what did you wrench on today??

[oldGSfan]

My wrenching today.
Well, slip joint plyers anyway.

Snowed overnight, couple inches. Could have drove over it, but gonna be cold next week or so and then would be packed down froze into ice.
So GOt out snowthrower. Ah, first pass and chains comming off one wheel, and became a tangled mess wrapped around axle in quick order.

GOt back to it this afternoon. Photo after job complete. Got it on tighter this time, I think

Have chains on wheels cuz the lugs on the tires (1982 snowthrower) are worn down.

More and more about me is becoming vintage.

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What's that machine? We had a 9HP (?) Ariens snowblower, lawn mower, roto tiller back in the 70s in Boston. That thing was awesome, just a couple of bolts and locating studs to change things out. 3 acres of land to mow, a huge garden to till, and lots of snow to move, because in addition to a large driveway, we had an ice skating pond about the size of a football field (a flooded swamp). I thought that thing was awesome, doing all those things. Beat digging, shoveling and mowing by manual power.

One memory that stands out among many - the muffler rusted through, like everything did back then. My dad had just built a greenhouse and the cat loved sleeping in there on a cold winter's day. Well, my dad knew a warm Ariens was a happy starting Ariens, and parked it in there. One bitter cold snowy day, rather than pulling it outside, he started it up in the greenhouse. Well, the noise of starting it in a glass enclosure was epic, and the cat happened to be in there. He made a nice cat-sized hole through the door getting out of dodge. Still gives me a chuckle.

 

[LeonAlistar]

Working through the 15k service on my GS750 - starting with the front end: steering bearings (original), wheel bearings (original), and brake system up front (aside from pads, original :nightmare

Found considerable pitting on the caliper piston - was sweating for a bit trying to find a new one, but found a potential match from Brake Crafters. (Impatiently) waiting for parts...

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[first timer]

Working through the 15k service on my GS750 - starting with the front end: steering bearings (original), wheel bearings (original), and brake system up front (aside from pads, original :nightmare

Found considerable pitting on the caliper piston - was sweating for a bit trying to find a new one, but found a potential match from Brake Crafters. (Impatiently) waiting for parts...

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I used the Brake crafters stuff, it's nice and works just fine. Pluss it's SS.

 

[Shin-Ken 1074]

This weekend the project Kat will rack up 3,000km since the engine was installed so I wanted to check on the top end and head nut torque. Cams are fine and all secure and the cam chain has correct tension, checked the cam chain tension as I had replaced the OEM cam chain tensioner with a manual unit as part of the project. Three of the head nuts were out of spec, backed off all the head nuts and reset them to correct torque.

Going for a ride tomorrow and when I get home its time for an oil and filter change. Did the first change at 500 km and second change at 1,500 km. The oil change tomorrow (3000km) will include dropping the sump and the oil pump intake screen to check for nasties, if all is well then oil changes will be back to the normal oil/filter change interval.

head torque a by Max Mutarn, on Flickr

 

[LeonAlistar]

Three of the head nuts were out of spec, backed off all the head nuts and reset them to correct torque.

I tightened several loose head bolts on my bike, but approached it slightly differently - going in the order numbered in the manual, I checked each one - if it was under torque spec, I loosened it slightly, then torqued it to spec. if it didn't budge, I left it alone.

Within 1,000 miles, I developed a minor oil leak under the cylinders.

Is it best practice to loosen everything, even if it's in spec, then tighten it all down? Any concerns with disturbing seals under the cylinders?

 

[Shin-Ken 1074]

I tightened several loose head bolts on my bike, but approached it slightly differently - going in the order numbered in the manual, I checked each one - if it was under torque spec, I loosened it slightly, then torqued it to spec. if it didn't budge, I left it alone.

Within 1,000 miles, I developed a minor oil leak under the cylinders.

Is it best practice to loosen everything, even if it's in spec, then tighten it all down? Any concerns with disturbing seals under the cylinders?

