what did you wrench on today??

[Grimly]

Yesterday and today took the head and barrels off the '80 GS to finally fix the base gasket leak and investigate the lack of compression on all cylinders.
I found the inlets were all tight; that, allied with rings that were past their best made for a reluctant start-up last time.
The bike lift proved its worth, as was able to stand next to it and didn't have to bend over it at all, apart from the last lifting part, where the head was determined to hang up on the last dowel, and the barrels were reluctant to part company with pistons one and four.

I got it all off and called it a day just as my back was calling enough, but gave a quick, cursory inspection to the parts. Surprisingly good condition, considering the verve and gusto I've been giving it the past couple of years. Interestingly, the pistons were nearly clean as a whistle, which I put down to Techron use over the past couple of years.
Tomorrow, or next day, I'll commence cleaning all the bits and start measuring for wear. I'm not too sure about the camchain as yet.
Deffo new rings, as it was using a bit of oil, but not enough to justify a strip-down on its own. If the pistons are worn I have another good standard set.

 

[Guest]

Well my day wasn't nearly as productive or ambitious as you guys', but I pulled the rear brake caliper on my Honda again today to try to figure out why the brake would not release after I took my foot off the brake pedal. I pulled it last week also and found that the square-section gasket had been glued in by a PO (yes, glued in!), and that the piston required quite a bit of working to remove (I ended up using numerous blasts of compressed nitrogen in the brake line port to push it out from behind). After cleaning everything up - especially the channel that the gasket resides in - I put it all back together, using brake fluid to lubricate the gasket. When I took it out for a ride around the block afterwards, the brake worked exactly once then froze again. I have ordered a rebuild kit and hope that resolves the issue.

Other than an old gasket, do any of you guys have any ideas what might be happening? (BTW...... other than being dirty, the old gasket really didn't look bad; it was not cracked and seemed to still be fairly pliable, but I ordered a new one anyway). Oh..... and one more note; I did install new brake pads last week, and of course flushed out the master cylinder and brake lines with fresh DOT3 fluid.

Any hints/tips/suggestions would be greatly appreciated!

 

[Grimly]

Well my day wasn't nearly as productive or ambitious as you guys', but I pulled the rear brake caliper on my Honda again today to try to figure out why the brake would not release after I took my foot off the brake pedal. I pulled it last week also and found that the square-section gasket had been glued in by a PO (yes, glued in!), and that the piston required quite a bit of working to remove (I ended up using numerous blasts of compressed nitrogen in the brake line port to push it out from behind). After cleaning everything up - especially the channel that the gasket resides in - I put it all back together, using brake fluid to lubricate the gasket. When I took it out for a ride around the block afterwards, the brake worked exactly once then froze again. I have ordered a rebuild kit and hope that resolves the issue.

Other than an old gasket, do any of you guys have any ideas what might be happening? (BTW...... other than being dirty, the old gasket really didn't look bad; it was not cracked and seemed to still be fairly pliable, but I ordered a new one anyway). Oh..... and one more note; I did install new brake pads last week, and of course flushed out the master cylinder and brake lines with fresh DOT3 fluid.

Any hints/tips/suggestions would be greatly appreciated!

By gasket, you mean the piston seal? If everything is clean and the way it all should be, the new seal will probably fix it. Old seals get weird - they should work but they get stuck.

 

[Guest]

By gasket, you mean the piston seal? If everything is clean and the way it all should be, the new seal will probably fix it. Old seals get weird - they should work but they get stuck.

Yes, I meant seal. And that's what I'm hoping for, is that the old one has gotten "weird". Thanks for the tip!

 

[Grimly]

Yes, I meant seal. And that's what I'm hoping for, is that the old one has gotten "weird". Thanks for the tip!

If you can find a close-up diagram of the parts fitment, check to see if there's a taper section on the seal, as some of them aren't square in cross-section. Also, some of the seal grooves in the piston have a non-square bottom in them which pushes out the seal at a slight angle. The latter type are nearly foolproof, but the former type can be fitted backwards, and might cause binding.
Otoh, it's likely just old rubber and lost its resilience, so goes out and stays out, causing binding.

 

[dorkburger]

Valves done. A few loose, a few tight, a few ok.
Valve cover set in place, plugs hand tight. Need to button it up this week.

 

[ddaniels]

Mounted a trunk on the back of the Ninja. Turning this squid machine into an old man rider.

 

[Guest]

Gave the Kat tank a quick once over with Meguiar's Ultimate Compound on a wool pad on the drill, pretty happy with the results so far! I've only done the black and it needs more work yet.

