, got checking the jets, were stock but the exhaust and air filter has been changed so ordered larger pilot and mains as well as new float valves.
Tonight I finished getting it all back together, second kick in a cold 32degrees F shop, running! Happy boy,, well old man! Lol
Need to ride it now to see if the jets are close.
Fred

[Guest]

It's a good think you like doing this sort of thing or you might get sick of it at some point... Good job Fred. What are you going to do about the deteriorating liner? oh and you might get a pretty penny for the XS650, they go for crazy money out here, even the rough ones because all the cafe and tracker crowds love em.

[fred smailes]

It's a good think you like doing this sort of thing or you might get sick of it at some point... Good job Fred. What are you going to do about the deteriorating liner? oh and you might get a pretty penny for the XS650, they go for crazy money out here, even the rough ones because all the cafe and tracker crowds love em.

Hey azr, ya the world disappears and I lose about 40 years when the rocknroll is playin in the shop and a project grabs my attention. The tank looks fine inside, maybe just a sales job on someone when the flames were pit on it.
Yes I've seen there worth a decent dollar, this one is real nice, low mile(19,500klm) paint is high quality, bike is uncut and complete.
Fred

[trippivot]

winter projects

this is what a $600 hi intensity / halo neon headlight assembly looks like in stalled on a 2014 zx636 ninja. BKMOTO is the company , only 12 hours to install piece of cake - huh.
http://

ever seen double carbs and a reed cage on a piston port bultaco? brand new mikuni vm carbs are cheap!

http://,http://

[dorkburger]

That dual carb set up looks cool. Whats the advantage of 2 over 1 big one? Veloctiy or something of that nature?

[trippivot]

the modification of a reed cage makes the intake duration constant - these engines use the piston skirt to open and close the intake charge.

2 carbs are a example of unobtanium - that part it is to set this bike apart from the other ones like it for a show we are going to soon.

[storm 64]

I've been taking advantage of this warmer than usual Ohio weather and been working in the garage. I've been working on the new 1000e. I'm updating the ignition system. I have the Dyna coils and Dyna pickup mounted. I had to clean up some wiring. Not to much, I just needed to see what was under the added electrical tape. I don't like electrical problems so I concentrated on doing the job right. I moved on to removing the valve cover. The cover popped off okay but leaving 90% of the gasket stuck to the head. ugh after a hour and a half of scraping, it's clean. Tonight I'll check the valve clearances. Then next will be the charging system... For how clean this motorcycle is, it sure is requiring a lot of work. But hey that's what I do

[storm 64]

I had a fun day in the shop yesterday, I got the regulator/rectifier mounted and the wiring figured out. I soldered spade connectors to the stator output wires for a direct connection to the R/R. It's a good thing I'm addressing the charging system on this motorcycle, the old system was literally TOAST. It was destined for failure.

[cowboyup3371]

I took the next ten days off so I can burn off some of my 100 hours use or lose vacation time. So, off to the garage where Steve and I placed the cylinders back on the bike after I cleaned them and the head up. I'll install the head tomorrow and am hoping I can fire it up by Friday afternoon at the latest then I'll replace the fork seals with OEM ones instead of the ones from Z1.

Also took apart the tach to see if I can fix the bouncing needle issue. Sprayed some WD40 on a couple of spots and will do the same on the speedometer gauge tomorrow.

[Grimly]

Yesterday:
Disassembled the old pressure washer that got submerged in the flood and hadn't wanted to power up since.
I discovered the motor bearings were seized up, so pulled the pump off. Disappointingly, the pump is not a seperate unit, but shares its rear mount with the motor front plate, so my hopes of being able to use the pump with a new motor are slightly dashed. If I can't get the bearings for the motor, or it only comes apart in a broken fashion, I might be able to cut the motor shaft and mount a pulley on it to enable use of a seperate motor. I want to get this thing working again, as it was one of the last decently-made ones before everything went really cheap and throwaway.

[sinkankan]

Ever more, ever more.(

I dropped off the GS850G to a club bike mechanic after another session of frustration trying to get this bike actually going. It's been over a year now since it had been on the road, with a motor rebuild, well sort of. It had been a project rebuild,after problems with the shift changing forced the splitting of the cases to fix a problem with the gear fingers.
Well, I'm now paying for the time and money on this bike, because people didn't know what they were doing.
The qualified mechanic gave me a list of what has to happen,
(a) head is coming off to check pistons and rings, compression on 2 & 3 down to 50lbs. And yet 1 & 4 registered 150.
(b) carbies have to have another full kit though them, still blocked from the original idiot who soda blasted them. Some parts need replacing, so it's gloves off and get them done properly.
(c) seal behind the electronic points is weeping, we may able to fix it without splitting the cases, the mechanic reckons it's been put in backwards.
(d) stator and reg/rec checked out perfect, so no issues with those parts.
(e) a o-ring was found in the number four chamber, just about to be sucked into the barrel.

Needless to say I'm not impressed with previous attempts to get this bike on the road, and too much money has now been spent on it for the bike to be shelved. I'm reckoning the valves and timing chain have to be checked, after it refuses to fire on number 4. Plug is wet with fuel, plenty of spark, but the pipe stays cold.
So by Wednesday afternoon I'll get a run down by the mechanic after he takes the head off. Stay tuned.