By "backing off" I didn't really loosen them too much. I only turned each head nut 3/4 of a turn so there was still some tension on the bolts and pressure on the base and head gasket. Following the manual sequence order for the nuts I torqued the nuts in stages, going around all the nuts first to 25 Nm then going around again to 39Nm. Doing it this way ensures all the nuts have been torqued to spec and should help the gaskets keep the oil on the inside.

 

[Shin-Ken 1074]

The project Kat has logged it's first 3,000 km and I wanted to inspect the sump and oil pump screen while changing the oil today. Sump had a small amount of clutch dust that needed to be cleaned out and the oil pump screen was nice and clean and no sludge in the screen bowl. Also inspected the old oil filter pleats, no issue there. Did find some oil where it shouldn't have been, leaking past the stator gasket by one of the M6 bolts. Yep, case threads stripped so time for a thread insert to fix the leak. New thread was installed and case back on, test ride later this week to check repair.

Oil change 1 by Max Mutarn, on Flickr


Oil change 3 by Max Mutarn, on Flickr


Oil change 4 by Max Mutarn, on Flickr


Oil change 5 by Max Mutarn, on Flickr


Oil change 6 by Max Mutarn, on Flickr


Oil change 7 by Max Mutarn, on Flickr


Oil change 8 by Max Mutarn, on Flickr

 

[MikeLyon]

Well, not motorcycle related

Put sparkplugs in my pick up truck, 200,000 miles guess it was time
especially because it started running badly and threw out a few codes when I was fifty miles from home

Been putting it off for over a year, read many things on truck forums and youtube videos about the difficulty of doing it and was a little nervous about doing it

from what I read and from videos on YouTube people were taking front wheels off and inner fender well off also to get access to plugs

but looking at it I figured it looked easier than some old cars with headers I used to have.

it didn't take me but half an hour, but spark plugs sure are a lot more expensive now WOW

 

[Cipher]

I plumbed and installed a water softener. I can now sate that plumbing is super easy.
Tears were shed mixed with hard water they reflected a sunshiny glimmer of hope as the sunset through my basement windows.
Gonna install a set of filters now that I am a master plumber.

 

[Shin-Ken 1074]

My project Kat engine is in need of a top end refresh, blowing smoke under acceleration, fouling spark plugs and oiling up the exhaust, at least the pipes wont rust from the inside. No history came with the engine so I have no idea what the internals are like. The plan is to replace the valves, valve guides and seals and check the bores for damage/wear. The good news is I have an EF 1150 head from another project that can donate the brand new valves it has for my project Kat. I didn't have a motorbike valve spring compressor however, I do have one for my ute. It was quicker to make an adapter for the 1150 valve springs than to order one and wait for it to arrive. Started to remove the valves as soon as I had finished making the adapter, it works well.


New valves to be removed from this unfinished project.
Head refresh 1 by Max Mutarn, on Flickr


Valve spring compressor adapter components.
Head refresh 2 by Max Mutarn, on Flickr


Head refresh 3 by Max Mutarn, on Flickr


Head refresh 4 by Max Mutarn, on Flickr


Head refresh 5 by Max Mutarn, on FlickrHead refresh 5 by Max Mutarn, on Flickr

 

[Shin-Ken 1074]

As well as new valves (16 x $55), the valve stem seals in the donor head are brand new genuine suzuki seals, so if they can be removed without damage there is 16 x $13.30 to be saved and spent on other parts. Made a seal extractor by cutting a nut in half and grinding it down to fit in the valve spring recess. Welded the two halves to a pair of long nose pliers and trimmed the sharp edges. The first seal has been removed and isn't damaged so time to remove the rest of the valves and seals.Valve seal 1 by Max Mutarn, on FlickrValve seal 1 by Max Mutarn, on FlickrValve seal 2 by Max Mutarn, on FlickrValve seal 2 by Max Mutarn, on Flickr


Valve seal 3 by Max Mutarn, on Flickr


Valve seal 4 by Max Mutarn, on Flickr


Valve seal 5 by Max Mutarn, on Flickr

 

[Redman]

60degF today, so dont have the excuse of "too cold in garage".....
So got started on swapping out carb intake boots

Got the new boots inplace . . . . and then stepped away. May get back to it Friday.