Untitled by starpoint73, on Flickr

And got second gear chamfered at a mate's last night so it can be welded on.

Untitled by starpoint73, on Flickr

 

[aclaytonb]

Finally got the stitches out of my wrist and elbow. Took the wire wheel conversion, new tires, and tire beads out for a quick run. Handles sooo much better than the 8 yr old Kendas. Not quite wrenching but it was the fruits of some wrenching.

 

[Grimly]

Mounted a trunk on the back of the Ninja. Turning this squid machine into an old man rider.

"Yah, bloke with a top box, he can't be very fast."

Oh yeah; lull them into a false sense of security and then strike hard.
Works every time.
----------------------
On the wrenching front; today was spent browsing various diy / homebrew parts washers and my eyes were opened at some of the ingenious and some downright dangerous contraptions that have been dreamt up.

One of the best was this one...

 

[Burque73]

It took some searching but I found the little piece of the broken spring.



I pulled the water pump and clutch cover to fish around in the case with a magnet. After about an hour of bending and stabbing that magnet in every place it would fit, I saw the blasted piece of spring on the floor under the bike. Must have fallen out when I pulled the cover. That would have bugged me to no end, not finding the piece. It's all good though. I got to clean the oil screen, adjust my rear brake, and pull the foot peg bolts to upgrade while they're off.

This screen was covered in all sorts of gunk. Good to go now!



I got the engine closed up tonight with the new tensioner lever (doohickey) and torsion spring installed. Next on the agenda, sub frame bolt upgrade.

 

[dorkburger]

Regarding the spring hook... I once posted a thread here called "When parts run and hide" after the same frustration of searching for a dropped fork spring washer.....

Continued slowly wrapping the weekends work last night. Since one coil was removed for valve cover removal, I figured I'd check the plug wire and cap connections on both coils. The rubber seals on three of the plug caps (one was replaced) are cooked and no longer seal the water out, which is likely why the bike never starts after washing the engine. The springs and resistors inside of the caps showed a bit of corrosion which was cleaned. Need to order those seals.

Then of course I mixed up the wires. Knowing my tendency to do these things I had previously labelled the plug wires with paint marker... which had worn off.

Consulted manual to find more interesting info. Early 1150s had the coils oriented with the plug wires facing the rear of the bike. The manual's addendum showing 85 and on modifications show the coils with the plug wire facing forward. I've had them on both ways, evidently depending on what drawing I've looked at then questioned my "skills"..... at this point I may need to blame all issues on the PO..... present owner:nightmare:

 

[ddaniels]

It took some searching but I found the little piece of the broken spring.



I pulled the water pump and clutch cover to fish around in the case with a magnet. After about an hour of bending and stabbing that magnet in every place it would fit, I saw the blasted piece of spring on the floor under the bike. Must have fallen out when I pulled the cover. That would have bugged me to no end, not finding the piece. It's all good though. I got to clean the oil screen, adjust my rear brake, and pull the foot peg bolts to upgrade while they're off.

This screen was covered in all sorts of gunk. Good to go now!



I got the engine closed up tonight with the new tensioner lever (doohickey) and torsion spring installed. Next on the agenda, sub frame bolt upgrade.

Don't feel bad. No doubt something like this has happened to most of us.

 

[Aaronaka]

Worked on my GS850 today, after being stored away for the winter I decided to pull it out and get it ready, filled the tank and she fired right up, idles perfectly, but now under load or not between 4000 to 5000 rpms she bogs down and loses power. Pulled the carbs cleaned and balanced them when I reinstalled still have the issue. So more wrenching in my future.

 

[Guest]

I want to change the differential lube in a 96 Astro, before towing a U-Haul 100 miles with my Wee Strom in it. First step: Remove the plug needed to fill it. (Don't drain unless I can refill it!). 3/8" drive tip acted as if it was rounding off the depression inside the plug. End to that attempt. It will have to wait until I can get better access.

How else would this come out? I doubt that drilling and retapping the housing would work.

 

[Guest]

Removed, disassembled and reassembled the cam chain tensioner (while the carbs are still on the bike - a serious pain in the butt). It turns out the PO had installed the tensioner spring incorrectly so it wasn't working properly. Also installed a new OEM petcock.

 

[ddaniels]

Before......

 

[ddaniels]

After...

 

[ddaniels]

Well, that was the wrong pic. Try this one.

 

[ddaniels]

Old man conversion complete.