> > Later Note:
Did get it finished up that weekend, and out for ride
https://www.thegsresources.com/_for...o-for-a-ride-today-pics?p=1768686#post1768686

.

 

[dgates1]

Was running great since December when I finished rebuilding my carburetors. Didn't get many miles on it, as I have been working on other things. Had put in some Seafoam to the gas tank a while back and now it won't idle anymore. I think I got some sludge from the tank to go through. So.... carbs are back on the table for another cleaning. I will also flush the tank again.

Also a better look here at the allen head carb balance screws I installed with springs and washers. Made balancing the carbs a much easier job.

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[gtem]

I have honestly never struggled as much with brakes as I have with these rear units on the XS1100s. I don't know what it is but they are an absolute bear to bleed properly, maybe something to do with the master cylinder being mounted lower than the caliper? No idea. Anyways I've messed with this rear brake since last fall when it came to me sticking. At the end of it all it took a rebuild of the master cylinder, new stainless steel caliper piston, new caliper seals, and I had a local speed shop (Earl's in Speedway on the west side of Indy) fabricate some new brake lines front and rear. It still feels pretty mushy, but atleast doesn't drag and brakes well. I will ride it a while then bleed again.

 

[Buffalo Bill]

We had a rainy day here, so I spent it in the garage.
Swapped the front tire for a new Pilot Power 2CT.
Only took me 4 hours.
Seems I wear the left side more than the right on all my bikes.

 

[Grimly]

Seems I wear the left side more than the right on all my bikes.

Do you have roundabouts in your area?
When I lived in the South of England, every road had a roundabout or several on it. The result was front tyres that were twice as worn on the right side as the left.
Since moving here, I've never had a tyre do that, as there are no roundabouts anywhere near me and the rural roads are evenly windy and twisty.

 

[Buffalo Bill]

Hey Grimly, rare roundabouts here, I'm thinking left turns have a wider radius than right turns because we use the right side lane. So I can take left turns faster and lean more.
Really not much else I can think of.

 

[Grimly]

Hey Grimly, rare roundabouts here, I'm thinking left turns have a wider radius than right turns because we use the right side lane. So I can take left turns faster and lean more.
Really not much else I can think of.

That's likely it. I tend to straighten out the bends so the overall wear is even-ish, and I'm not really a corner cranker much.

 

[Shin-Ken 1074]

Today I finally retired the very tired 43 year old original Reg/Rec on my 1982 GSX1100S. Volts were dropping down to 13.1 and the Rec was getting very hot, too hot to touch at times. I have swapped the OEM unit for a Mosfet Reg/Rec and rather than go with an aftermarket reg I decided to use a genuine Yamaha Mosfet unit. The Yamaha Reg/rec bolted onto the Suzuki electrics panel using the same holes and captive nuts as the Suzi Reg/rec, I just had to make two spacers from aluminium tube to get the Mosfet unit to clear the frame. The Yammy reg/rec is a lot bigger than the OEM Suzi unit and wont fit in the space used by the original Suzi reg/rec.

A two hour test ride went well with the system showing 14.3 volts on the meter and zero heat from the new Reg/rec. Very happy with the new set up.


Reg Rec1 by Max Mutarn, on Flickr

Reg Rec b by Max Mutarn, on Flickr

 

[gtem]

Installed a factory center stand on the '98 Bandit along with the new Delkevic slip on exhaust (18" oval can and mid pipe, was a reasonable $239 shipped). Much better looking, much quieter (with the db killer installed) than the ratty DanMoto unit that the bike came with. Missing a bit of mounting hardware for the mid pipe that I'm adding to a big order of other misc. OE parts. The exhaust work was supposed to come later but I had to take it off to install the center stand so that's my excuse why I swapped on my shiny new muffler rather than getting after the wheels/tires/chain